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Sep 6, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Kevin Williamson |Nick Catoggio |Douglas A. Ollivant |Mary Trimble
Trump now criticizes Biden for playing the hand the former president dealt him. Published September 6, 2024 “He fights!” they say. But not when it matters. Donald Trump has decided that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is a winning issue in the election he is currently losing to Kamala Harris.
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Jun 27, 2024 | 
warontherocks.com | Douglas A. Ollivant
When Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Sudani visited Washington in April, he wasn’t just looking for a handshake. He sought a profound shift in U.S.-Iraqi ties, aiming to transcend the security focus that has dominated the relationship and build a more multifaceted partnership. There are the things that Iraq wants to talk about: economic development and regional integration. Then there are the things that the United States wants to talk about: various aspects of Iraq’s relationship with Iran.
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May 27, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Mary Trimble |Grayson Logue |Peter Gattuso |Douglas A. Ollivant
Mary Trimble is the editor of The Morning Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, she interned at The Dispatch, in the political archives at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), and at Voice of America, where she produced content for their French-language service to Africa. When not helping write The Morning Dispatch, she is probably watching classic movies, going on weekend road trips, or enjoying live music with friends.
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May 27, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Jamie Weinstein |Douglas A. Ollivant |Grayson Logue |Thomas Koenig
Jamie Weinstein is the host of Monday’s episode of The Dispatch Podcast, based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining The Dispatch, he was the host of The Jamie Weinstein Show.
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May 27, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Douglas A. Ollivant |Charlotte Lawson |Alex Demas |Grayson Logue
Visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day involves navigating a large crowd. Americans (and doubtless a few foreigners) of all ages and demographics clear security, pass through the visitor’s center, and enter the cemetery. The vast majority of the crowd—at least 90 percent, in my estimation—continues past the center and walks up the hill to where the Tomb of the Unknowns stands majestic (along with other attractions—the Lee House and Kennedy’s eternal flame).
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Feb 23, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Bennett Murray |Douglas A. Ollivant |Charlotte Lawson |Brian M. Riedl
DONETSK OBLAST, Ukraine—From a hillside front line trench south of the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers watched tracers from the autocannon of a friendly BMP—the tracked infantry fighting vehicle that basically resembles a mini-tank—light up the enemy’s positions. The Russians, whose own trench was just 200 meters to the east, were unusually busy that morning as several three-man fire teams edged into no man’s land.
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Jan 16, 2024 | 
thedispatch.com | Douglas A. Ollivant
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani of coalition troops last week after a U.S. strike took out an Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad. The continued presence of these troops—mostly U.S. forces—is controversial not just because of the violence that has broken out in Iraq in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas, but because both sides have hidden agendas. The ambiguity caused by these agendas was in a convenient balance until the Gaza conflict began.
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Oct 30, 2023 | 
thedispatch.com | Douglas A. Ollivant
Urban conflict is messy. It appears the Israelis are making at least an initial push into Gaza, and this is the terrain on which they are fighting. It is a textbook example of such combat, consisting almost exclusively of urban construction. Gaza is also densely populated and has a complex network of tunnels and other underground rooms and passages. The cost—to both Israel and Palestinians—of breaching such terrain could set off an unpredictable chain of regional events.
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Aug 14, 2023 | 
warontherocks.com | Douglas A. Ollivant
To compete with Russia and China, Washington needs partners. One key way in which Washington has, can, and will secure these partners is by sending them weapons. This, in turn, requires the United States to produce enough weapons, produce the right weapons, and effectively transfer these weapons. Unfortunately, America is currently failing on all three fronts. Shortcomings in the defense industrial base have hobbled Washington’s ability to produce weapons.
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Mar 18, 2023 | 
thedispatch.com | Douglas A. Ollivant
BAGHDAD—Several years ago I posted a photo on social media of a beautiful sunrise over Karbala, Iraq. A close friend soon responded, “Keep your head down!” I had been sipping tea, in coat and tie, at the Lebanese restaurant on the roof of the Rotana hotel. Why on earth would I keep my head down? Unfortunately, the sense that Iraq is a dangerous, otherworldly place has not diminished among most Americans in the years since.
