Category Archives: US national security

The US is pulling out of Afghanistan. But it will never leave those of us who served there

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Historians will judge America’s longest war. Now, the sounds of helicopters over my home take me back to Losano Ridge, Gardez, the men I fought for and those who did not return

I am one of more than 800,000 American military veterans who have served in Afghanistan since 2001. Tens of thousands more served in other capacities, from intelligence and diplomacy to aid and development. It’s fair to ask whether the end of the war affects how one views his or her own small role in the effort. If we didn’t “win”, whatever winning means in a war like this, did we matter? Were the sacrifices in vain?

Related: Damned either way, Biden opts out of Afghanistan as US tires of ‘forever wars’

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Secretary of state Blinken hits out at China over Taiwan and Covid

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Joe Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Sunday the US is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.

Related: Chaos Under Heaven: Trump as raging bull in a China policy shop

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China threat to invade Taiwan is ‘closer than most think’, says US admiral

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  • China considers recovering control of Taiwan its ‘No 1 priority’
  • Adm John Aquilino is nominated to head Indo-Pacific Command

The Chinese threat to invade Taiwan is serious and more imminent than many understand, the US admiral chosen to lead the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific region has warned.

China considers recovering control over Taiwan its “No 1 priority”, Adm John Aquilino, nominated to become commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday.

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US defense secretary Austin visits Afghanistan as exit deadline looms

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  • Surprise visit and meeting with President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul
  • Trip comes ahead of 1 May deadline to bring US troops home

Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defense, made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday, meeting President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

Related: Afghan peace summit includes just one female delegate

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‘A similar challenge’: how Joe Biden echoes Kennedys on US foreign policy

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The president does not just share Irish roots with John, Robert and Ted Kennedy – he also wants to lead America in the world

It was a popular Washington sport: find the past president who best explained Donald Trump. There was a touch of Andrew Jackson’s populism, a dash of Richard Nixon’s skulduggery, a sprinkling of Ronald Reagan’s myth-making. But now all that is over, who are the closest matches to Joe Biden?

Related: Lucky review: how Biden beat Trump – and doubters like Obama and Hillary

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Biden says Putin has ‘no soul’ and will pay a price for election interference – video

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Joe Biden has condemned Vladimir Putin, saying he thinks the Russian leader is a killer and that he told him he did not have a soul. Biden’s remarks were made on ABC News in an interview with George Stephanopoulos. The interview coincided with the release of a declassified US intelligence report that bolstered allegations Putin was behind Moscow’s interference in the 2020 election. When pressed on the allegations against Russia, Biden said Putin ‘will pay a price’ for the attempts to swing the vote in Donald Trump’s favor

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Secretary of state Blinken proposes steps to boost Afghanistan peace talks

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  • Top diplomat warns US forces could be withdrawn by 1 May
  • Proposes UN conference and Kabul-Taliban talks in Turkey

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has proposed a series of steps to help restart stalled peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, according to a letter from Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani published on Sunday by Afghanistan‘s TOLONews.

Related: Afghans dread the ‘danger hours’ as fragile gains of 20 years slip away

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The Good American review: Bob Gersony and a better foreign policy

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Robert D Kaplan’s outstanding book makes a strong case for US engagement based on human rights and helping refugees

What adjective should describe “the American” active in foreign policy? Graham Greene chose “quiet”, as his character harmed a country he did not understand. Eugene Burdick and William Lederer used “ugly”.

Robert D Kaplan, one of America’s most thoughtful chroniclers of foreign affairs, proposes “good” to describe Bob Gersony, who in “a frugal monastic existence that has been both obscure and extraordinary” has devoted his life to using the power and treasure of the US to serve others through humanitarian action.

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Biden will appeal for unity as US braces for violence by Trump supporters

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Joe Biden will deliver a message of national unity when he assumes the presidency on Wednesday, seeking to begin healing a country fractured by the acrimony of Donald Trump’s administration and ongoing threats of violence by his supporters.

Related: America is broken – can Biden and Harris put it back together?

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Russians are ‘likely’ perpetrators of US government hack, official report says

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Multi-agency report is the Trump administration’s first statement of attribution for the breaching of at least 10 federal agencies

Russia was “likely” to have been behind a string of hacks of US federal agencies identified last month, according the office of the US director of national intelligence which said the hackers breached fewer than 10 federal agencies.

The office and the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inside the Department of Homeland Security, in a joint statement, said the hackers’ goal appeared to be collecting intelligence, rather than any destructive acts.

