DepartmentofNothing

• What do you think are the best (open) news sources these days? Any particular bylines you follow?

• Did local operations officers on the ground have a good sense of the big strategic picture? How in your experience does bias affect what/how people report to Langley?

• Where do you fall on the CIA militarization vs intel-gathering spectrum? Too much militarization or too little?

• Can you talk about your opinions of foreign intelligence services you've worked with? Any foreign services of which you think highly?

What, if any, structural incentives are leading to use of this technique? And how successful or unsuccessful is it in court thus far, given how ridiculous it seems?

Love ProPublica, keep up the good work!

Thanks for answering. I hope you're ok with a follow-up:

If my newspapers of choice are bullshit, then what can I, some random guy with better things to do, do to keep up with the world with any sense of accuracy?

What do you think Americans should know about what's happening in Syria, given the last few days, and where should we find it?

We've all heard about the potential for 'water wars' in places like Yemen or Ethiopia/Egypt, but of course it's just one factor in bilateral relations--what do the empirical studies say, where does water rank in terms of priorities versus, say, the economic relationship? Where in your opinion is most likely to be a relatively clear-cut water conflict?

For that matter, are there any notable water-sharing agreements that defuse what would otherwise be clear international tensions? What blueprints can we build upon as fresh water grows scarcer?

• Do you have any insight into the Iranian government regarding their response to the 2016 incident? Do you see parallels with the ongoing one?

• You've written several pieces about military readiness and equipment. Does the 'hollow force' label ring true to you? Are these systemic problems within the Navy or DoD as a whole?

• Do any of you have military experience? Why choose this particular topic?

• Did you encounter any pushback either from officialdom or potential sources as you worked the story?

• This is not a popular AMA. Are you disappointed at the turnout? What do you think about Reddit and other social media and the future of investigative reporting, given the relative lack of interest?