With Mideast in conflict, Pope Leo criticizes those who invoke God for war; The Washington Post , April 3, 2026

Anthony Faiola

, 

Michelle Boorstein

 and 

Stefano Pitrelli

, The Washington Post ; With Mideast in conflict, Pope Leo criticizes those who invoke God for war

"As Leo XIV approaches his first Easter as pope, a new era of American military might cloaked in religious righteousness is presenting him with a challenge: How to confront a vision of God being articulated by the Trump administration and its supporters that sounds radically different than the view of the Vatican, spiritual epicenter of the world’s largest Christian faith.

The administration’s depictions of a warlike God who picks sides have startled some in the Holy See, while Leo has felt compelled to counter them. He has done so repeatedly in recent weeks, most pointedly on Palm Sunday, saying God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”"

Judge appears skeptical of Pentagon’s latest press restrictions: ‘Is this a Catch-22?’; Politico, March 30, 2026

JOSH GERSTEIN , Politico; Judge appears skeptical of Pentagon’s latest press restrictions: ‘Is this a Catch-22?’

"A federal judge expressed skepticism Monday about the Pentagon’s new press access policy after invalidating an earlier version that prompted almost all holders of media credentials to turn them in.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman convened a hearing in response to complaints from The New York Times that the Pentagon is defying his earlier order to restore access by subsequently shutting down the decades-old Correspondents Corridor and giving journalists unescorted access only to a library at the margins of the complex."

Judge Blocks Pentagon Move Against Anthropic in AI Ethics Dispute; National Catholic Register, March 30, 2026

Jonah McKeown , National Catholic Register; Judge Blocks Pentagon Move Against Anthropic in AI Ethics Dispute

"A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Defense from labeling American artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a designation the Pentagon gave the company after Anthropic refused to allow the military to use its products for autonomous weaponry and mass surveillance.

The case has drawn interest from prominent Catholics due to the relative novelty of a major AI developer taking a stand in favor of ethical and socially responsible safeguards around the technology in the face of government coercion.

In a March 26 ruling, which is not a final decision in the case, Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said Anthropic has a high likelihood of ultimately winning its case and proving that the government’s “supply chain risk” designation violated, among other laws, the First and Fifth Amendments."

Hegseth Strikes Two Black and Two Female Officers From Promotion List; The New York Times, March 27, 2026

Greg Jaffe, Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper and Adam Entous , The New York Tiimes; Hegseth Strikes Two Black and Two Female Officers From Promotion List

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s highly unusual decision to remove officers from a one-star promotion list has spurred allegations of racial and gender bias.

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals, a highly unusual move that has prompted some senior military officials to question whether the officers are being singled out because of their race or gender.

Two of the officers targeted by Mr. Hegseth are Black and two are women on a promotion list that consists of about three dozen officers, most of whom are white men, senior military officials said.

Mr. Hegseth had been pressing senior Army leaders, including Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, for months to remove the officers’ names, military officials said. But Mr. Driscoll, citing the officers’ decades-long records of exemplary service, had repeatedly refused.

Earlier this month, Mr. Hegseth broke the logjam by unilaterally striking the officers’ names from the list, though it is not clear he has the legal authority to do so. The list is currently being reviewed by the White House, which is expected to send it to the Senate for final approval. A few female and Black officers remain on the list, military officials said.

It is exceedingly rare that a one-star list draws such intense scrutiny from a defense secretary. The battle highlights the bitter rifts opened by Mr. Hegseth’s campaign to reverse policies that he says are prejudiced against white officers.

Mr. Hegseth has said repeatedly that he is determined to change a culture corrupted by “foolish,” “reckless” and “woke” leaders from previous administrations. But his heavy scrutiny, especially of female and minority officers, is eroding confidence in a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit based, his critics have said.

This article is based on interviews with 11 current and former military and administration officials who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters."

Hegseth prays for ‘overwhelming violence’ during Pentagon Christian service; Military Times, March 26, 2026

Cristina Stassis , Military Times; Hegseth prays for ‘overwhelming violence’ during Pentagon Christian service

"During the Pentagon’s monthly prayer service Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prayed for “overwhelming violence” against “those who deserve no mercy.”...

Hegseth, a Christian who belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, has spoken about his faith in speeches, raising concerns that he is associating the Christian faith with politics and the military.

