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Maggie Ybarra

Maggie Ybarra

mybarra@washingtontimes.com

Maggie Ybarra is a former military affairs and Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Times.

Articles by Maggie Ybarra

A convoy of vehicles and militant fighters move through Iraq's Anbar Province. The U.S. government is tracking and gathering intelligence on as many as 300 Americans who are fighting side-by-side with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and are poised to become a major threat to the homeland, according to senior U.S. officials. (Associated Press)

U.S. citizens joining Islamic State pose major threat to homeland

The U.S. government is tracking and gathering intelligence on as many as 300 Americans who are fighting side by side with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and are poised to become a major threat to the homeland, according to senior U.S. officials.

August 26, 2014
** FILE ** In this April 12, 2013, file photo, a U.S. Marine F/A-18 Hornet jet flies low pass during Philippines-U.S. joint military exercise in northern Philippines. President Barack Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014, warning they would be launched if needed to defend Americans from advancing Islamic militants and protect civilians under siege. Obama said American military planes already had carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities surrounded by militants and desperately in need of food and water. The Pentagon said the airdrops were performed by one C-17 and two C-130 cargo aircraft that together delivered a total of 72 bundles of food and water. They were escorted by two F/A-18 fighters. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

State Department asks for more troops in Iraq

The State Department wants the Pentagon to send additional troops to Iraq — an indication that the battle to defeat the Islamic State group is steadily growing.

August 20, 2014
Hamas supporters gather for a rally in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Evidence has pointed to Iran continuing to funnel weapons to the Palestinian side of the conflict with Israel. (Associated Press)

Despite sanctions relief, Iran aids Hamas with missile technology

When President Obama announced last year the easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran in return for concessions on its nuclear program, he cautiously hailed the deal as a "real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive, peaceful settlement" with Tehran. But while both countries work overtime on thorny nuclear issues, fresh evidence suggests Iran continues to support the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which went to war anew this summer with Israel.

August 18, 2014
Smoke rises from airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq. (Associated Press)

U.S. expands campaign against Islamic State

The U.S. military has significantly ramped up its bombing campaign in northern Iraq in recent days, sending fighter jets and armed drones to support Kurdish and Iraqi forces who reclaimed control of the Mosul Dam from Islamic State fighters early Monday.

August 18, 2014
This image provided by the U.S. Defense Department shows pallets of bottled water are loaded aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in preparation for a humanitarian airdrop over Iraq Aug. 8, 2014. Airmen with the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron airdropped 40 bundles of water for displaced citizens in the vicinity of Sinjar, Iraq. American planes conducted a second airdrop of food and water early Saturday for those trapped in the Sinjar mountains, said Pentagon chief spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.)

Pentagon: Rescue mission to Sinjar Mountain ‘less likely’

Defense Department officials say a mission to rescue thousands of refugees atop Iraq's Sinjar Mountain is unlikely after a team of U.S. Army Green Berets surveyed the situation in the last day and found fewer refugees and better conditions than had been expected.

August 13, 2014
Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle near the holy Lalish temple in the Mountains of Shikhan near Dahuk, 260 miles (430 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. President Barack Obama authorized the airstrikes to protect U.S. interests and personnel in the region, including at facilities in Irbil, as well as Yazidi refugees fleeing militants. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

130 advisers sent to northern Iraq to help fight Islamists

The Obama Administration sent about 130 advisers to northern Iraq on Tuesday in preparation for expanding a humanitarian mission to assist the Yazidi, a religious minority fleeing a vicious and war-savvy Islamist militant group.

August 12, 2014
FILE - In this Tuesday, July 15, 2014 file photo, Shiite lawmaker and Deputy Parliament Speaker Haider al-Ibadi speaks to the media after an Iraqi parliament session in Baghdad. On Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, Iraq's largest coalition of Shiite political parties chose al-Ibadi to be its candidate to lead the government in a major defeat for incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki just hours after he declared himself the rightful candidate and put troops on the street. Critics say the Shiite al-Maliki contributed to the crisis by monopolizing power and pursuing a sectarian agenda that alienated the country's Sunni and Kurdish minorities. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Obama urges Iraqi prime minister-designate to form government

Iraq's president nominated a new prime minister Monday to replace powerful incumbent Nouri al-Maliki, and President Obama backed the move quickly as the U.S. tried to quell a power struggle in Baghdad and counter the threat from Sunni militants.

August 11, 2014
An F/A-18C Hornet takes off for Iraq from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 in the Persian Gulf. Aircrafts aboard the George H.W. Bush are flying missions over Iraq after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamic militants and food drops for Iraqis trapped by the fighters. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

U.S. airstrikes help Iraqi Kurds reclaim land from Islamic State militants

Kurdish forces backed by U.S. airstrikes succeeded Sunday in expelling Islamic State fighters from two northern Iraqi towns, but the developments did little to appease Obama administration critics who say the White House lacks a coherent long-term strategy for beating back the growing al Qaeda-inspired militancy in the war-torn nation.

August 10, 2014