Outside the Beltway

Gridlock doesn’t mean government stops. It just shifts who is governing.

Elected representatives, not soldiers, make policy. But there are times when generals should make a stand.

You can either have a career in a white shoe law firm or marry a military officer. Pick one.

As is often the case with sex scandals, pretty much everything ever written about General David Petraeus takes on an ironic double meaning in hindsight.

Tammy Smith has been promoted to brigadier general, thus becoming the first American general officer who also happens to be openly gay.

Once again, a pundit has come up with the boneheaded idea of reinstating the draft.

Thomas Ricks posts several recommendations for fixing the Army. Most of them are really, really stupid.

Why do pundits who are consistently wrong keep getting invited to be on television?

Is NATO prepared for what happens when they win?

Thomas Ricks makes the case that JFK was the worst President of his century but his argument misses the mark.

Howard Wiarda’s book on the National War College is based on his experiences from 1991 to 1996.

General Donn Starry and the Army of the 1970s.

The rebel and onion armies showed grose negligence by having many of their battles right inside national parks, like Gettysburg.

America’s war colleges have some problems but we can’t close them.

Tom Ricks doesn’t understand why we need an exit strategy in Libya.

We have laws preventing the sales of gun to crazy people. We’re not enforcing them very well.

Thomas Ricks laments that the combination of the all-volunteer military and lower top marginal rates mean that the wealthy have “checked out of America and moved into physical and mental gated communities.” To solve this problem, he proposed bringing back the draft.

Should members of the Armed Forces and other public employees have the same rights under the 1st Amendment as the rest of us? Or should they be more like journalists?

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