by Susan Katz Keating It remains one of the strangest and most unsettling unsolved mysteries of the Vietnam War. The stories were too strange to be true; and at first, no one believed them. American patrols in Vietnam returned from the jungles near the DMZ and along the Laotian border …

by Susan Katz Keating China and other foreign actors are using Ukraine as a testbed, deploying cut-outs and deniable assets to gather real-time data on drones, intelligence sources told Soldier of Fortune. The grainy figures moved across the screen, creeping through murky terrain like shadows come to life. A blip …

by Susan Katz Keating The Beirut barracks bombing killed 241 American servicemen on October 23, 1983. A second bombing struck the nearby French barracks, killing 58 paratroopers. I spoke with men who were there about the attacks and their aftermath. Morning reveille had not yet sounded at the Marine Corps …

He arrived in Ukraine presenting himself as a humanitarian volunteer. But was he? And why could the answer matter far beyond the region? by Susan Katz Keating He arrived in Ukraine in 2024, presenting himself as a humanitarian volunteer. He joined a stream of foreigners moving through a country where …

I spent years talking with legendary spy hunters about the clues that expose secret agents. Then I went looking for answers from a spy himself. by Susan Katz Keating Journalists love anniversaries, and this was a good one, the perfect day to highlight history and talk to a spy. Fourteen …

Bricks of cash, luxury cars and secret accounts exposed a sprawling reconstruction fraud. Years later, a tip sent Soldier of Fortune back into cases that never reached an ending. by Susan Katz Keating They bought luxury cars, opulent properties, high-end watches, first class travel, and more. The only catch was, …

by Susan Katz Keating Not everything moving through war is a physical object. Some of the most valuable commodities in a conflict zone are identity, permission, and cover. You need the right document, the right credential, and the right story, at the right checkpoint. My team and I at Soldier of …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The work has been called the most dangerous form of journalism. Amid my daily influx of emails, text messages, and phone calls, I frequently am hit up by people who want to go downrange under my name. They approach me with variants on the following requests. …

by Susan Katz Keating For decades, war correspondents earned the right to carry a PRESS credential into dangerous places. Now outsiders, operatives, and opportunists are seeking the same protection without earning it, because in conflict zones a press card can open doors, lower rifles, and get you out of a …

Editor’s note: Longtime CIA covert operations officer James Parker Jr. often talked to me about his days in Southeast Asia, including the secret war in Laos. He told stories of another case officer and former Green Beret, George Washington Bacon III, who became a mercenary in Angola. Here is an …