Outside the Beltway

An Army appellate court has rejected an appeal filed by Bowe Bergdahl that argued that the President’s attacks on him while a candidate unfairly influenced his court martial.

Can the commander-in-chief’s tweets be unlawful command influence?

There are children being held in what amount to internment camps on the southern border under appallingly bad conditions and the President is more concerned with falsely blaming his predecessor for the problem.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been indicted on seventeen counts under the Espionage Act arising out of his role in the Chelsea Manning affair.

A thoughtful liberal argues the Justice has “altered and destroyed his legacy” by allowing Donald Trump to appoint his successor.

Virginia Republicans took a hard-right turn in yesterday’s primary. This is likely to benefit the Democrats.

Next up: Pompeo

President Trump’s Afghanistan policy sounds awfully familiar, and it’s likely to lead to the same results.

Trump and his underlings continue to lie, even about the most trivial of matters.

Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings begin Monday morning, but it’s Senate Democrats who are in the hot seat.

Donald Trump took to Twitter again this morning with predictable results.

A military judge has rejected a motion to dismiss the case against Bowe Bergdahl based on comments made by Donald Trump when he was a candidate for President.

Three of the top four national security positions in Donald Trump’s Cabinet will be filled by retired Generals. This isn’t necessarily a good thing.

The sense of national ‘unity’ that existed in the wake of the September 11th attacks didn’t last for very long.

The Mic Drop Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

With President Obama becoming the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years, a new poll finds majority support for his changes in Cuba policy.

The President has another plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It’s as likely to be well-received on Capitol Hill as all of his other previous plans on this issue.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face a Court Martial for the circumstances that led to his being capture and held captive by the Taliban for five years.

President Obama is set to sign a military spending bill that effectively guarantees that his 2008 campaign promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will go unfulfilled.

A Federal Appeals Court In Washington has ruled that the military tribunal convictions of one group of Guantanamo Bay detainees was unconstitutional.

Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and the White House’s narrative about this release lies in tatters.

Pressure is building on the Administration to send military aid to Ukraine, but it would be a very bad idea.

Reports indicate that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is likely to be charged with desertion for leaving his post in 2009, but he’s unlikely to serve time in prison.

The Army’s investigation of the disappearance five years ago of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been referred to a top General, who will decide if a court martial should be convened.

Vice-President Cheney’s amoral defense of torture has come to define how most conservatives view the issue, and that’s a problem.

Facing a tough re-election battle, Kansas Senator Pat Roberts is engaging in abject fearrmongering.

The Obama Administration’s legal justification for war against ISIS is laughably flimsy.

The General Accounting Office confirmed what seems clear to anyone who can read a statute.

Despite a high profile effort to oust him, the most prominent libertarian Republican in Congress survived his primary challenge yesterday.

My latest collaboration with Butch Bracknell, “Ahmed Abu Khattala and the Miranda-Rights Question,” has posted in The National Interest.

Political irony, perhaps, but probably less than meets the eye.

The justice system works, there’s no need to scrap it.

Once again, Republicans are attacking someone for doing a job the Bill of Rights itself makes necessary and important.

My latest for War on the Rocks, “HAGEL: CLIMBING OUT FROM UNDER THE BUS,” has posted.

Thanks largely to Administration mistakes, the Bergdahl deal is not going over well.

Mostly because of politics, the hopes of some and fears of others will never be realized.

Trying to make some sense out of a week of outrage.

Good intentions and good results aside, the President’s disrespect for the Rule Of Law should concern everyone.

Contrary to the oft-repeated slogan, the United States has negotiated with terrorists before. And we will do it again.

There’s little evidence for the conservative contention that the President has damaged America’s position in the world.

Good intentions aren’t an excuse for failure to follow the law.

It’s good that Bowe Bergdahl is free, but questions remain about how he went missing that need to be answered.