Outside the Beltway

The United States and South Korea are hinting at increased military cooperation in the wake of last week’s North Korean nuclear test.

Donald Trump displays some appalling ignorance about an important part of America’s military, but his supporters are unlikely to care.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face a Court Martial for the circumstances that led to his being capture and held captive by the Taliban for five years.

The British Parliament has approved expansion of that countries airstrikes into Syria, but it’s unclear just how much of an impact that will have on the ground.

Hillary Clinton’s recently announced policies toward the ISIS fight are as incoherent and misguided as President Obama’s and those of her Republican opponents.

A potentially big complication in an already complicated situation.

Disturbing reports over the weekend that American leaders may not be getting the kind of unbiased intelligence analysis about ISIS that they need to make decisions.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, there’s a strong impulse to do “something,” but that doesn’t mean we should do something utterly foolish. And a no-fly zone would be utterly foolish.

President Obama is set to sign a military spending bill that effectively guarantees that his 2008 campaign promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will go unfulfilled.

Ben Carson’s campaign now admits that he fabricated a key portion of his biography.

President Obama came to office inheriting the legacy of one unnecessary war, and another that had faded from memory. He will leave office with Iraq and Syria in crisis, Europe uneasy, Yemen and Libya unstable breeding grounds for terrorism, and China doing whatever it is they’re doing.

Another day, another military escalation in the Middle East.

President Obama is reportedly considering a plan that would put American forces much closer to the ground war in the war against ISIS.

The U.S. and Russia have reached a much-needed deal to avoid inadvertent confrontations over the skies of Syria.

The plan to withdraw nearly all American forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016 is being put on hold.

In which I change my mind on an important topic.

President Obama is reportedly considering a plan that would keep up to 5,000 American troops in Afghanistan past the withdrawal date he had already set.

Your tax dollars at work.

My latest for War on The Rocks, “The Inter-Service Wars Are Looking Like Calvinball,” has posted.

Lindsey Graham recently retired as a colonel in the Air Force Reserves after 33 years of service. He missed most of the last twenty.

The Defense Department is working to fully integrate transgender troops.

Tragedy in Tennessee.

Marine special operations forces have called themselves “Raiders” for years. Now it’s official.

In what seems to be a clear signal to Russia, the U.S. is considering pre-positioning military equipment in nation’s very close to Russian borders.

An Air Force general is bragging about a targeting technique being used against ISIS.

A woman discharged from the Marine Corps for violating multiple direct orders is fighting to the highest military court.

Ray Mabus is trying to make serving in the Navy and Marine Corps more attractive to women.

The tributes to the troops you see during N.F.L. games were most likely bought and paid for with your tax dollars.

U.S forces in Afghanistan have been involved in missions that go far beyond the counterterror mission the Obama Administration said they would be limited to.

Conditioning an Iranian nuclear deal on recognition of Israel is foolish, unrealistic, and very bad diplomacy.

Fox News’ Catherine Herridge is creating a scandal where none exists.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.

Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and the White House’s narrative about this release lies in tatters.

America’s longest war continues.

A headline I did not expect to see, courtesy the Army Times: “Dakota Meyer engaged to Bristol Palin.”

The president is the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. He’s not commander-in-chief of the United States.

The most widely honored General from the Iraq and Afghanistan War has plead guilty to sharing classified information with his mistress.

Daniel Larison is far less ambivalent about our war on ISIL than me.

Explaining my ambivalence around the latest escalation in our intervention.

The last of my four pieces analyzing the revised National Security Strategy has posted at RealClearDefense.

President Obama will ask Congress to authorize a war he started six months ago.

Pressure is building on the Administration to send military aid to Ukraine, but it would be a very bad idea.

Reports indicate that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is likely to be charged with desertion for leaving his post in 2009, but he’s unlikely to serve time in prison.

David Petraeus provided highly classified secrets to his mistress. Will he be charged?

The Army’s investigation of the disappearance five years ago of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been referred to a top General, who will decide if a court martial should be convened.

There’s not a whole lot the United States can do to respond effectively and proportionally to North Korea’s hacking attack against Sony.