Author: Lolita C. Baldor
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Shanahan drops bid to lead Pentagon, citing ‘painful’ past
WASHINGTON • After months of unexplained delays, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan stepped down Tuesday before his formal nomination went to the Senate, citing a “painful” family situation that would hurt his children and reopen “wounds we have worked years to heal.” President Donald Trump announced Shanahan’s departure in a tweet, and said that Army…
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Reports of sexual assault in the military spike
WASHINGTON • Reports of military sexual assaults jumped by 13% last year, but an anonymous survey of service members released Thursday suggests the problem is vastly larger. The survey results found that more than 20,000 service members said they experienced sexual assault, but only a third of those filed a formal report. The survey number…
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Shanahan working to streamline defense spending
WASHINGTON • The sooner-than-expected departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis shifts the focus to President Donald Trump’s appointment of an acting Pentagon chief and plans for a permanent replacement. It also signals an acrimonious end to a tense relationship between Trump and Mattis that had eroded in recent months. A fracture developed last week over…
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Officials: Pentagon planning troop pullout from Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is developing plans to withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, marking a sharp change in the Trump administration’s policy aimed at forcing the Taliban to the peace table after more than 17 years of war. One official said the troops could…
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Trump pulling all U.S. troops from Syria, declaring IS defeat
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump is pulling all 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, officials announced Wednesday as the president suddenly declared victory over the Islamic State, contradicting his own experts’ assessments and sparking surprise and outrage from his party’s lawmakers who called his action rash and dangerous. The U.S. began airstrikes in Syria in…
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Questions swirl over U.S. troop role at border
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump ordered troops to the border in response to a caravan of migrants slowly making its way through Mexico toward the United States and still about 900 miles away, with many dropping out. Here’s what we know about the military’s mission: • More than 7,000 active-duty troops have been told to…
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Trump military parade to cost $92 million
WASHINGTON • The The Defense Department said Thursday that the Veterans Day military parade ordered up by President Donald Trump won’t happen in 2018. Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said the military and the White House “have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.” The announcement came several hours after The Associated Press reported…
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Military sex assault reports jump 10 percent
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say reports of sexual assaults across the military jumped by nearly 10 percent in 2017, a year that saw a massive online nude-photo sharing scandal rock the services, triggering greater awareness of sexual harassment and other similar complaints. The overall increase was fueled by a nearly 15-percent surge in sexual assault…
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Impatient for wall, Trump wants US military to secure border
WASHINGTON — Frustrated by slow action on a big campaign promise, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built. Trump told reporters he’s been discussing the idea with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. “We’re going to be doing things militarily. Until…
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Probe finds deadly Niger mission lacked proper approval
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save WASHINGTON — A military investigation into the Niger attack that killed four American service members concludes the team didn’t get required senior command approval for their risky mission to capture a high-level Islamic State militant,…