Sure, as Rachel Maddow says, the Ham/Johnson report on repealing DADT is “unequivocal” that repeal is a low-risk proposition for military preparedness. But what really struck me in reading it is how little variance in perspective there was between the eldest troops surveyed (53 years and up) and the youngest

I’m waiting on the Pentagon leadership to begin an imminent press conference on the DADT survey, but until that starts, check out this argument from Sen. Lindsey Graham this weekend: “This is a political promise made by Senator Obama when he was running for president,” said Graham, during an appearance

There’s a Pentagon presser at 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings. First day is Gates, Mullen and the Defense Department report authors, Jeh Johnson and Gen. Carter Ham. Second day is all the service chiefs. Expect that to be when repeal opponents try

Probably not for the same reasons as holiday-time U.S. travelers, but: While generally very pleased with the state of bilateral relations, Saudi officials strenuously – and under instruction – complained about the continued negative effect of the recent Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) regulations that call for extra security screening for

Give credit to Bob Gates. The major theme for the press of the third WikiLeaks doc dump in six months is the breadth of closed-door enthusiasm for a U.S. military strike on Iran coming from Gulf Arab capitols. Yet here’s the defense secretary earlier this month, publicly warning about the

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1092-10 November 28, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Pvt. Devon J. Harris, 24, of Mesquite, Tex., died Nov. 27 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his

Saddam’s yacht is now the property of Iraq’s Ministry of Transportation. I know where I want to film my next music video. There have to be some Shiites and Kurds who’ll walk into the 269-foot boat (“with its gold-plated bathroom fixtures, a helipad and minisubmarine”), put their feet up like

Matthew Yglesias sticks up for the study of reptiles. Good timing: New Scientist has this great, quick post on how the snake may have gotten his fangs: [Jon Mitchell of the University of Chicago] and his colleagues discovered 26 Uatchitodon [a late-Triassic reptile] teeth in North Carolina. Their age places

It seems like Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen is talking past WikiLeaks with this argument: “What I don’t think those who are in charge of Wikileaks understand is we live in a world where just a little bitty piece of information can be added to a

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1091-10 November 26, 2010 DOD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 1st Lt. William J. Donnelly IV, 27, of Picayune, Miss., died Nov. 25 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He