On a rainy Saturday morning in May, Hayanuddin Afghan, a former member of a CIA-backed militia that was once his country’s most brutal and effective anti-Taliban force, welcomed me to his new home in a hilly neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He… Read More ›
It’s been a grand two years for the war industry. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the perceived scent of Vladimir Putin’s blood emanating from the Kremlin, and hyped-up tensions with China have all converged to accelerate the already fierce pace of… Read More ›
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney walk to the Oval Office, on Nov. 17, 2004, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP On Wednesday, as the eyes of the U.S. public were focused on Tuesday’s midterm election results, a U.S…. Read More ›
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 24, 2022. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images In the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the pirates swear by a supposedly ironclad set of rules… Read More ›
The documentary “Jihad Rehab” opens with a series of testimonies from former Guantánamo Bay prisoners. One former detainee, wearing a red headdress and seated on a living room sofa, says, “The American government did bad, bad, bad things against us,… Read More ›
When Russian forces seized Crimea in 2014, paving the way for President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, a large number of world leaders and international organizations condemned the invasion as illegal. But Putin and other senior Russian officials… Read More ›
Ever since Ukraine launched a successful counteroffensive against Russian forces in late August, American officials have tried to claim credit, insisting that U.S. intelligence has been key to Ukraine’s battlefield victories. Yet U.S. officials have simultaneously downplayed their intelligence failures… Read More ›
In a cheerfully animated promotional video, a woman narrates Cubic Transportation Systems’ vision for the future. Travelers will pay fares using a ticket-free mobile account. Real-time data will be aggregated, linked, and shared. Deals — such as 50 percent off at… Read More ›
In early 2018, former National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander worked out a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the cyber institute led by one of his closest aides, Saud al-Qahtani, to help the Saudi ruler train… Read More ›
Early on the morning of August 15, 2021, Shershah Ahmadi was struggling to find a ride home. In Foroshgah, one of the busiest open-air bazaars in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, crowds swarmed around money-changers and lined up at banks as… Read More ›