December 13, 2007

Dealing Us Out of the War

"Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain."      -Carl von Clausewitz There was a joke going around the Army in the mid-70s during the rise of the Operations Research S...

December 4, 2007

Nukes, Terrorists, and the Nation-State Connection

While Pakistan is teetering on the brink of a massive  political upheaval, the question on everybody's mind is what will happen to the country's nukes?  The big fear is that fissile materials or a complete weapon will somehow end up in the ...

November 21, 2007

Poland 'reconsiders' Euro-US missile defense deal

As I predicted three weeks ago, the election of the left-leaning Civic Platform Party to the majority in Poland has prompted "further study" of the strategically important ballistic missile defense agreement.  Poland was to have hosted...

November 16, 2007

Indian Communists reverse stance on nuke talks

Some good news on the stalled Indo-US nuclear treaty  is being reported by Bloomberg.  Indian Communists have backed down and will allow the ruling government to start safeguard negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency, on t...

November 13, 2007

Former Putin Associate Seeks Georgian Presidency

Reuters reports  that Georgian billionaire, Badri Patarkatsishvili, will seek the nomination for president as leader of the 10-party opposition coalition aIigned against current Georgian President and staunch US ally, Mikhail Saakashvili.  ...

November 13, 2007

Former Putin Associate seeks Georgian Presidency

Reuters reports  that Georgian billionaire, Badri Patarkatsishvili, will seek the nomination for president as leader of the 10-party opposition coalition aligned against current Georgian President and staunch US ally, Mikhail Saakashvili.  ...

November 11, 2007

Anti-theistic Film Premieres Next Month

Anti-theistic thought, and the books promoting this barren philosophy are ably described by Bruce Walker in his column in yesterday's AT.  It was only a matter of time before Hollywood got into the act and made the first in what is hop...

November 9, 2007

Big Players and the Stakes in the Unrest in Georgia

The US and its Coalition allies can ill-afford to ignore this week's developments in the small but geo-strategically significant Caucasus nation of Georgia. Major outside players including Vladimir Putin and Rupert Murdoch are involved in a story inv...

October 27, 2007

US-Euro Missile Defense Shield May Be Delayed

A convergence of foreign and domestic political maneuvers, and a puzzling statement from US SecDef Robert Gates have led to a potential delay in getting the strategically important European ballistic missile defense shield up and running.  Presi...

October 23, 2007

South Texas Set to Make Energy History

The resurgence of nuclear power to cut dependence on Middle East oil has been predicted for a few years, but so far no public utility has taken the first step to actually construct a new commercial nuclear power reactor.  Until now.Yesterday, th...

October 19, 2007

India's ruling party says nuclear deal still on

It may be too early to pronounce the strategically important Indo-US nuclear deal as kaput.  AFP, via Yahoo News reported that India's ruling Congress Party says the deal is still on despite staunch opposition from a coalition of Communists and ...

October 14, 2007

Lessons from the latest intelligence leak

Eli Lake of the New York Sun has out-covered the rest of the media on the latest leak that damaged intelligence-gathering.One of the world's foremost authorities on Al Qaeda says that last month's compromise of the intelligence community's penetratio...

October 9, 2007

Democrats obstruct geopolitical strategy

First, they threw a monkey wrench into the US-European missile defense shield.  Now, Congressional Democrats led by the expert global strategist, Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), have started a campaign to delay or stop the US and India nuclear and de...

September 21, 2007

Baghdad Jim Sides with the Enemy - Again

Giving true faith and allegiance to the Communists and the Mullahs, Representative "Baghdad" Jim McDermott (D-Wash) has gone on record calling for rejection of the strategically critical Indo-US nuclear and defense cooperation treaty. In hi...

September 13, 2007

Communists threaten to cut support from India's ruling government

Things are not looking good for the pending and very important Indo-US nuclear and defense cooperation treaty.  Reuters, via the Washington Post, reports  that Prakash Karat, the chief of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued a...

September 12, 2007

Protests shut down Indian Parliament four days early

Reuters reports via Yahoo News that parties opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal have closed down the Indian Parliament following "rowdy scenes" that disrupted both upper and lower houses of the legislature.  Late last month, leftist poli...

September 4, 2007

Recounting Abrams' War in Vietnam

There's much talk about the lessons of Vietnam, and plenty of arguments about the relevance of the comparison. But I was going through some old files the other day, and ran across a true historical gem.  Somewhat yellowed, the March 17, 1969 edi...

September 4, 2007

Leftists in India freeze nuclear deal with US

If there has been one clear instance of mutual support in the War on Terror, it's the alliance of the left  and the Jihadis to bring down the US and the Bush Administration.  The Democrats in the Congress have done their part in subver...

September 4, 2007

Sarkozy Counters Russia's Gazprom

Russia's huge oil and gas conglomerate, Gazprom, is not only the world's largest energy distributor, but also controls most of the gas supplies shipped to Eastern and Central Europe.  Because of this near monopoly, Russian Pr...

September 3, 2007

Leftists in India Freeze Nuke Deal with US

If there has been one clear instance of mutual support in the War on Terror, it's the alliance of the left and the Jihadis to bring down the US and the Bush Administration. The Democrats in the Congress have done their part in subverting our long-ter...

August 27, 2007

Russia Confronts NATO and the US

Last Friday, another act of war took place in the skies over the Caucasus, when a Russian aircraft violated the Republic of Georgia's airspace and was fired on by the country's air defense forces.  Prior to this latest incident, Russia viol...

