Here’s what 19-year-old Lance Cpl. William Bee felt flying into southern Afghanistan on Christmas Day 2001: purely lucky. The U.S. was hitting back at the al-Qaida plotters who had brought down the World Trade Center, and Bee found himself among the first Marines on the ground. “Excitement,” Bee says these days, of the teenage Bee’s … Read more
The United States and Britain ordered Friday the deployment of thousands of troops to Afghanistan to evacuate their nationals, as the Taliban overran more key regional cities in an offensive that has left the capital dangerously exposed. The orders came as the Taliban took control of Kandahar, the nation’s second biggest city in the insurgency’s … Read more
The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. That deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise. “I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines … Read more
The U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems to Taiwan in a deal valued at up to $750 million, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. This comes after arms sales last year that included drones and coastal missile defenses meant to upgrade the island’s capabilities and discourage … Read more
The U.S. military is warning about what analysts have described as a major expansion of China‘s nuclear missile silo fields at a time of heightened tension between Beijing and Washington. Researchers at the Federation of American Scientists estimate that China has approximately 250 underground missile silos under construction after they used satellite imagery to identify … Read more
July 29, 2021 — It has been 2 days since the CDC reversed itself and said people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus should wear masks again when indoors, and businesses and government entities are already following suit. On July 27, the agency called for masks in K-12 school settings and in areas … Read more
The Pentagon‘s watchdog said on Tuesday it would evaluate the safety protocols surrounding the president’s “nuclear football” – containing codes needed for a strike – after one such briefcase nearly came within range of rioters storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. In a brief notice, the Inspector General’s office said it would evaluate the extent … Read more
The United States conducted a drone strike against al-Shabab militants in Somalia on Tuesday, the first such military action against the al-Qaida affiliate in East Africa since the Biden administration took office in January. The strike was carried out by military aircraft against al-Shabab fighters who were attacking members of the Danab, an elite American-trained … Read more
As the Defense Department prepares to solicit bids for cloud-computing work that could yield billions of dollars for Amazon, members of Congress are raising new questions about the company’s efforts to win a $10 billion contract during the Trump administration. Previously unreleased emails show that Pentagon officials in 2017 and 2018 lavished praise on several … Read more
The U.S. military will remain involved in the Afghanistan war into September, keeping the option of launching airstrikes against the Taliban to defend Afghan forces, U.S. officials said Thursday, even as the final combat troops prepare to leave the country in coming days. For weeks, officials have said the withdrawal of the main U.S. military … Read more