Jim Lobe has kept up with the story over the years, for all the good it has done. The U.S. spends more on national security than the rest of the world combined...and the Neocons would like to spend more. DOD has a constituency on Capitol Hill, in part because of the Neocons running the country, and in part because DOD spends money around the country...in every Congressional district. State, on the other hand, has no constituency on the Hill to speak of and spends most of its money overseas. Furthermore, the nature of diplomacy is to seek common ground through compromise. That has a bad odor under the Neocons, among which number I count John McCain. So the story is all true. The only prospect for State retaking some influence back in foreign affairs is if Obama wins the election.