War on Terror Watch

COUNTER-TERRORISM PARTNERSHIPS FUND: During his commencement address to the United States Military Academy's Class of 2014, President Barack Obama announced the creation of a $5 billion Counter-Terrorism Partnerships Fund to help create "a network of partnerships from South Asia to the Sahel." Although U.S. counter-terrorism strategy already relies on partnerships with allied or indigenous troops - such as those in Libya, Niger, Mauritania, and Mali - the announcement was met with some skepticism on Capitol Hill, where 1206 and 1208 funds already cover the costs of training security forces and compensating allies for counter-terrorism operations.  

THE THREAT FROM SYRIA: Shortly after FBI Director James Comey admitted that he underestimated the threat the United States still faces from terrorism and the Justice Department announced a new initiative to probe the flow of foreign fighters joining Syria’s rebels and the potential domestic terrorism threat they pose, an American citizen carried out a suicide bombing in Syria on behlf of the al-Qa'ida affiliated al-Nusra Front. U.S. officials say that more than 100 Americans have joined the jihad in Syria to fight alongside Sunni militants there, and that the ultra-violent Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is stepping up efforts to recruit Americans and other westerners for jihad in Syria and possibly for future domestic terror attacks.

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Syria and Iraq Watch

HEZBOLLAH IN SYRIA : U.S. officials announced a senior commander in Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement who was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list has been killed in fighting in Syria. Yet although Hezbollah's victories have come at a great cost in lives and resources, it has also gained the rare opportunity to display its military mettle and earn new battlefield experience.  

AMBASSADOR FORD ON SYRIA : Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who resigned his post last month because he "was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy," urged the United States and its allies to substantially increase the supply of arms to the moderate Syrian rebels in order to increase the opposition's leverage in potential peace talks and to combat the rise of extremist groups there.  

ISIS TAKES MOSUL : ISIS forces equipped with little more than small-arms weaponry and pickup trucks spilled over the border from Syria to seize control of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and several other key cities in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. Despite outnumbering the jihadists by roughly 30:1, Iraqi police and army forces abandoned their posts in Mosul, leaving behind a bounty of U.S.-supplied arms and equipment. ISIS declared its own state in the Iraqi and Syrian territory it occupies, and threatened the outskirts of Baghdad. In response to ISIS' rapid territorial gains and potential threat to Iraqi Shi'a, Iranian security officials deployed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units to Iraq.  

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U.S.-Israel Cooperation

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Allies Watch 

LEBANON: Lebanon's military, a bulwark of stability in one of the Middle East's most fragile countries, is coming under immense strain from the Syrian conflict spilling across the border, army and government officials said.

TURKEY: An Istanbul court ordered the arrest of four former senior Israeli commanders that it blames for the lethal storming of a Turkish ship in 2010. Also, Turkey and Iran signed several economic cooperation agreements and pledged to improve relations that have been fraught for years, largely because of deep differences over Syria and Iraq.

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North Africa Watch

LIBYA: The U.S. State Department recommended all Americans in Libya leave the country immediately, and an amphibious assault ship with 1,000 Marines was deployed off Libya's coast in case the American Embassy needs to be evacuated. Separately, U.S. officials reported that militia fighters stole hundreds of American-supplied automatic weapons and other equipment in a raid on a Libyan base in 2013 where the US was training local forces, bringing an abrupt end to the secretive program.

EGYPT: As concerns persist in Congress over the authoritarian crackdown since last year's military takeover, the 10 Apache helicopters the U.S. promised to deliver to Egypt remain in storage in Texas.

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Technology

CYBER: According to a newly declassified document, utilities on at least three continents have been "penetrated or shut down" by hackers and insiders. Meanwhile, senior administration officials appear to disagree on whether the U.S. has a coherent national strategy to address cyber threats. Cyber security firm iSight Partners also exposed a creative campaign of cyber-espionage by Iranian hackers targeting hundreds of high-ranking U.S. defense, diplomatic and other officials. Victims were lured to fake Web sites through an elaborate social media network that features a bogus online news site and LinkedIn invites from a phony account purporting to be from former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.

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