Category: Expert Analysis

When in the Middle East, speaking to the average citizen, you’ll hear them refer to groups like ISIL as takfiri. But it’s seldom mentioned here in the United States. Wikipedia defines takfiri as a Sunni Muslim who accuses another Muslim of apostasy. The accusation itself is called takfir, derived from the word kafir, and is described as when […]

“I want to be able to protect myself.”  From the hundreds of fellow martial artists I’ve talked with about why they train, this phrase sticks out at the top of the list. Over the years, I’ve become less and less convinced that martial arts actually does relate to “self protection” goals.  There are ways in […]

Nate “Buster” Jaros says China will have a fifth generation fighter, and its development of the J-20 (amongst other fifth gen platforms) is significant. If you haven’t been paying much attention to the jet fighter news lately, you may have missed something big. In fact, it doesn’t get a lot of press and over the past couple […]

American’s longest war—Afghanistan—is still a mess. The Afghans still do not have the support they need to secure their villages. The central government is weak and not present where the fighting is most intense. We hear the limited discussion. What is it about Afghanistan that’s so annoying? It’s avoided in conversation on a national level. […]

The Black Market is a global norm; it exists, and it’s tentacles attach to every nation and land. It prospers from the fact people want illegal things. If you’re curious how strong anti-U.S. sentiment is around the world, look no further than ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Funding comes in subtle and not-so-subtle ways through the Black Market. […]

He was an idiot. As a result, we sucked. We scheduled a game with some prison school for homecoming, because that’s how unsure of victory we were. It was the worst. Much of our weakness as a team had to do with flawed planning and stupidity at the helm. I think there are very enlightened and […]

With the soup sandwich that is the conflict in Syria ramping up, no one seems to be watching the ISIS presence in Iraq get snuffed out. The Iraqi government is watching however and they have a close eye on where their borders currently are. Their message to the Kurds was very clear last month; return […]

“Our 9/11.” That’s what some Russians were (and still are) calling the September (9, 13, and 16) 1999 bombings of four apartment buildings that left close to 300 dead, more than 1,000 injured, and became the spark that reignited a brutal war with repercussions that have lasted to this day. Soon after the attacks, a device similar […]

It’s important to practice getting out of sticky situations. The following is a video of myself and my colleague demonstrating to a small group of Peshmerga soldiers how to break contact with an enemy force utilizing fire and maneuver. While we are doing this as a two man element it can easily be expanded into […]

We’re getting myopic again – with Syria. A lot of conversation has been focused on Syria and boots on the ground, and its meaning. I choose to believe it’s a code word for a formal occupation and declaration of war. Those sort of boots are unlikely. But more important than that – is while the foreign […]

The Military Times recently ran an article entitled “The U.S. military has a huge problem with obesity, and it’s only getting worse.” If true, maybe they should increase funding for the Army’s weight loss program. It’s bad enough that military.com asks “Are Troops Too Fat to Fight?” Military brass has promised that the future of […]

If you ask the average person, doing your time is enough, but there’s a real need to put family second. The world is always on the verge of being set ablaze. Because some people want to watch the world burn and put their stake in the ashes. As someone who has done some service, I […]