Outside the Beltway

The military’s finance and accounting system has been dysfunctional for decades and is getting worse.

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

The complicated issues surrounding U.S. aid to Egypt.

Jerry Brown’s second go-round as governor has been very, very good to the Golden State.

We’re paying a lot of money for defense contractors. It’s not clear how much of this is wasteful.

Focusing on Edward Snowden is largely a waste of time.

Does David Gregory consider Glenn Greenwald to be a reporter deserving of protection, or “just a blogger” who may be a potential criminal?

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

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.

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

If there’s one thing that our generals and admirals agree on it’s that generals and admirals should retain their power.

Several top Administration officials have secret email addresses, the Associated Press reports.

The sequestration cuts are two months old, and it seems pretty clear that the claims of doom we heard before they went into effect were heavily exaggerated.

Christine Fox, the real-life inspiration for Charlie of “Top Gun,” and the casual sexism of 1985.

Republicans looking to Benghazi for political ammunition are likely going to be disappointed.

Once again, politics is dictating military policy.

There are far too many appointed positions in the US government. And many of them are unfilled.

Chuck Hagel has countermanded his predecessor and canceled the Distinguished Warfare Medal.

Many of our cabinet secretaries are independently wealthy.

My latest for The National Interest, “Hagel’s Three Questions,” ponders our national security decisionmaking.

The Army has ruled, correctly, that the victims of Major Nidal Hassan are not entitled to the Purple Heart.

Rand Paul’s filibuster has made him a darling among conservatives but it may not last.

Rand Paul’s questions about the nation’s drone war were only the beginning.

Congress is banding together on a bipartisan basis to fight the greatest problem facing the country: the precedence of the Distinguished Warfare Medal above the Bronze Star.

For the moment, Republicans appear to be blocking Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense but they don’t seem to know why they’re doing it.

American troops may now earn the fourth highest combat medal from the comfort of their desk chair.

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy

Tim Kane continues his campaign against the US military’s antiquated personnel system.

A 5-year-old Alabama boy is safe after authorities killed his kidnapper.

Andrew Bacevich bemoans the social impact of the all-volunteer force.

My latest for The National Interest, “Ignoring the Hagel Hearing Farce,” has posted.