My Counterterrorism Magazine Q&A With M.P. Woodward, Author Of 'Red Tide: A Novel Of The Next Pacific War'

Counterterrorism magazine published my Q&A with M. P. Woodward, the author of Red Tide: A Novel of the Next Pacific War. 

You can read the interview via the pages below or the following text:

My Q&A With M.P. Woodward, Author of

Red Tide: A Novel of the Next Pacific War

TM.P. Woodward is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple thriller series including Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Sr., Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr., “The Handler,” and “The Fourth Option” with Jack Carr. 

 

He served as a U.S. Naval intelligence officer before going on to an international career in the streaming media industry. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.  

M P. Wood Ward was interviewed by Paul Davis. 

Editor’s Note: The interview was conducted prior to the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran.  

IACSP: I read “Red Tide” and I liked it, partly because I served on an aircraft carrier when I was a teenage during the Vietnam War. Why did you write “Red Tide” and how would you describe the novel? 

Woodward: I would describe it as speculative fiction of the likely scenario of war between the U.S. and China in our modern context. I wanted to illustrate that there are very few boundaries today between global businesses and traditional national sovereignty, to where businesses and governments are effectively intertwined. And because businesses are global, it can effect government relations in unexpected ways, and in writing what I see as a likely conflict with China, I wanted to mix together the complex history of Chinese and American relations particularly over Taiwan and the somewhat ironic situation where Taiwan has evolved to be the world’s foremost source of chips with their foundries, which is in itself a scarce resource for which businesses and governments are combined. So, to me that seems like a natural collision course. 

IACSP: Why do semiconductors play such an important role in your fictional war between the U.S. and China?

Woodward: Because semiconductors are the basis of all technology now, and technology is the basis of all business now. I spent 20 years in the technology industry. much of that in the chip adjacent industry and I worked for a time at a Taiwanese company. I have seen over and over again competition amongst companies for chip technologies. I've also seen just by virtue of the way companies make decisions, that it's much easier to design chips and the tools to design chips continue to get better, but to manufacture them takes billions and billions of dollars in capital, and so companies like Apple can design their own chips to improve the user experience of their products, but they still rely on the foundries that are so highly specialized they are in fact some of the most expensive valuable facilities in the entire world. So, just as in previous eras of history nations have competed over scarce resources, things like oil natural resources, I think that these foundries are in effect another scarce resource. That and the fact that they're in Taiwan is simply astounding.

IACSP: Why did you create Admiral Cole and the Cole family and have family members central to the drama?

I’m reminded of Herman Wouk’s Henry family in the “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance. 

Woodward: Yes, the “The Winds of War and “War and Remembrance” were two books that were very influential for me, as was “The Caine Mutiny” and “Once An Eagle.”  Those are probably my four favorite books, all of them do an amazing job of reflecting the times through personalities, and in the case of Wouk, he does that with not only personalities but the families that come along with them. Having been a naval officer myself and seeing the way the world has evolved, I felt that it was high time someone's reflect what it's like for military families in our current environment. And just as Myrer and Wouk did, that means showing that the services sort of expand and contract relative to current political thinking or current national demands. So I wanted to show that Admiral Cole was someone who was commissioned at the tail end of the Cold War when the Navy was quite large, but finds himself in a Navy that has half the size that it used to be, yet is facing renewed global threats and is presiding over a Navy that was designed to fight one kind of battle and finds itself fighting a different one. And I wanted to have an officer who had been around long enough to recognize those changes, but to grapple with them because he's got a love for the way things were done, but he's intellectually flexible enough to recognize that it would have to change.

IACSP: In addition to the Cole family, you created Gabe Sorkin, a naval reserve character. How would you describe him?

Woodward: That's something I wanted you to pull forward from my own tech career where I have seen in the past 10 years that there are a number of people in tech who have come to understand with China’s revanchism that they're grateful for the umbrella that the United States security has provided them in building global businesses. You see this today with Palmer Luckey. He’s the guy who invented Oculus and VR and now he's turned his talents to defense. You see that with Peter Thiel’s Palantir as well.

