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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

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses his lawmakers in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. Turkish artillery continue to pound the positions in northern Syria as a Turkish official says his country is pushing the case for ground operations in Syria, hoping for the involvement of the U.S. and other allies in an international coalition against the Islamic State group.The official told reporters in Istanbul that "without ground operations it is impossible to stop the fighting in Syria" and that Turkey has pressed the issue in recent discussions with the U.S. and other Western nations.(AP Photo)

L. TODD WOOD: Sides aligning for coming Syrian battle; will NATO be drawn in?

The commander of the Iranian Air Force aid Sunday that his forces would protect Syrian airspace against foreign military intervention, a humorous comment since the Russia and Iran militaries in Syria, last time I checked, weren't Syrian. Brig. Gen. Farzad Ismaili said, "Any presence there without the cooperation of the Syrian government will fail."

February 16, 2016
Druse participate in a rally, demanding the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, close to the Syrian border in Buqata in the Golan Heights, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. The annual demonstration is in protest of the 1981 Israeli law in which the Jewish state annexed the strategic plateau it captured from Syria during 1967 Arab-Israeli war. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

L. TODD WOOD: Israel may be in trouble if Syria wins

Michael Doran, former member of the Bush National Security Council and a noted Middle Eastern scholar, said Monday that if the Assad regime wins the current conflict in Syria, Iran could end up embedded in the Golan Heights and could become an existential threat to Israel.

February 15, 2016
In this Feb. 16, 2015 photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks with Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon during a ceremony for new Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, called off a proposed plan to segregate Palestinians from Israelis on West Bank buses, overruling his defense minister amid a flurry of criticism in an attempt to avert the first crisis of his new government. Thousands of Palestinians enter Israel for work each day from the West Bank and often return home in buses alongside Jewish settlers. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

L. TODD WOOD: Gulf states seeking nukes to counter Iran in Mideast arms race

The bitter fruit of the Iran deal are already starting to materialize as predicted by many analysts. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said over the weekend that Israel has seen evidence that Sunni Gulf states were looking to acquire atomic weapons in a bid to counter Iran, as they were not reassured by the Iranian nuclear agreement negotiated by world powers.

February 15, 2016
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a meeting of local administrators at his palace in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. (Yasin Bulbul/Presidential Press Service, Pool via AP) ** FILE **

L. TODD WOOD: Turkey warns ‘major escalation’ is coming as it shells Aleppo

With Secretary of State John Kerry in Munich closing another peace deal, it seems combatants on the ground want to keep fighting in the Syrian civil war. Assad regime forces along with Iranian-backed Hezbollah, supported by Russian air power, are closing in on Aleppo to destroy remaining anti-Assad opposition forces. Turkey and Saudi Arabia it seems have had enough.

February 13, 2016
Illustration on Russia in the Middle East by M. Ryder/Tribune Content Agency

L. TODD WOOD: Obama, Putin is five steps ahead of you

Russian President Vladimir Putin's geopolitical goals are simple. He wants to make Russia great again. He also wants to diminish American influence and power across the globe, along with the rest of the Western world. He is not interested in peace as a goal. If it happens, great. He'll take credit for it. However, it is not what drives him.

February 12, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani as they attend a signing ceremony during the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. The meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) bring major producers such as Russia, Qatar and Algeria to Iran, which itself is the world's third largest producer after the U.S. and Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

L. TODD WOOD: U.S. doesn’t know where Iranian nuclear material is stored

One of the tenants of the recently concluded Iranian nuclear agreement is that certain nuclear materials would be taken out of Iran and stored in Russia. A Russian vessel loaded with tons of low-enriched uranium left Iran to deposit the material for storage in the Russian Federation in December. Shockingly, the United States does not know where that uranium is nor does the Iranian deal require the U.S. to know where and how it will be stored

