Maggie Ybarra

Al-Maliki accuses Iraq president of ‘coup’

Further destabilization rocked Iraq on Sunday as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused President Fouad Massoum of engaging in a "coup" by failing to choose a new prime minister by an Sunday's deadline.

August 10, 2014

U.S. launches second round of airstrikes against ISIL, officials say

American officials say the U.S. launched a second round of airstrikes against Islamic State targets near Irbil on Friday, using drones and fighter jets.

August 8, 2014

Obama authorizes airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic State

President Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamist terrorists in Iraq and approved a humanitarian mission to deliver food and other supplies to tens of thousands of Iraqis trapped on mountaintops, moves that represent the most significant re-engagement in Iraq since formal combat operations ended three years ago.

August 7, 2014

Pentagon air drops humanitarian supplies to Iraq’s religious minorities

Pentagon aircraft have air dropped "critical meals and water" on a mountaintop where thousands of religious minorities have taken shelter in northwest Iraq.

August 7, 2014

Obama White House begins airdrops to trapped Iraqis: reports

The U.S. has begun a humanitarian mission to deliver supplies to tens of thousands of Iraqis trapped on a mountaintop by Islamist terrorists, Pentagon officials said Thursday night.

August 7, 2014

Pentagon sends assessment team to Kiev for airliner recovery operation

The Pentagon has sent an assessment team to the U.S. Embassy in Kiev to support nations in the recovery operation of a Malaysian airliner that was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine.

August 5, 2014

U.S. general killed in Afghan soldier’s attack at military academy near Kabul

An American general was killed Tuesday when an Afghan soldier opened fire on him and several U.S. and coalition troops at an military training school based near Kabul, Afghanistan.

August 5, 2014

Official: U.S. general among those shot in Afghanistan attack

A general became the U.S. military's highest-ranking fatality in the war in Afghanistan on Tuesday when an Afghan soldier opened fire at a military training academy west of the capital, Kabul — a bloody reminder of the insider attacks that have been decreasing as international troops prepare to leave the country by the end of the year.

August 5, 2014

Bergdahl questioning set for Wednesday

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will meet Wednesday with the two-star general who is overseeing an investigation into his disappearance from a combat outpost in 2009, according to his attorney.

August 4, 2014

Additional Army cuts rattle Pentagon

The Army plans to notify about 500 majors over the next month that they must leave the military service as part of a eye-popping Pentagon plan to shrink number of active-duty soldiers from about 513,000 to 490,000 by 2015.

August 1, 2014

Pentagon wants extra $19M to equip, train Ukrainian troops

The Pentagon has notified Congress of a plan to increase the amount of money that it is spending on bolstering the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian military, with the majority of that funding going toward equipping and training national guard troops to conduct various missions.

August 1, 2014

Obama: ‘Not a new Cold War,’ but new Russia sanctions announced

President Obama announced a new round of U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and a shipbuilding company Tuesday, saying Russia must pay an increasingly high price for its military aggression in Ukraine and the downing of a passenger jet.

July 29, 2014

Report: 40% of weapons sent to Afghanistan are unaccounted for

A government oversight agency says the Pentagon has lost track of more than 40 percent of the firearms it has provided to Afghanistan's security forces, prompting officials to contemplate a "carrot and stick" approach to arming the fledgling military.

July 27, 2014

Russia shipping sophisticated weapons systems to Ukraine separatists

The Pentagon says it has intelligence indicating Russia is poised to deliver sophisticated multiple-launch rocket systems to its Ukraine-based supporters — a transaction that could happen Friday.

July 25, 2014

Evidence shows Russia firing artillery into Ukraine: Pentagon

U.S. government officials said Thursday that Russian troops have been firing artillery at the Ukraine military, a brash new level of cross-border tension that the Pentagon has characterized an uptick in Russian provocation.

July 24, 2014

DoD fires 9 active-duty company commanders serving in Afghanistan

Nine company commanders are among 48 captains on active duty in Afghanistan that are slated to be fired under a Pentagon cost-cutting plan, officials said Thursday.

July 24, 2014

Obama orders Pentagon advisers to Ukraine

A team of Pentagon officials is heading to Ukraine to help the country rebuild its fractured military.

July 22, 2014

Former VA official guilty of prohibited hiring practices, preferential treatment: IG

A government oversight committee accused a high-level Department of Veterans Affairs official who retired last month of engaging in prohibited hiring practices and giving preferential treatment to a particular contractor.

July 18, 2014

MH17: Pro-Russian separatists to blame for downed Malaysia jet, initial U.S. intel reports suggest

Initial U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that pro-Russian separatists are responsible for shooting a commercial airliner out of the sky with a Soviet Union-era, surface-to-air missile.

July 18, 2014

Pentagon, Arlington to train for shooter situation

The Defense Department's security agency and Arlington County firefighters are cross training so that they will be able to collectively rush into an active-shooter scenario at the Pentagon armed with medical supplies and weapons — a new tactic that will be deployed the next time the government building is under siege.

July 17, 2014