John Ismay
@johnismay.bsky.social
Reporter, The New York Times. Former U.S. Navy EOD & Iraq vet. Reach me securely via Signal at: johnismay.01 or by email at: john.ismay@nytimes.com
Reposted by John Ismay
The US ran a war game during Trump 1.0 to assess what Maduro’s fall might unleash. It found that chaos and violence would likely erupt as military units, rival political factions and even jungle-based guerrilla groups jockeyed for control. @michaelcrowley.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...
U.S. Ran a War Game on Ousting Maduro. Venezuela Fell Into Chaos.
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 5:34 PM
The US ran a war game during Trump 1.0 to assess what Maduro’s fall might unleash. It found that chaos and violence would likely erupt as military units, rival political factions and even jungle-based guerrilla groups jockeyed for control. @michaelcrowley.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...
A too-perfect Christmas present from @HuntClancy. Matt, my friend, you are the best
January 1, 2026 at 8:53 PM
A too-perfect Christmas present from @HuntClancy. Matt, my friend, you are the best
Reposted by John Ismay
So okay. The US, military or otherwise, carried out attacks in Somalia, Nigeria and Venezeula between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Going wider to last week there were at least six different operations between Dec. 22-25.
December 29, 2025 at 8:07 PM
So okay. The US, military or otherwise, carried out attacks in Somalia, Nigeria and Venezeula between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Going wider to last week there were at least six different operations between Dec. 22-25.
Reposted by John Ismay
See also: the secretary of defense's tattoos
Far-right groups are co-opting the aesthetics of the Crusades for their own objectives, transforming an obsession with feudal justice into a campaign for a White Christian nation.
Why We Should All Be Worried About "Crusadercore"
This online trend equips young, White men with a historically bastardized visual lexicon — one that gives new credence and religious authority to far-right bigotry.
hyperallergic.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
See also: the secretary of defense's tattoos
Reposted by John Ismay
The only outcome more preferable to drug cartels would be flawless delivery. The evidence is destroyed, no one talked and they even got some of the expendable crew back free of charge.
Coast Guard interdiction would have seen them all in federal lockup right now looking to cut deals.
Coast Guard interdiction would have seen them all in federal lockup right now looking to cut deals.
OF ALL THE VESSELS SUNK BY THE U.S. it was the likeliest to have been carrying drugs: a semisubmersible with at least one convicted trafficker on board. The U.S. blew it up, destroyed the evidence and let the survivors go GIFT LINK @schmidtsam.bsky.social @alexhorton.bsky.social
wapo.st/4qq5ymS
wapo.st/4qq5ymS
The U.S. sank the alleged narco-terrorists’ boat — and let them go
In blowing up the vessel, destroying evidence and repatriating the survivors, the U.S. cut short a process that’s helped bring down traffickers.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The only outcome more preferable to drug cartels would be flawless delivery. The evidence is destroyed, no one talked and they even got some of the expendable crew back free of charge.
Coast Guard interdiction would have seen them all in federal lockup right now looking to cut deals.
Coast Guard interdiction would have seen them all in federal lockup right now looking to cut deals.
Reposted by John Ismay
Reading transcripts from the 1993 hearings on gays in the military and I can't think of a better challenge to Huntingtonian views of military autonomy or skepticism of the authority of military advice. The witnesses' predictions did not pan out. At all.
December 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reading transcripts from the 1993 hearings on gays in the military and I can't think of a better challenge to Huntingtonian views of military autonomy or skepticism of the authority of military advice. The witnesses' predictions did not pan out. At all.
Reposted by John Ismay
Thinking today about how DOD has delayed and delayed and then scaled back the OA-1 Skyraider II because it’ll be no good in high-intensity conflict and (because of the delays) it came on line too late for the GWOT…*which still continues and will never actually end*
Reuters reporting it was over a dozen Tomahawks
December 26, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Thinking today about how DOD has delayed and delayed and then scaled back the OA-1 Skyraider II because it’ll be no good in high-intensity conflict and (because of the delays) it came on line too late for the GWOT…*which still continues and will never actually end*
Reposted by John Ismay
The Army and Navy exceeded federal limits on low-scoring recruits using preparatory courses: www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-ig-...
