U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants will intensify in the future as Iraqi ground forces work to become more effective. Hagel told a U.S. congressional committee Thursday the “tempo and intensity” of the coalition’s air campaign against IS will accelerate in tandem with Iraqi forces as they become […]
Former White House spokesman Robert Weiner and policy analyst Joseph Abay assert that centuries of ethnic strife and religious divisions, no loyalty, and drug funding have made “training” against ISIS and throughout the Middle East a “myth” and an unrealistic strategy goal, despite recent emphasis on “training opposition” to ISIS in recent White House speeches, […]
WASHINGTON—Two Americans who were imprisoned in North Korea are enjoying their second day of freedom back in the United States after being released Saturday following a trip to Pyongyang by James Clapper, the director of U.S. National Intelligence. The release of 46-year old Kenneth Bae and 24-year old Matthew Todd Miller came just weeks after […]
GAZIANTEP, TURKEY—Syrian government forces redoubled an air offensive on the outskirts of Aleppo over the weekend in a bid to sever supply routes of rebels battling to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Warplanes carried out a series of attacks in the al-Jandoul and al-Castello districts of Syria’s second largest city, which is besieged on three sides […]