National Security

Russian Relations 'Extremely Tense' As U.S. Sends Armor To Eastern Europe

8:56pm June 23, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Mark Katz, a professor of government and politics at George Mason University, about U.S.-Russia relations on issues such as the Iran nuclear agreement and Syria.

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The Brink imagines how the White House situation room — and the U.S. secretary of state, played by Tim Robbins — respond when Pakistan is taken over by a certifiably crazy general.

HBO's 'The Brink' Puts The Situation Room In Situation Comedy

4:04pm June 21, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

The show is a response to the notion that sitcoms have generally ceded political satire to fake news programs. It opens with a certifiably crazy general taking control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

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An undated file picture shows Osama bin Laden. A new Wikileaks release purports to reveal that one of his sons requested a death certificate for the al-Qaida leader, who was killed in a U.S. military raid in 2011.

Bin Laden Son Asked U.S. For Father's Death Certificate, Wikileaks Says

1:40pm June 20, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The website has begun the release of 500,000 documents it says are related to Saudi Arabian diplomatic communications. Among them was the request from Abdullah bin Laden.

The Rev. Sidney Davis leads mourners at Charleston's Second Presbyterian Church during a community prayer service for the nine victims of the shooting at the historic Emanuel AME Church.

Sen. Tim Scott: Charleston Shooting Was 'A Crime Of Hate'

7:35am June 20, 2015

by Michel Martin

Sen. Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, shares his thoughts on the shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

Islamic State Stitches Itself Into Fabric Of Seized Communities

2:06pm June 19, 2015

NPR's Melissa Block talks to New York Times reporter Ben Hubbard about how the self-declared Islamic State has been digging itself deeper into the communities it has seized.

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U.S. Military Officials Say Iraq Needs More Fighters To Battle Islamic State

6:27pm June 17, 2015

by Tom Bowman

The nation's top military officials said the U.S. needs a greater commitment from Iraq in the fight against the self-declared Islamic State but argued against sending any U.S. combat troops there.

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National

Third Man Arrested In New York Pressure Cooker Bomb Plot

5:22pm June 17, 2015

by Dina Temple-Raston

Prosecutors say Fareed Mumuni, 21, was part of a plot to support ISIS. A criminal complaint also alleges he used a kitchen knife to try to stab an FBI agent who came to his Staten Island home.

National

The Duffel Blog: Like 'The Onion' In Camo

11:59am June 17, 2015

Imagine The Onion with a military focus — that's the The Duffel Blog, a satirical website that pokes fun at the military. NPR's Scott Simon talks to founder and Editor-in-Chief Paul Szoldra.

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An Iraqi soldier takes position in Iraq's Anbar province. The U.S. will send 450 military advisers to Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS, but they will have a another challenge to gain the trust of Sunni leaders, as they did in 2007.

Will The U.S. Win A Second Chance At A Sunni Awakening?

2:20pm June 15, 2015

by Rachel Martin

In 2007, Sunni sheikhs, fed up with al-Qaida, started fighting alongside the U.S. in Iraq. The U.S. needs help again, this time against ISIS militants. But can they win Sunni trust a second time?

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U.S. Airstrike In Libya Kills Algerian Militant

2:11pm June 15, 2015

by Dina Temple-Raston

Pentagon officials have confirmed that the leader of al-Qaida's arm in North Africa Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Libya over the weekend. He was notorious for taking hostages.

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