"We can't stop doling the hard stuff," said  Kori Schake , a research fellow at the Hoover Institution who held national security posts in the George W. Bush administration. "We don't have an alternative."

People in and outside of the military are uncomfortable with it being used as a political pawn. Part of the blame for this dynamic lies with the veterans making political endorsements while pointing toward their experience in the services. Such endorsements are bad for the military for multiple reasons, including...

Were there missed opportunities to unwind the tensions of the Cold War? This question was raised by my holiday reading: Bridge of Spies, by Giles Whittell. 

The Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga, and perhaps a few Shi’ite militias are preparing for the largest battle in the war against the Islamic State: the seizure of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. They will be supported in this difficult endeavor by a U.S.-led coalition featuring combat advisers and a lethal mix of manned and unmanned aircraft ready to launch salvos of precision guided munitions onto the enemy below.