Blog Posts

"Though the first and second deployments of the Army’s security force assistance brigades might be nearly identical, the next deployments could have a radically different makeup of personnel and type of mission."

"A failed Venezuela coup, Iranian missiles and Russian hybrid warfare make for interesting side stories, but the center of military policy is increasingly gravitating toward U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to U.S. government officials."

"President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro,"

"The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday stated its intent to sole source A-29 Super Tucanos from Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer. But a similar solicitation for Textron’s AT-6 Wolverine will be forthcoming, an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed."

"War in Afghanistan can be sustained, but the narrative of a war-weary American public is hurting that effort, former National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster said Wednesday."

"Iran's president said the Islamic republic will resume high-level enrichment of uranium if world powers do not protect its interests against U.S. sanctions. Hassan Rohani's address to the nation was aired by state television on May 8, the anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from a landmark nuclear agreement."

"When the United States said this week that American forces in Iraq faced threats from Iranian “proxies,” it was referring to the armed groups that helped fight the Islamic State and have bedeviled Iraq ever since. The Iraqi armed groups, some with ties to Iran, have a footprint in every Iraqi province. Whether they function as Iranian proxies, however, is far from settled."

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a sudden, unscheduled trip to Baghdad on Tuesday as U.S. officials warned that Iran was positioning missiles that could be used against American forces in the region."

"Marines are headed to the state of Indiana in August as part of a restart of the Corps’ long-running interest in urban warfare."

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"I still believe that urban combat poses some of the most difficult challenges a military can face. Nevertheless, as this current urban combat juggernaut picks up momentum, it is time to ask several fundamental questions: Why would you fight in cities? Who will you fight in cities? Which cities are possible combat sites in the future?"

"The U.S. State Department is opening new, military-style training facilities around the world, expanding plans to prop up local forces battling terrorism as the Trump administration seeks cutbacks in conventional diplomacy and development programs."

"More than two dozen people were killed and homes and businesses destroyed in the weekend’s fighting between Israel and Gaza, but on Monday leaders on both sides declared themselves satisfied with the outcome."

"In response to last week's accusation by the military that Pakistan's Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has been receiving funds from Afghanistan's and India's intelligence agencies, its leader, Manzoor Pashteen, blamed the country's most powerful institution of turning the war on terror into a lucrative business in their region."

"Two prizewinning Reuters journalists were released from prison in Myanmar on Tuesday after more than a year in detention for covering the country’s deadly crackdown on the Rohingya minority group, ending a drama that had brought global scrutiny upon the country’s de facto civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

"Palestinian officials say a cease-fire with Israel has been agreed to by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The agreement, reached with the help of Egyptian mediation, was to take effect at 01:30 UTC. So far the cease-fire seems to be holding."

CNBC: "The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it responded to a cyberattack from a Hamas-controlled compound in Gaza with an airstrike, a rare mix of physical and cyber conflict on the world stage."

"New intelligence suggests allied interests and American forces could be imperiled."

"Shortly after the IDF announced on Sunday the targeted assassination of a Hamas commander responsible for transferring funds from Iran to Gaza, a security official said that the security cabinet directed the IDF to 'intensify the attacks against the terrorist organizations in Gaza.'"

"Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has said he is considering asking the US to launch a military intervention in the embattled country. Speaking to the BBC's Nick Bryant, he said he would 'evaluate all options' to oust President Nicolás Maduro."

"The Taliban on Saturday said the gap is narrowing in talks with Washington’s special peace envoy over a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The two sides are continuing to meet in Qatar, where the insurgent movement maintains a political office."

"Whenever the United States becomes involved in counterinsurgency, it eventually wishes that it hadn't. As Judah Grunstein wrote this week, the recent counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan were just the latest episode in the U.S. military's long cyclical history of fighting counterinsurgencies—known variously as small wars, unconventional warfare and asymmetric warfare—as they arise, then tossing aside the operational lessons learned when they were no longer needed."

"Venezuela’s opposition came tantalizingly close to removing President Nicolás Maduro from power this week, according to more than a dozen people involved in talks to oust him. But in the end, it all went wrong."

"President Trump’s senior national security aides met Friday at the Pentagon to review what acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan called a 'comprehensive set of options' for the administration’s next steps in Venezuela."

"Netanyahu orders ’massive attacks’ on Gaza during worst fighting in months."