Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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The Syria Vote: Why Obama Wins If He Loses (From Forbes)
September 9, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Everybody in Washington seems to think that President Obama will suffer a major loss of political influence if Congress rejects his plan for military strikes against Syria. However, a case can be made that the opposite is true, at least [Read More...] -
Why The B-2 Bomber Is Well-Suited To Strike Operations In Syria
September 6, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D When the Obama Administration first began contemplating punitive strikes against Syrian military forces following the use of chemical weapons on August 21, it expected to rely solely on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by Aegis warships. Tomahawks have been continuously upgraded [Read More...] -
Congress Unlikely To Back Military Action In Syria
September 5, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D If you think that Wednesday’s vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee supporting limited military strikes in Syria signals that Congress is ready to go along with the White House plan for punishing Bashar al-Assad’s government, think again. This morning’s [Read More...] -
Pentagon Budget Plan Would Doom Many Weapons Programs
September 4, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D While you were relaxing at the beach in August, Bloomberg News was delivering death notices for many of the military’s planned weapons programs. Longtime Bloomberg Pentagon correspondent Tony Capaccio revealed in an August 22 story that policymakers are planning to [Read More...] -
Obama’s Battle Plan For Syria Could Backfire Badly (From Forbes)
September 3, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Obama Administration has made a convincing case that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for nerve-gas attacks against civilians near Damascus on August 21. However, proving culpability for war crimes is not the same thing as [Read More...] -
Time For A Rethink On Syria
August 30, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D October of this year marks the 30th anniversary of a major setback for Western influence in the Middle East. On October 23, 1983 220 Marines and 21 other U.S. service personnel were killed when terrorists exploded a truck bomb inside [Read More...] -
Egypt Shows Why Foreign Arms Sales Won’t Sustain The Defense Industrial Base (From Forbes)
August 26, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Pentagon budget authority for weapons procurement could fall by over $30 billion between fiscal 2012 and 2014. With weapons spending headed down, policymakers are looking for ways to preserve the defense industrial base, and promoting foreign arms sales is one [Read More...] -
Linda Hudson, First Female CEO In Defense Industry, To Retire From BAE Systems
August 20, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Linda Parker Hudson, the first woman to ever head a major Pentagon supplier, disclosed today that she will retire from her position as President & Chief Executive Officer of BAE Systems, Inc. in the first quarter of 2014. The decision [Read More...] -
Some Disturbing Facts About America’s Dwindling Bomber Force (From Forbes)
August 16, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Air Force’s fleet of heavy bombers provides a unique capability to quickly visit tailored effects on distant targets that no other country can match. However, the nation hasn’t developed a new bomber since the 1980s, and the current fleet [Read More...] -
As Global Unrest Spreads, U.S. Slashes Military Readiness
August 15, 2013- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D There are still some ways in which newspapers capture the moment better than blogs or social media. One such way is their ability to display the full extent of global chaos, a topic so diverse and variegated that it is [Read More...]