DOD

On January 23, news broke that outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had issued a directive that the military's ban on women in combat would be lifted.

It’s bad enough that the administration has repeatedly cut defense spending in the midst of fighting a war but it now appears it is also shirking its duty to make sure those serving in that war are able to vote and have their vote counted.

Nate Silver: "Perry, Perry, Quite Contrary"

John Yoo: "Obama Oversteps His Limits with Cordray Recess Appointment"

Peter Wehner: "Partisan Politics and Vicious Assaults"

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, former House majority leader Dick Armey combines with his FreedomWorks partner Matt Kibbe to suggest “What Congress Should Cut” in order to reduce the deficit and debt.

The world is once again anticipating a massive leak of classified documents by WikiLeaks. The U.S. State Department is so concerned that it has published a letter addressed to the head of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and his attorney, arguing that publication of the documents will “risk the lives of countless innocent individuals,” “[p]lace at risk on-going military operations,” and “[p]lace at risk on-going cooperation between countries.”

The New York Times puts the monetary cost of war into perspective with this interesting graphic:

In the Boston Globe, Josh Green shares his latest epiphany:

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation has released study that's worth of a (scrupulous) look. Here's its central tenet:

When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went to Chicago last summer to make the case for killing the F-22 -- the world's premier air supremacy fighter and the only "fifth generation fighter" currently in production anywhere -- he argued that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would be a more cost-effectve alternative. Though the JSF "has had development problems to be sure," Gates said, "It is a versatile aircraft, less than half the total cost of the F-22, and can be produced in quantity with all the advantages produced by economies of scale – some 500 will be bought over the next five years."

I've had my nose buried in an interesting, if not a bit alarmist, piece on a potential naval spat with China. The paper, titled "How the United States Lost the Naval War of 2015" (how's that for an eye-catcher?), raises the red flag on the PLA Navy's intent to raise the black flag. That scenario, whether it's 5 or 10 years off, could be dire. China's strategy on high-end asymmetrical warfare is everything their ancestral tactician Sun Tzu said it should it should be: simple, focused, and aimed at all of the U.S. Navy's weak points. The United States, with its ever expanding list of warfighting missions, doesn't enjoy such simplicity.