Outside the Beltway

Despite some tough questions, Congressional Republicans didn’t land a glove on Secretary of State Clinton.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered a lifting of the ban on women in ground combat.

My latest for The National Interest, “Obama Doctrine, Reagan Doctrine,” is out.

The first seven men to be awarded the Medal of Honor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan received it posthumously. Clinton Romesha will be the fourth in a row that’s lived to meet the president.

Basically, it’s inconsistent with the strategy.

The idea of completely pulling out of Afghanistan after 2014 is very compelling.

Killing their leaders doesn’t seem to be impacting the ability of jihadi groups to recruit and motivate more terrorists.

More people have been to space than have flown in a B-2 stealth bomber.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander during Operation Desert Storm, has died at the age of 78.

John Cornyn tells Jennifer Rubin that he’ll oppose the confirmation of his former colleague, Chuck Hagel, for Secretary of Defense.

Bob Dole isn’t in the best of health but he nonetheless treked to the Capitol to pay his final respects to an old friend.

From the Department of What The Hell Were They Thinking, I present Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh’s new ceremonial uniform:

After an independent investigation blasted State Department leadership for lax security in Benghazi, three officials have resigned.

While no official announcements have been made, President Obama’s second term national security team appears to be taking shape.

Remember when the Bush administration was spying on calls Americans made overseas without a warrant? Those were the good old days.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is bemused that the generals who worked for him lived more lavish lifestyles than he did.

Couples of the same sex can marry at the West Point chapel, they’re treated much differently under the Defense of Marriage Act.

The National Intelligence Council has released its quadrennial strategic forecast, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds.

The title of most impressive Heisman winner of all time goes to Pete Dawkins, who won the award in 1958.

The Air Force has a leadership crisis.

My first piece for the New York Daily News, “A Drone Strike on Democracy,” has posted.

Congress is trying to re-write a law that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in June. Have they succeeded?

NATO has agreed to deploy Patriot missiles along the Turkey-Syria border to protect Turkish airspace and territory, while making clear no escalation is intended.

Outgoing Senator Jim Webb is making another attempt at passing the Stolen Valor Act, deemed unconstitutional last year by the US Supreme Court.

One of West Point’s first female graduates has married her long-time girlfriend at the Cadet Chapel.

US military drones are crashing at civilian airports around the world.

Has Petraeus provided the basic explanation for the administration’s immediate responses to Benghazi?

The conflict between Israel and Hamas appears to be heading in one unfortunate direction.

People continue to spread conspiracy theories explaining the “real reason” that David Petraeus’s extra-marital affair became public.

If nothing else, the Petraeus affair is teaching us a valuable lesson in just how extensive the Surveillance State has become.