August 27, 2007

Venezuela buys aircraft from Russia

Voice of America reports  that Russia has cut a deal with Venezuela to sell the South American dictatorship 98 civilian Ilyushin passenger and cargo aircraft.  The arrangement was finalized by the Russian state arms exporter, Roso...

August 23, 2007

Iraqi Science Ministry Official Kidnapped

UPI is reporting  that unknown gunmen kidnapped Samir Salim al-Attar, the acting undersecretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Monday.  There is currently no confirmation of the report on the Multi-national Forces - Ira...

August 23, 2007

Reports of Al-Douri's switch may be premature

Yesterday, AT relayed a report  from AdnKronos International that Saddam's former deputy and current leader of the banned Baath Party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has decided to quit Al-Qaeda and to join forces with Iraqi forces and the Coalition....

August 21, 2007

More military digital shenanigans

One of the key factors that enabled Scott Beauchamp to spread his lies beyond the confines of his unit's area of operations is our service members' near-universal access to computers and cell phones in the theater of operations.  Restrictio...

August 21, 2007

Threat of another Prague Spring

On the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Russian General Yuri Baluyevsky told Czech deputy defense minister, Martin Bartak that it would be a "big mistake" to host elements of the US missile def...

August 16, 2007

The Real Lesson of the Beauchamp Affair

The apparent fraud perpetrated by Scott Beauchamp has resulted in plenty of finger-pointing at Franklin Foer and the New Republic, as well as those "progressive" pundits who jumped on board to condemn the Coalition Soldiers and the war...

August 14, 2007

Russia bombing incident in Georgia and NATO

Last week the Republic of Georgia charged that two military Russian aircraft, possibly of the SU type, violated Georgian airspace and had loosed some sort of precision guided bomb.  The Russian government of course, denied all culpability in the...

August 7, 2007

Is Russia's Power on the Decline?

The drive-by media never ceases to amaze with their inability to notice world events, much less understand the global maneuvers in the War on Terror.  Ever since Secretary of Defense Gates told Vladimir Putin to butt out concerning his bid ...

August 7, 2007

Russian Bomb Dropped on Georgia

Russian President Vladimir Putin must indeed be in a very bad mood . The Times (UK) Online is reporting  that two Russian fighter bombers, possibly of the SU type, crossed over into Republic of Georgia airspace on Monday night and let loose wit...

July 27, 2007

Iraqi armed forces turn to China while Pentagon dithers

The Washington Times Inside the Ring column reports today that US defense and national security officials are having a fit over news that China is shipping arms to the new Iraqi Army and the police.  And because Chinese weaponry is being smuggle...

July 26, 2007

The Surge: Another View

It is clear that the "Surge" is dealing a deathblow to terrorists in Iraq, but let's not run out with our bowl of dates and start lounging about on the banks of the Euphrates just yet.  The most we can say is that we are witnessing a h...

July 21, 2007

Bin Laden and the Baluchistan Connection

Baluchistan is unfamiliar to most Americans, a region relatively ignored by the press, but it is one of the key locations for terrorists. But the "Inside the Ring" column  in the Washington Times yesterday featured a very interest...

June 17, 2007

SecDef Gates to Putin: Drop Dead!

In Brussels Friday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates turned away Putin's bid to derail the US-NATO plan to build the key Eastern European segment of a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system. Opposing the Eastern European radar installat...

June 13, 2007

Political order under stress in South Africa

Despite the best wishes of much of the world, things are not going well for South Africa in the post-apartheid era.  Today's Washington Times reports that the country is preparing for,"...the worst industrial action in South African history...

May 26, 2007

Al-Qaeda in South Africa

Jonathan Schanzer, a former Treasury intelligence analyst, and director of policy for the Jewish Policy Center, writes in the Weekly Standard that South Africa is the newest home for worldwide terror groups.  Schanzer notes these troubling ...

May 19, 2007

War Films That Get It Right: Two Classics Re-released

It's extremely rare when journalists or national security experts bother to look beyond the main battle areas of Iraq and Afghanistan to the less glamorous, but still critical campaigns necessary for victory in the Global War on Terror.  What's ...

May 11, 2007

Democrats Subverting US Global Strategy

There is no reasonable argument that the fight in Iraq is a key battle to deal a death blow to Baathist holdovers and foreign Jihadists and must therefore be fully funded to ensure victory.  But this campaign must not be taken in isolation....

May 2, 2007

Georgia increases military commitment to Coalition

The Times (UK) Online last week reported  that the Republic of Georgia will increase its troop commitment to Iraq from 850 to 2,000 troops.  Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said that rather than remain in a static security position g...

April 27, 2007

No WMD in Iraq? (A continuing series)

Those pesky chemical agents that the left says that Saddam never had just keep turning up all over Iraq. The latest occurrence is noted in a CENTCOM press release concerning operations near Mahmudiyah, Iraq.  Coalition Forces conducted multiple ...

April 18, 2007

AFRICOM Briefing

AT readers were informed  in February that President Bush directed the establishment of the US African Command (AFRICOM).  The new HQ will streamline operational functions for an area that previously was assigned to three separate commands,...

April 16, 2007

Another Crisis in Command

We are running a war from the banks of the Potomac much as we did in Vietnam. The Bush administration has been fighting a regional war without any semblance of unity of effort.  Its policy has mysteriously left CENTCOM largely out of the game, d...

April 13, 2007

Bombing a place I know well

The Iraqi Parliament building was hit by a suicide bomber on Thursday, and according  to the AP (via the Washington Times), there were eight people killed and about thirty wounded.  Many more stories and analysis will surely follow, but her...

