Outside the Beltway

America’s mission in Iraq is shifting from an active combat role to a smaller security presence. But the war that gripped our attention for years is now off the radar screen.

Why are people’s views about Islam so screwed up ? Mostly because the only things they know about it tend to be the worst possible aspects of all.

According to John Bolton, Israel has a deadline of August 21st to attack Iran’s nuclear program. This is the fourth deadline he’s set in the last three years.

A major part of the problem with the seeming growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in some quarters of US politics is that it seems to equate Islam as “the enemy.” If that’s the case, then US foreign policy has some ‘splainin’ to do.

The GOP is playing a dangerous game with the anti-Islamic rhetoric that it seems to be courting these days.

Barack Obama has significantly widened his predecessor’s global war on terrorism, even if he’s no longer calling it that.

President Obama waded into the “Ground Zero” mosque controversy at a Ramadan dinner last night.

Every new report out of Iran seems to bring us closer to the moment when Israel has decided it’s heard enough. What happens if that day actually happens ?

Of the U.S. military’s 10 combatant commands, only three are held by Army or Marine generals.

Saddam Hussein’s closest adviser in the 1990s, Tariq Aziz, is talking to reporters, and he wants American troops to stay in Iraq.

The American military is on a mission in Afghanistan that the public is increasingly starting to question.

ABC’s Sunday talking heads show has a new host. Is she a secret Taliban sympathizer?

A review by the Army of its alarming spike in suicides blames it on the new strain of risk-seeking recruits who join during wartime and commanders who neglect to rein them in.

The Pentagon can not account for 95 percent of the Iraq oil revenue from 2004 to 2007.

Barbara Boxer has offended some veterans again. This time, she’s right and they’re wrong.

Three different ways they’re viewing the leaked “war logs” across the Pond.

Will the Wikileaks document dump give even further impetus to the growing sentiment that the United States needs to leave Afghanistan ?

With everyone concerned about the budget deficit, the idea of cutting military spending is finally gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

General Stanley McChrystal retired with full honors while being lauded by the Secretary of Defense.

Recently Lt. Dan Choi chained himself to the White House fence to protest Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yesterday, he found out that he’d been discharged from the Army because he’s gay.

Will a debate over foreign policy tear apart the GOP ? Probably not.

Journalists have been following Maxwell Scott’s advice since long before “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” was made.

The evidence that humans are irrational continues to mount. What does this mean for self-governance?

Some people are saying that David Petraeus deserves promotion to a rank last held by Omar Bradley.

Let’s revisit the question of crime levels in Arizona.

Is Ann Coulter’s defense of Michael Steele’s Afghan War skepticism the beginning of conservative split, or just an attempt to pile on President Obama ?

Once again, the knives are out for Michael Steele after his recent Afghanistan gaffe.

The Chairman of the RNC is expressing doubts about America’s war effort in Afghanistan.

Senator Robert Byrd has died at 92, after years of poor health.

Are new war strategies putting too much strain on commanders in the field ?

Ezra Klein is shuttering JournoList.

The odds that David Petraeus will be able to pull off a miracle in Afghanistan like he did in Iraq are very slim.

While praise for the military often goes overboard, the reaction to the McChrystal flap shows our armed forces at their finest.

Stanley McChrystal is being called to face Obama’s national security team this morning. They should take the opportunity to come up with coherent Afghanistan policy.

Stanley McChrystal’s fate is the story of the day, but there’s a broader message in the Rolling Stone story, and it has broad implications for the future of the Afghan War.

Is there a double standard in play when generals criticize Democratic versus Republican presidents?