Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars

Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars
Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars

This is one of two pieces by our contributor James Kitfield, who’s won more Gerald Ford Defense Reporting awards than anyone else (3), on the challenges and mistakes America has made in grappling with the complex threat of global terrorism. As James puts it in his summary sentence: U.S. counterterrorism forces continue to learn and adapt…

As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake

As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake
As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake

The future of the Middle East is currently being determined, in a process that is almost entirely hidden from view. In recent weeks, the gaze of the world has been fixed on the fight against Daesh (aka ISIL), as the end of its occupation in Mosul, Iraq, and the breaching of its defenses in Raqqa,…

After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild

After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild
After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, pulling on the same black uniform and jacket that Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces wore throughout the battle for Mosul, declared the final liberation of the city from Daesh’s (aka ISIL) control. “I announce from here the end and the failure and the collapse of the terrorist state…

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?
Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

They’re surrounded, targeted by constant bombardments and slowly strangled of supplies and reinforcements for months so fighters for Daesh (aka ISIS) might reasonably have abandoned Mosul and tried to slink off into the night. That’s what happened last June in the battle to recapture Fallujah, when Daesh fighters were relatively quickly routed, and hundreds were killed by U.S.…

Ash Carter Walks Tightrope On Trump Transition

Ash Carter Walks Tightrope On Trump Transition
Ash Carter Walks Tightrope On Trump Transition

WASHINGTON: There’s still no sign of Donald Trump’s transition team at the Pentagon yet, but they’ll probably come this week, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said this morning. In the meantime, the secretary is walking a tightrope trying to defend his policies on the Islamic State, NATO, and Russia without explicitly disagreeing with a President-elect who…

How To Stop Islamic State’s Escalation Dominance

How To Stop Islamic State’s Escalation Dominance
How To Stop Islamic State’s Escalation Dominance

While President Barack Obama’s declared both that the U.S. is hitting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria “harder than ever” and that progress in the campaign to degrade and defeat the group “needs to keep coming faster,” he revealed clearly that the administration is in a race against time. American officials believed that their anti-ISIL…

Iraq: US-Trained Units Lead Counterattack On Islamic State

Iraq: US-Trained Units Lead Counterattack On Islamic State
Iraq: US-Trained Units Lead Counterattack On Islamic State

PENTAGON: Newly created, US-trained units are leading the Iraqi Army counteroffensive against the Islamic State, officers of the 82nd Airborne Division said this morning. Yes, the recapture of Ramadi is moving slowly, acknowledged Col. Curtis Buzzard and Maj. Michael Hamilton, but at least it is moving, and the Iraqi troops they mentored are not only…

Trench Warfare With Wings: Can ISIL Airstrikes Go Beyond Attrition?

Trench Warfare With Wings: Can ISIL Airstrikes Go Beyond Attrition?
Trench Warfare With Wings: Can ISIL Airstrikes Go Beyond Attrition?

Airpower sounds swift and surgical, but sometimes it’s really closer to trench warfare with wings. Earlier this week, with the smoke still rising from the retaken Iraqi city of Tikrit, Central Command released detailed data on air strikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. We’ve crunched the numbers, and it’s clear the eight-month-old campaign is becoming…

A Calibrated Response To ISIL

A Calibrated Response To ISIL
A Calibrated Response To ISIL

The ISIL-induced crisis in the Middle East is a major one with regional implications. With several years of dynamic change in the region, and the failure to create a stable Iraq during the period after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, ISIL has functioned like a match thrown into a gas can. What  should we do? We…