In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Congress began the process of identifying structural, operational and cross-agency shortcomings that may have allowed the 9/11 hijackers to elude capture in the months leading up to the attack. (more)
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent a memo late last week to contractors warning them about the Washington Post’s article on the growth of top-secret agencies and contracting activity. (more)
In my last post, there was a discussion of developments in mid-2008 that led to promoting energy security issues to certain prominence among policy and decision makers both within the Pentagon and within the Beltway. This post assesses what has transpired in the last two years and what opportunities lie ahead for effectively addressing energy concerns. (more)
It was two years ago, the first week of July, 2008, where a symbolic seminal confluence of energy and national security concerns may have occurred. For that week, the wholesale price of crude oil reached an all-time high of over $141/barrel. (more)
A Vietnam veteran, on April 30, the 35th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, I reflected on my two tours of duty there. On May 1, “Immigration-Day,” I watched protesters on television march in opposition to Arizona’s new law on illegal immigration and the failure of the federal government to enact “comprehensive” immigration reform. They reminded me of anti-Vietnam-War protests, and got me thinking about what they have in common. (more)
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ leaked memo to National Security Advisor General James Jones (U.S.MC Ret) that said the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran’s continuing movement towards a nuclear weapon capability raised some eyebrows. And so it should. But neither the American people nor the White House should need a memo to alert them to this reality. As Fredrick the Great said “Negotiations without arms are like notes without instruments.” The Obama administration’s Iran policy has no melody because it has no threat of arms. (more)
The mounting protests in Iran leave little doubt that the Tehran regime has entered its final decade. The mass expression of public dissent expected today coincides with the day 31 years ago when the Iranian revolution was launched. The Islamist theocracy that resulted commenced a low-intensity war against the United States and our allies, which has continued to this day and could soon get worse. (more)
It was described as “the most successful strategic deception in the history of warfare.” During World War II’s Operation Mincemeat, the man at the center of the plot never knew he was—having died months earlier by his own hand. The identity of “the man who never was” is still debated, but he is believed to be Glyndwr Michael. (more)
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday ordered a series of steps to improve the government’s ability to collect, share, analyze and act on intelligence of terrorist threats, saying the findings of a government review of the attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day revealed significant shortcomings in national security. (more)
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