Topic - David Sedney

Related Stories

Defense Secretary James Mattis' authority to set U.S. troop levels for Afghanistan and the fight against Islamic State could ease the bitter bureaucratic battles that divided the Obama White House and the Pentagon over war strategy. (Associated Press/File)

Donald Trump’s Pentagon freedom comes with blame

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2013 file photo, a CIA is seen in Atlanta. When the CIA killed al-Qaida’s second-in-command in Yemen last month, Obama administration officials celebrated. But many experts are questioning whether the demise of another senior extremist, the latest in a long line of militants to be taken off the battlefield, make the United States and its allies any safer from terrorism. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Obama’s counterterrorism policy facing mounting criticism

By KEN DILANIAN - Associated Press

John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2014, before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa hearing on Examining U.S. Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Afghanistan anti-corruption task force shuttered amid U.S. troop drawdown

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

FILE – This May 27, 2014, file photo shows Yemeni boys looking at a vehicle destroyed during a police raid on an al-Qaida militants' hideout in the Arhab region, north of Sanaa, Yemen, which resulted in the death of five militants and six soldiers. According to the Obama administration’s most recent terrorism report, released by the State Department in late April, al-Qaida's core leadership has been degraded, limiting its ability to launch attacks and lead its followers. This has resulted in more autonomous and more aggressive affiliates, notably in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, northwest Africa and Somalia, according to the report, which recorded a 43 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide from 2012 to 2013. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Al-Qaida decentralized, but not necessarily weaker

By DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press

An MQ-9 Reaper, armed with GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided munitions and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, is piloted by Col. Lex Turner during a mission over southern Afghanistan. Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen shot down a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone operating in international airspace off the country's coast, a Defense Department official confirmed Wednesday. (USAF via Associated Press)

Obama’s Afghanistan pullout may end domination of drones

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Afghan security personnel gets the area under control after Taliban fighters stormed a government building in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 12, 2014. Taliban fighters stormed a government building in eastern Afghanistan after killing two police guards on Monday, the most serious in a wave of attacks marking the start of the insurgents' annual spring offensive. In the Taliban heartland in the south, an attack on a police checkpoint in Helmand province killed several policemen. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Al Qaeda terrorists lurk in shadows in Afghanistan, waiting for U.S. withdraw

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Afghan soldiers at the Chinari outpost and elsewhere in Afghanistan are limited by a lack of equipment needed to do their jobs, yet they say they aren't afraid of the Taliban and expect the fighting to stop once U.S. and NATO forces leave in 2014. Most of the soldiers say they enlisted because they love their country and because the $250 monthly salary offers a way out of poverty. (Associated Press)

Pentagon: Afghan forces face challenges but ‘on track’ to take charge

By Kristina Wong - The Washington Times