The FBI’s ‘starkly different’ investigations may have cost Hillary Clinton the election

The FBI’s ‘starkly different’ investigations may have cost Hillary Clinton the election

The New York Times published a lengthy retrospective on Saturday about FBI Director James Comey’s decision to revisit the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails 11 days before the presidential election, offering fresh insight into Comey’s thinking and sparking a new debate over whether he cost Clinton the election. Nate Silver, the editor in chief of […]

Trump sees no American role in Libya beyond fighting Islamic State

Trump sees no American role in Libya beyond fighting Islamic State

President Donald Trump believes the United States should focus solely on fighting the Islamic State in Libya. His comments on Thursday in a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni lend themselves to a Trump foreign policy doctrine beginning to coalesce around a powerful military with a willingness to use force, combined with a […]

USS Carl Vinson isn’t anywhere near North Korea: Incompetence or political theater?

USS Carl Vinson isn’t anywhere near North Korea: Incompetence or political theater?

A week ago, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group was being diverted from its scheduled operations in Australia to head directly for the Korean peninsula amid ever-increasing tension surrounding Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program. Reports substantiating his claim came in from the Pentagon, and […]

Japanese self-defense forces looking increasingly offensive

Japanese self-defense forces looking increasingly offensive

The contingent of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces planning on conducting joint naval maneuvers with the USS Carl Vinson strike group as it transits towards the Korean Peninsula reflect a growing Japanese military chafing within its constitutional limits of pure self-defense. The four helicopter carriers Japan is sending will conduct a series of helicopter landings and […]

Trump congratulates commanders of Navy ships responsible for Syria strike

Trump congratulates commanders of Navy ships responsible for Syria strike

On Saturday, President Trump congratulated the commanders of the two Navy vessels tasked with launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at an Assad-controlled air base in Syria last week.  He then followed his telephone conversations up on Twitter, extending his praise into the digital sphere. “Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United […]

U.S. seeks to distance itself from reports tying Russia to Syrian gas attack

U.S. seeks to distance itself from reports tying Russia to Syrian gas attack

Conflicting reports from unnamed U.S. officials regarding Russia’s involvement in the Syrian chemical weapon attack highlight the increasingly tenuous political situation the United States and Russia find themselves in. After an anonymous U.S. official told news organizations that Russia knew in advance that Syria intended to gas civilians, and then participated in a cover up […]

North Korea postures for military action, Assad issues statement in their support

North Korea postures for military action, Assad issues statement in their support

In the minds of many, President Trump’s decision to use a Tomahawk missile strike against Assad’s Syrian regime last week was not only meant as a message to Assad about his use of chemical weapons, but as a message to all world leaders that the United States would take decisive action if provoked – and […]

That ‘crazy fat kid’ in North Korea is at it again

That ‘crazy fat kid’ in North Korea is at it again

The “crazy fat kid” as Senator John McCain calls him is at it again in North Korea.  The escalation in tensions on the Korean Peninsula comes right on the heels of the annual Foal Eagle exercise.  The exercise has been held once a year since the 1960’s and in part involves US and South Korean Special […]

U.S. Secretary of State arrives in Moscow intent on driving a wedge between Putin and Assad

U.S. Secretary of State arrives in Moscow intent on driving a wedge between Putin and Assad

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for what promises to be a difficult series of scheduled talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.  While tensions between the two nations have been high in recent years, a chemical weapons attack carried out against civilians last Tuesday led to dramatic military action […]

Read the official Russian response to Thursday’s missile strike in Syria

Read the official Russian response to Thursday’s missile strike in Syria

The United States launched a strike against the Syrian air base on Thursday that was believed to be tied to Tuesday’s chemical weapon attack that left dozens, including children dead.  Immediately following the strike, reports began to emerge of the United States providing Russian troops in the region an early warning, in order to prevent a […]

Japan PM Abe says he, Trump agree North Korea missile launch a ‘serious threat’

Japan PM Abe says he, Trump agree North Korea missile launch a ‘serious threat’

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a telephone call that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.” Abe also told reporters at his official residence that he was watching to see how China would respond to Pyongyang […]