Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Dan Hampton flew nearly 4,000 hours – including 726 in combat – in an F-16 during his 20 years in the Air Force. (Battleland has flown about, um, one, including none in combat. Final brave …
National Security
Rope-a-Dope Debate
The final debate Monday night between President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney saw both men stick close to their corners. Neither wanted to make an unforced error, neither did. There was scant that was new.
Exploding Budgets
The government is set to spend $640 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next ten years.
If you didn’t know that, you are not alone. No one has put together a reliable estimate of these future budgets – …
Pitchfork in the Road
“The Threats We Face Have Grown Worse”
Eleven Years On
Sunday marks the beginning of the U.S. military‘s 12th year in Afghanistan.
It ain’t quite the Hundred Years’ War, but 12 years is 20% of this particular Battleland correspondent’s life.
Eleven years ago today – October …
“We are literally at an evolutionary low in violence. State-on-state conflict is far less likely than it has been in the past. The problem is that other kinds of conflict, other kinds of violence, are exponentially more likely as technology spreads, as the information age allows organizations and individuals -- middleweight nations, if you will -- to have capabilities that heretofore were the purview of major nation-states.”
“The results of an American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in my view, prove catastrophic, haunting us for generations in that part of the world.”
“Strategic Ambiguity,” Indeed
You would think, given Taiwan’s role as the most likely flashpoint in relations between the U.S. and China, that the faux U.S. embassy in Taipei, and its Washington outpost, would be well-oiled operations. You’d presume there would be bright and clear lines of authority and command to ensure diplomatic kerfuffles don’t turn …
Countdown to Sequestration: Three Months to Go
The impending cut of $1.2 trillion in deficit spending has given Congress the vapors. Its members have hustled back home, seeking re-election for the great job they’ve done on behalf of their constituents. Is this a great …
Adventures in Babbleland: Technological Bloat
$2.6 million
Adventures in Babbleland: Desperate Rhetoric for Mundane Times
First of two articles (second one here)
Imposing itself only infrequently on the consciousness of the noise-makers who dominate presidential campaign coverage on TV and in the newspapers, the defense budget has been a …