Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

BD’s comment of the day: On jumping into Indian country back in the day

"RVN SF VET," in the comments on Friday’s Special Forces item, got off this line about how nice it was, when parachuting into hostile territory, to be greeted on the ground by a CIA officer. It reads like something from a fun novel: "Yes, there were ‘blind drop’ UW operations, but let’s just say they ...

familymwr/Flickr
familymwr/Flickr
familymwr/Flickr

"RVN SF VET," in the comments on Friday's Special Forces item, got off this line about how nice it was, when parachuting into hostile territory, to be greeted on the ground by a CIA officer. It reads like something from a fun novel:

"RVN SF VET," in the comments on Friday’s Special Forces item, got off this line about how nice it was, when parachuting into hostile territory, to be greeted on the ground by a CIA officer. It reads like something from a fun novel:

"Yes, there were ‘blind drop’ UW operations, but let’s just say they weren’t appealing to the cognoscenti."

He even spelled "cognoscenti" right, according to Mr. "F7" Spellcheck.

Speaking of Afghanistan, one place where the CIA got there first, a correspondent writes to report a Petraeus sighting Sunday in Washington DC. The general was running hard and, contrary to what was stated here last week, the guy did not look at all tired, this person adds.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.