Operations

Al Qaeda's Yemen faction is pushing hard to recruit new operatives from Western nations, despite an ongoing counterterror offensive against the terror cell by U.S. and Yemeni forces. 

NATO forces have agreed to curtail the use of airstrikes in Afghanistan after 18 civilians were killed in an attack last week, the Los Angeles Times reported.

NATO forces say they will not bomb residential buildings to hunt down the Taliban, in an agreement that was reached after NATO Afghan commander Gen. John Allen and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met on Saturday, according to the Times. 

International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) will continue to pursue insurgents in residential buildings, ISAF spokesman Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings told the Times, "but when there is concern over the presence of civilians, air-delivered bombs will not be employed while other means are available."

Rep. Lynn Woolsey said the country should invest in "a different kind of security," warning of unforeseen repercussions.

Massive U.S. troops withdrawals from Afghanistan this summer will not impact American commanders' plans for an upcoming spring offensive against Taliban forces in the eastern part of the country. 

Aside from initial contingency planning, Pentagon officials have not delved into the specifics on what would be required for potential military action in Syria, pending an official decision from the White House. 

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American warships and fighter plans can once again call Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base home after Manila approved limited U.S. deployments to the former American military outposts. 

The Topline: Senators from both parties were not pleased about last Friday’s New York Times story that detailed a U.S. cyberattack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday afternoon that the committee’s chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), had agreed to hold hearings on the Iranian leak and other recent national security disclosures.

McCain and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) also called for a special counsel to investigate leaks within the Obama administration.

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Abu Yahya al-Libi was reportedly killed when U.S. drones launched the airstrike against the suspected al Qaeda hideout.

The Pentagon has announced it is replacing the general in South Korea who said last week that U.S. special forces were on the ground spying in North Korea, a comment he later retracted.

Brig. Gen. Neil Tolley, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command in South Korea, caused a stir last week when he said at a special-operations industry conference in Florida that U.S. forces had been on the ground in North Korea. 

The Pentagon at first accused reports of his comments of being “contorted, distorted and misreported.” But two days later, Tolley said he was quoted accurately but that he “misspoke.”

The United States launched its third drone strike in three days in Pakistan on Monday morning, according to reports from the region, further inflaming tensions with Islamabad.

The drone strikes killed 15 militants in the North Waziristan region in the deadliest U.S. strike in Pakistan this year, and the eighth attack in the past two weeks, according to AFP.

The continued drone campaign in Pakistan will add to difficulties with Islamabad as Washington tries to reopen supply routes into Afghanistan.