Coffee Break| More...
 

Admiral Mike Mullen

It's Chow Time at the White House, Brother

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Elaine Donnelly, Politico, David Wochner, Senator Richard Russell, General Omar Bradley, President Obama, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, Admiral Mike Mullen, Anderson Cooper 360, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Victor Fehrenbach, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Military-Readiness-Enhancement-Act, Victory Fund, National Equality March, LGBT Community, Joint Force Quarterly, John King, Jon Stewart, Col. Om Prakash, Dadt, President Truman, Sldn, Joint Chiefs Chairman, General James Jones, National Security Adviser, Saturday Night Live, Us Military Desegregation, State of the Union, William Gladstone, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

What gays and lesbians are looking for -- and will be marching for on Sunday -- is nothing special, and that's exactly the point. It's what every other American already has: equal treatment under the law

Read Post

Fresh Breeze Blowing in the Pentagon

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 10.01.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, National War College, Elaine Donnelly, Boston Globe, Department of Defense, Col. Om Prakash, Joint Forces Quarterly, Defense Secretary William Perry, Gao Report, Dadt, New York Times, Admiral Mike Mullen, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Elizabeth Bumiller, Jfq, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

An Air Force colonel's new article is the closest we've ever come to recognition by an official Pentagon publication that "don't ask, don't tell" has got to go, and go soon.

Read Post

Creating Terrorism

Sen. Fritz Hollings | Posted 09.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Stanley McChrystal, Admiral Mike Mullen, Ted Stevens, Joe Biden, Robert Gates, Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, Politics News
Sen. Fritz Hollings

In the Muslim world, more important than freedom and democracy is tribe and religion. We are not going to teach warlords to like democracy and grow wheat instead of poppies.

Read Post

Who's Leading the DADT Debate?

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 09.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Bill Clinton, House of Representatives, Congress, Joint Forces Quarterly, George W. Bush, Harry Truman, Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, Obama Pentagon, Afghanistan War, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, H.R. 1283, Senate, Dadt, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

it is one thing to give the Pentagon considerable weight and another thing altogether to let it dictate the timing and terms of the debate, and the final decision.

Read Post

Time for Mullen and Gates to Take a Clear Stand on DADT

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 09.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Casualties of War, Don't Ask Don't Tell, White House, LGBT Issues, Senator Mark Udall, President Obama, Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, Confirmation Hearing Chairman Joint Chiefs, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

If Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates are asked towards the end of the year whether they are prepared to sign off on repeal language of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, what will their answers be?

Read Post

No More Troops for Afghanistan

Malou Innocent | Posted 09.16.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Afghanistan War, Stanley McChrystal, Admiral Mike Mullen, Military, World News
Malou Innocent

The U.S. and NATO military presence of roughly 110,000 troops is more than enough to carry out the focused mission of training Afghan forces.

Read Post

8th Anniversary of Sept 11: Do We Understand Them?

Mohamed Elmenshawy | Posted 11.11.2009 | World

Read More: Islam, Arabs, Terrorism, 9/11 Anniversary, George W. Bush, 9/11, Admiral Mike Mullen, 9-11, Muslim, September 11th, Barack Obama, Osama Bin Laden, World News
Mohamed Elmenshawy

For the Obama administration to continue its focus only on improving the image of the United States abroad, through the approach of "strategic communication" or "public diplomacy," is to see only half of the picture.

Read Post

Eight Weeks of America's War, Not Eight Years of "Obama's War"

Jonathan Morgenstein | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, Obama Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan Surge, War in Afghanistan, Afghan War, President Obama, George W. Bush, 9/11, Admiral Mike Mullen, Obama, Taliban, Obama National Security, Obama's War, September 11, Obama's Vietnam, National Security, Bush Legacy, 9-11, President Bush, September 11th, Us Troops Afghanistan, Bush, Afghanistan, Sept. 11, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Al Qaida, Admiral Mullen Joint Chiefs, Taliban Afghanistan, Surge in Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban, Politics News
Jonathan Morgenstein

The Obama administration is trying to salvage the situation in Afghanistan after the Bush Administration lost the war over eight years.

