Outside the Beltway

Justin Strine spent part of the summer in jail for violent mayhem but doesn’t understand why he’s unfit to be an Army officer.

To much fanfare, President Obama announced a shift in Afghan War policy in December 2009. There’s little evidence it’s worked.

A former Obama official says government should learn from business, but is private industry really more efficient?

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has a message for those who wear and have worn our country’s uniform: “We are not elected to serve; rather, we elect to serve.”

The candidates aren’t talking about the war in Afghanistan very much, but that’s mostly because the American people don’t want them to.

President Obama issued a warning to Syria today over its chemical weapons stockpiles.

Since most pedophiles are men, Virgin airlines naturally treats all men as potential pedophiles.

Charges that the Obama administration leaked classified information about the Osama bin Laden raid for political gain are bunk.

Two groups of former special operations soldiers are opposing Obama. Their military bonafides are not their most interesting credentials.

Entirely unsurprisingly, the shooting at the Family Research Center’s office in Washington, D.C. is already being politicized.

Another step in the ongoing diplomatic showdown over the founder of Wikileaks.

A group of former special operations and intelligence officers are criticizing President Obama for “Dishonorable Disclosures.”

Some troubling, sad, and downright puzzling stories

For the first time in 80 years, there are no veterans on the major party Presidential tickets.

Tammy Smith has been promoted to brigadier general, thus becoming the first American general officer who also happens to be openly gay.

Once again, Chris Christie makes one wish there were more Republicans like him.

In calling for the sequestration cuts to be delayed, Republicans are demonstrating their lack of seriousness on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

The war in Afghanistan has not been a topic of discussion in the Presidential campaign, but that’s largely because there’s not much left to talk about.

The Obama campaign is challenging an Ohio law that gives members of the military three extra days to vote. They have a very persuasive argument.

The White House and the Pentagon are buildings, not unitary actors.

According to a new report, the CIA considers Israel to be an espionage threat.

Virginia has been offering ID cards to military veterans to make it easier to prove that they’re military veterans for months now.

My latest for World Policy Review, “Oversight or Not, Drones Are Here to Stay,” has posted.

The Fort Hood shooter is being ordered to shave his beard or have it forcibly removed. It’s rather silly.

In a stunning reversal of policy, DOD is allowing soldiers to march in a gay pride parade in uniform.

Mitt Romney has had a rough two weeks, but Barack Obama has to deal with a bad economy.

CFR’s Laurie Garrett has a piece in The Atlantic headlined “Good Job, CIA: Your Pakistan Vaccine Plot Helped Bring Polio Back From the Brink of Eradication.”

Michele Bachmann and several other Members of Congress are engaging in the despicable tactics of Joe McCarthy.

The people trying to undo the Defense Budget sequestration cuts are making some pretty weak arguments.