Mark Thompson

Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark Thompson has covered national security in Washington since 1979, and for Time since 1994. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkThompson_DC

Articles from Contributor

Hard to Believe: The Ban on Gays in the Military Is Over

The Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy dies today. It’s an obit I never thought I’d write. It hardly seems possible — as one who covered the debate for close to two decades — that the ban on openly gay men and women serving in uniform is passing into the pages of history. What will military reporters bored with hardware and …

Keeping a Limited Presence in Iraq

So plans are floating around the Pentagon — with the apparent blessing of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta — that call for a U.S. military force of only between 3,000 and 4,000 troops in Iraq starting next year. Under the existing deal with the Iraqi government — the one we helped install — all U.S. troops must be out by New Year’s Eve …

Libya Falling: A Less-Costly American-led Way of Waging War

So the U.S. was able to spearhead the imminent collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya on the cheap. We launched full-fledged invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq against murderous tyrants, but elected not to do the same in Libya. Is this a new template for U.S. wars, or just an acknowledgment of a war-weary nation?

It’s a little …

The Pentagon’s Fuzzy Math: What Defense “Cuts” Really Mean

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have heard that President Obama has pledged to cut $400 billion out of security spending between now and 2023. But what you may not know is that the $400 billion won’t be a cut as far as Joe and Jane Taxpayer are concerned. Todd Harrison, Washington’s defense-budget wizard, says letting Pentagon …

A Sober, Steady Hand: Robert Gates’ Legacy at the Pentagon

Departing Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the 10th military chief I have covered since Harold Brown was running Jimmy Carter’s Pentagon. After a private dinner at the White House on Wednesday night, and a final ruffles-and-flourishes sendoff at the Pentagon on Thursday, Gates will fly off for his home in Washington state and never look …

The Army Is Running the Show

President Obama doubled down on the Army Monday, picking an Army general as chairman of the Joint Chiefs — after picking another one to run the CIA, and a third — a one-time low-level Army lawyer — to run the Pentagon. There may be lots of red, white and blue around the capital today, but it felt more like red, white and Army green. …

U.S. Troop Levels in Afghanistan Now in Play

The White House and Pentagon won’t admit it, but everybody else knows the size and scope of the continuing U.S. presence in Afghanistan is now subject to debate. That’s the result of a perfect storm of factors — the killing of Osama bin Laden, the weariness of the American public, and the continuing zaniness of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Bye, Bye Swampland…

Been posting here on Swampland on matters military for several months now. But it’s time now to march on over to Battleland, a military-related blog we’re setting up here in the Time web empire. So this is goodbye, at least in the sense that the Swamp will no longer be my normal base of operations. This blogging business comes with …

Battleland Launches Monday!

We’re launching a major offensive operation here on Monday with the start of our new Battleland blog. What with the ever-changing threats confronting the nation, the three (OK, 2.5) wars the nation is waging, and the budget crunch the U.S. military now faces, there’s not a better time to begin a blog dedicated to the challenges of …

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