FOREIGN AFFAIRS - page 23

The leading commander of US forces in Afghanistan downplayed reports that the Islamic State is gaining a foothold there. Gen. John Campbell told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that American military officials are watching for “the potential emergence” of the militant group, but said stories that it has already spread to Afghanistan lack significance. “Thus far, we have seen some evidence of limited recruiting efforts, and a few Taliban have rebranded themselves as ISIL,” he said, using one of many names for group. “This… Keep Reading

In the war against the Islamic State, US Members of Congress have praised despots in the Middle East for their willingness to engage with the extremist group, despite said leaders’ undemocratic and often brutal domestic policies. But they’ve been reluctant to endorse an alliance with Syria’s President Bashar al Assad, who the administration wants to fight simultaneously. But one lawmaker bucked that trend on Thursday. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), on CSPAN’s Washington Journal, urged President Obama to work with the Syrian president to defeat IS.… Keep Reading

Article updated below. In its quest to gain congressional authorization for the ongoing war against the Islamic State, the White House is this week seeking explicit legislative approval to deploy US ground troops to Iraq and Syria, according to The Hill. A congressional aide told the paper that President Obama wants Congress to only ban “enduring offensive ground operations” in the fight against the Islamic State–a move that would greatly increase the probability of mission creep. The term is designed to gain the support of… Keep Reading

President Obama sought to cover his right flank as he suggested he could take a more confrontational approach in two global hotspots where trigger-happy legislators with an increasingly attentive audience accuse him of demonstrating weakness. Obama said on Monday that he is still open to sending arms to the Ukrainian government to assist in Kiev’s fight against Russian-backed separatists, and intoned that nuclear negotiations between Iran and the permanent UN Security Council members could fail if they don’t result in an agreement next month. He… Keep Reading

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Monday that he won’t be attending Israeli Prime Minister’s March address to Congress. “I am not thinking about not going. I am not going,” he said. Sanders made the remarks at the Brookings Institution during a conversation with the think tank’s senior fellow and Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne. The senator said that the invitation to address Congress extended by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) infringes on the ability of the executive branch to formulate foreign policy,… Keep Reading

Just months after the United States voted down several measures at the United Nations aimed at preventing the weaponization of space, a Pentagon official urged the US to maintain supremacy of the final frontier. “US national security space systems are facing a serious growing threat,” claimed Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the commander of US Strategic Command. An official in charge of overseeing Defense Department space initiatives, Haney also said that “multiple countries have developed and are frequently using military jamming capabilities designed to interfere… Keep Reading

The State Department and the White House are not preparing to withdraw US aid to the Palestinian Authority after it applied to join the International Criminal Court, according to some of its representatives in Washington. Lobbyists for the Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the US said that the Obama administration doesn’t believe the clause of last year’s budget mandating the cessation of American assistance to the PA has been triggered. They made the comments on Capitol Hill to a Sentinel reporter who was… Keep Reading

A pro-peace lobby said Thursday that Republican senators are about to push an initiative that could effectively scupper any nuclear deal with Iran. The Friends National Committee on Legislation said that Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will seek to advance legislation they drafted that would grant lawmakers the final say on any accord with Tehran. “Since it’s widely expected that the majority of Congress would reject any nuclear deal reached with Iran, a vote would block a deal from coming into effect,”… Keep Reading

The State Department confirmed a New York Times report that the Obama administration is considering arming the Ukrainian government in its fight against separatists backed by Russia. Spokesperson Jen Psaki said Monday that the US is “constantly assessing our policies” in Washington’s bid to assist Kiev’s fight against militants seeking autonomy, but added that “the decision hasn’t been made.” She said that the administration is “particularly concerned about escalating separatist violence” beyond the September 2014 armistice line agreed to in Minsk The relative calm in eastern… Keep Reading