April 9, 2007

The Caucasus maneuver is working

The power calculus of nations is played out on a multi-dimensional chessboard, where the ability to constrain your rival's access to neighbors counts as a partial choke hold. Our media virtually ignores the good news that Iran's access to Russia is i...

April 6, 2007

No WMD in Iraq? (A continuing series)

The Associated Press (via the Times-Picayune) reports that another chlorine truck bomb has been detonated in Iraq; this time in Ramadi.  The truck crashed into a police checkpoint and then blew up killing 27 and wounding "dozens" of ot...

April 5, 2007

The New Silk Road

Georgia Today, the largest English language weekly newspaper in the Republic of Georgia, has reported that the governments of Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement to finance a major rail project that is viewed as the "N...

April 2, 2007

No WMD in Iraq? (A continuing series)

It seems that since General David Petraeus has taken command of the Coalition forces in Iraq, the official state of denial about Iraq's WMD from both MNF-I Headquarters and the Pentagon has been lifted concerning "insurgent" use of chemical...

March 23, 2007

No WMDs in Iraq? Part II

The Washington Times reports today that US and Iraqi forces have seized caches of chlorine gas and nitric acid in Baghdad.  Last week in Anbar Province, Jihadis set off massive truck bombs laced with chlorine gas killing seve...

March 22, 2007

Novak Finally Gets It

Belatedly, Robert Novak sees the key deception in the so-called outing of Valerie Plame and the phony Libby prosecution for perjury.  Novak tells us that former House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Peter Hoekstra had tried to confirm Plame...

March 18, 2007

What? No WMDs in Iraq?

Reuters reported yesterday that Three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in heavily Sunni Anbar province including the office of a Sunni tribal leader opposed to al-Qaida. The attacks killed at least...

March 16, 2007

The CIA: clueless or conniving?

Greg Richards' excellent article on the CIA's ineptness as being the underlying cause of the Plame-Libby fiasco is spot on.  I might just add one other contradiction within our intell community.  The assertion that they were "wrong on ...

March 9, 2007

The US - Mexico Border Powder Keg

Jerry Seper of The Washington Times reports  today that there has been an "unprecedented surge" of violence along the US - Mexico border, much of it carried out by gangs armed with modern military weapons and gear.  Seper says tha...

March 2, 2007

Keegan's alternate reality

When a distinguished historian gets basic facts wrong about adversaries in a global war, the rest of his analysis deserves closer scrutiny.  In an article today in the New York Sun, John Keegan, a leading military historian, attempts t...

February 16, 2007

Corporate bosses against school vouchers

WOAI radio, the flagship station of San Antionio-based media giant Clear Channel media, reports  that a powerful group of businessmen and former politicians have embarked on a project to fight school vouchers in the state of Texas.  The gro...

February 8, 2007

Ignoring the covert nuclear club

As much as the American people want the potential nuclear confrontation with Iran resolved in our favor, the simple truth is this: the two previous US administrations stuck their heads in the sand concerning the mullahs' efforts to develop nuclear we...

February 7, 2007

US African Command Established by President Bush

On the heels of Ethiopia's decisive victory  over terrorists and their Iranian sponsors in Somalia, President Bush announced yesterday the formation of a new unified command.  The US African Command (AFRICOM) will better focus both civil an...

February 2, 2007

Gaia's Warriors

The environmental pseudo-religion so ably described by JR Dunn, not only has its apocalyptic doctrine, it also has its own military arm.  Lost in the coverage of our campaign against international Islamic terror, is that our home grown terrorist...

January 30, 2007

Harsh tradition continues in the Russian Army

The Christian Science Monitor reports today that the Red Army practice of senior non-commissioned officers maintaining discipline through beatings and torture of junior enlisted soldiers continues in the Russian Army, despite Putin's stated intent to...

January 28, 2007

Answering the call

It was one of those truly miserable days.  The temperature hovered in the mid to high thirties and a nearly constant rain.  If the showers slackened off at all, a heavy mist ensured that everyone remained chilled to the bone.  The mud ...

January 22, 2007

Fantasy and Reality: 24 and the War on Terror

Jack Bauer is a fantasy figure of great appeal because of his singular focus on protecting America from the ravages of terrorism. We're rightly anxious, and we want someone who gets the job done. Jack throws the rule book out the window and does what...

January 20, 2007

US secret force against Iranian influence in Iraq

US News & World Report tells us of a secret unit operating in Iraq to erode Iranian influenceThis is a good thing, but I hope the USNWR article doesn't reveal everything important: like how come they are not operating in Iran?  Seals, Delta,...

January 12, 2007

The real stakes

Investors Business Daily today nails it on the basic issue of the debate over the President's strategy for Iraq: it's about the consequences of defeat and GW's renewed efforts to achieve victory, and his critics' "dangerous fantasy."Those o...

January 11, 2007

Admiral Fallon and CENTCOM

When it was announced by the President last week that Navy Admiral William J. Fallon, current commander of Pacific Command (PACOM), will replace Central Command (CENTCOM) boss Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the reaction was nearly universal: why a Navy m...

January 7, 2007

Who betrayed the military?

The exchange and rebuttal  about our failures in prosecuting post-WW II conflicts to total victory has brought to light critical issues that need to be resolved for ensuring success in the Iraq Campaign and the larger Global War on Terror. ...

January 6, 2007

The National Guard needs to be guarded

Let me see if I understand this correctly. The National Guard is mobilized to help stem the tide of illegals across our southern border; only a percentage of them carry loaded weapons; the already stretched thin Border Patrol must protect our so...

January 5, 2007

Here comes the new boss; same as the old boss

It was announced today that President Bush will replace the top commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, Jr. with Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who is currently commander of the Army’s Combined Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.  In m...