US Army and Navy stretched the rules to misrepresent the academic qualifications of recruits, the inspector general says
A Pentagon watchdog says the Army and Navy misrepresented recruit test scores, exceeding federal limits on low scorers.
www.businessinsider.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:30 PM
The Army and Navy exceeded federal limits on low-scoring recruits using preparatory courses: www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-ig-...
U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford passes sixth month on deployment with no end in sight www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
Long Carrier Deployment Projects U.S. Strength, and Carries Costs
www.nytimes.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford passes sixth month on deployment with no end in sight www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
Reposted by John Ismay
Just released on the Guantanamo war court website: A 904-page filing with 899 pages entirely redacted, following a nearly four-year security review. It was filed on Dec. 29, 2021 as exhibits by one of the defendants in the long-running Sept. 11 case.
December 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Just released on the Guantanamo war court website: A 904-page filing with 899 pages entirely redacted, following a nearly four-year security review. It was filed on Dec. 29, 2021 as exhibits by one of the defendants in the long-running Sept. 11 case.
Reposted by John Ismay
Imagine interviewing a victim of torture and independently confirming the details of his torture and then being told you can’t broadcast it because the people who ordered the torture wouldn’t give their side of the story.
December 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Imagine interviewing a victim of torture and independently confirming the details of his torture and then being told you can’t broadcast it because the people who ordered the torture wouldn’t give their side of the story.
Reposted by John Ismay
When police returned Reggie Williams’ wallet, an officer told him: Don’t do anything bad and keep your ID on you.
To Williams, the warning echoed a slavery-era requirement that free African Americans carry documents to prove they weren’t enslaved.
(Published Nov. with @mlk50.com)
To Williams, the warning echoed a slavery-era requirement that free African Americans carry documents to prove they weren’t enslaved.
(Published Nov. with @mlk50.com)
“I Don’t Feel Safe”: Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Trump’s Police Task Force
A pastor was pulled over for looking lost. A 72-year-old was marched out in his bathrobe due to mistaken identity. Memphis’ mayor welcomed the federal law enforcement surge, but some residents say the...
www.propublica.org
December 23, 2025 at 4:00 AM
When police returned Reggie Williams’ wallet, an officer told him: Don’t do anything bad and keep your ID on you.
To Williams, the warning echoed a slavery-era requirement that free African Americans carry documents to prove they weren’t enslaved.
(Published Nov. with @mlk50.com)
To Williams, the warning echoed a slavery-era requirement that free African Americans carry documents to prove they weren’t enslaved.
(Published Nov. with @mlk50.com)
With Kai and other old salts who've done the job in mind, 'battleship' is written here only in quote marks, given the ship-class categorizations readily available in the historical record. Definitions matter www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...
December 23, 2025 at 3:48 AM
With Kai and other old salts who've done the job in mind, 'battleship' is written here only in quote marks, given the ship-class categorizations readily available in the historical record. Definitions matter www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...
Using the U.S. Naval Institute's "Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet" as the authoritative reference, at 35,000 tons this is a "battleship" only in the realm of the imagination www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...
Trump Announces New ‘Trump Class’ of Warships
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Using the U.S. Naval Institute's "Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet" as the authoritative reference, at 35,000 tons this is a "battleship" only in the realm of the imagination www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...
Any attempt to "bring back" the 16-inch guns of the Iowa-class, or anything even remotely close to that, will have to face the ghosts of ERGM for 5-inch guns and LRLAP for the Zumwalt-class's 155mm guns in the Navy's pantheon of failed gun programs www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/m...
December 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Any attempt to "bring back" the 16-inch guns of the Iowa-class, or anything even remotely close to that, will have to face the ghosts of ERGM for 5-inch guns and LRLAP for the Zumwalt-class's 155mm guns in the Navy's pantheon of failed gun programs www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/m...
Reposted by John Ismay
Ugh, I remember hanging out with this guy and Evan Wright at an event for “Generation Kill” when it came out, and now they have both killed themselves
James Ransone, US actor known for The Wire, dies aged 46
James Ransone, US actor known for The Wire, dies aged 46
LA medical examiner reports Ransone, who played Chester ‘Ziggy’ Sobotka in the HBO crime drama, died by suicide
James Ransone, the American actor best known for his work in 12 episodes of The Wire, has died in Los Angeles.
