In the aftermath of the deadly explosions in Boston, one word quickly became attached to the tragedy: terrorism. The major media honed in on the presence of the term in President Barack Obama’s speeches, and as the …
One hundred and fifty years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, an Executive decree that freed slaves then still subjugated in the rebellious South. The proclamation, enacted by a President wielding war powers, is seen as the defining act that ended the scourge of slavery and is forever pinned to …
In a flash, Hurricane Sandy darkened the heart of New York City, even as much of the rest of the metropolis seemed to live on
BattlelandNavy
As the commentaries, retrospectives and meditations pile up ten years after 9/11, expect quite a few in their closing paragraphs to look toward the next grand geo-political challenge facing the U.S. A decade of costly adventurism in the Middle East and Afghanistan, many will argue, distracted U.S. policy making from the new realities of …
BattlelandWeapons
Abdul Qadeer Khan is tired of being a scapegoat. The controversial father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb shared hi-tech secrets and equipment with a host of rogue regimes — including North Korea and Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya — earning himself international notoriety and a 2005 TIME magazine cover that dubbed him “the Merchant of Menace.” …
BattlelandNational Security
Over at Global Spin, Tony Karon and I present a weekly offering of five films we reckon are not only worth watching, but illustrate something about current affairs. In honor of Memorial Day, this week’s edition is all about the U.S. at war.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chv4eYU2MQ&feature=related]
The Thin Red …
BattlelandMilitary
On Global Spin, I examine news from over the weekend that tribes in Misratah’s environs are being brought in to supposedly help bring an end to the city’s bloody siege. Tribal structures are important in Libya, but I reckon their capabilities and influence have been overstated.
BattlelandMilitary
An interesting Reuters ‘special report‘ brings into relief some of the ironies of the current air war over Libya: the French strike craft pummeling Libyan targets over the past month were allegedly on offer to the Gaddafi regime not long ago. At an air show outside Tripoli in 2009, according to photographs taken by Dutch military …
