Martin Dempsey

Amid the ongoing uproar caused by the CIA’s assessment that Russian-baked hackers were responsible for the hacked DNC e-mails and their passing on to wikileaks, which influenced the elections in favour of Donald Trump, CBS news has revealed that Russian hackers struck at the heart of the U.S. military in August 2015 by seizing the e-mail system used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had ambitious plans for Afghanistan, but Taliban resistance, US drone strikes, and a society less scarred by sectarianism mean the extremists have so far failed to repeat their Middle Eastern breakthrough.

Only about 60 Syrian rebels are being trained by the United States to take on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said July 7, admitting it was far below the number hoped for.

Two of America's top military leaders will be asked to defend President Barack Obama's handling of the tinderbox of violence and struggle in the Middle East.

US President Barack Obama is considering expanding the number of training sites for Iraqi forces to bolster the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), US military officials said on June 9, which  could mean deploying hundreds more US forces in Iraq. 

America's top general sought to reassure Israel on June 9 of "unshakable" US military support, despite deep strains in political relations over the prospect of a US-led nuclear deal with Iran and differences over Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. 

The U.S. military?s top-ranking officer says contingency plans have been drawn up for a safe zone in consultation with Turkey, while a senior Pentagon official has told Hürriyet that this is conditional on Turkey?s steps on plans to train Syrian rebels, which remains a source of tension between the two countries.

President Barack Obama will nominate Marine General Joseph Dunford as the next chairman of the joint chiefs, choosing an officer with battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan for the US military's top job.
 

Iraq?s largest refinery in Baiji is not ?at risk? despite an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group that has breached parts of the facility, the U.S. military?s top general said on April 16.

Having the leader of Iran?s elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said March 22.