Christopher Woody
@chrstphrwdy.bsky.social
Journalist covering defense and international affairs from Bangkok | writing here: https://thedateline.substack.com/
“Geoffrey Corn…who was the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues … noted that the United States considers perfidy to be a crime in noninternational armed conflicts: It charged a Guantánamo detainee before a military commission with that offense” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:49 AM
“Geoffrey Corn…who was the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues … noted that the United States considers perfidy to be a crime in noninternational armed conflicts: It charged a Guantánamo detainee before a military commission with that offense” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
Trump’s comments to NYT about Xi and Taiwan read more to me like Trump saying “well Xi’s in charge of China and I can’t tell him what to do” than saying “I told Xi go for it buddy” but who knows
January 9, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Trump’s comments to NYT about Xi and Taiwan read more to me like Trump saying “well Xi’s in charge of China and I can’t tell him what to do” than saying “I told Xi go for it buddy” but who knows
Between 67 and 80 people — Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel and civilians — were killed during the US raid in Caracas, US officials say. For reference, 84 people were killed in the siege at Waco in 1993 www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Maduro raid killed about 75 in Venezuela, U.S. officials assess
The sizable death toll adds meaning to President Donald Trump’s public remarks that the operation he approved was “effective” but “very violent.”
www.washingtonpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:27 AM
Between 67 and 80 people — Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel and civilians — were killed during the US raid in Caracas, US officials say. For reference, 84 people were killed in the siege at Waco in 1993 www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“The international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world’s strongest defensive alliance — all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...
Denmark’s Leader Says Trump ‘Should Be Taken Seriously’ on Greenland
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:27 AM
“The international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world’s strongest defensive alliance — all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...
"Other presidents may have lacked the courage or whatever to defend America"
January 5, 2026 at 11:18 AM
"Other presidents may have lacked the courage or whatever to defend America"
There are much worse things than being stuck in Puerto Rico, but US military operations around the Caribbean are going to disrupt Americans’ lives in ways they have been insulated from during military campaigns in the Middle East www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/...
January 4, 2026 at 6:15 AM
There are much worse things than being stuck in Puerto Rico, but US military operations around the Caribbean are going to disrupt Americans’ lives in ways they have been insulated from during military campaigns in the Middle East www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/...
The US can arrest and try foreign presidents but not its own
None of this excuses Trump, but:
1) There is an OLC opinion that authorizes this, which future AG then OLC head Bill Barr signed in 1989 to authorize the very similar Panama invasion.
2) There is an indictment. It was unsealed under Barr in 2020.
3) Indictment is real. Former top aide pled in June
1) There is an OLC opinion that authorizes this, which future AG then OLC head Bill Barr signed in 1989 to authorize the very similar Panama invasion.
2) There is an indictment. It was unsealed under Barr in 2020.
3) Indictment is real. Former top aide pled in June
January 3, 2026 at 1:51 PM
The US can arrest and try foreign presidents but not its own
AP: Vzla accuses US of attacking civilian & military sites after at least 7 explosions and low-flying aircraft heard in Caracas early Saturday apnews.com/article/vene...
CBS: Trump green-lit US military strikes in Vzla days ago but strikes in Nigeria took precedence www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...
CBS: Trump green-lit US military strikes in Vzla days ago but strikes in Nigeria took precedence www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...
U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela as Trump escalates pressure on Maduro regime, sources say
President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, U.S. officials told CBS News, ratcheting up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
www.cbsnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:10 AM
AP: Vzla accuses US of attacking civilian & military sites after at least 7 explosions and low-flying aircraft heard in Caracas early Saturday apnews.com/article/vene...
CBS: Trump green-lit US military strikes in Vzla days ago but strikes in Nigeria took precedence www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...
CBS: Trump green-lit US military strikes in Vzla days ago but strikes in Nigeria took precedence www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...
My last story of the year is for seaplanes and the people who love them open.substack.com/pub/thedatel...
Congress floats flying boats for US forces in the Pacific
After years of public calls to reintroduce seaplanes, lawmakers have given the military permission to test them in the Pacific.
open.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
My last story of the year is for seaplanes and the people who love them open.substack.com/pub/thedatel...
