Outside the Beltway

Persuasion is sometimes an important part of being president.

The United States will go to war without UN or NATO approval.

The White House confirmed today that the goal of any military intervention in Syria would be very limited. Which makes one wonder what the point of doing anything actually is.

The VA created an incentive system that rewarded fast, half-assed claim processing that denied complicated requests.

Virginia Tech English prof Steven Salaita implores us to “Stop saying ‘support the troops.'”

Joshua Foust and I discuss Chelsea Manning and other issues for BloggingHeadsTV.

A headline I never thought I’d see: “Yemen Asks U.S. For Drones To Fight Al Qaeda”

Convicted felon Bradley Manning has announced that she’d like to spend her confinement as Chelsea Manning.

The Army and Navy are finally doing something about brass bloat.

West Point graduates account for nearly one in fifty deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bradley Manning will be spending a long time at Leavenworth.

The NCAA has come to its senses regarding a Marine sergeant who wants to play college football.

The military is cracking down on sexual assault. The pendulum may be swinging too far.

Until this year, being gay could get you kicked out of the military. Now, it comes with perks.

David C. Jones, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Carter and Reagan, has died.

Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson will be the first woman to lead a service academy.

The Pentagon is considering making military retirees ineligible for civil service pensions.

The Defense Department would like to get a handle on how it spends its money by 2017 but the Navy won’t go along.

The military has declared that Playboy and Penthouse don’t violate its standards but banned them from its exchanges, anyway.

Megan Welter served as a Signal Corps officer in the Iraq War. Now, she’s an Arizona Cardinals cheerleader.

Bradley Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge against him, but is still likely to spend most of his life in prison.

The Defense Department may have found the money to furlough its civilian workers fewer than 11 days.

Bradley Manning will learn his fate at 1 pm tomorrow. He’s guilty.

The Army is fielding a new uniform to make ladies feel more soldierly.

Colonel Bud Day, who earned a Medal of Honor leading Vietnam POWs, had died, aged 88 years.

Sequestration is even dumber than we thought.

In response to North Korean saber rattling and the rise of China, Japan is reassessing it’s military posture

The two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are clashing on defense appropriations.

Lindsey Graham is playing cynical political games with a dangerous part of the world.

Senators John McCain and Carl Levin have demanded answers from General Martin Dempsey on Syria. Can they handle the truth?

Last month, a retired Navy SEAL came out as transgender. Those still in uniform, however, must serve in silence.

Fort Belvoir blocked its workers from accessing the Washington Post website over concerns about classified information published there.

Some classes at the service academies have been canceled due to the sequester.

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

A late-night announcement that Gitmo detainees will get hearings raises more questions than it answers.

Marine Harriers dropped four unarmed bombs into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park last week after missing another target.

My first piece for RealClearDefense, “Enough with the QDR Hype,” has published.