Outside the Beltway

The Pentagon is frustrated that the Obama administration doesn’t “seem to understand what military force can and cannot do.”

What ever became of Private Robert H. Lister of the 165th Infantry?

America’s war colleges have some problems but we can’t close them.

A Pentagon investigation was unable to verify some of the comments attributed to General Stanley McChrystal in Rolling Stone last year. That doesn’t mean he’s been cleared, though.

It may be time to change rules keeping women out of combat roles. But “fairness” isn’t the right question.

The law of war is not fully clear when applied to modern conflicts.

David Petraeus’ 1987 PhD dissertation:After all, if a country with relatively few public opinion concerns or moral compunctions about its tactics cannot beat a bunch of ill-equipped Afghan tribesmen, what does that say about the ability of the United States — with its domestic constraints, statutory limitations, moral inhibition, and zealous investigative reporters — to carry out a successful action against a guerrilla force?

My first piece for The American Conservative, which they’ve titled “War Isn’t for Everyone–The military needs civilian control, not citizen soldiers,” is in the May issue.

Defense Secretary Gates hinted this week that the U.S. would stay in Iraq if the Iraqis wanted. It doesn’t seem like they do.

Continuing problems with the coalition operation in Libya reinforce an old military adage: You fight like you train.

Remember when President Obama said there would be “no boots on the ground” in Libya? You didn’t actually believe that, did you?

The duty to defend “hateful, extremely disrespectful, and enormously intolerant” expression.

Department of Defense (DOD) employees moving into a new building this fall may start their days walking past a sculpture of a toad with a ten-foot fairy on its back.

A NATO airstrike killed 13 rebel fighters, who were mistaken for Gaddafi’s forces. Apparently, they were shooting at NATO planes.

To honor the administration’s “no boots on the ground” statements, all covert U.S. personnel in Libya will work barefoot. – Jim Geraghty

The U.S. seems to be on the verge of changing war strategies in Libya, even as it becomes clear that these rebels aren’t necessarily our friends.

The “Obama Doctrine,” such as it is, seems to boil down to moral self-certainty combined with a glaring ignorance of reality. That’s a dangerous combination.

One week in to Operation Odyssey Down, public opinion is, to put it as nicely as possibly, ambivalent.

Xavier Alvarez lied about having been awarded the Medal Of Honor. Should that be a crime? The Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals says no, and they’re right.

The Libyan rebels probably aren’t strong enough to defeat Gaddafi on their own, and the no-fly zone isn’t going to be enough either. Which means this operation is going to be far more extensive than President Obama is willing to admit publicly.

The public, and Congress, are skeptical of the mission in Libya, and the reason for that is because the President has failed to tell us exactly why we’re there and what we’ll be doing.

It has become quite apparent that neither the White House nor our coalition partners have any idea what the path to an endgame in Libya even looks like. That’s not good.

Newt Gingrich on Libya: “This is as badly executed, I think, as any policy we’ve seen since WWII, and it will become a case study for how not to engage in this type of activity.”

When America’s leaders make the decision to engage in military action abroad, has the time for debate ended, or is it more important than ever that those with doubts about the policy speak out?

Jorge Benitez has written a useful Libya Primer: Who is In Charge of Allied Forces? The short answer: No one.

Operation Odyssey Dawn has resurrected the eternal battle over what limits there are, and should be, on the President’s ability to use military force without Congressional authorization.

Is Libya a war? Hell yes, Libya is a war.

There must be a predisposition against war and we should only engage in just wars.

There are many opportunities to go to war. Here’s a guide for choosing between them.

Public support for the war in Afghanistan continues to plummet, but will that hurt the President when 2012 rolls around?