National Security

A black flag belonging to the so-called Islamic State is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani on Thursday, as seen from the Turkey-Syria border near the southeastern town of Suruc.

Turkey: Unilateral Ground Operation Against ISIS 'Unrealistic'

12:24pm October 09, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says his country cannot be expected to go it alone to protect Kurds inside Syria against militants with the self-declared Islamic State.

Paul Pillar (right), a former national intelligence officer, with teammate Aaron David Miller, argues that the U.S. should have a smaller military footprint in the Middle East.

Debate: Does U.S. Military Intervention In The Middle East Help Or Hurt?

8:25pm October 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

As the U.S. presses on with airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, two teams tackled the motion "Flexing American Muscles In The Middle East Will Make Things Worse," in the latest Intelligence Squared debate.

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Leon Panetta says he and other top national security advisers to the president argued to keep some U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq after 2011.

Panetta: Fight Against Terrorism Will Be A Long, Sustained War

12:04pm October 07, 2014

In a new memoir, Leon Panetta says he and other presidential advisers argued to leave some U.S. forces in Iraq after 2011. That might have left Iraq in better position to fight ISIS, he tells NPR.

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Security Lapses Trigger Questions About What Secret Service Agents Do

7:36am October 07, 2014

The lapses by the elite presidential detail shined a spotlight on the agency. What does an agent do in a day? To find out, Rachel Martin talks to ex-agent Dan Emmett, author of Within Arms Length.

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Abdul-Rahman (formerly Peter) Kassig posing with a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees.

What We Know About The American Being Held By The Islamic State

10:45am October 06, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

Peter Kassig was an Iraq War veteran who went to Syria to volunteer at hospitals. In a profile aired by CNN in 2012, Kassig said he's an idealist who believes in hopeless causes.

Hazard Duty: Reporting From The Turkey-Syria Border

1:51pm October 05, 2014

NPR international correspondent Deb Amos just returned from her three-week trip along the Turkey-Syria border. She talks to NPR's Ari Shapiro about the conflict she has been covering.

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National

Author: Secret Service Culture Is 'Rotten'

1:50pm October 04, 2014

A series of embarrassing and potentially catastrophic missteps has people wondering how to fix the Secret Service. Author Ronald Kessler speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about how it can regain trust.

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National

Judge Orders Release Of Guantanamo Force-Feeding Videos

7:10am October 04, 2014

by L. Carol Ritchie

In her opinion, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said it "strains credulity to conclude that the release of these videos has a substantial probability of causing the harm the government predicts."

Supporters of the al-Nusra Front protest in Aleppo, Syria, on Sept. 26, days after airstrikes there targeted the al-Qaida unit called Khorasan. U.S. officials say some top Khorasan leaders were embedded with the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's arm in Syria.

Al-Qaida Reasserts Itself With Khorasan Group

6:17pm October 03, 2014

by Dina Temple-Raston

Some critics say the al-Qaida unit known as the Khorasan Group was bluffed up as an excuse for U.S. airstrikes in Syria. Intelligence officials and analysts say the group exists and is dangerous.

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National

Amid Scandal, Secret Service Director Resigns

8:16am October 02, 2014

by Tamara Keith

What's next for the Secret Service now that its leader has resigned following embarrassing security lapses? On Wednesday, Julia Pierson, the director who had been on the job less than 2 years, quit.

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