Early Bird Brief

Today's Top 5

1. As ISIS Loosens Grip, U.S. and Iraq Prepare for Grinding Insurgency (New York Times) The Islamic State’s latest suicide attack in Baghdad, which killed nearly 330 people, foreshadows a long and bloody insurgency, according to American diplomats and commanders, as the group reverts to its guerrilla roots because its territory is shrinking in Iraq and Syria.

2. Pentagon: Syria Deal With Russia Not Based on ‘Trust’ (Defense News) As top Russian and US officials try to hash out a new agreement for combating the Islamic State group in Syria, the Pentagon’s two top officials are emphasizing that they can work with Russia even while not trusting them.

3. Armed Services chairman: New authorities in Afghanistan helping, but challenges remain (The Hill) New authorities given to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to more proactively target the Taliban have already made a difference, but troop caps continue to present problems, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday after a visit to the country.

4. Americans think more than half of vets have mental problems, survey says (Military Times) The general public vastly overestimates the number of post-9/11 veterans with mental health conditions, a misconception veterans advocates say threatens the overall well-being and employment prospects of former troops.

5. Tainted Water Near Colorado Bases Hints at Wider Safety Concerns (New York Times) Defense Department officials initially identified about 700 sites of possible contamination, but that number has surged to at least 2,000, most of them on Air Force bases, said Mark A. Correll, a deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and infrastructure at the Air Force. All of the nine bases that the Air Force has examined so far had higher-than-recommended levels of PFCs in the local drinking water. Four bases identified by the Navy were also found to have contaminated water.

Early Bird Brief - Military Times