Wesley Morgan
@wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Writing about America’s post-9/11 wars
https://linktr.ee/wesleysmorgan
Author of THE HARDEST PLACE
https://tinyurl.com/yh9kbh5f
Please be either informative or funny in your replies
Signal wesmorgan.01
https://linktr.ee/wesleysmorgan
Author of THE HARDEST PLACE
https://tinyurl.com/yh9kbh5f
Please be either informative or funny in your replies
Signal wesmorgan.01
Peru continuing to impress as far as vultures
November 18, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Peru continuing to impress as far as vultures
I like a country that treats its Gatorade and Gatorade derivatives with respect
November 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I like a country that treats its Gatorade and Gatorade derivatives with respect
Initial impression of Lima—incredibly impressive density of vultures. Standing in this one spot in the Plaza Mayor, I counted 80+ in about three minutes (mostly airborne)
Those are practically crow numbers
Those are practically crow numbers
November 17, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Initial impression of Lima—incredibly impressive density of vultures. Standing in this one spot in the Plaza Mayor, I counted 80+ in about three minutes (mostly airborne)
Those are practically crow numbers
Those are practically crow numbers
The Navy rear admiral was Brian Bennett, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for special operations. He has a lot of experience with previous *congressionally authorized* drone strike campaigns in Afg/Yemen/Somalia from his time as SEAL Team 6’s deputy commander, Black Squadron commander, and J-3.
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The Navy rear admiral was Brian Bennett, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for special operations. He has a lot of experience with previous *congressionally authorized* drone strike campaigns in Afg/Yemen/Somalia from his time as SEAL Team 6’s deputy commander, Black Squadron commander, and J-3.
The IDF laid the groundwork for the destruction of whole cities with the rural 1km border buffer zone and the Netzarim, Philadelphi, and Mefalsim Corridors that it declared and cleared of all structures in 2024, and then the widened buffer zone and Morag and Magen Oz Corridors in spring 2025:
November 13, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The IDF laid the groundwork for the destruction of whole cities with the rural 1km border buffer zone and the Netzarim, Philadelphi, and Mefalsim Corridors that it declared and cleared of all structures in 2024, and then the widened buffer zone and Morag and Magen Oz Corridors in spring 2025:
Here are Rafah and Khan Younis without the Yellow Line overlay, so it's clearer that the area between them is farmland and not undemolished urban neighborhoods
November 13, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Here are Rafah and Khan Younis without the Yellow Line overlay, so it's clearer that the area between them is farmland and not undemolished urban neighborhoods
Central Gaza (Deir al-Balah, Bureij, Nuseirat, prewar population 310,000) has not seen sustained IDF ground operations since early 2024 so it's the most intact, except for the smaller towns of Juhor ad-Duk and Mughraqa that were fully demolished in 2024 for the Netzarim Corridor
November 13, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Central Gaza (Deir al-Balah, Bureij, Nuseirat, prewar population 310,000) has not seen sustained IDF ground operations since early 2024 so it's the most intact, except for the smaller towns of Juhor ad-Duk and Mughraqa that were fully demolished in 2024 for the Netzarim Corridor
In the north, the Gaza City/Jabaliya/Beit Hanoun metro area (prewar population ~1.2 million) has had about two-thirds of its 24-square-mile area demolished: a belt 0.5-1.5 miles deep around Gaza City, Jabaliya reduced to pockets, Beit Hanoun completely gone
November 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
In the north, the Gaza City/Jabaliya/Beit Hanoun metro area (prewar population ~1.2 million) has had about two-thirds of its 24-square-mile area demolished: a belt 0.5-1.5 miles deep around Gaza City, Jabaliya reduced to pockets, Beit Hanoun completely gone
Southern Gaza:
Rafah (left, prewar population 175,000) has been almost completely erased by a year and a half of sustained IDF demolition operations
Khan Younis (right, prewar pop 200,000) has been reduced to two pockets of standing neighborhoods, one still under IDF control and being worked on
Rafah (left, prewar population 175,000) has been almost completely erased by a year and a half of sustained IDF demolition operations
Khan Younis (right, prewar pop 200,000) has been reduced to two pockets of standing neighborhoods, one still under IDF control and being worked on
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Southern Gaza:
Rafah (left, prewar population 175,000) has been almost completely erased by a year and a half of sustained IDF demolition operations
Khan Younis (right, prewar pop 200,000) has been reduced to two pockets of standing neighborhoods, one still under IDF control and being worked on
Rafah (left, prewar population 175,000) has been almost completely erased by a year and a half of sustained IDF demolition operations
Khan Younis (right, prewar pop 200,000) has been reduced to two pockets of standing neighborhoods, one still under IDF control and being worked on
What's left of Gaza:
Black—urban neighborhoods the IDF has fully demolished with earthmovers etc.
White—undemolished urban neighborhoods (with varying levels of major damage from 2 years of bombing, artillery, and ground fighting)
Yellow—IDF-controlled (white areas liable to further demolition)
Black—urban neighborhoods the IDF has fully demolished with earthmovers etc.
