Kelley B. Vlahos

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer, is a longtime political reporter for FoxNews.com and a contributing editor at The American Conservative. She is also a Washington correspondent for Homeland Security Today magazine. Her Twitter account is @KelleyBVlahos.

Do Afghan Riots Spell E-X-I-T?

It’s got to be hard for most Americans looking at the fleeting images of angry Afghans today shouting “death to America” and not think, “What the hell are we still doing there?” Certainly it’s not a stupid question — in fact it’s a pretty relevant one. After a weekend of our media mavens insipidly wagging … Continue reading “Do Afghan Riots Spell E-X-I-T?”

Veterans for Ron Paul

Former Army medic Robert Tesh remembers the moment he really began to mistrust the system. It was when he carried the funeral coffin for Sgt. Michael Ingram, who died on April 17, 2010 from an IED blast in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Tesh says his view of the war, and of the government that wages it, was … Continue reading “Veterans for Ron Paul”

CPAC Devolving on Defense

Contrary to what some outsiders might believe, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference is not a big happy tent for conservatives. Rather, think of the vaunted “CPAC” as a veritable planet of partisan uniformity, to which its predominantly college-age participants instinctively flock each year, their behavior, language and dress code all working off the same … Continue reading “CPAC Devolving on Defense”

Slowly, Toxic Vets Get Recognition

WASHINGTON — Some two million men and women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began in 2001. Little did these individuals know that surviving the improvised explosive devices and insurgent gunfire wouldn’t necessarily guarantee their health or survival once they got home. We of course have heard about the high suicide rate … Continue reading “Slowly, Toxic Vets Get Recognition”

Jack Murtha and the Ghosts of Haditha

Nearly two years ago on Feb. 8, 2010, Rep. Jack Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who was also a Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran, died of complications from gall bladder surgery. In what is probably a first in modern Congressional history, his untimely death was greeted ghoulishly in certain unseemly sectors with cheers and jeers. “Sufficient … Continue reading “Jack Murtha and the Ghosts of Haditha”

Michael Hastings vs. Team America

The predominant feeling one gets coming off a weekend reading Michael Hastings’ The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan is not outrage, nor gleeful satisfaction in seeing everything one suspects about this rotten war confirmed in tawdry black and white detail and in the rise and fall of one … Continue reading “Michael Hastings vs. Team America”

Mentally Unfit but Serving Anyway

The year began with a story about a 24-year-old ex-soldier who shot and killed a female park ranger at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington before dying of apparent hypothermia, his body face down in the snow. Months before, the mother of Benjamin Colton Barnes’ young daughter reportedly filed for sole custody of their young … Continue reading “Mentally Unfit but Serving Anyway”

Dark Days for Govt. Whistleblowers

This is the third profile in an occasional series about individuals taking on the Goliaths of war from inside the belly of the beast — Washington, D.C. Tom Drake has the dubious distinction of being part of a long, and growing line of individuals who risked all to tell the truth, and by all measures, … Continue reading “Dark Days for Govt. Whistleblowers”

2012: Revolution or Devolution

The year 2011 marked a critical confluence of militarism and revolution, not only in places like Libya and Egypt, but also here at home, where massive demonstrations in cities and towns throughout the country were met with a well-oiled law enforcement machine deployed in camouflage and Kevlar, lobbing tear gas grenades and packing rifles with … Continue reading “2012: Revolution or Devolution”