Author: Phil Stewart
-
Pentagon: Senator holding military nominations hurts readiness
WASHINGTON • A senator’s decision to hold up the nomination of military officials over the Pentagon’s abortion policy will hurt readiness, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday. Sen. Tommy Tuberville has been blocking nominations from moving forward since last month because he believes the Pentagon is improperly using funding to cover travel costs for…
-
Australia expected to buy up to 5 Virginia class submarines as part of AUKUS
WASHINGTON • Australia is expected to buy up to five U.S. Virginia class nuclear powered submarines in the 2030s as part of a landmark defense agreement among Washington, Canberra and London, four U.S. officials said Wednesday, in a deal that would present a new challenge to China. The agreement, known as the AUKUS pact, will…
-
U.S. military: ISIS leader in Syria killed in drone strike
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The leader of Islamic State in Syria, one of the top five leaders of the militant group, has been killed in a U.S. air strike, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said Maher al-Agal had been killed in a drone strike in northwesten Syria and a close…
-
commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy
WASHINGTON • A congressionally mandated commission announced on Tuesday its recommendations for changes to the names of nine U.S. Army bases that honor the Confederacy and Confederate leaders. The recommended changes, if implemented, would name bases in honor of Black, Hispanic and female American heroes, including Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to win the…
-
U.S. and Israel ramp up pressure on Iran as diplomacy stalls
WASHINGTON • The United States and Israel increased pressure on Iran on Thursday as nuclear talks stalled, with Israel’s visiting defense chief raising the issue of joint military readiness to be able to halt Iran’s nuclear aspirations, if necessary. Reuters exclusively reported that Thursday’s U.S.-Israeli agenda was expected to include discussions about possible military exercises…
-
Top U.S. general: Chinese hypersonic weapons test ‘very concerning’
WASHINGTON • The top U.S. military officer, General Mark Milley, has provided the first official U.S. confirmation of a Chinese hypersonic weapons test that military experts say appears to show Beijing’s pursuit of an Earth-orbiting system designed to evade American missile defenses. The Pentagon has been at pains to avoid direct confirmation of the Chinese…
-
‘Unmitigated disaster’: Republicans attack Biden’s defense of Afghan pullout
WASHINGTON • Republican U.S. lawmakers tried on Wednesday to pick apart President Joe Biden’s defense of his withdrawal from Afghanistan as they attacked his judgment and honesty during a second day of contentious congressional hearings with Pentagon leaders. Democrat Biden has faced the biggest crisis of his presidency over the war in Afghanistan, which he…
-
Pentagon chief Austin: Afghan army collapse ‘took us all by surprise’
WASHINGTON • Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that the Afghan army’s sudden collapse caught the Pentagon off-guard as he acknowledged miscalculations in America’s longest war including corruption and damaged morale in Afghan ranks. “The fact that the Afghan army we and our partners trained simply melted away — in many cases without…