Wesley Morgan
@wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Writing about America’s post-9/11 wars
https://linktr.ee/wesleysmorgan
Author of THE HARDEST PLACE
https://tinyurl.com/yh9kbh5f
Please be either informative or funny in your replies
Signal wesmorgan.01
https://linktr.ee/wesleysmorgan
Author of THE HARDEST PLACE
https://tinyurl.com/yh9kbh5f
Please be either informative or funny in your replies
Signal wesmorgan.01
I hope he brought in one of those anatomically correct twitching casualty mannequins like I saw at JRTC once
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I hope he brought in one of those anatomically correct twitching casualty mannequins like I saw at JRTC once
You spend your adult life fighting against a dictator with opulent, garish tastes. You finally prevail and walk the insides of the dictator’s abandoned palaces: gaudy, obscene, covered in gold bought with the people’s money.
And then the next thing you know…
And then the next thing you know…
November 10, 2025 at 11:11 PM
You spend your adult life fighting against a dictator with opulent, garish tastes. You finally prevail and walk the insides of the dictator’s abandoned palaces: gaudy, obscene, covered in gold bought with the people’s money.
And then the next thing you know…
And then the next thing you know…
Instead, here’s a happy birthday to all my Marine friends, and to the other Marines I’ve met from Ramadi and Sangin to Hawaii and Okinawa.
November 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Instead, here’s a happy birthday to all my Marine friends, and to the other Marines I’ve met from Ramadi and Sangin to Hawaii and Okinawa.
The past 30 years, I always called my Grandpa Don on Nov 10 to wish him a happy USMC birthday. He grew up without running water, and enlisting in the Marines, and then returning after college as an officer, dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. He died in Sept at age 96. Miss you, Marine.
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The past 30 years, I always called my Grandpa Don on Nov 10 to wish him a happy USMC birthday. He grew up without running water, and enlisting in the Marines, and then returning after college as an officer, dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. He died in Sept at age 96. Miss you, Marine.
Latest Army general to be jammed up over alleged wokeness is Pat Work, who led the Ranger company that fast-roped into the Korengal to recover the bodies during Operation Red Wings and was the 82nd brigade commander who dug ISIS out of Mosul
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Latest Army general to be jammed up over alleged wokeness is Pat Work, who led the Ranger company that fast-roped into the Korengal to recover the bodies during Operation Red Wings and was the 82nd brigade commander who dug ISIS out of Mosul
*Yes, there is a pretty metal etymology to “orca” having to do with “Orcus,” the Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld. But this etymology is disputed in a way that makes it decidedly less metal
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
*Yes, there is a pretty metal etymology to “orca” having to do with “Orcus,” the Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld. But this etymology is disputed in a way that makes it decidedly less metal
This is a visual angle on the destruction in Gaza that has been mostly missing: what the huge expanse of Gaza City that has received the IDF earthmover treatment actually looks like, not top-down but horizontally. The fully razed area of Shejaiya just stretches on and on—you can’t even see the…
November 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
This is a visual angle on the destruction in Gaza that has been mostly missing: what the huge expanse of Gaza City that has received the IDF earthmover treatment actually looks like, not top-down but horizontally. The fully razed area of Shejaiya just stretches on and on—you can’t even see the…
(And a NIAC is what the administration contends that the boat strike campaign is part of) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
November 6, 2025 at 3:32 AM
(And a NIAC is what the administration contends that the boat strike campaign is part of) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
War crimes certainly can occur in non-international armed conflict as well as IAC (as can other breaches of IHL that don’t rise to the level of war crimes)
November 6, 2025 at 2:53 AM
War crimes certainly can occur in non-international armed conflict as well as IAC (as can other breaches of IHL that don’t rise to the level of war crimes)
Like this one from Afg. I’m sure this JTAC deserved the award and saved lives! But the award suggests binary scenario where if he hadn’t called in the strikes, then *every member* of a company-sized assault force would have been trapped in the village and slaughtered…with an AC-130 and A-10 overhead
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Like this one from Afg. I’m sure this JTAC deserved the award and saved lives! But the award suggests binary scenario where if he hadn’t called in the strikes, then *every member* of a company-sized assault force would have been trapped in the village and slaughtered…with an AC-130 and A-10 overhead
This is the latest Shawn Ryan episode
November 4, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This is the latest Shawn Ryan episode
Seems likely the result of the IDF’s Military Advocate General leaking the detainee rape video in an apparent effort to defend her office from allegations that it looked the other way at IDF Gaza war crimes will be…the dismissal of the only serious war crimes charges her office actually pursued
November 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Seems likely the result of the IDF’s Military Advocate General leaking the detainee rape video in an apparent effort to defend her office from allegations that it looked the other way at IDF Gaza war crimes will be…the dismissal of the only serious war crimes charges her office actually pursued
What kind of boat is this?
