I never met a secret squirel (sic) that didn’t think the sky was falling. Can’t you enjoy the success?

After long, hard, and expensive struggle we’ve managed to kill a man responsible for the deaths of countless innocents. He was valuable to the insurgency, but like a Hydra there are plenty more where he came from. We are right to pat ourselves on the back, and at a respectable hour this evening I’ll be raising a toast to all my friends who are still on the job and who were involved to one extent or another.

Meanwhile due south of where everyone is cracking near-beers and puffing on counterfeit Cubans, we managed to lose a whole country. If this sounds familiar – failed state now run by radical Islamists who can train legions of Jihadists and will be a pain in our ass for years – it should: it used to be called “Afghanistan.”

I don’t pretend to understand all the heavy thinking that goes on in the heads of guys like this, but as best as I can figure this idea of reducing the number of places that can become ‘the next Afghanistan’ is an important way to ensure long term safety and stability. We’re sitting on a beach, proud of ourselves for fending off sand crabs, forgetting that we’re getting sunburned like a m*****-******. The bite of a sand crab hurts for a while, but they can’t kill you. Get a bad enough burn and your skin will erupt, you’ll pass out, and then the crabs WILL have their way with you.

Big picture people, big picture.

About the Author

Michael Tanji

Michael Tanji spent nearly 20 years in the US intelligence community. Trained in both SIGINT and HUMINT disciplines he has worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. At various points in his career he served as an expert in information warfare, computer network operations, computer forensics, and indications and warning. A veteran of the US Army, Michael has served in both strategic and tactical assignments in the Pacific Theater, the Balkans, and the Middle East.