Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Little old Tom in Pasadena (tonight at 7)

Ah, Jan & Dean. Tonight’s appearance is dedicated to them. I’ll be at the Crawford Family Forum event tonight talking to Frank Stoltze about my new book, about General Petraeus and much much more. Don’t miss the fun. It is free — but you gots to sign up here. As usual, those wearing Best Defense ...

Ah, Jan & Dean. Tonight's appearance is dedicated to them.

Ah, Jan & Dean. Tonight’s appearance is dedicated to them.

I’ll be at the Crawford Family Forum event tonight talking to Frank Stoltze about my new book, about General Petraeus and much much more. Don’t miss the fun. It is free — but you gots to sign up here.

As usual, those wearing Best Defense t-shirts will get a special shoutout.

Also, at 6:30 Wednesday night in San Francisco, I’ll be giving a special talk on the Chosin Reservoir campaign at, of course, the Marine Memorial Club. I’ve asked that some front-row seats be reserved for Chosin Reservoir vets. Their beers are on me. 

And Thursday night will find me drifting northward to Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, where Isabel Allende once served me a café con leche. And so on, Friday night at the Seattle Public Library at 1000 4th Street.

By the way, two people who have contributed to Best Defense at various times — Paula Broadwell and David Petraeus — have been making headlines because it turns out they had an affair with each other. My attitude is this: What you guys do on your own time is your own business. But, yes, the news does make me wonder if any other BD contributors are making time with each other.

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

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