The CREC is a conservative network co-founded by Douglas Wilson who was the guest speaker at February’s Pentagon prayer ceremony after other CREC pastors attended previous services.

Hegseth, meanwhile, has sought to reform the military’s Chaplain Corps with the goal of refocusing on ministry since “a chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain and an officer second,” he said in a Tuesday video announcement. He announced that chaplains will no longer wear their rank insignia, but instead, will wear symbols of their faith."

Judge blocks Pentagon order branding Anthropic a national security risk; The Washington Post, March 26, 2026

Ian Duncan, The Washington Post; Judge blocks Pentagon order branding Anthropic a national security risk

The artificial intelligence lab argued that the Trump administration was punishing it for speaking about the risks of its technology.

"A federal judge in San Francisco blocked a Pentagon order Thursday labeling the artificial intelligence company Anthropic a national security risk, saying officials had likely violated the law and retaliated against the firm for speaking publicly about how it wanted its technology to be used.

“Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” District Court Judge Rita F. Lin wrote.

The immediate practical implications of the ruling are unclear, but it represents a clear victory for the AI lab, which has been involved in a bitter power struggle with the Defense Department over the use of its Claude system by the military."

After losing in court, the Pentagon moves to restrict press access again; CNN, March 23, 2026

 Brian Stelter, CNN; After losing in court, the Pentagon moves to restrict press access again

"Undeterred by a federal judge’s recent rebuke, the Pentagon has announced another set of restrictions on the press corps that regularly covers the US military.

The changes will further reduce day-to-day press access, ultimately eroding the public’s understanding of what the military is doing.

Under the new rules, announced Monday, the “Correspondents’ Corridor” inside the Pentagon building — where journalists have worked for decades — has been shut down. The Pentagon says replacement workspace will be set up at a faraway “annex” location at some point.

Some longtime Pentagon reporters immediately suggested that the changes were retaliatory, coming three days after The New York Times won a permanent injunction against an earlier set of Pentagon restrictions. In that order, senior US District Judge Paul Friedman said the Pentagon had violated the First Amendment."

Judge Rules Pentagon Restrictions on Press Are Unconstitutional; The New York Times, March 20, 2026

Erik Wemple , The New York Times; Judge Rules Pentagon Restrictions on Press Are Unconstitutional

A federal judge tossed parts of the Pentagon’s restrictions on news outlets, saying they violated the First Amendment, in a lawsuit brought by The New York Times.

"A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Pentagon’s restrictions on news outlets violate the First Amendment and issued an order tossing parts of the Defense Department’s policy, handing a victory to The New York Times, which filed suit in December over the restrictions.

Judge Paul Friedman, of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also ordered the Pentagon to restore the press passes of seven journalists for The Times. They had surrendered those passes in October instead of signing the policy, which empowered the Pentagon to declare journalists “security risks” and revoke their press passes if they engaged in any conduct that the Pentagon believed threatened national security.

In his 40-page ruling, Judge Friedman wrote that the Pentagon’s policy rewarded reporters who were “willing to publish only stories that are favorable to or spoon-fed by department leadership.”

Siding with an argument advanced by The Times, Judge Friedman added that the Pentagon had given itself too much power to enforce its new rules. The policy also violates journalists’ due process rights under the Fifth Amendment, he said, writing that it “provides no way for journalists to know how they may do their jobs without losing their credentials.”

Anthropic’s Ethical Stand Could Be Paying Off; The Atlantic, March 7, 2026

 Ken Harbaugh, The Atlantic; Anthropic’s Ethical Stand Could Be Paying Off

"The events of the past week reminded me of my early days as a Navy pilot nearly three decades ago. One of my first tasks was to sign a document pledging never to surveil American citizens. By the time of the 9/11 attacks, I was an aircraft commander, leading combat-reconnaissance aircrews that gathered large-scale intelligence and informed battlefield targeting decisions. I took for granted that somewhere along those decision chains, a human being was in the loop.

I could not have defined artificial intelligence then, but I understood instinctively that a person, not a machine, would bear the weight of life-and-death choices. This was not a bureaucratic consideration. It was a hard line that those of us in uniform were expected to hold.

