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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    • Opinion

    3 Ways to Make Our Military Stronger

    Here is a prediction: The defense budget will get a cash Band-Aid in 2016. Washington may be about to experience one of those rare moments when smart politics coincides with smart policies. Instead of wringing its hands over surviving under “austerity” budgets as far as the eye can see, the Pentagon ought to be thinking…
    James Carafano
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    • News

    Social Conservatives Share What’s Behind the Left’s Biggest Misconceptions About Them

    Are social conservatives struggling to share their message? At the 2014 Values Voter Summit last weekend in Washington, some conference attendees said that’s the case when The Daily Signal asked them to specify the Left’s common misconceptions about social conservatives—and what they could do to communicate and advance traditional values.
    Gabriella Morrongiello
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    • News

    8 Ways the Obama Administration Restricts Access to Information, According to the Associated Press

    The Associated Press’ Washington bureau chief is the latest journalist to criticize the Obama administration for failing to live up to its promise of transparency. “Bush was not fantastic,” Sally Buzbee recently told a meeting of journalists. “The [Obama] administration is significantly worse than previous administrations.” Buzbee detailed eight ways the Obama administration is restricting…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    VA Hospital Lacks Amenities for Patients, Yet Spends Millions on Solar Panels

    Patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital have been going without toothbrushes, toothpaste, pajamas, sheets and blankets while department officials spend money on new Canadian-made furniture, televisions to run public service announcements and solar panels. Sources inside the Shreveport, La., hospital say patients have had to contend with substandard care, as many nurses spend less time on work than on cell…
    Tori Richards
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    • Opinion

    Dropping the TSA: 19th Airport Joins More Efficient Private Screening Program

    Tired of long lines at TSA airport checkpoints? Today, the Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) began a transition to private security screeners rather than Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners in a change that promises more efficient security measures. SFB just joined the TSA’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP) that allows airports to replace TSA screeners with…
    David Inserra
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    • Opinion

    Happy Birthday, Long-Range U.S. Missile Defense!

    This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first operational deployment of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, the only ballistic missile defense system that currently protects the U.S. from a long-range ballistic missile threat. The interest in the development and deployment of the system came after the U.S. withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty…
    Michaela Dodge
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    • Opinion

    Why Federal District Court—Not Military Commission—Was Right Court to Try Bin Laden’s Son-in-Law

    Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law was sentenced to life in prison today in a New York federal district court. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was convicted in his federal terrorism trial earlier this spring, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who described Ghaith at the sentencing proceeding today as bin Laden’s “propaganda minister” and,…
    Cully Stimson
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    • Opinion

    As Russia’s Aggression Increases, Poland Becomes More Crucial

    WARSAW — Quite suddenly, what Poland does and doesn’t do has become crucial to the United States and the Western alliance. As the next-door neighbor of Ukraine and with uncertainty about Russia’s next aggressive move, Poland matters. Adjoining as it does the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — all prime targets of…
    Lee Edwards
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    • News

    The Scary Security Threat You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

    WASHINGTON —  Physical and cyber threats from radical Islamists dominated a Senate hearing on Wednesday, but Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., raised another challenge that may be even more pressing–an electromagnetic pulse brought on by terror attacks or solar activity. Johnson said security experts are worried the civilian world is unprepared to handle a catastrophic EMP,…
    Josh Peterson
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    • News

    Former State Dept. Official: Details of Maxwell’s Benghazi Document Story ‘Ring True’

    A State Department whistleblower has come forward  to say the details of a former colleague’s account of the sifting of Benghazi-related documents to identify damaging material “ring true.” The Daily Signal reported Monday on Raymond Maxwell, a former deputy assistant secretary at the State Department who says he observed an unusual after-hours session in a basement operations room…
    Sharyl Attkisson
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    • News

    Did Terrorists Try to Cross the Border? Congressman Presses Homeland Security Chief for Answers

    At a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing yesterday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson about a report that four men with ties to terrorist organizations tried to cross the Texas border Sept. 10. “We have a porous border,” @JasonInTheHouse told Fox News’ @MegynKelly. Johnson neither confirmed nor denied the the…
    Josh Siegel
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    • News

    Government Insider Warned of HealthCare.gov Security Risks: ‘I Am Tired of the Cover-Ups’

    Government insiders who flagged security issues prior to the launch of HealthCare.gov were right to be concerned. That’s according to a new audit by the Government Accountability Office, which concluded that security weaknesses are putting “the sensitive personal information” contained by HealthCare.gov and its related systems at risk. HealthCare.gov security problems put “sensitive personal information” at risk,…
    Sharyl Attkisson
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    • News

    6 Takeaways From the Benghazi Panel’s First Hearing on Security Failures

    The House special committee investigating the Benghazi terrorist attacks today convened its first public hearing, examining progress in implementing security improvements at U.S. embassies and other missions abroad. Although no fireworks erupted, the State Department’s failure to follow through on an independent group’s No. 1 security priority after the attacks proved a major highlight. Here’s…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    5 Key Points Marco Rubio Made in His Big Defense Speech Today

    Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., outlined his views on the role of America in the world, why we need American power, and his position on what the U.S. military should look like in a speech today. Here is a brief recap of what Rubio said: 1. “Foreign policy is domestic policy.” “Never before have our people…
    Diem Salmon
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    • Opinion

    How a 4-Year-Old Girl Got This Commercial Rejected By CBS

    Last week, CBS Sports caused an outrage when it refused to air a commercial by a local real estate company. The commercial featured the company owner’s 4-year-old granddaughter reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a screen shot with the company’s information. That was the entirety of the clip, which Windermere Real Estate created to…
    Ericka Andersen
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    • News

    Benghazi Bombshell: Clinton State Department Official Reveals Details of Alleged Document Review

    As the House Select Committee on Benghazi prepares for its first hearing this week, a former State Department diplomat is coming forward with a startling allegation: Hillary Clinton confidants were part of an operation to “separate” damaging documents before they were turned over to the Accountability Review Board investigating security lapses surrounding the Sept. 11,…
    Sharyl Attkisson
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    • News

    Feds Have No Idea the Extent of SNAP Fraud, Says Iowa Official

    DES MOINES, Iowa — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sure the U.S. Department of Agriculture is doing a great job fighting fraud committed by people receiving benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Wendy Dishman disagrees. Dishman is the administrator of the Investigative Division of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, which has…
    Paul Brennan
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    • Opinion

    One Photo Confirms Why Military Dogs Are the Best Dogs Ever

    If loyalty had to be defined by a picture, this would be it. A military working dog spotted in an airport protecting a soldier while he sleeps, this German shepherd is quickly becoming a viral sensation. It's a great reminder that heroes come in all sizes (and breeds). >>>Four Legs and a Life of Service: The Fight to…
    Kelsey Lucas
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    • News

    At One Border Hot Spot, Concern That Federal Prosecutors Have Cooled on Security

    Officials in Yuma County, Ariz., a border region long a hot spot for illegal immigration, say the Department of Justice is scaling back an established program that uses prosecution and imprisonment to discourage illegal border crossings. Arizona’s two U.S. senators wrote U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking confirmation that federal prosecutors based in the state…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    The Insane Reason This Girl Was Forced Out of D.C. Public Schools

    Avery Gagliano — a piano prodigy and truant. Yes, the 13-year-old musical genius, who was chosen to join 11 other musicians from around the world to play in Munich last year, playing this masterpiece… … is also a truant in the eyes of the D.C. public school system. In March, Avery traveled to Connecticut for…
    Kelsey Lucas
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