The Pentagon is on the offensive against African terror groups, establishing the template for the next-generation of U.S.-led counterterrorism operations.

Republicans opened up a two-pronged offensive Friday, seeking to blame Obama for the looming $500 billion reduction in defense spending.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn is pushing the FBI to publicly disclose the findings from an internal bureau review of its response to the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) plans to sign onto a letter being crafted by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in opposition to a United Nations Arms Treaty over the Second Amendment.

Graham and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), two of the biggest defense hawks in the Senate, had not taken a position on the treaty Thursday, amid a lobbying campaign by the National Rifle Association against it over the potential to include “civilian arms” in the treaty.

The treaty is currently being negotiated in New York.

Congressional leaders accused President Obama in a letter of holding defense and domestic spending “hostage” in order to raise taxes.

Syrian forces began moving vast stockpiles of chemical weapons out of storage on Friday, sparking concern in Washington on whether the weapon could be unleashed against rebel forces in the country. 

Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney attacked President Obama over $500 billion in defense cuts as Obama made a campaign stop in Virginia, a military-heavy state.

Romney wrote a letter to the president that appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Friday accusing Obama of allowing the automatic defense cuts to take effect, despite the damage they will do to the military and to veterans.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) wants seven top Obama administration officials to be made available for the committee to interview about national security leaks.

Smith wrote a letter to President Obama on Thursday requesting access to the officials, who include National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, to discuss a recent spate of intelligence leaks to the media that have drawn outrage in Congress.

His bus tour of the important swing state includes stops in military-heavy areas, which traditionally vote Republican.