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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• U.S. adviser Bolton says U.S. conditions Syria withdrawal with safeguarding Kurds People's Daily 07 Jan 2019 -- United States National Security Adviser John Bolton started his visit to Israel on Sunday, saying the U.S. will withdraw from Syria only after Turkey will provide assurance to safeguard Kurds.
• Trump denies backtracking on troop withdrawal from Syria Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- US President Donald Trump has stated that his plans to withdraw US troops from Syria are "no different" than originally announced.
• Framework for US Withdrawal from Syria 'Approved' VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. forces in Syria have a plan in place for their much talked about withdrawal, but it will likely not see all of them leave the fight against the Islamic State terror group anytime soon.
• Trump: US Troop Withdrawal in Syria Will Be at 'Proper Pace' VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. President Donald Trump says he will be withdrawing the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria at a "proper pace," while at the same time continuing the military's fight against Islamic State terrorists.
• US-Backed Forces in Syria Say Five IS Arrested, Five More Deported VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Monday confirmed the arrest of five Islamic State foreign fighters and the handover of five more to their governments in efforts to rid eastern Syria of the jihadists.
• Taliban Raid, Market Blast Kill More Than 30 in Afghanistan VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- More than 30 people, mostly pro-government forces, were killed in Afghanistan when Taliban insurgents stormed security outposts and a bomb blast ripped through a busy market, officials confirmed Monday.
• Afghan Gov. direct talks with Taliban shortest way to achieve lasting peace: Ambassador IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Afghan ambassador to Tehran says that the shortest way for a lasting peace in Afghanistan is direct talks between his government and the Taliban to realize the practical and lasting result.
• Iran talks with Afghanistan aiming to re-establish peace IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Iran talks with Taliban was aimed at maintaining peace to Afghanistan, Iranian defense minister said on Monday, adding that it was held with Afghan government coordination.
• Engagement with Taliban aimed at helping Afghan peace: Iran IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- The Taliban are seeking peace with the Afghan government and Iran is helping the process to promote stability and peace in the country, the secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Monday.
• Terrorist attack in NW Afghanistan kills 21 soldiers IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Afghan sources announced that a Taliban attack on Qadis District, northwestern Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 21 government soldiers and injured 9 others.
• Afghan Taliban storm security posts in western province, killing 21 Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- At least 21 Afghan security forces have been killed as Taliban militants stormed security checkpoints in the western province of Badghis, in one of the deadliest attacks to hit the area in months.
• At Least 26 Killed In Taliban Attacks In Western, Eastern Afghanistan RFE/RL 07 Jan 2019 -- Taliban militants have stormed security posts in western Afghanistan, killing 21 police officers and pro-government militia members, officials said on January 7.
• CENTCOM counterterrorism strikes in Yemen 2018 rollup CENTCOM 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. Central Command conducted 36 total air strikes in Yemen in 2018, targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS-Yemen.
• CENTCOM Statement on Death of USS Cole Bombing Operative NNS 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban released the following statement Jan. 6 on the death of Jamal al-Badawi:

Defense Policy / Programs

• Russian Patrol Ship Monitoring USS Fort McHenry's Actions in Black Sea – MoD Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Patrol ship Pytlivy of Russia's Black Sea Fleet is monitoring actions of USS Fort McHenry that entered the Black Sea on January 6, the Russian Defence Ministry said on 7 January.
• Fort McHenry Arrives in Romania NNS 07 Jan 2019 -- The Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) arrived in Constanta, Romania, Jan. 7 for a scheduled port visit.
• Mobile Bay Completes Bahrain Port Visit NNS 07 Jan 2019 -- The guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) completed their scheduled port visit to Manama, Bahrain, Dec. 30.
• Chung-Hoon Completes Visit to Oman NNS 07 Jan 2019 -- Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) successfully completed a scheduled port visit to Salalah, Oman, Jan. 2.
• US Navy 'Confident' F-35Cs Will Be Combat Ready On Time Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The United States Navy is likely to hit a goal set in 2013 to prepare the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter for combat by February 2019, according to a new report.
• Indian Ocean littoral states Navy Commanders to convene IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Commander of the 1st Zone of the Naval Force of the Iranian Army said the commanders of the naval forces of the Indian Ocean's littoral states will convene at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) summit in Bandar Abbas next month.
• China successfully completed hypersonic engine test Global Times 07 Jan 2019 -- China's home-grown turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine system has completed its design and development stage and entered the aircraft-engine integration test phase, a major step toward the development of the country's next generation hypersonic drone.
