December 20, 2015 Watchdog: Afghan poppy cultivation surging, after US spent $7.6B on anti-drug campaign Cultivation of the illegal poppy plant in Afghanistan has reached an “all-time high” following a $7.6 billion counternarcotics campaign paid for by the United States, according to government oversight investigators.
December 20, 2015 $500M worth of US-bought planes destroyed by Afghans, sold as scrap for 6 cents a pound Sixteen military transport planes bought by the United States government for the Afghan Air Force (AAF) at a cost of nearly $500 million were recently destroyed by the Afghan military and sold for scrap parts at around six cents per pound, prompting a government inquiry to determine why millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted on the ill-fated program.
December 20, 2015 Ukrainian president pleads with US for military aid, tells Congress 'blankets' not enough Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pleaded for U.S. military aid Thursday in a high-profile address to Congress, saying that while nonlethal aid like blankets and night-vision goggles is important, "one cannot win the war with blankets.”
December 20, 2015 Don’t Call It a War? Administration hit for refusing to use ‘w’ word for ISIS mission The Obama administration is refusing to describe the expanded military campaign against the Islamic State as a war -- despite plans to launch airstrikes across two tumultuous Middle East countries, dispatch hundreds more U.S. military personnel and build a coalition of nations to ultimately “destroy” the growing terror network.
December 20, 2015 Obama says military will help fight Ebola outbreak in West Africa President Obama has said that the United States military will begin aiding the response to an outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa that has claimed the lives of at least 2,100 people in five countries.
December 20, 2015 Message to Putin? Obama warns NATO allies will respond to ‘armed attack’ President Obama on Friday delivered a tacit warning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin amid the unrest in Ukraine, vowing at the close of a NATO summit that the allies will not tolerate an attack on any member nation.
December 20, 2015 Kurdish official says US aid not ‘effective’ against ISIS, appeals for heavier arms A top Kurdish representative to the U.S. claims that the Obama administration is not doing enough to supply vital advanced weapons to Kurdish peshmerga security forces in their fight against Islamic State militants – amid signs that other nations may be eclipsing the U.S. in their level of support.
December 20, 2015 Iran speeds weapons deliveries to US ally in Iraq U.S. officials are taking a wary view of the disclosure this week that Iran – one of four countries the United States accuses of supporting terrorism – has begun arming the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq, as the Kurds scramble to combat the threat posed by ISIS.
December 20, 2015 US considering new Iraq relief mission for group under siege by ISIS, official says The Obama administration is considering a humanitarian mission to help a group of religious minorities under siege by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, a senior U.S. official confirmed to ӣƵ, in what would be the second such relief operation since U.S. military flights began earlier this month.
December 20, 2015 US sending arms to Iraq's Kurds in battle against militants, official says The United States is sending weapons to Kurdish forces in Iraq who have begun to roll back gains made by Sunni militants, a senior U.S. official confirmed to ӣƵ.