Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks’ daily take on national security.
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flag_of_the_united_states_immigration_and_customs_enforcement Is ICE becoming the new Abu Ghraib? I wish Gen. Kelly would show more sense
ICE and associated agencies are racking up headlines that damage the American image around the globe.
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chaplin_-_modern_times The free market fix for personnel system: This just might be the lever that does it
“Up or Out Has to Go,” Lt. James McLaughlin, U.S. Navy, writes in the February issue of the resurgent “Proceedings.”
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screen-shot-2017-02-27-at-10-26-35-am Who’s in command in Afghanistan? A scorecard that indicates a lack of focus
Changes of command, particularly at the highest levels, which put tremendous stress on the force and continuity of command, are just as important as the principle of unity of command.
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martin_luther_king_jr_st_paul_campus_u_mn America’s military doesn’t need more money — what it needs is an engaged public to demand a genuine strategy
Money will not fix what ails our military. We don't have a supply problem, we have a demand problem created by poor strategy.
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US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster looks on as US President Donald Trump announces him as his national security adviser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2017. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Hey, General McMaster: Does your strategy canon have space for works by women, Asians or Africans?
Our new National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster’s reading list is interesting, but it entirely lacks works by women, or non-Westerners, for that matter.
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screen-shot-2017-02-24-at-10-09-58-am Book excerpt: When McMaster’s former deputy challenged the Army’s generals
One day in late 2006, Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, deputy commander of H. R. McMaster’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, attended a ceremony awarding the Purple Heart to soldiers in his unit who had been wounded in Iraq.
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k-9s_on_iwo_jima War dogs on Iwo Jima
72 years ago.
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fullsizeoutput_26f Our untapped resource: Junior enlisted
Here’s one of our biggest military secrets: The greatest untapped resource in the Marine Corps is the E-1 to E-5 community.
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LANGLEY, VA - JANUARY 21: US President Donald Trump speaks at the CIA headquarters on January 21, 2017 in Langley, Virginia . Trump spoke with about 300 people in his first official visit with a government agaency. Olivier Doulier - Pool/Getty Images CIA service and sacrifice will continue, no matter who is sitting in the White House
“She should be back by now,” I thought as I paced the cold tile floors of the walled compound in a dangerous foreign capital.
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rally-signs Military spouse vs. Trump White House
It’s precisely because of the ways that the Constitution actively shapes our lives as a military family that Trump’s challenges to the Constitution feel like hostile acts.
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15, 2017. NATO allies meet new US Defence Secretary James Mattis for the first time in Brussels seeking reassurance over President Donald Trump's commitment but bracing for military spending demands. / AFP / POOL / Virginia Mayo (Photo credit should read VIRGINIA MAYO/AFP/Getty Images) Mattis, McMaster, and — Trump?
What does this mean? You tell me.
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US President Donald Trump announces US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster (L) as his national security adviser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2017. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Book excerpt — national security advisor at war: McMaster as a colonel in Iraq
In sum, he basically was the first commander to get things right in Iraq.
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Quote of the day: Gen. Mattis’ reading list, and why he looks more to the East
Tom note: I’d forgotten about this item, which originally ran on June 8, 2015. I am rerunning it now because it has current interest.
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