National Security

Turns Out the Chinese Spy Balloon WAS Able to Collect Intelligence Data

Featured image Many Americans were horrified that President Joe Biden allowed an enormous, high-tech Chinese spy balloon to float across the U.S. mainland in February, moving slowly over strategic military installations as it went, collecting data and sending it off to Beijing in realtime, before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean. Administration officials assured us they were able to jam the balloon’s data collection mechanisms to block it from receiving – »

Close encounter of the fourth kind

Featured image No sooner had we noted the “Balloon war of the worlds” yesterday morning than we had a close encounter of the fourth kind over Lake Huron. NORAD posted this statement on it at 2:42 p.m. yesterday afternoon. This morning’s AP story is here. U.S. Air Force General Glen VanHerck is the commander of NORAD. He held a briefing following the shootdown (audio below). He professed not to know what’s going »

It’s Raining Balloons*

Featured image The U.S. Air Force shot down its third balloon in as many days over Lake Huron: US fighter jets shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron on Sunday, marking the third time such action was taken in as many days and coming on the heels of last week’s Chinese spy balloon scandal. Sunday’s takedown is believed to have involved an object that was tracked by radar over Montana on »

Shapes of things: Big Brother’s Playbook edition

Featured image I started this series to document our movement toward the world of 1984. Big Tech has featured prominently in it. In Department of Homeland Security documents reviewed by the Intercept’s Ken Klippenstein and Lee Fang, we see the Biden administration going full Big Brother. Their story reporting on the DHS documents — some leaked, some obtained via Missouri v. Biden, some public — is “Truth Cops.” DHS has gone into »

Ukraine, the Russian Perspective

Featured image It is hard to think of a recent policy issue on which American public opinion has been so unified: just about everyone is pro-Ukraine, but hardly anyone wants American troops to fight on the ground. Despite this apparent consensus, various public figures, including Donald Trump, have been vilified as pro-Russia. It light of recent revelations about Russian atrocities, it is safe to assume that essentially no one–certainly no politician or »

China’s “Sputnik moment”

Featured image China is developing a hypersonic missile designed to evade American nuclear defenses. This summer, it conducted two tests of that missile. The U.S. knew about the tests, but our military officials were silent on the subject until last week. After the Financial Times reported the Chinese tests, presumably based on a leak, our government finally discussed this development. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley called it “very close” to a “Sputnik »

What does winning the war on terror look like?

Featured image David Von Drehle writes that most of the time the war on terror “has felt like war only to the few, the deployed: the special operators, the contractors, the diplomats, the spies, the data analysts. . .the drone pilots. “For the rest,” he complains, “it has felt like mom’s birthday, finals week, the playoffs, just another April.” But when the enemy’s short-term goal is to terrorize populations and its long-tern »

What about Pakistan?

Featured image John Bolton calls attention to one aspect of Joe Biden’s decision to choose defeat in Afghanistan — the implications for Pakistan. Bolton argues that “the Taliban’s takeover next door immediately poses the sharply higher risk that Pakistani extremists will increase their already sizable influence in Islamabad, threatening at some point to seize full control.” By the way, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. According to Bolton, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, is »

The persecution of Michael Ellis, Part Two

Featured image Yesterday, I wrote about how, at the urging of Nancy ( “the enemy is within”) Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the Biden administration placed Michael Ellis, the National Security Administration General Counsel, on administrative leave. I showed that Ellis, a family friend, is superbly qualified for the position; that there is nothing exceptional about the NSA GC having served in government in political roles prior to his appointment; and that there »

Vengeful Dems persecute stellar NSA general counsel Michael Ellis

Featured image Michael Ellis is a highly experienced, superbly qualified intelligence professional. He has a strong record of accomplishment in all three branches of government. Last year, Ellis, a family friend, was selected to be the general counsel at the National Security Agency (NSA). But now, after Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff demanded that he be removed, the Biden administration has placed him on administrative leave. The Washington Post and other left-liberal »

Alejandro Mayorkas under fire for irregularities in issuing green cards

Featured image Alejandro Mayorkas is Joe Biden’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security. His nomination was expected to be confirmed. However, the nomination might already be in jeopardy. Sen. Tom Cotton tweets: Alejandro Mayorkas was found by Barack Obama’s Inspector General to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of rich, democratic donors. He is disqualified from leading the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorka should, indeed, »

A pardon for Snowden? I hope not.

Featured image Over the weekend, President Trump said he will “take a look” at granting a pardon to Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor. Snowden was charged with espionage in 2013 after disclosing a trove of highly confidential documents about U.S. surveillance programs. He fled the country and now lives in Russia. Trump explained: I’m not that aware of the Snowden situation, but I’m going to start looking at it. It seems »

Judge chastises Bolton, but won’t block his book

Featured image Judge Royce Lamberth, a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., has denied the Trump administration’s request to block publication of John Bolton’s book. Judge Lamberth, a conservative appointed by Ronald Reagan, found that publication risks U.S. national security by disclosing classified information. However, he concluded that, as he said at oral argument, “the horse is already out of the barn.” Lamberth explained that the book’s details are now publicly »

The line on John Bolton

Featured image Here’s the left’s line on John Bolton and his forthcoming book: Despise Bolton, but Read His Book Anyway.” President Trump concurs with the first part, but dissents from the second. And, he would add, if you do read his book, don’t believe what he writes. My line on Bolton and his book can’t be summarized as easily. However, it includes the following thoughts: First, if the book contains classified information, »

FISA reform, real and imaginary

Featured image Three provisions of the Patriot Act will expire unless they are reauthorized tomorrow. As described by Andy McCarthy, they involve: (a) roving wiretaps, which allow agents to continue monitoring, say, a terrorist who uses burner phones to try to defeat surveillance; (b) “lone wolf” authority, which allows agents to monitor a foreigner who appears to be involved in terrorism without evidence tying him to a known terrorist organization; and (c) »

Shadow Secretary of State Pelosi on the killing of Soleimani [With Comment by John]

Featured image Nancy Pelosi fancies herself a foreign policy expert who not only must be consulted by the president’s foreign policy team, but who can set or manipulate American foreign policy. Recall her foray into Middle East policy a decade ago, when she defied the Bush State Department, met with Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and declared him the key to bringing peace to the Middle East. Here is what Shadow Secretary Pelosi »

Rocket strike takes out terrorist Gen. Soleimani [CONFIRMED: U.S. did it]

Featured image Fox News reports that Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani has been killed in a rocket attack at Baghdad International Airport. Soleimani was the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force. President Trump ordered the attack and our military carried it out. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that Soleimani is as dangerous as the late ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed by a U.S. strike »