OPINION

If we hope to effectively decrease the veteran suicide rate, we need to evolve our approach. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with our veterans, and when we do, take a proactive approach to introduce secure, private and trusted monitoring for our friends and loved ones for signs of distress.

OPINION

It’s unrealistic to pretend that voting exists in a political or social vacuum. Voters are susceptible to all sorts of influences, from campaign ads to the opinions of family members in person or on Facebook. “Line warming” with food and drink is only part of the picture.

OPINION

The massive swing-and-a-miss that is the F-35 — which already has the Pentagon dreaming of a new, new next-gen fighter that might actually be cheaper and easier to use — is just one symptom of a much greater problem: In spending more on war-related costs than the world's next 10 nations combined, the U.S. wastes billions on weapon systems that are ineffective and often not even needed.

OPINION

Major L. Anderson II served his country when he was called to do so because it was the right thing to do. He served his community and his church because it was the right thing to do. And he made sure his wife and his sons had everything they needed - and much of what they wanted - because he knew it was what he was called to do.

OPINION

Taliban negotiators still insist women’s rights can only be viewed according to their ultraconservative interpretation of Islam.

OPINION

The latest soaring discovery: a new CDC study showing vaccines sharply cut all COVID-19 infections — not just symptoms. That news puts to rest one worst-case-scenario: that vaccines might protect the vaccinated against hospitalization, but allow millions of silent infections to continue circulating.

OPINION

Harris is used to being her own boss. It's been that way since she was elected district attorney in 2003. But Harris has always been a willing student. Those who know her well say she has settled comfortably into the role of vice president, mindful of its constraints, including — not least — never getting out ahead of the president.

OPINION

Given the strength of the First Amendment, there always will be dissent and strong pushback against the view that journalism has evolved to a “just our facts,” not a “just the facts,” standard. There is also a real chance that the cultural sway of this view far exceeds its actual power to force societal change.

OPINION

The siege on Capitol Hill was a stark reminder that extremism in and around the military is an issue that demands attention. To combat it, we need a longitudinal, preemptive approach that takes ownership for those who fail to honor the highest values for which the military stands, past and present. Institutional change is necessary, and it needs to happen smartly and quickly.

OPINION

The poor legacy of market-distorting policies should serve as a warning for Biden. While it is inaccurate to blame the current administration for the recent rise in gas prices, actions made today will have long-lasting impacts.

OPINION

I can tell you firsthand that by now, I’ve gotten my answer down to a succinct 30 seconds. It’s like an automatic reflex and frankly, it’s just easier than expending the energy required to explain why it’s a demonstration of passive racism to ask me in the first place. In choosing avoidance over confrontation, I realize now that I have inadvertently contributed to the “model minority” stereotype by holding my tongue.

OPINION

The current statute contains a number of definitions for seditious conspiracy, including this: If two or more persons “conspire … by force to hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States … they shall be fined … or imprisoned … or both." Those elements would appear to fit the actions of the worst Jan. 6 offenders like a glove.

My husband has been working from home since the pandemic began more than a year ago. Francis took his cybersecurity job in 2017 after retiring from the Navy, and initially commuted to New York City weekly. For those years, his neglected home office on the third floor of our house was more of a shrine than anything else. He would take friends up there on weekends to show off his military coins, plaques and photos. I called it his “Yay me!” room.

OPINION

There’s a lot science can tell us about relative risks of returning to normal activities, and it’s important for public health officials to keep people informed on any risks that might persist post-vaccine. But it’s time to stop disguising their preferred goals and trade-offs as “the science.”

OPINION

For the U.S. and Europe, these groupings represent new opportunities as well as new challenges. Cooperation between Israel and Arab states, for instance, may reduce the security burden on American shoulders, but their combined opposition to a nuclear accommodation with Iran will also greatly complicate President Joe Biden’s efforts to resume diplomacy with the Islamic Republic.

OPINION

Educating for American Democracy should be applauded for its “key concept” of building “civic friendship through informed civil dialogue and productive disagreement.” But its “Roadmap” feels more like the occupation of civics instruction by some groups who are neutral at best, and perhaps even intent on disrupting the notion of a shared national character.

OPINION

The deeper one ventures into the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the heavier the weight of all these past sacrifices. And then we had to go and blow it in the present.

OPINION

So far, it looks that the crisis that has created untold atrocities, included countless chemical weapons attacks, undermined medical neutrality, destabilized the European Union, fed into xenophobia and terrorism, and created the largest displacement of the population since World War II is not yet a priority of the new president. His two predecessors, and their policies, failed the Syrian people.

OPINION

China is an economic juggernaut. Through its engagement with the United States and other major markets, it has made itself central to global supply chains, moved to dominate strategic industries and emerging technologies, and built up a military designed to win a war with the U.S. and its allies.

OPINION

Biden’s proposal to pay for new spending instead of financing it by piling on more debt is refreshing and laudable. But Mr. President, please look elsewhere to raise revenue.

OPINION

The man who saved two fellow Marines and then risked his life to kill the enemy deserved better. He deserved the best. Isn't that what he gave? But then again, maybe he never needed a medal to validate his heroics anyway.

OPINION

The moment of triumph is likely to be fleeting. Even sending $1,400 checks to most Americans can’t guarantee that Biden will be able to enact the rest of his ambitious agenda or hold on to Democrats’ majorities in Congress in next year’s midterm election.

One would think that military spouses are busy enough, managing homes, children, jobs, pets, in-laws, bills, school, and other endless details, often while their active-duty partners are away. In fact, it would make sense if they turned away from added pressures, withdrew from obligations and isolated themselves altogether to maintain control. However, no matter how many plates military spouses spin in the air, they’re always game to add one more.

