General Norman Schwarzkopf, the man who led U.S. troops during the first Gulf War in 1991, died at 78 years old yesterday. Schwarzkopf was residing in Tampa, Florida, the location of his last military assignment: commander of United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. He died of complications …
The threat of sequestration—the half-trillion dollar cut to defense set to occur January 2, 2013—has been debated and prevention plans have been discussed since before it was even written into law. The budgetary measure was written to be so unpalatable that Congress and the Administration would have to find a …
Rumors are swirling that included in their negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff,” President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) may add an additional $100 billion in cuts as an alternative to the roughly $500 billion in defense budget cuts over nine years required by sequestration under the Budget …
The Pentagon’s strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific has come under increasing scrutiny as conflicts continue in the Middle East, particularly in Israel. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul McHale recently contributed to this debate at the annual El Pomar Conference in Colorado Springs, saying, “The Administration’s strategy fails because it …
A recently released report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, “Strategic Choices: Navigating Austerity,” argues that allowing some hollowing out of our military forces is acceptable. The report is raising eyebrows around Washington, mainly because it is so at odds with what Pentagon leadership is saying. The individuals …
Earlier this year, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments conducted an exercise that purported to show how a smaller defense budget wouldn’t be so bad after all. However, the assumptions behind this exercise have significant shortcomings. The exercise forced the participants to accept defense funding levels mandated in the …
Following the start of Israeli air strikes against Hamas, hacker groups, including Anonymous, have declared open season on Israeli cyber defenses. However, Israel has invested heavily in cybersecurity and cyber operations, allowing it to defeat more than 44 million hacking attempts on government websites, losing only one website for about …
According to research by Politico, interest in the impending automatic defense cuts took a dive leading up to the election. But as the post-election polling and punditry subside, American citizens are returning their focus to pressing matters such as the so-called fiscal cliff and sequestration. Yet on Capitol Hill—where these …