Editor’s note: Earlier this month, the Huffington Post published a “commentary” on the F-35 by four left-leaning defense analysts.  Clearly, none of these men are fans of the joint strike fighter.  Unfortunately, their commentary focused mostly on sliming James Jay Carafano—one of the nation’s leading national security experts—and insinuating that his employer, The Heritage Foundation, is a shill for Lockheed-Martin.  Their charges are as bogus as they are shrill. Dr. Carafano wrote a measured response to this piece, which the Huffington Post has thus far not seen fit to print.  It … More

Did World War II spending boost economic growth? Although some statistics appear to affirm this, wiser historical analysis demonstrates that artificial increases in output during the war masked a debilitated private economy. Meaningful growth increased after the war, when free-market mechanisms returned and marginal tax rates were reduced. Gross national product (GNP), the total value of everything produced by United States domestically or abroad, did increase during the war and trended downward as the war ended in 1945, falling considerably in 1946 and 1947. It would be shallow analysis, however, … More

A recent article by the Associated Press leaves the reader with the impression that there haven’t been any defense cuts since the 1990s and that defense spending has not been “on the table” in recent deficit-reduction efforts. Nothing could be further from the truth. The article states that the cuts to defense under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, beginning in 2013, are “the first outright cuts since the so-called peace dividend of the early 1990s.” In reality, defense budgets have already been cut, are being cut now, and … More

During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama largely glossed over the ongoing war in Afghanistan, where nearly 100,000 American soldiers are fighting to prevent the reemergence of a terrorist safe haven in the region. He did, however, deliver a misleading statement on the subject in declaring that “the Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.” The President’s inaccurate statement was duly noted by the Associated Press’s SOTU fact check, which highlighted findings of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) … More

Last week, I again had the privilege of traveling to Guantanamo Bay to observe a military commission proceeding as an invited representative of a non-governmental organization (NGO), my employer, The Heritage Foundation.  And once again, I was disappointed by the lack of informed commentary from my fellow NGO representatives.   Perhaps the most disappointingly slanted account of the proceedings was published by Human Rights Watch’s Laura Pitter in Salon and entitled “Guantanamo’s System of Injustice.”   Pitter’s central theme is that there are “vast differences” between federal court and military commissions and … More

In listening to the State of the Union, you would never know that the U.S. still has close to 100,000 troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. While President Obama highlighted U.S. gains against al-Qaeda and the significance of the raid that eliminated Osama bin Laden last May, he downplayed the challenges that remain in Afghanistan. President Obama merely said he was “winding down the war,” giving the false impression that the U.S. can depart Afghanistan on an arbitrary timetable without any costs to its national security. This paints a misleading … More

Before the Speech Begins – Emily Goff: Previewing tonight’s speech this past weekend, Mr. Obama said: “We can go in two directions. One is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for…building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.” The President must not understand that an economy based on free-enterprise with limited government involvement will, in fact, work for and benefit more than just the wealthy. His administration’s idea of an economy that works involves imposing heavy-handed government regulations and threatening tax increases at … More

An increasing number of leaders in the House and the Senate recognize that the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 will impose a disproportionate burden on an already strained defense budget. The latest corrective effort comes from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R–VA). The BCA established caps on spending for national security and discretionary spending over the next 10 years. In addition, the law mandates a sequestration process that will apply $500 billion or more in deficit reduction to the defense account over the nine-year period covering FYs 2013–2021. These … More

The Obama Administration is using a new buzzword when referring to its national security strategy: “reversibility.” In the most recent Defense Strategy Guidance, this term is described as “a key part of our decision calculus” and essentially states that the military will maintain a smaller force that can be built up rapidly to respond to national security threats. Rather than attempt to reverse dramatic defense budget cuts, the Administration seems to be creating the illusion of a responsible strategy that will not leave our future armed forces weakened and less … More

President Obama is working hard to make a Russian dream of a superior nuclear weapons arsenal come true, writes Heritage’s James Carafano in his most recent op-ed. “The White House has made clear that its signature tool for combating nuclear proliferation is leading by example, and that example is disarmament,” he writes. The Administration, however, runs a risk of ending its path to disarmament in nuclear fallout. America’s arsenal of strong and reliable nuclear weapons has prevented countries around the world from developing or significantly expanding their own nuclear capabilities. … More