Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

A SF major looks back on his career, a well-named LCPL, and Fox News in jail

This article as whole is better than its parts. Like an impressionist painting, no one point stands out — but stand back and you see that cumulatively it is a good portrait.

Lemmen2
Lemmen2

 

 

This article as whole is better than its parts. Like an impressionist painting, no one point stands out — but stand back and you see that cumulatively it is a good portrait.

Meantime, meet Marine Lance Corporal Battle. I just like the name. He should be put in Sgt. Fury’s squad. I also have come across a Capt. America (at Parris Island) and a Major Player (at the Pentagon). Never met a Colonel of Truth, though.

In other news, a Fox News commentator on terrorism is behind bars for allegedly being a bullshiter. That’s a crime in DC? Officialdom claims he is “a significant danger” to the community. I don’t see it. Bill O’Reilly strikes me as a greater threat to the harmony and welfare of American society.

Image credit: Georges Lemmen/Musée d’Orsay, Paris/Wikimedia Commons

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

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.