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Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday said that the United States is not looking to start a war with Iran but is “prepared to finish one.” “The United States is not seeking a war with Iran but we are prepared to finish one. We are seeking a diplomatic solution, but first this will require Iran to deescalate, it will require the regime to come to the table with the goal of preventing further bloodshed,” Esper told reporters at the Pentagon. “We are open to having this discussion with them but we are just as prepared to deliver a forceful response...

<p>Eric Chewning, the chief of staff to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, is resigning and will be leaving his post at the end of January, the Defense Department announced Monday.</p> <p>Chewning has been in his role since January 2019, after starting with the Department in October 2017 as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy. He now plans on returning to the private sector, according to Pentagon press secretary Alyssa Farah.</p>

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper responded on Monday to reports that the US-led coalition to combat the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization has decided to withdraw from Iraq. "There has been no decision to leave Iraq. Period," he said. Earlier it was reported that the commander of Task Force Iraq had written a letter to the Iraqis informing them of the decision to withdraw. .....

Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who posed for a photo next to an Islamic State terrorist's corpse in Iraq, and the SEAL will be able to keep his Trident pin, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/navy-seal-eddie-gallagher-review-board-trump-interference  

Fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s outburst at President Trump in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday, calling the president’s handling of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s case a “shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review” is in and of itself shocking and unprecedented in several ways. Spencer wrote: “The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.” In reality, Spencer is the man who bypassed the chain of command by cutting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper out of his...

The mysterious flight between the two nations had many asking "Whodunnit?" A privately owned, unidentified Challenger 604 jet departed from Ben-Gurion International Airport, landing first in the Jordanian capital of Amman and then in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Tuesday evening, causing many to question which Israeli decided to pay the Saudis a visit. The plane in question departed from Israel and flew to an airport in Amman, where it remained on the ground for about two minutes before taking off again and landing in the Saudi capital. After a little less than an hour, the plane, privately...

Fired Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer lashed out at President Trump in an interview with CBS News on the steps of the Pentagon Monday evening. Spencer, who mutinied against Trump over his order to not kick Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher out of the Navy SEALs, also attacked Trump in his letter acknowledging his firing this past weekend over the Gallagher case. Spencer said of Trump, “What message does that send to the troops? That you can get away with this? We have to have good order and discipline. It is the backbone of what we do. I don’t...

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that all of the nearly 1,000 troops withdrawing from northern Syria are expected to move to western Iraq to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants and “to help defend Iraq.” On Thursday, Turkey agreed in talks with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to a five-day pause in an offensive into northeastern Syria to allow time for the Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a “safe zone” Ankara aims to establish near the Turkish border with Syria. The truce also aimed to ease a crisis triggered...

Seven months after General James Mattis left his post following a series of policy disputes with US President Donald Trump, Army veteran Mark Esper has been confirmed as Secretary of Defense. Esper, who was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 90-8, is taking the reins from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and comes into his role amid a series of global challenges. Those challenges include mounting tensions with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and the growing military challenges posed by Russia and China in the Middle East. With the growing tensions in the Persian Gulf, the Pentagon...

The Senate confirmed former Army Lt. Col. Mark Esper as Secretary of Defense Tuesday, making him the first permanent Pentagon boss since James Mattis resigned last December. Esper, who served 10 years on active duty and 11 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve, was Acting Secretary before his nomination, and Patrick Shanahan had been Acting Secretary prior to that. The vote was not close, with the Senate confirming Esper by a vote of 90-8. The no votes included 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.