Dispatches

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating After Vietnam, the U.S. government should have learned a powerful lesson that it never must abandon its allies. Clearly, the lesson was ignored. Several years ago at a conference in Tampa, I asked Gen. Kenneth Tovo a question that was pegged to the Vietnam War, but …

The first such emergency occurred 24 years ago, when several warheads aboard the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk exploded during an undersea exercise. COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating Deep within Kursk Oblast in Russia, a special glass of tea perhaps is being brewed for some  unsuspecting government official. Or perhaps a screen …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The Tim Walz military service brouhaha is an object lesson in two long-established axioms: You can’t plump your record, and you can’t piss off your unit. Veterans are calling out Walz, number two on the ticket with presidential candidate Kamala Harris, for touting an inaccurate military …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz KeatingWhen Vladimir Putin embraced assassin Vadim Krasikov at the airport in Moscow on August 1, the Russian president looked jubilant. He had reason to celebrate. Putin’s operator, the convicted killer, was home. So, too, were the other nine Russians who were released as part of a complex …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The United States and other Western countries are suitably popping the Champagne corks over today’s historic prisoner swap with Russia. But what is the Kremlin celebrating, as its human take includes a convicted hitman, an arms dealer, and a money launderer?  Street creds at home. Affirmation …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating As Tehran vows revenge on Israel for taking out a Hamas leader on Iranian soil, it’s important not to lose sight of the fundamental questions regarding Hamas. My fellow journalists especially need to hold the terror group accountable. Both truth and morality demand it. When covering …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating When did the Secret Service stop placing snipers on top of sloped roofs? The question stems from comments by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, explaining why her agency did not secure what became a hostile sniper’s nest at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania. During the …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating Some have suggested that Tehran was behind the July 13 effort to kill Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. Here at Soldier of Fortune, we don’t see Iran’s handiwork – this time. But, like U.S. intelligence officials, we do see a window of increased threat from Iran against …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The Secret Service must answer questions openly and fully – and to examine whether it encourages a culture that rejects scrutiny, and that wants outsiders to “shut up.” Serious questions persist about the attack against Donald Trump on July 13, when a triggerman tried to assassinate …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating An agent messaged me privately, accusing journalists of “creating hate” with “mass negative media.” Serious, troubling questions surround the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump. So far, I don’t have answers from officials; but I have been privately scolded by a Secret Service agent for …