Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- June 18, 2014

Members of the Kurdish security forces stand at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kirkuk. Photograph: Reuters

Iraqis Raise Questions Over Army's Collapse As Jihadi Advance Slows -- The Guardian

Several theories spread about why a force touted as the best trained and armed in the Arab world folded in contested region

Last Wednesday, a day after Islamist fighters surged south towards Baghdad, an Iraqi officer in the town of Jalula heard tyres crunch on the gravel near his window and stepped outside to investigate.

A convoy of Kurdish military vehicles disgorged dozens of troops, known as peshmerga, who told him they had come to take over his base, 80 miles north-east of the Iraqi capital, and seize its weapons. The Kurds were a long way from home, having driven 220 miles south from Irbil, deep into a region that for decades has been fiercely contested by the Kurdish north and the rest of Arab Iraq.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- June 18, 2014

Iraq Premier Fires Army Commanders Amid Battle With ISIL -- Bloomberg Businessweek

Humiliation at rout hits Iraqi military hard -- Washington Post/AP

Battle-tested Kurds watch as ISIS routs Iraqi Army -- FOX News

Iraqi Forces Can Hold Baghdad, Pentagon Says -- Defense One

Obama eyes ‘special forces’ option in Iraq, meeting with Hill leaders -- FOX News

US focus shifting away from airstrikes in Iraq, officials say -- AP

CIA Facing Gaps in Iraq as It Hunts for Militants -- AP

Defense denies Blackhawk, Stinger sales to Iraq -- WND

British spy agencies ordered to focus on militant extremists in Syria and Iraq which pose 'real threat to our country', Cameron says -- Daily Mail

Inside HMS Queen Elizabeth: The construction of the Royal Navy's largest ever vessel -- The Independent

Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier: Will the UK get a pair? -- ITV

Afghan special forces in Helmand face uncertain future -- Marine Times

Pakistan to Use Russian Mi-35 Helicopters to Fight Drug Trafficking -- RIA Novosti

Analysts: Pakistan Set for Drawn Out Anti-Terrorist Conflict -- Defense News

Japan mulls recording China’s military aircraft on video -- Japan Times

China Dominates US Naval Strategy Discussion -- Defense News

'Accidental blast' kills 17 Chinese soldiers storing ammunition -- Reuters

PLA cannot compete with US F-22 fighters: Japanese media -- Want China Times

Russia Receives Foreign Orders for S-400 Anti-Aircraft Systems -- RIA Novosti

Germany Could Spend €3 Billion To Get MEADS Going -- Defense News

Top military tech from around the globe draws militaries to Paris -- FOX News

Lockheed F-35 bulkhead cracks solution proposed, Pentagon says -- Fort Worth Business Press

Unmanned convoy passes second driving demo -- GCN

Pentagon: Enemy drones don’t worry us because we have laser weapons on deck -- Washington Times

Ex-supercarrier Constellation headed to scrapyard -- Navy Times

White House opposes House's $570B defense bill -- Military Times

Defense Giants Score Poorly on Arms Development -- DoD Buzz

NSA Turned Germany Into Its Largest Listening Post in Europe -- The Intercept

There’s No Such Thing as ‘NSA-Proof’ Encryption -- Brendan Sasso, National Journal, Defense One

Blackwater trial: Prosecutor details killings of 14 Iraqis -- AP

Vets Slam VA Tweet on Protecting Oceans -- Defense Tech

Issues Await Next USMC Commandant -- Defense News

Changing times: Door may open to U.S. military at former Vietnam War hub -- Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes

US Military Deaths in Afghanistan at 2,185 -- AP