Carlo Muñoz

James Mattis, Pentagon chief, praises NATO progress on defense spending goals

Defense Secretary James Mattis praised the progress made by NATO allies toward the administration's defense spending plans, with the former four-star general noting the effort represents the enduring importance of the Cold War-era alliance.

February 19, 2018

Syrian Kurds, government troops reach deal to push Turkish forces from Afrin

Government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad reached a deal Monday with embattled Syrian Kurds in the northeast city of Afrin to battle back against an ongoing Turkish incursion into the city.

February 19, 2018

U.S. lacks ‘all-of-nation’ strategy to curb China, says top House lawmaker

The United States continues to lack a whole of government approach to curb Chinese aggression on the world stage, despite ongoing efforts at the Pentagon and State Department placing Beijing at the top of their priority lists, a top House Republican said Thursday.

February 15, 2018

Pentagon, Kremlin tight-lipped over deadly Syrian assault

Questions continue to swirl around a murky attack on U.S. and allied Syrian forces last week, with both the White House and the Kremlin refusing to enter into a mushrooming controversy over whether Russian mercenaries supporting the Syrian government took part in the assault.

February 14, 2018

Russian submarine threat has U.S. Navy scrambling to respond

Russia's increasingly active submarine fleets in the Atlantic and Arctic have the Trump administration scrambling to respond amid fears that miles of underwater fiber-optic cables that crisscross the ocean floor transmitting the Pentagon's most sensitive military secrets could be at risk.

February 13, 2018

NATO falling short of U.S. demands on international defense spending

Only half of the 29 NATO nations are on track to meet the two-percent investment goal into the alliance's collective defense, a development likely to reignite tensions between the Cold War-era organization and the Trump White House.

February 13, 2018

Defense spending rises to $686 billion for 2019

Defense spending jumps significantly in the proposed 2019 Trump administration budget to $686 billion — up roughly 15 percent from 2017.

February 12, 2018

H.R. McMaster meets with Turkish officials amid growing tensions in Syria

National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster met with senior Turkish officials Sunday to reaffirm the long-standing partnership between the two NATO allies, as Ankara continues to issue thinly-veiled threats against U.S. forces in northern Syria.

February 11, 2018

Donald Trump says Israel, Palestinians uninterested in U.S.-brokered peace efforts

President Trump said Israelis and Palestinians remain unwilling to pursue any U.S.-led effort to forge a peace deal, issuing rare criticism of the Jewish state.

February 11, 2018

Rand Paul invited to peace talks by Taliban

The Taliban is extending an invitation to Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, to their political office in Doha, to discuss possible peace plans to end the 17-year Afghan war.

February 11, 2018

U.S. airstrike on Syrian forces spurs fears of ‘mission creep’

A deadly U.S. airstrike on Syrian government-backed forces this week has increased fears that American forces sent to battle Islamic State are being dragged more and more into the country's bloody 7-year-old civil war.

February 8, 2018

Top Iranian-backed militias threaten attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq

The two main Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq warn that U.S. forces in the country face possible attack by their forces, should Washington not carry out a full withdrawal of American troops from the country.

February 8, 2018

Russia condemns U.S. strikes on Syrian government troops

American airstrikes against pro-government forces in Syria were an unprovoked action by U.S. and coalition forces, designed to fortify Washington's control over the country's vast oil assets, Russian defense officials said Thursday.

February 8, 2018

Donald Trump will have line item restoring Pakistan aid in 2019 budget: Source

The White House "very much wants to get security aid flowing again to Pakistan," according to a high-level U.S. government source close to the Trump administration, who said President Trump's budget for 2019 will have a line item for the aid.

February 7, 2018

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish leader, demands U.S. withdrawal from Syrian enclave

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly called upon Washington to withdraw its cadre of U.S. military advisers from the northern Syrian enclave of Manbij, raising tensions over a possible conflict between American and Turkish forces.

February 7, 2018

Pakistan critical to Trump Afghanistan war plan, top official says

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The U.S. needs Pakistan if President Trump's war plan for Afghanistan is to have a chance of succeeding, Pakistan's top internal security official said in an interview Tuesday, warning that bad blood between Washington and Islamabad risks triggering an era of instability across the region.

February 6, 2018

James Mattis issues stark warning to Congress over delayed defense spending

The U.S. military is facing "security vulnerabilities" because of the long funding stalemate on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary James Mattis told Congress Tuesday, warning the Pentagon's readiness woes will only worsen the longer a long-term deal remains out of reach.

February 6, 2018

Turkey, U.S. forces on course for clash in Manbij, Syria

The U.S. and Turkish militaries are on a collision course, and the point of impact for the two NATO allies is the Syrian town of Manbij.

February 5, 2018

Navy ops suffering from ‘toxic effect’ of budget uncertainty, says top official

The congressional stalemate over defense budgets is having a "toxic effect" on Navy operations, which are progressing at a speed and pace not seen since the peak of the Cold War, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson warned Thursday.

February 1, 2018

Rivals, ‘rogues’ hit back at Trump’s foreign policy defense

President Trump's first State of the Union quickly drew fire from countries like China and Iran, with Beijing characterizing the speech as Cold War-era rhetoric while Tehran said the president's remarks exposed the White House's ignorance of the Arab world.

January 31, 2018