Fort Greely News

Russian strategic bombers conducted flights near the U.S. defense zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week, Moscow's latest incident of nuclear saber-rattling against the United States, according to defense and military officials.

Seven weeks after his bruising Senate confirmation fight, Hagel fielded questions on the defense budget, Afghanistan, Syria and North Korea in his first appearance before the Armed Services Committee since it narrowly approved his nomination in February on a bitter, party-line vote.

With Iran nuclear talks fizzling and North Korea threatening to turn Seoul into a sea of fire, it took political courage for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to go before Congress this week with a 2014 defense budget that cut money for missile defense programs.

In the remote Alaskan wilderness, some 3,800 miles from Pyongyang, North Korea, the United States' last line of defense against a nuclear warhead from North Korea or Iran stands ready to attack.

By JOHN ARQUILLA FOREIGN POLICY MONTEREY, Calif. - The rushed deployment of American missile interceptors to Guam last week, buttressing those already in place at Fort Greely, Alaska, makes for good politics but reflects poor strategic vision.