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Defense & the Military blog
How Republican presidents asked Congress for war powers from Formosa to IraqRepublican presidents have sometimes acted alone and sometimes asked Congress to vote. A table of the resolutions shows when each approach was used.Did Reagan Really Win the Cold War or Did the Soviets Just CollapseThe strongest case that the USSR fell on its own, then six numbered answers from the speeches, treaties and deployments of the 1980s.From Requirement to Runway, How the Pentagon Buys a WeaponWhy new weapons arrive late and over budget, step by step, from the requirement to full-rate production, and the reforms that tried to fix it.Seven Tests of Whether the Military Is Really Ready for a FightReadiness is whether the force can fight tonight, not how big it is or how much it costs. Seven tests, each with the reason it matters.A Veteran's Playbook for Filing a VA Claim the Right WayMost denied VA claims fail on paperwork, not merit. Here are the steps in order, from the DD-214 to the three review lanes, and who helps for free.The GI Bill, the Phoenix Scandal and the Long Fight to Fix the VAPromises to veterans worked best when the veteran could choose. A history from the 1944 GI Bill through the Phoenix scandal to the PACT Act of 2022.Little Rock in 1957 and the Republican President Who Sent in the 101st AirborneA Republican president enforced a federal court order against a Democratic governor's defiance, and that story belongs in the party's civil rights record.George H. W. Bush managed the end of the Cold War without a victory lapBush kept his mouth shut while the Soviet empire came apart, and his party still argues about the rest of his term. Here is the record, fairly told.Seven Myths About Reagan, Gorbachev and the End of the Cold WarSeven claims about Reagan, Gorbachev and the Cold War's end, tested against the record, with a verdict on each from both the left and the right.Three Legs, One Purpose, and Why America Keeps a Nuclear TriadMissiles in silos, submarines at sea and bombers each cover the other two legs' weaknesses, which is why the triad is cheap insurance against a first strike.Why Deterrence Is a Promise You Have to Be Willing to KeepDeterrence works only when an enemy believes you have the means and the will to respond, and doubt about either one invites the war you wanted to prevent.Peace Through Strength Is Older Than Reagan and It Still WorksThe phrase is Reagan's, but the idea runs from Rome through Washington and Roosevelt, and every time America lowered its guard the bill came due.A Worksheet for Reading Any Defense Budget Number Without Being FooledA defense budget number means little until you adjust it for inflation, the economy and what is inside it. A repeatable worksheet with a worked example.Eisenhower's farewell address gave two warnings and Republicans remember oneEveryone quotes the military-industrial complex line, but the same speech warned about captured science policy and mortgaging the grandchildren with debt.The Star Wars Joke That Helped Bring the Soviets to the TableCritics mocked missile defense as fantasy, but Moscow took it seriously, and it shaped every round of arms talks from 1983 to the INF Treaty.