December 28, 2006

What happened to Letters from Iwo Jima? (updated)

The much-anticipated (or so we were told) sequel to Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers premiered in a limited release on December 20.  Letters from Iwo Jima was filmed with the intent of providing the Japanese viewpoint of the ferocious and p...

December 27, 2006

Victory the Old Fashioned Way

CENTCOM Commander General John Abizaid's planned retirement in the middle of a war  reflects a business as usual mentality on the part of our senior leaders, who seemingly find it impossible to fight and kill the enemy all the way to victory....

December 19, 2006

The India - US strategic partnership

The civilian nuclear power deal with India was signed into law yesterday by the President with Indian Ambassador Raminder Jassal looking on.  The strategic significance of this alliance goes largely unnoticed, or ignored, even by the author of t...

December 7, 2006

Money and Waging War: the Myth of WW II

Napoleon famously said "An Army marches on its stomach." In the same sense, wars are won with money. Of course, brave warriors, capable leadership, advanced technologies, and many other factors are essential. But without the funds to pay fo...

November 29, 2006

Karpinski's delusions

The vultures continue to circle now that SecDef Rumsfeld will soon turn over the reins of DoD to the presumptive nominee, Robert Gates. The latest departing shot comes from former Brigadier General Janis Karpinski courtesy of Reuters. ...

November 26, 2006

Defending the troop strength deception

Ever the staunch protectors of the beltway military establishment, the Washington Times' Gertz and Scarborough, reinforce the belief that now-retired General Eric Shinseki had told the powers that be in 2003 that a much larger invasion force wou...

November 14, 2006

The Generals' Fantasy Wars

When consummate Rumsfeld critic Ralph Peters finally comes to the conclusion that maybe the senior level military commanders running the war just might have had something to do with the mess in Iraq, you know an earth—shattering revelation has ...

October 22, 2006

Eastwood Stumbles with Flags

General George Patton once said that the best strategy ever devised can be quickly rendered useless by the application of lousy tactics, while a flawed strategy can be rescued by practicing sound tactical principals.  In the case of moviemaking,...

October 7, 2006

Deconstructing the 'Niger Affair'

American Thinker contributor Roy Robison posits an alternative explanation to the negative finding of Joe Wilson's trip to Niger concerning a suspected uranium deal with Saddam Hussein.  What is surprising in his piece is that he seems to excuse...

August 1, 2006

Georgian Forces Move into Abkhazia

The world situation remains normal: full of armed conflicts. Only a few of these attract the attention of the world's mass media. The border lands of the former Soviet empire are one area that remains a source of of instability. While the world'...

July 27, 2006

Putin as the New Gorbachev

There is an odd, nostalgic fixation on Mother Russia within the "foreign policy community."  It's as if an overwhelming desire to return to the last days of the superpower standoff with an enlightened Mikhail Gorbachev at the helm of the Soviet ...

July 23, 2006

Dealing with Hezbollah's Siegfried Line

As James Lewis notes  in his excellent article, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has had no luck in knocking out Hezbollah's multi—story bunkers in southern Lebanon.  In one operation, Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter—bombers drop...

July 18, 2006

A Warning from the Army Chief of Staff

The Army's Chief of Staff, General Peter Schoomaker, has recently done something extraordinary within the realm of Beltway politics — he told the truth about our Army's readiness. His message before the House Committee on the Armed Services...

June 28, 2006

Saddam's WMD: Discovery and Denial

Last week, Senator Rick Santorum and Rep. Pete Hoekstra revealed  declassified portions of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) that said Coalition forces in Iraq have recovered several hundred munitions containing degraded...

June 21, 2006

The Beltway Replays the Vietnam War

One would think that a global war against terror and the nations that support it would re—focus both our military priorities and the US federal budget to attain victory.  But one would be wrong.  The unhinged anti—war behavior o...

June 12, 2006

Putin, Iran and the Caucasus

The antique media and the punditry continue to dismiss or ignore the overall geo—strategic picture concerning our stand—off with Iran over the development of nuclear weapons technology.а Largely unnoticed is the US and Coalition's success...

May 24, 2006

Border Towns Under Siege

In its plan to station National Guard troops on the border to help stem the tide of illegal immigration, the Bush administration is ignoring a decades—old problem in the southwestern US.  Part and parcel of the chaos in the desert is the t...

May 15, 2006

Fitzgerald and Plame's Covert Status

Lost in all of the legal analysis by the punditry involving the Plame case is the fact that operational security terminology is being used by Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald to deliberately muddy the waters concerning Plame's covert status.  This ...

May 5, 2006

The Counter-insurgency Bugaboo

The First Gulf War should have exorcised the old Vietnam War ghosts out of our military psyche.  But to listen to the generals on the media circuit and in think tank seminars talking about the Iraqi 'insurgency,' it seems we are suffering from a...

April 27, 2006

The Yellowcake Connection

CIA officer Mary McCarthy was fired for leaking a possibly trumped—up story about a secret network of CIA—run prisons in Europe. Ms. McCarthy's pattern of political donations, her Clinton administration White House service, and her e...

April 14, 2006

General Zinni and Pre-War Intelligence

Former CENTCOM commander General Anthony Zinni recently added his two cents worthа to retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton's call for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, over his alleged incompetent leadership in conducting the Iraq War.а ...

February 7, 2006

Defeating Iran

The emphasis on regime change to deal with a soon—to—be nuclear armed Iran looks like a repeat of our short—sighted strategy in dealing with Saddam Hussein.  Astute analysts in the pages of the American Thinker have suggested...

