Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
It’s been 100 years since the first use of air power in war: The first instance of airpower was a tactic employed in the Italo-Turkish War, fought between Italy and the Ottoman Empire. In 1911, Italy moved toward its longstanding goal of establishing a colony in North Africa when Germany deployed its Panther gunboat to [...]
The Supreme Court will have another interesting First Amendment case on its docket this Term.
Some reports today seem to indicate that the United States is abandoning plans to keep a contingent of military forces in Iraq past the December 31st expiration of the current Status of Forces Agreement: BAGHDAD—The Obama administration is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline. A senior administration official [...]
The Air Force has released some details about the virus that has infected the country’s drone fleet: The Air Force did provide a few details about the malware. They said it was first noticed on “a stand-alone mission support network using a Windows-based operating system.” And they called it “a credential stealer,” transmitted by portable [...]
Mike Flynn, the 2-star who blasted military intelligence, is now the 3-star charged with fixing military intelligence.
Modern military conscription, which largely began in France under Napoleon has slowly but surely faded away: In 1970, only 20 percent of the countries for which we have data did not use conscription. In 2009, that figure was nearly 55 percent! The United States’ move from a conscripted military to a volunteer military over this [...]
One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting.
Anesthesiologist Eugene Lipov thinks he has found a cheap, effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army won’t fund it.
The Pentagon announced yesterday that military chaplains based in states where same-sex marriage is legal will be permitted to officiate at such weddings: Military chaplains may perform same-sex marriages, even on military bases, in states where such ceremonies are allowed but will not be forced to do so, the Pentagon said Friday. The decision — [...]
Marcia Anderson has become the first African American woman to be promoted to a two star general in the US Army.
Debating proposed changes to the US military’s retirement system.
Stephen Hill, a US soldier serving in Iraq, was booed by some members of the audience at last night’s Republican debate.
So far, audience members at September’s Republican debate have cheered the death of 234 people in Texas and the idea of letting someone without health insurance die. Last night, there were actually boos for a member of the United States military: At Thursday night’s Fox News/Google Republican Presidential Debate, the crowd was once again the [...]
Mostly quietly, the military’s 18 year-old policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military has come to an end: The U.S. military has spent months preparing for the repeal, updating regulations and training to reflect the impending change, and the Pentagon has already begun accepting applications from openly gay men and women. [...]
The U.S. War in Afghanistan sounds disturbingly similar to the Soviet one.
Later today, President Obama will award the Congressional Medal Of Honor to Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who doesn’t really consider himself a hero: Dakota Meyer doesn’t mind if people call him a hero. He doesn’t really believe it, but he’ll accept the compliment graciously. “It doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable, but it doesn’t change who I [...]
Four American soldiers are now on the ground in Libya. Reports have them wearing boots.
Flashback: When David Petraeus was simply known as “Peaches” & was a member of the “French Club”
Via The Navy Times comes news that General David Petraeus will bring his military career to an end prior to stepping up to head the Central Intelligence Agency: David Petraeus, America’s best-known general and the wartime model of a soldier-scholar-statesman, is retiring as arguably the most consequential Army leader of his generation. Petraeus is bidding [...]
It isn’t over yet, but already August 2011 stands as the single deadliest month of the war in Afghanistan: Sixty-six U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan so far this month, making August the deadliest month for American forces in the nearly decade-long war. Nearly half of the troops killed died on Aug. 6 when the [...]
Rick Perry spoke before the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention today, which turned out to be an interesting venue for what he had to say about foreign policy: Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appeared before a ballroom of veterans Monday as the governor of Texas, but used the platform to deliver a national message on [...]
The U.S may be on the verge of committing the next decade to the future of Afghanistan.
The funerals of the SEALs and other American soldiers killed in the Chinook crash in Afghanistan have been taking place across the country. They’re all sad in their own way, but there was one that just stands out: Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson lay in a coffin, draped in an American flag, in front of a [...]
A Navy board of inquiry consisting of three admirals has voted to keep Captain Owen Honors, who was relieved as captain of the Enterprise, on active duty.
Success in Libya does not make the American mission any less unjustified than it was on the day President Obama announced it.
In a Bloomberg column titled “Want to Be the Next Apple? Lose the Bafflegab,” Virginia Postrel passes along some business advice that applies just as well to foreign and national security policy. In his new book “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters,” Richard P. Rumelt, a strategy professor at UCLA’s Anderson [...]
Not only is the US outspending all our allies and competitors combined in real dollars on defense, we’re doing so in terms of GDP as well.
I don’t usually post stuff like this, but I’m sucker for dog stories: Rocky is a retired military dog who will be put down on August 24 if he’s not adopted. He served three tours in Iraq and desperately needs a loving home to enjoy his final years. Pets for Patriots is responding to a [...]
Rick Perry declared, “One of the reasons that I’m running for president is I want to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of the United States respects highly the president of the United States.”
One of the first things we learned about the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden was that at least one of the helicopters used was a previously secret stealth helicopter. After delaying for several weeks, Pakistan finally turned over the wreckage of the copter in late May, but not before dropping [...]
Fresh off her victory in the Ames Straw Poll, Michele Bachmann made the rounds of all the Sunday morning shows, and proceeded to double down on her positions. On CNN’s State Of The Union, for example, Bachmann said that she would probably reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell if elected President: CROWLEY: If you became president, [...]
The Pentagon has identified the 30 American service members killed last week in the apparent attack on a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan: The Pentagon on Thursday identified the 30 U.S. servicemembers killed in a helicopter crash Saturday in eastern Afghanistan. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter was carrying 17 Navy SEALs, five other naval special operators, three [...]
The U.S. military says it has carried out a mission that has killed the person responsible for shooting down a Chinook helicopter and killing 30 American soldiers: An American airstrike has killed the Taliban fighters believed responsible for shooting down a Chinook helicopter, killing 38 people including 30 American military personnel, the senior commander in [...]
Matthew Yglesias provides this chart of U.S. vs. Iranian military spending to counter the argument that cutting defense spending, even modestly, would endanger our ability to respond to potential threats from nations like Iran: Ygelsias comments: Israel’s defense budget is about 50 percent larger than Iran’s, as is the UAE’s. Saudi Arabia spends over triple [...]
Honoring the fallen by ensuring that the didn’t die in vain is a recipe for getting more good men killed.
The London Telegraph is reporting claims by an unnamed Afghan official that, if true, just make the loss of 30 Americans even worse it sounded on Saturday: A helicopter which crashed killing 30 US troops in Afghanistan was shot down after the Taliban laid a trap to lure US forces into the area, an Afghan [...]
The defense spending lobby is already engaging in fear-mongering over very modest defense cuts.
The general made famous by his leadership of the Katrina effort has some harsh words for our political leadership.
The cuts to Pentagon spending in the new debt deal are further revealing a split in the GOP over foreign policy and military spending.
The Air Force has suspended a course that teaches nuclear officers that Christian ethics permit them to do their job.
The New Yorker has a great piece out today by Nicholas Schmidle detailing the behind the scenes details of the mission that ended the life of Osama bin Laden: The Americans hurried toward the bedroom door. The first SEAL pushed it open. Two of bin Laden’s wives had placed themselves in front of him. Amal [...]
The Defense Business Board wants to do away with the pension at 20 years.
A legendary American soldier, General John Shalikashvili, has died.
