Sometimes it tough to understand the scope of what the U.S. and its allies are trying to do in Afghanistan. Then the latest batch of contract solicitations in Federal Business Opportunities rolls in and makes it tough to …
BattlelandAfghanistan
BattlelandAfghanistan
Gunning for White-Winged Doves, 1961
BattlelandDefense Contractors
Contractors in War Zones: Not Exactly “Contracting”
U.S. military forces may be out of Iraq, but the unsung and unrecognized part of America’s modern military establishment is still serving and sacrificing — the role played by private military and security contractors.
That …
Star Warriors
BattlelandPolitics
“The Threats We Face Have Grown Worse”
BattlelandSuicide
The Start of the Suicide Story
It was nine years ago — Columbus Day, 2003 — that the first significant story on the suicides of the post-9/11 wars appeared above the fold in USA Today. Reporter Gregg Zoroya had called me that summer, when I was doing a …
BattlelandAfghanistan
Combat, Up Close
Two things are striking about this just-posted three-and-a-half minute video of a firefight in Afghanistan’s Kunar province last April:
— Just how unseen the enemy is.
— Just how unconnected Private 1st Class Red Daniels of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division is.
Clad in body armor, he’s hit four times and falls to the …
The Battle for Ohio: Obama Fights to Keep His Lead
Barack Obama’s soggy supporters looked grim as they waited for the President in a cold sideways rain. Many had been huddled for hours without umbrellas, droplets beading on their skimpy ponchos and drenching the astroturf at …
Will Same-Sex Marriage Reach the Supreme Court?
Court watchers have an exciting term up ahead, with cases involving gay marriage and affirmative action, both possibly destined to be heard
6.7%
BattlelandWar Story
Afghan Police Kill a U.S. Special Operations Captain “To Make a Statement”
Army Major Greg Escobar served as an operations officer in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, training Afghan police in Kunar province for the first half of his deployment, and Afghan troops in Paktika province for the second …
What Are the Jobs Figures Really Telling Us?
Has anything really changed in the labor market? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since last Friday’s jobs figures, the most positive in three and a half years, came out.
