The recruiting woes of the American military continue unabated. The AP reported today that the U.S. Army just completed its worst recruiting year since 1979. The shortfall for the all-volunteer force was among the most dramatic, both in absolute numbers (7,000) and as a percentage of the target (80,000), since the United States ended conscription […]

There are at least two things we know for certain about George W. Bush. One, he is committed to "stay the course" in Iraq, despite the clear and growing chaos on the ground. And second, Bush believes in the doctrine of intelligent design. As it turns out, the two are related for President Bush. There […]

In a rhetorical shift last week, the Bush administration unveiled a new name for its worldwide war against an abstraction. The old moniker "Global War on Terror" (or GWOT) has been exchanged for the new label, the "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" (or G-SAVE). The results for America and the world, sadly, will be the […]

As expected, President Bush Monday morning made a recess appointment of John Bolton to the post of UN ambassador for the United States. This, despite Bolton's inability to get Senate approval, his lie regarding his testimony in the Plame affair, and the possibility of his own involvement in a White House orchestrated smear campaign against […]

This is a last reminder that Perrspectives' own Karl Rove Whack-a-Mole Contest ends on Thursday, August 3rd. While the grand jury may not issue any indictments for months, you can be Karl Rove's judge and jury today. Just sentence Rove for his outrageous crimes and you could win an Apple iPod Shuffle or other great […]

It's amazing what a difference a day makes. On Friday morning, Republicans proclaimed Karl Rove's exhonoration in the PlameGate affair, after a source close to investigation claimed that it was columnist Robert Novak who informed Karl Rove of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, and not visa versa. But RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman's gloating notwithstanding, the […]

The Perrspectives Document Library has been expanded to include background articles and documents on the Karl Rove outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The Rove documents include the original Joseph Wilson New York Times op-ed, Robert Novak's column outing Wilson's wife Valerie Plame and key 2003 White House press briefings by Scott McClellan and President […]

In "Getting Drafty", I argued that current and emerging American national security challenges require the reinstatement of the draft and a new "hybrid model" of national service. Developments over the just the past two weeks reflect just how rapidly the pressure is building to bolster American military force levels. London Terror Attacks and the Need […]

During Thursday's hearings of the Armed Services Committee, several Republican Senators blamed the usual suspects for the shortfalls in Army and Marine recruiting. James Inhofe (R-OK) lambasted unnamed Senate colleagues, adding the potential recruits are being discouraged "because of all the negative media that's out there." Kansan Pat Roberts chimed in, "with the deluge of […]

President Bush delivered his much awaited speech on Iraq to an audience of soldiers assembled at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As theater, the President's was a confident rhetorical performance. But if the intent was to rebuild American support for the Iraq war by showing accountability for the missteps to date, providing a plan for success […]