I have met several reservists who are in the tech industry who feel strongly about this, and I think some months ago the Trump administration actually created a program, and I laughed because I thought that's Gabe Sorkin, but they created a program where they commissioned certain tech executives who wanted to volunteer as 05-level officers (Lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, Army and Marine Corp, and commander in the Navy), so they can contribute. That's also very similar to what happened in World War II. So, I just wanted to echo in those eras in history and a little of my own experience.

IACSP: What kind of research did you do for Red Tide?

Woodward: I'm working on a doctorate at Harvard University right now and the big part of that has been Chinese history and government, so my research really came through two sources. One, through school, where I studied China extensively. But on the technology side, it was really my experience with tech firms and a Taiwanese company.

IACSP:  Do you think a future war with China as you describe in “Red Tide” is possible, or even enviable?

Woodward: There's a Harvard historian named Graham Allison who talks about something called the “Thucydides’ Trap.” Thucydides was this historian who wrote about wars inevitability when there's one power that's rising and another power that's ruling, so Graham Allison sort of seized on that idea and wrote a book called “Destined For War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?” He's analyzed all these conflicts in history and seen a common pattern when there's a rising power they come into conflict with the ruling power and the situation we've seen is that the United states has been certainly since the end of the Cold War the single superpower and China is rising to challenge that, and because of the of the competition around the intermingling of business and government in the competition around that single source of chips to me that is a primary source of conflict as are other areas that feed the same technology industry such as rare earth materials for example, or the domain of satellites and spectrum to complete communications, So I do not necessarily think war is inevitable, but I think conflict in these areas is inevitable and that's why when I wrote “Red Tide” it's a naval war, but it's also something of a limited war.

We've seen this in the Russian and Ukraine war; we've seen it all around the world in the age of nuclear weapons. So far, the governments have been forced into limited wars short of full-scale escalation or proxy wars, and the most likely scenario would be for the Chinese to simply blockade Taiwan, and then military forces that could do something about it, which in this case is the U.S. Navy/

IACSP: Does the U.S. Navy needs to build more ships and upgrade technology to counter the Chinese Navy, which is becoming more and more powerful each day?

Woodward: Quite definitely, yes. I would say that since the end of World War II, we've had historic prosperity and every measure of quality of life has improved in 80 years. In 1945 when nations got together to talk about how to treat the oceans, it was agreed that the oceans would be free, and that's where we came up with things like 12 nautical miles territorial limits, et cetera, and the US Navy for the last 70 years really enforced that. But the U.S. Navy can’t do that anymore and that's going to split up the oceans into regional hegemons. China is well poised to do that for two reasons. One it has illegally seized reefs in the South China Sea, and I think about 20 per cent of World Trade goes through the South China Sea, so that's one area. But the other area is around shipbuilding. They've matched the size of our amphibious fleet in the past five to ten years, something that took us decades and decades to build. Their ship building capacity is much greater than the U.S. and these are all issues that I’ve tried to highlight.

IACSP: Can you tell us about your background as a naval intelligence officer and later in the tech industry? Did you always want to be a writer?

Woodward: I always wanted to be a writer. The four books that I mentioned were all books that I absorbed in high school,  and I graduated high school at the height of the Cold War and then went to school on a Navy ROTC scholarship and studied Russian with the intent of becoming an intelligence officer and then became an intelligence officer. I was commissioned around 1990 and so the Cold War was still functioning. The world very rapidly changed however and I kind of came in the interlude between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War on Terror, So I got a little bit of the tactical side of both, but it was a terrific career that exposed me to many different facets of the Navy. Also, as a junior officer, it got me very close to decision makers and commanders. Helping as a staff officer, you're really getting to see policy enforced, so that was that was one of my kind of worldview.

IACSP: Where did you serve?

