Thursday, December 20, 2018

Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- December 20, 2018




Kyle Rempfer, Military Times: Here’s what may be driving a US troop withdrawal from Syria

Reports of a total and immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria come amid heightening tensions — and growing risk of military confrontation — between the U.S. and Turkey.

Turkish forces want to push their troops into Syria. The U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds want to keep the Turkish forces out. And the U.S. has struggled for months to keep both players happy.

A confrontation between the U.S and Turkey, officially NATO allies, would create a geopolitical crisis at the heart of the world’s most powerful military alliance.

Read more ....

Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- December 20, 2018

US announces it is pulling all troops out of Syria -- DW

United States begins withdrawal of troops from Syria as Donald Trump declares victory over Islamic State -- ABC News Online

Media: US military trucks loaded with arms heading from Syria to Iraq -- TASS

US Also Ends Air Campaign Against Daesh Under Trump Withdrawal Order - Report -- Sputnik

Joint Chiefs chairman was in the dark about Trump Syria pullout: report -- The Hill

Trump’s Syria withdrawal flies in the face of statements from top military and national security leaders -- Defense News

Germany, France, UK: 'Islamic State' not defeated in Syria -- DW

A look at US involvement in Syria’s civil war -- Military Times/AP

State Department approves $3.5B Patriot missile sales to Turkey amid tensions -- The Hill

New Homeland Defense Radar for missile defense to be placed in Hawaii -- UPI

Laser Weapons Are Future for Missile Defense, Space, Expert Says -- Defense Tech

Why DARPA thinks air assets will be the last to get laser weapons -- Aaron Mehta, C4IRSNet  

US Military Hit by Computer Network Outage in South Korea -- Military.com/Stars and Stripes

Mysterious Light Appears In The Sky After Rocket Launch Canceled At Vandenberg Air Force Base -- CBS Sacramento

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile -- Breaking Defense

USS Freedom Gets Underway After Two Years of Repairs -- USNI News

USNS Comfort returns to port from 11-week medical support mission -- UPI

Civilians Are Cheaper Than Contractors for Most Defense Jobs, Internal Report Finds -- Defense One

Two US Airmen, HIV-Positive, Sue Military For Firing Them -- NDTV/Washington Post

Ex-Blackwater guard convicted of murder in Iraq shooting spree -- Al Jazeera

How Special Ops Can Step It Up -- Jonathan Schroden, War on the Rocks

How the CIA Watched Soviet Parades for New Military Tech -- Popular Mechanics

Putin Boosts Private Military Groups Outlawed in Russia -- Bloomberg

Russian Military Reveals New Tank Capable of Firing Depleted Uranium Rounds -- Sputnik

Ukraine plans another naval foray into Sea of Azov -- AP

Hungary signs deal to buy dozens of tanks, howitzers from Germany’s KMW -- Defense News

France launches military imaging satellite. Who’s involved, and what it can do? -- Defense News

Canadian Military Claims Their Planes Were Harassed by Chinese off North Korea -- Sputnik

S Korean President Urges Further Enhancement of Country's Defenсe Capabilities -- Sputnik

Japan seeks drones, subs, F-35 jets as part of $243 billion defense-spending plan -- Defense News

South China Sea and Taiwan among flashpoints for armed conflict in 2019, survey warns US policymakers -- SCMP

No comments: