Jim White already mentioned that Robert Gates showed up unexpectedly in Afghanistan today, just days after Hamid Karzai rejected an official apology from the military for the murder by airstrike of 9 boys collecting firewood in Kunar Province. The visit had two goals – one, to try and reconcile after the incident, and two, to [...]

The Libyan civil war has settled into a very traditional battle for territory. Rebels are advancing on the capitol from the east, while loyalists to Moammar Gadhafi try to take back rebel-held cities. At least as of yesterday, Gadhafi’s forces seem to be taking advantage. They waged a ground attack on Misurata, the third-largest city [...]

There was a belief earlier in the day that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi had taken the oil export city of Brega, but according to the New York Times the rebels held the area: In a fierce day-long battle, rebel forces in this strategic oil town successfully repelled an attack on Wednesday by government-aligned mercenaries [...]

By a vote of 233-198, the House of Representatives just voted to cut funding for the alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35 already has an engine, one that apparently works, and the Pentagon said they had no need for a second one. Yet the alternate engine funding kept popping up in [...]

Republicans are more afraid than I thought about the possibility of a government shutdown, or rather, being blamed for a government shutdown. They really don’t want to take the heat for it. Of course, the only way they’re going to get major spending cuts in the near term is if they refuse to compromise and [...]

Just so we understand who we’re dealing with – and why it would be worth it to design policies that work instead of ones that cater to the opposition or expectations about public opinion – here’s just a sampling of stories about our new Republican overlords, who only control one branch of government but might [...]

As we all know, the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy represented only part of the story. Now, the President, in association with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, must certify the actual repeal, which would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. There’s also a 30-day [...]

As expected Thursday, Robert Gates announced a series of cuts to the Pentagon budget. The numbers, $78 billion over the next 5 years, came in a little lower than the $100 billion expected. A separate $100 billion in cuts would be reinvested in “new weapon systems and programs that benefit troops.” Gates has made no [...]

Now this is kind of interesting. Republicans in the House still have the plan to cut $100 billion in discretionary domestic spending in the current fiscal year. That would represent cuts of about 20% in all the areas they haven’t walled off, such as the military, homeland security and veterans. However, this fiscal year began [...]

That’s New York Times editor Bill Keller, explaining how his organization checked with the US government before publishing any of the Wikileaks State Department cables, redacted all sensitive names from publication at the recommendation of the government, and basically did everything they could in advance to clear the release with the Administration. Carne Ross, the [...]

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking with sailors aboard the USS Lincoln today, said that he didn’t expect Congress to pass a legislative repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell anytime soon, “even though he wishes it would.” I believe he’s in a position to know. The original sin here was putting all kinds of weight to [...]