Feb 08 U.S. official: American casualties in Afghan military mission By Associated Press American and Afghan military personnel were fired on while conducting an operation in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, the U.S. military said Saturday. Several U.S. personnel were either injured or killed, but the exact number and other details were not provided,… Continue reading
Feb 05 Iraqi officials say Baghdad wants to minimize reliance on U.S. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Samya Kullab, Associated Press The development comes amid a prevailing crisis of mistrust between Washington and Baghdad after a Washington-directed strike killed a top Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander. Continue reading
Feb 04 U.S. general slips into Iraq for talks to salvage relations By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, has slipped into Iraq as the Trump administration works to salvage relations with Iraqi leaders and shut down the government's push for an American troop withdrawal. McKenzie is… Continue reading
Jan 31 Trump authorizes shift to wider U.S. military use of land mines By Robert Burns, Associated Press Earlier Friday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper made the case for giving military commanders the latitude to use land mines as a means to "shape the battlefield" and protect American forces. Critics of the new Trump policy call it dangerous. Continue reading
Jan 29 Watch 8:08 The danger of traumatic brain injury, which afflicted U.S. troops after Iranian attack When Iran fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in early January, there were no fatalities, but weeks later, the Pentagon said 50 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries in the attack. Now questions are being raised about… Continue watching
Jan 14 Watch 8:03 A war veteran’s story of survivor’s guilt — and redemption By Nick Schifrin, Dan Sagalyn Over two decades of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, much research has explored the psychological toll suffered by the men and women who serve. A phenomenon that is perhaps less well understood is survivor’s guilt. Adam Linehan was an Army… Continue watching
Jan 11 Watch 4:19 Are U.S. military leaders prepared to withdraw from Iraq? By PBS NewsHour Iraq’s government is demanding that U.S. troops leave the country in the wake of last week's drone strike that killed an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander. But on Friday, as violent protests continued in Iraq, Secretary of State… Continue watching
Jan 02 Watch 7:49 What’s in the $1.4 trillion federal spending bill Before leaving town for the holidays, lawmakers came together to pass a huge federal spending bill that illuminates the government’s policy priorities for 2020. The deal allocates a total of $1.4 trillion to the military, education, a barrier along the… Continue watching
Dec 29 U.S. strikes hit Iraqi militia blamed in contractor’s death By Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press U.S. forces conducted “precision defensive strikes” against five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, a Defense Department official said. Continue reading
Dec 10 Watch 7:24 During Afghan war, lack of U.S. knowledge yielded a flawed strategy For nearly two decades, the United States’ military engagement in Afghanistan has been plagued by strategic missteps, according to The Washington Post's bombshell report. The investigation examined thousands of pages of previously unpublished notes and interviews from the U.S. government’s… Continue watching