• UK Ballistic Missile Submarines Ready to Retire But Not to Be Replaced Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Images of one of Britain's nuclear deterrent submarines - HMS Vengeance - returning from her latest three-month patrol to a naval base in Scotland after having suffered considerable damage have appeared online.
• Bolton Reassures Netanyahu of US Support for Israeli Right to Self-Defense Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday reiterated US commitment to Israeli self-defense, during his meeting with the Israeli leader in Jerusalem.
• Germany to Kick Off Jet Training Flights Over Estonia Next Week - Statement Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- German Eurofighter jets on a NATO air policing mission in the Baltic States will conduct daily low-altitude training flights over Estonia from Monday to Friday, the Estonian Defence Forces said in a statement.
• US to upgrade Saudi missile systems despite global backlash over Khashoggi murder Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- The United States has approved upgrades to Saudi Arabia's missile defenses worth $195 million despite global outrage over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a report says.
• Remarks to Press US Dept. of State 07 Jan 2019 -- Remarks by Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for January 07, 2019

Other Conflicts

• 7 January 2019 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 07 Jan 2019
• China Lodges 'Stern' Warning Over US Warship in S China Sea - Reports Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The USS McCampbell has carried out a "freedom of navigation" operation, sailing within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Island chain, in the South China Sea "to challenge excessive maritime claims", Reuters reported quoting Pacific Fleet spokeswoman Rachel McMarr's statement.
• Beijing makes 'stern representations' over US warship in South China Sea Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Beijing says it has lodged "stern representations" with Washington after an American navy warship sailed near the disputed islands in the South China Sea, prompting the Chinese military to scramble warplanes and vessels to warn it off.
• Over 15,000 Yemenis killed in Saudi-led air raids in 2018 IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Air attacks by the Saudi-led coalition forces left killed over 15,000 Yemenis in 2018, a Yemeni news media quoted on Monday the spokesman for the Yemeni National Salvation Government as saying.
• Yemen accuses Saudis of violating truce for 353 times IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman has accused the Saudi-led coalition of repeatedly breaching cease fire agreement in Yemen, saying that it has violated the truce 353 times over the last 48 hours.
• Yemeni snipers kill four Saudi troopers in retaliatory attack Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have shot dead four Saudi soldiers in the kingdom's southwestern border region of Jizan, in retaliation for the Riyadh regime's military campaign against the crisis-hit country.
• Iran Defense Minister hopes for further victories for Syrian government ISNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami held a meeting with deputy Defense Minister of Syria Mahmoud al-Shawa on Monday.
• Four civilians, one Kurdish militant killed in Daesh bomb attack in Syria's Raqqah Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- A deadly bomb attack, claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, has hit a center for US-backed Kurdish militants in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah, leaving at least four civilians and a militant dead.
• Iran security chief: US suffered strategic defeat in Syria Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Iran's security chief says the United States has been forced to decide to leave Syria because it has suffered a strategic defeat there, and that Washington will ultimately have no choice but to leave the whole region.
• Putin, Erdogan Plan Meeting 'Soon' On U.S. Plan To Exit Syria RFE/RL 07 Jan 2019 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan are planning to meet "soon" to discuss the announced departure of U.S. troops from Syria, where both countries also have a strong military presence.
• Killing of aid worker in Syria part of 'disturbing trend' UN News 07 Jan 2019 -- The abduction and killing of an aid worker last week in Syria's Idleb region, brings into focus the daily risks faced by humanitarians working in conflict zones, said the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, in a statement deploring the killing on Monday.
• Trump's Security Adviser Arrives in Turkey for Key Talks VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- President Donald Trump's national security adviser is in Ankara for high-level talks amid renewed bilateral tensions over Washington's backing of a Syrian Kurdish militia, and growing doubts about Trump's commitment to rapidly withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.
• Bolton to Seek Assurances Turkey Won't Attack US-Allied Kurdish Fighters VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is in Turkey for talks with senior officials as the Trump administration seeks assurances that Turkish forces will not target Kurdish fighters allied with American forces.
• Syrian Opposition HNC Head Urges Arab Leaders Not to Mend Ties With Damascus Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Syria's opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) leader Naser Hariri called on Arab leaders on Sunday not to restore ties with Damascus, after steps to readmit it to the Arab League.
