Outside the Beltway

Some surprisingly bad economic news

Greg Jaffe has an outstanding feature titled “In one Army family, women in combat evokes two different perspectives.”

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

In “Veterans and Senate Buddies, Until Another War Split Them,” Elisabeth Bumiller profiles the relationship between Chuck Hagel and John McCain:

President Obama is taking some heat over the fact that his Second Term cabinet selections have been very white and very male.

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.

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

The latest offer from John Boehner includes a significant concession.

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.

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

The scandal now surrounding David Petraeus should lead people to reassess his past record.

Another mostly disappointing report on the state of the economy.

If you thought the War On Terror might be over, think again.

President Obama seems to have given away the store when it comes to the defense sequestration cuts.

The Pentagon considers those killed by Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood three years ago victims of workplace violence, not terrorism.

One of Mitt Romney’s own supporters didn’t like his foreign policy speech very much.

Virginia went Republican in every presidential contest from 1968 to 2004. It’s likely to vote for Barack Obama again five weeks from now.

The Afghan Surge announced by President Obama in December 2009 is over. By any objective measurement, it was a failure.

Republicans will have some choices to make if President Obama is re-elected.

For the fourth day, American and other embassies became the focus of mass protests in many Muslim nations.

Not surprisingly, a new study finds that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has not caused any harm to the military.

A new IAEA report may make an Israeli strike on Iran in the near future more likely than it has ever been.

To much fanfare, President Obama announced a shift in Afghan War policy in December 2009. There’s little evidence it’s worked.

A former Obama official says government should learn from business, but is private industry really more efficient?

Charges that the Obama administration leaked classified information about the Osama bin Laden raid for political gain are bunk.

In calling for the sequestration cuts to be delayed, Republicans are demonstrating their lack of seriousness on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

While Washington dithers, business owners are starting to worry.

The White House and the Pentagon are buildings, not unitary actors.