Operations

The smaller conflicts elite U.S. forces are fighting around the world are heating up.

The U.S. military is pushing more troops into Colombia to assist in that country's war with insurgent groups and narcotraffickers, the Pentagon's top military officer said Friday. 

The Pentagon should not cut ties to Russian defense firms supplying Afghan forces, if it means harming the American military campaign in the country, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) said today. 

The Defense secretary Tuesday acknowledged polls showing the public tired of war, but said Washington would not abandon its mission.

The Defense Department has no plans to stop supplying Russian-made military hardware for countries like Afghanistan, despite congressional demands to stop.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that so-called “green-on-blue” attacks in Afghanistan, where supposedly allied Afghan soldiers target NATO troops, remain “sporadic incidents” and have not developed into a broader pattern.

Speaking to reporters Monday en route to Ottawa for a meeting with Mexican and Canadian officials, Panetta acknowledged the difficulties of the attacks, including two shootings on Monday, but said they are “sporadic incidents and I don't think they reflect any kind of broad pattern.”

“This is not easy,” Panetta said. “There are going to be those that, you know, that are vengeful, there are going to be those that decide to use this as a way to express their anger and their concern.”

The number of people who believe the United States should be at war in Afghanistan continues to drop, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released Tuesday.

According to the survey, 69 percent are now against the ongoing U.S. presence in Afghanistan, a drop from 53 percent in the same poll four months ago. 

U.S. and Afghan special forces, largely backed up by Afghan army units, will pick up the slack of American soldiers preparing to leave the country this summer, according to the top U.S. commander in the country. 

The top U.S. commander warned that foreign troops could expect to face continued attacks from Afghan counterparts.

The killing of 17 civilians raises concerns on whether the Pentagon is doing enough to care for troops' mental health.