White—undemolished urban neighborhoods (with varying levels of major damage from 2 years of bombing, artillery, and ground fighting)
Yellow—IDF-controlled (white areas liable to further demolition)
November 13, 2025 at 9:55 PM
What's left of Gaza:
Black—urban neighborhoods the IDF has fully demolished with earthmovers etc.
White—undemolished urban neighborhoods (with varying levels of major damage from 2 years of bombing, artillery, and ground fighting)
Yellow—IDF-controlled (white areas liable to further demolition)
Black—urban neighborhoods the IDF has fully demolished with earthmovers etc.
White—undemolished urban neighborhoods (with varying levels of major damage from 2 years of bombing, artillery, and ground fighting)
Yellow—IDF-controlled (white areas liable to further demolition)
By the end of 2026, this one’s going to be in the Apple iOS dictionary without the red underline, I predict. About to have its big year
November 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM
By the end of 2026, this one’s going to be in the Apple iOS dictionary without the red underline, I predict. About to have its big year
I’ve seen a lot of boomers use the triple comma instead of an ellipsis,,,but I’ve never seen a space double comma space before
November 13, 2025 at 2:16 AM
I’ve seen a lot of boomers use the triple comma instead of an ellipsis,,,but I’ve never seen a space double comma space before
Somehow I don’t think Cooper’s predecessor Kurilla—who was an infantry and then Ranger battalion commander in the 2004-6 period in Iraq when Sharaa was fighting US troops with AQI under Zarqawi—would’ve been as amenable to this as Cooper
November 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Somehow I don’t think Cooper’s predecessor Kurilla—who was an infantry and then Ranger battalion commander in the 2004-6 period in Iraq when Sharaa was fighting US troops with AQI under Zarqawi—would’ve been as amenable to this as Cooper
I hope he brought in one of those anatomically correct twitching casualty mannequins like I saw at JRTC once
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I hope he brought in one of those anatomically correct twitching casualty mannequins like I saw at JRTC once
You spend your adult life fighting against a dictator with opulent, garish tastes. You finally prevail and walk the insides of the dictator’s abandoned palaces: gaudy, obscene, covered in gold bought with the people’s money.
And then the next thing you know…
And then the next thing you know…
November 10, 2025 at 11:11 PM
You spend your adult life fighting against a dictator with opulent, garish tastes. You finally prevail and walk the insides of the dictator’s abandoned palaces: gaudy, obscene, covered in gold bought with the people’s money.
And then the next thing you know…
And then the next thing you know…
Instead, here’s a happy birthday to all my Marine friends, and to the other Marines I’ve met from Ramadi and Sangin to Hawaii and Okinawa.
November 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Instead, here’s a happy birthday to all my Marine friends, and to the other Marines I’ve met from Ramadi and Sangin to Hawaii and Okinawa.
The past 30 years, I always called my Grandpa Don on Nov 10 to wish him a happy USMC birthday. He grew up without running water, and enlisting in the Marines, and then returning after college as an officer, dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. He died in Sept at age 96. Miss you, Marine.
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The past 30 years, I always called my Grandpa Don on Nov 10 to wish him a happy USMC birthday. He grew up without running water, and enlisting in the Marines, and then returning after college as an officer, dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. He died in Sept at age 96. Miss you, Marine.
Latest Army general to be jammed up over alleged wokeness is Pat Work, who led the Ranger company that fast-roped into the Korengal to recover the bodies during Operation Red Wings and was the 82nd brigade commander who dug ISIS out of Mosul
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Latest Army general to be jammed up over alleged wokeness is Pat Work, who led the Ranger company that fast-roped into the Korengal to recover the bodies during Operation Red Wings and was the 82nd brigade commander who dug ISIS out of Mosul
*Yes, there is a pretty metal etymology to “orca” having to do with “Orcus,” the Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld. But this etymology is disputed in a way that makes it decidedly less metal
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
*Yes, there is a pretty metal etymology to “orca” having to do with “Orcus,” the Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld. But this etymology is disputed in a way that makes it decidedly less metal
This is a visual angle on the destruction in Gaza that has been mostly missing: what the huge expanse of Gaza City that has received the IDF earthmover treatment actually looks like, not top-down but horizontally. The fully razed area of Shejaiya just stretches on and on—you can’t even see the…
November 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
This is a visual angle on the destruction in Gaza that has been mostly missing: what the huge expanse of Gaza City that has received the IDF earthmover treatment actually looks like, not top-down but horizontally. The fully razed area of Shejaiya just stretches on and on—you can’t even see the…
(And a NIAC is what the administration contends that the boat strike campaign is part of) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
November 6, 2025 at 3:32 AM
(And a NIAC is what the administration contends that the boat strike campaign is part of) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
War crimes certainly can occur in non-international armed conflict as well as IAC (as can other breaches of IHL that don’t rise to the level of war crimes)
November 6, 2025 at 2:53 AM
War crimes certainly can occur in non-international armed conflict as well as IAC (as can other breaches of IHL that don’t rise to the level of war crimes)