December 19, 2005

Our Sunni friends

Diplomacy has rarely been able to gain at the conference table what cannot be gained or held on the battlefield — Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff to Gen. D.D. Eisenhower This past week the brave Iraqi people have changed the geo...

November 27, 2005

Putin's dangerous game with Iran

Russian is continuing to play a very dangerous game with Iran's nuclear weapons program. If there ever has has been more obfuscation and technical misinformation about a rogue nation's nuclear program than Iran's, I can't think of it.  According...

November 26, 2005

CENTCOM Reports 27 November 2005

The CENTCOM Newsletter is not available for this past week, however, the command routinely publishes news releases here.  Among the stories covered are: Operation Steel Curtain concludes CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq —Iraqi Army Soldi...

November 15, 2005

Free agents

The elephant in the room concerning the Wilson—Plame leak scandal and the Able Danger firings is that the very agencies charged with protecting our country have turned inward, practicing their dark craft to unseat a duly elected President in a ...

November 5, 2005

Getting it wrong on the Gulf War

Desperation for a contemporary war movie that has no anti—American or anti—Bush propaganda has made for some strange judgments about Hollywood's supposed newfound quest for accurate storytelling.  Such is the case with Jonathan Last'...

October 26, 2005

Covering up Iraq's quest for uranium in Africa

The left accepts as gospel the Joseph Wilson—inspired allegation that President Bush lied in his State of the Union address reference to Iraq seeking uranium in Africa. The media and much of the public parrots this line. The allegation is itsel...

October 23, 2005

CENTCOM Reports

CENTCOM Weekly Newsletter The US Central Command Newsletter for the week of October 17 can be found here.  Some of the good news concerning the War on Terror:  The Mosul city government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are worki...

October 21, 2005

The troop strength question

It's been an odd fight in Iraq: there has been a chain of highly visible political victories that have come about before we have completely defeated former regime elements and foreign terrorists.  In fact, the Multi—national Force Commande...

September 25, 2005

IAEA issues ultimatum to Iran

After several weeks of delay, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors has voted on a resolution calling for Iran to 'come clean' on all aspects of its nuclear program.  The vote is essentially an ultimatum that says unle...

September 8, 2005

Federal funding of Louisiana disaster planning

Already, politicians from both parties are scrambling to explain, blame, and accuse the opposition of neglect or malfeasance in responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  One thing is certain; the rants of New Orleans' Mayor Nagin and the si...

September 5, 2005

Battle Tanks vs. Bulldozers

It didn't take long for the left to figure out another way to attack GW on what are now regular rotations of the National Guard to Iraq and Afghanistan.  In the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the left and the media claim that because th...

August 25, 2005

Shilling for a nuclear Iran

The deception of the mainstream media concerning the military capabilities of our enemies continues unabated.  Washington Post staff writer Dafna Linzer has teamed with a mysterious group of scientists hired by the International Atomic Energy Ag...

August 22, 2005

Sharon's Gaza maneuver

The withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza strip is proceeding as well as could be hoped given the circumstances.  Most Americans cannot even imagine the trauma of having their families uprooted and sent elsewhere, so many have seen it ...

August 18, 2005

The Balkan terrorist connection

The revelations concerning the previous administration's efforts to subvert our anti—terror operations are confirming the worst suspicions of some critics branded as Clinton—haters or conspiracy theorists.  Now comes a report from Th...

August 8, 2005

The Iran - Russia nuclear pact

Iran has rejected  an EU proposal offered on August 6th, a proposed pact that the US and the West hoped would at least place some controls on the mullahs' bid to develop special nuclear material (SNM).  The deal essentially provid...

August 1, 2005

Strategy and Saddam

The strategy of the three US administrations conducting the 15—year war with Iraq has been a remarkably consistent.а Our current and past national leadership established deposing Saddam Hussein as our primary strategic objective, rather than ac...

July 28, 2005

Transformation of the US Army

The Department of Defense  and the US Army have announced the largest realignment and stationing changes for active forces since WW II.  The anticipated unit moves and re—flagging of the new Units of Action (UA) coincide with the...

July 22, 2005

The National Guard and homeland security

Tectonic plates are moving in our Total Army force structure. Strategies and units are being realigned from the default Cold War stasis of decades past.  World—wide operations in the War on Terror have shown that in many cases the National...

July 1, 2005

Congress and force structure realignment

A few Senators from both parties went over the top last week in slamming the President and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld over the conduct of the war in Iraq. But Congressional critics are becoming desperate about another military issue as well, one m...

June 3, 2005

Russia's nuclear deception

Iran's long march to develop nuclear weapons continues behind the facade of so—called negotiations with the European—3 (France, Britain, and Germany) and with Russia.  How anyone could consider this bunch as having any  ability ...

June 2, 2005

Another Clinton legacy

The Army has been deliberately flouting the legislated ban on women in direct combat roles, causing considerable anger among some in Congress.  The controversy came to a head last week, with Congressional Republicans backing down from ...

May 29, 2005

The Balkans fiasco continues

On this Memorial Day weekend, we think back and remember the valiant courage and heroic sacrifices of those United States Military men and women who gave their all for us. War is almost always bloody. But the peace it can bring soothes some of the pa...

May 12, 2005

Winning battles and losing wars

The past few weeks saw an understandable wave of articles and television news spots remembering the fall of Saigon 30 years ago. Everyone had his own take on the significance of it all.  The left continues to pound the 'limits of American milita...

April 17, 2005

Birds of a feather

It seems the terror regime in Iran has found a kindred fascist government in the new world in an attempt to form a new energy alliance.  In a report  in February, Alexander's Oil and Gas Connection notes that the Iranian energy company, Pet...

