Thom Shanker The New York Times

• US sees Iran attacks as likely if Israel strikes

  American officials who have assessed the likely Iranian responses to any attack by Israel on its nuclear program believe that Iran would retaliate by launching missiles on Israel and terrorist-style attacks on United States civilian and military personnel overseas.

• United States formally ends war in Iraq

  The United States military has formally shut down the war in Iraq, officially retiring the flag of US Forces-Iraq. Troops lowered the flag and wrapped it in camouflage, formally "casing" it, according to Army tradition.

• Al Qaida trying to harness toxin for bombs, US officials fear

  American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaida is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States.

• Hackers gained access to sensitive US military files

  The Defence Department suffered one of its worst digital attacks in history in March, when a foreign intelligence service hacked into the computer system of a corporate contractor and obtained 24,000 Pentagon files during a single intrusion, senior officials said Thursday. The disclosure came as the Pentagon released a strategy for military operati...

• Robert Gates warns NATO of 'dim' future

  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates bluntly criticized NATO nations on Friday for what he said were shortages in military spending and political will, warning of "a dim if not dismal future" unless more member nations scaled up their participation in the alliance's activities. NATO has struggled for a generation to define its place in a post-cold war...

• US had braced for fights with Pakistanis in Osama raid

  President Obama had insisted that the assault force hunting down Osama bin Laden last week be large enough to fight its way out of Pakistan if confronted by hostile local police officers and troops, senior administration and military officials said on Monday.In revealing additional details about planning for the mission, senior officials also said ...

• In 2007, the US just missed getting Osama

  Before Sunday, the last time an American president thought he had Osama bin Laden in his sights was the late summer of 2007. Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders, terrorist volunteers and insurgent foot soldiers would be meeting in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan, a stream of intelligence reports showed. And there were hints that Bin Laden himself m...

• US readies military options on Libya

  The United States began moving warships toward Libya and froze $30 billion in the country's assets on Monday as the administration declared all options on the table in its diplomatic, economic and military campaign to drive Col. Muammar el-Gaddafi from power. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the administration was conferring with alli...