Charles V. Peña

Speaking to the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia in May 2005, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made two important observations: "[T]his conflict [what the administration calls the Global War on Terrorism or GWOT] cannot be won by military means alone." "[W]e must find ways to reduce the ideological appeal of violent extremism." While recognizing the … Continue reading “Is Bad PR Really the Problem?”

On the American Film Institute‘s (AFI) list of the 100 best American movies, Casablanca has twice (in 1998 and 2007) been the runner-up to the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane (Casablanca was voted the number one love story by AFI in 2002). On AFI’s list of top 100 movie quotes, Casablanca had six, more than … Continue reading “Shocked, Shocked by Bush’s Broken Promises”

American Airlines will be the first U.S. commercial passenger carrier to flight test a defensive system against anti-aircraft shoulder-fired missiles – known in military parlance as MANPADS, for “man-portable air defense system.” Although they are participating in the test program, American Airlines is “not in favor of installing counter-MANPADS on commercial aircraft.” In fact, the … Continue reading “Providing for the Common Defense”

It must be the holidays, because, once again, the administration is holding out the prospect of drawing down troop levels in Iraq. Two years ago, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hinted at the possibility of U.S. troop reductions in Iraq when he announced that two brigades scheduled for combat tours would not be deployed and … Continue reading “Not Home for the Holidays”

According to the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities," [.pdf] a key judgment of the 16 members of the U.S. intelligence community is that they "judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." Given that President Bush first demonized Iran in his January 2002 State … Continue reading “Bush’s Surreal Iran Policy”

I was in Paris last week with my wife and daughter for Thanksgiving. One of the things we noticed was that there were Americans almost everywhere we went. My initial reaction was a bit of surprise given the currently weak dollar versus the Euro ($1.48 USD = 1 Euro as this is written). But my … Continue reading “An American in Paris”

Based on a speech given at The Citadel, we now know that Fred Thompson believes we need to spend the equivalent of 4.5 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) on the military (exclusive of ongoing military operations) and expand the size of our armed forces to one million men and women in uniform. According … Continue reading “Fred Thompson and the Kitchen Sink”

One of the most famous lines penned by William Shakespeare is from Hamlet’s soliloquy, "To be, or not to be: that is the question." In Iraq, the question is whether to bomb or not to bomb. So far this year, the U.S. military is bombing more than last year (1,140 air strikes in the first … Continue reading “To Bomb, Or Not To Bomb”

Last week, the White House issued a new National Strategy for Homeland Security. This new Strategy is supposed to reflect "our increased understanding of the terrorist threats confronting the United States today." Indeed, one of the key components of strategy is to know your enemy – a phrase often attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher-strategist … Continue reading “Not -So-New Homeland Security Strategy”

Once upon a time, White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey estimated that the cost of going to war in Iraq might be as much as $200 billion. For daring to voice such an opinion, he was rebuked by Mitch Daniels – then director of the White House budget office – who called Lindsey’s estimate “very, … Continue reading “Misunderestimating the Price of Iraq”