‘Guardian Angels’ Won’t Fix A Flawed War Policy By James Carroll

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” - Friedrich Nietzsche DeM Banter: strategy issues? Sad state of affairs with tons of blame well shared...so now, how do we get better, isn't that the …

How ‘Air-Sea Battle’ Fits In U.S. Planning By Michael O’Hanlon and James Steinberg

Washington Post August 24, 2012 Pg. 13 The new concept of American overseas military operations known as “Air-Sea Battle” has come under scrutiny and criticism. Popular with the Air Force and Navy, it has been construed as an aggressive policy, and some in the Pentagon see it as a way for those two services to …

Giving In to the Surveillance State by Shane Harris

DeM Banter:  Good, Bad, Ugly?  Tough call when you are looking at greater good type operations...but it does reek of a good Orwellian novel I once read... information age in now....thoughts? Is there a better way? NY Times:  OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Published: August 22, 2012 Washington IN March 2002, John M. Poindexter, a former national security …

Darpa Looks to Make Cyberwar Routine With Secret ‘Plan X’ by Noah Shachtman

view original / wired.com DeM Banter:  So do I believe this will lead to the "Rise of the Machines?"  No, but the Info Revolution is coming home to roost...especially when you combine this with the computing and internet power required of RPAs (drones)....things could get interesting if we were to fight a near peer competitor... The Pentagon’s …

Interesting PRO and CON on Freezing Military Pay Raises: Good Idea/Bad Idea

Article/Exhibit 1 Army Times August 27, 2012 Pg. 8 Cover story Dial Back Pay Raises, Report Says By Rick Maze The time is right to scrimp on military pay raises, says a new report that appears to agree with a Pentagon proposal to cap basic pay hikes starting in 2015. The report, commissioned by the …

Tailspin or Stall? Challenges Face New USAF Chief But Money Not the Problem by Lawrence Korb

Co-written with Robert Ward Stories about the decline of the Air Force are flooding the media. For example, in AOL Defense Mackenzie Eaglen and Doug Birkey claim that the Air Force is "slowly going out of business" because of budget cuts and won't be able to modernize its fleet, maintain military supremacy or adapt to …