Our military is second to none, but eight years of negligence, lack of accountability, and a reckless war in Iraq have left our ground forces facing shortfalls in both recruitment and readiness. Every service is out of balance and ill-prepared. We need a new strategy to give the military the tools it needs for the challenges we face today. And we need leadership that meets our obligations to the men and women who put their lives on the line.
Report
4 February 2010
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the U.S. to fall behind the military leadership and support the repeal "don't ask, don't tell": "If the chiefs and commanders are comfortable with moving to change the policy, then I support it." Sadly, many conservatives have chosen not to follow Powell's example.
News
Politico 4 February 2010
Report
2 February 2010
Today, the Pentagon's top civilian and military leadership will announce to Congress the creation of a panel to assess how to carry out a repeal of the decade and a half old "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Today, evidence shows that America and the military have moved forward, beyond this policy.
Report
1 February 2010
Today's double release of the Obama administration's 2011 budget request and the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) represents an opening salvo in the administration's move to establish a fully-integrated approach to national security. These are ambitious goals, particularly at a time when the U.S. is facing unprecedented economic restraints. More broadly, the QDR is a positive step in what must ultimately be a sustained effort to correct an imbalance that saw our diplomatic and development corps wither because of disproportionate emphasis on military solutions.
Report
18 December 2009
2009 is ending as it began, with an emerging and dangerous pattern of conservatives in Congress using national security as a wedge issue for cheap political gain.
Report
10 November 2009
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, a time when our country honors the sacrifices and service of our men and women in uniform. Our troops have performed brilliantly under very difficult conditions and fully expect the nation to support them on their return from overseas deployments. These past eight years have seen veterans, active service members, their families, and veterans’ service organizations under considerable strain. Multiple deployments have taken a tremendous toll on the military and veteran’s services, as well as the individual soldiers and their families, and our country has failed to keep its promise to support them with the best veteran’s services possible. The system and structure were simply not prepared or properly resourced for the influx of soldiers returning home from multiple wars. Our country must do better on their behalf. After the discovery of problems in health care, most clearly demonstrated at Walter Reed Hospital, the Obama administration has taken great pains of fix the sins of the past. While plenty of work remains to be done in order to help our veterans, since taking office the Obama administration has made advancements to increase funding for veterans services, streamline the Department of Veterans Affairs, and face the difficult mental health issues that those returning home from war face.
Report
5 November 2009
For years, conservatives have claimed the mantle of being more pro-military, pro-veterans than progressives. But their actions and record paint a different picture. From the Bush administration neglect of and cuts to veterans’ health—culminating in the exposed tragedies at Walter Reed Hospital—to the underfunding and resourcing of our troops in the battlefield, it’s clear that for years veteran and troop well-being wasn’t a high priority for conservatives in power. Today, even as President Obama is trying fix these failures, conservatives are still preventing our nation’s veterans and their families from getting the support and care they need.
Report
28 October 2009
This afternoon, President Obama signs into law the first Defense Budget that matches the threats and security imperatives of the 21st century. As Secretary of Defense Gates has said, the military needs to fight today's battles, not yesterday's. By signing this 21st century Defense Budget into law, President Obama is taking a major step forward in bringing our defense priorities in line with current threats. This is a major victory for the progressive national security agenda.
Report
8 October 2009
Conservatives were up in arms following the Obama administration’s decision to scrap ground-based missile defense in Europe in favor of a largely sea-based system. Yesterday, Ellen Tauscher, the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, took on the opponents of this decision. She explained that the Administration will instead deploy proven missile defense systems that can defend against short and medium range missiles – the missiles that Iran actually possesses – as opposed to wasting multiple years and billions of dollars developing a Bush era ground based long-range missile defense system to counter a threat that doesn’t exist.
News
Des Moines Register 2 October 2009
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