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The U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan has resumed normal operations after cutting back flights because of violent unrest nearby in the capital Bishkek, a spokesman said on Friday. Flights from the Manas base, which support military operations in Afghanistan, were suspended during clashes that killed at least 75 people and prompted the president to flee Bishkek, the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said on Thursday. Manas spokesman Major Rickardo Bodden told Reuters on Friday that the base was again working normally. "It resumed normal operations today. We curtailed operations for a short period of time," he said. Since Wednesday, the worst...

Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East. Iran has seen its reputation tarnished across much of the Middle East by weeks of violent street clashes after the June 2009 presidential election, which many Iranians believe was rigged. “The Iranians are going to see an opportunity to improve their position in the region, to capitalize on Israel’s reduced standing vis-à-vis the US, to reduce the chances of an...

U.S. General David Petraeus said on Tuesday Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon appear to have been delayed "a bit" and voiced confidence it would not have a bomb this year.The comments by the head of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, underscored the Obama administration's message to Israel and Gulf allies -- that there is time to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program by imposing more economic sanctions. U.S. President Barack Obama's top military advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,...

President Barack Obama’s administration plans to rebrand its military operation in Iraq “Operation New Dawn,” beginning September 1, a Pentagon memorandum shows. The memo, signed by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, shows the Pentagon approving a request to switch the name of the US military effort in Iraq from its current designation — “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” “The request... is approved to take effect 1 September 2010, coinciding with the change of mission for US forces in Iraq. “Aligning the name change with the change of mission sends a strong signal that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended and our forces are...

One of the largest unmanned aerial systems operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, surpassed 30,000 combat flying hours and 1,500 combat sorties Feb. 10 here. The Global Hawks are assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. They provide a broad spectrum of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. The 380th AEW Global Hawks reached their 1,500th combat sortie on Feb. 10. The historic sortie and flying hour mark nearly coincided, said Capt. Michelle Campbell, the...

The Humvee, which replaced the Jeep, will no longer be bought by the Army. While Arnold Schwarzengger certainly helped boost the Hunvee’s public profile, it has never achieved the legendary status of the Jeep and its vulnerability to land mines (aka IEDs) made it something of a anachronism until much heavier armored versions were deployed. While the service won’t buy any more Humvees, the Army is not getting rid of them. “The Army is not buying more Humvees but other people buy Humvees so the line is not terminated. We envision the Humvee to be an enduring part of the...

One of America's top military leaders says Yemen-based terrorists helped plan the Christmas Day, December 25, plot to blow up a U.S. bound airplane. General David Petraeus told reporters in Baghdad Friday that the U.S. and Yemen have been sharing information about al-Qaida in the country, including activity that "resulted in the failed attack on the airliner." The head of the U.S. Central Command said Yemen has carried out "very significant" operations against al-Qaida, some of which prevented a series of suicide bombings. General Petraeus said the United States is helping Yemen, but that its neighbors have also provided significant...

What did the U.S. military offensive against Shiite militias in Sadr City in April 2008 and the Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza last December have in common? A lot, apparently, and both operations are being held up by their respective militaries as models for a new way of battling irregular fighters in urban strongholds. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus likes to put up a PowerPoint slide in public briefings detailing the forces, intelligence and surveillance assets involved in the Sadr city battles as representative of a new way of fighting. “This is the answer,” Petraeus said at a...

Israel 'will attack Iran' before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts By Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 9:18PM BST 23/06/2008 John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in. Bolton: 'the argument for military action is sooner rather than later' The Arab world would be "pleased" by Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "It [the reaction] will be positive privately. I think there'll be public denunciations...

WASHINGTON — The Arabs who vanquished Al Qaeda in Iraq's Anbar province are counseling America to allow Afghans to form irregular militias and be mindful of their devout adherence to Islam, according to a memo from the Anbar Awakening to the American Embassy in Kabul. A rough English translation of the memo, which outlines an "awakening" strategy for Afghanistan and was originally prepared in Arabic at the request of the American deputy chief of mission there, Christopher Dell, was obtained by The New York Sun and confirmed as accurate by the military. The Afghanistan front has been a worry for...

USS NIMITZ, At Sea (NNS) -- More than 6,000 Sailors and Marines attached to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) deployed from their homeport of San Diego on April 2. The Nimitz CSG will join the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) CSG and relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) CSG, currently operating in the Persian Gulf. Nimitz’s arrival will continue the current two-carrier presence in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, demonstrating the U.S. resolve to build regional security and bring long-term stability to the region. While deployed, the Nimitz CSG will work...