Woodward: I was in the Philippines for a while and then after that I was in an airwing on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. I then worked for United States Pacific Command as a staff intelligence officer in Hawaii and San Diego. That brought me all around the Pacific.

IACSP: What was your rank when you left the Navy?

Woodward: I was a lieutenant. I was just coming up against 04 rank. I had gotten my MBA at night, and the Cold War was over, and the technology sector was booming, the Internet had just been invented, and the Navy was shrinking, so I thought it was a tempting time to leave.

IACSP: What about your career in the tech industry?

Woodward: I went into Internet communications immediately with Motorola and then the wireless industry and a wireless startup doing video transmission over very low bandwidth, and then that led to a career with wireless carriers and then with smartphone manufacturers. AT&T had got very involved in smartphones and launched the iPhone and then went to the actual smartphone manufacturer Android called HTC, which was bought by Google. Then I ended up at Amazon, where I spent the last seven years of my career before leaving tech in 2022.

IACSP: I suppose both your Navy experience and business experience aided you in writing Red Tide.

Woodward: Oh, completely yeah. The Navy experience gave me insight into people and personalities, strains on families, Navy operations, and where I saw how we interfaced with allies. But then at tech, I saw the constraints around chips and the criticality of chips, and in my last job streaming video with Internet for international partners, and so we were active in more than 40 countries. That was reviving my thoughts around the importance of the Navy and global commerce and the different points of view from people around the world and in their view of the United States and China.

IACSP: “Red Tide” was not only interesting and suspenseful, but it was also illuminating. I'm a Navy veteran, but I think even nonveterans will enjoy it. I've read that you've also written thrillers based on Tom Clancy's characters. How did that happen?

Woodward: My first book, “The Handler,” was published in 2021-2022. The editor who bought that series was also the editor for the Tom Clancy series. Tom Clancy died in 2014, but Putnam has carried on the characters with legacy authors, and so that editor offered me the job of writing the Jack Ryan Jr. series. I've written three Jack Ryan Jr. books, and they promoted me to do the Jack Ryan Sr. series. My first Jack Ryan Sr. book comes out later this year. Its called “The Coldest War.” It's about a conflict with Russia.

IACSP: I read that you are writing a thriller with Jack Carr. I interviewed him here when his first book came out. How did that come about, and what's the thriller about?

Woodward: Jack Carr called me up a year and a half ago and told me that there was a lot of demand for his books and he wanted to continue to write about the James Reese  universe himself, but he also had an idea, he had two ideas actually, for four separate thrillers, and he asked me if I would be willing to partner with him and co-write and basically developed his idea into a full draft of the novel, and then and work together to bring it to market. So, I did that. Jack is a wonderful guy and a former naval officer like me, and he had really liked my work in “The Handler” and “Red Tide.”

This story is different than the genres we have been writing. It is about a veteran of the global war on terror with a special forces background like Jack, but who's been sort of used up and spit out by it. He needs purpose, needs something and finds that in helping people who are facing you know corrupt governments. So this story takes place in New Orleans where he's effectively investigating the death of the son of one of his old friends, who he lost in Afghanistan. The son is trying to become a journalist and rise on and do special things, and uncovered deep government corruption in New Orleans, and ended up being murdered. So, this character uses his skills to take on this corrupt government directly. So, it's sort of about justice at the end of the day.

IACSP: Thank you for speaking to us and thank you for your service.

Sailor Spy Sentenced To Sixteen Years In Prison

 Counterterrorism magazine published my piece on a former sailor turned spy Jinchao Wei (seen in the above photo) who was sentenced to sixteen years in prison.

You can read the piece via the below pages or the following text:  

Sailor Spy Sentenced to Sixteen Years in Prison

By Paul Davis

I spoke to a retired naval officer, who like other active duty, retired and former U.S. Navy sailors, was angry upon hearing about Jinchao Wei, a sailor-turned-spy for the Chinese.