March 25, 2005

Second-class citizens

The conservative political punditry certainly called this one right.  Wednesday, President Bush spoke out against  the Minuteman Project, which consists of about 1000 US volunteers who have grown tired of the rampant illegal immigration acr...

March 11, 2005

The hypocrisy of the Army Times

The Old Guard of the legacy media is crumbling before our eyes, in large part because of the blogsphere and other alternative media.  This is no less the case for the Army Times, which has finally published a series of articles and an editorial ...

March 4, 2005

Target: Iran

Iran's headlong rush to develop nuclear weapons has been the top story in both the legacy and the new media  for the last several months.  The mullahs' on again/off again deals with the E—3 (UK, France, and Germany) and Russia, and th...

March 2, 2005

The next domino

With virtually no attention from the mainstream media, the United States has been taking actions calculated to ratchet—up pressure on the mullahs of Iran. A complex plan has been carefully crafted to avoid a direct military attack on Iran, whic...

February 22, 2005

Troop strength and Congress

The debate continues about US troop strength and its impact on the ability of our forces to conduct sustained combat operations in the War on Terror.  Recently, The Weekly Standard published a bi—partisan Open Letter to the majority and mi...

February 7, 2005

Counting the cost

The anti—American left and the legacy media continue to highlight our losses in the Iraq War rather than focusing on the successful elections, which were a stunning vindication of GW's strategy in the region.  The most recent example is th...

February 1, 2005

Bush, military forces, and a strategic vision

Most of the punditry got it right about GW's second inaugural address: it was a monumental speech that prescribed a major shift in our foreign policy and national security posture.  Not only was it a true description of the dangerous world ...

January 17, 2005

The left's body count dilemma

I was watching the classic WW II movie Bataan the other night, and the questions of faith and duty to country depicted in the film are just as relevant to today's War on Terror as they were during those early, dark days of the War in the Pacific...

January 10, 2005

Fighting the SecDef instead of fighting the war

The campaign to oust Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld continues unabated at The Weekly Standard, with the latest salvo being fired by Frederick Kagan in his article Fighting the Wrong War.  Mr. Kagan attempts to make a reasoned, thoughtful cou...

December 22, 2004

A cry in the wilderness

The question asked of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld by a Tennessee National Guardsman over the up—armored Humvee refit issue was quickly exposed as another instance of 'gotcha' journalism after it was revealed that a hometown reporter ha...

December 6, 2004

Here we go again

The specific arrangements of Iran's on again—off again agreement with France, Britain, and Germany (European—3) on development of its fledgling nuclear program are so deceptive that it would be laughable, if it didn't have anything to do ...

November 22, 2004

Netwar: The first battles

Never before did a wartime President, in the heat of a hard—fought re—election campaign, have to contend with such a massive and unbalanced onslaught of negative press coverage as George W. Bush.  The media treatment was not onl...

November 21, 2004

Journalists and the CIA bomb out

The CIA and its coterie of leak—recipient journalists have seriously damaged the public's understanding of the terror dangers we face. Now that the public's attention finally has turned to the threat of Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities, it i...

November 12, 2004

Arafat's first war

The death of PLO terrorist leader Yassar Arafat has brought out the predictable fawning obituaries in the media that, at best, attempt to portray Arafat's life in a neutral fashion, rather than as the world's terror master.  Some  of these ...

October 27, 2004

The IAEA's game

The latest slam of the Bush Administration by the combined forces of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the New York Times, CBS, and the Kerry campaign, repeats on old pattern. The leading lights of the legacy media have t...

October 20, 2004

Where We Stand (II)

Part II: The Fight for the Central Region [Editor's note: Part I, The tactical fight for Iraq, can be read here] Democrat Senator John Kerry is attempting to make political hay out of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's controversial statement that when he a...

October 13, 2004

The UN, Al-Tuwaitha, and nukes

There were several reports published on October 12, about the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) throwing another fit about the state of affairs at Saddam's former nuclear research center at Al—Tuwaitha.  In my last report conc...

October 7, 2004

Where We Stand

Part I: The tactical fight for Iraq Operations in Iraq are again taking center stage in both the legacy and new media outlets.  Understandably, supporters of the war and President Bush worry about the ultimate outcome and his desire to remain st...

September 29, 2004

The real chain of connection

Dan Rather and CBS News have had a rough couple of weeks coping with the forged Texas Air National Guard document scandal and their subsequent clumsy cover—up.  Richard Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi have been appointed to investigate this ...

September 27, 2004

Battle Blog 20-26 September 2004

Combat action continued this past week in the area known as the Sunni Triangle, particularly in and around Fallujah.  In the last few weeks, a series of precision air strikes have hit terrorist hide—outs in the city, and ground operations...

September 20, 2004

Battle Blog 13 -19 September 2004

Terrorists from the Tawhid and Jihad groups aligned with Jordanian—born terror leader Abu Musab Zarqawi have been responsible this past week for a series of car bombings and the kidnapping of three 'foreign' construction workers.  The two ...

September 17, 2004

Rathergate producer Mapes needs to get a lawyer

American Thinker exclusive Mary Mapes, producer of the Rathergate fiasco, soon may have federal law enforcement officials knocking on her door, if a press story today holds water. In what could be another blow to the already scandal ridden Dan Rather...

September 14, 2004

A-hunting we will go

The small band of terrorists thought that things were going their way.  They had even succeeded in convincing a portion of middle class citizens that they were fighting for a just representation in their country's political process.  This w...

