Outside the Beltway

The latest NSA leaks are likely to prove to be diplomatically embarrassing.

There seem to be some signs that defense hawks in the GOP are concerned about Rand Paul’s growing popularity in the party.

The conviction of Marine Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III for war crimes in 2006 has been overturned.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has wasted no time issuing a full-throated statement endorsing today’s DOMA ruling

The Navy is building a ridiculously expensive robot spy plane.

Focusing on Edward Snowden is largely a waste of time.

New revelations from The Guardian

Despite an extradition request from the United States, Edward Snowden left Hong Kong overnight on a flight to Moscow and parts unknown.

When Glen Coffee abruptly retired from a promising NFL career, most wondered what he was up to. Now we know.

For two centuries, British sailors have toasted their “wives and sweethearts.” No more.

NSA Metadata coming to a courtroom near you?

Not surprisingly, Edward Snowden has been formally charged in connection with the leak of classified NSA documents.

Edward Snowden has likely violated many laws, but, absent additional facts, treason is not one of them.

Yes, it ended slavery. But at a huge cost.

About $7 billion in military equipment now in Afghanistan will be scrapped rather than returned to the U.S.

Thanks to one question from one Senator, we learned yesterday that the FBI has used surveillance drones inside the United States.

Two polls indicate that most Americans oppose the President’s latest moves on Syria. This makes sense considering actual policy there seems to be entirely incoherent.

President Obama’s poll numbers seem to be suffering under the weight of nearly two months of scandals and/ media attention.

Did President Obama’s comments about taking a tough stand on military sexual assault constitute “undue influence” on specific cases? One military judge says that they did.

Outrage over leaks like those that Edward Snowden makes doesn’t exist when its politicians doing the leaking.

One Congressman thinks it would be a good idea to treat journalists as criminals.

Even if you trust the current occupant of the White House to exercise the powers granted to the agencies operating in secret under him, do you trust all future Presidents?

The infamous VA backlog is finally dwindling. Much of it was a function of good intentions.

Exploring data from 33 years’ of FISA reports to Congress

The ACLU is suing over the NSA’s data mining. Does it really have a chance?

Revelations about the NSA’s data mining programs don’t seem to be having a significant impact on public opinion.

While our leaders may not be fully trustworthy, they, not disgruntled low level employees, are best positioned to decide.

Meet Edward Snowden, the 29 year old CIA/NSA contractor who has confessed to leaking the details of the NSA’s data mining projects.

Will voters care about the revelations about NSA data mining? Signs point to no.

Then-Lieutenant Wales intervened to prevent a gay trooper from getting beaten by a gang of thugs.

Not only do we not know the whole story of the NSA data mining operation, key details of what thought we knew are wrong.

Jay Stanley and Ben Wizner, privacy experts at the ACLU, argue that metadata is more sensitive than we think.

Contrary to President Obama’s assertion today, the NSA’s operations don’t have proper legislative or judicial oversight.