Tag Archives: Military

U.S. to send more troops to Iraq ahead of Mosul offensive

Kurdish Peshmerga forces gather in a village east of Mosul, Iraq,

By Yeganeh Torbati and Stephen Kalin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The United States is stepping up its military campaign against Islamic State (IS) by sending hundreds more troops to assist Iraqi forces in an expected push on Mosul, the militants’ largest stronghold, later this year.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter made the announcement on Monday during a visit to Baghdad where he met U.S. commanders as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi.

Most of the 560 troop reinforcements will work out of Qayara air base, which Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State and plan to use as a staging ground for an offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second biggest city.

Government forces said on Saturday they had recovered the air base, about 60 km (40 miles) from the northern city, with air support from the U.S.-led military coalition.

“With these additional U.S. forces I’m describing today, we’ll bring unique capability to the campaign and provide critical support to the Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight,” Carter told a gathering of U.S. troops in Baghdad.

The latest force increase came less than three months after Washington announced it would dispatch about 200 more soldiers to accompany Iraqi troops advancing toward Mosul.

Carter told reporters ahead of Monday’s trip that the United States would now help turn Qayara into a logistics hub.

The airfield is “one of the hubs from which … Iraqi security forces, accompanied and advised by us as needed, will complete the southernmost envelopment of Mosul,” he said.

The recapture of Mosul, Islamic State’s de facto Iraqi capital from which its leader declared a modern-day caliphate in 2014, would be a major boost for Abadi and U.S. plans to weaken IS, which has staged attacks in the West and inspired others.

Two years since Islamic State seized wide swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria in a lightning offensive, the tide has begun to turn as an array of forces lined up against the jihadists have made inroads into their once sprawling territory.

IS has increasingly resorted to ad hoc attacks including a bombing in the Iraqi capital last week that left nearly 300 people dead – the most lethal bombing of its kind since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have touted such bombings as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening Islamic State, but critics say a global uptick in suicide attacks attributed to the group suggests the opposite.

“In fact, it demonstrates (Islamic State’s) strength and long-term survival skills,” terrorism expert Hassan Hassan wrote in a recent article. “The threat is not going away.”

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A senior U.S. defense official said Qayara air base would be “an important location for our advisers, for our fire support, working closely with the Iraqis and being closer to the fight.”

Carter compared its strategic importance to that of a base near Makhmour, a hub for Iraqi forces on the opposite side of the Tigris river that is also used by U.S. troops. A U.S. Marine was killed in Makhmour in March when it was shelled by IS.

U.S. forces had already visited Qayara to check on its condition and advisers can offer specialized engineering support in Mosul, where Islamic State has blown up bridges across the Tigris, U.S. officials said.

Iraqi forces were already improving the base’s perimeter in case of a counterattack from the nearby town of Qayara which IS still holds, another U.S. official in Baghdad said.

Islamic State has suffered a number of territorial losses in recent months including the Syrian town of al-Shadadi, taken by U.S.-backed Syrian forces in February, and the Iraqi recapture of Ramadi in December and Falluja last month.

Abadi has pledged to retake Mosul by the end of the year.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Japan military on alert for possible North Korean ballistic missile launch

Japan Self Defence Forces

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s military was on alert for a possible North Korean ballistic missile launch, a government source said on Tuesday, with media reporting its navy and anti-missile Patriot batteries have been told to shoot down any projectile heading for Japan.

North Korea appeared to have moved an intermediate-range missile to its east coast, but there were no signs of an imminent launch, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed government source.

A South Korean defense ministry official said it could not confirm the Yonhap report and said the military was watching the North’s missile activities closely.

Tension in the region has been high since isolated North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.

Japan has put its anti-ballistic missile forces on alert several times this year after detecting signs of missile launches.

The Japanese government source said there were again signs North Korea might be preparing a launch of the intermediate-range Musudan missile, the same missile it attempted to launch in May, prompting the order for the military to go on alert.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said if the North goes ahead with a launch it would again be in violation of U.N. resolutions and defying repeated warnings by the international community.

“It will further isolate the North from the international community,” ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a briefing.

The United Nations Security Council in March imposed tightened sanctions against North Korea over its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

North Korea has failed in all four attempts to launch the Musudan, which theoretically has the range to reach any part of Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

North Korea tried unsuccessfully to test launch the Musudan three times in April, according to U.S. and South Korean officials, while a May attempt failed a day after Japan put its military on alert.

North Korea is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, according to South Korean media, which officials said were first deployed in around 2007, although the North had never attempted to test-fire them until this year.

(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Ju-min Park, Jee Heun Kahng, James Pearson in Seoul; Editing by Michael Perry)

Britain says fighters intercept Russian aircraft approaching Baltic states

RAF Typhoons fly above RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland,

LONDON (Reuters) – British Typhoon fighter jets have intercepted three Russian military transport aircraft approaching the Baltic States, the defense ministry said on Thursday.

The British fighters, scrambled from the Amari air base in Estonia, intercepted the Russian aircraft, which were not transmitting a recognized identification code and were unresponsive, the ministry said.

