WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, who takes over as head of international forces in Afghanistan next year, faces the challenge of winding down a war in a country where he has little experience using a strategy he did not devise.

Dunford, whose nomination was confirmed by the Senate on Monday night, will be the fifth commander of the International Security Assistance Force since President Barack Obama took office, a leadership churn that worries Afghan war analysts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The African Union war against al Shabaab in Somalia this past year has left the Islamist group “largely in a survival mode” and is instructive for confronting the region’s extremist groups in the future, the head of U.S. Africa Command said on Monday.

General Carter Ham, who is responsible for U.S. military ties with Africa, told a forum at George Washington University he was concerned about growing cooperation among Islamist extremist factions across the region. But he also said Washington favored “African solutions for African problems.”

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted on
Wednesday to strike restrictions in its annual defense policy
bill that would have severely limited the military’s effort to
develop biofuels for jets and warplanes.

The Senate voted 62-37 to remove language in the National
Defense Authorization Act that would have barred the military
from buying the controversial alternative fuels if they cost
more than petroleum.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As the U.S. military grappled with budget cuts over the past year, one thing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made clear was the Pentagon must avoid reductions in training and maintenance that would lower the force’s readiness to fight.

But a report released by a Washington think tank on Tuesday challenged that assumption, concluding that a short-term cut in readiness funding could free up cash to develop weapons and equipment needed to be ready in the future.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. forces have decimated al Qaeda’s leadership and made gains against some of its affiliates, but the fight has shifted in new directions that will require persistent U.S. efforts to truly end the threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday.

Panetta, in a speech to the Center for a New American Security, said while the United States had achieved progress against al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, associated groups had made inroads in Mali and Nigeria and were trying to gain a foothold in Libya.

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – A group of national security
experts on Thursday proposed a new U.S. defense strategy they
said could be safely implemented at different budget levels,
enabling President Barack Obama to cut Pentagon spending by more
than the $487 billion agreed to so far.

The strategy, by a group of 15 defense experts assembled by
the Stimson Center think tank, proposes reducing costs by
improving manpower usage, cutting back on foreign bases, curbing
nuclear modernization efforts, reforming compensation and taking
other steps to improve efficiency within the Defense Department.

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – The general chosen to lead
U.S. forces in Afghanistan through the critical transition to
Afghan security control in 2014 declined to speculate on
Thursday on how quickly American troops would be withdrawn from
the country.

Pressed by lawmakers at his confirmation hearing on whether
he would support keeping troop levels at about 68,000 for the
next two years to reassure Afghans and U.S. allies, Marine
General Joseph Dunford said he wanted to assess the military
capabilities that would be needed through 2014 before making
that judgment.

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – The general chosen to lead
U.S. forces in Afghanistan during the transition to Afghan
security control in 2014 avoided on Thursday saying how quickly
American troops could withdraw from the country.

Pressed by lawmakers on whether he was willing to keep U.S.
troops levels at the current 68,000 for the next two years to
reassure Afghans and U.S. allies, Marine General Joseph Dunford
avoided a direct answer. Dunford said before deciding on a
drawdown pace, he wanted to assess the “capabilities and
capacities” international forces will need to maintain through
2014.

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Marine Corps General John
Allen, the soberly formal, spit-and-polish head of U.S. and
international forces in Afghanistan, is not a military leader
whose image immediately conjures up the word “flirtatious.”

The four-star general, who succeeded General David Petraeus
last year as head of the International Security Assistance
Force, is known for his ability to work with tribal sheikhs, a
skill that helped him turn the tide against al Qaeda in Anbar
Province in Iraq five years ago and has served him well in
Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) – The scandal involving former
CIA Director David Petraeus widened on Tuesday as U.S. defense
officials said they were looking into “flirtatious” e-mails
between General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in
Afghanistan, and a woman at the center of the affair.

Defense Department officials said they were sifting through
30,000 pages of email and other communications between Allen and
Jill Kelley, a Florida socialite whose complaints about
harassing messages led to the discovery of Petraeus’ affair with
his biographer.