Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Resigns
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Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Resigns

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama on Monday. The resignation apparently came with pressure from the president. The White House reportedly had concerns about Hagel’s effectiveness and his ability to handle the increasingly complex picture in the Middle East. The AP reports: The president said he and Hagel had…

Joint Chiefs Chairman Says US Considering Combat Troops in Iraq
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Joint Chiefs Chairman Says US Considering Combat Troops in Iraq

General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Obama’s top military adviser, told members of Congress on Thursday that the U.S. is actively considering deploying a limited number of U.S. combat troops to fight alongside Iraqi soldiers moving to retake Mosul and other areas under the control of Islamic State…

No Boots on the Ground? 1500 More Troops Heading to Iraq
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No Boots on the Ground? 1500 More Troops Heading to Iraq

Further undermining his insistence that the U.S. campaign against Islamic State militants will not involve American boots on the ground, President Obama on Friday authorized the deployment of an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq, a plan that would cost $5.6 billion and would more than double the size of the U.S. force in the nation….

Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in Iraq Massacre

Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in Iraq Massacre

More than seven years after guards with the private mercenary company Blackwater opened fire on Iraqi civilians in downtown Baghdad, killing 17 people and wounding 20, a federal jury on Wednesday found four of the men involved with the massacre guilty in the case. Former guard Nicholas Slatten was handed a guilty verdict for first-degree…

Report: Abandoned Western Supplied Chemical Weapons Found in Iraq

Report: Abandoned Western Supplied Chemical Weapons Found in Iraq

These aren’t the chemical weapons you’re looking for. New reporting from the New York Times, published online late Tuesday, reveals that although the administration of George W. Bush employed false claims of a chemical weapons program to justify its 2003 invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (no such program existed) – the reality is that substantial,…

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Endless Flow of Weapons Fuels Endless War in Iraq and Syria

An analysis of new data collected by a group which tracks weapons in global conflict zones has found that a large proportion of the munitions now being used by ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria are from U.S. manufacturers, either captured on the battlefield or sold to them by supposed U.S. allies. According to the…

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Read President Obama’s Full Speech Outlining ISIS Strategy

President Barack Obama gave a speech tonight laying out his administration’s case for expanded action against the terrorist organization ISIS in Iraq and Syria. You can read his full speech below: My fellow Americans – tonight, I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to…

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Senator Coats Hints Support for Expanded Military Response to ISIS

Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) appeared on CNN this morning with former Congressman and 9/11 Committee Co-Chairman Lee Hamilton to discuss ISIS and how the United States should respond. Indiana’s senior senator suggested that the US should look at its visa waiver program to deal with the re-entry of Americans from Syria and that the military…

Sectarian Upheaval Rocks Baghdad as Fighting Rages in Northern Iraq

As the U.S. reportedly began directly arming Kurds in northern Iraq to help them fight radical militants, a political fight is escalating in Baghdad, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — who until Monday was largely backed by the U.S. — refusing to give up power after Iraq’s new president on Monday nominated the deputy parliament…