Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
(Photo by Adam Hornyak on Unsplash) Fog of war is an issue in every conflict, but when one or both sides ignore the Just War Theory, that fog is denser. Much has been said and written about Epic Resolve, the US-Israeli aerial bombardment of Iran, focusing on its shifting goals, legality, and similar issues. On […]
Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003 claimed that Iraq was holding stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, which turned out not to exist. Mario Tama/Getty Image What follows is a story that anyone who knows me, and lots of people who don’t, have heard many times in […]
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Declaration of Independence Despite reference to the “creator,” this is arguably the most revolutionary secular sentence penned to parchment in […]
Historians may well mark February 28, 2026 as an important turning point — the day that the modern era of Congressional oversight aimed at checking executive branch overreach in foreign affairs ended. That day, President Donald Trump launched an air war against Iran. He said he was aiming at decapitating the despotic Iranian theocracy, and […]
Defense Secretary Hegseth’s introductory letter to the National Defense Strategy (NDS) dismisses all past administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, for pursuing what he calls, but does not define, “cloud castle thinking” by supporting the “rules-based international order.” This is a shallow, ideologically driven misreading. The rules-based international order is not a fantasy; it is a […]
John Sipher sits down with The Atlantic’s Shane Harris for a wide-ranging conversation on intelligence reporting, the unraveling of trust in American institutions, threats to press freedom, and what U.S. allies now fear most about Washington. Harris also reflects on one of the most extraordinary source relationships of his career and what it reveals about […]
“The Atlantic’s” Shane Harris on Politicized Intelligence, Press Freedom, and America’s Allies! Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 390 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep […]
Much of my life was spent overseas in the developing world across multiple continents. No surprise, a considerable number of those countries were corrupt. I may not have seen it all, but I have experienced quite a bit, especially as corruption relates to the government—nepotism, theft, coercion, extortion, graft, political violence, and bogus claims of […]
The Atlantic’s Shane Harris sits down with Sentinel Host John Sipher! Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 390 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise […]