The mess that was the US and NATO departure from Afghanistan is officially over, but pieces of it grind on. One estimate suggests there may be 500 US citizens remaining in Kabul itself, hundreds more (if not thousands) scattered around the rest of the country, and, per one of the several advocacy groups, more than […]

What country harbored Al Qaeda and the Taliban after they left Afghanistan in 2002? What country provided substantial, detailed support to Libyan, Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons development programs? What country provided overflight rights to the US to access Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, in exchange for more than $1 billion in military aid […]

The US Army did not win the war in Europe in 1945. Leaving aside any argument about what the US and the British and others did versus what the Russian Army did, the two tasks given to the US Army were somewhat more limited in scope: Marshall tasked the Army to “Enter the Continent of […]

You can already hear the first faint echoes of the experts running through the halls of power in Washington, screaming, Cassandra like: “I told them! I told them!” Hmmm… Years ago, Michael Handel, a professor at the Naval War College, made the point that an intelligence officer’s duty was not simply to gather the facts […]

In a recent article a former Marine castigated the Generals and Admirals of the last 20 years who notably have been unable to achieve anything close to victory in Afghanistan, but who are now casting about for those to blame. The sad truth is that many, indeed most, of those in a position to have […]

          Fires happen on ships. And they can be quite destructive. There have been a number of major fires on aircraft carriers that were nearly catastrophic; Oriskany (1953), Bennington (1955), Oriskany (1966), Forrestal (1967), Enterprise (1969), Constellation (1988). And, while not technically an aircraft carrier, Bonhomme Richard last year. The distinction is that in all the cases except one, the ships returned to operational status in less […]

You know, the one in your phone. The phone that is turned off…             The Bill of Rights… We’ve all read it a hundred times, but go back and read it again, particularly the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments. We all pretty much know the key clauses by heart (if you’ve watched cop shows in […]

There was an idea expressed recently that declarations of war are obsolete and that further, a President needs the flexibility to respond across the full-spectrum of armed conflict, that he needs to be able to move forces and engage threats, without getting wrapped around the process of obtaining some sort of Congressional approval. This idea […]

A number of years ago at a “Principals Only” staff meeting at a 4-star command, the commander asked for recommendations on programs that might be cut as the Pentagon “front office” was hunting for some extra money to do something or other. After several minutes of silence, one Assistant Chief of Staff signaled he had […]

Today, as with every July 4th, shortly before noon, there will be a brief ceremony on the lawn at Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s beautiful farm on the banks of the Potomac, welcoming a host of brand new Americans. They come from all over the world, but after noon today they will all be Americans. But […]