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Al Mauroni

@progmil.bsky.social

1.1K followers 1.1K following 560 posts

NatSec analyst, WMD and nukes, sci-fi enthusiast, gamer

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · Nov 12

We should talk about how the national security community talks about WMD

open.substack.com/pub/almauron...

Why We Need to Talk about WMD

First we have to convince Congress to wake up

open.substack.com

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 2d

There's a couple of good reports on nuclear deterrence against China, if you haven't seen them.

almauroni.substack.com/p/nuclear-ha...

Nuclear Hawks and Nuclear Doves on China

Because what else is there to talk about

almauroni.substack.com

Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

Appreciate that input. MSNBC should have been smart enough to get Mark Hertling instead of Mark Kimmitt.
www.thebulwark.com/p/hegseth-qu...

As Our Generals and Admirals Fly Home, Our Adversaries Watch and Wait

Couldn’t Hegseth’s in-person meeting of all flag officers have been a secure conference call?

www.thebulwark.com

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

Really surprised to hear Brig Gen (retired) Mark Kimmitt basically defend SecDef Hegseth’s show this morning on @msnbc.com. Said the message was right and no big deal moving all those GOFOs to Quantico for a half-hour talk. Thank goodness @radiofreetom.bsky.social was there to correct him.

Reposted by Al Mauroni

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 8d

This is correct.

If you heard someone in an assisted-living facility rambling on this way, you'd be talking with the doctors about appropriate next levels of care.

No kidding.

And every officer in the room has to realize it.

Daniel Gilmore @gilmored85.bsky.social · 8d

If Joe Biden were giving this rambling speech, itd be treated as a four alarm fire in every newsroom in the country about his very obvious physical and mental decline. But because its Trump, they'll all mostly just shrug and move past it.

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

This seems promising www.dems.gov/newsroom/pre...

Chairman Aguilar Relaunches National Security Task Force To Ensure America Remains Leader Of The Free World | House Democrats

Dems.gov is the official website for Members of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives. Dems.gov provides news and information about legislation, issues and resources.

www.dems.gov

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

I forgot about Adam Smith. He’s a good guy. Not so up on Pat Ryan or others. Would be good if they actually had a clear platform and campaigned on it.

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

Honest question. Who are the national security democrats in Congress? I’m not sure I’ve seen any who can articulate a moderate policy position that doesn’t echo Repub talking points. Dems seem too afraid to stand up a distinct platform and risk being called out as “soft.”

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 8d

Looking past the truly odious nature of his lecture, I am amused that he thinks stalking back and forth on the stage is a way to keep his audience focused on him. What a poser.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth on his firings of military leaders: "We all serve at the pleasure of the president -- every single day."

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 9d

That’s a separate but also important discussion. You’ve written about this and I completely agree.

Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 9d

The GAO released a report on the state of nuclear deterrence education in JPME, but draws the wrong conclusions. almauroni.substack.com/p/schooling-...

Schooling the GAO on Nuclear Deterrence Education

The GAO has a remarkably bad discussion about an important defense topic

almauroni.substack.com

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Reposted by Al Mauroni

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10d

What would the reaction be if Democratic politicians went on TV every week to talk about how scary and dangerous Louisiana was, or how bleak and depressing life in rural Mississippi is, or how Oklahoma ranks last in education and “God, can you imagine being from there?”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10d

Rand Paul: "Chicago is a nightmare. It is literally a war zone."

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 13d

*when it fails

Congress must impeach this man.

Reposted by Al Mauroni

Joe Stieb @joestieb.bsky.social · 15d

Welp.

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Reposted by Al Mauroni

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 15d

Ishaan is a Washington post global affairs columnist 👇🏽

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 15d

a man with a beard is wearing a black and white sweater and making a face .

ALT: a man with a beard is wearing a black and white sweater and making a face .

media.tenor.com

Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 15d

It’s incredible that you may think he can’t say more idiotic statements that are so detached from rational thought, and there he goes with another zinger. Is he ad-libbing this speech? One has to wonder with this rambling diatribe.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d

Trump to the UN: "The 'carbon footprint' is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions, and they're heading down a path of total destruction."

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 15d

My gods, what a horrible embarrassment of a man.

Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 15d

Absolutely nobody who regularly listens to @npr.org needed to hear Navarro incoherently babble about Trump and his weaponization of the legal system. Shame on NPR.

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 16d

Right. I meant to add this graphic from the FAS article. I keep forgetting how many tac nukes the Russians have

Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 16d

Well there is a difference between “deployable” and “deployed.” We are pretty close on the latter. It would be very easy for US ICBMs to go MIRV b/c we use the same RVs as during the Cold War. Russia’s mobile ICBMs already are MIRVd.

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 16d

It’s his way to delay the US military from putting two warheads on the ICBMs and pushing the SLCM faster

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 16d

This is an important thread if you follow public health policy. It’s also an important thread if you care about how major newspapers cover technical policy today (which is to say, poorly).

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 16d

Now with comments... Lots of comments

(A long thread)

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 16d

Posting without comment...

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o...

Reposted by Al Mauroni

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 16d

Laying this at the feet of NIH is misguided. Americans spend more of health care than people in other wealthy countries because we have a fragmented health care “system” with perverse incentives and many middlemen extracting money to no one’s health benefit.

8/n

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Al Mauroni @progmil.bsky.social · 16d

The Air Force has updated its nuclear operations doctrine, and I have a few disagreements with it. There's also an interesting GAO report on the ICBM modernization effort, which is lagging. almauroni.substack.com/p/catching-u...

Catching Up on Nuclear Operations

Because everyone loves talking about nuclear warfare

almauroni.substack.com

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Reposted by Al Mauroni

TVMoJoe @tvmojoe.bsky.social · 17d

As CNN offers daylong saturation coverage of the podcaster’s funeral, I went back and checked to see how CNN covered Melissa Hortman’s memorial on 6/28, where Walz spoke and Biden/Harris attended.

It got about four minutes during the hours it was happening—less than Jeff Bezos’s wedding that day.

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