As my readers back in October 2007 will recall, a new work assignment took me out of the blogging loop, and Capital Cloak lay fallow until I returned to the "grid," as it were. During the 3 years "off the grid" I continued to follow current events beyond those I was living daily, and tried to read my favorite blogs and news sources whenever opportunity arose. Picking up a blog about national security, counter-terrorism, threat assessment, and politics, after a 3-year hiatus is not easy. Many of my original readers gave up waiting for my return, as I could provide no updates or indication I would ever write for Capital Cloak again. Feed Burner probably considered putting Capital Cloak's pilot light out, and Blog Burst, which placed my 2006-2007 posts on Reuters thinks I fell off the face of the earth. I went far, but not quite THAT far!
During the 3 years I missed, Obama won an election and the political landscape has changed. The House has changed hands twice. The war in Iraq is drawing down and Afghanistan continues as an incredible challenge. Russia remains an enigmatic "ally"and China is truly now a force to be reckoned with, or at least checked in its military ambitions. Technology and Smart Phones now allow many more convenient ways for posting to Capital Cloak, and I have quickly integrated my @CapitalCloak Twitter presence into this blog, as you will note in the right-side column. You can say a lot in 140 words when a full blog post is not in the cards. I hope you find @CapitalCloak tweets useful in what they say and in the news items they link to at my favorite sites, liberal and conservative alike.
Now, a word about WikiLeaks. You will not find them here. They divulge info from sources I am, in many cases, familiar with, and I may analyze world events in the context of what I am exposed to in my assignments. However, I will not share classified information here, and I do not support what WikiLeaks is doing either in method or morality. From a practical perspective, I believe all nations rightly have their secrets in the course of national security and diplomacy, and leaking classified documents makes everyone in the world less safe. Some classified material is embarrassing to governments and individual leaders. Wars have begun over wounded pride and personal embarrassment. It is also true that for many Government employees and Military members, reading classified WikiLeaks documents is an actionable offense, and I will not put my readers in a position where they have to scan this blog for any unauthorized classified material. I will not link to any WikiLeaks related articles. The @CapitalCloak twitter stream will not retweet or link to any WikiLeaks-related items. I am not doing battle with WikiLeaks and I will not discuss the group or its activities here. In short, that is one beehive I won't be poking to see how loud the buzz can get.
I am glad to be back in a position where I can resume writing and sharing with you my views on current events. Although the world is crazier than it was 3 years ago, it is never beyond hope of improvement and, ultimately, redemption. If you are a former reader who still subscribes to this feed, thanks for waiting! If you are new to Capital Cloak, welcome! Peruse the archived posts to get a sense of writing style, and offer your suggestions for topics you would like the Cloak to address.
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