Anybody who has lived with an addict knows about denial. So it goes with Congress and defense spending. Case in point this week is the F-22, a gold-plated Cold War barnacle that has been stuck to American taxpayers for decades. Addicts are so comforted by their hazy worldview that they...

"When all other means of communication fail, try words." I walked by this anonymous quotation every day in grad school -- stuck on a cork bulletin board. Now it makes sense. For the past eight years, our bad attitude made us really unpopular. Unappeasable, we became like the schoolyard bully...

In Congress and across the country, progressives are nervous about the increased troop commitments in Afghanistan. They see a degenerating, no-win situation. Some of them wish we could just get out now, and cut our losses, both in blood and money, perhaps politically as well.

But we can't abandon Afghanistan...

If we kill people, we lose the war. The most significant achievement of the Obama Administration thus far is a consistent and systematic understanding that security as we know it has fundamentally changed. Today, legitimacy (having the moral authority to lead) is getting as much attention as containment (dominate, isolate,...

When President Obama reaches Prague this Sunday, he'll be riding the wake of an eventful week. While most of the world followed the G-20, Russian-US rapprochement and our dreamy First Lady, here in DC we were preoccupied with budgets and the President's new policy for defeating terrorism and Al Qaeda...

Now that America's exit from Iraq is on the horizon -- we need to begin the long overdue conversation about how we got ourselves into this war. Beyond blaming the Bush administration and the neo-cons. Fingering them is the easy part. We need to talk about the civic and cultural...

Hope and change are a lot to ask for. How about a sign of cautious optimism instead?
Like fiscal accountability across all the government -- including the Defense Department. America's economic crisis demands that every federal agency cut back and sacrifice. The Pentagon is the most undisciplined of...

A behavior is strategic if it influences others by affecting their expectations. This principle of conflict resolution is one that is particularly relevant to the threats in today's world. Neatly defined and bounded states like the ones on political maps don't matter so much anymore. It's people that count. The...

Mumbai. Pirates. Civilian protection. This is what national security looks like today. What will happen with the defense budget in 2009 and beyond is a parlor game for DC wonks at the moment. Still, it is important for everyone who pays taxes to take note of any national security conversation--because...

Last summer, a friend of mine who is a Marine Corps Reservist shipped out for his second tour in Iraq. He sent a moving email the night he boarded his flight out of the USA--detailing the crowds of well wishers from the community; tearful thank yous and hands clasping his...

So the bloggers won. Or at the very least get a lot of credit for creating an audible echo chamber on behalf of Barack Obama and progressive ideas. But the Senator's victory is a turning point for everyone who has been loudly denouncing the decisions made by our elected leaders....

Late last night, I went on a guerilla sign blitz. I'm home in Northern New Mexico--the Four Corners--land of the backyard oil rig and the most important county in the state for the Democrats. In neighborhoods, nearly every Obama sign I put up in the afternoon was gone by evening....

Taxpayers may be forced to bail out Wall Street today, but don't forget that this crisis is
actually a victory. Who really won? Ronald Reagan and his army of conservative operatives who have been selling off, systematically dismantling and scorning the guardians of the public sector--for decades now. And...

This is one piece of summer entertainment that is definitely not mindless. When I say Iron Man belongs in the West Wing, I don't mean as President, but more along the lines of Special Advisor on National Security. I saw this movie on opening night last week at the Avalon,...

It is common practice for Hollywood producers to ask the Department of Defense for help in filmmaking. The asks range from helicopters to technical advice -- the decision rule for the DoD is whether or not the product placement will boost recruitment. Hence, the more explosions and shiny metal, the...

"I've been thinking so much about this lately, while I stand on the corner -- dressed in black during rush hour -- protesting the Iraq war. I was part of the generation that tore our government down, but never took the time to put something back in its place" This...

That seems to be our national strategy these days.

I'm going to start an internet campaign of putting the words "defense budget" in quotations because -- according to my unscientific survey out around the country -- Americans are feeling pretty uneasy about their security and our leadership priorities. In other...

Thanks, Hollywood. For those of us working here in D.C. on national security issues, Sunday night gave our nation a good dose of reputation rehabilitation: Spain, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Canada (please let me know who I've missed). It reminded the worldwide audience that America is connected in...

I know we all want to gawk about Michigan and now speculate over Nevada, but before you head to the strip, take a minute to think about Tennessee, New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas.

This month might be dominated by presidential politics, but January is also a great...

Last week I had breakfast with a friend who works in the Senate as a national security staffer. In years past, we worked together in Congress and frequently schemed to get issues like climate change onto the national security agendas of staff and Members. Given Al Gore's Nobel Prize, the...