Pakistan
Despite revelations of Pakistani support for the Taliban, the US will provide an additional 2 billion dollars for military aid.
Iraq
Wiki-leaks, the controversial group that released more than 70,000 classified reports on Afghanistan in what is deemed the largest intelligence leak in US history, have announced that they will be providing an even larger cache of reports on the Iraq War.
US Military
Despite recent court rulings, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is back on the books in a slightly different form. Additional steps teps have been added to the review process for expelling gay and lesbian service members making it much more complicated. Proponents of this new DADT argue that these new steps will slow the rate at which gays can be kicked out of the military.
Defense Spending
Given the rise of the fiscally conservative Tea-Party wing of the GOP, a rift is growing within the Republican over defense budgets. Some want to preserve current defense spending while others want to roll it back in order to reign in the deficit.
In a contest between guns and butter, the UK has chosen the latter by reducing military spending by approximately 8 percent. The defense cuts were originally on the magnitude of 20 percent until protestations by Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates swayed the views of the British.
Iran:
The EU and Russia are simultaneously pressuring Iran to hold nuclear talks in November. These invitations are the second this month as Iran ignored previous attempts at formal engagement
Compiled by Grant Potter, National Security Intern