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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

Secretary of the Army Mark T. Esper is set to take over as the acting secretary of defense for the Trump administration on Sunday. He will replace acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan. (Associated Press)

Trump administration gets third defense chief

Army Secretary Mark T. Esper takes over on Sunday as the Trump administration's acting secretary of defense — the third defense chief for the administration and its first Republican. Published June 19, 2019

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has pressured the U.S. Army War College into postponing a speech by an expert on the historical roots of Islamic terrorism. (Associated Press)

War College cancels speaker on Islam

A Muslim activist group has pressured the U.S. Army War College into postponing a speech by Ray Ibrahim, an expert on the historical roots of Islamic terrorism, after the group falsely labeled him as a racist and "Islamophobe," he said. Published June 12, 2019

A 2012 discussion in which President Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he was facing his "last election" and as a result would have "more flexibility" once reelected is explained in "From Cold War to Hot Peace," a book by Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia. (Associated Press/File)

Obama and Russian collusion

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul provided new clues recently about a controversial open-mic comment in 2012 by President Obama, widely viewed as secret collusion to limit U.S. missile defenses. Published June 5, 2019

New START extension in doubt

Senior Trump administration officials told Congress recently that the United States is reviewing whether to seek an extension of the 2010 New START strategic weapons treaty amid concerns about Russian treaty violations and China's growing nuclear arsenal. Published May 22, 2019

North Korea appeared to ratchet up tensions this month by launching two short-range missiles that were assessed as having technological capabilities beyond those of its older Scud short-range missiles. (Associated Press/File)

Missile, nuke tests detailed

New details emerged in Seoul regarding recent North Korean nuclear and missile tests, Inside the Ring has learned. Published May 15, 2019

China's exports fell unexpectedly in April, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of negotiations on ending a tariff war with Washington over Chinese technology ambitions. (Associated Press/File)

Inside Chinese negotiating deception

China is playing games with President Trump by delaying the contentious trade talks that have been underway for months, according to an administration official. Published May 8, 2019

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, flanked by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford (left) and acting Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, warned a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday about China's aggressive military buildup. (Associated Press)

Shanahan outlines China threat

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan told a House hearing on Wednesday that countering the threat posed by China is one of the Pentagon's highest priorities. Published May 1, 2019

The Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg is funded by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who is said to be a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Associated Press/File)

Mueller on Russian influence op

The investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Moscow's election influence operation revealed that one of the key players involved in the scheme began the initial stages as early as 2014. Published April 24, 2019

In addition to submarines, the Chinese are developing underwater aircraft carrier systems, underwater robotics and deep-sea troops as part of a buildup in waters down to 13,000 feet, military researchers said. (Associated Press/File)

China militarizing deep sea

Space and cyberspace are not the sole domains for China's growing asymmetric warfare programs. The Chinese military has another development program only recently disclosed that is part of the decadeslong buildup of weapons and forces: deep sea. Published April 17, 2019

"China is in my view the greatest long-term geopolitical risk to the United States," Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, told a conference of China watchers. He suggested fighting back by exposing Beijing's abuses. (Associated Press/File)

Cruz on China threat

Ted Cruz warned this week that the United States is facing "perilous times" due to the growing threat from communist China. Published April 10, 2019

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has received a scathing indictment of poor cybersecurity in Navy computer networks. (Associated Press/File)

Navy cybersecurity faulted

An internal Navy study has faulted the sea service's failure to prevent the leaking of secrets and technology to foreign adversaries, including China and Russia. Published April 3, 2019

U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to devastating electromagnetic pulse attacks. (Associated Press/File)

Trump orders feds to prep for EMP attack

President Trump has ordered federal government agencies to harden the nation's infrastructure against potentially devastating attacks by a nuclear-bomb-produced electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. Published March 27, 2019

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2009 file photo, security workers guard at construction site of the U.S. Consulate compound in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province. The State Department said an email notice Wednesday, May 23, 2018, that a U.S. government employee in southern China reported abnormal sensations of sound and pressure, recalling similar experiences among American diplomats in Cuba who later fell ill. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

China's acoustic cannon

U.S. intelligence and security agencies investigating the mysterious sonic attacks against American diplomatic personnel in China need to look no further than China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Published March 20, 2019

Former Google executive and billionaire Eric Schmidt, who was a major donor and informal presidential adviser to Barack Obama, is heading a the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a new panel led by Democrats. (Associated Press/File)

Democrats dominate artificial intelligence commission

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a federally appointed commission, held its first meeting Monday chaired by former Google executive and billionaire Eric Schmidt, a major donor and informal adviser to former President Barack Obama. Published March 13, 2019

U.S. hits back against Chinese cyberattacks

American intelligence and military cyberwarriors have begun conducting counter-cyberattacks against Chinese intelligence and military targets, according to a U.S. official. Published March 6, 2019

Air Force Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, who is also commander of the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Command (NORAD), said Russia "only recently developed and deployed capabilities to threaten us below the nuclear threshold." (Associated Press/File)

New Russian missile threat to homeland

The commander of the military's Northern Command warned this week that Moscow is deploying conventionally armed missiles that for the first time are capable of striking targets deep inside the United States. Published February 27, 2019

China's J-20 stealth jet fighters appear to have knockoffs of two American jet fighter technologies. (Chaoji Da Benying)

Chinese jet shows off U.S. technology

A military website last week revealed photos of China's J-20 stealth jet fighter showing what appear to be knockoffs of two American jet fighter technologies. Published February 20, 2019

U.S. Navy Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Timothy Bussey scans for contacts aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance in the Indian Ocean, on Feb. 4. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy)

U.S. destroyers in disputed waters

Two U.S. destroyers sailed into waters of some of China's militarized islands in the South China Sea this week in a challenge Beijing's expansive maritime claims, the Pacific Fleet said. Published February 13, 2019