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Bill Gertz

Bill Gertz

bgertz@washingtontimes.com

Bill Gertz is a national security correspondent for The Washington Times. He has been with The Times since 1985.
He is the author of eight books, four of them national best-sellers. His latest book, "Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China's Drive for Global Supremacy," reveals details about the growing threat posed by the People's Republic of China. He is also the author of the ebook "How China's Communist Party Made the World Sick."
Mr. Gertz also writes 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.
He can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Bill Gertz

Alexander

Inside the Ring: U.S. grid threatened

An Energy Department-sponsored study of the U.S. electrical power grid publicly identifies numerous vulnerabilities to cyberattacks by nations or terrorists, including hacking that could cause widespread power outages.

October 30, 2013
Iran's state-run Fars News agency reported that the Iranian military supplied Russia with a copy of a U.S. ScanEagle drone supposedly captured by Iran in 2012. (Insitu Pacific/File)

Inside the Ring: Here come the drones

China is preparing its military to conduct warfare with offensive and defensive spying and attack drones, according to a Chinese colonel.

October 23, 2013
**FILE** Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican (Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: Russia to test new missile

Russia will test launch a controversial missile over the next several weeks that U.S. officials say is raising new concerns about Moscow's growing strategic nuclear arsenal and Russia's potential violations of arms treaties.

October 16, 2013
Li Keqiang

Inside the Ring: China fears U.S. financial default

U.S. officials say recent statements by Chinese authorities indicate fear in Beijing that a U.S. government default would endanger China's $1.3 trillion worth of investments in the United States.

October 9, 2013
Talks on Tuesday during the U.N. General Assembly between Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Syria's chemical weapons were described as "constructive," diplomatic-speak for cautious optimism. (Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: U.S. caving to Russia on Syria use of force language

From the briefing, it appears the Obama administration is backing away from an outline "framework" arms agreement reached in Geneva with the Russians that states any Syrian violations of chemical arms dismantlement would be met with a "Chapter 7" response under the U.N. Charter. That section authorizes the use of military force under the U.N. Security Council.

September 25, 2013

Inside the Ring: Syria, Iraq and weapons of mass destruction

The U.S.-Russia agreement to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons is reigniting a controversy over the 2003 covert operation by Russian special operations forces to remove Iraqi weapons — including chemical arms — and move them to Syria and Lebanon prior to the Iraq War.

September 18, 2013
A Chinese H-6 bomber recently flew through the Miyako Strait between Okinawa and the Senkakus. (Japan Defense Ministry)

Inside the Ring: FBI targets Syrian hackers

A hacker group linked to the Syrian government was "highly effective" in conducting cyberattacks against social media over the past several months, according to an FBI advisory.

September 11, 2013
A video posting shows Syrian SA-11 missiles being deployed at the Al Massah Military Airport in Damascus. Officials say the base is a major target of U.S. strikes because it was used to fire chemical weapons during the Aug. 21 attack. (Youtube.com)

Inside the Ring: Russia reset paused

President Obama will not hold a formal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during this week's G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.

September 4, 2013
Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle, commander of the Pacific Air Forces, has made remarks about U.S. military deployments that China sees as having a "strong Cold War flavor," Beijing's euphemism for anti-communism. (Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: Air Force on China threat

Air Force Gen. Herbert J. "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of the Pacific Air Forces, recently outlined his service's role in the Pentagon shift to Asia, known as both the "pivot" and Air Sea Battle, a concept to counter China's high-tech weapons.

August 28, 2013
Analysts point to the release of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a significant sign that the military is preparing for long-term authoritarian rule. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Inside the Ring: Returning to military rule

U.S. intelligence agencies watching events in Egypt say the military is preparing for long-term authoritarian rule, a setback for both pro-democracy advocates and proponents of Islamist rule under the ousted Muslim Brotherhood regime.

August 21, 2013

Inside the Ring: Army officer calls for purge

An active duty Army officer is urging a thorough house cleaning of Army generals and a restructuring of the service after more than a decade of leadership failures.

August 14, 2013
Adm. Cecil E.D. Haney. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Inside the Ring: Russia boosts Cuba ties

The Russian military recently dispatched a guided-missile warship to Cuba as part of what U.S. officials say are growing military, intelligence and economic ties between Moscow and Havana.

July 31, 2013
"Too often, this president acts as if he is above the law. He ignores the law when it comes to his health care law; he ignores the enforcement of immigration laws; and now he is applying this approach to defense policy." — Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces

Inside the Ring: Bill blocks nuclear cuts

The House approved an amendment to the fiscal 2014 defense appropriations bill this week that would block the Obama administration's plan to cut U.S. nuclear forces under the 2010 U.S.-Russia New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

July 24, 2013
USNS Impeccable, an intelligence-gathering ship, was harassed by a Chinese security ship last month in an incident that analysts say indicates Beijing is stepping up aggressive maritime encounters toward the U.S. Navy.
(U.S. Navy)

Inside the Ring: New naval harassment in Asia

A U.S. intelligence-gathering ship was harassed by a Chinese security ship last month in an incident that analysts say indicates Beijing is stepping up aggressive maritime encounters toward the U.S. Navy in the Asia-Pacific.

July 17, 2013
Edward Snowden

Inside the Ring: More NSA leaks

U.S. intelligence officials are braced for more disclosures of National Security Agency eavesdropping secrets from renegade contractor Edward Snowden, who is seeking asylum in Venezuela.

July 10, 2013
A Russian booster rocket carrying three satellites crashed in Kazakhstan on Tuesday following an emergency shutdown of the engines after launch. (Vesti 24 via Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: Russian intel and Edward Snowden

Russia's SVR intelligence service, successor to the KGB, is behind a coordinated Moscow campaign to exploit the case of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden by fueling anti-U.S. sentiment in Russia, according to U.S. officials.

July 3, 2013
A U.N. committee in charge of monitoring arms sanctions on North Korea concludes that China provided off-road vehicles — "lumber transporters" — that were converted into long-range missile launchers by the North Korean military.

Inside the Ring: China breaks sanctions

The U.N. committee in charge of monitoring arms sanctions on North Korea concludes in a report that China provided six off-road vehicles that were converted into long-range missile launchers by Pyongyang's military.

June 26, 2013
"We do have significant concerns [about contractors], and it is something that we need to look at," says NSA Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander, on the leaks of top-secret information.
(Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: NSA contractor threat

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander this week revealed new details about the electronic spying agency's use of private contractors like renegade NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

June 19, 2013