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AP) - Four victims of an Iraqi air force plane crash were stationed at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Military sources told the Northwest Florida Daily News that the four killed in Monday's turboprop crash were the first Hurlburt-based air commandos to die in the Iraqi war. Their names and unit have not been released.(snip) The Tampa-based Central Command issued a statement saying the plane was on an operational mission. No other details have been released about the mission or the cause of the crash. The single-engine plane is normally outfitted to...

HER dusty file was one of hundreds of thousands of documents stacked in a house in a wealthy neighbourhood of Baghdad. Asma Rasheed married a pilot, lived comfortably in the presidential compound of Saddam Hussein and directed a microbiology programme that was not supposed to exist. Rasheed’s light blue folder has emerged from a huge archive seized by forces loyal to Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, which opposed Saddam. The archive — a dark who’s who of Iraq — reveals the tiniest details of blandishments and humiliations by a paranoid regime that shared the Nazis’ obsession...

ARLINGTON, VA – Gen. Tommy Franks (Ret.) today issued the following statement on Senator Kerry's speech today on Iraq: "Senator Kerry's contradictions on Iraq are the wrong signal to send to our troops on the ground, to our coalition partners, to the Iraqi people and to the terrorists seeking our destruction. On the eve of Prime Minister Allawi's visit to the United States, Senator Kerry today said that America and the world are 'less secure' now that Saddam Hussein is out of power. "The American people disagree and last December, so did Senator Kerry. At the time he said that...

Central Command Memorial Aims at January 2005 Groundbreaking By Vickie Chachere/Associated Press May 30, 2004 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - When the planners of the Central Command Memorial began their work nearly three years ago, the idea was to create a monument to the history of those who had served and died in the command's operations from Kenya to Kazakhstan. That was just weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks and a time when no one could foresee wars in Iraq and Afghanistan producing new names to be memorialized nearly every day. The drive to build the $1.5 million memorial at Central...

The coalition against terrorists is engaged in a war to ensure the will of the many prevails against the wishes of a few, said Defense Department leaders before the House Armed Services Committee today. Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, and Peter Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, told the representatives that the recent attacks in Baghdad and Karbala underscore the danger still facing the coalition in the region. Attacks March 2 against Shiia pilgrims killed 117 and wounded 500. Abizaid said the attacks were the responsibility of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist affiliated with...

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Israelis and militant Palestinians, million dollar Russian gas deals and Chechen rebels, a U.S. military base and a television network airing statements urging the killing of Americans - all exist side-by-side on one tiny Gulf peninsula. Qatar's accommodation of all who come has irked neighbors and allies. But in less than 10 years, it has freed itself from the shadow of its powerful neighbor, Saudi Arabia, to promote its own, independent foreign policy. Along the way, it has launched a television station that redefined news coverage for Arabs and publicly declared the opening of an Israeli...

<p>NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A Pakistani general, observed keenly in America for his strong-minded religious credentials, will be visiting Washington from Oct. 13 to 21, diplomatic sources told United Press International.</p> <p>Gen. Mohammed Aziz Khan, Pakistan's chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee, is expected to visit the Pentagon and the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command at Tampa, Fla., the sources said.</p>

TIKRIT, Iraq, Dec. 29, 2003 — An Iraqi citizen provided information to U.S. Air Force airmen concerning a large weapons cache that he said consisted of close to 600 rockets, according to U.S. Central Command officials. The Air Force in turn asked the U.S. Army for assistance. Air Force personnel and a patrol from 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment went to the identified site in the evening of Dec. 27 to investigate. Officials said the intelligence acquired suggested the rockets could be found hidden in some undergrowth along the river next to a tree line. After a short search, the...

CAMP SAYLIYA, Qatar, April 3 — Day after day since the beginning of the war, Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks has described the advance of American forces toward Baghdad. Today, General Brooks, the chief military spokesman for Central Command, said that American soldiers were at the gates of the city, ready to enter whenever and wherever they choose. So it was a bit jarring to hear a television reporter from Hong Kong question the general about what would happen if the American offensive suddenly collapsed. "Where would the coalition troops retreat to?" he asked. It was a question ready-made for...