Asked what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is going to do as special envoy to Greenland, Trump makes a vague reference to the Louisiana Purchase and says Landry called him about the job
December 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Asked what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is going to do as special envoy to Greenland, Trump makes a vague reference to the Louisiana Purchase and says Landry called him about the job
DoD has released its 2025 China military power report: media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/23/... The report has been mandated by Congress since around 2000 and its publication date has slipped to Nov-Dec in recent years, but this one was posted at 5pm on Dec 23 and is about half as long as recent editions
media.defense.gov
December 24, 2025 at 1:31 AM
DoD has released its 2025 China military power report: media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/23/... The report has been mandated by Congress since around 2000 and its publication date has slipped to Nov-Dec in recent years, but this one was posted at 5pm on Dec 23 and is about half as long as recent editions
Reposted by Christopher Woody
“The U.S. is a total outlier in how much people suffer.” - Keio University Prof. Ikegami comparing the Japanese universal healthcare system to the U.S. healthcare system.
Japanese conservative broadly support the existing system.
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-assa...
Japanese conservative broadly support the existing system.
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-assa...
December 23, 2025 at 4:05 AM
“The U.S. is a total outlier in how much people suffer.” - Keio University Prof. Ikegami comparing the Japanese universal healthcare system to the U.S. healthcare system.
Japanese conservative broadly support the existing system.
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-assa...
Japanese conservative broadly support the existing system.
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-assa...
Trump is recalling senior diplomats, all of whom took their jobs under Biden, from at least 29 countries, including the Philippines (a US ally), the Marshall Islands (a US defense partner), and Papua New Guinea and Vietnam (countries the US is courting to counter China) apnews.com/article/dipl...
Trump removes nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial positions
The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully...
apnews.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Trump is recalling senior diplomats, all of whom took their jobs under Biden, from at least 29 countries, including the Philippines (a US ally), the Marshall Islands (a US defense partner), and Papua New Guinea and Vietnam (countries the US is courting to counter China) apnews.com/article/dipl...
"[T]his appears to be the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier has sailed around Okinawa's main island. It is also unusual for a carrier to repeatedly take off and land in waters surrounded by the Okinawa islands." www.nikkei.com/telling/DGXZ...
中国軍レーダー照射、何が起きたのか 緊迫度増す日本周辺の空と海 - 日本経済新聞
中国軍機による6日の自衛隊機へのレーダー照射は南西諸島の安全保障上の緊張を象徴している。どのような経緯で起き、自衛隊にとって何が脅威となったのか。これまでに明らかになった情報をもとにいま起きている状況を読み解く。沖縄本島を回り込んだ 空母「遼寧」防衛省・自衛隊はレーダー照射に先立つ5日午後2時ごろ、東シナ海で中国の空母「遼寧」を確認した。場所は沖縄県尖閣諸島の久場島から北420キロメートル付
www.nikkei.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
"[T]his appears to be the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier has sailed around Okinawa's main island. It is also unusual for a carrier to repeatedly take off and land in waters surrounded by the Okinawa islands." www.nikkei.com/telling/DGXZ...
“I have never been more concerned about the future of vaccines and children’s health than I am now” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
U.S. plans to stop recommending most childhood vaccines, defer to doctors
The plan, which is not finalized, suggests children get fewer shots and shifts to a model telling parents to consult doctors to make their own vaccine choices.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:16 AM
“I have never been more concerned about the future of vaccines and children’s health than I am now” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
“The bleak irony is that even after sacrificing real prosperity to chase this 4chan-level political economy, they still won’t achieve their goal.” newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/a-year-in-...
newsletter.mikekonczal.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:59 AM
“The bleak irony is that even after sacrificing real prosperity to chase this 4chan-level political economy, they still won’t achieve their goal.” newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/a-year-in-...
"In other words, the one weapons system that has made combat in Ukraine significantly different from that of previous state-on-state wars would be largely irrelevant in the critical early phases of a conflict between Chinese and American forces." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
America’s Drone Delusion
Why the lessons of Ukraine don’t apply to a conflict with China.
www.foreignaffairs.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:31 AM
"In other words, the one weapons system that has made combat in Ukraine significantly different from that of previous state-on-state wars would be largely irrelevant in the critical early phases of a conflict between Chinese and American forces." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
"For Tokyo, the implication is unmistakable: When Washington must choose between alliance solidarity and transactional gain, it may not always choose the former." www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/c...
