Devon Hill with “Bring Back BRAC — Permanently”

“Few congressmen are willing to take money out of the pockets of their own constituents, even on the advice of admirals and generals….Congress should not force the Pentagon to choose between the upkeep of obsolete facilities and maintaining readiness. Every dollar spent maintaining an obsolete facility or a redundant base is a dollar that cannot be spent on military training or overseas operation.”

Dave Mattingly #Reviewing The Audacious Ascetic in “What Did Osama bin Laden Say?”

“Strategically, the United States set out on a war against an ideology that most U.S. policymakers did not understand and often they did not listen to the few that had some idea of the emerging threat of al-Qaida.”

Michael Lortz with “National Security Goals and the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan”

“Recently, bacha bazi was again in the American news cycle. According to the New York Times, the stress of knowing the boys are sexually abused is taking a toll on certain US military members. They are returning to America conflicted and confused, struggling with the fact that they did not or could not save young boys from being exploited and molested. Often times, these US military members were even told to cooperate with the abusers in efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.”

David Benest with “Ponder Anew” about Brigadier John Graham in Oman

“[The Dhofar] insurgency was in the process of being lost up until 1970, was ‘turned’ by Graham and then won by Creasey/Fletcher and after them, Ken Perkins and John Akehurst. John Graham set the scene for what remains the most successful counterinsurgency in modern history, the ‘Arab Spring’ in Oman that pre-dated current awakenings by some forty years — no small achievement.”

And finally, Nathan A. Wike’s response to Michael Lortz by asking “What We Would Lose by Winning?”

“America does and should work very hard to maintain the moral high ground and encourage its allies and partners to do so as well. Sometimes it slips as it tries to strike a balance between security and what is morally right. Sometimes short term interests trump long term goals. But that does not make it right.”