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In my almost thirty-five years serving our country as a diplomat, I had only one true regret—my year in Afghanistan, 2009-2010. The camaraderie among the Americans, both civilian and military, who worked at the embassy was inspiring, and the dedication and courage of our Afghan colleagues was humbling. But the good work we did there quickly proved quixotic. I particularly regret that I had been such a strong proponent for the military and civilian surges that took place that year, often taking the lead within the embassy in pushing for more and more civilians to serve alongside our military personnel....

SecDef Mattis: Working Toward Merciless Annihilation of ISIS By Faye Higbee Posted May 20, 2017 People have asked about the Pentagon’s strategy for defeating ISIS. On Friday, SecDef Mattis responded: “merciless annihilation.” (Which is totally a Mattis response.) The Pentagon is looking to stop ISIS fighters from scattering like cockroaches back to other countries after they lose their caliphate. He stood shoulder to shoulder with General Joseph Dunford, and Presidential Envoy to the ISIS Coalition Brett McGurk to explain the strategy to the Pentagon Press Corps. “The foreign fighters are the strategic threat should they return home to Tunis, to...

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Sunday afternoon, which flew more than 500 kilometers, only a week after it launched another rocket, South Korea's military announced. President Moon Jae-in immediately convened a National Security Council meeting to discuss the communist neighbor's provocation. "North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile in the eastern direction at around 4:59 p.m. from the vicinity of Pukchang in Pyeongannam-do (South Pyeongan Province)," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. It said South Korea and the U.S. are analyzing details including the type of the missile and its...

Manila (AFP) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday China's leaders told him they were prepared to go to war over competing claims in the South China Sea. Duterte, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing this week, said he was making the threat public in response to domestic criticism he was being too weak with China over the dispute. "I really said it to their face. That is ours and we intend to drill oil there," Duterte said, revealing his previously unreported plans to explore for natural resources in disputed areas. "And they...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that any military solution to the North Korea crisis would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale” and Washington was working internationally to find a diplomatic solution. North Korea has defied all calls to rein in its nuclear and missile programs, even from China, its lone major ally, calling them legitimate self-defense. It has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, and experts say its test on Sunday of a new missile was another important step toward that aim. “We are going to continue...

War always leads to destruction. It's supposed to Once wars made presidents popular. Think of Washington and the Revolution, Lincoln and the Civil War, McKinley and the Spanish American War, FDR and WW II. Maybe that was because we used to win wars. Korea ran Truman out of office. Vietnam made LBJ decide not to run. Before the Silent Coup, Nixon (who ended the war) was tarred with the Vietnam brush. With America winning once again, George the First got a bump from the 100 day Gulf One before we all read his lips. Then rounding out the results of...

t's one of the most hotly-anticipated blockbusters of the summer, particularly due to the involvement of a certain One Direction star. And fans got a glimpse of Harry Styles in action in the dramatic new trailer for Dunkirk on Friday. In one scene, the 23-year-old is seen swimming desperately towards one of the rescuers before grabbing his hand.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday it wants to be good neighbors with North Korea, after the isolated country’s state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over the North’s nuclear program. The United States has urged China, North Korea’s only major ally, to do more to rein in the North’s nuclear and missile programs, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an “era of strategic patience” is over. A commentary carried by North Korea’s KCNA news agency referred to recent commentaries in China’s People’s Daily...

Original newz story - Click here Earlier this morning we reported that according to Korea Times, China had allegedly sent North Korea what amount to a final warning over its military provocations. The rumor cited the May issue of Hong Kong monthly news outlet Dong Xiang. It said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs junior minister invited Park Myung-ho, an official of North Korea, for a meeting. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the meeting and asked his junior to read aloud the warning to the North over the nuclear test. The memorandum mentioned that China will condemn strongly, pull...

U.S. special operations forces are set to conduct operations against North Korean nuclear, missile, and other weapons of mass destruction sites in any future conflict, the commander of Special Operations Command told Congress Tuesday. Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas stated in testimony to a House subcommittee that Army, Navy, and Air Force commandos are based both permanently and in rotations on the Korean peninsula in case conflict breaks out. The special operations training and preparation is a warfighting priority, Thomas said in prepared testimony. There are currently around 8,000 special operations troops deployed in more than 80 countries. "We are...

