I care a lot about democracy. And dogs. Veteran | Writer | Dog Dad Baltimore fan in Southern Californiahttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mwobw3vslk2pCredibility in war is cumulative. American denials of civilian harm carry weight only if we are equally willing to acknowledge when our forces are responsible. My first essay at The Harder Question: https://theharderquestion.substack.com/p/when-the-evidence-points-back-at29 Sep 2026 16:49 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwobw3vslk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mwjsjqdg2s2pThe Pentagon knows how many U.S. service members have died in the Middle East since President Trump began the war with Iran. The American public does not. My latest for the @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-09-27/how-many-americans-have-died-in-iran-war27 Sep 2026 22:03 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwjsjqdg2s2phttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3muzcfs4evc2pU.S. forces are fighting in Ecuador. Congress never authorized it, and Americans barely know it exists. The president cannot decide alone when America goes to war. My latest for @latimes.com. Thanks @nslayton.bsky.social, whose reporting led me here. PDF in replies. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-09-08/america-at-war-in-ecuador08 Sep 2026 15:07 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzcfs4evc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3muf56z4q3s24Americans have already paid billions to move forward. Now we’re paying billions more to go backward. My latest in the Los Angeles Times on aircraft carriers, renewable energy and the cost of reversing technological progress. PDF in first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-08-31/trump-billions-reverse-american-progress31 Aug 2026 14:40 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3muf56z4q3s24https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mtblkegytc26The Iran consensus: civilian strategy failed, but military performance was brilliant. The evidence says otherwise. Iran did not overpower the U.S. military; it exposed the limits of how the U.S. prefers to fight. My latest for @latimes.com. PDF in first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-08-17/iran-war-has-exposed-limits-of-u-s-military17 Aug 2026 11:21 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtblkegytc26https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3msdqwxxd3k26Military schools should develop officers who can question flawed assumptions and tell senior leaders unwelcome truths. Politically sanitized schools may produce more compliant officers. They will not produce better leaders. (PDF in first reply) https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-08-05/pentagon-war-on-critical-thinking05 Aug 2026 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3msdqwxxd3k26https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mrpmgt2qvk26What tells the military its mission is complete? The Pentagon's answer: Jan. 20, 2029. A political end date is no military objective. My latest in the @latimes.com. PDF in the first reply: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-07-28/4-000-national-guard-still-patrolling-washington-dc28 Jul 2026 14:24 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrpmgt2qvk26https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mqwjk5nqwc26America is at war. Pete Hegseth is focused on beards and hormones. Military standards should measure excellence, not whether someone fits a particular image of what a warrior looks like. My latest in @latimes.com. PDF in first reply: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-07-18/pete-hegseth-grooming-hormones-standards18 Jul 2026 14:56 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqwjk5nqwc26https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mq33rsfnis2mThe administration wants Congress to pay for a war it never authorized, while refusing to say what that war actually cost. Oversight keeps faith with people a nation sends in harm's way. Americans deserve a straight account. New in the LA Times. PDF in first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-07-07/iran-war-actual-cost07 Jul 2026 17:08 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq33rsfnis2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mpgqazlmnk2dThe Trump administration continues killing without answers. When the government uses lethal force, it does not get to answer only to itself. That is exactly what this administration is trying to do. My latest in the LA Times. Pdf in the first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-06-29/trump-administration-killing-without-answers29 Jun 2026 14:48 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpgqazlmnk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mog5weniak2xThe U.S. charged Héctor Guerrero Flores in federal court. Then the military killed him. The president is abusing military power. Senior military leaders are helping make it possible. My latest in the Los Angeles Times. PDF in the first response. