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

A good Army officer goes bad? Or slides back to his old ways? Either way, it’s sad

Capt. Charles Eadie, a previously enlisted soldier who graduated near the top of his West Point class in 2007, and then went to the London School of Economics, was busted and charged with selling anabolic steroids to an undercover police officer in Columbus, Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty.      Here is an interview he did ...

Flickr
Flickr
Flickr

Capt. Charles Eadie, a previously enlisted soldier who graduated near the top of his West Point class in 2007, and then went to the London School of Economics, was busted and charged with selling anabolic steroids to an undercover police officer in Columbus, Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty.     

Capt. Charles Eadie, a previously enlisted soldier who graduated near the top of his West Point class in 2007, and then went to the London School of Economics, was busted and charged with selling anabolic steroids to an undercover police officer in Columbus, Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty.     

Here is an interview he did about his career when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. In it, he mentions that he had a "troubled past" and actually was on probation when he first tried to enlist. "There is definitely a darker path that I could have taken in life," he says, somewhat ominously.

You BD hardasses probably all want to throw the book at him. Maybe I am just a softie but I wonder if he was trying to feel the thrill of living close to the edge, a bit of the adrenaline of combat.

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

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.