Outside the Beltway

So, this happened.

Cowardice. There really isn’t any other word for it.

Hillary Clinton’s numbers aren’t at the incredibly high levels they used to be, but they were never going to stay that high anyway.

Blaming Obama for the security bubble he travels in is, in the end, a pretty dumb argument.

Americans are skeptical about getting involved in the Ukraine crisis. This isn’t a surprise.

One in ten Army helicopter pilot is a woman, yet men account for 97% of injuries in helicopter accidents.

President Obama’s new rules for killing Americans with drones are proving inconvenient.

Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry in Afghanistan, is medically retiring from the Army.

Most Americans now see America’s decade of war as a failure.

In case you needed a further reason to dismiss Jerome Corsi (and some general thoughts on what Corsi represents).

Former SecDef Robert Gates is among those who believes that the Iraq War unduly diverted attention from fighting the War On Terror.

If you’re still not convinced that we lost the war in Iraq, this should settle the argument.

The “paper of record” joins the call for some kind of deal with Edward Snowden.

.Many have tried to justify N.S.A. data mining on the theory that it could have prevented 9/11. Is that true?

The “good war” no more.

Another Federal District Court ruling on the Constitutionality of the NSA’s data mining program, this time more favorable to the NSA.

Newly disclosed details about the US role in Colombia.

The beginnings of a populist challenge to Hillary Clinton in 2016?

Ron Fournier sees major similarities but ignores key differences.

For a year that seemed to start out so well, 2013 has been among the President’s worst of this five years he’s been in office.

Robert Kagan warns of “a changing world order.” But he’s grasping at rather thin straws.

A story that has turned into a partisan kickball and some bad journalism have resulted in a celebrated news program getting considerable egg on its face.

My review of Andrew Bacevich’s latest book, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country.

Tom Clancy, author of dozens of bestselling military thriller novels, has died aged 66.

The world changed significantly twelve years ago today. Will it ever change back even a little bit?

:Like his predecessors, President Obama’s speech last night exaggerated the threat that Syria poses in order to sell his plan to American voters.

My latest for The National Interest has posted.

Virginia Tech English prof Steven Salaita implores us to “Stop saying ‘support the troops.'”

As President Obama’s red line has been crossed more brazenly, he continues to sound reluctant to intervene in Syria while positioning forces to do just that.

Walter Russell Mead explains why a well intentioned, carefully crafted and consistently pursued grand strategy failed.

The Army and Navy are finally doing something about brass bloat.

West Point graduates account for nearly one in fifty deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There’s a hearing at Gitmo so secret that even the people having the hearing aren’t allowed to know what it’s about.

TheTransportation Security Administration is expanding its purview to train stations and sporting events.

In the end, it doesn’t appear that the Boston Marathon bombings could have been prevented by law enforcement.

CNN reports that CIA is going to great lengths to keep operatives from talking about what happened at Benghazi.

A new poll shows public approval for the Supreme Court nearing a all-time low.

The Defense Department will freeze promotions, cut workers, and suspend training in the face of across-the-board funding cuts.

A state of perpetual war is incompatible with good mental health and stable family relationships.

Frustrations with the mercurial leader of Afghanistan may increase the pace of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Don’t blame “secret courts” for the government’s expanded spying on American citizens and allies.