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Kristina Wong

kwong@washingtontimes.com

Kristina Wong was a national security reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Kristina Wong

Afghan police secure the site of a suicide bombing in Khost, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. The suicide bomber was driving a motorcycle packed with explosives and rammed it into a patrol of Afghan and international forces, killing over a dozen people, including three NATO service members and their translator, official said. (AP Photo/Nashanuddin Khan)

NATO resumes training of Afghan police recruits

Special operations forces in Afghanistan have resumed training Afghan Local Police recruits after a suspension last month in response to two insider attacks by recruits on their international coalition trainers in August, U.S. officials say.

October 7, 2012
An Afghan soldier adjusts bullets in his gun Sept. 10, 2012, on a military helicopter during a flight transporting journalists from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Bagram. The journalists were to attend a ceremony where U.S. officials handed over formal control of the country's only large-scale U.S.-run prison to Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

Afghan official blames Taliban for insider attacks

A top Afghan official said Thursday that he has believed for years that most insider attacks on foreign troops have resulted from the Taliban’s infiltration of Afghanistan's security forces — an assessment that contradicts Pentagon conclusions.

October 4, 2012
**FILE** Secretary of Defense Robert Gates listens to a question during a media availability at the Pentagon on June 16, 2011. (Associated Press)

Foot soldiers march their way into new Air Sea Battle concept

The Army is preparing to officially join the Pentagon's "Air Sea Battle" operational concept, as the Defense Department shifts its focus from land operations in the Middle East and Europe to mostly naval and aerial activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

September 30, 2012
In this June 27, 2006, file photo, reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. military guards walk within the Camp Delta military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) ** FILE **

Pentagon: Guantanamo prisoner transfers to Canada

The Pentagon announced Saturday the transfer of a detainee from its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Canada, where he will serve out the rest of his eight-year prison sentence.

September 29, 2012
** FILE ** Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks to reporters in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 10, 2012, after visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial ahead of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. (Associated Press)

Panetta: Afghan-NATO operations to resume

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Thursday the resumption of Afghan-NATO partnered operations after a week-long suspension of such missions below the battalion level.

September 27, 2012
**FILE** Afghan security forces raise Afghanistan's flag in place of NATO's flag on July 18, 2012, during the third phase of transfer of authority from NATO troops to Afghan security forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

Afghan-NATO forces foil insider attack

Afghan and NATO forces on Friday thwarted an insider attack for the first time since the start of the war, coalition officials said Monday.

September 24, 2012
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta laughs Sept. 21, 2012, with Auckland War Memorial Museum director Roy Clare (left) in an elevator at the museum in Auckland, New Zealand, after presenting medals to New Zealand Defense Force Service members for their service in Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

Panetta announces new U.S.-New Zealand cooperation

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Friday that New Zealand military ships now will be visiting U.S. ports with the defense secretary's permission, ending a policy that had been in place since the 1980s.

September 21, 2012
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (right) is welcomed to Auckland, New Zealand, by New Zealand's Minister of Defense Jonathan Coleman (center) and U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner on Sept. 21, 2012. (Associated Press)

Panetta to meet top New Zealand officials

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will meet Friday with New Zealand's defense minister to cap a 10-day trip to the Asia Pacific to advance the Pentagon's "pivot" to the region.

September 20, 2012
Chinese frigate Yantai is seen here in Qingdao, China, on Sept. 20, 2012. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta got a rare glimpse Thursday inside a Chinese naval base and toured two of its ships. Panetta checked out the frigate Yantai, which recently returned from a counter-piracy deployment in the Gulf of Aden, and the Great Wall 197, a conventionally powered submarine. (Associated Press)

Panetta tours Chinese warships

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta toured two Chinese warships Thursday afternoon, as part of his visit here to improve U.S.-Chinese military-to-military relations.

September 20, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (center) shakes hands with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Larry Downing, Pool)

Panetta meets with Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met Wednesday with visiting Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta amid questions about whether he is still slated to become president after having canceled high-profile meetings with foreign dignitaries and dropped from public view for two weeks, raising questions about the communist government's stability.

September 19, 2012
A V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft taxies after a mission at Asad Air Base in western Iraq. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

U.S. will deploy V-22 Ospreys to Japanese bases

The U.S. and Japan have come to an agreement to deploy 24 Marine V-22 Osprey aircraft to its base in Okinawa, Japan sometime in October, the Pentagon announced Wednesday from Beijing, where Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is visiting.

September 18, 2012
Protesters march outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday. The 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion brought a fresh wave of anti-Japan demonstrations, with thousands venting anger over the colonial past and a current dispute involving contested islands in the East China Sea. (Associated Press)

China holds firm on island

China's top defense chief said Tuesday that the communist nation's leaders "reserve rights for further actions" in asserting China's claim to a small chain of islands recently purchased by Japan, but he added that he hopes peaceful negotiations will resolve the dispute.

September 18, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (left), is welcomed with flowers as China’s Chief of the General Staff Gen. Ma Xiao Tian (right), and U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke stand by Monday in Beijing. Mr. Panetta is on his third trip to Asia in 11 months, reflecting the Pentagon’s shift to put more focus on the Pacific region. (Associated Press)

Panetta warns of war over isle claims

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on Monday warned that territorial disputes between China and its neighbors could easily spiral into war, as the start of the fishing season in the East China Sea increased the likelihood of confrontations between Beijing and Tokyo over a string of islands there.

September 17, 2012