As U.S. and South Korean forces launch semi-annual defensive drills, North Korea has put its troops on alert and cut the last hot line to Seoul, warning that "even the slightest provocation" could mean war." That doesn't mean that T-72 tanks will cross the DMZ tomorrow, but it does reflect an escala...

It its latest attempt at sabre-rattling, North Korea has threatened to shoot down a South Korean airliner during next week's exercises between ROK military forces and their American counterparts. Reuters has the warning, issued by the official Korean Central News Agency: "Security cannot be guarante...

Somewhere along the way, David Letterman morphed from a funny and inventive comic into a sour, mean-spirited old man. Maybe it was the heart surgery, or maybe it was eight years of George W. Bush in the White House. Whatever the reason, Mr. Letterman has grown increasingly testy on the air, particul...

Way back when, the intelligence community operated under a simple rule. Disagreements over analysis were worked out in private and when the community spoke, it was with one voice. Ah, for the good old days. Unfortunately, in today's "leak culture," analysts--and the agencies that employ them--are an...

It's no secret that defense spending has grown exponentially over the past eight years. The cost of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with force modernization efforts and supplementary spending, have pushed the Pentagon budget past $600 billion a year. But much of that growth has been i...

Memo to the management of the Associated Press: Please pull the plug on your "Impact" series before you get embarrassed--again. Designed as a showcase for hard-hitting analytical and investigative pieces, the Impact series has also generated a few clunkers. One of the more infamous examples came a d...

There's never a shortage of hypocrisy in Tinsel Town. The world's entertainment capital practically invented the double standard and lives by a simple edict: do as we say, not as we do. After all, it's the Hollywood crowd that lectures us on free speech, then black balls anyone who doesn't tow the l...

During the Korean leg of her Asian visit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went out of her way to express concerns about a potential succession crisis in North Korea. It's a timely question; with Kim Jong-il experiencing health problems--he reportedly suffered a major stroke last year --there are ...

Facing the loss of a key airbase in Kyrgyzstan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have tried to assure us that "no base is irreplaceable." We'll soon find out if Mr. Gates and Mrs. Clinton are correct. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz Parliment voted overwhelmingly to cancel...

Less than two months ago, Iran's acquisition of the S-300 air defense system appeared to be a done deal. In late December, a senior intelligence official told the AP that Moscow was selling the S-300 to Tehran, although deliveries of the surface-to-air missiles--and support hardware--had not been de...