In the standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon, a private company was forced to hold the line against its own government. In doing so, Anthropic may have earned something more valuable than the contract it lost. In an industry where trust is the scarcest resource, Anthropic just banked a substantial deposit."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders cancellation of DOD ties with Columbia beginning in 2026-27 academic year; Columbia Spectator, February 27, 2026

JOSEPH ZULOAGA AND DORA GAO, Columbia Spectator; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders cancellation of DOD ties with Columbia beginning in 2026-27 academic year

"Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the cancellation of the Department of Defense’s ties with Columbia beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, arguing that Columbia and other universities are “woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination” in a Friday video posted on X.

In the video, Hegseth announced the “complete and immediate cancellation” of the DOD’s “attendance” at Columbia and other universities, marking the administration’s latest escalation against higher education. Friday’s announcement will also affect Columbia’s Ivy League peer institutions—Brown University, Princeton University, and Yale University—and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others."

If A.I. Is a Weapon, Who Should Control It?; The New York Times, February 28, 2026

Ross Douthat, The New York Times ; If A.I. Is a Weapon, Who Should Control It?

"We spent the Cold War worrying mostly about military folly, and A.I. entered into our anxieties even then: the Soviet Doomsday Machine in “Dr. Strangelove,” the game-playing computer in “WarGames” and of course the fateful “Terminator” decision to make Skynet operational.

But for the last few years, as A.I. advances have concentrated potentially extraordinary power in the hands of a few companies and C.E.O.s — themselves embedded in a Bay Area culture of science-fiction dreams and apocalyptic fears — it’s become more natural to worry more about private power and ambition, about would-be A.I. god-kings rather than presidents and generals.

Until, that is, the current collision between the Department of Defense and Anthropic, the artificial intelligence pioneer, over whether Anthropic’s A.I. models should be bound by the company’s ethical constraints or made available for all uses the Pentagon might have in mind."

OpenAI Reaches A.I. Agreement With Defense Dept. After Anthropic Clash; The New York Times, February 27, 2026

Cade Metz , The New York Times; OpenAI Reaches A.I. Agreement With Defense Dept. After Anthropic Clash

"OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, said on Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to provide its artificial intelligence technologies for classified systems, just hours after President Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using A.I. technology made by rival Anthropic.

Under the deal, OpenAI agreed to let the Pentagon use its A.I. systems for any lawful purpose, a term required by the Pentagon. But OpenAI also said it had found a way to ensure that its technologies would adhere to its safety principles by installing specific technical guardrails on its systems."

Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff; The New York Times, February 27, 2026

 Julian E. Barnes and Sheera Frenkel , The New York Times; Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff

"President Trump on Friday ordered all federal agencies to stop using artificial intelligence technology made by Anthropic, a directive that could vastly complicate government intelligence analysis and defense work.

Writing on Truth Social, Mr. Trump used harsh words for Anthropic, describing it as a “radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about.”

Shortly after Mr. Trump’s announcement, and 13 minutes after a Pentagon deadline, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designatedthe company a “supply-chain risk to national security.” The label means that no contractor or supplier that works with the military can do business with Anthropic.

The move is all but unheard-of, legal experts said. It strips an American company of its government work by using a process previously deployed only with foreign companies the United States considered security risks."

Pentagon Standoff Is a Decisive Moment for How A.I. Will Be Used in War; The New York Times, February 27, 2026

Adam Satariano, Julian E. Barnes and Sheera Frenkel , The New York Times; Pentagon Standoff Is a Decisive Moment for How A.I. Will Be Used in War

The Pentagon’s contract dispute with Anthropic is part of a wider clash about the use of artificial intelligence for national security and who decides on any safeguards.

"The fight between the Department of Defense and the artificial intelligence company Anthropic has ostensibly been about a $200 million contract over the use of A.I. in classified systems.

But as the two sides careen toward a 5:01 p.m. Friday deadlineover terms of the contract, far more is at stake.

Amid the legalese and heated rhetoric are questions being asked globally about how to use A.I., what the technology’s risks are and who gets to decide on setting any limits — the makers of A.I. or national governments.

Underlying it all is fear and awe over the dizzying pace of A.I. progress and the technology’s uncertain impact on society."

Pentagon Attacks Anthropic Chief as Deadline Looms in Standoff; The New York Times, February 27, 2026

 Julian E. Barnes and Sheera Frenkel, The New York Times ; Pentagon Attacks Anthropic Chief as Deadline Looms in Standoff

The A.I. firm had rejected military officials’ latest offer. Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. on Friday to give them unrestricted access to its model.

