In a televised interview, pro-American Iraqi President Barham Salih said that his country could no longer rely on the Americans, and so Iraq might re-evaluate its relationship with other powers, including Russia and Iran. This interview took place shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a military operation had killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As he spoke in …

In the face of mounting uncertainty, representatives from China, Russia, the United States, and Pakistan all agreed that talks with the Taliban hold the most promise for lasting peace in the war-torn country. The daylong Moscow conference was a precursor to intra-Afghanistan talks in Beijing. These negotiations should begin in November. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is a surprise participant in …

At Barnett Lerner, we deal with a number of deployment-related trauma injuries. As might be expected, most of them involve guns and bombs, but a few involve falls and other mishaps. Weapons of war cause both visible injuries and invisible injuries. These invisible injuries, especially brain injuries, are especially common in Iraq and Afghanistan. Combat contractors also struggle with occupational …

Recent events suggest that what was a local conflict in Iraq could soon become a regional conflict, as both Iran and Israel have recently joined in the fighting in the war-torn country. What do these developments mean for private military contractors? Officials believe that an Iranian-backed militia group launched a pair of rockets into Baghdad’s Green Zone. One projectile landed …

The United Nations, working with representatives from Iran, Turkey, and Russia, has brought Syrian strongman Bashar Assad and key rebel groups to the bargaining table. An agreement could mean the end of the long-running civil war in that country. In announcing the results of a trilateral summit in Ankara, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that a “credible, balanced and inclusive …

It is apparent that America’s longest war will go on even longer, as neither side will be hammering their swords into plowshares anytime soon. Taliban and government leaders were scheduled to meet in a secret Camp David summit. Days before the meeting, a bomb in Kabul killed 12 people, including one American soldier and 10 civilians. After the Taliban took …

Fear and anxiety are two of the worst PTSD symptoms. A pair of new drugs may now help alleviate these symptoms in contractors who developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iraq and elsewhere. Inside the brain, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) enzymes are associated with fear and anxiety. Swedish researchers recently discovered that some patients experienced signs of fear extinction …

With international tensions rising in the South China Sea, what was once a sleepy little island in the South Pacific is becoming an important forward operating base for the DoD and private military contractors. In the airplanes’ first overseas deployment, a pair of MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance drones recently arrived in Guam. The Northrop-Grumman has a 60,000-foot cruising altitude and can …

When American military contractors are injured in the line of duty, they can count on the Defense Base Act. But when Russian mercenaries are injured in places like Syria, they have no such assurances. Olga Markelova lost her ex-husband and the father of her baby in Syria. Dmitri Markelova had left the Russian military to join the Wagner Group. Under …

A federal judge said jurors “got it right” when they found former contractor Nicholas Slatten guilty of murder in December 2018. The judge sentenced him to life in prison. The matter first went to trial in December 2008, when the U.S. Attorneys’ Office initiated action against Slatten and four other Iraq War contractors. Just before the trial began in 2010, …

A jury may decide if CACI Premier Technology is legally responsible for prisoner abuses which occurred over a decade ago in Iraq, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The contractor in charge of the controversial prison had invoked the sovereign immunity defense. This doctrine shields governmental units from liability lawsuits, unless Congress or the appropriate …

Moscow and Beijing are ramping up their policial, economic, social, and military presence in Africa, and the Trump Administration is worried. National Security Advisor John Bolton, as well as the current and former heads of the U.S. Africa Command, all stated that Russia and China have already made significant inroads in about a dozen African countries. Additionally, 39 of Africa’s …