The retired naval officer, a “Mustang” officer who previously served as an enlisted man in the Navy, told me that Wei should have been punished far more than a prison sentence. 

“This spy and traitor should face a firing squad.”

As a Navy veteran who served on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, I understand the anger. We all swore to defend the country and the Constitution, and those of us who held secret clearances signed an agreement never to divulge Navy secrets.

Also, as a Defense Department civilian employee who performed security work for more than 33 years after serving four years in the Navy, I worked diligently to prevent our countries’ adversaries from obtaining classified information. But even the best security procedures and the best security people can fail to detect the insider threat – a dishonest and disloyal military member, a DOD civilian employee, or a defense contractor.   

Wei dishonored himself and committed an act of espionage when he passed information to a Chinese intelligence officer.     

On January 12, Jinchao Wei, a former U.S. Navy sailor who was convicted of espionage by a federal jury in August 2025, was sentenced in federal court today to 200 months in prison.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Wei, 25, also known as Patrick Wei, was arrested in August 2023 on espionage charges as he arrived for work on the amphibious assault ship U.S.S. Essex at Naval Base San Diego, the homeport of the Pacific Fleet.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of selling national defense information to an intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China for $12,000.

“Following a five-day trial and one day of deliberation, the jury convicted Wei of six crimes, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. He was found not guilty of one count of naturalization fraud,” the Justice Department stated.

“Members of the United States military swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This active-duty U.S. Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States. The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior. We stand ready to investigate, defend, and protect the interests of the American people.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Wei, in his role as a machinist’s mate, held a U.S. security clearance and had access to sensitive national defense information about the ship’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems. Amphibious assault ships like the Essex resemble small aircraft carriers and allow the U.S. military to project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious readiness and expeditionary strike capabilities.

“On February 14, 2022, Wei was recruited by a Chinese intelligence officer via social media who at first portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast who worked for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The evidence showed that even during the early days of his espionage career, Wei strongly suspected the intelligence officer’s true identity and motive,” the Justice Department noted. “

On February 22, 2022, Wei told a friend who was also in the U.S. Navy that he thought he was “on the radar of a China intelligence organization,” as he was in contact with an individual who was “extremely suspicious,” “interested in the maintenance cycle of naval ships,” and wanted him to “walk the pier” to “see which ships are docked” on a “daily basis.” Wei said that this person would pay him $500. Wei told his friend that he is “no idiot” and that “this is quite obviously fucking espionage.”

Wei’s friend suggested that Wei delete the contact. Instead of heeding his friend’s advice, the next day Wei transitioned his communications with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging application that he believed was more secure and began spying for the intelligence officer.

“The evidence showed that between March 2022 and when he was arrested in August 2023, Wei, at the request of the intelligence officer, sent photographs and videos of the Essex, advised the officer of the location of various Navy ships, and described the defensive weapons of the Essex. He also described problems with his ship and other ships based at Naval Base San Diego and elsewhere. And, he sent the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operational information about U.S. Navy surface warfare ships like the Essex that he took from restricted U.S. Navy computer systems,” stated the Justice Department.

“In exchange for this information, the officer paid Wei more than $12,000 over 18 months. In one of his larger thefts of U.S. Navy data, Wei sold the intelligence officer at least 30 technical and operating manuals about U.S. Navy systems. These manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships, including power, steering, weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators, as well as damage and casualty controls.

“In total, Wei sold the intelligence officer approximately 60 technical and operating manuals about U.S. Navy ships, as well as dozens of photographs and papers about the U.S. Navy and Wei’s assignments on the Essex. Many of the manuals contained conspicuous export-control warnings on their cover pages.”

The Justice Department explained that during the trial, the government presented evidence including phone conversations, electronic messages, and audio messages that Wei exchanged with his Chinese handler. These messages showed how they communicated, what they spoke about, the need for secrecy, the efforts they made to cover their tracks, the tasks issued by his case handler, and how Wei was paid for his work via an online payment method.