OPINION

Bringing K-9 veterans back home after service and ensuring they receive proper veterinary care can be a logistical nightmare too difficult to overcome.

OPINION

As a longtime investigative journalist, I’m pleased to be able to share with you today the best evidence I’ve come across about what former President Donald Trump really knew – and knew before all hell erupted at the U.S. Capitol.

OPINION

It’s not that military and think tank experts aren’t discussing potential military conflicts with China, but Americans haven’t thought through the consequences.

OPINION

Criminals are exploiting COVID fear to trick Americans into divulging their Social Security numbers, Medicare and Medicaid ID numbers and other private medical information, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

OPINION

How U.S. public officials and regulators talk about vaccination reflects an asymmetric treatment of errors of commission and omission.

OPINION

Normal isn’t government permitting us to exercise our liberty. Normal means that we needn’t seek the government’s permission to exercise our liberty.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was walking back to our stairwell apartment from dropping my daughter off at Patch Barracks Elementary School, minding my own business along Florida Strasse with our labradoodle, Dinghy. Suddenly, Dinghy spotted a hare munching grass in General So-and-so’s backyard.

OPINION

The politicians I knew might have been Boy Scouts under the public gaze, but in private they were more like Lost Boys. After observing them up close for years and writing two books about them, I came to see patterns in their personal histories.

OPINION

Fleecing the poor, the elderly, the ignorant and the vulnerable for personal profit is a time-honored tradition for various swamp creatures. It’s also how certain “prosperity preacher” televangelists and evangelists have operated for years, as they accumulated jets, mansions and bursting bank accounts.

OPINION

Most Americans — including most local and state officials and their staff — lack practical knowledge about democratic innovation. We can gain some democratic inspiration and practical knowledge by taking a look at innovations in other countries. Particularly at the local and state or provincial levels, there are many lessons to learn.

“Mom, do we have any photos of me and Dad when he came home from deployment?” our daughter asked, unwittingly sending me on a harrowing, epic journey through the storage spaces of our home.

OPINION

The president has already pulled the U.S. back from the aggressive posture Trump adopted toward the Islamic Republic. But they can no longer believe that Biden will be as complaisant as Obama.

OPINION

If you’d been in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing room Wednesday you’d have realized that you were watching and listening to decades of Washington’s most famous titled newsmakers who were so eager to help they were virtually speaking at once.

OPINION

President Joe Biden's path toward ending a war that began three presidents ago has grown more difficult.

OPINION

While recent space missions hold great promises and will prove transformative, we unfortunately lack the adequate deep-space propulsion capacity capable of carrying equipment and people reliably to the Moon, to Mars and beyond.

OPINION

Since President Joe Biden took office, Iran’s regional proxies have been busy.

OPINION

Earlier this month President Joe Biden went to the State Department to pump up a demoralized foreign service corps, and to tell the world: “America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy.”

OPINION

Like Julius Caesar’s Gaul, today’s Republican Party is divided into three parts: Never Trumpers, Sometimes Trumpers and Always Trumpers.

OPINION

While it still feels like normalcy is a long way off, given the abysmal start to COVID-19 vaccine distribution, there is finally an end to the pandemic in sight — even if it’s months down the road. The question is: What will it look like?

Recently, the reputation of the military has been tarnished by Capitol riot reports indicating that a significant number of those arrested have served. Although extremism in the ranks is not a new problem, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin saw the riot as a “wake-up call.” On Feb. 3, Austin ordered a 60-day stand-down for all military commanders to meet with troops to discuss racism and extremism.

OPINION

Cyber makes it sound like it belongs only to the province of the computer savvy, the geeks, as if it is some secondary technical problem that has a permanent fix. It is not.

OPINION

Given the threats facing Japan, it may benefit the Japanese public to better understand the value of the SDF as an armed force and the military cooperation that takes place with the United States.

“Honey,” my retired Navy husband woke me this morning with a steaming cup of coffee — a sweet routine he started since he began working from home last March — “I just transferred money into your account because you’re twenty bucks in the red. Now, I know you had to buy Anna’s birthday gifts and groceries, so it’s no big deal, but please … just don’t buy any more stock, okay?” Busted.

OPINION

We hope that policymakers will work together to defend veterans’ earned benefits and protect their college options and that the VA will improve the Transition Assistance Program.

This morning, I peered at my baggy, bloodshot eyes in the bathroom mirror. It had been a rough night. Thanks to wild fluctuations in my hormones, my hair was a rat's nest of sweaty tangles. I tossed two Tylenol down my gullet, hoping to relieve a crick in my neck from tossing and turning, and headache pangs from grinding my teeth. “Today’s gonna suck,” I admitted to myself with a defeated sigh.

OPINION

In light of the many complicated issues facing Denis McDonough at VA, one of his easiest decisions should be to stop the fleecing of America’s military heroes.

I couldn’t wait for 2020 to be over. I sprinted out of that abysmal year like I was escaping a burning building … only to find that 2021 was smoldering, too.

OPINION

The Biden administration’s best course of action is to continue the current U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan. There is nothing left in Afghanistan for the U.S. to win.

OPINION

As President Joe Biden takes office, he will find an old dossier on his desk, and he’ll have to decide what to do about it. It’s the Afghanistan case, and it could become his first foreign policy crisis.

This month, we all bore witness to the horrific extremes that some people will go to in order to avoid losing. Although no one wants to fail, the vast majority of us won’t turn to insurrection, violent assault or malicious destruction of property to win.