Military & Security

Robert Merry The United States suffers from a severe case of strategic confusion, manifest in the country seeing enemies where none exist and showing an inability to concentrate action where they do exist. Given the immensity of American power relative to the rest of the world, this malady …

It’s the right time for Obama to rethink the administration’s policy toward both Assad and his jihadist foes. In the wake of the ISIS terrorist attack on Paris, President Barack Obama declared that his administration has the right strategy on ISIS and will “see it through”. But the …

By Jeffrey Goldberg U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter had reassuring words for Israel when I interviewed him last week in his office at the Pentagon, but he also had blunt criticism of other American allies in the Middle East: the Arab Gulf states, who, he argued, sometimes appear unwilling …

The Russian Helicopters Company has signed contracts with the Iranian Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (PANHA) on upgrading its maintenance and overhaul facility for Mi-17 helicopters, the Russian company’s deputy head said Wednesday. Two contracts have been reached to “in compliance with the memorandum signed in October 2015 with the PANHA …

If an explosive device brought the Kogalymavia/Metrojet Airbus A321 down (this theory is unconfirmed), the thinking behind the alleged terrorist act could have been unrelated to Russia’s counterterrorism efforts in Syria, intelligence expert Paul R. Pillar noted. The reason is simple: the Sinai Province, a group that claimed …

The S-400 Triumf, a top-tier anti-aircraft weapon system produced in Russia, has no parallels across the globe in terms of combat capabilities, defense expert Konstantin Sivkov told Radio Sputnik.  Take the US-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, for instance. “The THAAD has shorter range and is incapable of hitting targets …

Washington is an “arsonist” responsible for the ongoing Syrian crisis, Tony Cartalucci writes, stressing that Syria and Russia must attempt to expand their operation across Syrian territory faster than the Pentagon can spread “chaos” there. Washington is capable of extinguishing the fire of the ongoing Syrian crisis at any moment by shutting …

Arab nations, who initially took part in the US-led airstrikes against ISIL, have grown wary of Washington’s scheming in the Middle East and have switched their efforts to tackle what they perceive as real threats, military expert Vladimir Prohvatilov told Radio Sputnik. “Many know perfectly well that the …

Syrian army units and pro-government militia are gaining ground in multiple provinces, killing dozens of terrorists, their commanders and destroying vehicles and materiel, SANA news agency reports on Sunday. In Hama province, 39 militants of different affiliations have been killed and dozens injured in recent fighting. Government sources point at Islamists …