Information from the Los Angeles medical examiner indicated Ransone, 46, died on Friday from suicide. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Ugh, I remember hanging out with this guy and Evan Wright at an event for “Generation Kill” when it came out, and now they have both killed themselves
Reposted by John Ismay
The line between life and death for so many animals is staffed by a small unheralded army of people, mostly women, who donate their time and sweat making the word a less cruel place
December 20, 2025 at 11:11 PM
The line between life and death for so many animals is staffed by a small unheralded army of people, mostly women, who donate their time and sweat making the word a less cruel place
Reposted by John Ismay
NEW: Judges across Tennessee are now demanding greater accountability from people who have been ordered to give up their guns, a shift aimed at strengthening protections for domestic violence victims.
With @wpln.bsky.social
With @wpln.bsky.social
A County’s Move to Protect Domestic Violence Victims Is Spreading Across Tennessee After Legislative Delay
Judges across the state are demanding more accountability from abusers who have been ordered to give up their guns in an effort to strengthen protections for domestic violence victims.
www.propublica.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:00 PM
NEW: Judges across Tennessee are now demanding greater accountability from people who have been ordered to give up their guns, a shift aimed at strengthening protections for domestic violence victims.
With @wpln.bsky.social
With @wpln.bsky.social
Reposted by John Ismay
Huge news: after many years, my bipartisan bill with Senator Todd Young to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force against Iraq was signed into law. This is a historic win for Americans and allows us to close the book on this forever war.
December 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Huge news: after many years, my bipartisan bill with Senator Todd Young to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force against Iraq was signed into law. This is a historic win for Americans and allows us to close the book on this forever war.
Reposted by John Ismay
The death toll in the U.S. military bombing campaign of suspected drug runners in the ocean has surpassed 100, nearly one for each day since the Trump administration operation began. Here is our updated tracker.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks
In three months, the Trump administration has killed scores of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
The death toll in the U.S. military bombing campaign of suspected drug runners in the ocean has surpassed 100, nearly one for each day since the Trump administration operation began. Here is our updated tracker.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Keep looking. There’s more
A U.S.-made bomb, believed to date to World War II, was discovered this week during an airport safety survey on a southern Japanese island, the first ordnance found since inspections were launched after an explosion last year. (from @brianmcelhiney.bsky.social & @keishirkoja.bsky.social)
American-made bomb from WWII uncovered near runway on small Okinawa island
Okinawa authorities discovered a U.S.-made bomb believed to date to World War II during an airport safety survey on a southern Japanese island.
www.stripes.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Keep looking. There’s more
Was trying to figure out if a story of mine had pubbed tonight and a Google ‘AI Overview’ I’ve never wanted informed me of a job I’ve never had in a community I was never part of in uniform.
Can the AI thing be tuned off? Asking for a friend who doesn’t need his time wasted
Can the AI thing be tuned off? Asking for a friend who doesn’t need his time wasted
December 19, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Was trying to figure out if a story of mine had pubbed tonight and a Google ‘AI Overview’ I’ve never wanted informed me of a job I’ve never had in a community I was never part of in uniform.
Can the AI thing be tuned off? Asking for a friend who doesn’t need his time wasted
Can the AI thing be tuned off? Asking for a friend who doesn’t need his time wasted
Reposted by John Ismay
NEW: US gunboat diplomacy — Trump's order to do a blockade of some oil tankers by Venezuela surprised the Pentagon. Maduro orders the navy to escort ships, risking a conflict on the high seas. Trump says he aims to seize the country's oil and other assets. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
December 18, 2025 at 12:31 PM
NEW: US gunboat diplomacy — Trump's order to do a blockade of some oil tankers by Venezuela surprised the Pentagon. Maduro orders the navy to escort ships, risking a conflict on the high seas. Trump says he aims to seize the country's oil and other assets. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
Reposted by John Ismay
Peter Arnett has died at 91. The Pulitzer-winning journalist was one of the world’s best-known TV reporters covering wars and insurrections.
Peter Arnett, Pulitzer-Winning War Correspondent, Dies at 91
He won the prestigious award for his daring coverage of the Vietnam War for The Associated Press, and went on to cover conflicts for CNN for nearly two decades.
nyti.ms
December 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Peter Arnett has died at 91. The Pulitzer-winning journalist was one of the world’s best-known TV reporters covering wars and insurrections.