Todd Helmus

I am thrilled, alongside Ryan Brown and @RRamchand, to release our new report examining the prevalence of extremist attitudes among veterans We found that veterans do not appear to manifest greater rates of extremist attitudes than the American public. rand.org/pubs/research_…

@ColinPClarke @chrissymacCNN @cnni So everything is going great, right?

I joined @chrissymacCNN on @cnni to discuss the latest developments in the war with Iran.

“The outcome’s in the minds of the people.”

Putting aside the question of whether the U.S. should have joined Israel in attacking Iran, one of the hardest parts of watching setbacks with how the war is unfolding is that the entire US NatSec community has wargamed this scenario for decades. We knew the risks & enemy COAs.

I asked a retired U.S. Marine familiar with amphibious operations about a MEU on Kharg Island. Granted, this person doesn't have "OSINT" in his Twitter bio, so what the hell would he know? But this is what he told me, contra Trump's claim this is a "simple military maneuver": "Amphibious landings are by nature high risk and a lot can go wrong even in the best conditions. The Marine Corps has lost equipment during exercises, for example when an Abrams tank was sunk during an exercise on the coast of Spain in the 2010s. "An amphibious landing on Kharg is within the capability of the United States to accomplish, but at what cost and to what end? Once the Marines fight their way ashore and take their objective, they will be on an island with limited cover, very close to hostile Iran. How long could the Marines hold this island, under bombardment, before they would need to be withdrawn? "As for the danger, I think of amphibious assault as being akin to airborne assault. A lot of this depends on the tactical advantage of speed and surprise. "What the Marines are working against here is that everyone knows they're coming. And there are only so many places that are suitable for a landing. Need a suitable approach, favorable tides, etc. the Iranians understand this and will plan for it. "It is reasonable to expect that they will try to attack the transports en route, that they will attack while the ships unload, that they will attack the landing craft while they move from the ships to the beach, and that the troops will be attacked as they assault from the beach to their objectives. "Once the Marines are at their objective, they'll be attacked there too because Iran, and any other interested party to the conflict, will know exactly where the Marines are. "We're also 13 years removed from major combat operations in GWOT. There are still combat veterans at middle and upper echelons, but the majority of troops are not combat veterans. They're new guys."

"Chuck Norris once looked at an IED. 3 seconds later the triggerman exploded.” "Chuck Norris once ate his entire birthday cake before anyone could tell him there was a stripper inside."

"Chuck Norris had a son, his name was Num Chuck.” - P.O.O. "Before he goes to sleep at night Chuck Norris checks the closet for Chuck Norris." -Polk

Chuck Norris died today at 86. To the world, he was a martial arts icon. To the U.S. troops he visited in Iraq, he was a morale-boosting legend. In 2008, I found a "Chuck Norris Fact" board in the Green Zone. Here is the tribute the troops wrote for him. 👇 #ChuckNorris #RIP

Where is the Trump Administration's counterterrorism strategy?

The gospel