U.S. Defense Chief Opens the Door to War in Syria By Spencer Ackerman

First the U.S. military’s Mideast chief sounded ready to oust Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Now his boss, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, confirms that the military is “reviewing all possible additional steps that can be taken” to protect beleaguered Syrians from Assad’s brutality, “including potential military options if necessary.” Welcome to the next U.S. war. In …

Lawmakers Challenge Air Force Budget, Drone Cuts

Reuters.com March 6, 2012 By Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers on Tuesday called top Air Force officials to task over recent acquisition missteps and raised concerns about their budget plans for fiscal 2013, which calls for cancellation of Northrop Grumann Corp's unmanned Global Hawk plane. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff …

Defense Is Under The Gun By Robert J. Samuelson

Washington Post March 5, 2012 Pg. 17 It turns out that “budget sequestration,” portrayed as an evenhanded way to spur bipartisan negotiations over budget deficits, is actually a dagger aimed at defense spending. The president and other top administration officials have said the automatic spending cuts required by sequestration are “bad policy.” But they still …