Rowan Scarborough

U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State and Khorasan Group insufficient, critics say

President Obama is playing too nice in the air war against the Islamic State and the Khorasan Group, critics say, pointing to a spared bombing target in Syria as an example.

September 24, 2014

NSA scores victory in foiling Khorasan Group’s U.S. terror plot

The U.S. ability to pinpoint with airstrikes the operational hubs of the al Qaeda offshoot Khorasan Group in Syria and penetrate one of its bombing plots shows the importance of the much-maligned National Security Agency, defense analysts said Tuesday.

September 23, 2014

President Obama’s war advisers not instilling confidence on Islamic State strategy

President Obama's war Cabinet is not instilling confidence in the public about his "no boots on the ground" strategy to defeat the Islamic State now anchored in two countries and in more than a dozen towns.

September 21, 2014

Iran’s Quds force aiding Iraqi Shiites with Obama administration’s blessing

The battle for Mosul Dam in northern Iraq could be the first clash in which Americans fought on the same side with Iranians.

September 20, 2014

CENTCOM leader sought ground troops in Iraq

The top U.S. commander for the war against the Islamic State wanted to insert air controllers on the ground in Iraq to help warplanes locate targets, but he was discouraged by higher-ups.

September 16, 2014

Obama sought repeal of Bush war statute now used to justify Islamic State strikes

President Obama's first initiated war against an Islamic terrorist group is authorized, the White House says, by George W. Bush-signed legislation that Mr. Obama has criticized and wanted to repeal since last year.

September 14, 2014

Pentagon downplays role in destroying Islamic State: ‘It’s about defeating its ideology’

The Pentagon on Friday downplayed the U.S. military's role in defeating the Islamic State, saying the prime target is not it's army, but its ideology.

September 12, 2014

Obama inevitably will need to use U.S. ground troops to defeat Islamic State, experts warn

Trying to uproot and destroy the Islamic State's army of terrorists in Iraq without American ground troops, as President Obama promoted Wednesday night, is doomed to failure, national security experts say.

September 11, 2014

Islamic State leaders to be targeted in new U.S. strategy against terrorists

President Obama's monthlong, limited air war against the Islamic State so far has spared assassination strikes on its leaders, a policy that experts say must be reversed if the White House now plans to destroy the American-killing terrorist group.

September 7, 2014

Islamic State using Edward Snowden leaks to evade U.S. intelligence: NSA official

A former top official at the National Security Agency says the Islamic State terrorist group has "clearly" capitalized on the voluminous leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and is exploiting the top-secret disclosures to evade U.S. intelligence.

September 4, 2014

Obama underestimated Islamic State, misread motives of Putin, Assad: critics

From Russia to Syria to Iraq to al Qaeda, President Obama and his aides have underestimated the motives and capabilities of U.S. adversaries.

September 2, 2014

Islamic State employs brutality, threats in effort to entrench caliphate without interference

The Islamic State terrorist army's brutality and threats against America on Aug. 19 are signs it's focusing on entrenching its so-called Muslim caliphate — without interference.

August 24, 2014

A war by any other name? U.S. military action in Iraq still lacks a moniker

Guns, troops, bombs — the U.S. military action against the Islamic State has everything, except a name.

August 22, 2014

Islamic State targets Americans at home and abroad

The vicious Islamic State group now is vowing to broaden its war campaign to include killing Americans wherever and whenever it can.

August 20, 2014

Army quits tests after competing rifle outperforms M4A1 carbine

EXCLUSIVE: A competing rifle outperformed the Army's favored M4A1 carbine in key firings during a competition last year before the service abruptly called off the tests and stuck with its gun, according to a new confidential report.

August 19, 2014

Critics of George W. Bush’s foreign policy now taking heat themselves

Dogged critics of President George W. Bush's foreign policies suddenly have found that managing the world, and radical Islam, is not as easy as it looked from the outside six or more years ago.

August 17, 2014

Airstrikes can’t break momentum of Islamic State in Iraq: Pentagon

The Pentagon acknowledged Monday that its limited airstrikes in northern Iraq have done nothing to slow the overall operational goals of an al Qaeda spinoff group, the Islamic State.

August 11, 2014

Pentagon: Airstrikes haven’t slowed Islamic State’s goals in Iraq

The Pentagon acknowledged Monday that its limited airstrikes in northern Iraq have done nothing to slow the overall operational goals of the al Qaeda spinoff group, the Islamic State.

August 11, 2014

Islamic State builds forces, targets for Baghdad bomb attacks

The al Qaeda offshoot terrorizing Iraq is in the process of consolidating territorial gains and increasing the target list in Baghdad, a U.S. official and defense analysts say.

August 3, 2014

Obama military strategy too weak for future security, panel reports

An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon said Thursday that President Obama’s military strategy for sizing the force is too weak to meet growing national security threats.

July 31, 2014