SOF, Obama, and the Light Footprint

There are limitations to the light footprint approach. Sometimes you don’t achieve your objectives because the proxy (or indigenous) forces do not have interests that are in direct alignment with your interests.

The US Has Screwed Up in the Muslim World for 36 Years

In America’s War for the Greater Middle East, Andrew J. Bacevich, one of our most eloquent and incisive students of American foreign policy, military history, and the often-vexed nexus between the two, makes a startling claim: For the last 36 years, the United States has been engaged in an ill-advised, counterproductive struggle to shape the destiny of the Muslim […]

CIA weapons for Syrian rebels sold on black market: officials

Weapons shipped into Jordan for Syrian rebels by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia were stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, the New York Times reported, citing American and Jordanian officials. Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two […]

The State Department’s Dissent Memo on Syria: An Explanation

On Thursday, The New York Times obtained a draft version of a State Department memo that sharply criticizes the Obama administration’s Syria policy and calls for limited military strikes against that country’s government. The memo, signed by 51 diplomats, was sent through an agency “dissent channel” that was established during the Vietnam War to air internal criticism. Because the memo is […]

Top US diplomat to meet with Venezuela officials amid crisis

A senior U.S. diplomat was scheduled to meet Tuesday with Venezuelan officials to jumpstart dialogue between the normally hostile governments as the socialist-run nation is torn apart by daily food protests and a campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Thomas Shannon, a career diplomat with extensive experience in Latin America, flew to Caracas after weeks […]

Congress Warns Russia Over ‘Provocative’ Military Action Against U.S. Forces

A bipartisan delegation of leading senators is spearheading an effort to hold Russia accountable for a recent series of provocative military action against U.S. forces stationed across the globe, according to a new congressional measure that demands Moscow cease the “dangerous and unprofessional” activity targeting American forces. The Russian air force has become increasingly aggressive […]

Iran vows to burn nuclear agreement if U.S. scraps it

Iran’s top leader said Tuesday that if the next U.S. president tears up the nuclear deal, Iran will “light it on fire.” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks appeared to be aimed at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has criticized the deal and vowed to renegotiate it. Khamenei referred to a “U.S. presidential candidate […]

The CIA Officer’s Guide to Effective Authoritarianism

Nothing ruins your “benevolent leader” vibe like a free press hounding you constantly about freedom, human rights, abuses, corruption, and all the other issues you will need to suppress in order to show your people that you are good for them.

CIA chief: Missing report pages exonerate Saudi Arabia in 9/11 attacks

CIA chief John Brennan says that he believes 28 redacted pages of the 9/11 Commission report will soon be made public, and that they will prove that the government of Saudi Arabia had no involvement in the September 11 attacks. The families of those killed in the attacks have long wanted the pages from the […]