I gave this plaque to the Unit upon my retirement.  It hangs in Delta. This is what I wrote on it: TO FREEDOM'S GUARDIANS THANKS MIKE R. VINING 1989-1999 I found these Native American arrowheads on Range 19, which testifies to its long history of use that continues to this day. They symbolize man's first use of weapons for war, peace, and survival. The  arrowheads are displayed as part of the Special Forces insignia. The atom emblem symbolizes today's threat to peace, the counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction by rogue nations. A piece of trinitite represents the atom's nucleus. Trinitite is sand that was transformed into glass by the pressure and heat from the first atomic detonation, July 16, 1945, 5:29:49 A.M. at Trinity Site, near Alamogordo, NM. The plaque signifies the unit's role as the quiet guardians of our nation's freedom and public safety, for which this country is truly indebted. It has been my honor to serve with this organization.

Interview with the Iranian pilots who bombed US bases in Kuwait: We attacked the US Buehring base. It was as if God turned each of our bombs into several bombs. The scale of the fire was so huge that we even saw several helicopters bursting into flames and then exploding. The area was thrown into chaos, and they started activating their air defenses. During our turn, we saw them firing missiles at targets in the sky. My back-seat cockpit officer told me that an explosion had happened in the sky, we were confused about where they were being hit from. By mistake, their aircraft also took off and the 3 American F-15s that were coming for a counterattack toward our Iran, the Kuwaitis mistook them for targets & shot them down. By God’s grace, they destroyed all 3 of them at the same time. They weren’t able to intercept & track us because of our deceiving tactics.

A spectacular piece by @andymukherjee70 on India's 3-language policy and the new CBSE circulars. "A disruptive intrusion into a 14-year-old’s life may produce unintended consequences. The elite will increasingly switch to more expensive options like the International Baccalaureate, while the less affluent will get stuck with Sanskrit in the north and Hindi in the south," writes Andy in @opinion bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

If you haven’t read Alexandra Prokopenko @amenka new paper, I strongly recommend making time for it. In my view, it is one of the most consequential studies of Russia’s wartime elite to appear since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is a historically significant study of how the Russian ruling class has evolved under the pressure of war, repression, sanctions, and prolonged confrontation with the West. Drawing on exceptional evidence, unique factual material, and a remarkably informed view from within the system, Alexandra offers insights that are simply unavailable elsewhere. Anyone interested in contemporary Russia should read it. carnegieendowment.org/russia…

Weird take. If anyone in Washington thought India was going to be America's proxy against China, they were delusional from the start. And if anyone in India thought the U.S. was just going to walk away from a relationship with China wholesale, that was pretty bad analysis too. But I don't know any serious folks on either side who believed either of those two propositions.

RT @dhume: Pakistan’s recent star turn is the diplomatic equivalent of Cabo Verde winning the World Cup. [My take] wsj.com/opinion/big-winner-o…

Grasping the sheer scale and intensity of the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) - history’s largest and last pre-industrial war - is so hard. ​The best analogy I can come up with: ​Imagine if Mormon prophet Joseph Smith had stayed on the Erie Canal. His followers, armed mostly with spears and swords, rise up and capture the entire US Midwest, seizing the nation's agricultural breadbasket. They systematically slaughter anyone from New York City and starve out huge towns like Chicago. The war kills 5% to 7.5% of the population, double the actual US Civil War. ​Then, right as the Federal government completely collapses, the British Empire sails steam-powered gunboats up the Hudson River. They arm a ruthless mercenary force with state-of-the-art rifles to crush the uprising: not to save the US, but to keep Wall Street and the Atlantic trade routes open. ​Meanwhile, in a completely separate conflict(!), official British and French armies sail up the Potomac and loot and burn the Smithsonian, the Capitol and Mount Vernon. ​The Taiping Rebellion killed 20 to 30 million people, more than WW1. It was World War China.

