Tag Archives: US State Department

U.S. Foreign Military Sales Growing in Volume, Complexity

U.S. Foreign Military Sales Growing in Volume, Complexity

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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Foreign military sales by the United States are growing because its products are considered well-made and reliable, but it is a complicated area not only involving foreign governments but various departments inside the American government and Congress having to sign off on those agreements. Read More

Cobra Gold 2016 Exercise Scheduled for Early February

Cobra Gold 2016 Exercise Scheduled for Early February

Sailors and Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit step off Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 165 at Koh Phangan, Thailand in 2013. US Marine Corps Photo

Sailors and Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit step off Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 165 at Koh Phangan, Thailand in 2013. US Marine Corps Photo

The longstanding, decades-old bilateral exercise between U.S. and Thai forces is scheduled to kick off early next month, despite ongoing military rule in Thailand, according to a release this week from U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. Read More

Report: Chinese Navy Warship Rammed Two Vietnamese Fishing Vessels

Report: Chinese Navy Warship Rammed Two Vietnamese Fishing Vessels

An undated photo of a Chinese Type Yuting II Type 072A tank landing ship (LST). PLAN Photo

An undated photo of a Chinese Type Yuting II Type 072A tank landing ship (LST). PLAN Photo

A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) amphibious warship allegedly rammed two Vietnamese fishing vessels operating near the disputed Spratly Islands in July, according to local press cited in an Office of Naval Intelligence threat to shipping report. Read More

Opinion: Playing Deal or No Deal with Iran

Opinion: Playing Deal or No Deal with Iran

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as he arrives at a hotel in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2014, for a second day of meetings about the future of his country's nuclear program. US State Dept. Photo

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as he arrives at a hotel in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2014, for a second day of meetings about the future of his country’s nuclear program. US State Dept. Photo

The Art of War says “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.” Forty-seven members of the U.S. Senate seemed to have forgotten this timeless truth from the ancient war theorist Sun Tzu. Examining how well we know the enemy (Iran), and how well we know ourselves, is always a good place to start before taking actions that many believe are setting a course for war. Read More