The Pentagon says fewer than two dozen civilians were killed in overseas anti-terrorism operations last year, but a pair of lawmakers doesn’t believe them.
Military officials say they will be able to respond to terrorism threats in Afghanistan even without troops on the ground there, but details are scarce.
The Defense Department doesn’t want to lose its irregular warfare edge, honed through more than a decade of conflict across the Middle East, even as it directs its armed forces to refocus on state-level adversaries.
The 101st Airborne Division unfurled its colors at Bagram Airfield, Sunday, marking the start of the unit’s fourth Afghanistan deployment in the last decade.
Iraq’s most coveted special forces unit suffered a nearly 40 percent casualty rate in its drive to liberate the dense city of over one million inhabitants, according to a U.S. Defense Department budget request seeking funds to help rebuild and equip the specialized unit.