Read Post

Gates And Mullen Counter Afghanistan Frustration

The Hill | Roxana Tiron | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Stanley McChrystal, Admiral Mike Mullen, US Military, Robert Gates, Afghanistan, Nato, Politics News

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the U.S. forces must work to "turn around" the security situation in Afgha...

Read Whole Story

The Exit Strategy We Need at Home

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 10.17.2009 | World

Read More: Usaid, National Security, Pakistan, Stanley McChrystal, Us Government, Senator Feingold, Admiral Mike Mullen, James McGovern, US Army, Cold War, State Department, Anti-War, Afghanistan War, World News
Lorelei Kelly

No matter how much we love and trust the U.S. military, the American face to the world cannot be wearing a uniform.

Read Post

Slogging Towards Repeal

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 09.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: C-Span, Elaine Donnelly, Senate Appropriations Committee, Department of Defense, Colin Powell, Ike Skelton, Ann Coulter, The Rachel Maddow Show, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, Sen. Dan Inouye, Senate Armed Services Committee, Obama Administration, Admiral Mike Mullen, House Armed Services Committee, Robert F. Kennedy, Defense Secretary Gates, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, H.R. 1283, Eugene McCarthy, Iraq Veterans, Sen. Carl Levin, Martin Luther King, Human Events.com, "Summer of Love, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Rep. Jared Polis, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

The nation's armed forces are stretched thin, very thin. Repeal of DADT is a national security issue, first and last.

Read Post

Escalation Scam: Troops in Afghanistan

Norman Solomon | Posted 08.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Vietnam War, Escalation, Martin Luther King Jr., Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Special National Security Estimate, Afghanistan, Lyndon Johnson, Barack Obama, Politics News
Norman Solomon

The president has set a limit on the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. For now. That's how escalation works. Ceilings become floors. Gradually.

Read Post

But Am I Safer, Mr. Secretary?

Kerry Eleveld | Posted 08.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Dont Ask Dont Tell, Gays in the Military, Dadt, Admiral Mike Mullen, Mike Mullen, Robert Gates, Dont Ask Dont Tell, Defense Secretary Gates, Politics News
Kerry Eleveld

With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, the next time you're mulling the ouster of gay service members, skip the paternalism and just tell us whether we're safer.

Read Post

US Fails To Win Hearts And Minds In Afghanistan

Global Post | Posted 06.28.2009 | World

Read More: Farah Killings, Afghanistan, Stratcom, Farah, War Wire, Admiral Mike Mullen, Afghanistan US Troops, Kabul Afghanistan, World News

Jean MacKenzie I GlobalPost KABUL, Afghanistan -- "You've all heard of strategic communications," said the high-ranking U.S. official, holding an ...

Read Whole Story

For Gays in the Military, Obama's Good Intentions Not Enough

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 06.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Elaine Donnelly, Congress, Sandy Tsao, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Afghanistan, Pentagon Briefing, President Obama, Passive Resistance, Martin Luther King Jr., Admiral Mike Mullen, Mahatma Gandhi, Air Force, John Shalikashvili, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Victor Fehrenbach, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Geoff Morrell, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Choi, Joint Chiefs Chairman, Fox News, Iraq, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

Good intentions are no substitute for the change our service members are counting on, especially those who might like to be relieved from a third or fourth or fifth tour in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Read Post

Air Force Boots Their 25 Million Dollar Aviator (He's Gay) VIDEO

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 06.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Usaf, US Military, Congress, Lara Jakes, President Obama, Associated Press, Admiral Mike Mullen, Lt. Dan Choi, Air Force, Obama Pentagon, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Gays in the Military, Victor Fehrenbach, Geoff Morrell, Video, Robert Gates, Rachel Maddow, Dadt, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

The Air Force is about to discharge this guy, a virtual poster boy for recruiting, because he is gay? Someone has to be kidding. This is sheer madness.

Read Post

Obama's Crisis Management: Of Flu and AfPak

William Bradley | Posted 06.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Al Qaeda, White House, Afghanistan, Pakistan, AfPak Summit, Swine Flu, Joe Biden, Admiral Mike Mullen, Flu, A.Q. Khan, Hamid Karzai, Asif Ali Zardari, Bob Gates, Barack Obama, Afpak, Pakistani Taliban, Afghan Taliban, The Stand, Stephen King, Politics News
William Bradley

After plenty of preliminary work by his top aides, and behind-the-scenes preparation by himself Obama is about to bring the question of Afghanistan and Pakistan back to center stage.

