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.

Your Own Smart Phone, Turned Against You

My day starts out normally enough: I drop the kids at school and head to the Starbucks, where I use my Smart Phone to pay for my tall Caffé Mocha soy because that’s how I roll: I save one minute not having to reach into my wallet to physically pull out my credit card, it’s … Continue reading “Your Own Smart Phone, Turned Against You”

Yo! Don’t Touch My Drone

Not far behind many of our arguments about the legal use of drones in warfare is the hope that we’ll wake up tomorrow and they’ll just go away. No more wedding parties mistaken for an al Qaeda rendezvous. No more homes obliterated, no more after-action justifications for why a child, or two, was among the … Continue reading “Yo! Don’t Touch My Drone”

The Jihad That Wasn’t

WASHINGTON – A funny thing happened on the way to the jihadi takeover of America. It got lost. Same goes for Islamist radical attacks on American interests overseas – it’s just not happening to the degree that our favorite jihad hunters here in the U.S have been ranting about for the last 12 years. Turns … Continue reading “The Jihad That Wasn’t”

Can Hagel Resist Assimilation?

Chuck Hagel will face a panel of senators on Thursday over his nomination for the next Secretary of Defense. The buzz in the hive suggests he may closer to a confirmation than was thought a month ago, when President Obama threw his name into the ring and a swamp of smear threatened to eat him … Continue reading “Can Hagel Resist Assimilation?”

Football, War, & Brain Damage

Most of us watching the Navy F-18s flyover the Super Bowl or the myriad NFL tributes to the military branches and their "wounded warriors" at nearly every game probably don’t think of it as a twisted glorification of two institutions that have largely contributed to the brain damage of a nation. Of course not. Most … Continue reading “Football, War, & Brain Damage”

Why Are These People Still Caged?

Ten-year anniversaries can be a golden opportunity to redirect public attention to an ongoing crisis or bad policy that has yet to be resolved. But the 11th anniversary, well, it can be kind of sad. So is the case with the campaign to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison facility, which this week celebrated its … Continue reading “Why Are These People Still Caged?”

War Profiteers Still Finishing First

So who’s the fool? The outfit that turned its business of peddling useless propaganda to U.S. occupied countries onto America itself – by smearing journalists that dared criticize it – or the government that hired them for hundreds of millions in the first place? Let’s say the government. At least Leonie Industries gets to keep … Continue reading “War Profiteers Still Finishing First”

2013: Give Us Your Best Shot!

As they say: it’s a wrap! In many ways, 2012 was a status quo year. At its end, Barack Obama is still president, and our global war continues to march in varied incarnations across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. At home, Americans toil and play in a constant state of denial, hardly blinking … Continue reading “2013: Give Us Your Best Shot!”

Give Us Chuck Hagel for Christmas

My dad called me and left a message the other day, having just heard that former Senator Chuck Hagel was being considered for Secretary of Defense. “You have a connection to him, no?” he asked, before hanging up. A connection, yes — a very brief and limited, but very memorable one, at least from my … Continue reading “Give Us Chuck Hagel for Christmas”

The Babies Will Haunt Us

It was like walking through a nightmare: drifting in an out of hospital rooms, down the long hallways, her contact with shock-ravaged Iraqi parents interrupted only by glimpses of their physically deformed and terminally sick babies who in many cases, would never see the outside of Fallujah’s main hospital, ever. Then, the more than vague … Continue reading “The Babies Will Haunt Us”