“We were able to instantly respond to this act of Russian aggression – demonstration of our commitment to NATO’s collective defense,” Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said in a statement.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andrew Roche)

Germany to increase military for cybersecurity and fight against Islamic State

German Bundeswehr army demonstrate their skills at Kaserne Hochstaufen in Bad Reichenhall

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany plans to add 7,000 military jobs and 4,400 civilians to its armed forces over the next seven years to help tackle demands such as cybersecurity and the fight against Islamic State, its defense minister said on Tuesday.

Ursula von der Leyen said the move marked the first increase in the size of the German military since the end of the Cold War and was part of a broader campaign that has revamped the way the military buys equipment and prepares its budgets.

“A quarter century of a shrinking military is over. It is time for the German armed forces to grow,” she told reporters.

Germany’s armed forces totaled 800,000 military and civilian personnel at the time of German unification in 1990, but since have shrunk to a target of 185,000 troops and 56,000 civilians, according to German government officials.

They said the goal now was to get away from the strict ceilings used in the past and move toward a more dynamic annual review of personnel needs.

Officials said a recent comprehensive review had shown that the German military needed 14,300 additional troops to cope with new missions. These include the at-sea rescue of refugees, operations in support of a U.S.-led air strike campaign against Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria, and backing operations against other Islamist militants in Mali.

Of those, 5,000 would be filled through changes in existing personnel, with 7,000 to be added in new posts and the extension of existing contracts.

Current plans would leave about 2,300 of the required military positions vacant, although that estimate could be adjusted next year, officials said.

(Reporting by Berlin Newsroom; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Netanyahu to discuss military coordination with Putin

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights near the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria

MOSCOW (Рейтер) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had arrived to Moscow to discuss closer military coordination to avoid incidents between Israel and Russia, which launched a military operation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year.

At the start of the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said that the Golan Heights is a “red line” for Israel and it must remain a part of it.

“We are doing everything to prevent the emergence of an additional front of terror against us at the Golan Heights,” he added.

(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, writing by Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

U.S. military leaders voice concern about readiness of forces

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. military leaders voiced concern on Wednesday about their ability to fight a war with global powers like Russia, telling a congressional hearing that a lack of resources and training was weighing on America’s combat readiness.

U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley told a House Armed Services Committee hearing that if the Army were to fight a “great power war” with China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, he had “grave concerns” about the readiness of his forces.

“(The Army) is not at the levels that can execute satisfactorily … in terms of time, cost in terms of casualties or cost in terms of military objectives,” Milley said.

Also speaking at the hearing, about the Fiscal 2017 budget request for the military, Air Force Secretary Deborah James said half of her combat forces were not “sufficiently ready” for fighting against a country like Russia.

“Money is helpful for readiness but freeing up the time of our people to go and do this training is equally important,” James said.

Earlier this month Air Force officials said they were facing a shortage of more than 500 fighter pilots, a gap expected to widen to more than 800 by 2022.

U.S. military spending has increased sharply since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the country has by far the largest military budget in the world.

The Army requested $148 billion in the fiscal 2017 budget, a slight increase from the $146.9 billion Army budget for 2016.

However, the 2017 Army budget would continue to shrink the size of the U.S. Army, which will drop to 460,000 active duty soldiers in 2017 from the current 475,000.

Concern over a more assertive Russia was highlighted earlier this month by Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the NATO supreme allied commander and head of U.S. European Command, when he said Russia posed a “long-term existential threat to the United States.”

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Tom Brown)

Philippine court allows military deal with U.S. as sides meet in Washington

MANILA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Philippines Supreme Court on Tuesday declared constitutional a security deal with the United States allowing an increased U.S. military presence in the former U.S. colony as tension rises in the South China Sea.

Dozens of anti-U.S. activists held protests outside the court denouncing the deal as a de facto basing agreement that would make the Philippines a launching pad for military intervention in the region.

Manila has long been a staunch U.S. ally and the pact is widely seen as important for both sides, worried by China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

The court voted 10-4 to deny a petition of some lawmakers and activists to declare the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) unconstitutional because it surrendered Philippine sovereignty to a foreign power.

“EDCA is not constitutionally infirm,” said Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te. “It remains consistent with existing laws and treaties that it purports to implement.”

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcomed the court’s decision as they began talks with their Philippine counterparts on security and economic issues, including tensions in the South China Sea and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

“The United States has an iron-clad commitment to the security of the Philippines,” Kerry said in opening remarks. “To that end we welcome the Philippines Supreme Court’s decision … (and) look forward to implementing this accord,” he added.

Philippine Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said security cooperation with the United States had become more intertwined amid increasing tensions over the South China Sea.

“While we grapple with non-traditional security concerns and natural … disasters, traditional security challenges, to include territorial and maritime disputes, remain … fundamental concerns,” he said. “Given this strategic context, we should be in a position to address such common concerns, as well as contribute to regional peace and stability.”