February 12, 2016
In this photo taken on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, a construction worker removes rubble from the roof of a severely damaged condo in Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine. Money from Russia helps to the rebuild eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, a strategic rail hub that rebels pounded for weeks before driving out the government troops a year ago. But there has been little or no money to spare for the nearby villages, which still bear the scars of one of the fiercest battles of the war. (AP Photo/Petr Anikukhin)

L. TODD WOOD: Why would Putin hold a snap military drill on Ukrainian border?

The Russian state news agency TASS reported that at 5.00 a.m. Monday in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a snap military drill in the Rostov region on the Ukrainian border, next to areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Rebels inside the Donbass region were also said to have held military drills in coordination with the Russian exercise.

February 9, 2016
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, speaks to the media during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. Turkey and Germany agreed on Monday on a set of measures to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis, including a joint diplomatic initiative aiming to halt attacks against Syria's largest city. Merkel said after talks with Davutoglu that she is "not just appalled but horrified" by the suffering caused by Russian bombing in Syria. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

L. TODD WOOD: Russia supporting Kurdish groups in Syria to Turkey’s detriment

Russian air strikes have allowed Kurdish guerilla groups in northern Syria to gain territory, a move that is sure to anger Turkey, just across the border. After the Turkish air force shot down a Russian plane operating in the area late last year, Russia has shown no qualms about assisting Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to gain ground against anti-Assad forces.

February 8, 2016
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, right, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Erdogan is in Ecuador as part of his Latin America tour that includes Chile and Peru. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

L. TODD WOOD: World War III inches closer as Turkey says it may enter Syrian conflict

The reason Russia is possibly building a new airbase on the Turkish border inside Syria became clearer today as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted Turkey could enter the war on the side of the anti-Assad forces who Russia has been primarily targeting. The Syrian government made major gains against the Sunni opposition in recent weeks as the Syrian city of Aleppo looked to fall from the opposition's control. Turkey has repeatedly urged the American-led coalition against ISIS to do more to help the anti-Assad forces.

February 7, 2016
Refugees wait on a bridge after police stopped them at the border between Austria and Germany in Salzburg, Austria, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

L. TODD WOOD: German intelligence: ISIS sending fighters disguied as refugees

After the San Bernardino shootings, President Obama made much of Donald Trump's call for Syrians and other nationalities requesting refugee status and/or asylum in the United States to be prevented from entering the country until we are able to figure out a process to adequately figure out if they are terrorists or not.

February 5, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Associated Press/File)

L. TODD WOOD: Russia plans garage sale to pay the bills

Like a college student trying to pay the rent, Russia is lining up a fire sale of state-owned assets to plug holes in its federal budget. This week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the list of companies to be sold was not yet finalized but possibly could include the crown jewels Aeroflot and Rosneft. The sale would most likely take place in the second half of the year.

February 4, 2016
With a Libyan flag on his automatic weapon, a soldier stands guard outside a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Libya's Transitional National Council President Mustafa Abdel-Jalil at the World Islamic Call Society Headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, on Oct. 18, 2011. (Associated Press) **FILE**

L. TODD WOOD: Top ISIS commanders taking refuge in Libya

In a shining example of the Obama administration's successful foreign policy in Libya (tongue in cheek), senior ISIS commanders from Iraq and Syria have been taking refuge in Libya as they view the North African nation as a safe haven.

February 4, 2016
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US Gen. Philip M. Breedlove waits for the start of a meeting of NATO's Military Committee at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. In a one day meeting, NATO chiefs of defense will discuss issues of strategic importance to the Alliance ahead of the forthcoming Defense Ministers’ meeting in February. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

L. TODD WOOD: Russia could overrun Baltics in 3 days

On the same day the Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, announced new resources being sought to strengthen Eastern European defenses from any possible Russian aggression, a report from the RAND corporation was released and states that with current force structure, Russia could overrun NATO defenses in the Baltics and be in Riga or Tallinn in under three days.

February 3, 2016