Read Post

Stand by Your Word, Mr. President: End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 05.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Elaine Donnelly, Gays and Lesbians in the Military, Center for Military Readiness, Congress, Department of Defense, Ronald Reagan, Arabic Translators, President Obama, Admiral Mike Mullen, Poll, Pentagon Budget, John Shalikashvili, Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Obama White House, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Phyllis Schlafly, Retired Flag Officers, Economic Stimulus, Washington Post, ABC News, Bank Bailout, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

Firing 50 men and women who are fluent in Arabic solely because they are gay when we are fighting in the Arabic-speaking world? The mind boggles.

Read Post

Holbrooke: We Won't Press India for Peace with Pakistan

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.10.2009 | World

Read More: Admiral Mike Mullen, India, Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, Pakistan, Kashmir, Foreign Policy, World News
Robert Naiman

What price, exactly, would we pay for pressing India for compromise that would be more expensive than the lives of US troops and the lives of Afghan and Pakistani civilians?

Read Post

Pakistan Rejects US Proposal For Joint Operation In Tribal Areas

Dawn.com | Iftikhar A. Khan & Baqir Sajjad Syed | Posted 05.09.2009 | World

Read More: Richard Holbrooke Pakistan, Pakistan War on Terror, Middle East, Middle East Politics, Pakistan Taliban, Richard Holbrooke, Pakistan US, Pakistan, Admiral Mike Mullen, Pakistan Us Relations, Mike Mullen, Richard Holbrooke Envoy, World News

Pakistan rejected on Tuesday a US proposal for joint operations in the tribal areas against terrorism and militancy, as differences of opinion between...

Read Whole Story

Time for Courage and Leadership, Mr. President

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 04.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, General Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, President Bill Clinton, President Obama, Global Economy, National Security, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Defense Department Budget, Admiral Mahan, Campaign Promises, Fox News Sunday, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a wrong that can be made right. Just say what you said in your campaign, Mr. Obama, and what's on your White House web site. Do what you said you'd do.

Read Post

Will Iran Come Out Of The Nuclear Closet?

Jamal Dajani | Posted 04.13.2009 | World

Read More: War With Iran, Admiral Mike Mullen, Jamal Dajani, David-Ben-Gurion, Iran, Amos Yadlin, Iran Nuclear Weapons, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Arabs, Robert Gates, Middle East, Iaea, Iraq-Iran War, Iraq, Israel, Israel Nuclear Weapons, World News
Jamal Dajani

If the Israeli nuclear program grew out of fear of its neighbors and the conviction that the Holocaust justified any measures Israel took to ensure its survival, from where does Iran's justification come?

Read Post

Don't Let an Ambush Happen Again, Mr. President

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 04.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Congress, Amy Brian, Colin Powell, Samm Nunn, President Obama, Admiral Mike Mullen, Iraq, Rotc, Kansas National Guard, House Armed Services Committee, Dadt, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Todd Belok, Rep. Ellen Tauscher, President Clinton, US Navy, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

If President Obama plans to keep his campaign promise, the White House and the Pentagon had better get on the same page now, and be ready to face the tough questioning sure to come.

Read Post

What Will Republicans Do Without 'War on Terror' Talking Point?

Taylor Marsh | Posted 04.02.2009 | Media

Read More: Fox News, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chris Wallace, War on Terror, National Security, Terrorism, Barack Obama, Media News
Taylor Marsh

Chris Wallace could deduce only one thing: If people don't say "war on terror" then the extremists win. It was an exercise in juvenile journalism, but Wallace was determined.

Read Post

No Gays, Please, We're Americans

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 03.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq War, Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Economic Crisis, New York Times, Admiral Mike Mullen, Obama, Immigration, Immigrants, US Army, Military Recruiting, Video Games, Defense Department, Afghanistan War, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

I marvel at the contortions our government goes through to avoid welcoming gays and lesbians openly into the armed services, whether they be skilled, highly skilled, or not skilled at all.

Read Post