NATO's Nuclear Communiqués used to be an important part of NATO transparency from 1967-2006. Here's why (link below)! open.substack.com/pub/walber…

🧵New: The US is in talks with the Palestinian Authority about boosting what has been a strained bilateral relationship, as Washington seeks Ramallah’s cooperation to advance policies in region, three gov officials familiar told @TimesofIsrael (1/36) timesofisrael.com/us-weighs-…

Netanyahu's circle and his media mouthpieces are in a state of shock and disbelief over the emerging US-Iran deal and the Trump administration's growing fury over his policies. The president today at the G7 summit didn't hold back, asserting that the Israeli prime minister needs to be "more responsible with respect to Lebanon." Yet the U.S. president risks nothing in confronting the Israeli prime minister at a time when American public opinion is turning against Israel. On the contrary, Netanyahu is a convenient scapegoat. Yet Bibi risks everything if there is a major falling out with the Trump administration. His relationship with Trump has been a cornerstone of his electoral appeal. Defying the Americans will play well to his hard-right base but it will alienate the wider Israeli electorate that is tiring of endless war. My full analysis below: 👇

Vance has become the main face selling the Trump administration’s US-Iran deal. Notably quiet? Rubio. Part of that is logistics — Vance is in the midst of a TV network sprint for his new book/Rubio is with Trump at the G7. But Rubio was also more skeptical of this deal as it came together… (A State Dept official maintains he’s in “lockstep behind” Trump’s foreign policy): semafor.com/article/06/16/20…

I can now confirm that Israel formally requested access to the Iran MoU and was denied. A remarkable and highly unusual development between close allies on an issue of such critical national security importance.

New: US intel agencies have recently assessed that Iran can effectively turn the Strait of Hormuz on & off -- at will -- going forward, meaning it has acquired a powerful new ability to hurt the global economy as a result of Trump/Israel starting the war, sources tell me & @NatashaBertrand. “We have now handed Iran de facto control over the strait – a weapon more powerful than any nuke,” 1 of the sources said.

RT @NMenonRao: The issue is whether Washington still sees India as a co-architect of regional order or simply as one useful actor among man…

RT @vali_nasr: Must read piece on how a month-long diplomatic effort involving the United States, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan led to US Iran M…

"I honestly believe history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament." -Manmohan Singh (13th Prime Minister of India)

"What India lost in the last couple of years was not its power to mediate; it was the sense that no one had any idea what India stood for." The problem with calling a lack of policy realism, brilliantly framed indianexpress.com/article/op…

Rarely has a geopolitical roll of the dice gone so rapidly wrong. Netanyahu played on Trump’s vanity to help convince him to start this war. That same vanity will now be deaf to any future bridges Netanyahu might try to sell.” My column ft.com/content/e14a6abe-f6fa…

Hawks are melting down and accusing Trump of betrayal, but the reality is that no US president before him had been willing to follow Israel's lead on Iran like he did and no US president will after him. They shot their shot and missed, but instead of accepting it and updating their views on what is possible given existing political and economic constraints, they will embrace a "stabbed in the back" narrative.

Department of War Restores U.S. Pacific Command Designation. CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — The Department of War announced today that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) will officially restore its name to the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). Originally established on January 1, 1947, by President Harry S. Truman, the command operated under the USPACOM banner for over 70 years, standing as the oldest and largest of the United States' unified combatant commands. Restoring the legacy USPACOM designation honors the command’s deep historical roots, fostering a sense of pride and collective spirit among all who serve in the Pacific. From its critical role in establishing the post-WWII regional security architecture to its coordination of joint forces during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and countless humanitarian operations, the USPACOM namesake carries decades of military heritage and enduring regional partnerships. USPACOM’s vast area of responsibility—spanning from the waters off the West Coast of the United States to the western border of India—remains exactly the same. The command's fundamental mission and its unwavering commitment to maintaining a free and open theater alongside regional allies and partners are unchanged. dvidshub.net/r/zmngnb