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-06-16/us-military-killing-hector-rusthenford-guerrero-flores16 Jun 2026 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mog5weniak2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mnwwagurc223My latest in the Los Angeles Times on Pete Hegseth’s meddling with military promotions. It undermines trust in leadership, puts every military leader under a cloud, and weakens the force Americans rely on to defend the country. PDF in the first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-06-10/hegseths-meddling-with-promotions-tarnishes-leadership-endangers-country10 Jun 2026 14:27 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnwwagurc223https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mn3tepggs227What exactly is our strategy in Cuba? The administration has increased pressure with little discussion about what outcome this pressure is intended to produce — or why ordinary Cubans must bear the cost. My latest in the Los Angeles Times. PDF in the first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-05-30/trump-new-crisis-in-cuba30 May 2026 19:54 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mn3tepggs227https://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mmc2ghmjns2mThe USS Arizona is a tomb. That should have been enough.   My latest in the LA Times looks at Kash Patel’s “V.I.P. Snorkel” there. The deeper disgrace was the Navy’s decision to accommodate it. PDF in the first reply. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-05-20/navys-accommodation-kash-patel#20 May 2026 13:51 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmc2ghmjns2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mlbgx2snec2oA blockade is an act of war. My latest in the Los Angeles Times argues that Congress cannot keep pretending the Iran war belongs to Trump alone while refusing to either authorize it or stop it. (PDF in the first comment) https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-05-07/trumps-blockade-is-act-of-war-not-end-of-war07 May 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbgx2snec2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mknduoaumk2oThe U.S. is still killing people at sea. It refuses to explain how that’s lawful. My latest in the LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-04-29/boat-strikes-continue29 Apr 2026 14:49 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mknduoaumk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mjzcdeissk2oStrategy is judged by outcomes, not bravado. Whatever damage has been done to Iran, America has been diminished by this war militarily, diplomatically, economically and in its global standing. My latest in the @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-04-21/america-diminished-iran-war21 Apr 2026 15:28 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjzcdeissk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3miw44pyr322oTrump won’t accept his failures in Iran. What began as a show of force has turned into a search for smaller and smaller signs of progress. That is how strategic failure plays out. My latest in the @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-04-07/trump-failures-iran-war07 Apr 2026 15:34 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw44pyr322ohttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mhqvdfuu6s2sThe crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is about more than control of a waterway. It exposes a deeper and more familiar problem: the repeated failure of the United States to match military power with equally serious strategic thought. My latest in @latimes.com https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-03-23/strait-of-hormuz-iran-war23 Mar 2026 20:24 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhqvdfuu6s2shttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mhbchwnbo22tWar is not content. Killing is not branding. And the voice of the U.S. military should not sound like Pete Hegseth. My latest in @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-03-17/hegseth-voice-of-american-war17 Mar 2026 15:37 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhbchwnbo22thttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mgpqo7n62s2tThe U.S. and Israel don’t agree on what “done” looks like in Iran. That’s how “limited” wars lose their stopping point. My latest in @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-03-10/us-israel-victory-iran-war10 Mar 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgpqo7n62s2thttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mg4oezk2gs2xIt’s not clear what this war in Iran is actually meant to achieve. As American casualties mount and operations expand, the absence of a defined political end state matters. My latest in @latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-03-02/iran-war-no-end-state03 Mar 2026 02:01 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg4oezk2gs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mfrkc6dzt22iUsing military force as leverage in negotiations is not self-defense. Air strikes can impose costs, but they cannot dictate how a determined adversary recalculates survival. My latest in @latimes.com on Iran, force and constitutional process: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-02-26/military-escalation-iran-strategy26 Feb 2026 15:49 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfrkc6dzt22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mf7xxzr5zk2iCulture-war applause lines don’t win wars. Decision quality does. My latest in @latimes.com: Hegseth’s war on diversity is eroding America’s military edge https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-02-19/hegseth-diversity-military-edge19 Feb 2026 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf7xxzr5zk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/joncduffy.bsky.social/post/3mdxpwwl64227We’re building military power faster than we’re defining what it’s meant to achieve. That should sound familiar. My latest in the @latimes.com on Iran, Iraq, and the cost of mistaking force for strategy: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-02-03/u-s-military-strategy-in-iran-feels-eerily-familiar03 Feb 2026 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:2p3rackpemygqlowzowzzgt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdxpwwl64227