European troops have begun training Malian forces to help ensure security and stability following a planned French withdrawal in July. From the start, the mission is unlikely to succeed. The program has too few European trainers and will train a paltry four Malian battalions—roughly 2,600 soldiers—to secure a country twice …
Throughout recent federal budget discussions, strategies to pull America out of recession, and the potential for massive cuts to national security, one cost cutting idea has been to withdraw U.S. military forces from Europe. The primary arguments behind such proposals are that this will save money immediately and that these …
During the same week that France announced it has retreated early from Afghanistan, the tiny NATO-aspirant country of Georgia announced that it has doubled its troop contribution to the NATO-led mission. The Taliban, unsurprisingly, issued a statement calling on other NATO members to follow France’s example. For the sake of …
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko, who took over on July 2, 2012, has made significant progress in the short period of time he has been in charge. In October, a SIGAR investigation found that an Afghan contractor had “failed to install metal grates to prevent …
Yesterday marked the 11-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, which was launched just three and a half weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Recently, U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan reached the 2,000 mark. These markers—combined with the horror of “insider attacks” by Afghan soldiers against allied fighters—beg an accounting …
The Heritage Foundation hosted its Homeland Security 2012 Conference on Wednesday. Several distinguished speakers warned that defense disaster response support to civil authorities is threatened by sequestration. The conference contributors included the Honorable Paul N. Stockton, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs; Vice Admiral Harvey …
Administration officials recently spoke publicly for the first time about specifically how sequestration would undermine military readiness. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Jeffrey Zients argued that “sequestration would be devastating” to the Defense …
Displaying confidence in the American strategy in Afghanistan, Retired General Jack Keane, a well-respected commentator on national security affairs, emphatically stated in an interview with Fox News that reacting to the tragic murder of 16 Afghan civilians by accelerating the withdrawal of U.S. troops would be a mistake, and one …
Heritage’s James Carafano recently wrote that President Obama’s proposed defense cuts are tantamount to a gift to America’s enemies. These cuts reduce America’s military capabilities in a dangerous world and bring greater risk to the nation. The President’s new defense budget raises the risk level for the U.S. and its …
