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George Wilson’s column | No surveys needed to repeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ COMMENTARY Harry Truman needed guts, not just opinion polls, to integrate the armed forces. That’s what’s needed now, writes George Wilson. 
Buy his book | The essential, undistractable Engelhardt COMMENTARY The editor of TomDispatch.com is out with a new book that offers a lucid unifying theory of what went wrong in post-9/11 America. In short, the country became addicted to war.
George Wilson’s column | Is Petraeus figuring on perpetual war? COMMENTARY In his confirmation testimony, General David Petraeus said the U.S. would allow no sanctuaries for al Qaida or other extremist elements, anywhere. Just what does that mean? Does it mean U.S. troops in Yemen, for example?
| A tough look at McChrystal was long overdue COMMENTARY Michael Hastings's Rolling Stone report has brought new, much-needed, continuing focus on the war in Afghanistan. But the tour-de-force doesn't sit well with some in the mainstream media – and that doesn't sit well with writer Charles Kaiser.
Weapons as a public works program | A trillion dollars a year on two little wars? COMMENTARY| April 20, 2010 Asks George Wilson: How is it possible to spend so much when we are fighting “two little wars against enemies with no ships, warplanes or tanks.”
War spending | Tax day, America's wars, and one mayor's powerful statement COMMENTARY| April 12, 2010 The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost Americans an average of $7,334 per taxpayer, according to the counter from the National Priorities Project. The group's director found one mayor who wants everyone to know what he could have done with his city's 'war tax'.
‘A suspect fraud footprint’ | FDA, VA approve drug despite its link to soldiers’ deaths ASK THIS Seroquel is a widely-prescribed medication, with almost $5 billion in sales last year. But survivors of dead servicemen, torn and angry, question its use as part of a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
George Wilson's column | If we’re stuck with the F-35, let’s at least do it right COMMENTARY One highly regarded expert, Thomas Christie, would cancel the costly, highly troubled warplane but says that’s “not going to happen” because of politics, not military effectiveness. So with resignation, Christie urges making it less complicated, with not so much gadgetry and a lower price tag.
Reality check | U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan are committing atrocities, lying, and getting away with it COMMENTARY The New York Times has now confirmed a gruesome cover-up by U.S. forces in Afghanistan -- a story broken by Jerome Starkey in the Times of London last month. It turns out that not only did American Special Operations soldiers slaughter three women in a nighttime raid in February -- they actually dug bullets out of the women's bodies as part of a cover-up. In an essay for Nieman Watchdog, Starkey writes that U.S. and NATO forces are rarely held to account for the atrocities they commit because most reporters are too dependent on access, security and the 'embed culture' to venture out and see what's happening for themselves.
Doctrine check | Top five questions to ask the Pentagon ASK THIS How about a 'town hall' meeting on runaway defense budgets? William Astore writes that it's time for the laity to question the high priests of permanent war.
George Wilson’s column | Obama gave a pass to out-of-control military spending COMMENTARY The GAO showed that contractors’ estimates have nothing to do with reality, and economic hard times may eventually force the President and Congress to rein in outrageously costly warships, planes and missile systems that don’t work. But that time isn’t here yet.
George Wilson's column | Why rush the F-35 into production? ASK THIS Ask Defense Secretary Gates: What is the threat that justifies spending $298.8 billion on 2,456 F-35s, or $122 million each, counting research and development costs?
Calling Isaac Asimov | War of the robots -- all too real questions we have to ask ASK THIS Defense expert and author P. W. Singer writes that robotics is a game-changer on the battlefield and elsewhere -- but there's been remarkably little public discussion of what the rules should be, or how this will affect our lives.
War-making machine | Ten questions about the U.S.'s intensifying war efforts in the year to come ASK THIS Tom Engelhardt and Nick Turse wonder what the American way of war might have in store for us in 2010. Answers to their questions might offer reasonable hints about how much U.S. war efforts are likely to intensify in the Greater Middle East, as well as Central and South Asia, in the year to come.
'Mentor and consultant' | A Marine general finds retirement pays very nicely SHOWCASE USA Today weighs into a case of what it calls ‘profiting from access,’ laying out how one retired general has possibly made more than a million dollars in the past six years from the military aside from his pension, not including income from military contractors.
