On FPF #108, I discuss several current news events. CIA Director Pompeo said the CIA will become a more vicious agency. The CIA will also begin an operation in Afghanistan against Taliban leadership. The US is preparing to put nuclear bombers on 24-hour alert. The USS John McCain has taken on additional damage. The story of how US soldiers died in Niger is becoming clear. I also update Iran, Syria, Rex Tillerson’s trip to the Middle East.

Articles

• The US is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers on 24-hour alert. [Link]
• CIA Director Pompeo said the CIA will become a more vicious agency. [Link]
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pushes European countries to adopt sanctions against the IRGC. [Link]
• Iran’s Foreign Minister says Iran will not renegotiate on the nuclear agreement. [Link]
• Tillerson took a trip to the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, he called for the kingdom to have closer relations with Iraq. In Qatar, he called for a quick resolution to the split between Qatar and other GCC countries. Tillerson also called for Iranian backed militants in Iraq to go home or integrate with the Iraqi army. [Link]
• The USS John McCain has taken on additional damage. [Link]
• Spain’s prime minister calls on the government to grant him the power to dissolve the Catalan government. Catalonia’s president called for the Catalan government to have a strong response. [Link]
• The US has 8,000 troops deployed to Africa. [Link]
• Jason Ditz explains how US soldiers were killed in Niger. [Link]
• The US is expanding the drone war against jihadists in West Africa. [Link]
• A senior Congressional aide blames a lack of intelligence for the death of four American soldiers in Niger. The aide said there was no overhead drone during the operation. The Pentagon denies the soldiers died because of a lack of intelligence. [Link]
• The CIA is expanding its role in Afghanistan. The CIA will now have a team of agents in Afghanistan hunting terrorists. [Link]
• The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks on Shi’ite mosques in Afghanistan. 72 people were killed in the attack. [Link]
• 13% of Afghan soldiers brought into the US to train go AWOL. 83 Afghans have never been found. [Link]
• Eric Margolis on the rise and fall of ISIS. [Link]
• US-backed forces in Syria have been ordered to kill foreign Islamic State fighters. [Link]
• Israel destroyed a Syrian Army outpost in southern Syria after mortar fire landed in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. It is not clear the mortar fire came from the Syrian Army and the mortars landed in empty area. [Link]

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