Author: Vic Socotra

Arrias: What’s Next In South West Asia

What country harbored Al Qaeda and the Taliban after they left Afghanistan in 2002? What country provided substantial, detailed support to Libyan, Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons development programs? What country provided overflight rights to the US to access Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, in exchange for more than $1 billion in military aid […]

Long War Over

According to the Commander of the United States CENTRAL COMMAND, the nation’s longest war ended at 1600, or rather 1559 EST. For those who follow ordinary clocks, that is 3:59. For people without power, like Refuge Farm was today, it is still this morning. But General McKenzie says 1559 local was the moment that the […]

Article 88

Life is a wondrous thing, ain’t it? We rugged (or ragged) bunch bask in the country sounds. Passing thunderheads, sporadic gunfire, and that sharp hum of insect life that reminds us the land is alive. With the anniversary of 9/11 coming, up, it is interesting to look back on the start of the Global War […]

Policy Guidance

I was working on a piece about how things are working these days in The Swamp, an interesting topic I wanted to present to the group. That got shut down quickly. We got a note- not addressed specifically to the Writer’s Section- that warned speculation could impact the chain of command. It directed retired personnel […]

Visit to a Monument

(Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris visits a monument in Hanoi, Republic of Vietnam. It depicts the landing spot of an American pilot shot down in a raid on what was then the capital of a divided nation. It was not publicized that way. The pilot depicted hanging in the straps of his […]

Weather Report: Making History

Making History is hard work. I thought we had some interesting times in the post-Vietnam era, the two Superpowers glaring at each other. Now it is everywhere, and we have a man in the Presidency who sinks his ship and then brags about how cool the lifeboats are. We have talked about 1968 a couple […]