On the evening of January 16, 1991, I was with my parents and brother at the Pierre Bossier mall in Bossier City, Louisiana collecting autographs. Several members of the Houston Astros were there as part of a regional winter PR tour. Like Ralphie waiting in line for Santa Claus in...

In the midst of the debate over whether or not to suspend production of the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet, the Washington Post has revealed exactly how much it costs to fly and maintain each aircraft. It's dizzying.

The F-22 costs more than $44,000 an hour to fly....

This is Osama bin Laden:

Osama bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia. Osama's family has lots of money--money they earned mainly by helping Saudi Arabia sell oil to Americans like you and me. At some point, his family gave lots of that money...

Know what these photos are?

These are Iraqi troops surrendering by the thousand to U.S. forces during the first Gulf War in 1991. These drafted Iraqi fighters chose to turn themselves over to Americans in droves because they knew they'd be treated better by...

Woody Allen once said "80 percent of success is just showing up." If we translated Allen's words into foreign policy, we'd probably get something like, "80 percent of avoiding catastrophic failure is actively engaging the problems with which you're faced." George W. Bush never got this when it came to...

It's become pretty easy to associate the Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin-driven Tax Day "Tea Parties" with the militia movement. While I don't relate to the "no taxation without representation" crowd today, I do understand the potential need for such a movement in theory. It just depends on what...

As the violence in Afghanistan continues to intensify, the top American general in the country, Gen. David McKiernan, is ratcheting up his efforts to counter the burgeoning insurgency. But for McKiernan, there are some things his new approach does not include: Notably, it doesn't include a renewed emphasis on...

I crossed the border from Kuwait into Iraq with the main invasion force at 11:30 at night on March 21, 2003. I had turned 25 years old that week, and I was in command an infantry platoon in the 101st Airborne Division. It was my second combat tour.

I remember...

This is Dan.

(Military Times photo)

As you can see from the photo, Dan is a combat veteran of Iraq. Dan is not only an infantry officer, but he also has a degree in Arabic -- something very important if you're going to be in a...

Note: This is the last of a two-part series. Yesterday's piece took into account Afghan public attitudes in determining what the real issues are there. Today's piece will look at what we can and should do based on this information.

Yesterday I wrote about Afghan attitudes toward U.S. forces,...

Note: This is the first of a two-part series. This piece takes into account Afghan public attitudes in determining what the real issue is there. Tomorrow's piece will look at what we can and should do based on this information.

Without a doubt, we're currently on a trajectory to lose...

As President Obama readies a plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, there's been a vigorous debate on the progressive side among those who wish to see more U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan and those who don't. On the one hand, we have a White House website that says...

I'm not a psychologist, but this is really fascinating if you put it all together: It appears that distraught conservative pundits and bloggers are actually in the midst of collectively retreating into the world of fantasy as a psychological defense mechanism. Let's take a look at three recent exhibits...

Understandably, people have been freaking out over this story:

Army Sends 'Dear John Doe' Letters to Families of Fallen Troops

The Army mistakenly sent letters addressed "Dear John Doe" to 7,000 family members of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, unleashing calls from troubled relatives and...

Once again, the widely-read Military Times is deliberately attempting to accentuate the perceived rift between the military and the incoming Obama administration by promoting an amateurish, unscientific survey called the "2008 Military Times Poll." Here's the headline for the main article:

2008 Military Times poll: Wary about Obama...

By now, you've probably heard about the former Blackwater guards indicted for allegedly massacring 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007. Regardless of who's at fault, it was a terribly unfortunate incident when it happened. So with these five accused former military guys, I'll hold off on judging the situation. If...

For the past week, people have been coming to me asking if I had any data on the 2008 military vote. The questions were typical: Did the myth of overwhelming military support for Republicans bear out? Did Obama change that? Just who, exactly, do military communities support? And to what...

Well that didn't take long. Polls across America had been closed for less than 24 hours and Army Career Counselors were already exploiting Barack Obama's victory in an effort to recruit former soldiers back into units. This email was forwarded to me by an Iraq veteran and former Army...

Wading into the debate over the future of the war in Afghanistan, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin tried for a moment to sound as if she knew what she was talking about. This is what we got:

MODERATOR: Governor?

PALIN: Well, first, McClellan did not say definitively the surge principles...

On Friday, September September 26, 2008, John McCain said the following:

"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans,...