The Pentagon Still Needs to Think
In these austere times for defense, experts have taken to quoting Winston Churchill's old saying that when you run out of money, it's time to think. So often does it come up that Churchill's quotation has gone from obscure to hackneyed almost overnight. I've heard it on three continents the past month alone. (What bliss it is to use such a pompous line!) One hopes the Pentagon isn't reformulating it thus: we're so broke that we can no longer afford to think. That's the gist of reports suggesting that Defense Department officials are mulling shutting down the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), headed by Andy Marshall since the Nixon administration. Forty years in the same post: that's longevity for you. A shutdown would be a cost-cutting measure, but also an act entailing potential strategic consequences. Naval Diplomat pal Bryan McGrath raises a reasonable point though. Has anyone surveyed ONA's track record to see how well it has performed ov...