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
What kind of boat is this?
Tangentially related
October 30, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Tangentially related
Of the remaining 5 strikes, 4 were in the vicinity of the Mawasi "safe zone," including one right in the middle of it, and 1 on the western edge of Khan Younis.
(Much more of KY was likely demolished this summer than the black areas reflect—those are just the parts I have satellite imagery of.)
(Much more of KY was likely demolished this summer than the black areas reflect—those are just the parts I have satellite imagery of.)
October 30, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Of the remaining 5 strikes, 4 were in the vicinity of the Mawasi "safe zone," including one right in the middle of it, and 1 on the western edge of Khan Younis.
(Much more of KY was likely demolished this summer than the black areas reflect—those are just the parts I have satellite imagery of.)
(Much more of KY was likely demolished this summer than the black areas reflect—those are just the parts I have satellite imagery of.)
Nine more of the strikes were in the central Gaza towns of Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah, the only urban areas in the Gaza that have generally been spared the demolition treatment (and where IDF ground forces mostly have not ventured in 2025).
October 30, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Nine more of the strikes were in the central Gaza towns of Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah, the only urban areas in the Gaza that have generally been spared the demolition treatment (and where IDF ground forces mostly have not ventured in 2025).
16 of the IDF strikes were in Gaza City and Jabaliya—most of them in areas already demolished. (Black represents areas of Gaza City, Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun that were fully demolished as of mid-Sept—solid white is the area that was still standing at that time, amid the IDF Gaza City offensive.)
October 30, 2025 at 7:02 PM
16 of the IDF strikes were in Gaza City and Jabaliya—most of them in areas already demolished. (Black represents areas of Gaza City, Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun that were fully demolished as of mid-Sept—solid white is the area that was still standing at that time, amid the IDF Gaza City offensive.)
This is the part of Rafah where the concentration of 15 strikes occurred. Neighborhoods that were confirmed by satellite imagery to have been fully demolished by IDF earthmovers and demo crews as of mid-May are shaded black—143rd Division has conducted lots of further Rafah demolitions since then.
October 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This is the part of Rafah where the concentration of 15 strikes occurred. Neighborhoods that were confirmed by satellite imagery to have been fully demolished by IDF earthmovers and demo crews as of mid-May are shaded black—143rd Division has conducted lots of further Rafah demolitions since then.
Where the IDF strikes were yesterday: 31+ in Hamas-controlled Gaza, but 17+ more on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, including 15 in a thoroughly demolished part of Rafah 2 miles inside IDF-controlled territory (presumably near where the Hamas attack that killed the IDF soldier took place).
October 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Where the IDF strikes were yesterday: 31+ in Hamas-controlled Gaza, but 17+ more on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, including 15 in a thoroughly demolished part of Rafah 2 miles inside IDF-controlled territory (presumably near where the Hamas attack that killed the IDF soldier took place).
It’s certainly a very orientalist/colonialist artifact…which illustrates the direct line from many British and French 20th century colonial counterrevolutionary practices to 21st century U.S. ones (something I got into briefly in a book about the U.S. war in eastern Afg)
October 29, 2025 at 7:38 PM
It’s certainly a very orientalist/colonialist artifact…which illustrates the direct line from many British and French 20th century colonial counterrevolutionary practices to 21st century U.S. ones (something I got into briefly in a book about the U.S. war in eastern Afg)
It’s a quote from TE Lawrence that, like the others, was widely repeated by US and UK counterinsurgency “experts” like David Kilcullen and John Nagl at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (including the efforts to train and “put in the lead”
the Iraqi and Afghan militaries)
the Iraqi and Afghan militaries)
October 29, 2025 at 7:31 PM
It’s a quote from TE Lawrence that, like the others, was widely repeated by US and UK counterinsurgency “experts” like David Kilcullen and John Nagl at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (including the efforts to train and “put in the lead”
the Iraqi and Afghan militaries)
the Iraqi and Afghan militaries)
This is the in-this-house era I came of age in
October 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This is the in-this-house era I came of age in
For the new Pacific strikes, seems likely Panama must be allowing overflight by US strike and surveillance aircraft.
Two big escalations in the past week: the first strike in the Pacific (there’ve been four more since) and now the first day of multiple strikes.
Two big escalations in the past week: the first strike in the Pacific (there’ve been four more since) and now the first day of multiple strikes.
October 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
For the new Pacific strikes, seems likely Panama must be allowing overflight by US strike and surveillance aircraft.
Two big escalations in the past week: the first strike in the Pacific (there’ve been four more since) and now the first day of multiple strikes.
Two big escalations in the past week: the first strike in the Pacific (there’ve been four more since) and now the first day of multiple strikes.
She’s still around, FYI
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
She’s still around, FYI
