On March 26, 2025, authorities arrested multiple suspected ISIS members in a series of well-coordinated raids executed throughout the country. Carried out in coordination with ground forces, the directorate conducted operations in al-Anbar, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, leading to the capture of seven suspected ISIS members, an official statement confirmed. Security forces reportedly set up ambushes and raided militant hideouts, resulting …
German Ministers Cancel Syrian Trip
A meeting which probably would have focused on the refugee crisis was cancelled at the last minute due to “concrete warnings by German security authorities of a terrorist threat.” Germany’s Nancy Faeser had planned to visit Damascus with Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, and a German military plane was supposed to fly Faeser’s delegation into Syria from Jordan on Thursday morning, …
Trump Deportations and Private Military Contractors
President Donald Trump plans to expel millions of immigrants in the United States without proper documentation. Private military companies say they are available to help, for the right price. In March 2025, Academi head Erik Prince put together a memo and logistics plan to help the Trump administration deport millions of people. He said that if the Trump administration wants …
The Five Kinds of PTSD
For many years, doctors believed that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder randomly affected some people who went through extremely stressful situations. Although the latest science has clearly debunked that idea, many doctors still cling to the old ways. Extreme stress causes a chemical imbalance in the brain, much like a loud noise, like an explosive blast, causes a traumatic brain injury …
Footprints of Freedom in the Indian Ocean
Thousands of people live at a strategically vital military base that has a controversial past. Most people know nothing about this base or its past. In the words of Robert Kaplan, the Indian Ocean will be “center stage for the twenty-first century.” “Like a microcosm of the world at large, the greater Indian Ocean region is developing into an area …
Trump 2.0’s Good Start With Qatar
In February 2025, incoming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had a brief but productive telephone conference with Qatar Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, according to a DoD News release. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin …
Armed Contractors and an Unstable Peace in Gaza
In February 2025, a North Carolina-based company announced it would pay U.S. special forces veterans $1,100 per day, and a $10,000 signing bonus, to staff a checkpoint in Gaza. The contractors will staff the checkpoint at a key intersection in Gaza’s interior, said the spokesperson, who confirmed the authenticity of the email. The rules of engagement governing when UG Solutions …
Private Military Contractors in Lebanon?
American diplomats proposed replacing Israeli forces in southern Lebanon with private military contractors, an idea that others quickly rejected. The U.S., which co-brokered the ceasefire deal, offered to deploy private contractors in Netzarim, according to an American diplomatic source. This region includes several strategic areas. Al-Oweida hill, located between the Lebanese border towns of Meis al-Jabal and Blida, oversees many …
Top Ten Burn Pit Presumptive Conditions
Open-air waste disposal pits (burn pits) dotted Afghanistan and Iraq during those long wars. Those conflicts are over now, but the private military contractors who lived and worked near these burn pits still suffer serious ill effects, some of which are outlined below. In most cases, burn pit-related illnesses are debilitating or fatal. The DoD reasoned that, since burn pits …
American Officials Add Cuba to the Naughty List
In January 2025, incoming President Donald Trump reversed a Biden-era policy and placed Cuba on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel calls Trump’s move “arrogant” and a setback for the Cuban people. However, Díaz-Canel said Cuba would endure and ultimately thrive despite the renewed U.S. pressure. For several decades, Cuba has faced economic hardship due …
Crisis Continues in Afghanistan
One of Donald Trump’s first executive orders in his new administration prevented family members of American servicemembers in Afghanistan from emigrating to America. An estimated 200 family members of U.S. troops are in Afghanistan and attempting to flee the Taliban through the U.S. Refugees Admissions Program, or USRAP, said Shawn Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghan allies …
Officials Issue Kuwait Travel Notice
Increased risk of terrorism, specifically against military bases, should make people think twice before they travel to this once-quiet Gulf Coast Country, according to a January 2025 alert from the government of Australia. Conflicts in the Middle East could result in an increase in tensions elsewhere in the region and may result in airspace closures, flight cancellations, and other travel …












