WASHINGTON — It's a difficult time for the Pentagon to be without a permanent U.S. defense secretary. The Trump administration is grappling with an escalating crisis with Iran, an unusual and controversial deployment of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan and stalled talks with North...
Twin Towers, Pentagon Replicas Planned for 9-11 Memorial in Clovis
Work begins Thursday on an expansion of the California 9-11 Memorial in Clovis that will include scaled replicas of the Twin Towers and Pentagon, a bronze statue of first responders, and a water feature representing design elements of the National 9-11 Memorial in New York. In addition, there will be...
US Beefing up Forces in Middle East to Counter Iran
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the...
Pentagon Proposing Troop Buildup in Mideast, Sources Say
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, U.S. officials said. The officials said no final decision has been made, and it's not clear...
Courts Weigh Trump’s Plan to Tap Pentagon for Border Wall
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump is moving fast to spend billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland, California, will consider...
Ex-US Intelligence Officer Charged in Iran Espionage Case
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government, including the code name and secret mission of a Pentagon program. The Justice Department said Wednesday that Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, defected in 2013 after attending a conference...
Officials: Pentagon Planning Troop Pullout From Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is developing plans to withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, marking a sharp change in the Trump administration's policy aimed at forcing the Taliban to the peace table after more than 17 years of war. One...
Trump Signs Order to Create US Space Command
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched the Pentagon's new Space Command Tuesday, an effort to better organize and advance the military's vast operations in space that could cost as much as $800 million over the next five years. Trump signed a one-page memorandum Tuesday authorizing the Defense Department to create...
Trump Says Border Troops Could Hit 15K, Surprising Pentagon
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border could reach 15,000 — roughly double the number the Pentagon said it currently plans for a mission whose dimensions are shifting daily. The Pentagon said "more than 7,000" troops were being sent...
US Sending 5,200 Troops to Border, Double Syria Deployment
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is deploying 5,200 troops to the Southwest border in an extraordinary military operation a week before nationwide elections in which President Donald Trump wants voters to focus on what he calls an "invasion" — a slow-moving caravan of Central American migrants. The number of troops being...