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On Supporting the Troops, With Camo-Themed Headwear
In the context of this past week’s “Paid Patriotism” report by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake…
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The ‘Paid Patriotism’ Chronicles
A retired Air Force officer, who still does some contracting work with the Pentagon, writes about the news that…
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Paid Patriotism: I Hadn't Been Cynical Enough
In this new Thread I will revive a string of reader commentary, plus news updates (F-35, A-10, budgets and strategy…
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Why We Can't Think Straight About Public Spending: California High-Speed Rail, and the Latest USAF Bomber
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of addressing Stewart Brand’s “Long Now” seminar in San Francisco, talking about…
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The Right Way to Enforce Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea
Last night I offered a brief reading list about the long-building naval showdown in the South China Sea, plus…
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If You're Thinking About a Looming Naval-Warfare Showdown in the South China Sea ...
… here are a few things to read: 1) “China Announces the U.S.’s Spratly…
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A Military Officer Dissents on Jim Webb, and a Bernie Sanders Supporter Backs Him
Last night I explained why I respected the career-long independence of former Senator Jim Webb, now reflected in his leaving…
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John Boyd in the News: All You Need to Know About the OODA Loop
I was glad to see that, in an item yesterday called “The Way of the Doofus Warrior,” Josh…
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US Naval War College Bridging the Military-Civilian Divide: Some Thoughts From the Military Side
What does a nation owe its military? An audience at the Naval War College has a few ideas.
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From Top Gun / YouTube Can the 'Right Stuff' Become the Wrong Stuff?
More on the F-16 and Cessna crash, and whether the collision of a military and a civilian aircraft was also a collision of cultures
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Reuters More on the Right Questions to Ask About Iraq
Have presidential candidates learned the right lessons from the experiences of Obama and Bush? A person in the middle of the Iraq-and-Afghanistan debates tells us how to find out.
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Reuters The Right and Wrong Questions About the Iraq War
These “knowing what we know now …” questions are driving me crazy. They should make you mad too.
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Chris Helgren / Reuters The Moral Weight of Warfare, Explored in a New Book
A “chickenhawk nation” sends men and women to combat without fully reflecting on the strategic and moral consequences of open-ended war. An American who supervised interrogations in Iraq reminds his fellow citizens of the cost.
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USAF Senior Airman Christina D. Ponte, via Aviation ... The Scandal of the Anti A-10 Campaign: Chickenhawk Chronicles Resume
What a spending battle over military aircraft reveals about our moral priorities
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Who Would Jesus Bomb, and Other Imponderable Questions
A chickenhawk moment so pure it deserves extra attention
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Wikimedia Commons One of Our Major Newspapers Says: What the Hell, Why Not Start Another Unwinnable War?
On the bright side, Tom Cotton now seems statesmanlike.
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The Atlantic Sebastian Junger on Chickenhawk Nation
In today's formless, open-ended wars, it can be hard to know what "victory" would mean. It's much easier to identify defeat. A response to Sebastian Junger.
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Reuters On the Impossibility of Fighting ISIS
"I have come to the conclusion that there is no military solution to this issue that can be generated by the U.S. But I believe there is a political solution." How to think about the next war, as we consider getting into it.
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Wikimedia Brian Williams and the 'Guitar Hero Syndrome'
An officer serving in Afghanistan on why a newsman's mis-recollection matters: "I actually think it's worse if it WAS inadvertent, as that would confirm what we all suspect that America really does believe that it is more involved in the military's travails than is reality."
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Reuters The Brian Williams Story as Emblem of the Chickenhawk Era
What it means that a public figure "misremembered" events in this particular way
