Zachary Burdette was a National Security Intern at the Brookings Institution and is an M.A. candidate at Georgetown University's Security Studies Program concentrating in military operations.
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Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault flagged the risks of the normalization and use of torture in the next administration.
Bobby Chesney listed the executive orders that Trump is most likely to repeal when he comes to office.
President-elect Donald Trump has offered key national security positions to conservative hardliners, the Washington Post reports. Trump will nominate Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) to head the CIA and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to serve as attorney general.
Inclement weather has stalled the Mosul offensive, the AP reports. Cloud cover is obstructing U.S. aircraft from conducting reconnaissance and close air support, so Iraqi government forces are taking the time to consolidate control over neighborhoods they have already taken rather than pushing forward. The same thing happened earlier this month.
Iraqi forces continue their slow advance into Mosul’s eastern districts, the AP reports. Government fighters have secured 70 percent of the Tahrir neighborhood, but the Islamic State is putting up fierce resistance. To Mosul’s west, Shiite militia forces have begun their assault on the Tal Afar military airport.
Russia has resumed airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo, the AP reports. The renewed operation marks the end of a month-long, self-imposed moratorium on striking the city. Russia and Syria hoped to pressure civilians and rebels to flee the city during that time, but nobody left despite repeated threats to renew the offensive.
Quinta Jurecic compiled Lawfare’s coverage of the 2016 election.
Susan Hennessey made the case for experts to be willing to serve in the Trump administration, despite their moral qualms.
"It's becoming a nightmare," said one Iraqi colonel of the advance into Mosul. The relatively easy operations to clear Mosul’s outlying towns have given way to brutal urban warfare, Reuters reports. Iraqi forces have recaptured six of 60 neighborhoods in Mosul, but Islamic State militants are putting up fierce resistance through sniper fire, suicide bombers, and a 45 mile tunnel network that allows fighters to strike suddenly where and when government forces least expect it.