The struggle to discipline the defense budget and reign in the Department of Defense has begun. Growing concern about the deficit, combined with growing disenchantment at the ever-expanding global US military presence and the growing role of DOD in our foreign policy have combined to put this issue squarely on...

Once upon a time, we went into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban government and eliminate a training ground for our friends from Al Qaeda. Mission accomplished.

Then we decided to stay around to "fix" the Afghan regime so it would be more "democratic" and to help stimulate the economy,...

The new defense strategy is out and the budget to back it up is now pending before the Congress. Together they reflect a woeful lack of discipline in the Defense Department. Missions and objectives are expanding at a rapid pace and the defense budget is higher than ever. The two...

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was never a good policy. There is no evidence that sexual orientation has any bearing on the ability or willingness of men and women to serve as soldiers or to perform their duties as ordered and required. The only impact has been to deny highly qualified...

First published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 2010

Separating the U.S. civilian and defense missions

The State Department and USAID are in the midst of conducting an unprecedented Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), which is intended to bolster the civilian capabilities...

While costs will not dictate how we pay for the Obama surge in Afghanistan, they will be a subject of strong debate in the Congress. There are many unknowns about the costs and still a lot of work being done in the executive branch to figure them out.

Costs,...

I ran into a major DC budget analyst on the street today, who asked me, "How did you like the F-22 vote?" "A two-legged stool cannot stand," was my reply.

What happened to the F-22 was both rare and predictable. Nearly 30 years ago I wrote a book called The...

Where are the Afghans?
Gordon Adams
8 July 2009

"What I need is more Afghans,"
Says General Nicolson.

"We can't read these people; we're different,"
Said Captain Huysmans.
"They're not going to tell us the truth.
We'll never get to...

In its first 100 days, the Obama administration has had to confront a series of pressing foreign policy and national security issues -- North Korean missile launches, a revamping of the war strategy in Afghanistan, the Taliban's continued rise in Pakistan, and, of course, the Iranian nuclear program. As with...

I just posted this column on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Website. The President faces his first test on whether he means to put the Pentagon back in the box, after eight years of out-of-control spending. We'll see if he means it.

Obama's first budget test
...

Another Federal budget season approaches and once again, pundits are attempting use it as an excuse to paint Democrats as weak on national security. In fact, reports that the White House has decided to cut the defense budget in Fiscal Year 2010 are nonsense. If the reports are accurate, the...

My niece, Ryan Beattie Scrimger, a 30-something actress and soon-to-be mother in San Diego, received a fear-laden e-mail about Barak Obama from a friend. It took the tried, but untrue line that "we don't know this man and have reason to fear him." It is too common a dirty trick,...