Sen. John McCain said in early February that, it “is time for the international community to abandon the absurd fiction of a political solution that leaves Assad in power (in Syria).” McCain, who was reacting to Amnesty International’s report about mass executions by Bashar al Assad’s regime, argued: “Bashar Assad does not belong in a…
By Charles V. PeñaThis is the first of our monthly op-eds by Rep. Joe Wilson, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. Dear readers, if you’ve got unique and useful topics you think Rep. Wilson should address, please let us or his office know. Read on. The Editor. Despite the Taliban clearly still…
By Rep. Joe WilsonWASHINGTON: “The world of manned reconnaissance is gone, and soon manned reconnaissance itself will be gone.” So says Charles E. Allen, whose opinion on such matters carries more weight than most. Charlie Allen joined the CIA in 1958 and spent the last seven of his 40 years there as assistant director of central intelligence for collection.…
By Richard WhittleWASHINGTON: My son was seven months old on Sept. 11, 2001 when those bastards flew the three planes into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon, and those brave folks fought back against the bastards on United Flight 93, thought to be headed for the White House. Today, my son is 14 years old.…
By Colin ClarkThe first person to fire a Hellfire missile from a Predator drone in combat and destroy a target writes here about his experience. Scott Swanson has never written about this before. Read on. The Editor. Flying a Predator drone in combat is nothing like playing a video game. Take it from me, the first person to pull…
By Scott SwansonIf the United States arms the so-called “moderate Syrian opposition” to try and overthrow both ISIL and Bashar al Assad, president of Syria, will it work? A close look at the United States’ long and checkered history backing proxy forces reveals a very mixed record when we arm surrogates. The ledger includes historic fiascos such as the…
By James KitfieldRick Whittle wrote the book on the V-22, which he covered for several thousand years while a Washington reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Now he’s written the book on the Predator (on sale Monday), the drone (no RPAs on this site) and he’s obtained a great deal of operational information about Predator and the battle against Al…
By Richard WhittleIn this exclusive exit interview with Breaking Defense contributor James Kitfield, the outgoing chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, talks about metastasizing Islamic terrorism, his struggles to reform intelligence-gathering, and the risk of lurching from crisis to crisis in an Internet-accelerated world. – the editors. “Disruptive.” That’s how Michael Flynn’s enemies…
By James KitfieldCRYSTAL CITY: Don’t think Beijing. Think Abottabad. The evolving concept known as Air-Sea Battle isn’t all about a war with China, nor a budget war with the US Army, said the former Air Force chief of staff who is one of the concept’s founding fathers. Instead, said Gen. Norton Schwartz, who retired just last fall,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Biometrics maker Cross Match Technologies, whose SEEK II kit was reportedly used by Navy SEALs to confirm the identity of Osama Bin Laden‘s body, has been bought by San Francisco-based Francisco Partners, the companies announced today. Florida-based Cross Match has been building biometrics systems since 1996, with clients ranging from the US Army – both…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Robbin Laird is an old defense hand. Today, he’s a consultant and a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, but he served as special assistant for the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1979-1983 and also worked on the National Security Council for two presidents. Here’s the piece he posted on his website, Second Line…
By Robbin Laird