A classics scholar, New York City district attorney and U.S. Marine Corps reservist, Colonel Matthew Bogdanos volunteered for active duty after September 11, 2001, and joined the hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is, however, perhaps best known for having led the investigation into the March 2003 theft of thousands of antiquities from the looted Iraqi Museum in Baghdad, as well as for his success in recovering so many of these priceless artifacts of early human civilization. In this interview - given around the time his book, Thieves of Baghdad (written with William Patrick), was published - Bogdanos also discusses counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan; border security initiatives in the Horn of Africa; security issues for the June 2004 transition to Iraqi rule; the national security course he designed for the National Defense University; the challenges of dealing with the media; and his views on how effective U.S. and coalition allies have been in shutting down international terrorist smuggling and financial networks. Speaking, as well, on the key principles and attributes of good leadership, Bogdanos said: “What you need is for your people to understand you will do the right things for the right reasons and that includes their welfare as well — that you care for their welfare, that you will not cause them or order them to engage in any questionable behavior; that you will not succumb to questionable behavior when, on the battlefield, there are countless chances to do so, as, sadly, history has shown us.”

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