As their relationship developed, Wei called his handler “Big Brother Andy” and obliged requests to keep their relationship secret by using multiple encrypted apps; deleting messages and accounts; using digital “dead drops” that disappear in 72 hours; and using a new computer and phone provided by his handler.

The government told the jury that the evidence showed Wei was aware that what he was doing was wrong. He had received recent training from the Navy regarding how to detect recruitment efforts from foreign governments; he attempted to conceal his activity; and he searched the internet about another case in which a U.S. Navy sailor was convicted of espionage, even reading a Department of Justice press release about that case.

“Much of the evidence showed the evolution of Wei’s relationship with his handler - Wei’s increasing willingness to collect more and more sensitive information, and the intelligence officer’s employment of intelligence tradecraft to keep developing Wei as a spy and to conceal their relationship and activities from U.S. authorities,” the Justice Department stated. “For example, the jury saw photographs of the hand-written receipts that Wei created and sent to his handler to be paid and conversations that Wei and his handler had regarding the handler’s increasingly generous offers to Wei, such as a trip for Wei and his mother to travel to China. Moreover, the jury was presented with documents and records obtained from electronic accounts demonstrating the intelligence officer’s identity as a PRC intelligence officer, including photographs and identification documents.”

During his post-arrest interview Wei admitted that he gave the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operating manuals and export-controlled data about U.S. Navy surface warfare ships, and that the intelligence officer paid him thousands of dollars for these materials. He also admitted that he knew that his actions were wrong and that he had tried to hide his activities. When the interviewing agents asked Wei how he would describe what he had been doing with the intelligence officer, Wei responded, “espionage.”

Wei, during his post-arrest interview with FBI: “I’m screwed.”

FBI: “What makes you say that?”

Wei: “That I’m sharing the unclassified document to—I mean document with, uhm, him . . . I’m not supposed to do that.”

The crime of espionage under U.S. Code Section 794 has never been charged in the Southern District of California. The statute is reserved for the most serious circumstances involving the passage of national defense information intended to harm the United States or for the benefit of a foreign power.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and Adam Barry, former Trial Attorney from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section who is currently Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia.

John A. Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, stated after the sentence, “Wei swore loyalty to the United States when he joined the Navy and reaffirmed that oath when he became a citizen. He then accepted the solemn responsibility of protecting this Nation’s secrets when the United States entrusted him with sensitive Navy information. 

“He made a mockery of these commitments when he chose to endanger our Nation and our servicemembers by selling U.S. military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for personal profit. Today’s sentence reflects our commitment to ensuring those who sell our Nation’s secrets pay a very high price for their betrayal.”

NCIS Director Omar Lopez added, “By sharing thousands of documents, operating manuals, and export-controlled and sensitive information with a Chinese intelligence officer, Petty Officer Wei knowingly betrayed his fellow service members and the American people.

“Today’s outcome demonstrates the shared commitment of NCIS, FBI, the Department of Justice and our Intelligence partners to aggressively pursue and hold accountable those who would put the lethality and readiness of our Naval fleet, as well as our national security, at risk. NCIS remains steadfast in its mission to protect U.S. Navy and Marine Corps forces and warfighting capabilities by neutralizing counterintelligence threats ashore, afloat and in cyberspace.”

Mark Dargis, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office, stated “Today’s sentence marks the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind espionage investigation in the district and reflects the seriousness of Wei’s egregious actions against his own country. The FBI will aggressively defend our homeland from anyone threatening our national security, including those on the inside betraying their sworn duty to the United States. We remain steadfast in protecting the American people and will continue to work with all our law enforcement partners to successfully carry out this mission.”

Paul Davis, a Navy veteran and retired Defense Department civilian employee, is a longtime contributor to the Journal. He also writes the online Threatcon column for IACSP. 

