Spencer Ackerman

Author of REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA & PRODUCED TRUMP. Pulitzer/National Magazine Award/etc winning journalist. WALLER VS WILDSTORM for DC Comics, IRON MAN for Marvel.

The War at Home

The Chud Era of National Security Leaks

Expanding the Security State means relying on millions of people with secret clearances. As time passes, more and more of them are going to be inveterate posters. PLUS: Tech bros kill each other and blame the homeless!

The War at Home

Will Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Close The Homan Square Black Site?

The incoming mayor put closing Homan Square in his platform. Veteran organizers and abolitionists are optimistic he'll follow through. PLUS: Is Chinese diplomacy ending the Yemen war?

The War Abroad

Eating King Crab Legs During The Fall

That's what Iraqis call the 2003-2011 U.S. Occupation. Here's my call for reparations at Notre Dame's 2023 War & Peace Forum. PLUS: Does MAGA want to join the ranks of those who attack lower Manhattan on a Tuesday morning?

Chromium Cover

Kane of Terror

WALLER VS WILDSTORM #1 is here! That can only mean one thing: this edition is going to talk about writing one of the major characters in the miniseries. Minor spoilers follow, so get the issue!

The War Abroad

What Gives You The Right To Fuck With Our Lives?

Disconnected thoughts, memories and podcasts 20 years after the invasion of Iraq. PLUS: Lee Harris, an innocent man railroaded by a Chicago cop turned Gitmo torturer, is free!

Paid-members only

Unlearned Lessons from An Endless War

The War Abroad

The 'Indispensable Nation' Learns It Might Not Be Great-Power-Competitive

Longtime U.S.-client Saudi Arabia is out for "a diversified portfolio of relationships," says a source close to the royals. The China-brokered detente with Iran shows that yesterday's price is not today's price

The War Abroad

'Even Our Breath Will Be For Sale'

A few notes on my Rolling Stone piece about the 20th anniversary of Iraq, as well as a video of a panel I was on in D.C. on the subject. PLUS: Worldwide Threats, Nordstream counternarratives, and a legendary natsec blazing session

The War at Home

Biden: Department of Homeland Security 'As Important As It’s Ever Been'

Maybe in the sense that it's never been important. But as DHS turns 20, the administration is signaling that the post-9/11 institution is here to stay

The War at Home

When They're White, They're 'Tactical Athletes'

Edited by Sam Thielman IN REIGN OF TERROR, now available in paperback, I wrote: Never would America acknowledge that the violent, reactionary dangers that it attributed to its enemies were also part of its own history. That was the meaning of Oklahoma City. It was the meaning of January 6.

The War at Home

Michael Molcher on Judge Dredd and The Endpoint of 'Policing by Consent'

Molcher's new book, I Am The Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future, is a great one. He speaks to FOREVER WARS about the politics of crime

Chromium Cover

FOREVER WARS: The Escalation

I'm going to start writing a column for The Nation. But this newsletter will continue—independently. I'll even reprint the paywalled columns here, for paid subscribers.

We Will Remember Who Collaborates With The Aliens

I don't know what these weird flying objects are either, but just in case, let's let this be said. PLUS: While we overfocus on UFOs, avoidable railroad horrors lead to avoidable disaster in Ohio. And the first page of WALLER VS. WILDSTORM!

The War Abroad

The Worst Argument For The China Cold War

Conflict with China will not "cure American political polarization," so let's pop this balloon. PLUS: Ilhan Omar's defenestration! A fake China missile gap! And the F-22 has its bar mitzvah!

The War Abroad

Brandon's Weapons Bazaar

New arms-sales data just dropped. Joe Biden has been so good for the weapons-export market that an analyst wonders if this is "a new normal," rather than a Ukraine-specific uptick. PLUS: Majid Khan is free! ALSO: A corrupt spyhunter mook at the NY FBI, you say?

China

Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud About War With China

The Pentagon says it doesn't want a war after an Air Force general predicted it. But what anyone wants is less important than what the dynamics of "Great Power Competition" yield. PLUS: Really good books by Kerry Howley and Sevgi Soysal.

The War at Home

Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Cop City

We get a potential glimpse into the future of the War on Terror at Atlanta's $90 million law-enforcement training center—and the police shooting of a protester. PLUS: U.S. strikes in Somalia, raids in Syria and ominous signs at Guantanamo

The War Abroad

Of Course Davos Wants To Hear from Henry Kissinger

What better forum could there be for one of the 20th century's ghouls to tell those who most benefit from the world as it is what they want to hear? PLUS: The U.S. arms market in Yemen will not be undersold!

Paid-members only

Chromium Cover

Is He Really Ending 2022 by Writing about Ottoman History?

The War at Home

Free Daniel Hale

And with that, we'll see you in 2023. But first, don't turn away from Lynzy Billing's unforgettable ProPublica report about the cost of a parcel of rice, a can of oil and some sugar.

The War at Home

Some of Those That Work Fusion Centers Are The Same As Constitution-Enders

Oath Keepers in the Department of Homeland Security "would ultimately choose the Oath Keepers over the department," says Daryl Johnson, whom DHS canceled for warning about this kind of thing. PLUS: I'll be speaking at a Thursday press conference for clemency for drone whistleblower Daniel Hale.

The War Abroad

A Yemen War Resolution Will Be A Moment of Truth for Biden

"Consequences" for MBS seems like a quaint idea, post-Ukraine. PLUS: Biden's December 2022 War on Terror disclosure form shows an increase in U.S. troops in Niger.

The War Abroad

As Xi Visits Saudi Arabia, U.S. Tells Mideast Allies Not To Comparison Shop

How to wage two Cold Wars at the same time? With security architecture that works like a walled garden. Would the Gulfies buy a Mac when all their stuff runs on Windows?

Newsletter

Until The Twitter Ban Takes Us

No one knows if or when the purge will come for us, but there's an enriching and affordable way to reject it—a FOREVER WARS subscription.

The War Abroad

Blaming The Afghans One Last Time

U.S. watchdog SIGAR told true stories about the trees of the Afghanistan war. It avoided talking about the forest—and the people trying to survive the changing ecosystem.