Darien Cavanaugh
War Is Boring
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Past articles by Darien:
The Paraguayan War was the Dumbest and Costliest Conflict the Americas Ever Experienced
This story originally appeared on April 19, 2017. The Paraguayan War — sometimes referred to by South Americans as the War of the Triple Alliance or the Great War — pitted the armies of Paraguay against those of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. It was an incredibly lopsided contest. Paraguay had... → Read More
Women With Guns Helped Win the Nicaraguan Revolution
This story originally appeared on March 26, 2017. The myth of women serving only in auxiliary capacities or holding down the home front during times of conflict has always been highly questionable. History has shown time and again that women have actively participated in combat, to varying degrees in different... → Read More
Key West Declared a Faux War on the United States in 1982
Originally published on April 3, 2015. The people of Key West, Florida don’t take kindly to bullies, especially federal bullies. When Washington blocked the only road to the mainland, the islanders formed their own nation … then caused a series of international incidents. It all started on April 18, 1982, when... → Read More
Operation Splinter Factor Combined Espionage and Personal Revenge
This story originally appeared on Feb. 27, 2017. While Joseph McCarthy, the House Un-American Activities Committee and J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI terrorized suspected communists and their alleged sympathizers in the United States during the 1940s and ’50s, the CIA was simultaneously helping to orchestrate a campaign of witch hunts and... → Read More
The ‘Parsley Massacre’ Is a Chilling Example of How Quickly a Genocide Can Unfold
This story originally appeared on Feb. 21, 2017. In 1937, social and economic tensions within the Dominican Republic were redirected at its neighbor to the west, Haiti. Events quickly escalated into a genocidal rampage. Under the direct order of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, soldiers and civilian conscripts targeted... → Read More
Moscow’s Cuban Propaganda Movie Was a Cinematic Masterpiece — And a Commercial Flop
This story originally appeared on March 4, 2017. In 1992, the Pacific Film Archive’s Edith Kramer was given a difficult task — track down a copy of the obscure Cuban-Soviet propaganda film Soy Cuba that had been produced almost 30 years earlier. Cuban novelist and critic Guillermo Cabrera Infante wanted to screen... → Read More
The CIA’s Operation ‘Midnight Climax’ Was Exactly What It Sounded Like
This story originally appeared on Sept. 17, 2016. On April 13, 1953, CIA director Allen Dulles authorized Project MKULTRA, the controversial series of experiments aimed at developing mind control techniques and discovering a “truth drug.” Agents dosed subjects with LSD and other psychotropic narcotics, hypnotized them, and exposed them to radiation... → Read More
America Experimented on Conscientious Objectors During World War II
This story originally appeared on June 24, 2015. The vast majority of Americans supported involvement in World War II, but a small minority refused to serve in combat because of their religious, philosophical, political or moral beliefs. The Selective Service and Training Act of 1940 gave these conscientious objectors the... → Read More
America Tried to Overthrow the Castro Regime With Rap Music
This story originally appeared on April 24, 2015. For decades, the United States had sought to destabilize and overthrow the Cuban government. But the most recent attempt to antagonize the Castro regime may have been the strangest. The effort involved the United States Agency for International Development and its attempts... → Read More
The CIA Battled the Kremlin With Books and Movies
Originally published on May 2, 2015. During the Cold War, Moscow’s Ministry of Culture was a master of censorship. The Kremlin’s cultural bulwark screened non-Russian films, suppressed literature and shaped the lives of Soviet artists. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency also dabbled in the dark arts of cultural influence. Except... → Read More
The CIA and KGB Both Tried to Blackmail This World Leader With Sex Tapes
This story originally appeared on Oct. 30, 2016. In 1945, a man known simply by the name Sukarno became Indonesia’s first president after leading an independence movement against Dutch colonial rule. He entered office with overwhelming popular support and was widely regarded as a national hero. He brought with him a... → Read More
The CIA’s Counterinsurgency in Vietnam Was Brutal
As U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War escalated after the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, U.S. Army general William Westmoreland knew he would be simultaneously fighting two different types of enemies on the ground — the main battle force of the North Vietnamese Army and the... → Read More
JFK Had a Secret Nuclear Fallout Bunker in South Florida
In December 1960, the SeaBees – the U.S. Navy’s construction force — supposedly began the mundane task of building a munitions depot behind the Coast Guard station on Peanut Island, Florida. Known as “Operation Hotel,” the SeaBees actually built a secret nuclear fallout shelter for president-elect John F. Kennedy, who often spent... → Read More
Underwater Firearms Are a Thing, and Russia Is Really Into Them
This story originally appeared on Feb. 13, 2016. The Soviet Union began developing underwater guns nearly 50 years ago. The idea — to arm commando frogmen and other combat divers for underwater engagements, however rare and unlikely these subsurface firefights might actually be. In the late 1960s, Moscow enlisted “TsNIITochMash”... → Read More
The Tupamaros Were Propaganda-Savvy Urban Guerrillas
In 1963 a new leftist rebel group emerged in Uruguay as the country struggled with economic decline. The rebels called themselves the Tupamaros in honor of Tupac Amaru II, the leader of a failed 18th century revolt against colonial Spanish rule in Uruguay. Their source of inspiration died nearly 200... → Read More
The Korean War’s Brutality Turned the Stomachs of America’s Most Hardened Soldiers
It’s difficult to try to keep up with developments in the latest round of saber rattling between the United States and North Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and Korean “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un have repeatedly traded verbal barbs via Twitter and more formal avenues amid news of naval redeployments, massive... → Read More
The Paraguayan War was the Dumbest and Costliest Conflict the Americas Ever Experienced
The Paraguayan War — sometimes referred to by South Americans as the War of the Triple Alliance or the Great War — pitted the armies of Paraguay against those of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. It was an incredibly lopsided contest. Paraguay had a population of roughly 500,000 people, while Brazil... → Read More
Bernie Sanders May Stump For Populist Folk Singer Rob Quist In Montana’s Congressional Special Election
Independent Vermont senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has announced he is willing to travel to Montana to stump for Democratic candidate Rob Quist in his effort to ... → Read More
Bernie Sanders Officially Launches Podcast Version Of ‘The Bernie Sanders Show’
Independent Vermont senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has officially launched a podcast version of his popular videostream The Bernie Sanders Show that appears on ... → Read More
New Lamborghini Huracán Performante Breaks Speed Record At Nürburgring Track
There’s a new kid on the block when it comes to being the fastest car ever off the production line. Earlier this month, there were reports that the new Lamborghini Huracán Performante ... → Read More