Blog Posts

Strikes in October against al-Qaida operatives in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan show the transregional nature of both the terrorist group and the approach to countering them.

"Syria has become a byword for the sort of vicious assault on civilian life unseen in the 21st century. In a rare press trip to the capital, Damascus, visitors tasted a different reality."

"al-Baghdadi released a blistering audio recording imploring his forces to remain firm in the face of the American-backed Iraqi offensive and excoriating those who might consider fleeing."

Two VOA articles: Reporters Without Borders’s press predators and the Taliban’s assaults on news media.

"There is a larger systemic issue in the evaluation system itself that is holding back the talented, but more unconventional soldier."

Oxford University Press book now available from Amazon.

Iraqi special forces seized control of state television facilities inside Mosul on Tuesday, as a loose-knit combat coalition allied with Baghdad pressed an offensive.

"Washington, D.C. October 31, 2016 - The CIA today released the long-contested Volume V of its official history of the Bay of Pigs invasion, which it had successfully concealed until now."

"Meet Capt. Jim Perkins, one of those soldiers being forced out."

“The advance into the eastern edge of Mosul heralded a new and more complicated phase in a campaign that American military officials say could last months.”

On October 14, 2016, CNA convened a half-day meeting of experts to discuss the use of special operations forces by the next administration.

Continue on for links to the latest JFQ articles.

Yesterday, SIGAR released an audit of DOD and USAID's $2.8 billion investment in Afghanistan's road infrastructure.

Beyond Convergence: World Without Order (National Defense University Book)

"The Taliban - who, when they controlled the government, banned television and jailed people for photography - rely on their front-line fighters to record the moment and share it."

As delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2016.

The megacities of the future (population >10M) will be more densely populated and socially and politically complex than anything we know today. (H/T The Intercept)

Today, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released an audit of USAID's Measuring Impacts of Stabilization Initiatives program.

Pathetic traitors tell their “story”.

"As Iraqi forces move to retake the city from ISIS, analysts warn the Shiite ruling elite is not doing enough to include a disenfranchised Sunni minority, whose anger helped feed the growth of ISIS."

"The Pentagon has secretly expanded its global network of drone bases to North Africa, deploying unmanned aircraft and U.S. military personnel to a facility in Tunisia."

“Jihadist group courts al-Shabaab members in Somalia with promises of an easier life; lower taxes, fewer political diatribes.”

"When the US fights its wars in the Middle East, it has a habit of recruiting local forces as proxies and then jettisoning them when the going gets tough or regional politics intervene."

Continue on for links to the October 2016 issue of the CTC Sentinel.