Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

Perhaps you’ve heard: not only is Moscow about to maraud its way through Ukraine, not only is Tsar Vladimir I seeking a new Eurasian empire, but – as if to add insult to injury – Russia is "returning” to Africa in a big way, intent on "displacing" the influence of the continent’s apparently rightful influencers … Continue reading “‘I Know You Are But What Am I’: Russia’s Ready Response to US Africa-Alarmism”

Let’s be honest: Americans don’t care about Africa – by and large, at least. Despite the lies we tell ourselves – and the raging debates we have – about PC-culture, critical race theory, and so on, this remains a salient fact. Sure, the delusion is soothing. It tends to bring virtue-signaled solace to many a … Continue reading “While Eyes Were Watching Ukraine… Africa Was Ablaze”

In the rather prescient 1998 film The Siege, CIA agent Elise Craft (Annette Benning) – speaking about counter-terrorism – lectures her FBI colleague Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) that: "In this game, the most committed wins." Well, that truism couldn’t apply better to the current situation in Ukraine, and the very real – if generally misunderstood – possibility … Continue reading “The US-Russia Commitment Gap: And Its Tragic Potential”

Just over two months before the military mission in Kabul – along with broader American delusions – collapsed, the Center for International Policy released a report on America’s failed and futile Afghanistan adventure. It was a war that took four lives and five limbs from soldiers I commanded. Two bled to death, one died at … Continue reading “The Perils of Forgetting: Learn From the Afghan War or Repeat It!”

Yesterday I found myself dry-heaving and hyper-ventilating in broad daylight, crouched behind the corner of an unused outdoor patio bar in Kansas. I hadn’t had but two beers, but I’d had more than enough of American obtuseness. On a smoke break from wielding my geek-stick (highlighter) with a fatalist fury – brushing-up for today’s Afghanistan … Continue reading “Self-Delusion Is Cruelest of All: The Collapse of Afghanistan and American Illusions”

To say that the mainstream press’s recent coverage of America’s ostensible Afghan War withdrawal – and Iraq-Syria mission muddle-throughs – has been atrocious could be a competitive candidate for understatement of the year. Nearly everyday is the same, when I open my email newsletters from publications like the Washington Post and New York Times – … Continue reading “Antiwar.com and Mainstream Media: A Study in Contrasts, at Forever War Year 20”

When I entered West Point’s Thayer Gate – and army life – 20 years ago last month, America was not at war. Not really anyway. Back then, when a 17-year-old’s mother (had to) sign him into the military, he might expect some peacekeeping duty in Kosovo or – at worst – an unlucky street battle … Continue reading “A Life and Nation Transformed: 20 Years On From West Point’s Gates and the War on Terror”

Ever since the "end" of the latest forty-four day war between Turkish and Israeli-backed – and American-enabled – Azerbaijan and (at best vaguely) Russian-aligned Armenia, there’ve been a slew of policy-wonkish laments about the resultant "illiberal peace." That’s mainly a function of the Russia- and China-hysteria that passes for sound strategic judgment in the Emerald … Continue reading “Nakhichevan: Corridor to the Next Round of Nagorno-Karabakh Combat”

No matter how powerful or influential, a nation’s government is ultimately just a pack of people – a clique of flawed and fallible human beings. Now I don’t know about you, but in my own wee experience, when a person over-the-top-overreacts over some small matter – this tends to mask a massive insecurity, blind spot, … Continue reading “Israel Screams for Ice Cream: The Minutiae and Madness of a Toxic Relationship”

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" ~ Michael Corleone, The Godfather III (1990) Kandahar Airfield ("KAF") was as bizarre as it was dusty. You sort of tasted it before you smelled it – and smelled before you saw it. It’s been a full decade since I first did. When … Continue reading “Spare Us an Afghan Threequel, Joe: Don’t Get Pulled Back In!”