6/7/12: By Richard Weitz Following a controversial public relations campaign, the United States and its allies launched Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in March 2003. The Iraqi regime collapsed in a few weeks. In addition to searching for weapons of mass destruction, the occupation authorities sought to establish a new Iraqi…
6/6/12: On the Second Line of Defense Forum, we have a regular column which looks at life and language Inside the Beltway. This Memorial Day, Boomer has reflected on the legacy of LBJ and the Inside the Beltway approach to policymaking. by Ed Timperlake On days other then Memorial Day,…
6/3/12: By Richard Weitz From its initial emergence as a British mandate following World War I, to the post-independence monarchy from 1932-1958, through the military coups that ushered in the rule of first the Baath Party in 1968 and then Saddam Hussein in 1979, external threats and internal tensions have…
6/3/12: by Robbin Laird The ability of the United States to re-shape its forces for the post-Afghan military world will be difficult. But it is less about money, than about culture change. It is about failing to understand and generate support for the game changing technologies already entering the inventory…
5/31/12: by Robbin Laird I was saddened to learn of the passing of Joe Fitchett. It is not just a loss of a friend and dialogue partner on the evolution of Europe, but the true passing of an era. Joe was in many ways the representative of a passing era.…
By Robbin Laird During the Airbus Trade Media 2012 event in Toulouse, I had a chance to sit down with Pravin Sawhney, Editor of the Indian defense magazine, Force, and to get caught up on the state of play in the Indian fighter selection process. http://www.forceindia.net/ Last year, Sawhney provided…
5/29/12: By Robbin Laird During the Airbus Military Trade Media event, I had a chance to talk with Vikramjit S. Chopra, Managing Editor of Vayu Aerospace and Defense Review about the Indian fighter competition. http://www.vayuaerospace.in/ http://www.vayuaerospace.in/images1/IAF_Strike_Mirage_2000s.pdf I asked my colleague: why did India pick the Rafale over the other Europeans…
In many ways, for critics of LCS this evolution was as inevitable as it was self-evident. As more hulls were pier-side speaking truth than PPT illuminating briefing rooms, expectations would have to change to stay inside the lines of credibility. Dreams of stopping the run and pivot to building a better…
