“Idée fixe” is a term that everybody should know. It means a viewpoint that will never change. One such idée fixe is that terrorist groups with opposing ideologies will never work together. This is false. Because they have converging interests, terrorists engage in “coopetition” or “cooperative competition.” I knew that Iran supported the Islamic State….
Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary solutions
June 26, 2016
Today an angry man contacted me. He said that I have no right to post my theories about what Saudi Arabia is doing in the Middle East. Since he claims to be active-duty Saudi Special Forces, that would seem to give weight to his words. However, he’s wrong. Everybody who reads my posts knows that…
Deception: the smart kind and the really stupid kind
December 19, 2015
If the Arab League were enemies of the United States, we’d be sunk. There’s no question. I’m in the process of reverse engineering the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, and I’m amazed at the brilliance of the military deception. It continues to this day. Fierce fighting and airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition pounded northern Yemen on…
Why I admire the Emiratis
September 18, 2015
The plan to take back Yemen was brilliantly unorthodox. Instead of invading, the Coalition—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, and Pakistan—would protect two pockets of resistance: Little Aden and Crater. In those cities, people held out against tens of thousands of besiegers: Houthis, soldiers loyal to former dictator…