Center for a New American Security
Senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and Project Director of its 20YY Warfare Initiative; former Army Ranger, having participated in special operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (2001-2008), he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (2008-2013)
Will Libya Be America's Next Quagmire in the Middle East? President Obama says chaos in Libya is one of his major foreign-policy failures — with three rival governments all beset by the forces of ISIS. But the President's not giving up on trying to establish some kind of order, and US Special Op Forces could be sent there “ any day .” Critics say it's a strategy that hasn't succeeded before, and warn about making things worse — with American lives on the line. We hear about possible options and what it's like on the ground.
Drone Warfare President Obama laid out his strategy for defeating ISIS this week. And it included talk of airstrikes. In November, one of those strikes killed the ISIS spokesman known as Jihadi John, a British man who beheaded American captives on camera. That airstrike was actually carried out by an unmanned drone. Drones are increasingly the tool of choice for many countries involved in armed conflict, and countries looking to spy on one another. But there is no single set of international rules that govern the use of drones by nations. How has the lack of rules affected things on the ground? MQ-9 Reaper, a hunter-killer surveillance UAV Photo: US Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson /USAF Photographic Archives
The F-35 Striker Jet and Pork Barrel Politics More than 15 years in the making, the F-35 striker jet still has trouble landing on wet runways. The most expensive weapons system in history was grounded again this week, missing several airshows in England. They were much-needed marketing opportunities to help sell the F-35 fighter-bomber to foreign countries, amortizing increasing costs. We’ll hear about continued Congressional support despite a history of failure.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?