Base Building | We may be leaving Iraq, but we're not going far ASK THIS An American military building boom yet to be seriously scrutinized, analyzed, or assessed is underway in the Middle East, writes Nick Turse. Call it Operation Enduring Presence.
Priced out of the market | How much does an active duty soldier cost per year, and can we afford it? ASK THIS The all-volunteer armed forces are said to be so expensive that they either will get smaller or go broke. Columnist George Wilson says leaders need to be asked how they plan to deal with rapidly rising, unaffordable costs.
| Will Obama veto Pentagon pork, or enable it? COMMENTARY Veto threats haven’t fazed the Congressional military appropriations slatherers, and until now the president and Defense Secretary Gates have been giving up early and often.
Overseas bases | Three good reasons to liquidate our empire COMMENTARY Author Chalmers Johnson, who has written extensively about the dangers of militarism, offers a 10-step plan to bring our troops home and close our vast, potentially ruinous global empire of military bases.
From CongressDaily | Push is coming to shove over the Pentagon budget COMMENTARY George C. Wilson writes that President Obama and Secretary Gates are at risk of being steamrolled by Congress, which is treating military spending as a jobs program for hard times.
Letter from Kuwait | Iraq’s neighbor to the south continues to play a pivotal role for the American military COMMENTARY Kuwaitis accept the American presence but aren’t exactly comfortable with it. At the same time, unlike almost all other Middle Eastern Arab countries, Kuwait is moving toward democracy. Signs of it include electing women to the National Assembly when as recently as 2004 women couldn’t even vote.
Allowances for tuition, housing and supplies | New GI Bill is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of veterans to college this fall ASK THIS| July 02, 2009 Aug. 1 is implementation date; reporters can track progress in their states. Benefits may be uneven from state to state—because of a quirk, for example, California private colleges are less likely to participate.
The Afghan quagmire | Obama's non-exit strategy COMMENTARY George Wilson sees echoes of Vietnam in Obama’s decision to send more American troops to Afghanistan. Will that be followed by our commanders requesting more and more military power for an impossible mission? Will Afghanistan ruin Obama's presidency the way Vietnam ruined Lyndon Johnson's?
George Wilson’s column | ‘One Marine’s desperate scream for medical help’ COMMENTARY A mother takes her anguish to Capitol Hill seeking to get intervention—help—for a decorated combat veteran who is suffering after three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The ‘Post 9/11 GI Bill’ | It’s time to report on the new GI Bill ASK THIS The new GI bill offers extensive tuition coverage—100 percent at state universities—and other benefits to soldiers who were on active duty for at least 90 days after 9/11. What impact will it have?
Whose army is it? | Has the U.S. military become an imperial foreign legion? COMMENTARY A former Air Force officer marvels at how far the armed forces have strayed from their proper purpose, how dramatically the government has abandoned the notion of shared sacrifice, and how little Americans seem to care about the well-being of the troops.
Spinning scandal | Networks should replace Pentagon cheerleaders with independent military analysts COMMENTARY Even without special Pentagon briefings and corrupting financial relationships, former top military brass simply are too conflicted to be relied upon for tough-minded analysis, writes a former Air Force officer.
Looking for accountability | A Marine Mom's questions about Iraq ASK THIS Her son is on his second deployment in Iraq, where his military camp recently burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire. Mary Hornig thinks journalists should be asking if anyone is going to do anything about shoddy contracting – and whether there is any limit to what will be asked of the armed forces.
A colonel's view | Frustration in the Army officer corps -- the untold story COMMENTARY Army officers are tremendously stressed out, for a lot of obvious reasons. But they don't like complaining to reporters. A retired Army colonel looks at the pressures created by fighting two wars at the same time – and suggests a few ways members of the media can get beleaguered officers to open up.
Entrenchment, Part I | Do we really expect the Bushies to go quietly? ASK THIS Reporters should be keeping a sharp eye out for things Bush officials are doing to make their policies stay in effect after they leave office. In the first of a five-part series: Putting Iraq on autopilot, risking war with Iran, and purging the military.
