Trump Praises Kim Jong Un’s “Beautiful Vision for His Country”
Dong-A Ilbo/Getty North Korea—a country best known for its systemic human rights violations and unpredictable, authoritarian leaders—fired two short-range missiles on Friday, the South Korean media reported. This latest weapons test, the hermit kingdom’s third in eight days, would typically inspire some element of concern or retaliatory action from the United States, which North Korea…
After 2 Decades, Democrats Still Don’t Agree on When to Leave Afghanistan
Tulsi Gabbard promised during Wednesday’s debate to quickly end the Afghanistan war.Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Two Democratic candidates who served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq made unambiguous pledges during this week’s debates: They promised to bring home the roughly 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan by the end of their first year in office. Those two…
You Never Knew You Needed a Book on Richard Holbrooke, but Goddamn Is It Good
US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke makes comments condemning the Taliban’s murder of ten members of an Irish-based aid group, called the International Assistance Mission, at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 9, 2010. © UPPA/ZUMAPRESS.com Longtime US diplomat Richard Holbrooke was many things: US ambassador to Germany, an author,…
Trump’s Intelligence Pick Is a Mueller-Bashing Loyalist With a Far-Right Voting Record
Olivier Doulier/Getty Rep. John Ratcliffe, the Texas representative who President Donald Trump picked Sunday to be his next national intelligence director, has never served in the intelligence community. Nor, unlike previous directors, does he have any background in the military or as a national security expert. Instead, the three-term lawmaker has carved out a reputation as one of the most…
The Pentagon’s Top Ranks Have Been Empty for a Long Time. Now 1,581 Problems Are Waiting to Be Solved.
Mark Wilson/Getty One day after taking over as the Pentagon’s first Senate-confirmed leader in seven months, new Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was asked by a reporter to assess what the impact has been of the months-long lack of stable leadership at the largest federal agency. His careful answer attempted to endorse the department’s vast civilian workforce, whose…
There Is Finally a Confirmed Secretary of Defense. What About All the Other Pentagon Vacancies?
Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG/Getty It only took 204 days, but the Department of Defense finally has a Senate-confirmed leader again. Ninety lawmakers voted Tuesday afternoon to elevate Mark Esper permanently to the position of Secretary of Defense and put an end, at least for now, to the bizarre game of musical chairs Pentagon officials have been forced…