Pentagon

Libya: After-Action Report

Now that Moammar Gaddafi has been consigned to history, it’s time to figure out who — other than the Libyan people, hopefully — wins from the seven-month fight that toppled his 42-year regime.

As we noted Thursday — and was echoed Friday in the New York Times and Washington Post, among other foghorns — President Obama gets …

Pentagon Fraud: Business As Usual

You have to feel sorry for Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Ben & Jerry’s, the Vermont lawmaker who keeps attacking the Pentagon for contracting with companies that have engaged in fraud. His latest salvo: the Pentagon has awarded more than $1 trillion in contracts over the past decade to such entities. “The ugly truth,” the Independent …

Libya’s Lessons

Moammar Gaddafi’s death makes for an interesting punctuation mark in the ever-evolving U.S. approach to war. The key choice: should it be an exclamation point (“We got him! And not a single American died!) or a question mark (“Did we just get lucky? Is this a template for how the U.S. should wage future wars?”).

We shouldn’t …

Yet Another Wonder Weapon

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You’d think with all the fancy armaments we’ve dispatched to Afghanistan over the last decade that we would have won by now. The latest to burst on the scene is the Switchblade — don’t you just love the names they come up with? — drone. It’s made by AeroVironment Inc. of …

“Is the U.S. Readying to Strike More Often Inside Pakistan?”

Relations between Washington and Islamabad may be at an all-time low. Was the daring SEAL raid into Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden nearly six months ago a one-off event? Or, if the U.S. is serious about Afghanistan, does it have to begin routinely attacking the Haqqani network and other trouble-makers inside their Pakistan …

SEAL Crash Scene…

The Pentagon has released photos of the CH-47 crash site in Afghanistan where 30 U.S. troops — including 17 SEALs — perished two months ago when an RPG brought their chopper down. CNN’s Security Clearance blog has posted them here.

Up-Armored Underwear

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Marines are tough, but they know what isn’t. That’s why they’re now getting two layers of protection to shield their southern zones from improvised explosive devices (h/t TPM.)

Last Leathernecks Leave Iraq

Hard to believe, but the final 12 Marines have left Iraq. It’s funny how much attention we pay when they arrive, and how little we note when they leave. War tends to begin with a bang, and end with a whimper.

All U.S. troops are now slated to be out by December 31, except for embassy Marine guards, and any additional forces yet to …

Of Bracelets and Bits of Colored Ribbon, Earned Or Otherwise

Soldiers, like all of us, want recognition. Sure, the mission comes first, and then your buddies, and maybe, eventually, you. But such recognition is hard-earned, and outsiders tinker with it at their peril.

That’s why two recent events are worth noting. One involves — of all things — jewelry worn by Marines to honor those lost …

Nuclear (Triad) Warfare

As the nation grapples with its need to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from its future defense budgets every year, one category seems MIA: the nuclear triad. But it’s worth noting that those who embrace it tend to be those running it, while the nation’s top military officers — who have to juggle competing demands, and not just …

“Are U.S. Troops Leaving Afghanistan Prematurely?”

Or is it about time? That all depends, of course, on what you think the U.S. mission in Afghanistan — now a decade old — actually is. We have booted the Taliban from power, and recently killed Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks from inside Afghanistan in a sanctuary the Taliban provided. Now President Obama has …

Auld Lang So Long…

There has been a flurry of conflicting stories over the weekend on the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. The U.S. plainly, desperately, wants to keep some troops on Iraqi soil, for several reasons: preserve the gains won there since 2003 in U.S. blood and treasure (along with Iraq’s), keep an eye on neighboring Iran, try to get more …

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