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L. Todd Wood

L. Todd Wood

ltwood@123washingtontimes.com

L. Todd Wood, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, flew special operations helicopters supporting SEAL Team 6, Delta Force and others. After leaving the military, he pursued his other passion, finance, spending 18 years on Wall Street trading emerging market debt, and later, writing. The first of his many thrillers is "Currency." Todd is a contributor to Fox Business, Newsmax TV, Moscow Times, the New York Post, the National Review, Zero Hedge and others. For more information about L. Todd Wood, visit LToddWood.com.

Articles by L. Todd Wood

A view of a new shelter installed over the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Chernobyl, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Ukraine is making progress

Corruption is the biggest threat to Ukraine's independence and survival as a free country, even more so than Russian troops in Donbass.

December 22, 2016
The sun rises behind the Statue of Liberty a day before the United States celebrates its independence, Sunday, July 3, 2016, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

ISIS app lets kids blow up Western landmarks

The Islamic State has developed an app for children in ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria that lets children earn points by destroying Western landmarks such as Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. The app also teaches them to spell out words like grenade and rocket.

December 22, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian businessmen in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia tests anti-satellite weapon, PL-19 Nudol

Russia has successfully carried out the 5th test of an anti-satellite weapon that is designed to destroy American communication and navigation capability, the backbone of the American military.

December 21, 2016
Analysts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is poised to try to exploit the uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump's transition process. (Associated Press)

North Korea rebel movement emerges to remove Kim Jong-un

It seems there may be a nascent, rebel movement in North Korea attempting to depose North Korean Dear Leader, Kim Jong-un. There have been reports of anti-Kim leaflets and a reduction in popularity for the North Korean strongman.

December 19, 2016
Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director James B. Comey announce the indictments of seven Iranians tied to a series of punishing cyberattacks on a small dam outside New York City and dozens of financial institutions. (Associated Press) **FILE photo, March 24, 2016**

Cyber threat on nuclear facilities growing

With all the attention paid to hacking these days, real or imagined for convenient political purposes, there is one threat that is all too serious and growing. The threat of a cyber attack against a nuclear facility that causes an uncontrolled reaction and eventual meltdown, released enormous amounts of radiation and causing mass casualties.

December 16, 2016
Civilian deaths matter little to Russians and may in fact aid the cause by hastening the ultimate victory in Syria. (Associated Press/File)

Russia’s war in Syria rooted in fatalism

Several years ago, an airliner crashed in Russia because of pilot error, killing scores of people on board. At the crash site, a Western aid worker asked one of the government officials at the scene how something like this could happen. The response: "This is Russia."

December 15, 2016
In this Dec. 11, 2016, photo, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter waves to a group of Iraqi and U.S. soldiers during his visit to the Qayara air base, south of Mosul, Iraq. Carter is convening his final war-planning conference with core members of the anti-Islamic State coalition. The session gets underway Dec. 15 in London amid questions within the coalition about what President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House next month will mean for the future of the coalition. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Islamic State bolsters munitions with train from Turkey

United Kingdom-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) concluded the Islamic State has developed a highly sophisticated and massive ammunition production capability that is fed from a constant stream of chemical supplies from Turkey.

December 15, 2016
File - In this Monday, Oct. 31, 2016 file photo, Israeli Knesset member, Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, gives an interview to The Associated Press, in his office at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. Lapid, leading Israeli opposition politician is questioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's goal of dismantling the international community's nuclear deal with Iran. Lapid told foreign reporters Monday that while he also does not like the deal, it may be too late to stop it. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, file)

Iran threatens to destroy Israel - again

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, while speaking at a conference in Tehran, said that were President-Elect Trump to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear "deal" signed by the Obama administration, Iran would destroy the State of Israel. The Islamic regime also threatened to destroy the Gulf Kingdoms and start World War III.

December 12, 2016
FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2016, file photo, a man watches a TV news program showing a file image of a missile launch conducted by North Korea, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea now has the capability to launch a nuclear weapon, a senior U.S. military official said Dec. 8, adding that while the U.S. believes Pyongyang can mount a warhead on a missile, it's not clear that it can hit a target. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

N. Korea can fire nuclear-tipped missile

U.S. intelligence believes North Korea can fire a missile tipped with a miniaturized nuclear warhead. However, they don't believe the communist nation can hit an intended target--yet.

December 11, 2016
In this Sept. 16, 2016 picture migrants protest at the "Horgos 2" border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia. A Hungarian court on Wednesday Nov. 30, 2016 has sentenced a Syrian man to 10 years in prison for taking part in a Sept. 2015 riot after Hungary closed its borders to migrants and refugees. Dozens of police officers, migrants and some journalists were injured in clashes on Sept. 16, 2015, a day after Hungary closed off its border with Serbia with a fence protected by razor wire, stranding hundreds of migrants. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic/File)

ISIS jihadis return to Europe

As the militaries of Russia, Iran, Iraq and the United States pressure the Sunni-backed Islamic State in the Middle East, large numbers of these battle-hardened fighters are returning to Europe to one day spread terror and mayhem. In fact, more than 1,700 have most likely already returned to the continent.

December 9, 2016
A destroyed house that was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza, in Yahud, a Tel Aviv suburb near the airport, central Israel, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. As a result, Delta Air Lines and U.S. Airlines decided to cancel their scheduled flights to Israel.(AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

Israelis unprotected against rocket attacks

Israeli intelligence estimates there are more than 230,000 rockets aimed at Israeli populated areas by various enemies, from Hamas in the Gaza strip, to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. Millions of Israeli citizens will be unprotected from the onslaught in the next Arab war with the Jewish state.

December 6, 2016
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks while submitting his next year's budget bill in an open session of parliament in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that President Hassan Rouhani submitted a $83 billion budget bill to parliament for the next fiscal year, beginning in March. The budget is seven percent more than the current budget in Iranian rials. But it is less in U.S. dollars due to the recent drop in the rial against the dollar. The current year's budget is $97 billion. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran, Russia reaffirm Middle Eastern axis

The big story out of the Middle East in 2016 is not necessarily the Syrian Civil War, but the emerging axis of Russia and Shia Islam, which includes Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and other militias backed by Iran.

December 4, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a live video link with regions suffering from forest fires from the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Russia’s president has flipped the switch to open the last of four electricity lines to Crimea aimed at allowing the Russia-annexed peninsula to end its reliance on Ukrainian electricity. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukrainian missile tests over Crimea create tension

Russian air defense systems in Crimea have been put on hair trigger alert after Ukraine declared airspace of Crimean territorial waters a "danger zone" due to upcoming missile tests announced by Kyiv.

November 30, 2016
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and China's President Xi Jinping leave after a meeting with business leader during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) **FILE**

Russia emulating Chinese control of internet

Russia recently passed laws which will give the Kremlin much more legal control over the internet and what Russians will be able to see online. To further this agenda of censoring available, cyberspace information, Russia is turning to the leader in the area, China, for off-the-shelf technology to do the job effectively.

November 29, 2016