Rowan Scarborough
Articles by Rowan Scarborough
Guantanamo detainee Obama released appears in al Qaeda terrorist video
A former Guantanamo inmate whom the Obama administration released on assurances that he would not go back to terrorism has emerged as a top al Qaeda leader in a video urging Muslims to kill Americans. Published December 10, 2015
Ashton Carter scolds European, Gulf allies, demands they do more against ISIS
The Syrian city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's heart and soul for unleashing global terrorism, will stay that way for the foreseeable future. Published December 9, 2015
ISIS expanded as Obama stayed on the sidelines
Under President Obama's watch, the Islamic State has risen rapidly from the ruins of its Iraq insurgency in 2010 into a full-service global terrorist group with an army able to direct and inspire attacks from a buzzing Syria headquarters. Published December 7, 2015
U.S. military’s millennials at greatest risk for suicide
The U.S. military's historically high suicide rate is more a generational trait than a wartime offshoot, as millennial recruits join up carrying emotional baggage, a new research paper says. Published December 6, 2015
Ashton Carter promises same standards for women in combat roles
The Pentagon's revolutionary move to open all direct land combat jobs to women sends a stressed and shrinking armed forces on a politically hazardous mission, as Obama administration appointees expect a significant number of females to qualify next year. Published December 3, 2015
Pentagon, State Department began ISIS strategy meetings only two months ago
It was not until two months ago -- as the war against the Islamic State was over a year old -- that the Pentagon and the State Department began regular high-level planning meetings to make big decisions on how to defeat the terror army in Iraq and Syria, the nation's top military officer told Congress on Tuesday. Published December 1, 2015
Military dogs’ return to U.S., adoption by battlefield handlers facilitated by new legislation
The U.S. military prides itself on "leaving no man behind," but it's been a different story for some of its war dogs. Published November 30, 2015
Ayatollah Khamenei reaffirms commitment to Iran’s Islamic Revolution, dashes Obama moderation hopes
Iran's supreme leader, unbowed by the nuclear agreement with the U.S., has told his country's most prestigious and powerful military officers that the Islamic revolution will continue into its 37th year and beyond — and they are the ones to enforce it. Published November 29, 2015
U.S. commander says ‘human error’ to blame for strike on Afghan hospital
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said on Wednesday that a series of failures, including "avoidable human error" caused an AC-130 to fire on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, killing 30 staff and patients. Published November 25, 2015
Islamic State’s Paris attackers as inept as they were skilled killers
A State Department chronology of the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris shows the terrorists were as inept as they were skilled killers. Published November 24, 2015
Pentagon backs Turkey’s version of events, blames ‘incursion’ of Russian jet
The U.S. military on Tuesday labeled as an "incursion" the Russian fighter jet that was shot down by Turkish aircraft over the Syria-Turkey border. Published November 24, 2015
ISIS eyes fertile recruiting ground in Indonesia, other Southeast Asia nations
The Islamic State's terrorist army is broadening its global reach to find recruits willing to come to its Syria-Iraq "caliphate" and wreak havoc. Published November 22, 2015
ISIS propaganda groups back on the Internet after temporary shutdown
Islamic State propaganda groups are back on their own Internet channels just days after the tech company announced it was blocking such terrorists as a reaction to the Nov. 13 Paris massacre. Published November 20, 2015
Pentagon says Ramadi operation imminent to retake city from Islamic State
A month ago the two top U.S. military officials told senators that retaking the western Iraqi city of Ramadi had been elevated to one of three critical objectives leading to the ultimate defeat of the Islamic State's terrorist army. Now that major objective is days away. Published November 19, 2015
ISIS shows nimble ability to strike multiple Western targets
Stark evidence that the Islamic State now has the organizational power to conceive plots in a wide range of locations is seen in a stream of videos featuring armed jihadi leaders vowing more attacks outside Iraq and Syria. Published November 18, 2015
Obama enumerates what he will not do in anti-terror fight
President Obama's year-old military strategy to defeat the Islamic State is noteworthy for what he will not do, as well as the steps he has taken for a projected drawn-out war lasting years. Published November 16, 2015
Attack on U.S. just a matter of time, security experts say
It is only a matter of time before a Paris-style coordinated terror attack comes to the streets of America, experts say, citing the fact the Islamic State is far more gruesomely efficient than even al Qaeda and is attracting hundreds of committed U.S. followers. Published November 14, 2015
Kurds seize Sinjar, city in northern Iraq, from Islamic State’s clutches
The Kurdish government in Iraq declared Friday morning that its peshmerga fighters, backed by intense U.S. airstrikes, had liberated the city of Sinjar, a place of horrifying atrocities carried out by the Islamic State. Published November 12, 2015
Moderate Democrats pleading with Obama for decisive plan to beat Islamic State
Moderate Democrats are breaking with their party's left and with President Obama on the Iraq-Syria war strategy, basically pleading with the commander in chief to come up with a more decisive plan for defeating the Islamic State's terrorist army. Published November 11, 2015
Pentagon ‘gay’ rape debacle: Report alleging male-on-male sexual trauma retracted
The American Psychological Association has taken the extraordinary step of retracting an in-house journal article that asserted the rate of rape and other sexual trauma among military men was as much as 15 times higher than the Pentagon's own survey. Published November 9, 2015
