Rowan Scarborough

Retired brass oppose Libya action

Former U.S. military officers are warning against any direct military action in Libya and other unsettled Arab nations, as the Pentagon works furiously on a list of options to give the president.

March 3, 2011

Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training

American combat troops will get sensitivity training directly on the battlefield about the military's new policy on gays instead of waiting until they return to home base in the United States, the senior enlisted man in Afghanistan said Thursday.

February 24, 2011

Ex-pilots shoot down timeline of Navy

A foundation set up to celebrate Navy aviation's 100th birthday has disavowed an official history on its website, after former combat pilots complained of inaccuracies and political correctness.

February 20, 2011

Mubarak’s military vital to free elections

Deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spent three decades in office hand-picking his military generals on the basis of absolute loyalty to his regime, not to any Islamic or democracy movement, analysts on one of the world's largest armies say.

February 13, 2011

Reagan the commander in chief of rearming

When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he inherited a broken all-volunteer military force, still reeling from the traumas of the post-Vietnam era. When he left the White House eight years later, he left the nation a well-equipped, highly professional military on which the country has depended for three decades.

February 3, 2011

Key military, intelligence assets imperiled in Egypt

U.S. military and intelligence agencies would lose vital air, land and sea assets if Egypt falls into the hands of radical Islamists, as Iran did in 1979, foreign policy analysts say.

January 31, 2011

Some Democrats seek to dial back overheated rhetoric on shootings

ANALYSIS: Some Democrats are calling for a cease-fire in a heated liberal campaign to pin blame for the Tucson, Ariz., massacre on conservative speech and specifically on former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

January 12, 2011

Army will evaluate mental state of suspect in WikiLeaks

The Army is assembling a special board to evaluate the mental state of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is being held on charges that he illegally obtained thousands of classified documents and turned them over to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in what might be the biggest security breach in U.S. history.

January 3, 2011

Special forces wary of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal

Special-operations troops think the elite force is facing difficulties by accepting open gays into one of the military's more politically conservative communities.

December 27, 2010

Gay troops advised to wait before coming out

Advocates are advising military gays to stay in the closet for now, as the Pentagon begins months of scene-setting to make sure removing the ban does not hurt combat readiness.

December 20, 2010

Pakistani forces ‘hamper’ U.S. Embassy

Pakistan's military and intelligence service took the extraordinary action of going to war against the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad this year, harassing employees, sabotaging contracts and denying the purchase of protective gear.

December 12, 2010

Outlook glum for ‘porous’ Pakistan border

The State Department has stated in a cable from Peshawar, Pakistan, that it is skeptical about eventually winning the military struggle in Pakistan's badlands, saying peace talks go nowhere and murderous militants control key towns.

December 5, 2010

Front-line fighters wary of repealing ‘don’t ask’

U.S. combat forces have voiced strong reservations about the effects on readiness of allowing open gays in the ranks, the Pentagon said Tuesday in a report that is likely to influence a Senate vote on whether to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

November 30, 2010

WikiLeaks cables show U.S. government trying to make world safer

State Department cables reveal that, despite its public silence, the U.S. government is aggressively working behind the scenes to make the world safer.

November 29, 2010

Under Panetta, morale up at CIA

CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, after nearly two years in office, has emerged as a fierce protector of the agency's people and its role in capturing or killing terrorists under an administration that shuns the words "war" and "Islamic terrorist."

November 17, 2010

New top Marine backs gay ban

President Obama's first appointment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff is continuing, rather than settling, the divisive debate among the nation's top military officers on gays in the military.

November 10, 2010

Military advocates don’t want judges making Pentagon rules

Pro-military advocates are warning against the dangers of letting federal district court judges start making significant Pentagon policy, saying it would essentially turn the military over to a network of political appointees who could be swayed by various pressure groups.

October 27, 2010

Obama may opt for new military advisers

President Obama, who has clashed with the military top brass over war and gays, will soon have a chance to reshape the Joint Chiefs of Staff as he faces contentious decisions next year on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and on ending some weapons systems.

October 18, 2010

Payoff seen in Afghan surge

The U.S. military is starting to see signs that the troop surge in Afghanistan is working on a timetable similar to the Iraq reinforcement campaign in 2007, according to an outside adviser and military sources.

October 11, 2010

GOP lawmakers say troop cap in Afghanistan invites attacks

Republican lawmakers say the White House's firm cap on the now-completed troop surge in Afghanistan is leaving forces more vulnerable to Taliban attacks.

October 3, 2010