When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.

Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.

The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.

A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.

If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.

If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.

Watch the growth of middle level management. Don't automatically fill vacant jobs. Leave some positions unfilled for 6-8 months to see what happens. You will find you won't need to fill some of them.