National Defense

army-boots-close-up-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Army boots close up
Licensed from Adobe Stock

Defense Gets Back to Basics

On Nov. 1, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ran an op-ed in The Washington Post, asserting that the United States must "act now to prepare for the next war, even as we wage the current war against terrorism." Read More ›

Confessions of a Marine Corps Sensitivity Trainer

1973 was not a good year to be a Marine. Nam was over. Rebuilding hadn’t begun. And an awful lot of us, myself included, just wanted out. I opted for grad school. But on three occasions in those final months before returning to the halls of ivy, I almost left via the brig. First came the Inspector General’s (IG) inspection. Read More ›

Soaring to New Heights of Irritation

A cliché among airline flight attendants describes half their job as “taking people’s garbage and saying thank-you.” And so it seems with American civilization today. Politicians, athletes, entertainers, intellectuals, media, activists, business people: We take their garbage and we say thank-you . . . and often pay for the privilege. That resemblance points toward other similarities. Indeed, perhaps nothing captures Read More ›

usa-flag-on-pole-behind-iron-fence-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
USA flag on pole behind iron fence
Licensed from Adobe Stock

No Defense for This Defense Policy

Last October, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a remarkable three-day symposium: “Clash of Visions,” addressing the future(s) of the military. The participants were distinguished, the presentations and dialogue both sophisticated and frank. Toward the end, a member of the audience commented: “I’ve learned one thing here. You can say anything you want, if you preface it Read More ›