They gave their lives. We keep their memory.
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35
Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20
I'm thinking today of our Canadian and Danish allies who answered the call to fight bravely alongside us in Afghanistan. Danish troops kept me alive in Helmand and the Canadians were just next door in Kandahar.
I've been, as a rule, against further expansion NATO and think many past expansions were errors in judgment with negative consequences for the United States. But I am unreservedly in favor of Finland and Sweden joining NATO for three reasons.
First, they contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area by virtue of both their geographic position and their advanced military capabilities. These are not free-riders in the same way as many allies.
Third, it formalized a preexisting alignment that has been beneficial to US and NATO interests.
Deepening it to an alliance in these cases will increase rather than decrease security (the same could not be said for others who have joined the alliance and others who still might)
I deplore Trump's remarks about NATO but the wisest response from European NATO members would be to dramatically increase defense spending & industrial investments rather than wasting time with counter-productive condemnations or complaints. You are in a new era. Act accordingly.
I've just returned from a week long research trip to Ukraine with @KofmanMichael@konrad_muzyka@HoansSolo. I went to get some ground truth, conduct interviews, meet with leaders, etc.
Three months ago, we published this article by @KofmanMichael and I'm struck by how much he got right. It holds up well in terms of predicting what Russia would try to do and why. And noted that Moscow might be suffering from "war optimism"
@WarOnTheRocks
That Hamas retains the capability to do this after over 6000 bombs dropped on Gaza should make a lot of people sit up and take notice, including those planning for the future of warfare.
I'm not super interested in predictions about Afghanistan from general officers who spent years telling us the Afghan security forces were capable and strong