• Iraqi troops kill senior Daesh commander, capture 17 others near Mosul Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Iraqi security forces have killed a high-ranking commander of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and detained more than a dozen other terrorists during a counter-terrorism operation in the country's northern province of Nineveh as government troops and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units are trying to purge the Arab country of the last remnants of the terror outfit.
• Hamas reclaims Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing as PA staffers withdraw: Officials Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Employees of the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas have retaken control of the Rafah Crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt after the Palestinian Authority (PA) withdrew its own staffers from the important gateway, officials say.
• Israeli Military Strikes Gaza After Overnight Rocket Fire - IDF Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that they had struck a number of Hamas targets in retaliation against a rocket fired from northern Gaza.
• Netanyahu urges US to recognize Israel's annexation of Golan Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked a visiting senior aide to US President Donald Trump to recognize Syria's Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

News Reports

• Remarks by Vice President Pence, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and OMB Deputy Director Russell Vought in Press Briefing on Border Security The White House 07 Jan 2019
• White House Paints Crisis at Border, Considers Declaring National Emergency VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- The Trump administration is pushing hard to portray the southern border with Mexico as an imminent "humanitarian and national security crisis" to win support for border wall funding in a fight with lawmakers that has brought the country to a 17-day partial government shutdown.
• Trump Sets Immigration Speech, Trip to US-Mexico Border VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. President Donald Trump says he is addressing the nation Tuesday about the "humanitarian and national security crisis" on the country's U.S.-Mexican border before traveling there Thursday for a firsthand look at efforts to thwart illegal immigration.
• Trump floats declaring national emergency to build border wall, Democrats warn of legal challenges People's Daily 07 Jan 2019 -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday floated an idea of declaring a national emergency to build his long-promised border wall without congressional approval, as talks on it and ending a partial government shutdown continued.
• National Counterintelligence and Security Center Launches Campaign to Help Private Industry Guard Against Threats from Nation State Actors DNI 07 Jan 2019 -- The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) is today disseminating videos, brochures, and other informative materials to help the private sector guard against growing threats from foreign intelligence entities and other adversaries.
• US Providing Companies With Information to Guard Against Intel Threats - DNI Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) is providing information to US companies to guard against growing threats from foreign intelligence entities, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said in a press release on Monday.
• Gabon Government Regains Control After Attempted Military Coup VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- The government of Gabon has regained control in the capital, Libreville, after an attempted coup, officials said Monday.
• Leader of failed coup in Gabon arrested, two killed: Presidency Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- The Gabonese military officer who led a failed coup in Gabon has been captured and two of his commandos killed following an attack on a public radio station, the presidency says.
• Gabon says Libreville calm after military coup attempt Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- The government in Gabon says calm has returned to the capital Libreville hours after a group of military officers launched a coup attempt in the absence of ailing President Ali Bongo.
• Gabon Rebel Chief Arrested, Two Killed After Failed Coup - President's Office Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Earlier in the day, a group of military servicemen reportedly seized the state broadcasting station of Gabon to announce the creation of a so-called National Restoration Council.
• Gabon's Envoy to Paris: Rebel Soldiers in Libreville Arrested - Reports Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The military has taken control of the state-owned broadcasting station in Gabon to announce the creation of a "National Restoration Council", RFI radio in Africa reported.
• 'Negotiating a Location': Trump, Kim Teams Pinning Down Next Meeting Point Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- US State Department and North Korean officials have met multiple times in Hanoi, Vietnam, to discuss the location of the next summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to anonymous diplomatic sources in Seoul and Washington.
• North Korean Leader Presumably Entered China for Summit - Reports Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be on his way to Beijing for a summit, since a special train for North Korean high-ranking officials, including Kim, has crossed the border between North Korea and China, South Korean Hankyoreh reported on Monday, citing an unnamed source in the South Korean presidential administration.
• Defense Minister: Testing Iran's will has nothing but regret IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Iranian Minister of Defense warned colonizers and the Western states that it is not a good time now to test the will and determination of the Islamic Republic of Iran and this has nothing but regret for them.
• FM spokesman: Trump just echoing his own hollow, impossible dreams IRNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that the allegations repeatedly leveled against Iran by the US President Donald Trump claiming that Tehran was keen for talks with Washington were merely the expression of Trump's own false and absurd dreams.
• US sends message to negotiate with Iran: Shamkhani ISNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran has three main policies: First, collective security by the regional states is the key solution to the sustainable development in the region, second, opposing change of borders and the division of countries and third, opposing presence of foreign forces in the region.
