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Tag: military

Columns

The American Way
June 11, 2015
Faisal bin Ali Jaber, a Yemeni man, filed suit against the United States government this week over the deaths of his brother-in-law and nephew in an unlawful 2012 drone strike. The suit is a tenacious follow up to an occasion in 2014 when Jaber was handed bundles of cash ...

It’s Always Mourning in America
May 28, 2015
For the most part, Memorial Day was celebrated in Washington with the usual cynical platitudes. Senator Tom Cotton, in a discharge of vacuity, sentimentalized the cost of combat while ever pushing for more of it. Par for the course in D.C. Some, however, considered this most ...

Absent Reason
April 02, 2015
Bowe Bergdahl was once a hero. Long before federal prosecutors announced last week that they were trying the former prisoner of war on charges of “desertion” and “misbehavior before the enemy,” and prior to last year’s oddly controversial prisoner swap with the Taliban ...

The American Soldier at the End of History
November 11, 2014
In the racket of post-midterm exegeses, one line of analysis was missing—a lament for the paltry number of veterans serving in Congress. Of course, there were a couple high profile victories by veterans in this election, making up a colorful, if not altogether nutty, cast of ...

The Military’s Latest Enemy: Climate Change
November 05, 2014
To say that the United States military has its hands full right now is a bit of an understatement. We might not have anywhere near the troop deployment levels reached during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and there have been modest cuts to the defense ...

On Robot Soldiers and the Recession
June 26, 2014
After more than twelve years in Afghanistan, with approximately 2,200 Americans killed and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the proposed conclusion to what has ended up being America’s longest war has been met with resigned apathy from many Americans, and predictable ...

Bowe Bergdahl: Hero, Victim, Traitor
June 05, 2014
Back when conservatives were outraged that Bowe Bergdahl hadn’t yet been released, Bowe was called a hero. Because his ongoing captivity was a mark against the Obama administration, it was convenient for Bergdahl to be cast in the role of POW. Bergdahl was the simple and ...

The Risks to Rent-a-Soldiers
March 18, 2014
Owning stuff is hard, and you have to fix it if it breaks. Renting is easier. The U.S. Army currently has about 520,000 soldiers on active duty, with near-term fiscal constraints that will bring that number closer to 490,000, according to Military.com. Budget plans for 2015 ...