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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.

Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.

Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.

He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

A Ukrainian serviceman carries an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. While the U.S. warns that Russia could invade Ukraine any day, the drumbeat of war is all but unheard in Moscow, where pundits and ordinary people alike don't expect President Vladimir Putin to launch an attack on its ex-Soviet neighbor. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Biden takes wait-and-see approach as Russia says some troops pulling back

War felt a little less inevitable Tuesday as Russia announced it was pulling back some troops from their positions near the Ukrainian border, but U.S. and NATO leaders said they could not verify those claims and President Biden again bluntly warned the Kremlin of severe consequences if it started "a war without cause or reason" against its smaller neighbor. Published February 15, 2022

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a forum, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, in Edmond, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) ** FILE **

Pompeo blasts China as world leaders gather at Seoul peace summit

China bears the blame for the immeasurable suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years and the entire world must speak with a loud, unified voice in condemning Beijing's human rights abuses and disdain for faith and freedom, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at an international rally over the weekend. Published February 13, 2022

Taliban fighters walk at the frozen Qargha Lake, near Kabul, Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. The Taliban have detained two foreign journalists on assignment with the U.N. refugee agency and a number of its Afghan staff working in the country's capital, UNHCR said Friday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Taliban detains two journalists in Kabul, refugee agency says

The Taliban has detained at least two foreign journalists along with several Afghan nationals in Kabul, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday, fueling fears that the extremist group is launching a major crackdown on reporters after just a few months in power. Published February 11, 2022

This image from video provided by the Department of Defense and released on Feb. 3, 2022, shows the compound before a raid where Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, leader of the Islamic State Group, died in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. A U.S. official says that the militant leader, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, exploded a bomb that killed himself and members of his family during the overnight raid by an elite U.S. military force. (Department of Defense via AP)

Raid that killed ISIS leader in Syria next to impossible in Afghanistan

A daring raid by U.S. special forces last week led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in a remote Syrian border town, marking a key victory in America's war against Islamic extremists. It was exactly the type of operation that now is virtually impossible for the U.S. military to pull off in Afghanistan. Published February 10, 2022

A Ukrainian border guard patrols the border with Russia not far from Hoptivka village, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia's top security demands but says Moscow is willing to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

With element of surprise lost, Russian invasion of Ukraine seems less likely

It may be the least surprising invasion in recent history, should it ever take place. Having spent months moving troops, ships, weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian border, any Russian move into its neighbor's territory will have completely lost all element of surprise and the host of military advantages that come with it. Published February 8, 2022

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP) **FILE**

Republicans fume after closed-door hearing on Afghan pullout

The Biden administration is ducking accountability by refusing to publicly answer key questions about the disastrous U.S. and allied military withdrawal from Afghanistan, top Republicans charged Wednesday after a closed-door hearing that offered lawmakers the rare chance to grill senior U.S. officials about the events and policies behind last summer's deadly pullout. Published February 2, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking to the media during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Putin says the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia's top security demands. In his first comments on the standoff with the West over Ukraine in more than a month, Putin said Tuesday that the Kremlin is still studying the U.S. and NATO's response to the Russian security demands received last week. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Peeved Putin complains West ‘ignored’ demands as Blinken, Lavrov confer

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. and its allies of dismissing the Kremlin's "fundamental concerns" about the military standoff across Eastern Europe, while Ukraine announced plans Tuesday to dramatically expand the size of its armed forces, adding fresh uncertainty to the slow-burning crisis. Published February 1, 2022

Ukrainian soldiers take part in an exercise for the use of NLAW anti-tank missiles at the Yavoriv military training ground, close to Lviv, western Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. British defense secretary Ben Wallace told the U.K. had already delivered 2,000 NLAWs to Ukraine, a number he indicated might continue to rise. The missiles were London's way of providing defensive aid to Kyiv as Russian forces deploying around Ukraine's borders give the impression a new invasion may be imminent. (AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk)

U.S. appeals to Putin’s ‘legacy’ as threat of war looms in Ukraine

Top Biden administration officials said Thursday they are holding out hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will embrace a legacy of peace and end a long-running military standoff along the Ukrainian border, even as top aides to the Russian leader said they see "little ground for optimism" with the threat of war looming over Eastern Europe. Published January 27, 2022

Masked pro-Russian armed militants guard a checkpoint with a Russian national flag on the right, blocking the major highway which links Kharkiv, outside Slovyansk, Ukraine, on May 24, 2014. Russia's present demands are based on Putin's purported long sense of grievance and his rejection of Ukraine and Belarus as truly separate, sovereign countries but rather as part of a Russian linguistic and Orthodox motherland. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

West slams reports of Russian plan for puppet government in Ukraine

Moscow plans to force out Ukraine's political leaders and install a pro-Russian puppet regime in Kyiv, British officials said over the weekend, as the West desperately tries to stave off war in Eastern Europe at a moment when Russian action against its neighbor seems all but inevitable. Published January 23, 2022