In the debate over the future of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), no concept has attracted more controversy than “privatization.” Since wholesale privatization of the VHA is deeply unpopular among veterans and their advocacy organizations, groups like the Koch brothers-funded Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) argue that they do not support “privatization” of the VHA. […]
National Security
Posted inAmerica and the World
The Michaels Flynn and the Politics of Thuggery
Conspiracy theories designed to smear the opposition are an invitation to violence, and both the nominee for national security adviser and his son know it—and sow it.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Will Trump Deliver for Veterans?
On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump repeated one key promise: to “Make America Great Again” by increasing the country’s military might and supporting its 24 million military veterans. After all, he promised to raise money for veterans and said he donated a million dollars out of his own pocket to veterans’ charities. But Trump […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
Q&A: Hamid Karzai and the “Afghan Disaster”
An interview with Joshua Partlow, author of a new book on the Karzai family and the failed U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Obama’s Dangerous Drone Policy
President Obama is winding down his final term with a push to curb nuclear weapons and close detention facilities, but his overreliance on military drones threatens to tarnish his administration’s foreign-policy legacy.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Hill Hearing Spells Bad News for Veterans
Not a single veterans service organization was asked to speak last week at the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s hearing on the final recommendations of the VA Commission on Care, though such groups represent millions of former military personnel. Also noticeably absent from the witness list was Vietnam veteran Michael Blecker, executive director of the San […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
Using American Power Prudently
Our core national-security interests and the limits of military force.
Posted inLaw and Justice
New World (Dis)Order
In 1991 George H.W. Bush promised a “New World Order.” A quarter of a century later, we’re finally catching a glimpse of it—like it or not.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Terror on the Bay of Angels
France is on the verge of losing its grip in the wake of repeated mass murder by members of its own minority communities.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Report: Warnings about Encryption ‘Back Doors’ Vindicated
The House Homeland Security Committee released a report Wednesday acknowledging what the technology industry has been telling the federal government for more than a year: It’s impossible to give law enforcement a “back door” to encryption technologies without giving bad actors the same access to people’s phones and other devices. The “Going Dark, Going Forward: […]