Blog Posts

"Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is not backing down on potentially shifting U.S. forces out of Africa despite a week of negative reactions from members of Congress — but the secretary did say that 'no decisions' have been finalized on a potential shifting of forces."

"A team of Marine Raiders led the response against al-Shabab militants who raided the Kenya Defense Force Military Base at Manda Bay, Kenya, in early January, killing three Americans, multiple sources told Marine Corps Times."

"If there is one cause common to the governments of the U.S., Turkey, Iraq and Iran, it’s the continued suppression of Islamic State, the most destructive Islamist militant organization the world has seen."

"Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions mean Afghanistan, which shares a border with Iran, could be the next proxy battleground between Washington and Tehran, a clash that threatens to undermine the Trump administration’s pursuit of a peace deal with the Taliban and eventual drawdown of American troops."

"The Taliban admitted this week that current negotiations with the 'arrogant' U.S. – often billed as 'peace talks' that will purportedly end the fighting in Afghanistan – are merely being conducted to facilitate 'the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.'"

"Guerrilla groups have supplanted state rule on both sides of the lawless border between Venezuela and Colombia, where they impose their own brutal rules on civilians, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW)."

Libya has been torn by civil war since longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi was killed in an uprising in 2011 following a NATO-led bombing campaign. The conflict has descended into a proxy war as regional and international powers jostle to secure their own interests in the oil-rich North African nation.

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is debating President Donald Trump’s plea to take on a bigger Middle East role, according to the alliance’s head."

"New documents provide insight into the growing pains U.S. Cyber Command faced in building a force while simultaneously conducting operations."

"NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance must beef up its military training operation in Iraq to ensure that its members are not drawn back into combat there against Islamic State extremists."

One of the most senior foreign fighters with Somali militant group al-Shabab says he has defected and is now in Mogadishu with the Somali government. Zubair al-Muhajir traveled from London to join the group in 2006. He rose through the ranks and ultimately became a member of al-Shabab’s Shura Council of religious scholars.

"The Western troop presence in Iraq is to be scaled down under a plan to defuse regional tensions over America's killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani."

"West African leaders aren’t on board with the possibility of U.S. troops vacating the region, according to a new report. U.S. Africa Command says that there are approximately 6,000 Department of Defense personnel in Africa, but those numbers could go down following a review the Pentagon is executing to reexamine U.S. troop presence in multiple areas of operations."

"Hackers linked to Iran are probing American companies for vulnerabilities, cybersecurity researchers and U.S. government officials say. The warnings suggest that the next phase of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, following the Jan. 3 killing of a top Iranian general in an American drone strike, is likely to play out in cyberspace."

"An Islamic State group official who oversaw oil and gas operations and helped finance sleeper cells was killed last week in a joint coalition special operations raid with Syrian partner forces, the military said."

Pakistan hosted high-level talks with the United States on Monday to review steps Islamabad has taken to choke funding sources to terrorist groups. The two sides, officials say, also discussed ways to increase bilateral trade.

"As world powers back a cease-fire in Libya to end months of fighting, a recent injection of mercenaries by rival foreign backers threatens to unravel efforts to establish a long-term truce in the oil-rich North African country."

"With open hostilities between Iran and the U.S. subsiding for now, the Trump administration is seeking to keep pressure on Iran without pushing the region into a volatile new confrontation, U.S. and regional officials said."

Via the Miami Herald: "The United States is concerned about the presence of Hezbollah, the terrorist group supported by Iran, in Venezuela, an issue that will be raised by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a meeting on counterterrorism efforts that will gather several ministers from the region in Bogota on Monday."

"The death toll from a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a government military camp climbed to at least 111 troops, a military spokesman said Monday, making it one of the deadliest rebel assaults since the beginning of the country's bloody civil war."

"U.S. Africa Command officials have long cautioned that Russia and China are trying to expand their control in Africa. But the command believes the U.S. can foil that influence by developing strong relationships with African states and becoming their partner of choice."

Fierce clashes continued Sunday between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters in the northwestern province of Idlib, despite a cease-fire brokered last week by Russia and Turkey.

World leaders agreed Sunday to respect an arms embargo and back off from interfering in Libya, where forces from two rival governments are fighting for power.

A missile attack on a military training camp in Yemen has killed at least 80 soldiers. Dozens of others were wounded in the strike in the central province of Marib on Saturday, officials say.

"Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Sunday to bolster his country’s role under its security pact with the U.S. in “outer space and cyberspace,” as the allies marked the 60th anniversary of a treaty that has been the basis for their postwar defense alliance."