BTaylor

About Brad Taylor

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So far Brad Taylor has created 87 blog entries.

Let’s Play Iran’s Game, Not our Own.

Royalty-free stock illustration ID: 455268238 The world woke up yesterday to a bunch of maniacs chanting “Death to America” outside the US Embassy in Iraq, and given what I’ve seen on TV, with references to Benghazi and the seizure of the US embassy in Iran in 1979, I’m pretty sure that the average American has no hope of knowing what’s actually happening.  Watching the news, you’d think that Iraq is either hell bent on kicking us out or killing us, but that’s not the case.  Unfortunately, [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:46:44-05:00January 2nd, 2020|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|4 Comments

War with Iran…Three Differences and One Similarity

Royalty-free stock vector ID: 671941873 Iran has come to the forefront of political and military discourse in the last few weeks, and lost in the shuffle of hyperbolic political statements is exactly what a war with Iran would mean and what would be required from the American public and the military. Too often – as I have learned from personal experience – elected officials promise a quick and easy war when it most decidedly will not be either quick or easy. Make no mistake, Iran is [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:51:31-05:00June 27th, 2019|Blog|12 Comments

Designating the IRGC a terrorist organization? Not a good idea.

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 656642494 Last week, the Trump administration designated the entire Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, which finally took effect yesterday.  I’d hoped that saner heads would prevail in the meantime.  While on the surface that seems like the right move, it’s replete with negative ancillary effects that far outweigh any positive ones. Right up front, I’ll say that this idea didn’t arise from just the Trump administration.  I remember writing The Widow’s Strike in 2013, where Pike goes against a [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:53:30-05:00April 17th, 2019|Blog, Uncategorized|9 Comments

A Realpolitik Look at a Moral Conundrum

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 55843507 The savage murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate located in Turkey, followed by his dismemberment by bone saw, has generated worldwide horror and headlines, mostly centered on whether the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS for short), had directly ordered his killing. The argument in the United States has split along moralistic and realistic lines, with the moral side stating that a state-sanctioned murder must be confronted, no matter how powerful the man who [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:54:59-05:00November 26th, 2018|Blog|6 Comments

Five Fast Facts from the Singapore Summit

The summit in Singapore between the United States and the DPRK is over, and there is a lot of discussion in the press, to say the least.  Here are five takeaways that I saw: The word “historic” has been used quite a bit about the meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Trump, but truly, the only thing historic about it was that the president of the United States attended. Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all had a standing invitation to meet with their respective counterpart in the [...]

By |2024-05-18T17:49:15-04:00June 12th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part Four – Rinse and Repeat

Royalty-free stock vector ID: 211642960 After the latest strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Mission Accomplished!” Besides the obvious subliminal baggage of using the same term that President George W. Bush used early on in a war in which we’re still embroiled fifteen years later, what, exactly does that mean? What “mission” was accomplished? And I mean beyond the partisan divide. Beyond the left shouting that President Trump was “wagging the dog” to detract from his lawyer’s office raid and FBI Director Comey’s upcoming blistering [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:56:10-05:00April 15th, 2018|Blog|5 Comments

Another tragic shooting, and the same tired arguments. Why is that?

After the Las Vegas Massacre, I wrote a blog for FoxNews.com. After the tragic events in Florida, I thought it was appropriate to post it again here, on my website.  Not to start a debate, but to show where the debate now stands and why nothing gets done.  There are sensible gun safety regulations I would support, but honestly, because of the partisan world we live in, I have no faith in the opposition to offer anything that would prevent the tragedy that occurred, instead using the tragedy [...]

By |2018-02-16T19:42:06-05:00February 16th, 2018|Blog, Uncategorized|10 Comments

Transgenders in the Military? Please stop the Hyperbole – It’s Not About Equality.

President Trump’s tweet on transgender personnel serving in the military has generated enormous controversy, but – besides the incredibly idiotic way it was announced (I’m sure PACOM now has a staff duty officer whose sole function is to look at Trump’s twitter feed for “I’m going to war with North Korea”) – the actual issue is being buried in the weeds of emotion. First off, even though I’ll be tarred and feathered with the following slurs, let me say upfront I’m not homophobic. I’m not transphobic. I don’t [...]

By |2025-03-29T08:41:12-04:00July 29th, 2017|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|45 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part III: Crossing the red line…Again

  To say the least, the Tomahawk strike on Syria has caused a great amount of chatter throughout the world, but most of it is misplaced and some is outright outlandish. I thought I’d weigh in, not in a partisan way, with an agenda, but simply to clear the air a bit. So here, in no order of precedence, are the primary questions being asked: Who did the chemical strike in Syria? The minute I heard that chemical weapons had been used in Idlib, the first thing I [...]

By |2017-11-29T22:34:34-05:00April 9th, 2017|Blog|18 Comments

Some fast facts on NATO

Lately, there’s been some discussion about NATO and its member nations not paying their fair share, leaving the American public believing that the United States is getting screwed making up the shortfall. It’s not that clear cut. With the transition between Commander's in Chief, I thought I'd clear the air a little bit, and describe exactly what the cost is with NATO since both the outgoing commander in chief and the incoming seem to use the numbers to drive up interest. Bottom line up front: We don’t spend [...]

By |2018-07-08T12:13:00-04:00January 19th, 2017|Blog|12 Comments
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