Susan Katz Keating

2 weeks ago | sofmag.com | Susan Katz Keating

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz KeatingThe gatekeepers in the U.S. security world are suffering from a dangerous case of collective amnesia when it comes to China. Witness the shocked undertones surrounding reports on two recent cases of Chinese nationals being charged with smuggling biological materials into the United States. The headlines sounded alarming, but they’re not new. They’re part of a long-standing pattern of Chinese infiltration—systematic, strategic, and state-sponsored.

2 weeks ago | sofmag.com | Susan Katz Keating

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz KeatingSomething strange crackled through the shortwave radio bands coming out of Russia last week. The long-dormant station UVB-76  –  known to old intelligence hands as the “Doomsday Radio” – buzzed to life on June 4, and began broadcasting again. The transmission was cryptic. The voice read two nonsense codewords: “azotobak” and “osholin.” To the untrained ear, it sounded like gibberish.

3 weeks ago | sofmag.com | Susan Katz Keating

by Susan Katz KeatingA wave of drone attacks lit up targets on June 1 deep inside Russian territory – another clear signal that unmanned warfare is rewriting the rules in real time. But the idea of drones doing the killing – or at least the hunting – isn’t as new as it looks. The history of drones is long, strange, and full of surprises. The roots run deep into American military history, to a time when soldiers wore blue or grey and fought face-to-face with muskets and bayonets.

4 weeks ago | sofmag.com | Robert Kurtz |Susan Katz Keating

by Robert M. KurtzExcerpted from Mercenaries, Gunslingers, and Outlaws: Two Years as a Security Contractor in Iraq. Whoever set up the last IED that directly targeted my vehicle showed a little more ingenuity than usual. We were somewhere just outside of Bagdad; all the convoys seem to run together after a while especially when you’re the last vehicle.

1 month ago | sofmag.com | Susan Katz Keating

by Susan Katz KeatingWhy did Soviet forces abandon Afghanistan in 1989 after nearly 10 years of war? Western analysts have burned through terabytes trying to explain it. What else besides the fierce Mujahideen drove the Red Army to retreat with nothing to show but shattered pride? Some credit the CIA-supplied Stingers and French MILAN anti-tank missiles. Others point to economic factors inside the USSR.