National Security

FBI Director James Comey testifies March 1 before the House Judiciary Committee on the encryption of the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino attackers.

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FBI Explains Why It Won't Disclose How It Unlocked iPhone

6:39pm April 27, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

The agency says it doesn't have the rights to the technical details of the unlocking method, and so it can't submit it to a special review that would have determined whether Apple should be informed.

Donald Trump Claims U.S. Intervention Created 'Chaotic' Middle East

4:38pm April 27, 2016

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with Vali Nasr, dean of the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, about Donald Trump's foreign policy speech Wednesday.

Expanded U.S. Presence In Syria May Be Politically Motivated, Mann Says

7:37am April 27, 2016

President Obama has announced the U.S. will increase the number of military personnel in Syria to fight ISIS. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro talks to Scott Mann, who spent 18 years in Army special operations.

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2 Female Marines At Camp Pendleton Strive To Join Combat Units

7:29am April 26, 2016

by Susan Murphy

Female Marines are applying for front-line jobs following the Pentagon's decision to admit women. We meet two who are leading the way as they try to move into artillery and amphibious vehicle units.

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Pentagon To Send Additional 250 Special Forces Troops To Syria

4:37pm April 25, 2016

President Obama announced he will send additional U.S. special operations forces to Syria. The announcement comes at a time when ISIS's foothold on the region is, reportedly, weakening.

ISIS Uses Cyber Capabilities To Attack The U.S. Online

4:37pm April 25, 2016

by Mary Louise Kelly

The U.S. and the West aren't the only ones operating on the cyber-battlefield in the war with ISIS. The terror group has cyber-capabilities of its own. NPR takes a look at these capabilities and explores how they play into the larger expansion of cyber-strike and counter-strike throughout the Middle East.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper appears on Capitol Hill in February.

National

U.S. Spy Chief Considers Disclosing Number Of Americans Surveilled Online

4:31pm April 25, 2016

by Lauren Hodges

National Intelligence Director James Clapper says there are multiple obstacles in calculating just how many U.S. citizens are ensnared in government data-collection programs targeting foreigners.

National

Federal Judge Clears Lawsuit Against CIA Torture Program To Proceed

8:20am April 25, 2016

by David Welna

The lawsuit, on behalf of three men, accuses two psychologists based in Spokane, Wash., of devising and overseeing an "experimental torture program" as a "joint criminal enterprise" with the CIA.

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National

When It Comes To Flight Safety, When Does Alertness Become Racial Profiling?

9:36am April 23, 2016

NPR's Scott Simon talks with former flight attendant Gillian Brockell about the fine line between being vigilant aboard an aircraft, and racially and culturally sensitive.

National

CIA Veterans Gather To Honor Duane Clarridge, A Sometimes Unsubtle Spy

7:00am April 23, 2016

by Mary Louise Kelly

Clarridge, who headed up the agency's anti-communist efforts in Central America in the 1980s and was indicted and pardoned in the Iran-Contra scandal, died April 9.