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China's Tough Talk Gives Boost to Washington
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2012 Comment (6)China's warning that two neighbors refrain from conducting military exercises in the South China Sea could backfire on the government in Beijing.
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Poll: Public Majority Wants Faster Afghan Withdrawal
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2012 CommentA new poll shows nearly three-quarters of Americans now oppose the Afghan war, and a majority want President Obama to speed his plan for removing all U.S. forces by late 2014. The sagging numbers will give ammo to those within the White House who favor a quicker troop withdrawal.
Since June, U.S. public opposition to the decade-long war had hovered around 62 percent. That figure shot up to 72 percent in the latest CNN-ORC International Poll. Only 25 percent of those polled still support the war, down from 36 percent last June and 35 percent last November.
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Ending Afghan Night Raids a 'Red Line' for Washington
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2012 CommentThousands of times last year long after night fell over Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan troops stormed houses in hot pursuit of the Taliban and al Qaeda. Yet, despite a staggering success rate, rarely did they fire a single shot.
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Army Vet: 'Stubborn' Generals Stifled Afghan Conflict
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2012 Comment (2)The Afghanistan war has continued to flounder due to the "stubbornness" of some American and NATO generals there, a top military analyst said Wednesday.
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Source: U.S. Would Funnel Syrian Aid Through Regional Allies
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2012 CommentThe United States would not use U.S. military forces to funnel humanitarian and other aide to rebels in Syria, says a senior Senate aide.
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3 Issues Driving White House's Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Plans
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2012 Comment (3)The top American commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John Allen, is wrapping up a week in Washington during which he previewed the Obama administration's coming deliberations about the decade-old war.
During congressional testimony, press briefings and public forums, Allen talked less about squashing al Qaeda and Taliban militants, and more about several issues that will determine how many U.S. forces remain there later this year.
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Pentagon Trained Mali Coup Leader
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2012 Comment (2)The leader of an attempted military coup in Mali was trained to be an officer in the United States by the Pentagon, U.S. News & World Report has learned.
Capt. Amadou Sanogo completed his basic officer training on U.S. soil, and participated in "several" other Washington-funded international military education programs, Patrick Barnes, a U.S. Africa command spokesman says. U.S. military personnel conducted Sanogo's basic officer training courses, Barnes confirms.
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Pentagon: All U.S. Elite Commandos in Mali 'Accounted For'
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2012 Comment (5)The Pentagon confirmed Friday that all U.S. special operations forces in Mali are safe amid an attempt by rogue military forces to topple the east African nation’s civilian government.
“We do have SOF personnel in country and they’ve ceased all activity,” says a senior Pentagon official. “I don’t know if they’ve departed, but as of [Thursday], they had not. Additionally, all were accounted for.”
The Pentagon official did not disclose the number of SOF personnel in Mali, but special operations deployments typically include small numbers of troops. -
Paul Ryan's Budget Slammed For Foreign Affairs Cuts
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2012 CommentHouse Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget, unveiled this week, is drawing fire from critics who say it would cut too deeply from foreign affairs programs, taking tools from the president that they contend are crucial to national security.
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General Pitches Afghanistan Troop-Level Number
Tweet Share on Facebook March 22, 2012 CommentThe top U.S. general in Afghanistan endorsed the slowing of the American troop drawdown in 2013 Thursday, setting down the first major marker in a coming campaign trail debate about the future of the conflict.
White House and Pentagon officials later this year will hold high-level talks about whether or not to remove more troops next year--all in the midst of the president's re-election bid.
Marine Corps Gen. John Allen signalled for the first time he would oppose keeping fewer than 68,000 troops in Afghanistan during 2013, the opening salvo in the coming deliberations. Read more here.
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