Let’s consider the possibility that women-in-combat may do to radical feminism what Nuclear Winter did to the anti-nuclear left 10 years ago. But first, let us recall just what that curious phenomenon was. In the 1980s, the anti-nuclear left got strange. A series of unworkable disarmament proposals, from the “Nuclear Freeze” to outright abolition, failed to mobilize the masses residing Read More ›
This is a review of a women-in-the-military novel that, given probably will never be published. It ought to be. “Placeholder,” written by Karen Dahbly, a former Air Force lieutenant, is a somber, no-nonsense assessment of the price-the military pays for having women, and the price women pay for serving in the military. It’s both a political statement by one who’s Read More ›
A quarter-century ago, as the final American combat units staggered and straggled out of Vietnam and the monthly draft quotas hit zero, the United States Army launched a new recruiting campaign. The slogan: Today’s Army Wants to Join You. On May 22, 1996, in an editorial entitled, “The Death of an Admiral,” the New York Times assessed Jeremiah Boorda’s contribution Read More ›
Turf battles and budget cuts always stir anxieties in the military, but recent signs of damaged morale in the officer corps suggest worrisome trouble from more unusual sources. At some point the fighting ability of the military–its reason for existence–may be impaired. Before that happens, Congress should investigate the causes of the recent spate of firings, resignations, lawsuits, charges of Read More ›
A Beltway commission is not without honor. Save perhaps among those whose activities it’s trying to reform. Whatever else can be said about America’s post-Cold War defense dilemmas, they’ve spawned no shortage of official studies. BFS, BUR, CORM, QDR I, NDP, NSSG, QDR II . . . all adding up to a fine example of the Military Law of Inverse Read More ›
History teaches. Americans don’t much care for those words. To put it into the proper, psychologized, nonjudgmental vocabulary, we don’t “feel comfortable” with the notion that the past might have anything to tell us about our present conduct. When we wish to dismiss something as no longer worthy of consideration, we say, “That’s history.” On May 16, 1996, Adm. Jeremy Read More ›
I’m a think tank pogue, specializing in national defense. “Pogue,” by the by, is a venerable military term, meaning anybody who’s farther from the fighting than you are. By this standard, Seattle’s a pretty poguey place. Still, whenever the metallic density of the air increases somewhere, I morph into a Media Resource. Since the ordnance started popping in Yugoslavia, I’ve Read More ›
On Dec. 7, 1941, a new phrase entered the American lexicon. “We’re in it.” Now that the ghastly obscenity of terrorism has struck twice at home, it’s time to admit the obvious again. We’re in it, and it’s time to start thinking seriously about defense. The United States can combat terrorism effectively without becoming either a garrison state or enduring Read More ›