Posts on May 2 saying China sent its last warning to North Korea over nuclear tests have gone viral. / Screen capture from Weibo By Eom Da-sol China has sent a final warning to North Korea over its military provocations, according to unconfirmed rumors spreading widely on Chinese social media Tuesday. Chinese news outlets have previously said Beijing could turn its back on Pyongyang if the latter conducted a sixth nuclear test. But the rumor that China has given North Korea a final warning has drawn particular interest from Weibo users. The rumor cited the May issue of Hong...

Authored by Dennis Prager via TruthRevolt.org,"If college presidents, mayors and police chiefs won’t stop left-wing mobs, other Americans will."In a recent column, I made the case that Americans are fighting the Second Civil War. The deep chasm that has opened up between the left - not liberals, the left - and the rest of the country is so wide and so unbridgeable that there is no other way to describe what is happening. But I noted that at least thus far, unlike the First Civil War, this war is not violent.Unfortunately, there is now reason to believe that violence...

In case of war with North Korea, the US would face a military challenge as perhaps never before in the last seventy years. This is why a conventional deterrence is actually more important than the nuclear one if we break down a realistic war scenario. The downside is that the DPRK is fully aware that if it responded to a US attack, even in a limited way and only on military targets, it would be flagged as an aggressor, paving the way for a larger foreign intervention. To answer this question, it is necessary to examine what would entail a...

Original newz story - Click here In an unprecedented move, the Chinese Embassy in North Korea has advised Korean-Chinese residents to return home amid concern that the North’s military provocations may trigger a U.S. attack on the North. The Korea Times reports that the embassy began sending the message on Apr. 20, five days before the North celebrated the 85th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army with a show of military power, according to Radio Free Asia (a U.S.-based station specializes in North Korea). The station cited a Korean-Chinese living in the North’s capital, who said he left for China...

Original newz story - Click here The US Air Force deployed an RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance drone at Yokota Air Base on Monday night, starting a five-month operation in Tokyo, Japan Times reports. The drone, the first of five to arrive in Japan, is tasked to survey ballistic missiles and nuclear facilities in North Korea, and is part of the 69th Reconnaissance Group Detachment 1. Global Hawks do not have offensive capabilities. Its mission is to provide near real-time aerial imagery reconnaissance support to U.S. and partner nations, according to the base’s website. Four more Global Hawks are slated...

Original newz story - Click here As we pointed out earlier today, Reuters cited US military officials who said that the U.S. military’s THAAD anti-missile defense system has “reached initial intercept capability” in South Korea, although they added that it would not be fully operational for some months. Just hours after the announcement, Beijing lashed out at DC and demanded an “immediate halt” to the controversial US missile shield. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang voiced the government’s position against the move during a briefing on Tuesday. “We oppose the deployment of the US missile system to South Korea and...

China urges citizens in N. Korea to return home By Ko Dong-hwan The Chinese Embassy in North Korea has advised Korean-Chinese residents to return home amid concern that the North's military provocations may trigger a U.S. attack on the North, according to a source. The embassy began sending the message on Apr. 20, five days before the North celebrated the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army with a show of military power, Radio Free Asia said Tuesday. The U.S.-based station specializes in North Korea. The station cited a Korean-Chinese living in the North's capital, who said he left for...

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor (R) is seen in Seongju, South Korea. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military’s THAAD missile defense system in South Korea has reached an initial operating capability to defend against North Korean missiles, U.S. officials said on Monday, forging ahead with the system despite staunch objections from China. Beijing has opposed activation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), arguing the system’s radar could be used to spy into its territory, despite assurances from Washington that THAAD is purely defensive. The United States is looking for China to use its influence with...

A Chinese town near the border with North Korea is "urgently" recruiting Korean-Chinese interpreters, stirring speculation that China is bracing for an emergency situation involving its nuclear-armed neighbor. The Oriental Daily, a Hong Kong-based news outlet published the story on Apr. 27, including a photo of a Chinese government document ordering the town of Dandong to recruit an unspecified number of Korean-Chinese interpreters to work at 10 departments in the town, including border security, public security, trade, customs and quarantine. The document did not specify the reason behind the unusual, large-scale recruiting. But experts and local citizens said the...

John S. Mosby, known as the “Gray Ghost,” was a Virginian who became legendary for his leadership of Mosby’s Rangers—a band of Confederate guerrilla fighters that harassed the Union Army and went toe-to-toe with George Armstrong Custer in the Shenandoah Valley. Mosby is still highly regarded as a strategist and tactician and is studied to this day by practitioners of unconventional warfare. He lived a long life, dying early in the 20th century, and was also a lawyer, a diplomat and author who wrote about his experiences during the war.