Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

Who needs dystopian novelists or absurd satirists when otherwise banal bureaucrats of the U.S. national security state do the job for them? It’s an old story with a new tech-savvy twist. The late great Joseph Heller knew a thing or two about war’s foundational farce. He joined the army air corps at age 19 and … Continue reading “America’s Imperial Expenditures and Escapades Are Stranger Than Fiction”

It is often said that military leaders tend to train and prepare for the last war. Thus, when the next conflict comes, mistakes are made, early engagements bloody, and sometimes whole wars lost. Each and every time, the past-war preparers styled themselves more forward-thinking than their stale forebears. Yet clinging to the comfort of dogma, … Continue reading “The US Military’s ‘Lessons’ From Nagorno-Karabakh: God Help Us!”

Something stands out in recent U.S. and most Western reporting on the ongoing bloodletting in Nagorno-Karabakh (NK). Well, two things actually: ignorance and hypocrisy. Having shuttered most of their foreign bureaus long ago, there’s a distinct lack of expertise in the mainstream press on this – and many other – regional hot spots. That’s translated … Continue reading “Driven By Delusions: The West’s Nagorno-Karabakh Hypocrisy”

Journalists and geo-strategists call it a "frozen conflict” – one of several such deadlocked disputes under tenuous ceasefire in the post-Soviet states. Only now, the long-standing battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) is anything but. For the third time since the Russian-brokered 22-year armed-truce – ending a bloody 1988-94 war that claimed some … Continue reading “No Dog in the Fight: Nagorno-Karabakh’s Conflict Isn’t About Us (or Russia)”

Originally appeared at ScheerPost It is an old journalistic trope: no one reads the correction … or the retraction. No matter how serious the error or profound the implications of the misreporting. Like, let’s say the entire range of mainstream media took the word of unnamed intelligence sources as gospel and reported that the only … Continue reading “Discredited Russian Bounty Story Exposes Media’s Role in Status Quo”

Mark my words: an American soldier will soon die for next to nothing in Syria. Here’s a mission that takes all the absurdity of America’s post-9/11 wars of choice to their logical conclusion. As such, this muddled and aimless operation must stand forever tall in the pantheon of U.S. foreign policy folly – right up … Continue reading “The Syria Boondoggle: Who’s Ready to Die in Vain?”

This article is dedicated to the memory of an activist, inspiration, and recent friend: Kevin Zeese. Its scope, sweep, and ambition are meant to match that of Kevin’s outsized influence. At that, it must inevitably fail – and its shortfalls are mine alone. That said, the piece’s attempt at a holistic critique of 19 years … Continue reading “September 14, 2001: The Day America Became Israel”

At a White House ceremony today, the Israelis and Emiratis will officially normalize diplomatic relations. Bahrain, the latest "prospect" to sign on to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s diplomatic road-show, is sending some officials to the party. When both deals are sealed, Abu Dhabi and Manama will be the third and fourth Arab countries to … Continue reading “Arranged Marriage: Bahrain and Israel’s Peculiar ‘Peace’”

There are maybe a dozen instructors whom I remember well from my cadet days at West Point. A few of these were monsters; the rest inspiring in some way. Major Joel Rayburn was the latter sort. I was a secret-geek of a history major in my junior year: Spring 2004, I believe. The classroom was … Continue reading “The Tragedy of Col. (ret.) Joel Rayburn: A Former Student’s Lament”

Last month, a Turkish warship came one step away from firing missiles at a French naval vessel off the coast of Libya. In response, Paris suspended its involvement in Operation Sea Guardian – a multinational maritime effort to provide security in the Mediterranean Sea and halt the arms trafficking fueling Libya’s ongoing civil war. Initially, … Continue reading “NATO’s ‘Unified Front’ at Breaking Point”