Tactically, our vacation had begun to feel similar to a military raid—rush in and rush out—and it was both exhilarating and unsatisfying. You were trying to be a tourist in a place that didn’t allow for it. You could strike up a conversation with a shopkeeper, but he might be a Taliban informant. You could […]
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The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Viewed historically, the question is not whether the United States will lose its unchallenged global power, but just how precipitous and wrenching the decline will be. In place of Washington’s wishful thinking, let’s use the National Intelligence Council’s own futuristic methodology to suggest four realistic scenarios for how, whether with a bang or a whimper, […]
Pearl Harbor in Retrospect
From 1948: Maj. Gen. Sherman Miles, Assistant Chief of Staff for Military Intelligence at the time of the attack, reflects on what went wrong. “The last twenty-four hours in Washington before the bombs fell have come in for much scrutiny. Why did the President, with most of the Japanese final answer before him, conclude that […]
Do Ask, Must Tell
Turkey’s military doesn’t just discriminate against gays — it humiliates them. “K., a gay man in his mid 20s who works at an NGO, was called up to the military this year. ‘The first time I went for a medical examination,’ he recalls, ‘I told the psychiatrist in charge I was gay, but he claimed […]
Bad Lieutenant, Dan Choi
Choi, 29, became the face of the movement against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But it isn’t just getting kicked out of the military that irks him. He’s also not happy about being kicked off Grindr — four times.
Neo-Nazis are in the Army now
Why the U.S. military is ignoring its own regulations and permitting white supremacists to join its ranks.
Fiji Water: Spin the Bottle
Obama sips it. Paris Hilton loves it. Mary J. Blige won’t sing without it. How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?
Can One Good Man Redeem a Nation for the Sins of Guantánamo?
As the Obama administration prepares to try the 9/11 plotters in military tribunals, David Iglesias stands at the ready to prosecute them — and maybe just save the legacy of the White House that fired him #Sept11
Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy
Erik Prince, recently outed as a participant in a C.I.A. assassination program, has gained notoriety as head of the military-contracting juggernaut Blackwater, a company dogged by a grand-jury investigation, bribery accusations, and the voluntary-manslaughter trial of five ex-employees, set for next month. Lashing back at his critics, the wealthy former navy seal takes the author […]
In Defense of Foxhole Atheists
It’s no secret that conservative Christians dominate the U.S. military, but when higher-ups start talking about conversion missions, it’s time to worry. The author meets a group of soldiers who aren’t having it.
