Gen. Joseph Votel, U.S. Central Command chief, on April 29, 2016. U.S. Army photo U.S. Central Command’s imperial proconsul is a master at embellishing an empty strategy by ANDREW J. BACEVICH By way of explaining his eight failed marriages, the American bandleader Artie Shaw once remarked, “I am an... Read more
Trump Just Hired an Ignorant Paranoiac Who Invented a Special Bow for the Apocalypse
It took nearly two months for U.S. president Donald Trump to appoint a deputy secretary of the treasury, a crucial position tasked with day-to-day operations for the backbone of the U.S. financial system. Just three days into his administration, however, Trump hired one special assistant at the agency with... Read more
It’s not clear if this relates to the San Bernardino case by JOSEPH COX Cops are going to hack. As encryption and anonymity technologies continue to proliferate, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies increasingly use hacking tools to aid their investigations or identify criminals. With that in mind,... Read more
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Gen. Joseph Votel, chief of U.S. Central Command, and senior military leaders at MacDill Air Force Base in February 2017. U.S. Central Command photo How the invasion of Iraq returned home to the United States by TOM ENGELHARDT If you want to know... Read more
Soldados suecos se embarran un poco durante unas maniobras en Alemania en 2014. Foto del Ejército de Tierra estadounidense Los jóvenes suecos no quieren ser militares por ALBIN ARONSSON & BLAKE FRANKO El Gobierno sueco ha mantenido aletargado el servicio militar obligatorio desde 2010, pero finalmente se ha visto... Read more
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks aboard the carrier ‘Gerald R. Ford’ on March 2, 2017. U.S. Navy photo Rebuilding a last-century military to fight last-century wars by MICHAEL T. KLARE If you are an American male of a certain age — Donald Trump’s age, to be exact — you are likely to have... Read more
U.S. Navy Officers Allegedly Traded Favors for an Orgy in Douglas MacArthur’s Relic Room
For years, Malaysian playboy and defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis — often called Fat Leonard by his buds — effectively controlled the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet. Fat Leonard spent millions of dollars bribing officers of the Seventh Fleet and in exchange those officers made sure the U.S. Navy’s most powerful ships sailed into... Read more
Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. U.S. Navy photo Podcast — for authoritarians, bad behavior is almost always good policy by MATTHEW GAULT For his views on democracies and dictatorships, he’s been called a cynic. But NYU professor Alastair Smith doesn’t think that makes him wrong. This week on War College, Smith... Read more
A Marine combat correspondent in Afghanistan. Marine Corps photo Ex-military reporters aim a spotlight at Facebook groups that shared nude photos of Marines without their consent by KEVIN KNODELL “This is a problem with our culture. I don’t have a good answer for you. I’m not going to sit... Read more
POGO illustration It’s reckless to hand over billions only to find out the reasons why later by MANDY SMITHBERGER In 1994 Congress passed legislation requiring every federal agency to be auditable. Since then every agency has complied — except for the Department of Defense. “We have known for many years that... Read more