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

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘He Sees All White People as Racist’: Military Assessment Criticizes Air Force Colonel’s Leadership

    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Col. Ben Jonsson, an Air Force officer who accused his fellow “white colonels” of being “blind to institutional racism,” is the subject of blistering criticism from subordinates at MacDill Air Force Base, where he served as commander from 2020 to 2022.  Jonsson is among the more than 300 military officers awaiting…
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  • news

    Former Green Beret Says Military Punished Him for Opposing Vaccine Mandate

    John Frankman formerly served as a captain in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret. But after a years-long struggle to stand up for his religious beliefs in a battle against the military’s vaccine mandate, Frankman made the choice to voluntarily separate from the Army in July. Now he’s sharing his story. In an interview…
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  • news

    LAWSUIT: Air Force Punished Reservist Who Condemned Woke Military ‘Enforcement Tactics’

    A new lawsuit is accusing the Department of the Air Force and the U.S. Space Force of punishing a reservist for speaking out against the "enforcement tactics" of those he says are quashing courage and truth within the military. Space Force reservist Jace Yarbrough delivered remarks in uniform in early 2021 at the retirement ceremony…
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  • opinion

    At West Point, Racism Becomes More Important Than Military Readiness

    Students for Fair Admissions, the same group that recently won a lawsuit against Harvard and the University of North Carolina challenging their illegal, racially discriminatory admissions policies, has filed a similar suit against the U.S. Military Academy.  Shockingly, the admissions policy at West Point, one of our premier military academies, is even more blatantly racist…
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  • news

    Paying Iranian Terrorists Billions in Ransom Is Nothing to Brag About, Mr. President

    The going rate for an American hostage these days is around $1.3 billion. That’s what the Biden administration paid out this week for five Americans in a prisoner swap with the Islamic Republic of Iran. And with little overhead, it’s mostly profit for the mullahs. But don’t let the term “prisoner swap” insinuate that there…
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  • news

    Tuberville Wanted a Vote on Military Nominees. Here Are the Results for the Joint Chiefs Chairman.

    Only 11 of 49 Republican senators voted against President Joe Biden’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after many conservatives raised concerns about critical race theory and other woke ideas and policies invading the military.  The Senate confirmed Air Force Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown Jr. to the nation’s top military position Wednesday…
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  • opinion

    Pentagon Reverses Gender-Neutral Pronoun Policy for Awards After Heritage Takes It to Task

    A rare thing happened Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Sanity prevailed. On Sept. 19, very quietly, the Pentagon reversed its asinine gender-neutral pronoun rule for certain award citations that my colleague Dakota Wood and I exposed on Sept. 1. Without any fanfare—no doubt in an attempt to put this entire sordid affair behind it—the Pentagon simply…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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….
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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….
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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. …
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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….
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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…
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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…
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