military diplomacy

The United States has quietly restarted security assistance to Pakistan, U.S. officials said on Sunday, after freezing much of that aid during a period of strained relations beginning with the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. While the move to free up the aid has been underway for some months, it became public as President Barack Obama prepares for a White House meeting on Wednesday with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Washington's will consider resuming military aid to Egypt "on the basis of performance" that encourages democracy through elections. The US suspended some of its $1.5bn in annual military aid on Wednesday, but Kerry said on Thursday the deliveries could resume if Cairo moves to restore civilian rule.

The U.S. has put a hold on delivering tanks and fighter jets to Egypt, officials said Wednesday in an apparent show of Washington’s disapproval of a violent crackdown of protesters by its traditional Middle East ally. In a statement, the U.S. Department of State said certain “large-scale military systems” would not be sent to Cairo “pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections.”

Two U.S. raids in Africa show the United States is pressuring al-Qaeda, officials said on Sunday, though a failure in Somalia and an angry response in Libya also highlighted Washington's problems. In Tripoli, U.S. forces snatched a Libyan wanted over the bombings of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi 15 years ago and whisked him out of the country, prompting Secretary of State John Kerry to declare that al Qaeda leaders "can run but they can't hide."

The Ministry of Defense announced Thursday that it would host a global meeting to discuss how the rules and regulations of international humanitarian law can be integrated into Colombia’s military’s planning and operations.

For the past month at least, the world seems to have been discussing nothing but whether, how and when the United States will engage in a punitive air strike of some sort against the Syrian regime of Bashir al-Assad. Three things stand out about this discussion.

On March 24, 1999, former President Bill Clinton explained the rationale for air strikes in Kosovo from the Oval Office: “'Ending this tragedy is a moral imperative,” he said. “Our children need and deserve a peaceful, stable, free Europe.” Within minutes, NATO forces began pounding Serbia with cruise missiles and bombs, the start of what would become the largest military assault on Europe since World War II.

It's 8 a.m. on a recent day at Forward Operating Base Nolay, a small Marine outpost in Taliban-infested Sangin District of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. The Marines are in the process of caffeinating and preparing for the day. Suddenly, explosions and gunfire ring out. The Marines don't run for their weapons or bunkers for that matter. They don't even flinch. "We can sit here and we can have a cup of coffee when there's booms going on, we're not concerned about it," says Lt. Col. Jonathan Loney.

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