September 13, 2004

Battle Blog 6 - 12 September 2004

Apparently, reports last week that Saddam's number two man, Izzat Ibrahim Al—Douri, was captured were incorrect.  US forces stated that they did not have him in custody, and Iraqi security forces said they were awaiting testing on confirma...

September 6, 2004

Battle Blog 30 August - September 5 2004

As Battle Blog goes up on the web, there has been no confirmation that Saddam's number two man, Izzat Ibrahim Al—Douri has, in fact, been captured.  The Multi—National Forces—Iraq (MNF—I) has stated that he is not under U...

September 3, 2004

Sadr's reign of terror

The terms most often used to describe the armed followers of the renegade Shia leader Muqtada al—Sadr have varied depending upon who is doing the reporting.  The major wire services seem to prefer the term 'insurgent,' possibly to convey s...

August 30, 2004

Battle Blog 23 - 29 August 2004

The southern city of Najaf is finally quiet, as a peace deal went into effect that was brokered between Muqtada al—Sadr and the top Shia cleric of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al—Sistani.  Rather than risk an assault by Iraqi forces, Sa...

August 29, 2004

Can we talk?

It is truly amazing that people who were in positions of authority during the Clinton administration continue to lecture President Bush on how to handle national security problems that are a direct result of their failed policies.  The latest to...

August 26, 2004

Our German allies

Last week's announcement that the US plans to withdraw 70,000 US troops from overseas locations has drawn the predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth from the left's so—called national security experts.  Richard Holbrooke and Wesley Clar...

August 23, 2004

Battle Blog 16 - 22 August 2004

The past week in Najaf has been confusing, with a series of on—again, off—again agreements to end the fighting, followed by further battles between Sadr's Mehdi militia and US and Iraqi forces.  Last weekend, Prime Minister Iyad Alla...

August 16, 2004

The Russian cheerleader

There is nothing more frustrating than a pundit who proposes to solve a critical problem with a solution that is based upon false premises and revisionist history.  There is no shortage of intellectually pretentious commentators looking down the...

August 15, 2004

Battle Blog 8-15 August 2004

The Battle Blog will continue to focus on operations of the Multi—National Forces (MNF) and Iraqi forces against the militia of radical Shia leader, Muqtada al—Sadr.  A special edition of the Battle Blog earlier this week covere...

August 11, 2004

The fight in Najaf

A Battle Blog special edition The battle this week in Najaf pitting Coalition and Iraqi forces against Muqtada al—Sadr's Mehdi Militia will shortly reach a conclusion that will likely not please the radical cleric.  The fighting actually ...

August 10, 2004

WMDs in Iraq - the real story begins to emerge

Professor Norman Dombey, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Sussex, England, has confirmed that Saddam Hussein had more than enough yellowcake uranium to make over 100 nuclear weapons. There was no conceivable peaceful use for...

August 8, 2004

Battle Blog 1 - 7 August 2004

The big story in Iraq this past week is the resurgence of extremist Shiite cleric Muqtada al—Sadr's militia in Najaf.  Reports stated that during the initial fighting that broke out on August 5, a U.S. helicopter was shot down, however, th...

August 8, 2004

Oklahoma is OK

In one of the few instances where county and city planners have done their homework in planning for homeland security expenditures, Tulsa, Oklahoma stands as a great example in obtaining equipment that would be critical in the event of a terrorist at...

August 4, 2004

Council revives flawed strategy

The prestigious Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) will recommend  that the US 'negotiate' with Iran in order to stop Iran's de—stabilizing influence on Iraq, and to end Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.  Despite clear evidence ...

August 1, 2004

Battle Blog 25 - 31 July 2004

In Iraq, anti—Coalition forces continue the tactic of kidnapping foreign workers who help with the logistics support of US and Iraqi forces, or in reconstruction efforts.  It was reported on Saturday, July 31, that members of Abu Musab al...

July 29, 2004

The quagmire nobody talks about

December of this year will mark the nine—year anniversary of US and NATO intervention in the Balkan War of 1992—95.  For almost a decade, our troops have been conducting stability and support operations in Bosnia—Herzegovina, a...

July 25, 2004

Battle Blog 18 - 24 July 2004

Iraq and Afghanistan are making steady progress towards establishment of a secure and democratic form of government.  Coalition military units and Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) are continuing operations to ensure all eligible Afghan citi...

July 18, 2004

Battle Blog 11 - 17 July 2004

The mainstream press is in its normal operating mode, focusing on every negative situation in Iraq, while ignoring the tremendous success stories coming out of both Iraq and Afghanistan.  This week's Battle Blog, as always, will continue to info...

July 15, 2004

The UN, Al-Tuwaitha, and nukes

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was very upset last week that the US had shipped about 1.8 tons of low—enriched uranium and other radioactive material out of Iraq for disposition in the US.  One wo...

July 11, 2004

Battle Blog 4 - 10 July 2004

The establishment of a sovereign Iraq has put the onus of security squarely on the shoulders of the Iraqis themselves.  They are not doing this alone, of course, since recruiting and training occur under the watchful eye of the Coalition.  ...

July 10, 2004

Mainstream press reporter joins the wrong side

Shortly after The American Thinker criticized  the mainstream press, especially the conservative daily The Washington Times, for their lack of on—the—ground reporting in Iraq, a Time Magazine reporter finally broke through the leftis...

July 6, 2004

Curtain call in the Balkans

The nine year—long deployment for US forces in the Balkans finally appears to be coming to a close, yet amazingly, the US mainstream media has chosen to completely ignore this major shift of our defense strategy.  Meanwhile, the American p...

