War Is Boring

by DAVID AXE ABOARD USS DONALD COOK — In 2008, Somali pirates hijacked more than 100 large commercial vessels, provoking a massive international response. More than 40 warships from a dozen navies subsequently assembled to patrol the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. At the same time, diplomats forged consensus approaches that included U.N. [...]

by KYLE MIZOKAMI * Wave of bombings sweeps Iraq as Ramadan ends * U.S. troops killed in Phillipines were on soft-power mission * E.U. says Georgia started 2008 war with Russia * Al-Qaeda attacker smuggled bomb the really hard way * F-22: How Bob Gates beat Lockheed Martin

A year after Somali piracy peaked with more than 100 ships attacked, the world’s navies have assembled dozens of warships to combat the threat. David Axe joins the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook in Djibouti, to observe firsthand this “global war on piracy.” by DAVID AXE A year into the “global war on piracy,” [...]

by SAM ABRAMS The death of terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top at the hands of Indonesian police last week was good news for Indonesia and the region’s stability. Top was linked to the 2002 and 2005 suicide bombings on Bali and the July attacks on luxury hotels in Jakarta. As analysts evaluate the security implications of [...]

by KYLE MIZOKAMI * Royal Navy in record cocaine bust * Iran test fires short-range ballistic missiles * Al Qaeda to Germany: Leave Afghanistan or we bomb Oktoberfest * Yemeni troops in fresh clashes with southern rebels * Fijian military barred from U.N. peacekeeping roles

A year after Somali piracy peaked with more than 100 ships attacked, the world’s navies have assembled dozens of warships to combat the threat. David Axe joins the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook in Djibouti, to observe firsthand this “global war on piracy.” by DAVID AXE “Ship of interest off the port side,” the [...]

A year after Somali piracy peaked with more than 100 ships attacked, the world’s navies have assembled dozens of warships to combat the threat. David Axe joins the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook in Djibouti, to observe firsthand this “global war on piracy.” by DAVID AXE In three months there’s been just one successful [...]

A year after Somali piracy peaked with more than 100 ships attacked, the world’s navies have assembled dozens of warships to combat the threat. David Axe joins the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook in Djibouti, to observe firsthand this “global war on piracy.” by DAVID AXE “Thirty-second standby.” That’s the voice from the pilot [...]

By ZACH ROSENBERG Mexicans have some interesting views on drugs and drug violence. On one hand, 95 percent believe that illegal drugs are a big problem, with 73 percent naming them as a very big problem. On the other hand, Mexico leads the recent Latin American trend towards going easy on drug users, having recently [...]

by KYLE MIZOKAMI * Reporters covering new PLA tech beaten, equipment trashed * DBIED attack kills two in Colombia * After Pakistani Army offensive, Pashtun revenge killings rise * U.S. Army mechanized unit learns to fight as light infantry * USAF restarts tanker procurement program

By ZACH ROSENBERG One day after a shootout closed the U.S.-Mexico border crossing at San Ysidro, two days after Mexican troops raided a house and discovered $5 million in bribes organized into “police” and “press,” less than a week after grenades and assault rifles were used to attack a drug rehabilitation clinic in Ciudad Juarez [...]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmkEfo1JsBk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] by DAVID AXE U.S. and French troops in Wardak, Afghanistan, use guns, mortars and grenades — first in training, then in combat. Jason Reich shot this footage in August 2009. (Video: Jason Reich)