Syria

Weapons shipped into Jordan for Syrian rebels by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia were stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, the New York Times reported, citing American and Jordanian officials. Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two […]

British Army Maj. Gen. Doug Chalmers, deputy commander of the anti-ISIS international coalition said that the role of western special forces on the ground in Syria will not change now that the Kurdish and Arab fighters are moving into the city of Manbij.2 “There’s no change to our profile. Strong relationships are in place with those headquarters and […]

Islamic State (ISIS) militants abducted about 900 Kurdish civilians in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo over the past three weeks, forcing the captives to build fortifications for the extremists in retaliation for a Kurdish-led assault on a nearby ISIS stronghold, activists said Friday. Reports also emerged Friday that at least 26 of those abducted […]

It is one thing to delight in upsetting the international order. It is quite another to deal with the aftermath.

Russia and its nukes and chemical weapons “a brand new problem in those days – brand new to history, really, requiring new thought,” Carter said.

The Pentagon is refusing to disclose when U.S. troops are wounded by Islamic State forces in Syria, suggesting that doing so could “provide information to the enemy that might be helpful.” Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook has repeatedly balked at questions about reports that four American troops were injured there on June 9. He did […]

On Thursday, The New York Times obtained a draft version of a State Department memo that sharply criticizes the Obama administration’s Syria policy and calls for limited military strikes against that country’s government. The memo, signed by 51 diplomats, was sent through an agency “dissent channel” that was established during the Vietnam War to air internal criticism. Because the memo is […]

Shortly after supporters of the Islamic State gunned down 14 people in California last year, the CIA’s deputy director assembled a group of Muslim employees to talk about Islamophobia. The Dec. 2 shootings by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik had illustrated the United States’ vulnerability to terrorist attacks inspired by the Islamic State and […]

Four U.S. military advisers were lightly wounded earlier this month in northern Syria by attackers who were believed to be part of ISIS, CNN has learned. The Pentagon has not yet spoken publicly about the June 9 incident, but several defense officials told CNN it happened when an anti-tank round was fired close to the […]

Four U.S. special operations troops were hurt when an Islamic State rocket landed near their position in northern Syria earlier this month, bringing renewed questions about the role of U.S. troops in the region, specifically special operations forces serving alongside indigenous troops fighting ISIS. A senior defense official told Fox News the U.S. troops were “lightly” […]

Iraqi government-run camps struggled on Sunday to shelter people fleeing Fallujah, as the military battled Islamic State militants in the city’s northern districts. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the jihadists on Friday after troops reached the city center, following a four-week U.S.-backed assault. But shooting, suicide bombs and mortar attacks continue. More than […]

Islamic State militants struggled to hold ground on two fronts Sunday as Iraqi troops drove out pockets of resistance in Fallujah, while Syrian government forces pressed closer to the effective militant capital of Raqqa. The military gains, however, have done little to improve the dire humanitarian crisis facing the region. In Iraq, the Amiriyah Fallujah […]