By William Tucker
Whenever the president of the United States travels, he has a large body of personnel tagging along for the trip. Of course this includes his Secret Service detail, but also includes members of the military, advisers, staffers, communications specialists, etc. Because of the trappings of office, and the responsibilities that come with leading the world’s sole superpower, the president is perhaps the most well connected human being on the planet.
To the public, the field of “intelligence” can be quite a mystery – often sensationalized or misinterpreted in an attempt to fill in gaps between what is visible and the unknown. Some think intelligence is cool and sexy, while others believe it is a nefarious and unscrupulous field. In truth, it is impossible to fully assess agencies or their practices when a complete picture is undiscoverable by design.
By William Tucker
Syrian President Bashir al-Assad has reportedly accepted the peace plan laid out by UN envoy Kofi Annan. Expectedly, the opposition has expressed skepticism over Assad’s intentions and understandably so. The peace plan laid out by the UN is really nothing more than rather loose terms for a cease-fire. It does call for UN peacekeepers, but thus far none have been pledged by any member state.
By William Tucker
A few days ago a commenter on the IHS post UN General Assembly Calls for Assad to Step Down asked if supporting the Syrian opposition would be a wise move to counter Iranian influence. My response was that, “Some commentators have suggested that removing Assad would disrupt Iranian designs. I agree that it would; however nothing good would come of it.
By William Tucker
Over the past few years I’ve written quite a bit on the different intelligence operations that have made their way into newsprint – particularly those that have occurred in the Middle East. The reason for covering these events relates to Iran’s nuclear program and the lack of any good military or diplomatic options for ending the threat.
By William Tucker In the last few years the U.S. drone war over the tribal areas of Pakistan has…
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By William Tucker It looks like the media will not let this one go. Once again, reports are making…
By William Tucker “This is the beginning — but not the end — of our effort to wind down…