Tag Archives: Featured

by Susan Katz Keating Why did Soviet forces abandon Afghanistan in 1989 after nearly 10 years of war? Western analysts have burned through terabytes trying to explain it. What else besides the fierce Mujahideen drove the Red Army to retreat with nothing to show but shattered pride? Some credit the …

The recipe was simple: make a fire; boil water in any metal container at hand; put the ammo in the boiling water; and cook for four to five hours. by Nikolay Shevchenko During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Russian soldiers were often seen boiling their ammo for hours in a …

The degree of hazard depends on the type of weapon, height of the burst, distance from the detonation, hardness of the target, and explosive yield of the weapon.  by Susan Katz Keating Russian President Vladimir Putin again raised the specter of nuclear war when he announced that a conventional attack …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating My inbox is overflowing. In the wake of current events, some of my correspondents fear that the U.S. will implode. One reader, “Freaked Out,” writes: “I saw the story about you in The New Yorker magazine, and you talked about riots and civil war. Are we …

by Heath Hansen A flash of light lit up the sky ahead of me, and I heard an explosion. My adrenaline kicked in and I started searching for the source of the explosion. I clutched my weapon and prepared to defend the base. ANBAR, IRAQ – Even though it was …

by Kevin Cresswell Picture the scene: It was early hours on July 4, 2003, at Camp Slayer in Baghdad, Iraq. There were several hundred U.S. troops and a handful of odds and sods ‘Brits & Aussies.’ In the middle of the lake was a boathouse with a flagpole. During the …

by Austin Lee In the pantheon of firearms, few pistols command the reverence of the 1911. Its century-plus legacy, forged in the crucible of conflict, continues to inspire innovation. Enter Military Armament Corporation’s (MAC) latest offering: the JSOC 1911, a .45 ACP masterpiece that channels the gritty, high-stakes modifications of …

by Heath Hansen It’s not often that the absence of a story makes my day, but today that’s exactly what happened. I had a free afternoon and decided to head Southeast, into the San Diego Mountains, looking for any indications of illegal entry, or drug smuggling, into the United States. …

by Greg Chabot You didn’t plan to be there. Most people don’t. But one wrong turn, one blocked exit, or one unexpected surge — and suddenly, you’re in your car in the middle of a riot. Don’t panic. As riot season heats up, here’s what to do if you find …

by John Gartner As I sat looking out the port side window of the Dakota, I could see below me the vast expanse of Lake Cahora Bassa dam. The grey skeletal branches of long-drowned trees dotted the shoreline and seemed, in my reverie, to be reaching imploringly skyward. The surface …