by Ed Timperlake "While we pursue perfection, we sometimes fall short, and when we do we will take corrective action," said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, in a statement Tuesday (Feb 28, 2012). The USAF just withdrew their selection of the SuperTucano for the Afghan Army Air Force LAS. Numerous…
Congressman Allen West has written a letter to Secretary of the USAF Donley. He has requested a sense of what the USAF is going to do to deal EXPEDITIOUSLY with a glaring need. The Afghans need the kind of fighting equipment that helps them and helps us make the transition…
by Richard Weitz The February 24 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear program described many instances of Iranian obfuscation regarding its suspicious nuclear activities as well as noticeable increases in the quantity of enriched uranium that Iran is producing and stockpiling. As a result, the…
Are We Confusing Budget Cuts with Savings? by Bill Anderson Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting one of our larger U.S. military installations. As I spoke to the men and women charged with the tough line responsibility of maintaining readiness in this challenging budget environment, I immediately noticed two…
By Dr. Richard Weitz 02/26/12 - China and Kazakhstan have generally achieved a harmonious relationship in which the two countries can engage in mutually beneficial economic, energy, diplomatic, and security partnerships that produce a “win-win” outcome for both parties. For centuries, Kazakhstan’s leaders perceived China as their main security threat,…
by Michael W Wynne, 21st Secretary of the USAF All of the services were and are confronted by the new realities of the future defense budget in a very straightforward manner. Not only through the first budget agreement wherein the outgoing Defense Secretary volunteered to yield some $450 Billion; but…
by Robbin Laird In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Directors of National Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence agency laid out their review of global threats and then answered questions from the Committee. If one wanted proof of the mental leaps the U.S. will need to make…
by Richard Weitz The final panel of the Jamestown Conference addressed China’s civil-military relations. Andrew Scobell, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, spoke about “PLA Professionalization and the Civil-Military Gap.” He argued that “civil-military relations in China” no longer is the same as “party-army” relations. Today, the relationship is…
