Lebanon does not have a powerful army.

For years, Lebanese have known that Palestinian camps like Nahr al-Barid and Ain al-Helwe - hopeless slums crowded with generations of disenfranchised Palestinian refugees who can't go home because of Israel, and can't work because of Lebanese laws - are awash with gunmen, criminals and, since the war in Iraq, al-Qaida inspired jihadists.

The Taliban mostly attacks international and Afghan security forces. They rarely carry out attacks in markets.

There is no Afghan Awakening Movement.

By 2007, Iraqi society had completely collapsed.

Everyone knows what can happen to soldiers who are in front line units.

After literally hundreds of firefights, Chosen Company became increasingly battle-hardened. And they also became increasingly suspicious of their Afghan counterparts, believing - with their lives on the line at the end of the day - that they could only truly rely on themselves.

I had some training on how to cope with hostage-taking.

An Egyptian newspaper once publicly identified me as the C.I.A. station chief in Cairo. It seemed so stupid at the time. I was only 24, a little young to be a station chief, and, of course, I was never with the C.I.A.

Foreigners who speak Arabic in the Middle East are often assumed to be working for the C.I.A. or Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad.

The U.S. presence and American missteps made ethnic violence in Iraq far worse than it would have been otherwise after Saddam Saddam Hussein's fall.

War is not a petri dish to examine and analyze our emotions.

When students and liberals initially occupied Tahrir Square, it looked like it might be a passing thing.

Much worse than the unavoidable inefficiencies of large government is the failure to fund the government we need.

Large government is inevitably inefficient, but so, too, is large private enterprise.

I am glad to see the Confederate battle flag gone from a place of honor at the South Carolina state capitol.

I have written about cultural dislocation, and I understand the corrosive effect of diminished expectations.

Among the things I know is that Trump voters were played for suckers.

My father was raised in an orphanage, and my mother was an immigrant from Poland whose first childhood memory was of hunger. Somehow, despite all of that, I am called a member of the 'elite.' If so, I damned well earned it.

I have come to the conclusion that Ben Carson is a bit nuts. I say that not because I disagree with him politically, but because he doesn't seem to know what the truth is.

The ability and willingness to keep two opposing views in mind at the same time are hallmarks of adulthood.

The fact is that the United States does not need Israel. Our special relationship was not forged, as it was with Great Britain, in two world wars, not to mention a common language and, in significant respects, culture. It is based on warmth, emotion, shared values - and, not to be dismissed, a potent domestic lobby.

In power politics, it's usually not enough to be liked. A nation has to be considered essential.

Israel may be beloved, but for American security, it is not essential.