Want to know why I look to the Pentagon first when asking “Where can we get some money?” It should be obvious from the graph above.
Their budget has almost doubled in the last 8 years. And that doesn’t even include the additional funds appropriated for the Iraq war, which would easily put the yearly [...]

This looks like the following will be broadcast on tomorrow’s Meet The Press.

More on this pick here.

Looks like Obama will announce this tomorrow on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
If you’re not familiar with Shinseki, he become a bit of a lightning rod in the 2004 election when he backed John Kerry over Bush.
Here’s more from TPM:
Shinseki is the former Army chief of staff who upset his civilian bosses in 2003 when [...]

With the current financial crisis, Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t been leading many news stories. But those conflicts are still going on and, just as importantly, the effects of those wars are still being felt by the soldiers who fought them.
Whatever you think of the policies behind our current wars, I think it’s always important to [...]

To those who made it home, and to those who didn’t: thank you for being there.

And no, it wasn’t a mistake.
From AP:
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.”
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter [...]

At this point, it’s looking to be Obama. Because apparently McCain hasn’t been in touch with Powell for months!
Now, that doesn’t mean Powell will necessarily give a standard endorsement on MTP tomorrow. And honestly, this would fit with his demeanor. But saying something like, “I think we need a change” would be all he would [...]

She got the name of the top general in Afghanistan wrong. It’s actually “McKiernan.”
That can’t be good for people who think she’s inexperienced.

Also, it turns out she was just plain wrong when she claimed he didn’t say an Iraq style surge didn’t work.
And I quote…
“Afghanistan is not Iraq,” said Gen. David McKiernan, who led [...]

That’s right. Nobody there.
Let’s hope this ist true…
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that an agreement had been reached in negotiations on a security pact with the United States to end any foreign military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011.
“There is an agreement actually reached, reached between [...]

With a start date of June 30, 2009 no less!
From AP:
The negotiations over a withdrawal timetable follow long insistence by President Bush that setting any schedule for U.S. troops to leave would be dangerous. The draft agreement with Iraq would link troop reductions to achievement of certain security milestones, although the details have not been [...]

Honestly, I find this to be a bit of a surprise. I think we’ve always been led to believe that people in the military will overwhelmingly support the Republican candidate, but that doesn’t seem to be the case this year.
Open Secrets shares how the numbers break down…

Obama – $60,642 – 134 donors

Paul – $45,512 – [...]

We’re paying through the nose now because we didn’t plan ahead back then.
From CS Monitor:
The Army may begin paying a retention bonus of as much as $150,000 to Arabic speaking soldiers in reflection of how critical it has become for the US military to retain native language and cultural know-how in its ranks.
Only one other [...]

Okay, I’ve finally heard some of things that Bud Day said on the conference call, and McCain better get rid of this guy or he has no right getting upset about what Clark said.
In any event, Bud Day still claims that the Swift Boaters were okay because they were just pointing out “the truth.”
“The [...]

This is an interesting catch by TPM, especially in light of Wes Clark’s major gaffe over the weekend.
Seems as if the McCain camp has recently rolled out a new surrogate by the name of Bud Day…the same Bud Day who was in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth commercials.
So the question now…why employ this guy? [...]

As well he should. This was extremely bad form by Wes Clark, especially after 2004.
From CNN:
“As he’s said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course he rejects yesterday’s statement by General Clark,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.
Here’s what McCain said…
“I know that General Clark is [...]

There are a lot of legitimate ways Barack Obama supporters can criticize John McCain. But one of the worst lines of attack I can think of is to go after McCain’s military service. And yet, we have Obama surrogates like Wesley Clark belittling McCain’s heroism and major liberal blogger John Aravosis making this ridiculous statement:
“Honestly, [...]

As opposed to misinterpreting what McCain said about gas prices…this one is crystal clear…
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
As Ambinder notes, this one belongs in “The Better Left Unsaid Department…“

It’s just speculation right now, but his foreign policy advisors seem to think it’d be a good fit…
In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House. [...]
Richard Danzig, an adviser to Obama on [...]

“It’s the state of America now that is the most gripping source of anxiety for Americans, not Al Qaeda or Iraq. Anyone who thinks they are going to win this election playing the Iraq or the terrorism card — one way or another — is, in my view, seriously deluded. Things have changed.”
- Thomas Friedman, [...]

Given our lack of attention to this region, is it much of a surprise that the former regime is getting stronger?
A new Pentagon report says the Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan. The new report offers a rather dim view of progress in the nearly 7-year-old war, declaring that the [...]