WASHINGTON: In what would be a remarkable break in US military tradition, an Air Force general has emerged as the top candidate to lead Pacific Command. Sweeping from India to the west, north to Russia, south to Antarctica and east to the California and Mexican coasts, Pacific Command is just what it says: the military… Keep reading →

AUSA: T.R. Fehrenbach’s seminal history, “This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness” was center stage during Defense Secretary Jim Mattis‘ opening speech here this morning. The message to Congress and the American people, as well as the Army, seemed clear: war against North Korea is possible, though we’ll do everything possible short of war… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: President Trump was pretty excited when he announced that the central Chinese bank ordered the cessation of all financial business with North Korea. Dean Cheng, the Heritage Foundation’s expert on China and its military, is much less excited. Cheng’s much more skeptical that this latest Chinese move will make any long-term difference in the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: It was fitting that North Korea launched another missile over northern Japan just hours after Sen. John McCain appears to have won a substantial victory with today’s cloture vote apparently clearing the way for passage of the Senate version of the defense policy bill. Among the most interesting changes, one that was not unexpected,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: As the Japanese reacted vigorously today to North Korea’s firing of a missile over the northern island of Hokkaido, the head of the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College argued in an article that the possession of nuclear weapons is actually helping to restrain Kim Jong-un’ s actions. In his article, James Forsyth, dean… Keep reading →

  What should the United States and its allies do to improve their ability to stop North Korean missiles? Enhanced missile defense performance would be the best guarantee against a North Korean breakout. Should fighting occur, missile defense performance will determine how much of a time cushion is available to U.S. and allied offensive forces… Keep reading →

After threatening to rain four missiles around Guam, North Korea’s pudgy leader, Kim Jong-un appeared to back off today. The (spoof) official North Korean News Agency issued a fabulous tweet describing it, declaring: “Esteemed General Kim Jong-Un reprieves US colony of Guam, citing concern for ocelots and sea turtles. Fate of Los Angeles remains unclear.”… Keep reading →

Since the end of the Cold War and then the Agreed Framework in 1994, the United States has engaged in a serial “Big Wink” with respect to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. First, we officially dismissed the idea that the Chinese fund the North Korean nuclear and missile programs through five key banks in China.… Keep reading →

OMAHA: The deep fissures over how to solve our knottiest national security problem, North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, were on full display here this afternoon as the government’s top expert said Kim Jong-un “does not intend to negotiate those capabilities away at any price.” Markus Garlauskas, the North Korea officer for the Director of… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Believe it or not, the global command responsible for getting weapons, fuel, and food to troops had, until recently, never used a war game for planning. Nor did Transportation Command factor into its plans the possibility that transport ships would be sunk and transport planes would be shot down . On top of that, TRANSCOM… Keep reading →