Outside the Beltway

After a decade of war, suicides are surging among American troops.

Republicans apparently think that re-running the 2008 campaign, just more efficiently or more ruthlessly, will work this time. Here’s why it won’t.

The factors influencing Russian policy in Syria are many, and some of them are quite ancient.

The president has come a long way from his days as a “liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war.”

The United States may have slowed down Iran’s nuclear program without firing a shot–not counting the one at our own foot.

You have Martin Luther King’s statue in your office, but you are sending these unmanned drones out, and bombs are dropping on innocent people.

Political disagreements about war are no reason to dismiss the sacrifices of those who have died for our country.

For the first time in 68 years, neither major party candidate for President has served in the military. Does this matter?

Jennifer Rubin accuses Colin Powell of political opportunism for hedging on whether to renew his endorsement of Barack Obama.

Is there a Romney Doctrine?

Another example of Republican foreign policy taking precedence over fiscal conservatism.

Mitt Romney is proposing one of the biggest peacetime increases in military spending in U.S. history.

Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb isn’t as easy as most think, Jacques Hymans argues in the current Foreign Policy.

Osama bin Laden’s death provides Barack Obama with an important political shield during the upcoming campaign.

Some Navy SEALs are weighing in on the brouhaha.

Does the Romney campaign know the USSR doesn’t exist anymore? Of course they do, but the language they use still means something.

The consequences of ten years of war?

Despite their rhetoric, there would be few differences between a Romney Administration and an Obama Administration when it comes to foreign policy.

The body of Corporal Patrick R. Glennon will be returned to his family for burial, 52 years after he was declared missing in action in Korea.

OTB’s comment section as a microcosm of the American political landscape.

Dan Drezner declares that “Policy wonks ignore political science journals at their peril.”

TV gave us the world’s first bionic man in 1973. Science is way behind.

The massacre of civilians in Afghanistan was foreseen.

Carrol LeFon, better known on the Internet as Neptunus Lex, one of the original milbloggers, has been killed in a fighter jet crash.

CWO2 Edward Cantrell, a decorated Special Forces veteran, died trying to save his daughters Isabella and Natalia from a house fire.

Attorney General Eric Holder offered a somewhat alarming defense of the Administration’s policy on targeted killings.

The differences between the parties when it comes to Iran are far less substantial than the candidate’s rhetoric would suggest.

A legal dispute exposes an open wound.

Our political scene has changed drastically since Bob Kerrey was last in the Senate.

There is no Republican savior out there.

Romney eked out a win in the Michigan primary. He’s going to have a harder time there in November.

This is one of the most draw-droppingly stupid 29 seconds I have experienced in some time.

Sometimes there was no sugar or Splenda for coffee. On chicken wing night, wings were rationed at six per person.

As they did four years, ago the New York Giants will get a parade in New York City today. Some are wondering when Iraq War vets will get theirs.

Revisiting a lively debate from over the weekend.

Mitt Romney’s statements about the planned early draw down in Afghanistan make no sense whatsoever.

A change in the law will radically increase retirement pay for generals and admirals.

We need to have opinions on a subject as serious as war with Iran.

Everything the critics say about the decision is right–and so is the decision.

Not surprisingly, Republicans are trying to reverse the automatic cuts to defense spending agreed to in August.

My latest for The Atlantic explains, “Why We Should Be Glad the Haditha Massacre Marine Got No Jail Time.”

Last night’s State Of The Union Address contained another unfortunate example of the prevalence of militaristic rhetoric in domestic politics.

The speech did exactly what it was supposed to do: kick off Obama’s re-election campaign while disguised as a call for unity.