Questions for House and Senate leaders | Are new Air Force ads a political statement? ASK THIS The Air Force, seeking to more than double its advertising budget, has new ads that focus on threats to America. In this election year, aren’t such ads a way of offering political support to Republicans over Democrats?
Vietnam recalled | Is the military on the verge of crashing? COMMENTARY Longtime military reporter George Wilson says everything is in place for a breakdown of the armed forces, and Congress had better deal with the problem quickly. Wilson poses questions Congress needs to ask.
Nieman Reports had this in 2004 | Before Walter Reed, there were Fort Stewart and Fort Knox and... SHOWCASE In 2003 and 2004, UPI uncovered and reported abusive treatment by the Army of sick and wounded soldiers in Georgia and Kentucky and highly questionable handling of a widow in Colorado whose Green Beret husband killed himself in front of her. Seeking comment from the Army at the time, a UPI reporter and editor got stiff-armed instead.
The cost of Iraq | The more-than-$2-trillion war COMMENTARY Two scholars, one a Nobel Prize winner, revisit their estimate of the true cost of the Iraq war – and find that $2 trillion was too low. They consider not only the current and future budgetary costs, but the economic impact of lives lost, jobs interrupted and oil prices driven higher by political uncertainty in the Middle East.
Follow the paper trail | Dogging the torture story ASK THIS Reporters should demand that the two men most responsible for acts of torture by U.S. forces explain themselves, writes Colin Powell’s former chief of staff -- who says a paper trail clearly links the practice of prisoner abuse to the upper reaches of the Pentagon and Vice President Cheney's office.
$361 million per plane | The F-22 Raptor is said to be invisible...until it isn't ASK THIS Analysts liken fighter plane to a WWII Messerschmidt, saying it is a technological marvel with the latest weapons but that it will be poor in combat.
Rumsfeld's 'WMDs' | The Defense budget: ‘A shrinking force at a higher cost’ ASK THIS Defense expert Winslow Wheeler tells reporters how the 2007 Pentagon budget and the new Quadrennial Defense Review are high on gimmicks but low on effectiveness for combating terror.
A Washington, DC, tutorial | Defense budget pork: 2,966 items costing $11.1 billion ASK THIS Winslow Wheeler, a Capitol Hill veteran of many years, walks reporters through the pork in the Defense budget. He tells how to find it, how it gets there and what to do about it.
Hot war | We don't have the troops ASK THIS Military expert David R. Segal says we're trying to fight a hot war against insurgencies -- but with the army we developed for the Cold War in Europe. Maybe it's time to reconsider a few things.
Available online | Frontline and The Washington Post present 'Rumsfeld's War' SHOWCASE| October 28, 2004 An outstanding report that breaks through the wall of secrecy in the Bush administration.
The military | Ask our military leaders what our troops are doing to avoid killing civilians ASK THIS Kennedy School security expert Sarah Sewall thinks reporters should be asking the Pentagon and Congress what they are learning in Iraq about minimizing civilian casualties - and how well they are doing.
Arms Control | Aren't hair-trigger nuclear missiles a target for terrorists? ASK THIS Q. True or false: Since they are no longer enemies, and haven't been for years, the United States and Russia no longer have launch-ready nuclear missiles pointed at each other. Answer: way false, and isn't this worth reporting on every now and then?
Tiger Force | How The Toledo Blade came to win a Pulitzer for a story that was 37 years old SHOWCASE| May 08, 2004 Q&A with executive editor Ron Royhab on atrocities in Vietnam that the Army had kept hidden...
Lecture | Reporting From the War Zone: At What Cost? SHOWCASE| May 01, 2004 Washington Post reporter Anthony Shadid won a Pulitzer in 2004 for his stunning coverage of life in Iraq in 2003...
No sound bites | Get candidates to talk seriously about terrorism ASK THIS| April 25, 2004 Terrorism has changed life on this planet. It's time to recognize that, and ask tougher questions
Mobilization | Is it time to re-institute the military draft? ASK THIS| April 24, 2004 In Iraq, tours of duty are being extended for many. With no end in sight, is that enough or is conscription called for?
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