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Bill Gertz

Bill Gertz

Bill Gertz is a national security columnist for The Washington Times and senior editor at The Washington Free Beacon (www.freebeacon.com). He has been with The Times since 1985.

He is the author of six books, four of them national best-sellers. His latest book, "The Failure Factory," on government bureaucracy and national security, was published in September 2008.

Mr. Gertz also writes a weekly column called Inside the Ring, a weekly column that chronicles the U.S. national security bureaucracy.

Mr. Gertz has been a guest lecturer at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.; the Central Intelligence Agency in Virginia; the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington; and the Brookings Institution in Washington. He has participated in the National Security Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

He studied English literature at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and journalism at George Washington University. He is married and has two daughters.

Articles by Bill Gertz

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in Beijing, where he revealed some of his views about the People's Liberation Army's military training and experience. (Associated Press/File)

Mattis on the Chinese military

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is considered a warrior scholar steeped in military history. His views on the Chinese military, however, are not widely known and remain hidden -- despite several on-the-record and off-the-record meetings with reporters during his trip to Beijing last month for talks with Chinese military leaders and President Xi Jinping. Published July 18, 2018

Libyan National Army forces, under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Khalifah Haftar, is pushing for a Russian military presence in eastern Libya. (The Washington Times/File)

Russia moving into Libya

U.S. intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Russian military activities in Libya for signs that Moscow may soon build a military base in the divided North African state. Published July 11, 2018

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe met last week in Beijing. The delegation traveling on the E-4B plane with Mr. Mattis had to take extraordinary security precautions. (Associated Press)

China electronic spying threat

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' recent visit to China highlighted the security dangers posed by sophisticated Chinese electronic spying in the capital of Beijing. Published July 4, 2018

Fort Greely, Alaska, this week, home of the Pentagon's ground-based interceptor missile defense system. (Associated Press/File)

Missile defenses still ready for North Korea

Alaska-based interceptor missiles capable of knocking out long-range North Korean missiles remain at a high state of readiness despite the apparent reduction in tensions with Pyongyang following the recent summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. Published June 27, 2018

North Korea on summit

A review of North Korean state media provides key insights about Pyongyang's approach to the issue of denuclearization. Published June 20, 2018

Mike Pompeo, President Trump's secretary of state, directed much of the activities leading up to the summit. (Associated Press)

Trump's A-team

Before leaving Singapore on Air Force One, President Trumpp credited some of the success for the historic meeting to the work done by his new team of foreign policy and national security advisers. Published June 13, 2018

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently testified to Congress about the company's data privacy policies. Facebook reportedly acknowledged that it shared user data with several Chinese handset manufacturers, including Huawei, a company flagged by U.S. intelligence officials as a national security threat, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL. (Associated Press/File)

Facebook and Lenovo

Social media giant Facebook is under fire for sharing data with four Chinese electronics companies that critics say pose security and privacy risks for Americans' data. Published June 6, 2018

Since its arrival in October, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System has provided crucial fire support to Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conducting combat missions against the Taliban. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Military kills 70 Afghan Taliban leaders

U.S. military forces in Afghanistan conducted major strikes against the Taliban this month, killing up to 70 terrorist leaders, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. Published May 30, 2018

The North Koreans have selectively modernized their 1 million-troop military and regard nuclear weapons as the most effective way to prevent an attack from the United States. (Associated Press/File)

North Korea unlikely to give up nukes

A Pentagon report to Congress warns that North Korea will not easily give up its nuclear arms since the weapons are viewed as a prime guarantor keeping the Kim Jong-un regime in power. Published May 23, 2018

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says America's has two fundamental sources of power: the power of inspiration and the power of intimidation. (Associated Press/File)

Mattis on strategy

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the recently completed U.S. defense strategy, the first in 10 years, will be used to guide the revamping of the military during the Trump administration. Published May 16, 2018

"They continue their malign activities across the region" said Defense Secretary James N. Mattis during a Senate hearing on Wednesday about Iran. (Associated Press)

Ex-CIA officer indicted as Chinese spy

A federal grand jury in Virginia has indicted former CIA operations officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee for conspiracy to spy for China, in a case that has been under investigation for more than six years. Published May 9, 2018

An Israeli government PowerPoint sheds light on the Iranian secret arms program. As part of the plan, they worked on an underground testing program, a simulation project, a warhead project and a centrifuge program. (Israeli Government)

Details on Iran's nuclear program

Israel's intelligence coup in obtaining tens of thousands of documents on the Iranian nuclear weapons program sheds new light on Tehran's secret arms program. Published May 2, 2018

The 350,000 Chinese students in the U.S. "are here legitimately and doing great research and helping the global economy," said Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, but others are used as tools to facilitate nefarious activity. (Associated Press/File)

China using students as spies

A senior U.S. counterintelligence official recently said publicly what many officials and experts have been warning privately for years: China is using its large student population in the United States to spy. Published April 25, 2018

John Rood, undersecretary of defense for policy, told lawmakers that the threat posed by advanced missiles is increasing. (Associated Press/File)

Pentagon: Missile threats increasing

Senior Pentagon and military officials this week outlined the growing array of missile threats facing the United States from China, Russia and other states, including maneuvering hypersonic weapons. Published April 18, 2018

Army Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone said Spectre and Meltdown are vulnerabilities affecting nearly every computer chip made in the past 20 years. (Associated Press/File)

Cyber hardware flaws studied

An emerging hardware-based cyberthreat is being studied by the Cyber Command and U.S. intelligence community. Published April 11, 2018

"We must normalize space and cyberspace as war fighting domains," said Gen. John E. Hyten, the head of Strategic Command during a hearing. (Associated Press)

Russia tests ASAT missile

Russia has conducted a flight test of a new anti-satellite missile in what Pentagon officials say is a step in advancing Moscow's space warfare capabilities. Published April 4, 2018

China cyber spy chief revealed

The activities of one of China's cyber spymasters has been revealed for the first time in a government report on Beijing's unfair trade practices made public last week. Published March 28, 2018

Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of Combined Forces Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that any war with North Korea would be bloody, with its capability to produce chemical weapons. (Associated Press/File)

U.S. commander on North Korea threat

The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea provided a detailed look at the increasing threat posed by the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un last week. Published March 21, 2018

"I cannot tell you that we have seen decisive changes in the areas in which we're working, but I remain very well-engaged with my partner to ensure that we are moving forward," said Gen. Joseph L. Votel. (Associated Press)

Pakistani covert support for Taliban revealed

Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander of the Central Command, disclosed in congressional testimony this week that despite a new U.S. policy of pressuring Pakistan, the Islamabad government is still supporting the Taliban terrorist group in the border region with Afghanistan. Published March 14, 2018

North Korean threats to turn the South Korean capital of Seoul into a "sea of fire" are not propaganda, the Senate Armed Services Committee was told. (Associated Press/File)

Pentagon steps up North Korea military planning

The Pentagon is intensifying military planning for war on the Korean Peninsula despite the apparent thaw between North Korea and the United States over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and long-range missile program. Published March 7, 2018