Those of us on the right tend to be more defensive about the Pentagon than most organs of the federal government, and with good reason: it's unquestionably a legitimate function of the federal government to maintain a military and protect America's security interests, both at home and abroad. Too often, however, we get caught in a false dichotomy about the Department of Defense, with hawks unwilling to entertain the notion of the military seeing its budget cut by even one red cent and a certain strain of libertarians wanting to cut the military to the bone.

In between those two poles is a more sensible position: the military should receive absolutely everything it needs to discharge its core mission of defending the country and our interests abroad … and should be brought to heel like…[more]