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Guardians of the galaxy: Mike Pence names members of new US space force

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Vice-president’s announcement marks first birthday of signature Trump program but social media mockery follows

Members of the new US space force will be known as “guardians”, Vice-President Mike Pence announced on Friday, at a ceremony to mark the first birthday of the newest branch of the US armed forces, one of Donald Trump’s signature policy initiatives.

Related: Trump unveils logo for Starfleet ... er, Space Force ... and Trekkers take to Twitter

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Fears of foreign policy chaos in Trump’s final days fueled by Iran bombing report

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The outgoing president reportedly asked for options on bombing Iran as administration eyes last chance to achieve objectives

Fears that Donald Trump might try to wreak havoc on the world stage in his final, desperate, weeks in office appear to have been well-founded, after he reportedly asked for options on bombing Iran.

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Trump withdrawal plan could tip Afghanistan towards more violence

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Attacks up since September amid fears Taliban biding their time until US forces leave

Donald Trump’s plan for a swift withdrawal of over half the US troops in Afghanistan comes at a dangerous time for a country officially in peace talks, but grappling with escalating bloodshed and shrinking financial support from foreign donors.

Attacks are up by 50% since negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban began in September, a recent US government report found, above average levels for this time of year.

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If Biden wins what would the first 100 days of his presidency look like?

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If he succeeds in defeating Trump, the Democrat will have to urgently tackle the pandemic and rebuild global relationships

If Joe Biden wins the 2020 US election against Donald Trump next week, the new president-elect will face enormous pressures to implement a laundry list of priorities on a range of issues from foreign policy to the climate crisis, reversing many of the stark changes implemented by his predecessor.

Related: From climate to China, how Joe Biden is plotting America’s restoration

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Trump and Biden offer starkly different visions of US role in world

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The world is anxiously watching the election, with the candidates far apart on issues such as the climate crisis and nuclear weapons

Foreign policy barely gets a mention in this US election, but for the rest of the world the outcome on 3 November will arguably be the most consequential in history.

All US elections have a global impact, but this time there are two issues of existential importance to the planet – the climate crisis and nuclear proliferation – on which the two presidential candidates could hardly be further apart.

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US has never asked WikiLeaks rival to remove leaked cables, court told

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Cryptome also published documents that are at centre of Julian Assange extradition case

US authorities have never asked a WikiLeaks rival to take down unredacted cables that have been among those at the centre of the legal battle to send Julian Assange to the US, his extradition hearing has been told.

The evidence was given by a veteran internet activist whose website, Cryptome, published more than 250,000 classified documents a day before WikiLeaks began placing them online.

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Trump says he approves TikTok Oracle deal which may include Walmart

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  • President says he will allow Chinese-owned app in US
  • Walmart could acquire stake and seat on global board

Donald Trump has said he “approves a deal in concept” that will allow TikTok to continue to operate in the US, after threatening to ban the Chinese-owned app.

Related: China attacks US 'bullying' over ban on Tiktok and WeChat

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Trump threatens to retaliate with ‘1,000 times greater’ force against any Iran attack

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  • US intelligence said to fear attack on US envoy to South Africa
  • Trump claims he had discussed plan to assassinate Syria’s Assad

Donald Trump has warned that the US will retaliate with “1,000 times greater” force against any Iranian attack on its interests.

Related: ‘The US feels very volatile’: former ambassador warns of election violence

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Trump told Sarah Sanders to ‘take one for the team’ after Kim Jong-un wink

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  • Ex-press secretary describes boorish remarks in new memoir
  • ‘Kim Jong-un hit on you,’ Trump said, after gesture at summit

Donald Trump told Sarah Sanders she would have to “go to North Korea and take one for the team”, after Kim Jong-un winked at the then White House press secretary during a summit in Singapore in June 2018.

Related: Trump denies 'series of mini-strokes' after book reports mystery hospital visit

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US defense department creates taskforce to investigate UFOs

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Taskforce to detect and anlyze unidentified aerial phenomena that could ‘potentially pose a threat’ to national security, Pentagon said

The US department of Defense has formed a new body to investigate what it calls “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs) following reported sightings of what most people call UFOs.

The move is likely to spark wide interest in alien hunters worldwide looking for signs that humanity is not alone in the universe. Although the dry language of the Pentagon’s announcement of the new group belied its intent as watchers of the sky for potential first contact.

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