Syrian Troops Hold Out in Islamic State’s Heartland
Rarely has a militant group had so many enemies at once, yet Islamic State continues to thrive at the expense of the Syrian government and opposition. Many analysts have claimed as much. However, few...
View ArticleAmerican Commandos Are Ready to Sneak All Over the Middle East
When the Pentagon announced plans to send a team of commandos to Syria, no one seemed to stop and ask the most basic question – how are they going to get into an active war zone in the first place?...
View ArticleAir Power Remains America’s Best Weapon for Halting Islamic State
A year into the coalition campaign, air power has proven an effective instrument to both weaken Daesh and aid friendly forces. But with sectarian divisions and the Bashar Al Assad regime’s brutality...
View ArticleThe Pentagon Never Really Stopped Hunting Terrorists in Iraq
Late on Nov. 12, the Pentagon announced that it had used a drone to try and kill Mohammed “Jihadhi John” Emwazi in the Syrian city of Raqqa. American officials could not confirm whether or not the...
View ArticleForged Syrian Passports Are a Prized Commodity
French authorities have found at least one Syrian passport near the body of one of the terrorists that struck Paris. Greek authorities said the carrier registered the passport on the island of Leros —...
View ArticleDamn, There Are a Lot of Bombs Falling on Raqqa
The Syrian city of Raqqa was home to at least 220,000 people before the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Today, it is Islamic State’s de facto headquarters, where the group has imposed its...
View ArticleGunships Get Back to Their Roots in Syria Strike
On Nov. 15, a pair of heavily-armed AC-130 gunships – along with four A-10 Warthog attack planes – obliterated a truck park near the Iraqi border. During the raid, the aircraft destroyed more than 100...
View ArticleFrench Jets Head to Old Stomping Ground for One Last Fight
More than three decades ago, the France’s Super Etendards flew their first combat missions against Syrian artillery in Lebanon. Now, France is sending eight Super Etendard Mordernises – a.k.a. SEMs –...
View ArticleCanada Isn’t Quitting the War on Islamic State
The new Liberal government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shaking up defense policy. Among Trudeau’s first announcements was that he intended to end Canada’s involvement in the bombing...
View ArticleTurkish Jets Shoot Down Russian Warplane Above the World’s Most Dangerous...
On Nov. 24, Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber near their border with Syria. Combined with a rebel attack on the rescue team, the incident highlights existing dangers...
View ArticleRussia Pounds Turkey’s Allies in Syria
Syrian Turkmens reappeared in the Syrian Civil War during the shootdown of a Russian warplane Nov. 24. Russia had been bombing cities, towns, and villages along the Syrian-Turkish border, many...
View ArticleFor Syria’s Army, Politics Drives Strategy
According to many analysts, Syrian president Bashar Al Assad seeks only to protect his capital, the country’s heartland and the supply chains linking them. In other words, as this argument goes, Assad...
View ArticleDespite Russian Warplanes in the Sky, Israel Keeps Bombing Syria
The recent downing of a Russian Su-24 Fencer attack plane by Turkish F-16s reminded the world just how congested Syria’s air space has become … and how dangerous. However, operating in the midst of all...
View ArticleRussia Brings Its Big Guns to Syria
The Russian army is literally bringing its big guns to the war in Syria. U.S. military analysts said the decision to add artillery to the battlefield indicates a number of key developments, including...
View ArticleHere’s How U.S. Special Forces Could Destroy Islamic State
Washington is deploying more soldiers to fight Islamic State. On Dec. 1, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the Pentagon would send a “specialized expeditionary targeting force” of 200 U.S....
View ArticleTerror Groups Get Rich, Adapt to Measures Blocking Cash Flow
In the wake of the attacks in Paris last month, the U.S.-led coalition ramped up airstrikes against ISIS’s oil enterprise significantly. The escalation is part of a larger plan unveiled earlier by...
View ArticleAsí es cómo las Fuerzas Especiales estadounidenses podrían destruir al Estado...
Actualmente Washington está desplegando más soldados para luchar contra el Estado Islámico. El pasado 1 de diciembre el Ministro de Defensa estadounidense [Secretary of Defense], Ash Carter, anunció...
View ArticleThe Terrible Geography of the Syrian Civil War
The geography of Syria complicates efforts to end the nearly five-year-old war in the country. With deserts in the south and the great plains of the fertile crescent in the east, there are only two...
View ArticleThe Women Warriors Who Freak Out the Islamic State
The Islamic State has many enemies, both around the world and in the Middle East. But there’s one group of fighters that the men of Islamic State fear more than others because, rumors say, to be killed...
View ArticleIn Just This One Refugee Camp, 40,000 Syrian Children Live in Need
The cost and consequences of war fall heaviest on the most vulnerable — children, the elderly and the disabled. That’s true in every conflict. But in Syria, the biggest difference is the sheer scale of...
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