PA Secures $450 Million Investment From TerraPower Isotopes To Build Cancer-Fighting Radioisotope Manufacturing Facility In South Philadelphia’s Bellwether District

Philly Daily, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that Governor Josh Shapiro announced on March 17^th that the Commonwealth has secured a $450 million investment from nuclear science company TerraPower Isotopes to establish a radioisotope manufacturing facility in Philadelphia that supports the development of cancer-fighting drugs. The Commonwealth is investing $10 million to support this project, which will create 225 new full-time jobs over the next three years.

“TerraPower Isotopes will lease a 250,000-square-foot, build-to-suit facility in the Bellwether District of Philadelphia and produce actinium-225 for use in the development of cancer treatments. TerraPower Isotopes becomes another major tenant at the Bellwether District, a 1,300-acre state-of-the-art commercial redevelopment project underway in South and Southwest Philadelphia that is reimagining the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery into a hub for economic development, advanced manufacturing, and innovation,” the announced noted. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:

PA Secures $450 Million Investment from TerraPower Isotopes to Build Cancer-Fighting Radioisotope Manufacturing Facility in South Philadelphia’s Bellwether District - Philly Daily 

Hemingway On War

"Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war," said Ernest Hemingway, author of For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell To Arms, Islands in the Stream, and other great novels. 

Note: The above photo is of the late, great American writer as a war correspondent in WWII.                                                               

Convicted Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell Dies In Prison/My Washington Times Review Of 'Gosnell: The Untold Story Of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer'

News outlets are reporting that Kermit Gosnell (seen in the above mugshot), the convicted serial killer and abortion doctor, died in prison on March 1^st.  

Back in 2017 I reviewed Ann McElhiney and Phelin M. McAleer’s book, Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer for the Washington Times.

By Paul Davis - - Monday, February 20, 2017

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

GOSNELL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICA’S MOST PROLIFIC SERIAL KILLER

By Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer

Regnery, $27.99, 256 pages

I followed the Kermit Gosnell murder trial in 2013, which was covered by the local Philadelphia media, but ignored largely by the national media.

Now journalists and documentary filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer offer a book on the life and crimes of the Philadelphia abortion doctor who was convicted of three counts of murder by using scissors to sever the spinal cords of babies delivered alive, as well as various other crimes.

As the authors note, Gosnell destroyed records and often came in on Sundays without his staff and performed numerous illegal late-term abortions, so there is no telling just how many babies he murdered in this fashion and by other means — hence the book’s subtitle, “America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer.”

The case began, the authors explain, with a drug bust.

“It wasn’t a homicide case — until it was. Originally the authorities weren’t investigating murder, or even illegal late-term abortions. They were just trying to bust a prescription drug mill,” the authors write. “But they wound up discovering something far worse.”

The authors credit Jim Wood, a detective with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, with the discovery of Gosnell’s horrendous crimes. Detective Wood worked closely with DEA Special Agent Steve Dougherty and FBI Special Agent Jason Huff. The three investigators were called “the three amigos,” a light touch to an otherwise dark case.

In 2009 Detective Wood was attached to a joint federal and local task force assigned to combat Philadelphia’s growing illegal prescription-drug trade. The potentially lethal painkiller Oxycodone was the favorite drug on the street, which sold as high as $80 a tablet. Unethical and criminal doctors sold prescriptions of Oxycodone and other drugs to street drug dealers, which was and is a lucrative criminal enterprise.

Detective Wood worked his informants to uncover the networks of prescription drug dealers and suppliers, one of which led Detective Wood to Gosnell. Gosnell was a respected and affable black doctor who owned and operated a women’s medical clinic in a poor neighborhood in West Philadelphia, but Detective Wood suspected that he was one of the city’s biggest suppliers of illegal prescriptions.

The team honed in on Gosnell’s clinic, where his employees handed over prescriptions to fake patients — called “smurfs” by the investigators — and to one particular smurf that just happened to be an undercover cop.

The three investigators had an informant make buys at Gosnell’s clinic, which were recorded. One of Gosnell’s employees, Latosha Lewis, worked the front desk and gave out prescriptions. She was brought in and told the investigators about Gosnell’s “pill-smurfing.”

