[Salon] Putin, fairly deconstructed: Lieven + Echols and Steve Simon

Hi all! Steve Simon has brought what I deem as a unique and underreported angle to the ongoing story of the Iraqi political political crisis: that the US severed its own leverage in the situation with the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/23/how-the-killing-of-irans-top-general-squandered-us-leverage-in-iraq-today/

Aslo, Connor Echols follows up on a new MAJOR but SECRET Air force fighter plane program in which all of the top contractors, from Lockheed to Raytheon have been given $1 billion to start. But details are scarce, spurring concerns of another F-35 debacle in the making. Great quotes from Dan Grazier. More: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/24/secretive-next-gen-fighter-program-raises-concerns-about-oversight-spending-priorities/

Finally, but not least, Anatol Lieven has reviewed Philip Short's new 800-page bio on Putin and concludes that not only is it fair in that it reflects the human complexity of the man, it doesn't do so by understating the West's role in his shaping, or the dangers that lie ahead: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/24/putin-fairly-deconstructed-a-man-a-myth-the-state/

All the best,

Kelley V