The bottom line of the Pentagon’s review: Secretary Hagel says the choice will be between a smaller and modern military or a bigger and older one. The harsh truth is that the result of sequestration will actually entail both: The US military is set to become both smaller and less modern in course of this defense drawdown. 

The military judge has seriously erred in acquitting Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy, though his guilt on numerous, lesser charges should mean that he will spend the rest of his life in jail.

By all means, let’s talk about defense budgets and engagement and Syria and Libya and all that. And let’s do it based on honest arguments and facts.

Had the Amash amendment succeeded, it would have put the NSA right back where it was on Sept. 10, 2001. Amazingly, 40 percent of House Republicans voted to do just that.

AEI’s Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies will host General Raymond Odierno, chief of staff of the US Army, for the second installment of a series of four events with each member of the Joint Chiefs.

Internal cost growth on non-warfighting overhead like excess bases, the size and composition of the overall Pentagon workforce and excess or redundant headquarters and staff all threaten to crowd out other critical spending on military readiness, innovation and modernization.

Yep, as Sen. Dirksen might have noted if he were alive today: with sequestration, we’re talking real money, real cuts, and real losses in military capabilities.

The Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court's current role under FISA allows the executive branch to hide behind judges’ robes in the exercise of its power and weakens the incentive Congress has to weigh in. It would be constitutionally healthier if the responsibility for collecting intelligence and overseeing it were handled by the branches best suited to doing so.

It is important that the U.S. maintains its contract with those who serve by providing them generous pay and benefits. But it is unfair to those very same troops to undercut the other sacred contract we have with them, which demands they have access to the best weapons and training so they are ready for whatever the nation asks of them next.

Even if managed “rationally,” a further reduction of 10 percent per year for the next decade, coming on top of the cuts already made in the past, will have, in my judgment, a crippling effect on the American military, on the United States’ ability to shape a peaceful, prosperous and free world, and ultimately, on our national security.