BattlelandNational Security
Secretary Gates has launched a “defense review” in response to the White House announcement that “security” budgets (largely defense) will be lowered $400 billion over the next twelve years. While the decision to undertake a review sounds dramatic, the required budget changes are not as serious as they might appear. Read the …
BattlelandWeapons
There is not another nation on Earth that comes close to packing the aerial wallop of the U.S. Air Force. Or the U.S. Navy. Or even the U.S. Marine Corps, for that matter. So why are those three services so hell-bent on spending $382 billion for 2,457 new Joint Strike Fighter F-35 warplanes? It’s not like we’re on the verge of being …
BattlelandSpecial Operations
When I read through the Washington Post yesterday, I stumbled across this Greg Jaffe article highlighting an odd bit of irony that just might get people killed. Jaffe’s article (which you really should read) notes that SecDef Gates and JCS Chief Mullen are trying to get the rest of the world to refrain from discussing facts, and from …
BattlelandNational Security
Ever wonder what all those ribbons over Army General Dave Petraeus’ heart mean? Slate offers a guided tour.
BattlelandPresident Obama
Colleague Massimo Calabresi has a marginally sunnier view of the President’s imminent Middle East speech this morning than Tony Karon did last night:
In his much-hyped speech on the Middle East scheduled for Thursday, President Barack Obama will argue that the region’s anti-autocratic uprisings and the death of Osama bin Laden have
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BattlelandVeterans
The report released earlier Thursday at the Pentagon about the grim mental-health issues facing U.S. troops at war brings into focus the need for the spouse-support group at Walter Reed. It’s supported by the non-profit Walter Reed Society. Following up on Wednesday’s post, here is the latest from Gayla Romanowsky at the five-day …
BattlelandTroops
U.S. troops’ minds are going to hell in a hand basket, according to the latest comprehensive survey of the mental health of U.S. soldiers and Marines waging war in Afghanistan.
“Psychologically, it is hard to imagine that these elevated levels of combat are not taking a toll on Soldiers,” the study concludes. “Reports of acute …
BattlelandPresident Obama
Time‘s Tony Karon weighs in on our Global Spin blog on what to listen for in President Obama’s Middle East speech Thursday:
Why would he address the Arab world at a moment when his policies have little hope of reversing diminished U.S. standing? After all, the Arab consensus views Obama has having failed miserably to deliver on the
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BattlelandWeapons
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday, explaining how the Pentagon plans to help cut $400 billion in spending over the coming 12 years by curtailing dubious missions:
“They represent missions that the department carries out today that, while of value, are not central to our core mission or are of lower …
BattlelandNational Security
President Obama Wednesday signed off on new sanctions against Syrian leaders including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This is the first time the White House has taken any substantive action against Assad himself, though his forces have likely killed at least 1,000 pro-democracy demonstrators. The new sanction come two days after the …
BattlelandWeapons
The self-licking ice cream cone continues: over at Small Wars Journal, Robert Haddick explains why the days are numbered for the mainstay of the U.S. drone fleet.
BattlelandLibya
President Obama on March 21 formally alerted Congress about the U.S. military engagement in Libya. Unless they were living under a rock, every member of Congress was well aware by that time of the air attacks against Libya’s Col. Moammar Gadhafi, which had been underway for two days by that date. But by law, Obama had to alert Congress …
BattlelandWeapons
Why does people’s skepticism go out the window when it comes to military matters — especially any that are secret? Granted, the recent dispatch of Osama bin Laden does make the U.S. military look all-but-omnipotent. But it’s important to note that grand success was striking…because it was so rare.
Annie Jacobson’s new book — …
