Introducing: The Bunker

After nearly 20 years of winless wars following 9/11, and a Pentagon budget that is well above the Cold War average, U.S. national security spending has never been a more target-rich environment. That is why the Project On Government Oversight’s Center for Defense Information has launched The Bunker, a precision-guided e-newsletter targeting your inbox most every week. You can sign up to receive it here.

So much of today’s military debate has boiled down to spend-more-to-make-us-safer vs. spend-less-and-invite-attack, when reality, as it tends to be, is much more nuanced. In fact, we would likely be safer if we spent significantly less. The roughly $20 trillion we’ve spent on national security since 9/11 might be worth it if Afghanistan and Iraq were now stable countries allergic to terrorists, if weapon systems were delivered on time and on budget, or if the U.S.’s toxic alliance with Saudi Arabia didn’t risk expanding endless wars in the Middle East.

Written by POGO national security analyst Mark Thompson, The Bunker is both pro-troop and pro-taxpayer; skeptical but never cynical. While Thompson didn’t cover the War of 1812, he has spent more than 40 years covering the Cold War, the promising decade that followed, and the frustrating wars in the Middle East. The Bunker takes aim at a flabby and fusty national security establishment ill-suited for the 21st century. POGO invites you to enlist so you can get The Bunker guided your way each week.