The American people in many cases do not recognize the incredible value of one of the crown jewels of the nation: the National Guard. Most people have only a vague idea of what it is and what it means to America. And yet as important as its role is, the National Guard is facing significant cuts that would hurt domestic readiness. The National Guard is the oldest military force in U.S. history, tracing back to the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord. It has the federal mission of acting as the … More
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Having spent nearly 30 years as a doctor in Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Coburn thinks like a physician even when he’s working in the nation’s capital. He identifies symptoms that manifest from a disease. And when it comes to our nation’s debt crisis, that disease is the political class in Washington. Coburn outlines this critique in a new book called “The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America.” He visits The Heritage Foundation to speak at The Bloggers Briefing today at noon ET. Breitbart TV will air … More
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“Providing for the common defense” is the federal government’s single most important responsibility as prescribed by the Constitution. It is the cornerstone of our freedom, upon which all other liberties and guarantees rely. Our nation’s ability to protect its citizens must remain the foremost priority for the President and Congress, regardless of political affiliation or public sentiment. This requires providing the Department of Defense (DOD) with the necessary resources to do so. Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Sequester Replacement and Reconciliation Act, designed to ensure those resources … More
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Last week, the British government made a decision to change from the Carrier Variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) back to the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the JSF—as was originally planned before its 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. While this move was politically challenging for the coalition government in the U.K., it was the right decision. The assumed cost of equipping the U.K.’s new generation of aircraft carriers with catapults and arrestor gear that are required for the Carrier Variant of the JSF … More
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No one outside of the White House knows exactly why the President decided to move the G-8 meeting this Friday from Chicago to Camp David. Speculation that security concerns were driving the change in venue is probably off base given that the NATO summit scheduled two days later is continuing in Chicago as planned. Maybe we should just take the President at his word about the switch: He said in March that none of these leaders had yet visited Camp David—in itself a pretty revealing comment about the lack of … More
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Recently, Daryl Kimball and Tom Collina, both of the Arms Control Association, criticized the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) for taking hostage the implementations of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) in order to provide necessary funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The article misrepresents facts. New START mandates U.S. unilateral reductions and does not serve U.S. interests. Both authors assert that if the National Defense Authorization Act passes in its entirety—that is, including provisions tying the treaty’s implementation funding with funding for the nuclear weapons complex—Russia … More
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Should our fighting men and women be forced to drive unarmed SUVs into war zones, with speed as their only defense against rocket and car bomb attacks? Tragically, that’s a true story of U.S. military readiness today, and America’s defenses will only get worse under the drastic cuts aimed at our armed forces. In a new video by The Heritage Foundation, combat veteran Kerry Kachejian explains why U.S. military readiness is so crucial. He has first hand experience in the matter from his experience during the reconstruction of Iraq and … More
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The Chinese minister of defense, General Liang Guanglie, is currently visiting the United States, and as usual, he is getting the red carpet rolled out for him. He is meeting Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and visiting a number of U.S. military installations, including Southern Command and Fort Benning. General Liang has already made clear that Secretary Panetta is welcome to visit China in the second half of this year. On these visits, the Chinese typically get to see American forces and equipment, although usually little different from what is … More
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Representatives Randy Forbes (R–VA) and Scott Rigell (R–VA) will be hosting a listening session in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Monday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Chesapeake Conference Center. This event, part of a larger House Armed Services Committee effort spearheaded by Forbes entitled “Defending Our Defenders,” is an initiative aimed to raising awareness about the impact of existing and impending defense cuts to national defense and the U.S. military. This event is the first in a series of at least 12 town halls around the country designed to engage … More
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North Korea unveiled a new missile during its April parade celebrating the 100th anniversary of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung. The missile is assessed to be a new mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Last year, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates first revealed the existence of a North Korean road-mobile ICBM. Since the parade, military analysts have disagreed over whether the transporter-erector-launcher vehicles were provided by China and therefore a violation of U.N. resolutions, whether China also provided missile technology to North Korea, and whether the displayed missiles were fakes. The … More
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