National Security News

The Daily Signal provides reports on national and homeland security issues, including military readiness, intelligence operations, border protection, and global conflicts. Featuring news, analysis, and commentary, this section explores how security policy decisions affect America’s national defense and freedom.
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    • News

    ‘Ministry of Truth’: Conservatives Warn About Washington State’s ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Effort

    Washington's Democratic attorney general released a report late last year urging the state to crack down on domestic terrorism and enlisting an analyst at an organization notorious for putting conservative groups on a "hate map" alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, a map that has inspired at least one act of terrorism. The attorney…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • Opinion

    Pentagon’s ‘Clarification’ on Gender Pronouns? When You’re in a Hole, Quit Digging

    Earlier this week, after we exposed the Pentagon’s woke gender-pronoun policy for the top joint military awards and the ensuing political firestorm it caused, the Pentagon issued a “clarification.” But here’s the problem: The clarification only confirms our worst fears and raises other related questions. This issue isn’t going away anytime soon. On Sept. 1,…
    Cully Stimson
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    • Opinion

    Defense Expert: America’s Ability to Defend Itself Declining as Result of Several Bad Choices

    The United States military’s ability to defend this nation and her interests is declining by choice, and that is creating unacceptable risk, according to national defense expert Robert Greenway. That decline is not only because of a reduction in military spending and the aging out of equipment that’s not being replaced quickly enough, it’s also…
    Lucy Gilbert
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    • Opinion

    Tom Cotton Demands Answers After Defense Department Rule Neuters the Brave Men and Women Who Serve in the Armed Forces

    Sen. Tom Cotton is demanding answers after the Defense Department altered the text of the most prestigious joint awards it bestows on the brave men and women who serve in the armed forces—neutering them by referring to them all with the grammatical abomination "themself." "I write regarding the department's decision to incorporate 'gender neutral' language…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • Opinion

    Holds on Military Promotions Aren’t ‘Affecting Readiness At All,’ Sen. Tommy Tuberville Says

    Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville doesn’t appear bothered by criticism from those who say his blocking of military promotions over a Defense Department policy relating to abortion funding is “unprecedented.” “I don’t care what they say. I was an elected senator from the state of Alabama,” says Tuberville, who won his Senate seat in November 2020….
    Samantha Aschieris
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    • Opinion

    New Department of Defense Rule Neuters the Brave Men and Women Who Serve in the Armed Forces

    Change 5 to the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards took effect on Aug. 7, 2023, and hardly anyone noticed. That is until last week, when the Office of the Secretary of Defense returned the draft citation for the end-of-tour award for none other than the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, four-star Army…
    Cully Stimson
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    • Opinion

    Pentagon Spokesman Makes Misleading Claim About Sen. Tuberville

    Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder misled reporters at Monday’s briefing when he claimed Defense Department legislative staff were in contact with Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s office, a spokesman for the Alabama Republican told The Daily Signal. Tuberville is currently blocking the promotions of more than 300 flag officers and military generals over objections to…
    Rob Bluey
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    • Opinion

    California Transportation Policy Is Not for the Free

    MIDLAND, Texas—Here in Texas oil country, your Uber is more likely to be a pickup than a Prius. Daniel, who works in the oil pipeline business when he’s not driving for Uber, picked me up from Midland International Air & Space Port in his Chevy Silverado. Born in Midland Memorial Hospital and raised in Midland,…
    Diana Furchtgott-Roth
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    • Opinion

    Killing 2 Birds With 1 Stone: How to Find More New Teachers and Military Recruits

    America is experiencing two critical shortages at the same time: new school teachers and volunteers for the military. The shortage of teachers is more specific to locality and subject area, rather than acute. School districts have been on a hiring spree for decades, but many schools are struggling to provide their classrooms with effective teachers….
    Jonathan Harman
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    • Opinion

    75 Years Ago, Truman’s Edict Desegregated Military, Helping Build Strongest Force in World

    July 26 marks the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9981, President Harry Truman’s order desegregating America’s armed forces.  That directive helped shape the U.S. military into what it is today, the world’s premier fighting force, one based firmly on meritocracy and which has advanced opportunity and prosperity for millions while keeping the United States safe. …
    Robert Peters
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    • Opinion