Wrote about Trump's restrained support for Japan amid its heightened tensions with China, which some see as a sign of how cautious he is of doing anything that could upset his ties with Xi thedateline.substack.com/p/japan-betw...
December 16, 2025 at 1:43 AM
"For Tokyo, the implication is unmistakable: When Washington must choose between alliance solidarity and transactional gain, it may not always choose the former." www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/c...
"For the US and its allies, the key point is that Beijing does not take the NSS’s softer rhetoric at face value. The removal of labels such as 'strategic competitor' is widely read by Chinese analysts as tactical camouflage rather than a genuine shift in intent." thediplomat.com/2025/12/how-...
How Chinese Analysts Interpret Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy
Far from celebrating an American retreat, Beijing’s strategists are reading the NSS as a blueprint for leaner – and potentially more dangerous – U.S. primacy.
thediplomat.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:40 AM
"For the US and its allies, the key point is that Beijing does not take the NSS’s softer rhetoric at face value. The removal of labels such as 'strategic competitor' is widely read by Chinese analysts as tactical camouflage rather than a genuine shift in intent." thediplomat.com/2025/12/how-...
Wrote about Trump's restrained support for Japan amid its heightened tensions with China, which some see as a sign of how cautious he is of doing anything that could upset his ties with Xi thedateline.substack.com/p/japan-betw...
December 15, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Wrote about Trump's restrained support for Japan amid its heightened tensions with China, which some see as a sign of how cautious he is of doing anything that could upset his ties with Xi thedateline.substack.com/p/japan-betw...
Yomiuri says the Chinese bomber in this month's patrol, the H-6K, is nuclear-capable but US sources indicate that's only true of the H-6N, which was used in a Nov '24 patrol that a US analyst called "the first serious training" for a nuclear airstrike on Guam thedateline.substack.com/p/the-nuclea...
December 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Yomiuri says the Chinese bomber in this month's patrol, the H-6K, is nuclear-capable but US sources indicate that's only true of the H-6N, which was used in a Nov '24 patrol that a US analyst called "the first serious training" for a nuclear airstrike on Guam thedateline.substack.com/p/the-nuclea...
Japan's Yomiuri says this month's joint China-Russia bomber patrol flew up Japan's east coast for the first time, in what a senior Japanese military official described as "an attempt to demonstrate that they are capable of bombing Tokyo." www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
December 14, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Japan's Yomiuri says this month's joint China-Russia bomber patrol flew up Japan's east coast for the first time, in what a senior Japanese military official described as "an attempt to demonstrate that they are capable of bombing Tokyo." www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
Wrote about what seems to be going on here: open.substack.com/pub/thedatel...
December 14, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Wrote about what seems to be going on here: open.substack.com/pub/thedatel...
Sometimes you get a moto with an angled seat and it’s like riding around Bangkok on a throne, sometimes you get a moto with a flat seat and you practically have to spoon the driver to stay on. This has been #Bangkokmotochat
December 13, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Sometimes you get a moto with an angled seat and it’s like riding around Bangkok on a throne, sometimes you get a moto with a flat seat and you practically have to spoon the driver to stay on. This has been #Bangkokmotochat
Reposted by Christopher Woody
Japan to deploy F35A fighter jets to Chitose airbase on Hokkaido by 2030. The move is a response to increased aviation activity by China and Russia near Japan. The plan is for there to ultimately be 20 F35As at Chitose, gradually replacing existing F15s. www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/1250...
ステルス戦闘機F35A、千歳基地に配備 防衛省30年度にも 北海道内で初：北海道新聞デジタル
【千歳】防衛省は2030年度にも、航空自衛隊千歳基地（千歳）に最新鋭のステルス戦闘機F35Aを配備する。全国の空自基地で3カ所目で、北海道内は初めて。...
www.hokkaido-np.co.jp
December 12, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Japan to deploy F35A fighter jets to Chitose airbase on Hokkaido by 2030. The move is a response to increased aviation activity by China and Russia near Japan. The plan is for there to ultimately be 20 F35As at Chitose, gradually replacing existing F15s. www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/1250...