Blog - Page 5 of 9 - Brad Taylor

The Syrian Conundrum Part II: From Russia With Love

What a clown-fest. I’ve wanted to update my latest Syria blog, but one bizarre thing after another kept occurring. First, Secretary of State Kerry gave an impassioned speech on why we should immediately strike Assad, and, as I said in my last blog, I agreed with him (yes, that’s past tense). Instead of using his legal powers as president to strike, as Kerry implied would happen, President Obama backed up and asked congress for permission. Secretary Kerry, in an odd choice of words, scared the pants off of [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-09-12T22:12:08-04:00September 12th, 2013|Blog|7 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum

Syria is all over the news lately, and much like Libya before it, I haven’t heard a lot of talk focused on the correct issues. Most of the discussion centers around attaining UN or congressional approval, what the U.S. will strike, proof Assad is a crazy man, or the timing. Then, in the middle of this week, the UK decided they weren’t going to play. The administration’s response to this news provided the first solid words of sanity after more than two years of misguided foreign policy adventures. [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-08-31T13:07:15-04:00August 31st, 2013|Blog|6 Comments

Remember the Messenger When Reading the Message

Intrepid warrior of transparency, Glenn Greenwald, leaked another classified NSA program, and as he has with just about all of his reporting, he expands a single tidbit of information into some global leviathan. In this case, Xkeyscore can apparently see EVERYTHING anyone does on the Internet anywhere on the globe, in real time. Yes, the NSA is worse than a corrupt intelligence organization. It’s replaced God. Reporting on special operations and intelligence activities has taken the tone of a salacious gossip column typically reserved for the National Enquirer. [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-08-04T18:17:00-04:00August 4th, 2013|Blog|4 Comments

WikiLeaks: The Definition of Irony

What follows is a little bit of a rant, so bear with me as I clear my head. As Edward Snowden’s prospects for escape dwindle, since country after country has denied him asylum, he is now beginning to cry like a petulant child through WikiLeaks. Using a logic train that is about as convoluted as possible (Waaaa….Obama’s picking on me!), it reminded me of Wikileaks’ own twisted version of what’s just. Like Snowden, it appears to consist only of crimes they commit against others. Someone using anything resembling [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-07-02T21:07:03-04:00July 2nd, 2013|Blog|13 Comments

PRISM revealed: Do you feel safer?

The press has been salivating over the NSA’s “PRISM” program for days, and honestly, I’m a bit perplexed. What’s the big deal? You mean we’re actively attempting to use the Internet to ferret out terrorist’s plans? Holy Shit! Stop the presses! Why is this so shocking? Does the United States public actually want our intelligence community to remain in the 1970s? Maybe sit in a back room playing gin rummy, praying someone walks through the door with the diabolical plan in his grip? I think not. What’s shocking [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-06-09T15:11:57-04:00June 9th, 2013|Blog|10 Comments

Hero to Zero

Syria is turning into a quagmire, and for once, it isn’t the United States that’s stuck in the mud. Surprisingly, it’s the mighty Resistance of the Middle East. Hezbollah. In 2000, Hezbollah was hailed as the Arabic version of David, fighting off the Goliath of the hated Israel and forcing them to flee from Lebanon. The Arab world cheered the departure. In 2006, Israel came back and fought a sharp, short war with Hezbollah, and pretty much had their ass handed to them on the propaganda front. While [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-06-03T16:48:45-04:00June 3rd, 2013|Blog|5 Comments

Guess What? Another Red Line!

In the movie The Princess Bride, one of the characters repeatedly exclaims “Inconceivable!” every time an event occurs, prompting another to respond, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Substitute red line for “inconceivable” and any reporter could say the same thing about the Obama administration’s current foreign policy proclamations. I wrote a blog some time ago about the red line the administration proclaimed for nuclear development in Iran, a line that was crossed long ago, forcing them to [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-04-27T16:49:55-04:00April 27th, 2013|Blog|6 Comments

Admiral Locklear Vying for Bill Nye the Science Guy’s job

Today, the U.S. commander of all pacific forces, Admiral Samuel Locklear III, stated that climate change was the biggest threat to national security. Yes, you read that correctly. Climate change. Before I’m castigated as a Neanderthal, I see his argument. I really do. Massive climate change engenders a plethora of natural disasters, which break down societal structures and cause a weakening of the overall state architecture. But listing this as THE threat to the United States? Maybe in three hundred years. But if we’re looking at probabilities such [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-03-11T16:12:37-04:00March 11th, 2013|Blog|4 Comments

Substate Counter-Leadership Targeting

I finally saw Zero Dark Thirty the other day, and all the top-secret/administration giving up classified debate aside, I found it pretty slow. Including the culminating hit at the end. I wasn't on target, but if they moved in real life like the molasses actors did on screen, Osama bin Laden would have been in India before they reached the third floor. The movie did, however, remind me of a paper I'd written a long time ago. I haven't blogged in awhile because I'm buried in security work [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-02-24T15:40:49-05:00February 24th, 2013|Blog|1 Comment

The General McChrystal that I know (better late than never edition)

Today is the publication date of General Stanley McChrystal’s book MY SHARE OF THE TASK. I’m looking forward to reading it, but have already seen press reports stating he barely discusses the Rolling Stone article that brought about the end of his career. He simply assumes responsibility for the entire affair, as I would absolutely expect. When the article first appeared and the whirlwind began – over two years ago, right before the publication of ONE ROUGH MAN – I wrote a blog about it. I never posted [...]

By Brad Taylor|2013-01-07T11:19:22-05:00January 7th, 2013|Blog|8 Comments