The pact, signed days before U.S. President Barack Obama visited the Philippines in 2014, will allow U.S. troops to build facilities to store equipment for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations, in addition to giving broad access to Philippine military bases.

U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain called it “a landmark agreement … (that) will bring our alliance to a level of cooperation and integration that we have not witnessed in decades.

“As Manila finds itself the target of Chinese coercion in the West Philippine Sea and is looking to Washington for leadership, this agreement will give us new tools to … expand engagement with the Philippine Armed Forces, and enhance our presence in Southeast Asia,” he said in a statement.

McCain said he looked forward to implementation this year of a congressional Maritime Security Initiative he has championed that will provide resources to build the maritime capacity of the Philippines and other Southeast Asia countries.

Philippine military officials say there has been an increase in U.S. exercises, training and ship and aircraft visits in the past year under Obama’s “rebalance” of U.S. forces and diplomatic efforts to Asia in the face of China’s rise, but the pact would take the relationship a step further.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, which is believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and has been building up facilities on islands it controls.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines also have claims. Tension rose this month when China began test flights on Fiery Cross Reef, one of three artificial islands where Beijing has constructed airfields.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato in Manila; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Andrea Shalal and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie, Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)

Pentagon Opens All Military Positions to Women

Women will be allowed to hold any job in the United States military — including those in combat units — following a historic announcement by Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday.

Carter said at a news conference that for the first time ever, women in the U.S. military will be allowed to do jobs from which they were previously barred, given they meet specific standards.

“They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat,” Carter reportedly said, according to a recap posted on the Department of Defense’s official website. “They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”

The jobs will formally become available to women next month, according to the Department of Defense posting, though Carter acknowledged that it will take some time for full integration.

Carter said at the news conference that leaders from all branches of the military had spent the past three years studying the assimilation of women into the previously men-only positions, according to the Department of Defense. Leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Command didn’t indicate that women should be barred from any job.

While the Marine Corps reportedly asked that certain jobs be kept men-only, like machine gunner and fire support reconnaissance, the Department of Defense quoted Carter as saying “we are a joint force and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force.”

The news wasn’t immediately welcomed by everyone.

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the chairmen of the Armed Services Committees in their respective legislative houses, released a joint statement in which they said Carter’s decision “will have a consequential impact on our servicemembers and our military’s warfighting capabilities.” They said they want time to review the materials that played into Carter’s decision, including a 1,000-page report from the Marine Integrated Task Force.

One of the findings of that report, according to a September 2015 news release, was that all-male units generally outperformed integrated units in tests designed to simulate combat situations.

“We expect the Department to send over its implementation plans as quickly as possible to ensure our Committees have all the information necessary to conduct proper and rigorous oversight,” McCain and Thornberry said in the statement, adding that they also wanted to see the department’s stance on if changes to the Selective Service Act might now be required.

U.S. Officials Report that Russia’s Forces in Syria have Grown to 4,000 People

U.S. security officials told Reuters on Thursday that Russia has doubled its military personnel in Syria in its campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On September 30 when Russia began its recent wave of airstrikes in Syria, there was an estimated 2,000 personnel. Now, they have not only doubled their people, but have also approximately doubled the number of bases they are using. Security officials stated that an exact number of personnel cannot be known since the Kremlin has suffered combat casualties in Syria.

Russian officials have declined to comment regarding the size of their military forces in Syria and did not answer any questions that were sent by Reuters.

However, they did state that no Russian troops have been in combat in Syria, although there are advisers and trainers working with the Syrian military. Reuters also reports that Russian forces are guarding the bases in western Syria.

The Kremlin further states that since they have been in Syria, they have only lost one soldier who committed suicide. The parents of the serviceman have stated they doubt this claim.

The U.S. has criticized Russia over their recent involvement in the Syrian civil war. While Russia has stated numerous times that they are there to fight the Islamic State, numerous reports have indicated that Syrian rebels have been the main targets of their airstrikes in order to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. believes that Assad should step down from his leadership role in order for the Syrian civil war to end.

White House Reports U.S. Jets Intercept Russian Warplanes near Korean Peninsula

Four fighter jets were launched by the U.S. Navy to intercept Russian warplanes that were flying one nautical mile away from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

According to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, the USS Ronald Reagan was performing a military exercise with South Korea in the Sea of Japan. Korean jets first intercepted the Russian warplanes. The Navy also stated they tried to communicate with the Russian planes, but never received a response.

Yahoo! News reports that Earnest stated the situation was “not a particularly threatening encounter,” as there was no evidence that the Russian planes posed any threat to the aircraft carrier or the ships that were escorting it.

The situation comes after an agreement was signed between Russia and the United States on October 10 that established protocols for flying over Syria. The agreement was to avoid any crashes between pilots.

Today’s incident isn’t the first time the U.S. and Russia has experienced encounters like this in 2015. A video was released by the Navy in June that showed Russian jets flying near the guided missile destroyer USS Ross. On July 4, Russian fighter jets located off the coasts of Alaska and California were intercepted by the United States, according to CNN.