"A standoff between the Pentagon and the artificial intelligence company Anthropic appeared to be deepening as the two sides hurtled toward a 5:01 p.m. deadline Friday that military officials gave the firm to either allow them unrestricted access to its most advanced model or face consequences.

Defense Department officials criticized Anthropic’s leader after the company on Thursday rejected their latest offer to settle the dispute. The Pentagon has threatened to either cut the company off from government business by declaring it a supply chain threat or force it to provide its frontier model without restrictions under the Defense Production Act.

Emil Michael, a top Pentagon official who oversees artificial intelligence, attacked Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, who on Thursday released a statement about why the company would not agree to the Defense Department’s latest terms.

“It’s a shame that @DarioAmodei is a liar and has a God-complex,” Mr. Michael wrote late Thursday. “He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation’s safety at risk. The @DeptofWar will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company.”"

US DoD to Anthropic: compromise AI ethics or be banished from supply chain; CIO, February 25, 2026

 John E. Dunn, CIO; US DoD to Anthropic: compromise AI ethics or be banished from supply chain

"Defense Secretary Hegseth has threatened to compel Anthropic to give the military free rein with AI, say reports.

A growing rift between the US Department of Defense (DoD) and Anthropic over how AI can be used by the military has led to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issuing a blunt ultimatum: work with us on our terms or risk being banned from Pentagon programs.

According to news site Axios, Hegseth gave Anthropic until Friday, February 27 to agree to its terms during a tense meeting this week. If no agreement is reached, the company would risk being deemed a “supply chain risk,” with Hegseth even threatening to invoke the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to compel cooperation, the report said.

The DoD’s view is that it should be free to use Anthropic’s AI for “all lawful purposes,” regardless of ethical boundaries set by the company itself. Anthropic, by contrast, wants to set narrower guardrails."

Anthropic ditches its core safety promise in the middle of an AI red line fight with the Pentagon; CNN, February 25, 2026

Clare Duffy , Lisa Eadicicco, CNN; Anthropic ditches its core safety promise in the middle of an AI red line fight with the Pentagon

"Anthropic, a company founded by OpenAI exiles worried about the dangers of AI, is loosening its core safety principle in response to competition.

Instead of self-imposed guardrails constraining its development of AI models, Anthropic is adopting a nonbinding safety framework that it says can and will change.

In a blog post Tuesday outlining its new policy, Anthropic said shortcomings in its two-year-old Responsible Scaling Policy could hinder its ability to compete in a rapidly growing AI market.

The announcement is surprising, because Anthropic has described itself as the AI company with a “soul.” It also comes the same week that Anthropic is fighting a significant battle with the Pentagon over AI red lines."

Pentagon threatens Anthropic punishment; Axios, February 16, 2026

Dave Lawler, Maria Curi, Mike Allen, Axios; Pentagon threatens Anthropic punishment

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is "close" to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the AI company a "supply chain risk" — meaning anyone who wants to do business with the U.S. military has to cut ties with the company, a senior Pentagon official told Axios.

The senior official said: "It will be an enormous pain in the ass to disentangle, and we are going to make sure they pay a price for forcing our hand like this."

Why it matters: That kind of penalty is usually reserved for foreign adversaries. 

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Axios: "The Department of War's relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed. Our nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight. Ultimately, this is about our troops and the safety of the American people."

The big picture: Anthropic's Claude is the only AI model currently available in the military's classified systems, and is the world leader for many business applications. Pentagon officials heartily praise Claude's capabilities."

Don’t deny military community unbiased coverage issues that matter to them; Stars and Stripes, February 5, 2026

BERN ZOVISTOSKI, Stars and Stripes; Don’t deny military community unbiased coverage issues that matter to them

[Kip Currier: Powerful testimonial of the importance of free and independent presses]

"Bern Zovistoski was editor of European Stars and Stripes from 1991 to 1996.

When Congress intervened several decades ago (1990) to change the way Stars and Stripes operated on behalf of the U.S. military worldwide, there was evidence of “undue influence” by the uniformed leadership.

The new directives adopted by the Department of Defense were aimed at eliminating military control over what to publish (or not publish) and to provide service members a newspaper that emulated the best aspects of American journalism, without censorship of any kind.

