State of The Nation

State Department adviser charged with illegally retaining classified records Senior State Department Adviser Arrested Over Retention of Classified Documents Washington, D.C. — A senior adviser at the U.S. State Department and noted expert on Indian and South Asian affairs, Ashley J. Tellis , has been charged by federal prosecutors with illegally retaining classified national defense information. The charges, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, allege that Tellis printed, transported, and stored more than 1,000 pages of highly sensitive documents—some marked Top Secret —at his private residence. ( AP News ) Prosecutors say the documents include materials related to U.S. military aircraft capabilities, and that surveillance footage captured Tellis carrying a briefcase in and out of government facilities while in possession of sensitive papers. ( AP News ) The FBI, upon executing a search warrant at his home in Vienna, Virginia, reportedly located the...

The Financial Black Hole of the Middle East - YouTube Pentagon bypassed traditional oversight for two decades using emergency appropriations that masked true costs from taxpayers The United States has spent more than $8 trillion on military operations since the September 11 attacks, with total costs projected to reach $13.5 trillion through 2060 when interest payments are included—making these the most expensive conflicts in American history, according to Brown University's Costs of War Project. The figure represents spending through fiscal year 2022, including approximately $5.8 trillion in direct appropriations plus an estimated $2.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in committed future obligations for veterans' care through 2050. Interest payments on war-related borrowing have already exceeded $925 billion, with projections showing interest costs could reach $6.5 trillion through 2050. Unlike previous American wars, these conflicts were financed almost entirely through borrowing r...