US Should Stand Off In Syria; Not A Core Interest

US Should Stand Off In Syria; Not A Core Interest
US Should Stand Off In Syria; Not A Core Interest

After a U.S. F-18 shot down a Syrian fighter-bomber last week, Assad’s ally, Russia, declared that it would consider shooting down any U.S. aircraft west of the Euphrates river. The White House defiantly declared the US would defend itself if attacked. Risking a war with a nuclear power over a Syrian policy that does not advance core…

CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh

CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh
CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh

Breaking Defense contributor James Kitfield spoke with Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during Dunford’s swing through Japan, Singapore, Australia, Wake Island, and Hawaii. BD readers know that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis promised Sen. John McCain yesterday that America would get a new Afghan strategy by mid-July. In this second part of Kitfield’s interview,…

Iraq: Proving Ground For Multi-Domain Battle

Iraq: Proving Ground For Multi-Domain Battle
Iraq: Proving Ground For Multi-Domain Battle

ARMY WAR COLLEGE: The brutal ground war in Iraq holds vital lessons for sophisticated future operations in the Pacific, Australian Maj. Gen. Roger Noble said today. Military pundits often draw a sharp distinction between what they consider low-tech warfare against irregular forces, as in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, and high-tech war against states like China…

Mother Of All Bombs Dropped On ISIS Terrorist Mothers

Mother Of All Bombs Dropped On ISIS Terrorist Mothers
Mother Of All Bombs Dropped On ISIS Terrorist Mothers

WASHINGTON: There’s a lot we don’t know about MOAB, the bomb originally designed to terrify and obliterate Iraqi troops and used in combat for the first time today in Afghanistan. We know that it is guided by GPS. We know that it’s very big — 27,100 pounds or so — and works well against caves…

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?
Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

They’re surrounded, targeted by constant bombardments and slowly strangled of supplies and reinforcements for months so fighters for Daesh (aka ISIS) might reasonably have abandoned Mosul and tried to slink off into the night. That’s what happened last June in the battle to recapture Fallujah, when Daesh fighters were relatively quickly routed, and hundreds were killed by U.S.…

Dunford: Bash Daesh To Point Where Local Forces Can Contain

Dunford: Bash Daesh To Point Where Local Forces Can Contain
Dunford: Bash Daesh To Point Where Local Forces Can Contain

WASHINGTON: While Gen. “Fighting Joe” Dunford didn’t discuss the new anti-Daesh strategy in detail today, he laid out the goal during a discussion today at the Brookings Institution: “working in combination with local forces and coalition forces, drive the threat down to the level where local law enforcement, security forces can deal with that threat and therefore,…

Syria: Just Say No (To Regime Change)

Syria: Just Say No (To Regime Change)
Syria: Just Say No (To Regime Change)

  Sen. John McCain said in early February that, it “is time for the international community to abandon the absurd fiction of a political solution that leaves Assad in power (in Syria).” McCain, who was reacting to Amnesty International’s report about mass executions by Bashar al Assad’s regime, argued: “Bashar Assad does not belong in a…

Army Cyber Accelerates; Electronic Warfare Lags

Army Cyber Accelerates; Electronic Warfare Lags
Army Cyber Accelerates; Electronic Warfare Lags

PENTAGON: The Army is ahead of schedule building cyber teams — but its equally essential electronic warfare branch is lagging badly. Like a fiddler crab, one arm is much more developed than the other. While effective in the current fight against Daesh (aka ISIL), this unbalanced force would be at a severe disadvantage in future Multi-Domain Battles…

Dear Readers: What Should Trump Do With US Military?

Dear Readers: What Should Trump Do With US Military?
Dear Readers: What Should Trump Do With US Military?

We haven’t done this much here at Breaking Defense, but when I ran DoDBuzz we used to sometimes take cogent and insightful readers comments and build them into a story. Here’s your chance to tell the new administration the smart things it could do with America’s military over the next four years. You can either…

Is Trump, Information Warrior, Key To Defeating Daesh (ISIL)?

Is Trump, Information Warrior, Key To Defeating Daesh (ISIL)?
Is Trump, Information Warrior, Key To Defeating Daesh (ISIL)?

President-elect Trump has promised to destroy Daesh. If Trump wants to avoid being the third Administration in succession to sink into the morass of the Middle East, it is essential to first ask what declaring victory would look like. Part of the West’s challenge is rooted in that Daesh is a brand inside a religion and…

US Must Help Syrian Rebels To Blunt Russia, Terrorists

US Must Help Syrian Rebels To Blunt Russia, Terrorists
US Must Help Syrian Rebels To Blunt Russia, Terrorists

The battle of freedom and democracy versus authoritarianism repeats time and time again: World War II, the Cold War, the Arab Spring. Now, the setting is Syria, where moderate, pro-democracy rebels have been lashing out against the brutal dictatorship of Syrian President Bashar al Assad for over six years. How did we get to this…

Trump Won; Four Global Realities He Faces

Trump Won; Four Global Realities He Faces
Trump Won; Four Global Realities He Faces

Americans woke up on November 9 with a collective sigh of relief: the election was finally over. Now, we get to the hard part: filling appointments in the executive branch, passing legislation, and getting the federal government to work again. The period between Election Day and January 20 is a great time for a refresher…

Fix Rules Of Engagement For Afghanistan Fight: Rep. Joe Wilson

Fix Rules Of Engagement For Afghanistan Fight: Rep. Joe Wilson
Fix Rules Of Engagement For Afghanistan Fight: Rep. Joe Wilson

This is the first of our monthly op-eds by Rep. Joe Wilson, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. Dear readers, if you’ve got unique and useful topics you think Rep. Wilson should address, please let us or his office know. Read on. The Editor.  Despite the Taliban clearly still…