Israel, Hamas, and the Laws of War

It’s . . . complicated.

General Preparing for War With China!

Playing two-level games.

Flag Ukraine Silhouette Ruins Soldier War Flag Ukraine Silhouette Ruins Soldier War

Ukraine and the ‘New Rules of War’

Many and small beats large and heavy. Finding beats flanking. Swarming beats surging.

It’s Not Time To Eulogize The Old Order

Pundits like Thomas Friedman struggle with premature prognostication.

Joe, You Are A Stubborn Old Man

I guess you proved your point about great powers picking and choosing their battlefields.

Who Lost Afghanistan?

The postmortems are well underway.

President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One Sunday Aug. 9, 2020, at the Elberon Park landing zone in Long Branch, N.J. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One Sunday Aug. 9, 2020, at the Elberon Park landing zone in Long Branch, N.J. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Domestic Enemies

My latest for Defense One.

Dave Dilegge, 1956-2020

The founder of Small Wars Journal passed Saturday.

Afghan War Marked By Incompetence, Misrepresentation, And Outright Lies

A new report details the extent to which the eighteen-year Afghanistan War has been marked by mistakes, and lies by the government to cover-up the fact that we went to war without a clear understanding of what we were doing.

Trump To Pick Patrick Shanahan To Be Secretary Of Defense

Patrick Shanahan, who has been serving as Acting Defense Secretary since James Mattis left in December, is being selected to replace Mattis in that position.

U.S. Halts Public Progress Reports On The Never-Ending War In Afghanistan

The U.S. military will no longer release reports regarding the success, or failure, of the current strategy in Afghanistan.

Andrew Marshall Dead at 97

The legendary figure was in charge of strategic forecasting at the Pentagon for decades.

Trump Selects Lt. General H.R. McMaster To Be National Security Adviser

President Trump has actually made a good pick for National Security Adviser. As with the rest of his foreign policy team, though, the question is if he’ll listen to him.

Time for an American Foreign Legion?

A respected scholar has an interesting suggestion for fighting the Forever War.

The Dangers of Relying on Airpower Alone

My latest for War on The Rocks, “The Inter-Service Wars Are Looking Like Calvinball,” has posted.

ISIS Captures Another Key Iraqi City

ISIS has captured Ramadi, and revealed yet again how fractured Iraq actually is. Fixing that isn’t something that American aid or arms can accomplish.

David Petraeus Pleads Guilty To Sharing Classified Information

The most widely honored General from the Iraq and Afghanistan War has plead guilty to sharing classified information with his mistress.

Will Fewer Soldiers and Marines Come with Fewer Wars?

My latest for The National Interest, “Hagel’s Defense Cuts: The Least Bad Choice,” is out.

H.R. McMaster Gets Third Star, Charge of Army Future

A rather impressive recovery from a career that was mostly dead in 2007.

Review: Bacevich’s Breach of Trust

My review of Andrew Bacevich’s latest book, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country.

Taking Away Assad’s Spoon and Giving Him a Fork

f Assad is eating Cheerios, we’re going to take away his spoon and give him a fork.

West Point Casualties in Post-9/11 Conflicts Historically High

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

David Petraeus Joins CUNY Faculty, Brings Intern Experience

General Petreaus is now Dr. Petraeus and will be teaching a 1-1 load a the City University of New York.

The Army’s Leadership Problem

Tim Kane continues his campaign against the US military’s antiquated personnel system.

Military Family Divided By Women’s Role

Greg Jaffe has an outstanding feature titled “In one Army family, women in combat evokes two different perspectives.”

Reconsidering The Petraeus Hagiography

The scandal now surrounding David Petraeus should lead people to reassess his past record.

The Petraeus Scandal Within a Scandal

The scandal that led to P4’s downfall has many layers, none of them flattering to the most famous American general of his generation.

John Nagl Next Haverford Headmaster

John Nagl, who became famous as a leading counterinsurgency theorist and practitioner, is taking on a new challenge: grooming young boys for life.

Is Government Inefficient?

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

Are Special Forces Special Enough?

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

Does It Matter If A Presidential Candidate Never Served In The Military?

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

Drone Creep and the Rumsfeld Question

My first piece for The New Republic, “Why the Obama Administration’s Drone War May Soon Reach a Tipping Point,” is up.

Military’s Lock-Step Promotion System

The military promotion system does not reward top performers rapidly enough.

Obama’s Pentagon ‘Power Grab’

Michael Hastings has yet another credulous story attempting to smear the United States military.

Iraq Disintegrating As US Withdraws

For years, analysts have worried that Iraq’s tenuous hold on stability would collapse upon the withdrawal of US forces. We’re now watching it happen.

Mike Flynn, ‘Fixing Intel’ Guy, Must Now Fix Intel

Mike Flynn, the 2-star who blasted military intelligence, is now the 3-star charged with fixing military intelligence.

Honor Fallen SEALs by Questioning Their Mission

Honoring the fallen by ensuring that the didn’t die in vain is a recipe for getting more good men killed.

The Beginning Of The End Of America’s Longest War

Last night, the President basically announced that America’s longest war had entered it’s end game.

Desert Storm Syndrome

Technology has saved the lives of countless American soldiers. But it’s made going to war easier.

Diploma Mills: Close Enough For Government Work

Most good government jobs require a college degree–but they don’t care much whether it’s a real one.

Military-Academic Conflict

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

Was There Really An Imminent Humanitarian Crisis In Libya?

President Obama says he acted in Libya to avert an imminent genocide, but there’s no evidence that any such thing was about to occur.

Time To Pull Out Of Afghanistan

Nine years into a war that seems to be without end, it’s time to declare victory and go home.

Defense Budget Cuts

Stephanie Guttman, author of something called The Kinder, Gentler Military, takes to NRO to tell us how easy it is to cut the Defense budget. She inadvertently does just the opposite.

Why America’s Best Officers Are Leaving

The American military personnel system works against keeping the best and brightest officers in the service.