The Real Intelligence Failure in Iran: A costly quagmire was predictable. Trump went to war anyway. New from me.

Ukrainian drones have made artillery and armored vehicles look obsolete. Why is the world still buying them? New from @shustry.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Kristi Noem Is Gone. Now Mass Deportations Can Really Begin. New from @nickmiroff.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

We published this story minutes before Trump extended his reprieve on striking Iranian energy facilities for 10 more days. Such attacks would prompt Iranian retaliation across the Gulf. If Trump hadn’t known this before, last week’s attack on Qatar offered a clear demonstration.

An Iranian missile attack on a major natural gas facility in Qatar last week offered a glimpse of the catastrophes that might follow a broader Iranian military campaign against energy facilities across the Persian Gulf, reports @shaneharris.bsky.social.

New from me: A turning point in the Iran War. A costly Iranian attack on Qatar's main LNG plant shows us the catastrophes that might follow a broader campaign against energy facilities across the Persian Gulf. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

One of the great benefits of working at The Atlantic is I can spam @shaneharris.bsky.social with questions. Now you can do that too.

AMA, folks.

The Strait of Hormuz presents a classic war theater for an insurgency to bog down superior forces. @nancyayoussef.bsky.social and Missy Ryan, who covered the insurgency in Iraq, explain why. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

The First Big Administration Defection Over Iran Joe Kent has quit. Will Tulsi Gabbard be next? www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Some personal news: This is my last week at The Washington Post. I’ve loved so much of the last 9 years here, but my faith in the paper’s current leadership is broken beyond repair. Incredibly excited to get to work w/ the newsroom below (I start in June) Get in touch on Signal : 9178872891

This ABC News story about Iran activating sleeper cells sure sounds like what I reported about a Persian-language numbers station today. But if so, there's something off. 🧵

New: A Mysterious Code Is Being Broadcast on Shortwave Radio. Is It Iran? www.theatlantic.com/national-sec... I take a look at the "V32" Farsi numbers station that aired on Feb. 28. Also proxy and cyber attacks, as well as other asymmetric measures Iran might use.

Somehow we keep coming back to Iran… Always great to talk to Mary even when the subject is grim.

“Let them sing.”

Significant new reporting from Warren Strobel and @ellenwapo.bsky.social on a secret “Havana Syndrome” device in Norway. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

I spent 7 years at the @washingtonpost.com. Did some of the best work of my career. Had some of the best times of my life. The people responsible for the misery that is about to unfold will probably fail up, which is a damn shame. There will be a time for recriminations. But today...

To you, Ms. O’Hara. And thank you. 💔

Tim Walz tells @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social he fears a Ft. Sumter moment in Minneapolis. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

“.. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks on the phone while standing inside a vehicle loaded with boxes outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after the FBI executed a search warrant there.” @reuters.com

“Americans who support liberal democracy need to recognize what we’re dealing with in order to cope with it, and to recognize something, one must name it. Trump has revealed himself, and we must name what we see.” — @jonrauch.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Back on the pod!

“We have done so much for America”: Denmark fought alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan. Now, as Trump eyes Greenland, the families of fallen soldiers have a message for him, @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social reports: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Fascinating story from the nat sec team at CNN. Through an undercover operation, the Pentagon paid eight figures for a device some investigators suspect is linked to Havana Syndrome. www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...

Feels right.

Aldrich Ames, most damaging CIA traitor in agency history, dies at 84 www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Always a pleasure to talk to Mary and the team at Slate.

Here’s how Trump takes Greenland—and ends NATO. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec... w/ @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social

Trump on Venezuela’s new leader: “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” More here from @michaelscherer.bsky.social’s interview this morning with the president. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

New tonight: More surprising than Maduro’s capture was that the White House plans to run Venezuela. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

How Did We Get to Such a Bad Question? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o... To Carlos’ excellent list of useless questions I would add, “What keeps you up at night.”

Time to make the bacon. 🥓

🇨🇦

It's the Friday News Roundup! So nice to be back with the great Diane Rehm on her new Substack. dianerehm.substack.com/p/the-friday...

The AI vending machine "ordered a live fish. It offered to buy stun guns, pepper spray, cigarettes and underwear. Profits collapsed. Newsroom morale soared." I say keep him on. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...

There’s still no thrill like seeing a story in print. First issue of the new year is on stands and in your mailbox. (Oh, and here…https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/mohammad-tajik-iran-cyber-intelligence/684954/?gift=kPTlqn0J1iP9IBZcsdI5ISO8BNMho4wWgcNKRLP3pqI)

This already has the makings of a movie

This is gonna be a dope story. Can't wait.

Fascinating tale of cyber-related intrigue.

I've waited nearly ten years to tell this story: In 2016, I developed a source in Iranian intelligence named Mohammad Hossein Tajik. He told me he came from a politically connected family. That he had led Iran's cyber army. And that he had secretly worked for the CIA. 🧵

DOD IG report on Signalgate, which notes that investigators had to rely in part on the transcript that we posted, because messages on Hegseth's cell phone had auto-deleted. media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/04/...

Not even making Lawfare podcasts anymore and still a top fan. ❤️ @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org

A plane crash in a jungle revealed a secret government operation to bypass Congress and threatened to bring down a president. Simpler times, man. RIP Eugene Hasenfus. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...

News: Pentagon inspector general finds that the classified information Pete Hegseth shared in a Signal chat with @TheAtlantic could have put U.S. forces at risk. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

😔 www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...

It’s that time of year again. Let’s make bacon! www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/pos... Post Reports is repeating our James Beard Award-winning podcast about my ten-year quest to find a secret recipe for candied bacon. Recipe at the end. (It goes perfectly with cocktails.) Happy Thanksgiving!

Over several interviews, RFK Jr. told @michaelscherer.bsky.social about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he has crusaded against? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

A cache of emails from the longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell shows her prison conditions improving dramatically as a crisis grew for Trump, @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social reports. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is some lede: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...