Outside the Beltway

Once again, a pundit has come up with the boneheaded idea of reinstating the draft.

The Republican strategy on health care in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision needs some tweaking.

From one Nobel Peace Prize winner to another.

Following yesterday’s shoot-down of a Turkish F-5 by Syria has once again raised the specter of NATO action under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It’s not going to happen.

Rand Paul calls Mitt Romney out over his comments about Presidential War Powers.

US Army Special Forces are the best we have at working with far-flung villagers. Are they good enough?

The President’s comment that the private sector is “doing fine” continues to be a topic of discussion.

After a decade of war, suicides are surging among American troops.

The factors influencing Russian policy in Syria are many, and some of them are quite ancient.

The president has come a long way from his days as a “liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war.”

Political disagreements about war are no reason to dismiss the sacrifices of those who have died for our country.

For the first time in 68 years, neither major party candidate for President has served in the military. Does this matter?

Jennifer Rubin accuses Colin Powell of political opportunism for hedging on whether to renew his endorsement of Barack Obama.

In office less than a day, Francois Hollande has already been forced to admit he can’t withdraw French forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

The Green Light, Red Light Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Is there a Romney Doctrine?

My first piece for the Christian Science Monitor, co-authored with my Atlantic Council collegue Barry Pavel, has been posted.

Another example of Republican foreign policy taking precedence over fiscal conservatism.

Mitt Romney is proposing one of the biggest peacetime increases in military spending in U.S. history.

The Wall Street Journal publishes a screed aimed at those about to graduate college.

The New Yorker’s John Cassidy sees “Good and Bad News for Obama” in Nicolas Sarkozy’s defeat.

Osama bin Laden’s death provides Barack Obama with an important political shield during the upcoming campaign.

Wolf Blitzer just observed that the fact that the president has to take these “extraordinary security precautions” to enter Afghanistan proves how far we still have to go in Afghanistan.

My latest for The National Interest,Insurmountable Obstacles in Afghanistan, has been posted.

The Truck Whisperer Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

The consequences of ten years of war?

Despite their rhetoric, there would be few differences between a Romney Administration and an Obama Administration when it comes to foreign policy.

The body of Corporal Patrick R. Glennon will be returned to his family for burial, 52 years after he was declared missing in action in Korea.

OTB’s comment section as a microcosm of the American political landscape.

Dan Drezner declares that “Policy wonks ignore political science journals at their peril.”

TV gave us the world’s first bionic man in 1973. Science is way behind.

What the hell was Leon Panetta thinking when he got dressed? He’s surrounded by fit Marines in battle dress and he’s wearing a poorly fitted blue short-sleeved “dress” shirt,* pleated slacks, and perhaps the most askew gig line ever, calling attention to his pot belly.

An attack on Iran is likely to unleash consequences that we are unprepared to deal with.

My latest for The National Interest, “Ending the Afghan Slog,” has posted.