• Trump simply stating his false, impossible dreams: Iran ISNA 07 Jan 2019 -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says US President Donald Trump as always, without learning a lesson from the developments of the recent decades and without revising the policies of his ill-advised predecessors towards this region and Iran has once again made irrational and hate-inspired statements against the people of this ancient land.
• Era of American order, West's hegemony over: Iran minister Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami says the era of American order and Western hegemony has reached its end and time has come to usher in the post-West age in West Asia.
• Trump's claims of Iran seeking talks 'false dreams': Ministry Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Iran has categorically dismissed Donald Trump's new claims that Tehran is after talks with Washington, saying the US president is only giving voice to his "false and unattainable dreams."
• Tehran Ridicules Trump's Claim of Iran Seeking Talks as 'Unattainable Dreams' Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Speaking to reporters at the White House on 6 January, President Donald Trump claimed that Iran was not doing well and wanted to hold talks with the United States.
• Relay satellite Queqiao plays key role in exploring moon's far side People's Daily 07 Jan 2019 -- China's Chang'e-4 probe has started the exploration on the far side of the moon thanks to the relay satellite that provides a communication link with ground control.
• How a Dead Pig Is Further Soiling China-Taiwan Relations VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- A hog evidently tossed into the ocean from China washed up on New Year's Eve along Kinmen, an outlying Taiwanese-held islet. Local agricultural inspectors later tested the carcass positive for African swine flu, an infectious disease that has led to the slaughter of some 600,000 pigs in China.
• Terrorism Trial Opens In Sweden Against Six Uzbek, Kyrgyz Men RFE/RL 07 Jan 2019 -- Six Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals living in Sweden have gone on trial in Stockholm accused of transferring funds to the extremist group Islamic State (IS).
• Turkey orders detention of 100 soldiers over alleged Gulen links Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Turkish prosecutors have ordered the detention of 100 soldiers on suspicion of their affiliation to a movement led by the US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state media say.
• Britain Tests Emergency Plans as No-Deal Brexit Edges Closer VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- The chances of Britain crashing out of the European Union by default with no deal in place are growing, as lawmakers appear unlikely to support the deal Prime Minister Theresa May struck with the bloc. A parliamentary vote on the agreement is scheduled next week.
• May's Brexit Pleas Falling on Deaf Ears in London, Brussels VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- Britain's embattled Theresa May will make a push this week to persuade rebel lawmakers in her ruling Conservative party to back her contentious Brexit withdrawal agreement.
• Orthodox Christians Celebrate Christmas Amid Internal Divisions RFE/RL 07 Jan 2019 -- Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas as believers gathered in Moscow, Kyiv, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Cairo, and cities throughout the world to mark in the holy day.
• Constantinople Patriarch Legalises Schism as Ukraine Gets Autocephaly Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has completed the process of creation of a new schismatic religious structure in Ukraine by granting the tomos of autocephaly to the newly-established church that the Ukrainian political leadership has been striving for.
• Creation of New Church in Ukraine 'Political Put-Up Job' - Russian Patriarch Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- The absence of any reaction from the West to Ukrainian authorities' unprecedented interference in church's affairs indicates obvious political motives behind the creation of a new religious structure in Ukraine, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said.
• Venezuela's Maduro defends 'legitimacy' of government amid mounting opposition Press TV 07 Jan 2019 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has defended the "legitimacy" of his government amid mounting opposition against his bid for a second six-year term.
• 'Puppet': Maduro Claims National Assembly President 'Created by US Intelligence' Sputnik 07 Jan 2019 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that Juan Guaido, the new president of the country's opposition-controlled National Assembly, is a US agent.
• DR Congo: Restore internet services as 'a matter of urgency', urges UN expert UN News 07 Jan 2019 -- More than a week after voters went to the polls to choose a new President in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), results have yet to be announced and all primary telecommunications remain shut down – prompting a UN expert on Monday to urge the authorities to restore internet services as "a matter of urgency".
• Demonstrator: Sudanese Government Stepping Up Violent Efforts to Quell Protests VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- Sudan's government is stepping up violent efforts to quell widespread protests in the country, according to a demonstrator interviewed on a VOA program.
• Truth Commission on Jammeh Opens Hearings in Gambia VOA 07 Jan 2019 -- Two years after President Yahya Jammeh left power in Gambia, the country is opening a truth commission that will look into abuses carried out during his more than two decades in power. The commission, known as the TCRR, or Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, opened hearings Monday.