During a recent meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that the airbase at Diego Garcia plays a vital role for the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific region and for global security. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron did not give a specific response at a joint news conference with Blinken when asked about a report that said British Defence Minister Grant …
Lawmakers Urge Biden to Strong-Arm Qatar
Two senators asked President Biden to pressure Qatar into assisting with the release of American hostages held in Gaza. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen (Nev.) sent a letter to President Biden which stated, in part, “We appreciate Qatar’s efforts so far to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and their commitment to continue …
Understanding the Judges’ Scrutiny of Psychological Injury Records (Part 1 of 5)
In this series of articles, our Firm will shed light on the Courts’ thorough examination of injured workers’ medical records, which has led to the denial of Defense Base Act (DBA) claims due to what they deem as deficient and unreliable evidence. While the Courts have always shown great attention to a claimant’s treating providers’ medical records, recent years have …
Tensions Escalate Between Kuwait and Iraq
In a desperate move to head off the armed conflict, representatives of the two Muslim nations will meet to discuss freedom-of-navigation issues in the Abdullah waterway between the two countries. The countries’ shared land border was demarcated by the United Nations in 1993 after Iraq’s invasion of the oil-producing nation, but it did not cover the length of their maritime …
China Begins Courting Japan
In the wake of a major summit meeting between the United States, Japan, and South Korea, which strengthened ties between these nations, China is trying to cut in on the dance floor. Beijing viewed that meeting in Camp David as a means of raising an attempt by the U.S. to increase the pressure against China at a time of intensifying …
Kenya to U.S.: I Scratch Your Back and You Scratch Mine
A tentative, bilateral agreement between the United States and Kenya would send troops from the East African nation to Haiti and additional American military support to Kenya. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Kenya’s Defense Minister Aden Duale signed the accord at a meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The agreement guides the countries’ defense relations for the next five …
Navy Agrees to Pay Totix Waste Dump Cleanup Costs
The federal government agreed to reimburse Guam for most of the $56 million it spent cleaning up a World War II/Vietnam War-era toxic waste dump. The settlement represents the U.S. government’s “fair share of remediation costs” for Ordot Dump, a 23-acre landfill opened prior to World War II and operated by the military for decades before being passed to the …
Iran/Iraq Physical Link Mirrors Political Link
For the first time ever, a rail line will connect longtime frenemies Iraq and Iran. Conductors might yell “All aboard!” by the end of 2024. Builders will lay a little over eighteen miles of track between Iraq’s southern city of Basra and the Iranian border town of Shalamja, linking nations with ties that have deepened since the 2003 U.S. invasion …
Rebels Gain Steam in Southern Syria
Protesters recently took to the streets in Sweida, a southern province with a mostly Druze population that has remained securely in government hands throughout the civil war. Syria is in a deep economic crisis that saw its currency plunge to a record 15,500 Syrian pounds to the dollar last week in a rapidly accelerating free-fall. It traded at 47 pounds …
Fifty Years and Counting at Diego Garcia
Predictably, festivities marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Naval base on Diego Garcia focused on the base’s strategic importance instead of its controversial past. “For 50 years, the Master-at-Arms rate has upheld a tradition of high standards of conduct, courtesy, and military excellence,” said Master-at-Arms 1st Class Andrew Bourdier, president of the MA ball committee, during the opening ceremony …
Biden Touts PACT Act to Skeptical Westerners
President Joe Biden marked the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, a law that is personal to him, during a speech in Utah. Biden spoke to veterans at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City to highlight the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, which has already provided 4.1 million veterans with free …
Are More Private Military Contractors Heading to Ukraine?
Surplus equipment that the United States and other countries send to Ukraine might be battle-ready earlier if one retired Army officer gets his way. As a private citizen over the past year, Vindman watched the slow Russian buildup along Ukraine’s borders and, he said, became concerned about how Kyiv would support and sustain a long conflict. Vindman and his twin …












