Outside the Beltway

In what clearly appears to be a rebuke of the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis is retiring as Secretary of Defense.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has announced that the deployment of U.S. troops to the Mexican border will be extended through the end of this year.

American troops have been in Afghanistan for seventeen years now, it’s time to bring them all home.

Notwithstanding the temptation to do something, both the United States and NATO need to resist the temptation to get involved in the latest conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The Trump Administration is attempting to bypass the Circuit Courts of Appeal and get immediate Supreme Court review of the President’s ban on transgender Americans serving in the military.

President Trump recently blamed former President Obama for “losing” Crimea. It was never ours to lose.

Nor is it Armed Forces Day.

A slight variant of the uniform from World War II and Korea is coming to a soldier near you.

One hundred years after the end of World War One, the forces that led to it are waking up from a long slumber.

Claiming it was because of the weather President Trump chose to skip a visit to a cemetery at the site of one of the bloodiest battles involving Americans in World War One.

My latest for War on the Rocks.

My latest for The National Interest.

American troops in Iceland for a military exercise were apparently quite thirsty.

President Trump wants to send more troops than we have in Syria and Iraq combined to the border to deal with a non-existent threat.

President Trump is preparing to scrap a thirty-year-old treaty that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. It would be a foolish mistake.

She’s quite likely the youngest 4-star general in the U.S. Army, if not the U.S. military.

American involvement in the genocidal Saudi war on Yemen is getting more complicated. This is a bad idea.

Last week, the Polish President floated the idea of a permanent U.S. military base in Poland. It’s a bad idea no matter how you look at it.

Reports about tension between Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Trump are becoming louder, and it’s being suggested that Mattis could be out of office after the midterms.

Seventeen years ago, America was thrust into a war that seemingly has no end.

Throughout the War On Terror, John McCain stood out as a strong moral voice against the use of torture against prisoners. For that he deserves the thanks of a grateful nation.

My latest for The National Interest is out.

Through our so-called allies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the United States is helping to destroy Yemen. It’s time for our support for that war to come to an end.

The American public is not sold on the idea of a ‘Space Force.’

Donald Trump’s vanity-seeking military parade has been postponed amid reports that the estimated cost has increased dramatically.

Donald Trump’s military parade will cost roughly the same as military exercises in South Korea he has previously called “tremendously expensive.”

The NATO Summit is going about as well as can be expected.

The situation isn’t as awful as portrayed by the AP—but it’s still pretty bad.

America promised immigrants who volunteered to serve in our military a fast track to citizenship. Now, we’re throwing them out.

Donald Trump had to be talked down from considering military intervention in Venezuela.

Donald Trump continues to do something that Russian and Soviet leaders likely only thought possible in their wildest dreams, drive a wedge between the United States and its NATO allies.

A milestone for the nation’s oldest service academy, founded in 1802.

A thinly-sourced report says Yes.

The Vietnam memorial helped heal a gaping wound. What purpose will this one serve?

Seemingly out of nowhere yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief ordered the Pentagon to create a fifth service.

Two months ago, the President called on states to send National Guard troops to the border. As expected, they’re not guarding the border.

The arguments in favor of a permanent U.S./NATO base in Poland are not very convincing.

Frank Carlucci, who served as President Reagan’s last Secretary of Defense, has died at 87.

Poland makes the U.S. and NATO an offer they might want to consider refusing.

After the Ronny Jackson disaster, President Trump has made a new selection for Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

When a President lies with the ease and regularity of Donald Trump, it’s the responsibility of all of us to call it what it is and not hide behind weasel words like “misleading.”

Another data point demonstrating that a distinguished military career doesn’t preclude being an awful human being or a crackpot.

Seven years after deactivation, the U.S. Second Fleet will be patrolling the North Atlantic again.

The White House physician is accused of excessive drinking on the job and improperly dispensing medication among other offenses.

In response to inquiries about frequent media mentions of the Director’s wartime service, the CIA has confirmed he did not serve in combat.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

There is no obvious strategy and even the expressed rationale makes no sense.

The United States can’t do any good in Syria, but we can do a lot of bad.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.