“Zero Dark Thirty” or “The Pentagon Wars”? Movies about the US military generally fall into just two categories: one is loaded with superheroes and amazing technology, the other packed with corrupt generals, politicians and defense contractors. Unfortunately, both have elements of truth in them. How is it that the same national security community that produces […]

There was a young lady of Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger; They returned from the ride With the lady inside, And the smile on the face of the tiger. – W.C. Monkhouse Sometimes it helps to look at things backwards…What should the US government recommend to Ukraine if they were losing […]

On July 3rd, 1950, 8 days after North Korea – with Russian and Chinese assistance (and prodding) – attacked into South Korea, Secretary of State Acheson advised the President to act on his authority as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to respond to the attack, and not ask Congress for approval or a resolution or […]

 I was reading several old interviews of Admiral Stockdale this afternoon, in which he commented about the Tonkin Gulf incident and how Washington – the Johnson White House – was determined to get the “facts” they needed to justify the actions they wanted to take. Stockdale was a man of the highest principals; it led […]

When it comes to lessons learned, everyone seems to focus on the battlefield tactics and the application of current technology. While that is very interesting, there are some other points we can already pull from this war… First, nuclear weapons are the holy grail of strategic planning. I read an article the other day by […]

Editor’s Note: Arrias maintains the front on the Chesapeake. We were brushed by the same swath of cold wet air last night. It brought the first barely-measurable snow of the season to the Commonwealth. We had other communications from a square state out west with wind blowing a dozen degrees below zero (F) behind a […]

The World Economic Forum has just concluded. During it we had the repeated pronouncements from the Leading Luminaries of our day that doom is upon us unless we commit, to quote our climate czar, “Money, money, money, money, money.” Should we? To answer that, it is instructive to recall that in the late 1970s the […]

If you’ve ever been on a US Navy ship, several times per day you’ll here a call over the 1MC (1 Main Comm – a “public address” system that goes to every compartment in the ship): “Sweepers, Sweepers, Man your brooms, give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all decks, […]

Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, is well remembered for his virtually mystical performance on the battlefield. For 14 years he waged war against Rome and never lost an engagement – until the last one, the battle of Zama. And even then, his defeat was a direct result of the earlier betrayal by his ally of […]

The year began like any other, Full of hope, wonder, fear and surprises, Troubles and wars and rumors of war, And now another year arises. Last year was just the same in this, A bright future beckoned to all, What was possible or what would be, Just who would make that call? A New York […]