Combat veteran Rep. Duckworth worried Congress is ignoring importance of civilian-run military

Combat veteran Rep. Duckworth worried Congress is ignoring importance of civilian-run military

Rep. Tammy Duckworth worries her congressional colleagues don’t fully appreciate the importance of a civilian-run military. As a combat-wounded Iraq War veteran and incoming Illinois senator, she finds that troubling. “I believe so strongly that the military is subservient to civilian leaders,” she said Wednesday. “I went to fight in a war I didn’t believe​ […]

Trump Tweets ‘Cancel Order!’ on Air Force One contract with Boeing

Trump Tweets ‘Cancel Order!’ on Air Force One contract with Boeing

Today President-elect Trump, via a tweet, told the country that he thinks the price Boeing wants to build the new Air Force One presidential aircraft is too high and he wants it canceled. This morning in the lobby of Trump tower President-elect Trump commented on the contract with Boeing saying, “Well, the plane is totally […]

Cuba wants to sign accords with U.S. before Obama exit: officials

Cuba wants to sign accords with U.S. before Obama exit: officials

Cuba said on Wednesday it hoped to sign off on at least half a dozen agreements with the United States before businessman Donald Trump, who has threatened to derail detente between the former Cold War foes, becomes president on Jan. 20. Cuban and U.S. officials held talks in Havana to discuss what more could be […]

Obama celebrates counter-terrorism achievments, pushes back against Trump proposals

Obama celebrates counter-terrorism achievments, pushes back against Trump proposals

Washington, D.C. – In what was billed as the final major national security address of his administration, President Barack Obama took a victory lap for his counterterrorism achievements in remarks made to Special Operations and Central Command officials at MacDill Air Force Base. The Dec. 6 speech also doubled a thinly veiled rebuttal to the […]

Trump administration urged to reassess use of Special Operations Forces in Counterterror

Trump administration urged to reassess use of Special Operations Forces in Counterterror

Washington, D.C. – A leading think tank told the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 6 that the incoming Trump Administration should undertake an assessment of special operations forces as part of any new counterterrorism strategy. The incoming Trump administration will have the burden to ensure SOF is enveloped into the Pentagon structure appropriately with new […]

John Kelly, retired Marine General, is Trump’s choice to lead Homeland Security

John Kelly, retired Marine General, is Trump’s choice to lead Homeland Security

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump has settled on Gen. John F. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general whose son was killed in combat in Afghanistan, as his choice for secretary of homeland security, placing defense of American territory from terrorism in the hands of a seasoned commander with personal exposure to the costs of […]

Trump’s phone call with Taiwan was reportedly months in the making

Trump’s phone call with Taiwan was reportedly months in the making

President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial phone call with Taiwan’s president on Friday was the work of Trump staffers and Taiwan specialists that had been months in the making,The Washington Post reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Stephen Yates, a national security official under President George W. Bush, told the Post that Taiwan was on the […]

Netanyahu to discuss ‘bad’ Iran deal with Trump, Kerry stresses settlements

Netanyahu to discuss ‘bad’ Iran deal with Trump, Kerry stresses settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would discuss with Donald Trump the West’s “bad” nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. president-elect enters the White House. Speaking separately to a conference in Washington, Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry clashed over the Iran deal and Israel’s settlement construction on the […]

Joint Chiefs prep military strategy plans for Trump and top commanders

Joint Chiefs prep military strategy plans for Trump and top commanders

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are finalizing a classified military strategy they plan to present to President-elect Donald Trump detailing the military challenges to the US, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Saturday. The classified report has been underway for months, and is spearheaded by General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint […]

Panel urges better cybersecurity to President-elect Trump

Panel urges better cybersecurity to President-elect Trump

A presidential commission on Friday made 16 urgent recommendations to improve the nation’s cybersecurity, including creating a nutritional-type label to help consumers shop wisely and appointing a new international ambassador on the subject — weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The release of the 100-page report follows the worst hacking of U.S. government systems […]

Pakistan plays up, then plays down prime minister’s chummy call with Trump

Pakistan plays up, then plays down prime minister’s chummy call with Trump

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The morning papers were giddy with hyperbole on Thursday over the news that Donald Trump had spoken to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by phone a day earlier and showered compliments on a country he once accused of “betrayal and disrespect” — even offering to help the nuclear power solve its problems abroad. […]

Trump, Hillary, and the dangers of off the books intel sources

Trump, Hillary, and the dangers of off the books intel sources

According to recent reports, President elect Donald Trump has been turning down the intelligence briefings that the intel community provides to incoming presidents to prepare them for the job.  Instead, Vice President elect Mike Pence is getting the intel briefings just about every day.  When questioned on the matter, Trump’s campaign manager said, “I can’t […]