Rowan Scarborough

Islamic State stalemates provoke Kurds to ask for more weapons

Amid the gloomy news of stalemates against the Islamic State, a bright spot is a dogged, disparate force known as the peshmerga in northern Iraq that just finished retaking a string of villages amid a six-month-long offensive.

October 4, 2015

U.S.-led air war in Syria recedes as Russian jets take control of skies

The U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State launched only one airstrike Thursday in Syria, far below the daily average of eight, as Russian jets continued to pound various targets in that country.

October 1, 2015

Vladimir Putin campaign in Syria to hit targets beyond militants

Russian President Vladimir Putin's new air war over Syria will not be conducted with the niceties of the ongoing American campaign because the Russians lack sophisticated smart bombs, do not adhere to rules against killing civilians and will hit targets beyond the Islamic State's terrorist army.

September 30, 2015

Islamic State, al Qaeda gains test Afghanistan security force

Both al Qaeda and an emerging Islamic State are making gains simultaneously in Afghanistan, providing the biggest test to date for an Afghan National Security Force handed the operational lead by the U.S.

September 29, 2015

Islamic State has trained operators to replace targeted leaders

Targeting the Islamic State's leaders will not defeat the expanding terrorist group because of a "deep bench" of trained operators who can quickly replace the dead, says a new report by a Pentagon-supported research group.

September 28, 2015

Marine commandant not questioned about reprisal for whistleblower

The Senate Armed Services Committee passed on a chance to question publicly the new Marine Corps commandant about punishment handed out to an officer who warned his battle mates about a traitorous Afghan police chief known to sexually abuse boys.

September 27, 2015

U.S. military indifference to Afghan sex abuse led boy to kill three Marines

A lawsuit charges that the U.S. military's indifference to the crime of Afghanistan officials sexually abusing boys led to the killings of three Marines in 2012 by the youthful companion of a corrupt Afghan police chief.

September 22, 2015

Vladimir Putin orders ground troops to Syria after Obama’s use of moderate rebels flops

Vladimir Putin views the Syrian army and its Iranian allies as incapable of defeating the Islamic State -- and he's seen enough of the Obama administration's sputtering strategy.

September 20, 2015

Iran deal: Iran’s toll on America: 500 soldiers killed in Iraq

The Iranian Islamic regime was directly involved in the killing of more than 500 American service members in Iraq by supplying Shiite extremists with advanced roadside bombs, rocket-propelled explosives and other munitions, military officials say.

September 15, 2015

John Brennan: U.S. watching for nuclear cooperation between Iran, North Korea

The Iran nuclear deal is silent on an issue that the CIA and proliferation experts are concerned about: that Tehran may outsource parts of its nuclear and missiles program to the secretive regime in North Korea, which on Tuesday committed itself to producing more fuel for nuclear bombs.

September 15, 2015

Probe of Jason Amerine focusing on presentation he made to Bowe Berghdahl

The Army's probe into a Green Beret war hero on a complaint he divulged classified information is focusing on a Powerpoint presentation he made on then-captive Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

September 15, 2015

Iran responsible for deaths of 500 U.S. service members in Iraq, military officials say

The Iranian Islamic regime was directly involved in the killing of more than 500 American service members in Iraq by supplying Shiite extremists with advanced roadside bombs, rocket-propelled explosives and other munitions, military officials say.

September 13, 2015

U.S. Special Operations Command, obscure before 9/11, on front lines in war on terror

Islamic extremists jarred America 14 years ago in a coordinated attack that also rattled to attention a backwater military command that had done a lot of training in past decades but only sporadic fighting.

September 10, 2015

Iran will continue to support rogues, terrorists and criminals: House panel

A House committee said Thursday that Iran will continue to support rogues, terrorists and criminals in the Middle East region despite its new nuclear deal with the Obama administration.

September 10, 2015

Obama calls for more icebreakers despite lack of funds

President Obama's urgent call to construct a new fleet of heavy Coast Guard icebreakers to monitor the contested Arctic is belied by his recent budgets that slashed funding for even one new ship.

September 8, 2015

Hillary Clinton’s emails likely reside on multiple servers, expert says

Hillary Clinton's missing emails likely reside on one or multiple servers in different places because she communicated with a number of people using different companies to send and store information, a security expert says.

September 4, 2015

Green Berets have growing doubts of duties with skittish political leadership

They were the first troops to hit the ground in Afghanistan while al Qaeda's dirty work still smoldered back in the United States.

August 30, 2015

Army women injured twice as often as men in combat training

Female soldiers suffered double the rate of injuries compared with male colleagues in Army combat training, including jobs in field artillery and repairing the Bradley fighting vehicle.

August 26, 2015

Army stats show that women are injured twice as often as men in combat training

Female soldiers suffered double the rate of injuries compared with male colleagues in Army combat training.

August 26, 2015

Obama: No U.S. drones for ally Jordan

The Obama administration has told a congressman it cannot ship Predator or Reaper remotely piloted vehicles to Jordan because of restrictions under the Missile Technology Control Regime.

August 19, 2015