Misdirection. False signals. Spreading confusion. This is the Tao of deception.
The ISI is above all a paramilitary organization. It doesn’t do all that much collection of intelligence. It’s not a very good spy agency, but it’s good at running covert action.
Journalists couldn’t do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers.
Sometimes James Bond movies drive me crazy. They’re fun to watch, but they don’t have anything to do at all with what intelligence officers really do.
Intelligence services exist to do things that are illegal abroad. They exist to tell lies.
We have a complicated intelligence relationship with France. We have a complicated intelligence relationship with other – with other allies.
Europeans don’t like to talk about intelligence, and they often pretend their countries don’t spy.
Enter the candidates on horseback: While military leaders can sometimes be dangerous in politics, our best generals and admirals embody the democratic values and leadership skills for which the country is yearning.
The nation’s chronic weakness is its political system, which is nearing dysfunction. If the U.S. can elect better political leadership, it should be able to manage problems better than most competitors.
Thanksgiving is America’s favorite holiday because it’s a time when we put aside our cares, much as the struggling Pilgrims did nearly four centuries ago, and eat a gut-busting meal without worrying about the ‘out years.’
This is a universal human dream – that brains, not brawn, will rule – and the fact that America has the world’s finest institutions of higher education may be our greatest single national asset.