Category: Strategy/Policy

DeM Banter:  Perhaps a more unbiased view here...now, I really like this piece...plenty to issues and blame to go around, dose not matter if you are an elephant or a donkey.  I am sure it seemed like a BRILLIANT idea right up until...??? Christian Science Monitor (csmonitor.com) July 20, 2012 With $1.2 trillion in mandated …

Continue reading "Sequester Blues: Congress Faces Buyer’s Remorse On Defense Cuts: CSMonitor"

DeM Banter: You see Anna has the answer, we need to vote for her. Really? So we are comparing a build up (ie posturing for a fight) to fighting 2 wars and taking care of the warriors that fought in said wars, repairing and replenishing the resources expended, posturing for a "pivot east" after investing …

Continue reading "Defense Cuts: Three Things Americans Should Know By Anna Mulrine"

View Original / Eric Randall DeM Banter: so cyberwar and drone wars...what could possibly go wrong? Two companies, Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive, have managed to keep the Stalker Unmanned Aerial System, also known as a drone, in flight for over 48 hours by using lasers on the ground to recharge the aircraft's battery mid-flight. So …

Continue reading "Lasers May Soon Keep Drones Perpetually Aloft by Eric Randall"

Boston Globe July 19, 2012 Pg. 13 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discovered in the Middle East this week that its revolutionary moment has entered a new, violent, and unpredictable phase.Just after her return, Syrian rebels managed to penetrate the Defense Ministry in Damascus and killed the defense minister, President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, and other …

Continue reading "For US, New Perils In Middle East By Nicholas Burns"

DeM Banter:  Interesting piece but seems to ring true... and we are looking at drastic cuts in DoD spending and sequestration....seems like we have a bit of a mixed message out there. Thoughts or inputs? Los Angeles Times July 18, 2012 Pg. 15 Here's an important fact you haven't heard much about in the presidential …

Continue reading "All Quiet On The Front By Doyle McManus"

July 17, 2012 Pg. 13 Issue is too sensitive during presidential race, White House tells groups lobbying for arms By Peter Foster Barack Obama's government has warned its western allies and Syria's opposition groups that it can do nothing to intervene in the country's crisis until after November's presidential election, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. …

Continue reading "US Refuses To Help Syria’s Rebels Until After Election: London Daily Telegraph"

ForeignPolicy.com July 11, 2012 So far, Washington's pivot to Asia has included a lot of work on security and trade. Democracy, not so much. Hillary Clinton is approaching the final phase of an astonishing 13-day tour of the world. She's spent much of her trip in Asia, including stops in Mongolia, Vietnam, and Laos. And …

Continue reading "Talking A Great Game By Christian Caryl"

Boston Globe July 16, 2012 Pg. 5 Carter oversees downsizing of US military WASHINGTON -- Neat piles of briefing books and red folders stamped "top secret'' blanket the large oak desk that once belonged to General George S. Patton. The national monuments are visible through blast-resistant windows. Steps away, in the custody of a one- …

Continue reading "Pentagon’s Second In Charge Has Strategy For Saying ‘No’ By Bryan Bender"

DeM Banter:  Not sure there is much of a stomach for this (not to mention funding).  Also...note the authors' comments, "Lessons of things not to do when we intervene have been learned the hard way in Iraq and Afghanistan."  What would we have been done differently?  I understand the banter, but really...what would the US …

Continue reading "Our Role In Saving Syria By Charles Dunne, David J. Kramer and William H. Taft IV"