By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
In the summer of 1992, CIA counterintelligence analyst Sandra "Sandy" Grimes burst into the office of her boss, Paul Redmond, and exclaimed, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell what is going on here ... Rick [Ames] is a Russian spy!"
On the morning of March 1, 1917, virtually every American newspaper published a bombshell story: a report on a telegram from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, proposing an alliance with Mexico. He offered his country's support to Mexico for reconquering "the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona" in exchange for a Mexican attack on the United States should the Americans enter the war on the side of the Allies.
"An American Adventure" is best characterized as autobiography liberally laced with opinion. The subtitle reference to early aviation is somewhat of a stretch. It's true the author's father was Lloyd Stearman, in whose aircraft legions of World War II aviators learned to fly. However, except for being son of the father, little of William Stearman's life reflects that aviation heritage.
In America, most find their earliest relatives came to these shores by sea. Even wiseacres who claim their first American ancestor traveled by foot over the Bering Land Bridge need to think again: The progenitors of some Americans we call "Native" may have crossed the Atlantic, according to a rising theory.
With the nation reeling under the impact of terrorist bombs and urban rioting as Vietnam War protests turned violent, Presidents Johnson and Nixon tasked the CIA with determining whether hostile foreign governments were fostering the deadly turmoil incited by black nationalist groups such as the Black Panther Party (BPP) and New Left outfits such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Contrary to its subtitle, "The Elusive Enemy: U.S. Naval Intelligence and the Imperial Japanese Fleet" is less about naval intelligence than it is about how the American fighting forces in the Pacific had to decipher for themselves the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese fleet.
The Navy's former top civilian has rocked the service in a military journal article by accusing officials of sinking the storied naval air branch into a sea of political correctness.
This slim book takes an interesting approach to the retelling of the Pacific War, at least as it involved the Navy and Marines. In this sense, the title is somewhat misleading, since the Army and Army Air Forces are hardly mentioned.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the young United States Navy had already produced a respectable number of colorful, courageous and expert captains. Names such as Barry, Dale, Decatur, Rodgers, Truxtun and more come to mind. Not until Ambassador Gordon S. Brown came forth with his magnificently researched work has justice been done to one who should rank with those greats: Thomas Tingey.
Project Azorian, the 1974 recovery of a sunken Soviet submarine resting 16,300 feet below the surface of the North Pacific, was a singular success for the CIA and the U.S. Navy - despite last-minute media leaks that proved to be of no consequence.
A nation's counterterrorism measures range from employing its intelligence agencies to monitor, understand and, if possible, take pre-emptive actions against terrorists to mobilizing the international community against them. These themes are discussed in several recently published books
This heretofore little-known story of air-delivered, radio-controlled missiles versus naval ships in World War II is a precursor to naval war in the 21st century from which lessons can be learned.
The publication of this slim and easily read book is timely, to say the least. As Congress and the nation debate yet again the size of our nuclear stockpile and the various treaties surrounding nuclear weapons, Jerry Miller's work provides a history of how we amassed so many warheads - a ready reference to the plethora of treaties and agreements over the years.
At hand is one of the more important books ever published about the CIA - a working insider's account of the aerial reconnaissance program that was, in many opinions, the cardinal Cold War achievement of America's intelligence community.
Almost every reader will recall the exciting voyage to the moon by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in 1969. Not so well known was the recovery of those astronauts and the moon rocks they brought back from the middle of the Pacific Ocean four days later.
