Avatar photoWhy'd They Do It?

Gregory Kulacki and I are giving a talk about the Chinese ASAT test at the Carnegie Endowment. Short version: There is no message for us. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace invites you to attend A Different View of China’s ASAT Test Featuring Gregory Kulacki Senior Analyst and China Project Manager in the Global Security …

Avatar photoACW Readers Rock the Box

If you aren’t reading the comments on my last few Syria posts, you are missing some great contributions by readers including: John Hogan has used satellite images to pin down the construction date of the “Box-on-the-Euphrates” to between 26 May 2001 and 8 September 2002 (a 67-week interval). Andrew Foland, MTC and Anon all found …

Avatar photoTourist Trips to the Box-on-the-Euphrates

Is the Box-on-the-Euphrates in a remote place? Details like that might seem insignificant, but they are not. Often, it seems to me, intelligence judgments are supported by informal bits of “color” or what you might call the gouge — circumstantial details that aren’t part of any official briefing, but appear in loose talk to bolster …

Avatar photoCurve Ball

This is Rafid Ahmed Alwan, better known as Curveball, getting down at an Iraqi wedding in 1993. The 60 Minutes segment tonight, if you saw it after the Patriots-Colts game, was a fine introduction to Curveball and that damned wall. But for the gory detail, I highly recommend Bob Drogin’s new book, Curveball: Spies, Lies …