Jim Hanson

Some of the most inspiring and moving stories come from the greatest pain. All of us have seen and heard of the tremendous strength, power and dignity our wounded troops show in their recovery. Devastating injuries are overcome and done

WOW! This is a huge event and it could shake up all of the cunning plans currently underway in Afghanistan by all concerned parties. Ahmed Wali Karzai (AWK) was the main power broker in southern Afghanistan and deeply involved with

There is a post up earlier today today here at Big Peace that questions the wisdom of repealing DADT, which is a perfectly fine thing to question. But in doing so the author, a Reserve NCO, decides that DADT is

Well that would sure be a pleasant surprise. Jim Hake and the folks at Spirit of America are testing the concept and it seems to have legs. As the US was zeroing in on Bin Laden, we were organizing a

In the words of that timeless philosopher Axl Rose. “What’s so civil about war anyway?” [youtube E9VhD4SccSE] My hands are tied For all I’ve seen has changed my mind But still the wars go on as the years go by

While we are busy cutting our military budget the Russians are following the lead of the Chinese and building up. Moscow – The graying bear is getting a make-over. Russia’s military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times,

First a juicy bit to whet the appetite. This is from the military investigation that got the guy, LTC Holmes, who is accusing the military of using Psychological Operations against US Senators, and his female subordinate MAJ Levine booted from

General Votel in the field JSOC, Joint Special Operations Command, is the guys who get out of the black helicopters and scarf up bad guys or sometimes simply ventilate them and allow them to return to room temperature. They are

The Obama administration has led with all the clarity of crude oil regarding Egypt, so it is left to others to point the way. Glenn Beck gave it a shot and posited a cunning plan with the American (and world)

In his day he was reviled in ways that George W. Bush could commiserate about. He was denigrated as just an actor, a lightweight, an extremist and many other insults. And yet now he is revered by most including many

The current argument over women in combat units is gonna be a long and lively scrap, so strap in. Deebow led off nicely noting the simple fact that the law of tonnage applies in combat. Women are not as big

The Chinese rolled out a fighter jet designated as the J-20 for a test which is fueling speculation about whether this is their fifth generation stealth fighter. While nobody can answer that definitively, it raises a pretty important question. If

Well it seems that the President’s designated liar is about to exit the revolving door and go rake in some satchels of cash as a private, rather than public, political tool. Uh buh bye Gibby, it will be tough to

I think the main takeaway from this entire sordid affair is how barely sordid it is. If this qualifies as a major incident and breach of good order and discipline, then I guess we can quit paying attention. This looks

Sometimes the Washington Post prints a piece that you know warmed the cockles of of its editor’s cold hearts. They have to pretend to be impartial (I know, quit laughing), but they take themselves quite seriously. So they bring in

There have been some arguments recently about the relative security in parts of Afghanistan. The Obama administration has made claims of military success since beginning the mini-Surge, but internal UN maps showing a decrease in the security status came out

Gays can now serve openly in the military, but what the heck does that actually mean? Can they serve as Grand Marshal in the Gay Pride parade, and will there be one of those on base? Will we see a

There have been gays in the military for as long as we have had one. They just had to pretend they weren’t gay. They were banned because there was a time when too many of our troops were uncomfortable enough

The Obama administration has released its year long review of progress in the Afghan War and there are a number of points being seized upon for discussion. One is the fact that we have conducted large numbers of raids and

The worm’s eye view of our diplomatic dithering points out an aspect of diplomacy and US public policy that is worth discussing, LIES! Does our government tell them? Constantly, should they? In some cases, yeah. Sec. Def. Gates has been

It is a question that sadly bears asking. In the midst of the complete debacle that is Obama’s domestic policy, it is easy to forget what a soup sandwich his foreign policy is as well. Afghanistan was Obama’s rallying cry

I know more than your average knuckle dragger about cybersecurity and the technical issues around the WikiLeaks debacle. Full disclosure, I work with a software company that has engineered and is currently building a secure collaboration product that could significantly

John Arquilla is the Director of the Information Operations Center at the Naval Post Graduate School. He is a serious thinker and analyst who specializes in networked warfare, both technology-wise and tactically. There is a lot to be said for

The first thing to say about North Korea is that nobody knows what is really going on there. I instantly mistrust anyone spouting certainties about Afghanistan or North Korea. So how do we judge events like the recent exchange of

Jackson Diehl has a piece in the WaPo noting that Obama’s foreign policy would be a much better fit back in the 80’s. For help understanding the foreign policy headlines of the past week, let’s return, briefly, to the spring

Not at all. The first former Guantánamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court was acquitted on Wednesday of all but one of more than 280 charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1998 terrorist bombings of the United

There is a necessary and comforting focus on cutting government spending here in DC. The orgy of excess over the past two years has caused that and obviously the biggest budgets attract the most attention. The Defense Department has a

One of Obama’s moves early on that gave me some hope he was not a complete muppet on foreign policy, was keeping Gates on as Sec Def. That hope changed into disgust as it became apparent that all the Obama

There are many great groups that help our military,and Soldier’s Angels is one of the finest. They have a wonderful program to help our wounded get back in communications w/ their families and friends and we are currently involved in

If you tried to decide what the main function of the UN was, you would have a tough choice between corruption and rape. If you follow the exploits of the world’s conscience, then you see a path polluted by bloated

Diversity as defined and used by the professional left is complete unmitigated horse crap. It is s cudgel they use to bash the racist, sexist neanderthals who stand in the way of their crusade. You see until every group of

There is an effort underway to change America’s preeminent position as the world’s sole super power. We never really aimed for that role, but so be it. The parties who want to have a post-American power structure are both external

Our long-ago-lost war on drugs has been interfering with our national security and international relations for decades. The puritanical drive to eradicate the evil plants and substances that ensnare our innocent children would be comical if the costs weren’t so

All right now, it is pretty easy to get spun up about a story like this. Warrior faced with split-second, life and death decision second guessed and then sacrificed by the lard-asses in the rear with the gear. It happens