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Robert Burns
Secretary of Defense nominee, Mark Esper, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on July 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images/AFP)
July 23, 2019, 10:17 pm
US Senate confirms Mark Esper as defense secretary
Appointment of Army veteran and ex-lobbyist ends longest Pentagon leadership vacuum in American history
By Robert Burns
US Marines training on the flight deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, May 18, 2019, deployed in the Gulf of Arabia "to respond to contingencies and to defend US forces and interests in the region." (MCS Jason Waite/US Navy)
July 20, 2019, 10:57 pm
Iran’s poking at West heightens risks of military missteps
Tehran avoiding outright conflict with powerful US forces, but strategy of prodding Western interests could lead to armed conflict with global consequences
By Robert Burns
Illustrative: A US soldier stands next to a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery at an army base in Morag, Poland, May 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
July 20, 2019, 2:34 am
Amid Gulf tensions, US to send troops to Saudi Arabia
First soldiers, Patriot batteries arrive in kingdom as part of deployment that officials say will include fighter aircraft, missile defense systems
By Robert Burns
A US Navy airman launches an F-35B Lightning II from the assault ship USS Essex, Sept. 27, 2018. (US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Francisco J. Diaz Jr./US Navy via AP)
July 17, 2019, 10:47 pm
US kicking NATO ally Turkey out of F-35 fighter program
Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense system ‘renders its continued involvement impossible,’ Pentagon says
By Robert Burns
In this July 8, 2019, photo, acting US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper waits for the arrival of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
July 16, 2019, 1:54 am
Trump officially taps Esper for defense chief ahead of hearings
Expected confirmation would end seven months without Pentagon chief after Mattis resignation; Navy leader Richard Spencer takes over as acting defense chief
By Robert Burns
Military vehicles and equipment, parts of the S-400 air defense systems, are unloaded from a Russian transport aircraft, at Murted military airport in Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019. (Turkish Defence Ministry via AP, Pool)
July 13, 2019, 10:37 am
US weighing how to punish ally Turkey over Russian S-400 deal
Key congressional committees express dismay after air defense systems begin arriving in Ankara, say Erdogan chose Putin over NATO
By Robert Burns and Matthew Lee
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee on budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 1, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
July 10, 2019, 3:58 pm
US proceeding with plan for coalition to counter Iran threats
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff says he hopes other nations will soon sign up to join effort to protect commercial traffic in Persian Gulf area
By Robert Burns
Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrives at the Pentagon in Washington, June 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
June 25, 2019, 3:54 pm
New acting Pentagon chief takes to global stage to tackle Iran crisis
After a single day on the job, Mark Esper to meet with fellow NATO defense ministers as US seeks to enlist countries to counter threats to shipping in Persian Gulf
By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns
Illustrative -- In this photo from May 30, 2019, released by the US Navy, three EA-18G Growlers from the "Patriots" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 140 participate in a change-of-command ceremony aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Amber Smalley/U.S. Navy via AP)
June 9, 2019, 7:53 am
US general: Aircraft carrier sends message to Iran not ‘to do something goofy’
On visit to USS Abraham Lincoln, Central Command head says ‘it is entirely likely that an attack would have taken place by now’ if not for recent troop buildup
By Robert Burns
In this Nov. 7, 2018, photo released by the US Army, US soldiers gather for a brief during a combined joint patrol rehearsal in Manbij, Syria (US Army photo by Spc. Zoe Garbarino via AP)
May 23, 2019, 2:51 am
US plan may send up to 10,000 troops to Mideast to counter Iranian threats
Officials say discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Tehran
By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns
In this photo released by the US Navy, a Sea Hawk helicopter prepares to land on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea, May 2, 2019. (US Navy/Michael Singley)
May 8, 2019, 6:31 am
US official: Intel indicates Iran moving missiles by boat
Movement of weapons spurred Washington’s decision to send aircraft carrier to Middle East, could indicate preparations to attack American forces in the region
By Robert Burns
The USS Abraham Lincoln deploys from Naval Station Norfolk, in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia, on April 1, 2019. (Kaitlin McKeown/ The Virginian-Pilot via AP)
May 6, 2019, 6:24 am
Fearing attack on its forces, US sends carrier force to Middle East, warns Iran
Bolton announces US deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force; issues threat of ‘unrelenting force’ to Tehran
By Robert Burns and Catherine Lucey
The 957th and last of the Soviet Union's SS-23 shorter range missiles is destroyed at the Saryozek base in Kazakhstan, USSR, 27. October 1989, in keeping with the US-Soviet INF Treaty. (AP-Photo)
February 1, 2019, 7:39 pm
Trump blames Russia as US pulls out of nuclear arms treaty
Americans say Moscow has long been violating the INF, signed in 1987, that has been a centerpiece of superpower weapons control since the Cold War
By Deb Riechmann, Robert Burns and Matthew Lee
FBI chief Christopher Wray; CIA head Gina Haspel; Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats; Gen. Robert Ashley, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Gen. Paul Nakasone; and Robert Cardillo at the hearing on January 29, 2019 in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP)
January 29, 2019, 9:08 pm
US spy agencies doubt North Korea will give up its nukes
Trump’s goal of a nuclear-disarmed North Korea unlikely as Kim ‘will seek to retain its WMD capabilities’
By Robert Burns
This file photo taken on December 30, 2018 shows a line of US military vehicles in Syria's northern city of Manbij (Delil Souleiman/AFP)
January 12, 2019, 4:54 am
US starts withdrawing supplies from Syria; soldiers will follow in weeks
Full pullout is expected to take several months; not clear what will become of hundreds of foreign IS fighters being held there
By Robert Burns
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