How the US plans to counter Russia and China in Africa

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Qassem Soleimani. War with Iran. The Afghan papers. These are some of the more important topics that have been trending in defense and foreign policy news. Russia and China, conversely, have been conspicuous in their absence. But, arguably, these two countries are the most important long-term threats to U.S. national security. […]

Disaster in the making? US to withdraw from Africa

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley was in Brussels to speak at a gathering of NATO commanders. There he said that the U.S. wants to reduce its footprint in Africa. Meanwhile, France’s President Emmanuel Macron was hosting a conference of the G5 nations (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) […]

Another US/Iraqi base hit with rockets, 4 Iraqis wounded

On Sunday, eight rockets slammed into an airbase in Balad, Iraq, wounding an Iraqi air force officer and three Iraqi enlisted men. Although the Americans have used that base for training and operations, no Americans were injured and few were even present at the time of this latest attack.  No one has claimed responsibility for […]

Legendary SAS operator passes away

A legendary Special Air Service (SAS) operator and assault team leader during the famous Iranian Embassy hostage rescue has passed away. Command Sergeant Major Tom MacDonald died at the age of 71 in New Zealand where he had retired to. The SAS operator had a long and illustrious career in the British Army. He first […]

Islamic Militants attack Nigerien base, kill 25 soldiers

Suspected Islamic militants attacked a Nigerien military base in a two-pronged assault on Thursday that left at least 25 soldiers dead. Government forces killed 63 jihadists and destroyed several motorcycles.  The attack took place in the town of Chinagodrar, which sits seven miles from Niger’s border with Mali. Although no one has taken responsibility for […]

America goes to war with Iran… what would it look like? 

Well, in an earlier piece, I tried to tell you that open war with Iran is a really, really remote possibility. Now we’ll flip-flop it a bit (that’s the beauty of the internet) and assume that war between the United States and Iran isn’t only possible, but we will attempt to outline how it might […]

US-Kenyan Base Attacked By Jihadists

A joint United States-Kenyan airbase near the border with Somalia was attacked by al-Shabab jihadists early on Sunday morning. There are no reports of casualties yet, as American officials described the situation as “fluid.”  The fighting occurred at Camp Simba in Lamu county in eastern Kenya near the Somali border. The terrorists used a suicide […]

More Iranian proxies killed, US denies responsibility

Just a day after a U.S. drone attack killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, and several others, including members of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, another airstrike hit two vehicles killing five militiamen. The number of casualties was confirmed in a statement by the Popular […]

Violence continues at US Embassy in Baghdad as Trump threatens Iran

After a day of angry protests in front of the United States embassy in Baghdad, violence continued again on Wednesday as security personnel fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to scale the walls of the embassy.  The violence began after Iranian proxy forces launched yet another missile attack on an American base […]

Iran-backed Houthi rebels blast Yemen parade, at least 10 dead

A missile attack on a parade for graduating Yemeni recruits of the Security Belt Forces on Sunday killed at least 10 people and wounded 21. The attack occurred in the town of al-Dhalea that is a frequent battleground between the forces of the government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Terrorists from al-Qaeda are also active […]

Islamic State beheads 10 Nigerian Christians on video

The Islamic State has released a disturbing video showing them behead 10 Christians that the group claims to have captured in Nigeria. An 11th captive, shown in the video in the middle of the group, was shot in the head.  ISIS didn’t release any details, but claimed that the men were all captured in the […]

Dozens of French Foreign Legion soldiers and commandos have become terrorists

The French military seems to be inadvertently feeding terrorist organizations with combat-hardened and well-trained recruits. According to a soon-to-be-released study conducted by the French think-tank Centre d’analyse du terrorisme (CAT), dozens of former French servicemen have joined the ranks of terrorist groups. Most of these Jihadists served in Special Operations or elite units, one of […]