Rowan Scarborough
Articles by Rowan Scarborough
Pakistan hesitates to eradicate U.S.-mapped militant camps
The U.S. has compiled a wide body of intelligence on the locations of militant training camps in Pakistan, but has been unable to persuade Islamabad to shut them down, current and former officials say. Published July 11, 2011
Afghan pullout seen as too much, too soon
Former battlefield commanders are warning that President Obama's accelerated troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in time for the 2012 presidential election risks reversing major gains made against the Taliban. Published July 5, 2011
Gates’ tenure successful, contradictory
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates leaves office Thursday popular with the liberal Washington establishment, but not so with conservatives chafed by his budget cutting and his enthusiastic support for open gays in the ranks. Published June 26, 2011
Panetta to carry political baggage to the Pentagon
Defense Secretary-designate Leon E. Panetta faces an early test when he takes office July 1, as the White House pushes for deeper cuts in defense spending and congressional Republicans say no way. Published June 22, 2011
USDA gay-sensitivity training seeks larger audience
U.S. Department of Agriculture activists want to impose their intense brand of homosexual sensitivity training government-wide, including a discussion that compares "heterosexism" — believing marriage can only can be between one man and one woman — to racism. Published June 17, 2011
Rumbles on Hill as Gadhafi hangs on
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's tenacious hold on power forced NATO on Wednesday to extend its mission to protect civilians and caused consternation on Capitol Hill over U.S. involvement in the North African conflict. Published June 1, 2011
Navy too politically correct for ‘old salts’
The U.S. Navy is sailing into politically correct waters, sometimes at a speed too fast for the Obama administration to keep up. Published May 28, 2011
WikiLeaks bolsters argument for ‘enhanced’ interrogation tactics
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's ongoing release of the Guantanamo Bay prison files, and large numbers of classified State Department cables, attempts to expose what he calls American corruption. Published May 19, 2011
Couriers enabled bin Laden to hide
Tracking terrorist messaging systems and clandestine couriers became a critical U.S. intelligence mission years before an al Qaeda courier led U.S. special operations forces to Osama bin Laden's hide-out in Pakistan. Published May 11, 2011
SEALs are standing taller after secret raid
After the U.S. responded to the Sept. 11 attacks by investing billions of dollars to revive neglected special operations forces, it was only fitting that Navy SEALs earned the glory of killing the most wanted terrorist in history. Published May 2, 2011
Pentagon team seeks new ways to foil buried explosives
A Pentagon agency has set up a team of experts to find ways to foil buried homemade explosives that increasingly are killing and maiming troops in Afghanistan. Published April 21, 2011
Pro-Gadhafi forces changing tactics
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's armed forces have shifted tactics to adapt to NATO'S limited airstrikes in support of poorly organized rebels who don't think the European allies are flying enough missions. Published April 18, 2011
Afghanistan ‘death squad’ killings fail to get media, political attention
Reports of a U.S. "death squad" in Afghanistan, complete with the publication of gory photographs, have failed to attract the intense political or media attention afforded a previous war scandal — the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Published April 17, 2011
Taliban alters its deadly IED tactics
Insurgents in Afghanistan have changed tactics in how they place deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs), prompting a war-veteran congressman to propose a relatively simple technique to find and detonate them. Published April 6, 2011
Europe relies on U.S. power again
Even under NATO command, the U.S. military will do the bulk of the fighting in Libya — even as the Obama administration argues that this is Europe's conflict to lead, not America's. Published March 31, 2011
Military indoctrinated on gays kissing, behavior
Four branches of the military have begun sending training material to 2.2 million active and reserve troops as a prelude to opening the ranks to gays, with instructions on, for example, what to do if an officer sees two male Marines kissing in a shopping mall. Published March 22, 2011
Diversity panel wants military to look like U.S.
Just as the U.S. military is indoctrinating troops to accept open gays in their ranks, a federal commission is pressing the Pentagon to make the force more diverse by, among other ideas, opening infantry and armor units to women. Published March 17, 2011
U.S., allies assisting Libya need awareness of nation’s driving forces
A decision by President Obama and NATO to use its militaries to aid rebels in Libya would have the alliance siding with factions that it does not fully understand and not knowing what type of government they would bring to Tripoli. Published March 8, 2011
Retired brass oppose Libya action
Former U.S. military officers are warning against any direct military action in Libya and other unsettled Arab nations, as the Pentagon works furiously on a list of options to give the president. Published March 3, 2011
Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training
American combat troops will get sensitivity training directly on the battlefield about the military's new policy on gays instead of waiting until they return to home base in the United States, the senior enlisted man in Afghanistan said Thursday. Published February 24, 2011