    Biden’s Woke Crusade Undermines Military Readiness

    Joe Biden has been on an all-of-government cultural crusade since his first day as president. He has caused a great deal of division in our country, but the adverse consequences of his actions have been most pronounced in the military, from promoting the tenets of critical race theory to using taxpayer funds to facilitate abortions….
    Marty Dannenfelser
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    • Opinion

    We Hear You: How Do We Fix the FBI? Is Wokeness Infecting the Military?

    Editor's note: We're back with letters from The Daily Signal's audience, this time dominated by responses to our coverage of the cloud over the FBI and concerns with wokeness in the military. Here’s a sampling from the mailbag at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: It's misleading to state that FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before…
    Ken McIntyre
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    • News

    Donald Trump Promises: ‘I Will Prevent World War III’

    PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a speech to college students and conservative Americans on Saturday evening, former President Donald Trump promised that he would not allow the United States to head into a third world war. "I'm the only one that can make this promise," Trump said, amid concerns over President Joe Biden's approval of the…
    Mary Margaret Olohan
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    • News

    What Biden’s Top Military Pick Has to Say About 18-Year-Old Woman in National Guard Required to Shower With Males

    An 18-year-old woman in the South Dakota National Guard was required to shower with biological men during basic training, but was afraid to complain about the situation, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Tuesday at a Senate hearing.  The hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee was to consider President Joe Biden’s nomination of Air…
    Fred Lucas
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    • Opinion

    A Matter of Life and Death: America’s Military Academies Must Return to Meritocracies

    The Supreme Court has finally reversed its 2003 decision that first injected racial preferences into university admissions. However, it failed to extend the ruling to America’s military service academies, where a system based on recruiting the most capable to lead service members into battle can ultimately mean the difference between life and death. The court’s…
    Wilson Beaver
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    • Opinion

    Republicans Gut Biden’s Trans Extremism in Woke-Crushing Military Bill

    Most veterans are horrified the words even have to be uttered, but apparently, nothing’s off limits under President Joe Biden’s radical excuse for Pentagon leadership. “DRAG SHOWS HAVE NO PLACE IN OUR MILITARY,” Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., tweeted in all caps—not for the first time. “How many times do we have to say it?” Several, it appears….
    Suzanne Bowdey
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    • News

    SPLC Silent When Asked For Evidence the Lawyer Charged With Domestic Terrorism Didn’t Engage in Violence

    A left-leaning Georgia prosecutor has stepped back from pursuing “Stop Cop City” rioters who violently attacked a police construction site in March, citing a difference in “prosecution philosophies” with Georgia’s attorney general and referencing a Southern Poverty Law Center lawyer who faces domestic terrorism charges in the incident. The SPLC did not respond when asked…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • News

    EXCLUSIVE: Heritage Foundation Sues Pentagon to Learn How Many Abortions It Has Paid For

    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Heritage Foundation is suing the Defense Department for access to information regarding the Pentagon’s funding of abortions.   Heritage on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon to gain access to records regarding the number of abortions it has paid for. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)  …
    Virginia Allen
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    • Opinion

    ‘Extremism’ in US Military: Stand-Down Was a Solution in Search of a Problem

    Based on reports that more than 80 of the 700 defendants charged in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot had a military background, a popular narrative emerged that the military is riven with extremists. Gripped by the moment, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reacted by ordering a one-day stand-down for the…
    Thomas Spoehr
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    • Opinion

    Heritage Foundation Launches Petition to Support Sen. Tuberville’s Fight to End Military’s Paid Leave, Travel for Abortions

    As Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s, R-Ala., public fight to reverse a Department of Defense policy that unilaterally expanded abortion in the military enters its 12th week, a burgeoning grassroots movement is blossoming in support of the senator’s stand, and a growing number of fellow lawmakers on the Hill are also voicing their solidarity. On Thursday, The…
    Dan Hart
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