Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

February 19, 2017 Turkish diplomat calls for more US special operations forces in anti-Islamic State fight The Pentagon also is considering a recommendation that conventional ground forces be sent to Syria as part of a package of options to be presented this month to President Donald Trump to accelerate operations against the Islamic State group. Mattis breaks with Trump on declaring that media are 'enemy of the American people’ Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said Sunday that the media is not the “enemy of the American people,” refusing to align with President Donald Trump’s startling declaration last week. Putting students to work inventing for US military The U.S. military usually develops its advanced technology in classified labs staffed by gigantic defense companies. But as the Pentagon looks for new ways to reach out to Silicon Valley, some unexpected characters are getting a shot at the action. Recalling Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for Japanese internment Exactly 75 years ago Sunday, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure that paved the way for the incarceration 120,000 Japanese Americans in desolate camps scattered across deserts and swampland. Iraqi forces advance on Islamic State-held western Mosul The United Nations meanwhile warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside their houses "are at extreme risk," with dwindling fuel and food supplies and scare drinking water and electricity. VP Pence struggles to quell Europe's Trump angst The U.S. delegation couldn’t escape President Donald Trump’s shifting stances on NATO, threats about the need for members to pay up and a new warning last week that the U.S. could “moderate” its support for allies should members not pick up the pace of their defense spending. Military families wrestle with Marine camp water contamination What her father didn’t know as he headed off to the dangers of combat was there was danger at Camp Lejeune, lurking in its contaminated water. Today, Antonett Cox, now a wife and mother, has cancer — breast cancer, lymph cancer, brain cancer. Mattis to decide soon on troop levels in Afghanistan U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he plans to make some decisions soon on whether to recommend an increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and whether the totals should be based on military requirements rather than pre-set limits. McCain says a free press is essential to a healthy democracy Sen. John McCain says a free press is vital "to preserve democracy as we know it." And he cautions about efforts to muzzle a free press, saying "that's how dictators get started." Trump steps up security aide search, focuses on health care President Donald Trump on Sunday was stepping up his search for a national security adviser, with several interviews on tap, and focusing on health care in talks with his health and budget chiefs, while his team pushed back against depictions of a young administration in disarray. Bill Gates: Bioterrorism could kill more than nuclear war - but no one is ready to deal with it A genetically engineered virus is easier to make and could kill more people than nuclear weapons - and yet no country on Earth is ready for the threat, Bill Gates warned world leaders Saturday.