As the first editor of European Stars and Stripes under the revised policies, I was hired as a “colonel equivalent” with responsibility for ensuring fair and accurate news coverage, arriving at Stripes in Darmstadt, Germany, just 10 days before the massive air attack that launched Operation Desert Storm against Iraq.

I saw what the situation had been.

For nearly the next six years, I saw a remarkable team of civilian journalists and military members transform the newspaper into one with strong editorial integrity that offered service members unvarnished news and information — which, of course, they deserved.

During my tenure, I benefited from an excellent relationship from the two publishers with whom I worked: Air Force Col. Gene Townsend, who hired me, and Air Force Col. Steven Hoffman. Both supported my efforts to the hilt.

In fact, I learned during my tenure that a good number of officers supported our efforts.

When the Gulf War ensued, we deployed reporters just as many U.S. newspapers did, and in short order our daily circulation surged from about 80,000 to 250,000 — and many of those readers were engaged in battle.

Who would deny these men and women an unbiased view of the monumental events in which they were involved?

Based on all the signals from the Trump administration’s people, they would.

I had held virtually every position in the newsroom in my career up to this point, including 25 years at The Times-Union in Albany, N.Y. — 18 in a managerial role.

I learned that the purpose of a newspaper is to provide truthful news to its readers.

There were many instances during my nearly six-year tenure that demonstrated some military leaders wanted to — and tried to — alter what we were doing to serve our readers.

But believe me, none succeeded.

In closing, I believe this anecdote sums up our success:

When I arrived at Stripes, there were no letters to the editor.

Oh, an occasional question was printed, with a “company policy” answer by the military. In essence, our readers were not given an opportunity to receive answers to their questions or even to ask questions.

We implemented a policy that enabled any and every reader to write a letter to the editor — expressing whatever they wished — and required the writer sign his or her name!

We were deluged with letters.

That was a biggie (although common in U.S. newspapers that we were emulating).

This action confirmed that the newspaper truly belonged to the readers and served them.

It’s doubtful President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or anyone else in the current federal administration understands — or, perhaps, it’s because they do, and that’s their problem.""

Pentagon says it will ‘refocus’ Stars and Stripes content; Stars and Stripes, January 15, 2026

COREY DICKSTEIN, Stars and Stripes; Pentagon says it will ‘refocus’ Stars and Stripes content

[Kip Currier: Forward this Stars and Stripes article about Pete Hegseth's plans for the military newspaper to as many as possible. It's valuable perspective to hear from Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin and members of Congress.]

[Excerpt]

"The Pentagon said on social media Thursday it would take over editorial content decision-making for Stars and Stripes in a statement from the Defense Department’s top spokesman.

“The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters. We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top public affairs official and a close adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, wrote in a statement posted to X. “We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.”

The statement appears to challenge the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes, which while a part of the Pentagon’s Defense Media Activity has long retained independence from editorial oversight from the Pentagon under a congressional mandate that it be governed by First Amendment principles.

The move was met with pushback from several Democratic senators, who accused the Pentagon of tampering with the newspaper’s reporting.

Stars and Stripes, which is dedicated to serving U.S. government personnel overseas, seeks to emulate the best practices of commercial news organizations in the United States. It is governed by Department of Defense Directive 5122.11. The directive states, among other key provisions, that “there shall be a free flow of news and information to its readership without news management or censorship.”

Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin, in a note to Stars and Stripes’ editorial staff across the globe Thursday, said the military deserves independent news.

“The people who risk their lives in defense of the Constitution have earned the right to the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Slavin wrote. “We will not compromise on serving them with accurate and balanced coverage, holding military officials to account when called for.”

Stars and Stripes first appeared during the Civil War, and it has been continuously published since World War II. It is staffed by civilian and active-duty U.S. military reporters and editors who produce daily newspapers for American troops around the world and a website, stripes.com, which is updated with news 24 hours a day, seven days a week...

Parnell’s post came a day after a Washington Post report revealed that applicants for positions at Stars and Stripes were being asked how they would support President Donald Trump’s policies. The questionnaire appears on the USAJobs portal, the official website for federal hiring. Stars and Stripes was unaware of the questions until the Post inquired about them, organization leaders said.

The Pentagon statement comes several years after the Defense Department attempted to shut down Stars in Stripes in 2020, during Trump’s first administration."