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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

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins gives a press conference, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Five men arrested this week in two French cities were planning a terror attack in France as early as next week and were receiving their orders from an Islamic State group member based in Iraq or Syria, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Friday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Islamic State directing terror abroad from Middle East

Paris police have stated that recent arrests of Islamic State terrorists, who were planning additional attacks in France, showed that the Islamic State is directing terror attacks abroad from locations in the Middle East.

November 25, 2016
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaks during a media conference at the conclusion of an EU-Ukraine summit at the European Council building in Brussels on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Time is running out in Ukraine

Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators this week vandalized the Kiev branch of a Russian bank and the offices of a pro-Russia political movement. They also rifled through the offices of the Ukrainian envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group, the international body attempting to settle the conflict with pro-Russia separatists in the east. Vandals set fires, destroyed equipment and broke windows.

November 24, 2016
Pentagon officials say the Islamic State group is now using "Mad Max"-style vehicles to wreak havoc on Iraq's population. (YouTube, Warner Bros. Mad Max: Fury Road trailer)

ISIS using Mad Max vehicles in bombings

The Islamic State has developed Mad Max style armored vehicles to attack Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in the fight for Mosul. The tactic has been successful as the vehicles are heavily armored and difficult for ground forces to destroy before a suicide bomber gets close enough to strike.

November 17, 2016
President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One upon his arrival to Tegel International Airport in Berlin, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) ** FILE **

German lawmaker: Maybe Europe should defend itself

A German lawmaker and foreign policy spokesman in Angela Merkel's party has raised the possibility that maybe Europe should defend itself. Of course Germany doesn't want to actually do it themselves. It would like the United Kingdom and France to provide the nuclear umbrella.

November 16, 2016
Olivia Piloto, center, watches from the barricades during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

NYPD tightens Thanksgiving parade security after ISIS calls it ‘an excellent target’

The Islamic State has long encouraged attacks on soft targets in the United States. In the recent addition of its "terror magazine," Dabiq, an extremist group, calls the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City an excellent target for automobile attacks against civilians, saying, "vehicle attacks are one of the most effective weapons in the terrorist arsenal."

November 15, 2016
In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, right, stands with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko after welcoming her as he waits to welcome members of the Russian delegation, at his office in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. Portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hang on the wall. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Russia-Iran arms talk: $10 billion

We have been writing for some time that we expect Iran, with its new-found billions courtesy of the Obama administration, to embark on an arms-buying spree from Russia. RIA reports in Moscow on Monday that Russia and Iran are discussing the delivery of T-90 tanks, artillery, planes and helicopters.

November 14, 2016
Portraits of President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin hang in the Union Jack pub in Moscow. (Associated Press/File)

Trump-Putin ‘bromance’ may be more complicated than it seems

The atmosphere in Moscow has been euphoric since Donald Trump's stunning electoral triumph Tuesday. The prevailing wisdom in the Russian capital is that Mr. Trump will bring peace with Russia for the long term, a goal that most everyone in both countries badly desires.

November 10, 2016
Tourists listen to a tour guide near an anti-aircraft missile on exhibit at the Revolution Museum, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. Cubans fear President-elect Donald Trump will reverse 2-year-old detente. The Cuban government, meanwhile, announced the launch of five days of nationwide military exercises to prepare troops to confront what the government called ‘a range of enemy actions.’ (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba announces post-Trump win military exercises

The Obama outreach and concessions to the communist nation of Cuba have been seen as appeasement by many national security analysts. The behavior of the Stalinist regime has not been altered by the new openness. On the contrary, arrests and oppression of the political opposition has continued unabated.

November 9, 2016
In this May 10, 2016, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves at parade participants at the Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. If North Korea has been a foreign policy headache for Barack Obama’s presidency, it threatens to be a migraine for his successor. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

North Korea nuclear message to election winner

North Korea is possibly readying a medium-range missile launch to coincide with the announcement of the winner of the U.S. presidential election. According to reports, the hermit regime wants to "send a signal" to the next American president that North Korea is a nuclear power and can attack U.S. interests with nuclear weapons.

November 8, 2016
A woman waves a sign at passing motorists in Panama City, Fla., on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (Andrew Wardlow/News Herald via AP)

Vote against evil

In spite of the mainstream media spin, there is a very stark choice this election cycle. For those #NeverTrump Republicans out there, it is a very simple choice to make. You can choose to vote against evil or not.

November 8, 2016
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Civil Defense workers walk past damaged buildings after airstrikes hit in Abian Saman town, in rural western Aleppo province, Syria, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. Despite a halt in airstrikes in eastern Aleppo city, there has been an intense aerial bombing campaign in the western Aleppo countryside and nearby Idlib province. Rebels say the strikes are an attempt to sever the supply lines of the rebels, waging an offensive on government-held western Aleppo. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Iran commands 25,000 militants in Syria

The former head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Avi Dichter, says Iran now commands a force of 25,000 Shia militants in Syria, fighting against the Sunni opposition to the Iranian-backed, Shia government of Syrian President Assad. These fighters are mostly recruits from Afghanistan, Pakistan and are in addition to Hezbollah, the Iranian terrorist army based out of Lebanon.

November 5, 2016
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Pitt Community College in Winterville, N.C., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

As Russia ties fray, Hillary Clinton bears the blame

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have made a big stink charging that Russian intelligence agencies or their proxies are behind the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks and the subsequent implosion of her candidacy. Some say President Vladimir Putin himself authorized these leaks, and we don't have access to the intelligence to say for sure what's going on.

November 3, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of S-400 missiles in Syria as he and other officials in Moscow escalated a war of words with Ankara after Tuesday's shootdown, which Turkey claims was justified on grounds that two Russian fighters ignored repeated warnings to change direction after entering Turkish airspace. (Associated Press)

Russia needs money, sells weaponry to China

Western sanctions on Russia may be having a serious unintended consequence--upgrading the Chinese military to hyper-sophisticated levels. The sanctions, along with the collapse of the price of crude oil in international markets, has forced Russia to export technology that in better days, it thought better of doing.

November 1, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to head of Russian Lukoil oil company Vagit Alikperov as he takes part in a video conference on the launch of a new oil field in the Caspian Sea in Astrakhan, Russia, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian money woes may force overseas adventures

Former Russian economic minister Alexei Kudrin, once Vladimir Putin's golden boy, said today that the Russian government has not faced economic realities regarding the economy and the federal budget.

October 31, 2016
Gladys Coego, left, and Tomika Curgil, were charged with voter fraud in Miami-Dade County on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. (Miami-Dade Corrections via Miami Herald)

Election corruption watch: Did Obama win in 2012?

Even though the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails was illegal, Wikileaks has done the country a great service. Much of the illegal behavior of the biggest organized crime syndicate in history, the Democrat Party, has been exposed. They can't put the genie back in the bottle.

October 28, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. President Vladimir Putin says the claims of Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election are designed to distract public attention from real issues. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

How to deal with Russia?

Many pundits have attempted to explain the rationale behind Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere. I think it is very simple: Putin wants to make Russia great again. He has some successes and some failures.

October 27, 2016