She told the investigators that Gosnell had three types of patients: “seekers” (drug dealers and users), procedures (women seeking abortions), and people who were sick. On a typical night, the investigators learned, Gosnell would sell 200 prescriptions.

Latosha Lewis also told the investigators about the unsafe and unhygienic conditions at the clinic. Unlicensed workers treated patients, decomposing medical waste lay about and the two cats who roamed freely through the clinic had fleas. She also told them about Karnamaya Mongar, a woman who died at the clinic after an abortion. The death, she said, “just wasn’t right.”

On the night of the raid on the clinic, Detective Wood approached Gosnell on the street in front of the clinic and told him he was a target of the investigation.

“He was typical Gosnell, like, this how do you describe this like a calm Hannibal Lector-type mentality, like, what’s this all about?” Detective Wood recalled.

The investigators described the clinic to the grand jury as deplorable. There were semi-conscious women moaning in chairs, cat hair everywhere and the surgical rooms were unsanitary. DEA Special Agent Dougherty compared the clinic to a bad gas station restroom.

And it got worst — much worst. The investigators discovered aborted fetuses and medical waste in containers and in one cupboard there was a shelf full of jars that contained severed baby feet.

The authors go on to describe the clinic’s other horrors and the subsequent grand jury investigation, the shortcomings of public officials who allowed the clinic to operate all those years, as well as the trial and the aftermath of Gosnell’s conviction. The authors make the claim that the national media did not cover the case adequately due to their pro-abortion bias.

“Gosnell” is somewhat convoluted and often repetitive, but the authors offer a compelling and truly sad story that should be read by both pro- and anti-abortion people. This crime story is bigger than the issue of abortion, in my view.

Kermit Gosnell, who is in prison serving a life sentence, is a truly egomaniacal, greedy and heartless criminal, a monster far worse than the fictional Hannibal Lecter, as the former doctor murdered innocent babies delivered alive.

• Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime, espionage, terrorism and the military. 

U.S. Delivers 'Devastating Combat Power' To Iran

David Vergun at the Department of War’s Pentagon News offers a piece on the U.S. military’s actions in Iran.

To date, U.S. forces are dominating the air and sea and have hit thousands of Iranian targets during Operation Epic Fury, said Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson today in the War Department's Weekly Sitrep video. 

"We will continue to deliver devastating combat power," Wilson added.

At a press conference yesterday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the current campaign is laser-focused and decisive, and the U.S. objectives of destroying Iran's missiles and missile launchers, eliminating the country's navy and ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon remain unchanged.

As evidence of the progress being made, Hegseth said Iranian ballistic missile and one-way drone attacks are down 90% since combat operations began Feb. 28.

Additionally, he said U.S. Central Command forces have damaged or sunk more than 120 Iranian naval vessels, including all 11 of their submarines.

"To the 50,000 service members supporting this mission, and their families, we are thinking about you, and we are beyond proud of your resolve and resiliency. You are the very best of our great nation," Wilson said.

Earlier this week, President Donald J. Trump, Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, honored the six fallen KC-135 Stratotanker crew members during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. They and seven other service members have made the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Epic Fury, she said.

Centcom published an Epic Fury fact sheet this week, which lists the types of targets being pursued. They include command and control centers; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters and intelligence sites; air defense systems; ballistic missile, anti-ship missile and surface-to-air missile sites; weapon production and storage bunkers; military infrastructure and communications capabilities; and naval ships and submarines.

You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:

 This Week in DOW: U.S. Delivers 'Devastating Combat Power' to Iran > U.S. Department of War > Defense Department News | U.S. Department of War 

My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column On The Need For A Police Museum In Philadelphia

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column today on the need for a police museum. 

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Davis: Does Philadelphia need a police museum? - Philly Daily

 

I was contacted by Gary Capuano (seen in the above photo), a retired Philadelphia police sergeant who has often commented on crime issues here.