July 4, 2004

Battle Blog 27 June - 3 July 2004

Since the handover to Iraqi officials earlier this week, terrorist attacks have apparently fallen off sharply.  Problems still remain with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and roadside bombs, but there have been no reports of coordinated assau...

July 1, 2004

Finally!

It appears that the nine—year old stability and support mission to the Balkans will finally come to an end this year for US forces.  An article  published by the Guardian (UK)today, describes the low—key ceremony marking the clo...

June 27, 2004

Battle Blog 20 - 26 June 2004

Other than Coalition air strikes in Fallujah on the suspected hideouts of Jordanian—born terrorist leader Abu Musab al—Zarqawi, the previous week in Iraq had been relatively quiet.  In fact, a Marine patrol entered Fallujah on June 1...

June 23, 2004

War coverage interrupted

Guess which major newspaper: — focuses on inside the beltway issues.— relies on a contractual arrangement with a major wire service for reporting combat action in the War on Terror.— has its own reporters rely almost totally on said...

June 20, 2004

Battle Blog 13 - 19 June 2004

It has been another relatively quiet week in the Central Region, with most news from Armed Forces news services and other alternative news outlets emphasizing humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  In particular, ...

June 16, 2004

Iran raises the ante

The Washington Times  via UPI, and the Maariv International websites report that the Iranians are massing troops on the Iraqi border.  The UPI report mentions that the estimate was four battalions (about 2000 to 3000 troops), according...

June 13, 2004

Battle Blog 6 - 12 June 2004

The last week has seen the Armed Forces of the United States execute the week—long ceremonies honoring President Ronald Reagan in a flawless manner.  We owe our gratitude to all of our service men and women who supported all of these event...

June 11, 2004

Investigating the obvious

It seems that the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army have been quietly and professionally taking the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse investigation to its logical conclusion.  Reuters reports  that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the c...

June 10, 2004

The Homeland Security Pork Barrel

Terror attacks on US territory threaten the lives of millions, and must be taken with the utmost seriousness. But to some, this threat represents an opportunity to exploit a mountain of money coming out of the federal treasury, ostensibly to protect ...

June 6, 2004

Battle Blog 30 May - 5 June 2004

To the consternation of the left, military action in Iraq remains at a relatively low level as compared to the previous few months.  This does not mean the danger has completely gone away, as evidenced by two Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at...

May 31, 2004

Dog Seven

As the USS Thomas Jefferson and USS Bayfield pulled into Inchon harbor, the young Marine Fire Team Leader peered toward the dock area and the city beyond.  What had been a bustling seaport and center of commerce with 250,000 residents had been r...

May 29, 2004

Battle Blog 23 - 29 May 2004

This Memorial Weekend edition of the Battle Blog provides the opportunity to focus on the heroic actions of our service men and women fighting in the War on Terror.  As President Bush has said several times, their operations may not be fully re...

May 26, 2004

The low-down on Zinni

The latest retired general to voice his concerns over the strategy to topple Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq has been Anthony Zinni.  Naturally, the good general has co—authored a book with (surprise!) Tom Clancy, criticizing the war with ...

May 20, 2004

Pesticides, Precursors, and Petulance Revisited

The recent find in Iraq of a binary Sarin projectile that was rigged as an improvised explosive device (IED), has produced a large amount of press on the nature of this WMD, and even bizarre attempts to define this weapon as something other than one ...

May 14, 2004

Information Warfare 101

Disinformation is information disseminated primarily by intelligence organizations or other covert agencies designed to distort information, or deceive or influence United States decisionmakers, United States forces, coalition allies, key actors, or ...

May 7, 2004

Deutschland Unter Alles

Thirty years of socialist policies have finally taken their toll.  In an attempt to reverse the inevitable slide into economic disaster, Germany is adopting massive cost—cutting reforms.  Of course, under left—wing Chancellor He...

April 30, 2004

Senator Hagel's Flashback

Some months ago, when Representative Charles Rangel (D) NY, first made the call to restart conscription, most people rightfully understood it as a political ploy designed to undermine President Bush in the conduct of The War on Terror.  It was a...

April 23, 2004

Advantage: Iran

The recent insurgency by the Shia extremist supporters of Muqtada al—Sadr has finally brought to light the operations of Iranian agents of influence in Iraq.  For those in the intelligence and operations cells of the Coalition Provisi...

April 16, 2004

Numbers Racket

The parade of retired generals has finally been heard. General Abizaid, Commanding General of CENTCOM, has requested more manpower to garrison Iraq.  More than a few news outlets have reminded us about how seemingly prescient the now—reti...

April 12, 2004

Depleted uranium: the saga continues

As Coalition forces were gearing up, the weekend before last, for the high intensity battles now underway in Iraq, the anti—American left was resurrecting a tactic from the post—Gulf War I era to take a proven weapon out of the arsenal of...

April 5, 2004

An Open Letter to Dan Rather and CBS News

Dear Mr. Rather: I was stunned when I read some of the language concerning civilian contractors who risk death in Iraq, which you reportedly used in a segment on your CBS Evening News March 31st. Like many other Americans, I stopped watching your bro...

April 2, 2004

Pesticides, Precursors, and Petulance

It has become established conventional wisdom that 'no stockpiles of WMD have been discovered in Iraq.' But this reading of the evidence uncovered to date is premature at best, and highly questionable. A closer look at the data, and at the uses ...

March 2, 2004

Case Not Closed: Iraq's WMD Stockpiles

In the summer of 2003, I served as Chief of Staff in the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), an organization formerly called the Ministry of Atomic Energy. The Ministry had a small staff of Americans and Iraqis, and was one of several mi...