December 20, 2015 Hagel ordering full review of nuclear force A defense official says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is going to summon the military's most senior leaders to the Pentagon to discuss serious missteps, leadership lapses and personnel problems in the U.S. nuclear force.
December 20, 2015 The Benghazi Transcripts: Did White House exaggerate Obama's preparation for 9/11 anniversary? On the eve of the terrorist attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, the Obama White House may have exaggerated the scope and depth of President Obama's preparation for such attacks, newly declassified documents show.
December 20, 2015 The Benghazi Transcripts: Top Defense officials briefed Obama on ‘attack,’ not video or protest Minutes after the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya came under assault on Sept. 11, 2012, the nation's top civilian and uniformed defense officials -- headed for a previously scheduled Oval Office session with President Obama -- were informed that the event was a "terrorist attack," declassified documents show.
December 20, 2015 US deployed military advisers to Somalia, officials say The U.S. military has deployed a small cell of military personnel to Somalia for the first time since 18 Americans were killed in the failed “Black Hawk Down” operation in 1993.
December 20, 2015 Army chief opposes sending US troops back to Iraq A U.S. Army general who led U.S. forces through some of the most deadly years of the Iraq war says he opposes sending U.S. combat troops in response to the recent gains in that country by Islamic militants.
December 20, 2015 Gangs of the Middle East: Iraq, Syria torn by fighting factions A new wave of violence is surging across the Middle East, engulfing at least three nations and involving hundreds of groups whose competing interests and loyalties have complicated U.S. efforts to gain any control over the situation.
December 20, 2015 Iranian cleric: ‘Having a nuclear bomb is necessary to put down Israel’ A top Iranian lawmaker and cleric said that the country’s uranium enrichment program could allow it to build a nuclear weapon “in two weeks” in order to “put down Israel,” according to multiple reports in the Farsi language press.
December 20, 2015 NSA reportedly building quantum computer that could crack most encryption types The National Security Agency is reportedly racing to build a computer that will be able to break almost every kind of encryption used to protect medical, banking, business and government records around the world.
December 20, 2015 Civilian death toll in Iraq highest in years, fueling concern of Al Qaeda 'resurgence' Violence in Iraq soared in 2013 to levels not seen in years, U.N. officials reported this week, stoking concerns that the country is descending into the kind of sectarian bloodshed that gripped the country before the U.S. troop surge.
December 20, 2015 US releases 5 more Guantanamo Bay prisoners, sends them to Kazakhstan The Defense Department announced Wednesday that five more prisoners will be transferred out of Guantanamo Bay to another nation, in the latest step by the Obama administration to whittle down the prisoner population in pursuit of ultimately closing the camp.