There are several ways in which the Defense Department’s extended whine about automatic sequestration cuts to their base budget is a joke, but the White House has apparently sniffed out one of those ways. The Overseas Contingency budget has quickly become a slush fund for the Pentagon. Many earmarked to go toward operations in Iraq and Afghanistan often ends up paying for cherished Pentagon programs. The White House wants to put a stop to this.

Bradley Manning has sat in jail for over 18 months without any word of an eventual trial, and has endured truly inhumane treatment at the hands of our government. Luckily, he will soon have his day in court.

Who could have anticipated Republicans on the Super Committee basing their no-compromise position upon past Democratic performance?   Republican co-chair Jeb Hensarling…claimed that if the committee recommended even a dollar of new net tax revenue — the kind of revenue Dems are demanding — it would constitute a step in the wrong direction. He said [...]

First Democrat running the Pentagon in 15 years, folks.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested that with the draw down of US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, the US can now deploy more military resources to confront the Chinese military buildup. Because we really need another land war in Asia.

Leon Panetta has said time and time again since the inking of the debt limit deal that defense cuts at the level of what would be triggered by a Super Committee failure would be disastrous. He did so again at a Congressional hearing today. And we finally got a sense of what that “disaster” would specifically look like, according to Ben Armbruster’s account. Turns out it would mean that US military personnel might not be in every country on Earth. Disaster!

The defense budget is bloated. It’s nearly doubled over the last decade, and the necessity for such increases is sorely wanting. Panetta is a budget insider playing an inside game. But it’s deeply insulting to throw up these wild claims about job loss. By the way, you could end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have no bearing on our national security, and get to the exact same $1 trillion in cuts. Do we have to keep killing people in those countries, too, as a make-work jobs program?

No — we’re not there yet.

STILL AT RISK: Despite the certification issued today, it is still unsafe for service members to come out until September 20, 2011, when repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will become final.

Leon Panetta kicks off his new job as Secretary of Defense with a trip to Afghanistan. On the plane over there this morning, he told reporters that we just need to kill 10 or 20 leaders of al Qaeda and we will “strategically defeat” al Qaeda. (h/t Spencer)

The internal debate within the Administration over when and how to draw down in Afghanistan, and with how many troops, has begun. As I understand it, General David Petraeus will offer a range of options, and the national security team will assess them, with Obama having the final decision.