Tag: us

Russia, Iran, and Turkey meet and discuss Syria without the United States in Beirut, Lebanon. Leaving the U.S. in an awkward diplomatic position. The U.S. was not invited and the UN wasn’t notified. No official reaction has come from either the White House or the President-elect’s transition team. Although it’s certain, there will be a […]

It was 75 years ago Wednesday that Oxnard resident Edward Waszkiewicz, then a 20-year-old fireman with the Navy, witnessed what he said sounded like the “end of the world coming.” On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Waszkiewicz looked up and saw three planes swooping down onto what was known as “Battleship Row,” a group of […]

Since World War II, the US has dominated the skies in any region in which it wishes to project power — but recent competition from countries like Russia and China threaten to erode that edge, and only a small group of elite pilots maintain the US’s edge in air superiority. Russia has deployed powerful missile-defense […]

In yet another development in an already eventful deployment, US Navy sailors aboard the USS Nitze rescued three stranded Iranians in the Arabian Gulf on Friday. The Iranians made a distress call after their boat stalled. US Sailors responded quickly, providing a case of water and a new battery for the vessel. “Our Sailors are […]

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, will fly to Moscow, Washington and Tehran in the coming days in a bid to secure access to civilians in Aleppo. Hundreds of people have been killed since Tuesday in a concerted push by the government and its allies to quash resistance in […]

As a pilot, I have had multiple “near miss” events. Most pilots I know have had similar experiences. Some of these events still scare me today when I think about them, others were less intense and grave, but I also remember all of them…and what they taught me. A near miss is any unplanned close […]

The heads of the Turkish and U.S. armed forces discussed joint strategies against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq during a meeting in Ankara on Sunday, the Turkish military said in a statement. Turkish chief of general staff Hulusi Akar met his U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford hours after U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an […]

A Russian fighter jet and a larger U.S. aircraft came within about a half mile of colliding in mid-air nearly two weeks ago during a night mission over Syria, the Pentagon said Friday. “The Russian jet passed in front of the coalition jet close enough that the jet wash from that flight was felt within […]

ISIS is planning additional “significant” external operations against the West from its de-facto capital in Raqqa, Syria, the top U.S. commander in Iraq told reporters Wednesday. “I will say that we actually aren’t sure how pressing it is, and that’s what’s worrying us,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said via teleconference from Baghdad. “We know they’re […]

Hundreds of Islamic State militants are thought to have been killed since Iraqi forces launched an offensive to retake Mosul last week, the US military says. Two generals said the jihadist group had suffered the losses as troops and allied fighters, backed by US-led air strikes, advanced on several axes. Up to 5,000 IS fighters […]

As the carnage in Syria continues with no end in sight, it is hardly surprising that many people are redoubling their efforts to get the United States to “do something.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (and likely the next U.S. president) has used the campaign trail to convey that she still supports a no-fly zone (or […]

The United States military failed America in Afghanistan. It wasn’t a tactical failure. It was a failure of leadership. The ascent of David Petraeus and the Army’s rediscovery of counterinsurgency doctrine led many to believe that the military had dramatically adapted itself for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately the transformation was only skin deep. Petraeus […]