National Security

Foreign Policy Experts Weigh In On U.S. Strategy Against The Islamic State

9:01pm May 28, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with White House spokesman Josh Earnest about the current U.S. strategy in Iraq and Syria. He also interviews foreign policy experts who say that policy needs review.

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A security fence surrounds the main part of the U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground, a testing laboratory in the Utah desert. The Army says it mistakenly shipped live anthrax from Dugway to several labs in the U.S. and Korea.

CDC Investigates Live Anthrax Shipments

9:01pm May 28, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

The chief disease agency in the U.S. is looking into why the spores shipped to laboratories in nine states and a military base in South Korea hadn't been properly neutralized. So far no one is sick.

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Carolina Ortiz moves away from a 155 mm artillery piece after loading it during a live-fire exercise at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The Marine Corps is trying to determine whether women can serve in ground combat jobs: artillery, armor and

National

Can Female Marines Carry The Load And Kill The Enemy?

6:10pm May 28, 2015

by Tom Bowman

Marines have to carry a pack that weights more than 100 pounds. For some of the women training in the Mojave Desert to join combat units, that nearly matches their body weight.

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Worker productivity has grown, but wages have fallen far behind.

What Will The Next President Face On #Day1?

11:20am May 28, 2015

by Amita Kelly

This week, NPR looks at four seemingly intractable problems that await the 45th president: stagnant wages, violent extremism, cybersecurity and the federal debt.

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After Fall Of Ramadi, Iraqi Troops Hope For More U.S. Support

7:38pm May 26, 2015

NPR's Audie Cornish interviews Washington Post reporter Loveday Morris about how the city of Ramadi, Iraq, fell to the self-declared Islamic State. She says Iraqi troops in the city were worn down.

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Defense Secretary Ash Carter testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington earlier this month. In an interview on CNN Sunday, Carter complained that Iraqi forces lacked "the will to fight" the self-declared Islamic State.

Defense Secretary Carter: Iraqi Forces Lack 'Will To Fight' ISIS

11:04am May 26, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Ash Carter, in an interview on CNN, said that the ISF lost Anbar despite "vastly outnumbering" fighters of the self-declared Islamic State.

Senate Blocks Bill To End Government Collection Of Phone Records

9:27am May 26, 2015

by L. Carol Ritchie

The Senate worked late into the night but failed to agree on extending government surveillance programs under the USA Patriot Act before adjourning for the Memorial Day holiday.

As ISIS Expands Its Control, U.S. Policy Is Questioned

11:15am May 24, 2015

The so-called Islamic State captured two strategic cities recently: Ramadi, Iraq, and Palmyra, Syria. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins about the U.S. strategy toward ISIS.

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Senate Blocks Measures To Extend NSA Data Collection

9:48pm May 23, 2015

The Senate worked late into the night but was not able to figure out what to do about expiring provisions in the Patriot Act that authorize the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' phone records.

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Robert Gates: Obama Should Step Up Military Assistance To Iraq

9:48pm May 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

The former secretary of defense says that even stepping up the rules of engagement for U.S. troops in Iraq might not keep ISIS in check. "There's no certainty about any of this," he says.

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