National Security and Defense are no longer apolitical issues. In reluctantly acknowledging this fact, more thinking and writing on political issues has gradually made its way into the ThreatsWatch space. To put it succinctly, it's not just about Defense. It's about what we defend. There are two disparities at play in the American body politic that cause this deep politicization of Defense and National Security. The first is a wide disconnect between the leadership of both major parties - and...
Every American administration seeks to publicly position itself as the harbinger of Middle East peace and the new collection of minds capable of resolving a conflict beyond the reach of all others. It was true of the Bush administration and those before it and it is true of the Obama administration. So, before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama and the media get too carried away with a rare foreign policy achievement by the Obama administration, let's take care...
Wikileaks has spoken. Again. And surely the news cycles I will miss while basking in sand and saltwater will be nearly breathless in their coverage. Personally, I find this latest episode amusing at best and reckless at minimum. There's nearly nothing (that I've seen thus far) new here. If you've paid attention to the Afghanistan conflict over the years, ask yourself if you really learned something you didn't know or definitively confirmed something you didn't already suspect or presume. The...
There are many influences in the making of a man. Discipline instilled by parents, openness inspired by wives and the immediate maturity demanded at the birth of a child. There is also for some the peace of faith, the selflessness commanded by uniformed service and the pain of loss and error. These are the big things, hard to miss, and the man embraces each and all. Then there are the little things more easily missed. The images, sounds and smells...
Thirty five years after the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam War remains a profoundly misunderstood chapter in American history. More troubling still, the courageous warriors dispatched to wage that divisive conflict--America's Vietnam veterans--remain equally misunderstood. For years, the cultural portrait of America's Vietnam veteran revolved around two crude caricatures: the murderous misanthrope who relished despoiling Vietnamese villages and butchering babies; or alternatively the psychologically shattered, maladjusted wretch shuffling about the fringes of polite, civil society. The latter is a creature...
Following the attempted car bombing outside the Viacom building at Times Square in New York City this past Saturday, some of the immediate speculation has turned to information. Much of the rest remains informed speculation but speculation nonetheless. With over 48 hours now past since the initial incident, an analysis of knowns and unknowns is warranted. It is important that the American public access and understand this information, particularly those who live and work in the New York City metro...
Israel is on its own. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has known this since January 2009. The Obama administration has known this since November 2008. And now the American public is coming to know it, for President Obama's thin veneer of plausible deniability has been wearing thin. The New York Times today reduces that veneer of words to a transparent plastic wrap over the Obama administration's deeds and actions against Israel. We are to now believe that, because of threats to...
Let's be clear: Wars prevented are wars not fought. And when faced with hostile adversaries, the best prevention is peace through strength. There is little room for banking on tulips and tea. In a real world proven model of peace through strength, there is certainly no room for taking the defensive nuclear option off the table. Not for Russia. Not for China. And no, not for "nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they...
Lose sight of what you are defending and defense isn't all that important, is it? This simple reminder compels us to shift focus for the moment from our combative enemies and onto that which we defend. We do not engage in such rigorous defense - in its many forms - simply to preserve soil or borders or lives. We engage in rigorous defense of ideas. Ideas embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of...
My colleague Steve Schippert asked recently: "Wither Soverignty." My then-private reply at the time went something like this: Steve, I don't want to up the humidity level on this parade, but: INTERPOL's resources (aside from administrative) are drawn from member nations' police forces (contrary to the movies, you can't be an 'INTERPOL agent') who are there to facilitate and liaison, not conduct police operations themselves. While this may be seen as something linked to a path to the ICC, congress...
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February 2, 2010