- Ten Toes In: Why Trump Accounts Make Sense for North Carolina's Small Businesses
- Remnant Called -
- Pakistan, the Iran War, and Regional Security
- When the Liberty Bell Found Its True Voice
- Back to Basics: Understanding Your Greenville County Property Tax Bill from Start to Finish
- Same Job. Two Résumés. Graham and Norman Make Their Case for the US Senate
- Advocates for Faith & Freedom Files Election Integrity Lawsuit Seeking Answers from California Secretary of State
- The Republic of Türkiye and the Iran War
- American Independence and the Battle of Cowpens
- Turkish Naval Force Deploys in Eastern Mediterranean
- The Ukrainian Drone Attacks on Wildberries
- AIPAC Lobbyists Grip on Congress
- The $8 Billion that SC Lawmakers Don't Talk About
- Greenville Republican Women's Monthly Luncheon - July 2026
- Briefing Notes from the Ukraine and Persian Gulf Wars
Invalid and Valid Iran-Vietnam Analogies
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Correcting Widespread Misconceptions about the Vietnam War - Part 1 of 2
First of all, I want to give readers a brief summary of the experiences that have shaped my perspectives of both wars. I served as an intelligence officer, navigator, and what is now called a combat systems officer (CSO) in the USAF from Octobers 1961 to June 1969. This included heading a photo intelligence team during the Cuban Missile Crisis and flying combat missions in Laos and North Vietnam with the 606th Air Commando Squadron. On February 22, 1967, I survived bailing out of a burning A-26k attack-bomber at night and at low altitude—about 700 feet above ground. During several months of hospitalization, I was able to talk with wounded Army, Marine, and Air Force combat casualties about their experiences. I wrote a book, Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, published in 2009 and 2018. I have written other articles on the Vietnam War and numerous articles on the Ukraine War, the Middle East, Islam, the Afghan War, the U.S. “Civil” War, the Iran War, Immigration, and a wide variety of political, military, and historical subjects. Many of these can be found on my Times Examiner archive. Mike Scruggs - The Times Examiner
AIPAC Lobbyists Grip on Congress
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Driving American Military and Foreign Policy
North Carolina and South Carolina
“A Republic, if you can keep it.”—Benjamin Franklin, September 17, 1787
In 2026 so far, the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) has spent $231.8 million funding 496 of 527 sitting Members of Congress, averaging $467,000 per member. This represents approximately 18% of the 2026 Congressional campaign spending of $1.3 billion as of about August 14. About 75% has gone to Democrat candidates and 25% to Republican candidates. So far, Democrat candidates have received an average of $753,000 and Republicans $221,000, but it varies widely per campaign with Senate races receiving on average 5.3 times House races.
Briefing Notes from the Ukraine and Persian Gulf Wars
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Collisions with Reality
Missile Defense Realities in both Ukraine and the Persian Gulf
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is complaining that Ukraine no longer has any air or missile defense. He is begging President Trump for more Patriot 3 missiles and the right for Ukraine to manufacture their own Patriot 3 missiles. The Gulf States are now aware they have little defense against Iranian ballistic missiles. At least 16 American bases in the Gulf have been rendered useless, destroyed by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones This included several billion dollars in high-tech interception radars. Saudi Arabia has claimed that 86% of its missile inventory has been expended. The Gulf States and other Middle Eastern American allies no longer have confidence that the US can protect them from Iranian attack. Their alliance with the U.S. is wavering.
Saudi Arabia’s Iran War Dilemma
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Spreading Consequences of Persian Gulf War
On Saturday night, August 1, President Trump announced and posted on Truth Social that he had agreed to halt an extensive planned air and missile attack against Iran, following an alleged informal agreement by the Islamic Republic of Iran with a framework for “a peace deal.”
“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Iran and other governments in the region asked the US ‘to hold off any attack’ because ‘the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.’ The proposed agreement would include the ’Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’ and ‘an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. Based on this request, I have agreed for the future benefit of the WORLD, and likewise the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, contingent on the parties being able to ‘rapidly make a DEAL.’ The country of Israel joins me in this commitment.”
The Ukrainian Drone Attacks on Wildberries
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
The Magyar Bird Strategy to Weaken Russian E-Commerce
Wildberries is the largest Russian online retailer, comparable in business strategy and operations to Amazon.com. Estimated revenues in 2025 were at least $15 billion, accounting for more than 40% of Russian online retail sales. Wildberries fills 7 million orders per day. Its founder and CEO is Tatyana Kim, mother of 7 children, whose net worth is now estimated at 8.1billion.
Kim was born in 1975 in Grozny, Chechnya, USSR. She is of Korean descent. She met and married Vladislav Bakalchuk around 2001. She conceptualized and tested the idea of Wildberries, starting with selling used clothes, while she was on pregnancy leave as an English teacher. Following the birth of their first child in 2004, she launched Wildberries without any capital. Bakalchuk, however, a talented engineer and entrepreneur, sold his internet service company, Utech for $7.5 million. By 2006, increasing success and expanded sales lines, inventory, and logistical advantages resulted in moving Wildberries’ headquarters to Moscow. By 2022, Wildberries was the largest E-store in Russia, also doing considerable international business. In 2026, the company uses all the advanced AI, robotic, automation, and safety equipment available to it. The company is under U.S. sanctions. This has not stopped Wolfberries’ phenomenal growth. Wildberries’s revenue increased 98% in 2025 and is forecast to grow 35-40% in 2026 and 2027.
Mike Scruggs is the author of two books: The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths; and Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, and over 600 articles on military history, national security, intelligent design, genealogical genetics, immigration, current political affairs, Islam, and the Middle East.
He holds a BS degree from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Stanford University. A former USAF intelligence officer and Air Commando, he is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and holds the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal. He is a retired First Vice President for a major national financial services firm and former Chairman of the Board of a classical Christian school.
Click the website below to order books. http://www.universalmediainc.org/books.htm.
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