UNIPATH STAFF In a display of military proficiency designed to deter adversaries and reassure partners, Saudi and U.S. troops offloaded an amphibious expeditionary force in the Red Sea port of Yanbu and moved it hundreds of kilometers inland. It was the latest iteration of the Native Fury military exercise, held in Saudi Arabia in August 2022. Native Fury 22 focused mostly on maritime logistics with the participation of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and the United States Marine Corps. More than 1,000 military personnel, many ships, naval vessels, tactical operation centers, and cyber capabilities were involved in the exercise’s…
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Having spearheaded the manhunt for the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia as well as dismantling its networks and killing or capturing its leadership, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) has played a significant role in the fight against terrorist gangs and lawless groups since its establishment in 2003. Yet the role of CTS has not been limited to merely combating terrorist groups active in Iraq; it has also been tasked with other missions, including helping quell the 2006 sectarian violence. With the help of our United States Special Forces partners, the CTS has succeeded in forging a cohesive force capable of…
UNIPATH STAFF Among the many cruelties Daesh inflicted on Iraq, terrorists bombarded the town of Taza near Kirkuk in 2016 using crudely constructed artillery shells and rockets laced with mustard and chlorine gas. Of the 45,000 inhabitants of Taza, 1,800 were accounted casualties of these forbidden weapons, many suffering from blistered skin and lungs. Daesh’s dalliance with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) — terrorists also tried to wield radiological dirty bombs from nuclear material pilfered from hospitals and research labs — provided a blunt warning to security officials in the Middle East about the larger threat to the region. Military…
UNIPATH STAFF At 6:07 p.m. on August 4, 2020, a giant mushroom cloud formed over the Port of Beirut. The shockwave from the blast — caused by an explosion of 2,750 tons of stored ammonium nitrate — obliterated whole neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital. The disaster left more than 40,000 homes, apartments, shops and offices uninhabitable. In addition to the 218 dead attributed to the explosion, 6,500 Beirut residents were injured and another 300,000 displaced from homes and businesses. Four hospitals, serving hundreds of thousands of people, were knocked out of commission. The main building of the Lebanese Ministry of…
BRIG. GEN. AMMAR ALYASIRI, IRAQI AIR FORCE By the second half of 2021, the Iraqi Air Force had largely taken ownership of conducting independent airstrikes on Daesh targets. In fact, we launched more strikes between June and December 2021 than all non-Iraqi coalition force strikes in the same period in 2020. This ability to plan and conduct autonomous operations represents a significant step toward self-sufficiency for the Iraqi Air Force and provides a credible Iraqi dynamic strike capability that will help ensure the success of the counter-Daesh mission. Success, however, brings its own challenges. Like many advanced air forces across…
U.S. NAVY CENTRAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS Defending the Red Sea region from terrorists and criminals is the focus of a new multinational naval task force formed in April 2022 as part of the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). During a ceremony at the U.S. Navy regional headquarters in Bahrain, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and CMF, commissioned Combined Task Force (CTF) 153. “This is a tangible and meaningful demonstration of our commitment to ensuring regional maritime security and stability through international cooperation,” Cooper said. As CMF’s fourth task force, CTF 153 will…
Eager Lion 2022 featured a blistering conventional attack across a rolling desert landscape typical of the Middle East. Tanks, heavy artillery, attack helicopters and fighter jets swept enemy positions from the desert floor until little was left but drifting dust. But that conventional display of arms was just one facet of Eager Lion, which, as it celebrated its 10th iteration since 2011, increasingly focused on lightweight aerial drones, sleek unmanned underwater vehicles and cyberattacks launched with a click of a computer mouse. Eager Lion’s scenarios parallel what’s happening in the real world. From conventional battlefield tactics to the revolution in…
Brig. Gen. Kayed Al-Jaarat, then-director of the Jordan Armed Forces’ training and exercises directorate, played a leading role in the success of the Eager Lion 22 military exercise held in Jordan in September 2022. Unipath interviewed him about the importance of military training in tackling contemporary security challenges: Unipath: How important is the Eager Lion exercise for stability and peace in the region? Brig. Gen. Kayed Al-Jaarat: First of all, thank you for your interview. I would like to emphasize the depth of Jordanian-U.S. bilateral relations, as well as the deep ties between the countries participating in this year’s exercise.…
JORDANIAN MAJ. GEN. (RET.) OUDA SHUDEIFAT Despite all the blessings it bestows on mankind, technology is a double-edged sword, damaging lives if exploited in ways that no longer help people. Evil people can harness technology to serve sinister goals and purposes. Everything was legitimized to achieve the aims of deviants, extremists, narcotics traffickers, cheats and fraudsters, and terror practitioners in all forms. How many crimes involved drones, how many lives were lost, how much blood was shed in vain, human dignity desecrated and property destroyed? Long-distance terrorism has become accessible and affordable, used by those who wish to abuse, destroy…
UNIPATH STAFF A cademic institutions rely on experience-sharing and inter-institutional cooperation to develop solid programs and professional staff with experience in nation-building. Military academies are perhaps in even greater need of inter-institutional engagement because of the many changes in the field of military sciences. Indeed, these institutions are making great efforts to keep pace with new tactics, most recently asymmetric warfare, the introduction of aerial drones to the battlespace, and the emergence of new fronts, namely, cyberspace. Consequently, we are seeing allied and friendly nations establish exchange programs, sending students to and receiving students from partner nations. The Fouad Chehab…