Rowan Scarborough

Terrorist attacks up in Russia as Winter Olympics near

Russia has suffered a huge increase in terrorists attacks the past 10 years, says a new report that underscores the threat athletes and tourists face at next week's Winter Olympics in Sochi.

January 30, 2014

Delta Force commando who saved ‘numerous lives’ in Benghazi seige honored

An Army Delta Force commando who infiltrated Benghazi to rescue U.S. diplomats, spies and security officers during a 2012 terrorist attack “was critical to the success of saving numerous lives,” according to a citation awarding him the military’s second-highest honor.

January 25, 2014

Gen. Dempsey is a failed leader, scathing Senate review found

Members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, led by Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, have issued a blistering criticism of Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who as Joint Chiefs chairman is the nation’s highest-ranking officer and chief military adviser to President Obama.

January 23, 2014

Olympics host Sochi remains a volatile region

Russia has erected a "ring of steel" and the U.S. military is planning for evacuations, but the fact remains that Sochi, the site of next month's Winter Olympics, is within striking distance of Dagestan and Chechnya — volatile regions that form a caldron for Islamic militants.

January 20, 2014

NY TIMES WRONG: Jihadists from at least four Al Qaeda groups in on Benghazi attack

The militants who gathered on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, to torch and kill inside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, were a who's who of the modern al Qaeda movement, newly declassified documents show.

January 19, 2014

China encroaching on U.S. military dominance in Pacific, says top admiral

While Adm. Sam Locklear said it was obvious Chinese military power is growing, he suggested it remains unclear whether China will seek in the long-term to be a hard adversary to the U.S. — so Washington should be working overtime on steering Beijing toward a cooperative security posture.

January 16, 2014

State Department chose flight over fight in Benghazi, Senate report says

Armed State Department security agents retreated rather than fire on terrorists who were invading the U.S. mission in Benghazi, says a Senate Intelligence Committee report.

January 15, 2014

Chaos in Iraq could be omen for Afghanistan without U.S. troops

Afghanistan's war planners trying to picture their country without U.S. troops next year might want to cast an eye toward Iraq.

January 12, 2014

In new poll defense leaders see China rising, U.S. declining

Most defense leaders believe the United States is weaker today than five years ago, according to a poll by Gannett's Defense News.

January 8, 2014

U.S. troops prevented from helping even as al Qaeda overruns Iraqi cities

The U.S. has inserted 200 troops in Iraq since 2012, but they cannot directly help the Iraqi military repel a surge of al Qaeda fighters, even as the country succumbs to sectarian violence and insurgents claim control of two key cities.

January 5, 2014

Pentagon pivots to social issues; providing for common defense a lower priority

As the armed forces shrink and withdraw from some global hot spots, their agenda for the battle of the sexes grows.

January 1, 2014

With demise of Pentagon’s ‘Early Bird,’ military readers hunt bootleg copies of ‘Morning News’

The Pentagon has killed its "Early Bird" compilation of news and opinion stories, and now provides "Morning News" only for the top brass.

December 24, 2013

Pentagon to review case of Marine who defied general in Taliban defilement case

A Marine Corps whistleblower says the Pentagon is investigating whether higher-ups retaliated against him for filing complaints against the Marine commandant.

December 22, 2013

Robert O. Work to be named Pentagon’s No. 2 official

A former top Navy official is the leading candidate to become the next deputy defense secretary.

December 20, 2013

Medal of Honor: General orders review of tracking battlefield awards

The top U.S. commander for the Persian Gulf has ordered a review of how recommendations for battlefield awards are tracked by the Afghanistan command, which lost the paperwork for a Medal of Honor nominee and for other heroes.

December 18, 2013

U.S. Army mulls wiping out memory of Robert E. Lee, ‘Stonewall’ Jackson

The U.S. Army War College, which molds future field generals, has begun discussing whether it should remove the portraits of Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

December 17, 2013

Administration can’t answer basic queries costs of war in Afghanistan

President Obama's brain trust on Afghanistan does not know much the U.S. spends on the war each year or the American cost in lost lives on the battlefield.

December 12, 2013

Obama’s Afghanistan experts stumped on U.S. death toll, war costs during hearing

President Obama's brain trust on Afghanistan does not know how much the U.S. spends on the war each year or the American cost in lost lives on the battlefield.

December 12, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Kabul, gets no invitation from Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel traveled halfway around the world for a rare visit to the Afghanistan war zone, but he did not meet with the man holding up an agreement to keep U.S. troops there after 2014.

December 8, 2013

Spike in battlefield deaths linked to restrictive rules of engagement

The number of U.S. battlefield fatalities in Afghanistan exceeded the rate at which troop strength surged in 2009 and 2010, prompting national security analysts to assert that coinciding stricter rules of engagement led to more deaths.

December 5, 2013