The tragic news last week that ranger Margaret Anderson was shot and killed in Mount Rainier National Park by Benjamin Colton Barnes brought with it national attention and a litany of sensational headlines. (What came first,
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Military
Dying to Withdraw…
On November 14th, two weeks before he was supposed to go home, Spc. David Emanuel Hickman became the last American service member to be killed in Iraq. While on a regular “presence patrol” in Baghdad, his vehicle was struck …
Let’s Name More Warships for the Long Overlooked
The recent decision by the Secretary of the Navy to name a new cargo ship after farm labor leader Cesar Chavez apparently has rankled conservatives in Congress. The ship, a dry cargo and ammunition ship under construction in San …
New Defense Strategy: The Information Vacuum
On Thursday, President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta released what they called their Defense Strategic Guidance – think of it as the guardrails that guide the U.S. military down the interstate highway of war. …
Would It Have Made a Difference?
The Army issued this Insider Threats in Partnering Environments recently, largely because of the periodic attacks on U.S. and allied troops by their alleged Afghan allies. It’s a pretty comprehensive guide to how U.S. troops …
The Two-MRC Strategy: Major Regional Contingencies, or Mythical Routine Canards?
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is coming to the Pentagon podium Thursday the explain how he’s going to trim $450 billion of the U.S. military’s nearly $6 trillion spending plan over the coming decade.
Because the …
More Evidence of the Glorious Do-Loop That Is the East Asian Arms Race
WSJ lead story about Chinese developing a ballistic missile designed to fragment – like a cluster bomb – on the deck of a U.S. carrier and wipe out all aircraft and personnel. Naturally, it’s unbelievably provocative to us, …
Stupid Soldier, Or Did CNN Just Launch a Revolution?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TSxm2V8aVQ&feature=share]
Hard to figure out what’s worse – a soldier violating formal and long-standing Pentagon rules by cheering on GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul while in uniform, or those insisting that his interview with CNN was cut off because the network (part of the Time …
Women in Command II
The Changing of the Guard
I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.
The sentiment is usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but as of this week it works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, too.
Should Women Have to Register With Selective Service?
Over at Time’s Ideas blog, a pair of academics urges that women be compelled to register for the draft. Military recruiters use such registration lists to prospect for young talent. That, in turn, would put more females in …
The Pentagon’s Premise: This Won’t Hurt. Much.
Remember in the good ol’ days of bullets and bombs, when the military’s weapons were designed to kill bad guys? Things have gotten a lot foggier in today’s world of poorly-acting civilians, starving children, and assorted …
War of 1812: A Naval Turning Point
There’s going to be a raft of books on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and one of the first is a fascinating look at a pivot point in naval warfare. In Knights of the Sea, author David Hanna breathes life into the …