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

News keeps coming!: Iran undermines Turk-Kurd peace pact, ancient Persian chemical warfare, Army col’s, Uighurs, etc.

  Iran is said by the Turks to be trying to undermine the Turkish peace deal with the Kurds. China wants closer defense ties with said Iranians. To the south, Syrian rebel groups are fighting near the Iraqi border. This is an interesting part of the world. Recently archaeologists found evidence that in the ancient ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia
Wikimedia
Wikimedia

 

 

  • To the southeast, fighting in Tarmiyah, a strong candidate for the roughest little town in Iraq, killed some Awakening members.
  • In the world of good Army colonels and not-so-good ones, Col. Everett Spain, currently finishing a Ph.D. at Harvard, was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his actions during the bombing of the Boston Marathon. I also am hearing that an Army colonel is in trouble for pulling his 9mm pistol and threatening a staff officer with it.
  • The Lawfare blog, which is dependable for its facts, for its smart interpretations, and for its slightly right-of-center views, is now carrying advertisements for jockey underwear that costs $24 a pop. Do you think a left-of-center blog would prefer to advertise boxer underwear?
  • Moving right along, there was a shootout on the Vietnamese-Chinese border, apparently involving a group of Uighurs.
  • There apparently is a CIA weapons depot in Boerne, Texas. This confirms everything that New Yorkers have always believed about Texans. And the CIA.
  • Yow. Cinco de and all that.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.