Why is Israel so Cautious on the Islamic State? A Recent War Game Explains Why.
Why is Israel so Cautious on the Islamic State? A Recent War Game Explains Why. By David Ignatius, Washington Post
Let’s say Islamic State fighters attack an Israeli military patrol along the Syrian border. They try unsuccessfully to kidnap an Israeli soldier, and they kill four others. A Jordanian border post is hit, too, and the Islamic State proclaims it has control of Daraa province in southern Syria.
How do Israel and other key players respond? In a war game played here last week, they retaliated, but cautiously. The players representing Israel and Jordan wanted to avoid a pitched battle against the terrorists — they looked to the United States for leadership.
This simulation exercise was run by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) as part of its annual conference. The outcome illustrated the paradoxical reality of the conflict against the Islamic State: Israel and Jordan act with caution and restraint, hoping to avoid being drawn deeper into the chaotic Syrian war, even as the United States escalates its involvement…
Afghanistan: That 'Wasteful' Task Force? You're Not Getting the Full Story.
Afghanistan: That 'Wasteful' Task Force? You're Not Getting the Full Story. By Daniel Fisher, Defense One
It has been a rough few months for the Pentagon’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, set up a decade ago to woo investors and businesses to war-torn Iraq and then Afghanistan. Several harsh inspector general reports led to a Jan. 20 hearing on Capitol Hill, where senators, in rare bipartisan agreement, accused TFBSO of wasting millions of dollars. Even DoD seemed disinclined to defend the outfit; at the hearing, Brian McKeon, principal deputy defense undersecretary for policy, emphasized that its work occurred “before [his] time.”
However, a fairly robust body of evidence suggests that TFBSO was far more effective than the present headlines let on. In fact, an economic impact assessment produced by Vestige Consulting and Acertas asserts that its work in Afghanistan will ultimately yield spectacular returns on investment…
ISIS Recruits in the U.S. Legal System
ISIS Recruits in the U.S. Legal System by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism
New World War I Memorial: America Looks Back to Move Forward
New World War I Memorial: America Looks Back to Move Forward by Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor
It was supposed to be the “war to end all wars,” but World War I did nothing of the sort. Instead, it ushered in a new era of conflict and striving, inspiring women and veterans to take to the streets – in some legendarily violent clashes – to protest for their rights.
It also redrew the borders of the Middle East and inspired its survivors – who had endured trench warfare, chemical weapons attacks, and bodily harm on a previously unthinkable scale – to rethink jingoistic calls to the glory of war.
The new national World War I memorial, the design for which was unveiled in Washington Tuesday, is for an America that is finally ready to confront some of the challenging societal fault lines revealed by the Great War, says the team behind the monument…