 

Capuano advised me of his desire to fund, build and open a Philadelphia Police Museum.

 

“Myself and a few other former officers have been speaking on my Retired Philly Cops Facebook page about a police museum,” Capuano explained. “My old partner and fellow South Philadelphian, Adam Douglas, had proposed that the Police Department utilize the old Atwater Kent Museum that has been abandoned since 2018. 

"The Philadelphia Police Department is one of the oldest municipal police forces in the United States. It was officially established in 1854 through the Act of Consolidation, though policing in the city dates to 1684, when Watchmen were first appointed to maintain public safety. Despite this long history, Philadelphia does not have a museum dedicated to preserving the story of its police department. Establishing a Philadelphia Police Museum would help officers and the public better understand the origins and evolution of policing while honoring the sacrifices of those who served.”  

Capuano noted Philadelphia already preserves public safety history through the Philadelphia Fireman’s Hall Museum. 

“The police museum could preserve artifacts such as photographs, uniforms, equipment, and documents, while highlighting the duties, challenges, and sacrifices of officers, including those who died in the line of duty. Many of these items could come from department archives, retired officers, police families, historical collections, and donations from the community. It should present history in a fair and balanced way, acknowledging both achievements and past controversies to show how policing has evolved. An honest approach.” 

Capuano suggested that funding for the independent museum could come from private donations, grants, sponsorships, and partnerships with universities and historical organizations, with support from a nonprofit group. He also suggests free admission, like the Fireman's Hall Museum, to keep the museum accessible to the public.  

“A Philadelphia Police Museum would preserve an important part of the city’s heritage while promoting education, remembrance, and community engagement. The museum would foster a sense of pride and identity for police officers by highlighting the long, tradition of service. For the community, the museum would help to strengthen the connection with the police by helping them gain a deeper understanding of the duties, challenges, and responsibilities that officers face every day.” 

I agree with Gary Capuano about the need for a police museum, but I think the old police headquarters at 8^th and Race Streets, commonly known as the “Roundhouse” due to the building’s curvilinear design, would be a more suitable and historic place to house a police museum.  

Back in the 1990s, when I was a crime reporter and columnist for the South Philadelphia newspapers, I was a frequent visitor to the Roundhouse. I visited the Roundhouse to interview several police commissioners, first deputy commissioners, homicide detectives, and other police officials.  

Martin O’Donnell (seen in the above photo), a retired Philadelphia Police Lieutenant and a friend of Capuano, agrees with me. 

“The best place, with reasonable parking, would be the Roundhouse,” O’Donnell said. “Initial funding could come from the city and private funding. Subsequent funding could come from an ‘Event Day’ such as a day hosted by the FOP with all the proceeds going towards the Police Museum.”  

O’Donnell joined the police in 1979. He served in the 16th District and in 1982 and later worked in the 6th District In 1986 he was detailed to the Training Bureau. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1990 and was transferred to the Advanced Training Unit. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1995 and remained at the Training Bureau until he retired in August of 2004.

I first met O’Donnell in 1994 when I attended the pilot class of the Philadelphia Civilian Police Academy as a reporter on assignment for the South Philadelphia Review. I wrote an 11-part series on police training and operations for the weekly newspaper.  

I asked O’Donnell what would be featured at the proposed police museum.

“Articles for the museum could be obtained from current police districts and additional articles from storage from districts that have been closed,” O’Donnell said. “Each Special Unit may have some articles from the past that they could donate, and they could donate some current items they use today.

I asked if the Philadelphia Police Department would support an independent police museum.

“I think if this venture got some publicity, the Police Department would like the positive publicity and do what they could to support this. I believe many active and retired Officers would support this.

“I think I would promote the Police Museum with various Schools through and around the City of Philadelphia. This could promote a relationship with the Department and the Community and give the public an understanding of the real job of a Police Department. Additionally, this could be a resource for recruitment for police department.

I think that a police museum would be good for Philadelphia.             

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.