US moving to increase troops in Iraq; IS leader killed ADVERTISING US moving to increase troops in Iraq; IS leader killed WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Friday it was moving to increase the number of American troops in Iraq
US moving to increase troops in Iraq; IS leader killed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Friday it was moving to increase the number of American troops in Iraq amid new strikes this week that killed the Islamic State’s finance minister and other senior leaders. Still, top U.S. defense officials say the deaths won’t “break the back” of the extremist group, which is in a fierce fight for an ancient city in Syria and claimed responsibility for bombing a soccer stadium in Iraq.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. progress in eliminating members of the IS “cabinet” was hampering its ability to conduct and inspire attacks against the West. The announcement came as the battle to retake the Syrian city of Palmyra entered its third day and Iraqi forces continued their march to recapture Mosul. A suicide bombing in a soccer stadium south of Baghdad, killing nearly 30 people, underscored the difficult fight ahead.
Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters that recommendations on ways to increase U.S. support for Iraq’s ground fight against IS will be discussed with President Barack Obama soon.
“The secretary and I both believe that there will be an increase in U.S. forces in Iraq in coming weeks, but that decision hasn’t been made,” Dunford said. He did not say how big that increase might be.
He and Carter said accelerating the campaign against the Islamic State will include more assistance like the artillery fire and targeting help that U.S. Marines provided earlier this week to Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul. But they said American forces remain well behind the front lines.
Brussels police conduct more raids linked to deadly bombings
BRUSSELS (AP) — Heavily armed police swept into Brussels neighborhoods Friday in operations linked to this week’s bombings as well as a suspected new plot in France, detaining three people and shooting two of them in the leg. One man was carrying a suspicious bag while accompanied by a young girl.
As Easter weekend began, jittery Europeans faced uncertainly about how many violent extremists remain at large, and where and when they might strike again.
On Friday afternoon, two blasts and gunfire rang out in the Schaerbeek district of Belgium’s capital, where police earlier found explosives and bomb-making material in an apartment used by the suicide attackers who killed 31 people and wounded 270 in assaults on the Brussels airport and subway.
Authorities, meanwhile, confirmed one of the attackers at the airport was the bomb-maker who made explosive vests used in last year’s carnage in Paris — the most definitive link yet between the two attacks, both of which have been claimed by the Islamic State group.
On the third and final day of national mourning, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid a wreath at the airport for the victims of Tuesday’s bombings — a ceremony that was skipped by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel because of the police operations.
Dogs may be the best line of defense against subway attacks
NEW YORK (AP) — Even in an era of high-tech crime-fighting, the best line of defense against a Brussels-style attack on airports and subways has four legs and a tail.
Dogs, with their exquisitely sensitive noses, have been trained in recent years to pick up the scent of explosives on people moving through crowded concourses, and so far they have proved a better early warning system than anything engineers have come up with.
“They outperform both men and machines,” said James Waters, chief of the New York City Police Department’s counterterrorism unit, which just this week graduated its latest squad of dogs capable of following the vapor from explosives such as the terrorist bomb-making material of the moment, TATP.
But experts say there are not enough of these “vapor wake” dogs to go around. Only about 130 have gotten the patented training nationwide since its development about a decade ago. And only one dog is in Europe, according to the chief trainer.
For security reasons, NYPD won’t say how many of these dogs it has to cover the nation’s largest subway system, with more than 400 stations and millions of riders.
Trump risks turning off women with Cruz attacks
OSHKOSH, Wisconsin (AP) — Donald Trump’s latest rude comments about Ted Cruz’s wife are raising new alarms among Republicans about the party front-runner’s ability to win over women, especially in a potential fall presidential match-up with Hillary Clinton.
Trump is now under fire for jabs at Heidi Cruz, as the rivals engage in an increasingly bitter, personal battle for the GOP presidential nomination. Hostilities reached a new high Friday when Cruz accused Trump and “his henchmen” of stoking false rumors that he’d cheated on his wife.
“We don’t want a president who traffics in sleaze and slime,” the Texas senator told reporters in Wisconsin. “We don’t want a president who seems to have a real issue with strong women.”
Trump’s history of sexist comments, from his “Apprentice” television program to racy interviews with radio host Howard Stern, have long been seen by Republicans as a potential vulnerability, especially in a general election match-up with Clinton, who would be the country’s first female president.
The issue took off in the first GOP debate when Fox News’ Megyn Kelly asked Trump about calling women “fat pig,” ”dog” and other names. Her question sparked a continuing quarrel between Trump and the network.
Security privileges allowed flight attendant to escape
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Within hours of ditching 70 pounds of cocaine at a security checkpoint and bolting barefoot out of the main Los Angeles airport, an off-duty flight attendant was flying across the country after clearing security at the same airport, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Marsha Gay Reynolds, 31, did not do anything out of the ordinary to get back on a plane, officials said, describing how she used an airline badge with her real name to board another flight the next morning at one of the nation’s busiest airports.
Communication lapses, bureaucratic protocols and special security privileges afforded airline workers all contributed to Reynolds’ remaining out of the grasp of law enforcement until she surrendered four days later at Kennedy Airport in New York.
“This is a security breakdown. That could have easily been an explosive device and a terrorist running from the checkpoint. And we wouldn’t have known until it went boom,” said Marshall McClain, president of the union representing LAX airport police officers.
Reynolds’ escape was another embarrassing security lapse for the airport, which sought to enhance security after a gunman opened fire in a terminal in 2013 and killed a Transportation Security Administration agent.
