Avatar photoIrresponsible Rumor Mongering

Believe nothing you read here or, at least, don’t blame me for your being a busybody. Why was former Special Assistant to the DCI Charles Duelfer sitting at an al fresco table outside Potbelly’s yesterday at 6:20? asks one loyal reader. Might it be the 17th and Pennsylvania patio is just across the street from …

Avatar photoNuclear Football

A couple of weeks ago, a reader asked whether a military aide still acompanies the President carrying the “nuclear football”—otherwise known as the presiden’t emergency satchel. I said that I assumed so, but that I hadn’t seen anything in a while and would keep an eye out. The last article I saw was from early …

Avatar photoRohani Letter

Not to be outdone, Hassan Rohani, former Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has an open letter in Time. I was particularly taken by this line: Could it be that the extremists all around see their interests — however transient, domestic and short-sighted — in heightened tension and crisis? Extremists “all around” eh?

Avatar photoAhmadinejad Letter

I’ve read the full text of the letter (as posted by the Wall Street Journal) and let me say that it is much, much odder than a mix tape. Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems—and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned …