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A Simple Primer on Classification

The shockwaves from the Signal chat discussions about attacks in Yemen have ping-ponged back and forth, with one side declaring “It’s the end of the security of the United States and we’re all doomed”, and the other saying, “This is nothing at all.  If anything, someone should arrest the journalist.”  Everyone’s opining about the definition of “War Plans” versus “Timing Schedules”, or whether Signal is a secure system even if it’s not official, or some other arcane aspect.  One of the hottest topics is whether anything “classified” was [...]

By |2025-03-29T08:37:59-04:00March 28th, 2025|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|5 Comments
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Character and moral judgement matter. The SECDEF should personify that.

The Pentagon from above in Washington, DC Most of the conversation about Pete Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of defense has focused on issues of his perceived lack of leadership experience running a mammoth organization like the DoD, or his polemics surrounding culture war issues such as DEI initiatives, females in combat, and so-called “woke” policies.  These are all worthy of discussion, and I myself have written in the past of my own fears about progressive policies overtaking common sense in the military realm.  For me, the [...]

By |2025-03-29T08:37:37-04:00January 12th, 2025|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|10 Comments
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Terrorism Works

I wrote a primer on terrorism a few years ago, which discussed why a rational person could be seduced into acting as a terrorist, and we’re seeing that in real time as protests rock college campuses all across the country.  It’s because terrorism works. Contrary to what the pundits on television will have you believe, terrorists like Hamas don’t conduct attacks solely for the bloodlust – although the Hamas foot soldiers who executed the mission on October 7th certainly could be described as such.  The action has a purpose, [...]

By |2024-06-28T18:31:26-04:00May 9th, 2024|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Elon Musk and the Fallacy of Faux Authority

Elon Musk has made multiple headlines in the last few weeks, none of which had anything to do with electric cars or flying to Mars.  First, out of the blue, he posted a poll on Twitter for his solution to the war in Ukraine, which basically involved Ukraine ceding Crimea to Russia, the United Nations overseeing a vote for the rest of terrain Russia has taken, and Ukraine formally promising to remain “neutral” for eternity.  In other words, Elon’s solution is for Ukraine to capitulate to Putin, thereby [...]

By |2025-03-09T11:12:27-04:00October 15th, 2022|Blog, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Ukraine’s No-Fly Zone isn’t as Simple as it Sounds

  Discussion continues about a no-fly zone in Ukraine. The discussion of a no fly zone has been debated for weeks, and I’ve answered many questions from neighbors, friends, readers at book events and folks on social media, and at the end of the day, each question was based on a misconception of what a no fly zone is, how it’s achieved, and what it can accomplish.  A myriad of articles have been written about the mission set, but most are overly long or overly complex, [...]

By |2022-03-14T12:06:00-04:00March 13th, 2022|Blog, Featured|2 Comments
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A Simple Primer on Counter-Leadership Targeting

Amar Mehta, 2022 Lindsey Graham & Vladimir Putin, [https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-us-republican-senator-lindsey-graham-calls-on-russians-to-assassinate-vladimir-putin-12557148], Sky News. The world is a-twitter (pun intended) after Senator Lindsey Graham’s tweet stating that the only way to end the conflict in Ukraine is by removing Putin – in effect, calling for his assassination. He was immediately rebuked by members of both parties, with Senator Ted Cruz saying it was an “exceptionally bad idea”, Rep. Ilhan Omar simply quote tweeted with “Seriously, Wtf?”, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated we don’t need, “…bloodthirsty warmongering politicians trying to tweet [...]

By |2023-12-13T15:07:08-05:00March 6th, 2022|Blog, Featured|3 Comments
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This is a NEO. It’s Time to Execute it.

The rapid fall of Kabul tore a hole in my heart. It’s taken me days to get my mind around what we’re witnessing and garner some focus to write this. First and foremost, I’m not surprised at the speed with which this happened.  Why everyone in our defense establishment is surprised, is what baffles me. I’ve been asked many times over the last few days, “What went wrong?” or “How could we have miscalculated so badly?” and my answer is, we didn’t.  Look at the assessments before this [...]

By |2021-08-23T14:17:55-04:00August 22nd, 2021|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|34 Comments
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American “Journalism”: A Case Study in a Causal Fallacy

The New York Times has a “Bombshell” report out with the headline At Least 37 Million People Have Been Displaced by America’s War on Terror.  The story was followed by multiple other outlets with headlines stating the same thing:  37 million refugees since 9/11 are a direct result of United States’ military operations.  The articles are based on an analysis conducted by Brown University resulting in a report titled: Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the United States’ Post-9/11 Wars. The reporting is designed to inculcate in the reader [...]

By |2020-09-12T11:32:09-04:00September 12th, 2020|Uncategorized|7 Comments
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A Lie is a Lie. Especially When Wearing the Uniform

I watch or read a plethora of different news feeds daily, but I confess, most of my TV time is spent watching Fox News, because I’m a conservative. Given that, I’ve been a little embarrassed by the coverage of the latest LTG Michael Flynn saga. To hear the talking heads on Fox, the FBI was duplicitous and sneaky, endeavoring to gain a perjury trap against Flynn, and because of that, Flynn is completely innocent, and a wrongly convicted man.  A hero who wore the uniform and who’s been [...]

By |2024-05-15T07:35:56-04:00May 2nd, 2020|Uncategorized|18 Comments
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No, Soleimani Wasn’t Assassinated.

As is typically true following any military strike, the armchair quarterbacks are out in force on television, and as is also typical, I get aggravated watching them.  I’ve received a lot of questions about the potential repercussions of the act, but have also seen most of the discussion on the news revolve around the legality of the strike —specifically as it relates to Executive Order 12333—which prohibits “assassinations”.  I wrote a blog about this in 2010 and thought it instructive to revisit it and post an updated version. [...]

By |2020-01-05T22:19:13-05:00January 4th, 2020|Blog, Featured, Uncategorized|9 Comments
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