Wesley Morgan
@wesleymorgan.bsky.social
6.7K followers 790 following 2.5K posts
Writing about America’s post-9/11 wars https://linktr.ee/wesleysmorgan Author of THE HARDEST PLACE https://bookshop.org/shop/Wesleymorgan https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/227894/the-hardest-place-by-wesley-morgan/ Signal wesmorgan.01
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wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Thread of photos illustrating THE HARDEST PLACE, sorted by chapter:

If you took one of these photos, let me know! Most were shared with me by unit commanders as part of big dumps of deployment photos, but I’d love to credit the individual veterans who took them.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
My Afghanistan war book THE HARDEST PLACE is approaching its four-year anniversary.

Since I’ve mostly migrated from Twitter to Bluesky, over the next few months I’m going to recreate here a long thread of photos that many readers have enjoyed scrolling through as an accompaniment to the book.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
What you see in the foreground here is what the rubbled areas (all the areas without visible shadows on the satellite image, now encompassing almost the entirety of Beit Hanoun) look like from closer up:
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Taken Sept 21, this image shows the full extent of the destruction of Beit Hanoun, a former city of 50,000 people that the IDF has methodically demolished.

The two clusters of remaining buildings in this 3.25-sq-mile area circled. Everything else has been razed by earthmovers and demo charges.
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Some people might say of this ground beef Labubu, “I saw this, so now you have to too.”

I say of it, “I was privileged to see this, so now you get the chance to too.”
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Posobiec at Trump’s antifa propaganda event: “Antifa has been around going back to the Weimar Republic”

Noem at the same event: “We’ve arrested the girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa”
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Just saw about a squad’s worth of German soldiers hanging around on the sidewalk in the West End…has the international stabilization force arrived in DC?
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Interesting look at all those animations the IDF has produced suggesting it knows exactly what’s going on inside various high-profile buildings in Gaza etc. when it in fact does not.
jacksapoch.bsky.social
NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites

The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
West Point graduate who eventually went Guard, did two Iraq deployments and Afghanistan deployment, and then a fourth Kuwait/Iraq/Syria one commanding the California Guard’s aviation brigade. Has also commanded the Oregon Guard’s main unit, the 40th Infantry BCT.
isabelsantos.bsky.social
Brig. Gen. Alan Gronewold stated that if the Oregon National Guard were deployed, they would protect protesters, not ICE, prioritizing citizens’ safety and civil liberties—a strong stance earning widespread approval.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
No no it’s not like a flayed man at all, you’re misunderstanding it! It’s fun!
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Some people might say of this ground beef Labubu, “I saw this, so now you have to too.”

I say of it, “I was privileged to see this, so now you get the chance to too.”
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
I vaguely remember some kerfuffle in like 2008 where the 1st ID CAB was insisting that everyone in the brigade must where the 1st ID CAB combat patch and guys raised a stink with Army Times and the brigade backtracked. The power of the press!
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
davidsterman.bsky.social
Few more details.

Somalia is at 81 confirmed strikes plus a ground raid.

Yemen may include an alleged but not confirmed strike on AQAP not just the anti-Houthi campaign.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Yesterday's Syria strike puts US combat actions during the second Trump administration at:

—1,000+ air strikes in Yemen (March-April)
—75+ air strikes in Somalia
—7 air strikes and 3 JSOC ground raids in Syria
—4 air strikes in the Caribbean
—B-2 strikes on 3 sites in Iran
—1 air strike in Iraq
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Correction: besides the 75+ Somalia strikes (81 by @davidsterman.bsky.social's count), there has also been one Somalia "operation" on July 25 that AFRICOM didn't describe as an air strike, suggesting it was a JSOC ground raid
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Notable not only as further lethal military action under the "President of Peace" but also because the executive branch has not previously announced (AFAIK) that Ansar al-Islam is covered by the 2001 AUMF.

(Full scope 2001 AUMF remains a secret.)

Query whether strike under the AUMF or Article II.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Yesterday's Syria strike puts US combat actions during the second Trump administration at:

—1,000+ air strikes in Yemen (March-April)
—75+ air strikes in Somalia
—7 air strikes and 3 JSOC ground raids in Syria
—4 air strikes in the Caribbean
—B-2 strikes on 3 sites in Iran
—1 air strike in Iraq
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
...renamed Ansar al-Islam again in 2007 and started working in Syria in 2011 (and whose original Iraqi branch was subsumed by ISIS in 2014).

But I suspect what's going on is that they're trying to categorize former Hurras al-Din members who've remained active since HaD's Jan 2025 dissolution.
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
I'm not sure what Ansar al-Islam they're referring to, but it may be a descendant of the same Ansar al-Islam that Mullah Krekar founded in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2001 and whose survivors founded Ansar al-Sunna in 2003 to fight US troops in Iraq and was a fellow-traveler with AQI, which then was...
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Yesterday's Syria strike puts US combat actions during the second Trump administration at:

—1,000+ air strikes in Yemen (March-April)
—75+ air strikes in Somalia
—7 air strikes and 3 JSOC ground raids in Syria
—4 air strikes in the Caribbean
—B-2 strikes on 3 sites in Iran
—1 air strike in Iraq
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Taken Sept 21, this image shows the full extent of the destruction of Beit Hanoun, a former city of 50,000 people that the IDF has methodically demolished.

The two clusters of remaining buildings in this 3.25-sq-mile area circled. Everything else has been razed by earthmovers and demo charges.
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Good question from Senator Coons.

AG Bondi refuses to disclose what legal theory if any from DOJ justifies these premeditated killings in the Caribbean.
atrupar.com
COONS: How did you conclude that these strikes on boats in the open ocean are legal?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have issued
Reposted by Wesley Morgan
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Saw “Anemone” and I’m very sorry to report that it includes Daniel Day Lewis’s character (a former 14 Intelligence Co operative in Northern Ireland) saying at the start of an anguished monologue, “War crime?? The *war* is the crime!”
Anemone review – Daniel Day-Lewis returns for a bleak and painfully serious misfire
New York film festival: the actor unretires, with his son onboard to direct, for a portentous and plodding film about war-torn men
www.theguardian.com
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
They are definitely not the best tech guys, mechanics, or snipers ever