UNFLAGGING SUPPORT: In the wake of the Marine Corps’ decision to ban displays of the Confederate battle flag at all installations and workplaces, and the move by other services to follow suit, the Pentagon is seeking to come up with a uniform policy that will be consistent across the services and the department.
The new policy would apply to both military service members and civilian personnel at all Defense Department workplaces or public areas, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a draft copy of the policy that has been circulating in the Pentagon.
A memo with the draft notes that a “significant” population of service members and their families are minorities and that “it is beyond doubt” that many “take grave offense at such a display,” reports the AP, which asserts that a ban would preserve “the morale of our personnel, good order and discipline within the military ranks and unit cohesion.”
TRUMP QUESTIONS NASCAR’S FLAG BAN: The move comes as President Trump seemingly chastised NASCAR for banning the display of the Confederate flag at all of its events and venues, a decision that he tweeted “has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
Setting aside statements from Fox Sports and NBC that ratings are actually up, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted Monday that Trump’s words were being twisted and that, in fact, he is neutral on the issue of displaying the Confederate flag.
“I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other. The intent of the tweet was to stand up for the men and women of NASCAR and the fans,” argued McEnany, who accused reporters of conflating the flag comment with Trump’s call in the same tweet for Bubba Wallace to apologize because the FBI determined that a noose found in his garage was not a hate crime.
“You’re focusing on one word at the very bottom of the tweet that’s completely taken out of context and neglecting the complete rush to judgment on this,” she said.
NOT AN ATTEMPT TO ERASE HISTORY: In a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump decried what he called a “left-wing cultural revolution,” which he said is “determined to tear down every statue, symbol, and memory of our national heritage.”
“In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance,” Trump said, not mentioning the Confederate flag specifically. “If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished. It’s not going to happen to us,” he said.
On Sunday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger defended his decision to ban displays of the Confederate Flag in an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz on This Week.
“This is not an attempt to erase history, but the bigger symbol is the things that draw the team together so we can operate with that kind of implicit trust,” Berger said. “We have a flag. It’s the American flag. We have the Marine Corps colors. We have things that unify us. Anything that gets in the way of that is a problem.”
HOUSE NDAA BANS FLAG: During last week’s passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the House Armed Services Committee, the committee adopted by voice vote an amendment offered by Maryland Democrat Rep. Anthony Brown that prohibits the display of the Confederate flag on Department of Defense property and across all military branches.
“Our armed services must foster a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all Americans to serve the country they love,” Brown said in a statement. “The display of the Confederate flag and related racist symbols have no place in our military.”
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by David Sivak and Tyler Van Dyke. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
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HAPPENING TODAY: The State Department’s top North Korea negotiator heads to the region today to confer with U.S. allies South Korea and Japan about the next steps now that talks with the North have broken down and Kim Jong Un shows no signs of fulfilling his pledge to give up his nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles.
Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will stop first in Seoul and then continue to Tokyo this week “to continue close allied cooperation on a range of bilateral and global issues and further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK,” according to the State Department.
‘IT’S GOOD TIMING’: So says Korea expert Duyeon Kim of the Center for a New American Security in a Twitter thread this morning, citing “SKorea’s upgraded natl security team, pause in NK’s military plans, NK wedge-driving efforts, uncertainty until Nov election.”
“Realistically, [Biegun] will likely want to further boost alliance/coordination, compare notes on latest, ensure solidarity in uncertain times,” she tweets, which she argues is critical because “Seoul determined to drive home inter-Korean agenda, which is currently in crisis, and facilitate another Trump-Kim summit before November US election.”
“Seoul would want to push for even a ‘small deal’ between the US and NKorea to break the deadlock before November,” she says, but she warns that “it’s important for Pyongyang and Seoul to realize that American voters don’t care about another deal or summit with NK. The vote is about the pandemic, economy, racial justice and anything else domestic that might pop up until Nov. A summit in an election year isn’t realistic.”
CHINA’S ‘ORWELLIAN MOVE’: In a statement issued last night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Chinese Communist Party of destroying Hong Kong’s freedom.
“With the ink barely dry on the repressive National Security Law, local authorities — in an Orwellian move — have now established a central government national security office, started removing books critical of the CCP from library shelves, banned political slogans, and are now requiring schools to enforce censorship,” he said.
“Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech under an independent rule of law. No more. The United States condemns Beijing’s repeated failure to live up to its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and these latest assaults on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.”
CHINA’S ‘WOLF WARRIORS’: Dean Cheng, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, is out with a new report, “Challenging China’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomats.”
China’s so-called Wolf Warrior diplomatic corps “has become much more energetic, even aggressive,” he writes. “They are now part of the policymaking environment, [and] they have far more influence on actual foreign policy of the PRC.”
This new crop of diplomats is playing hardball, Cheng says, pushing controversial CCP narratives and countering foreign criticism. “The U.S. must better counter false Chinese assertions rapidly, while engaging in longer-term efforts to promote American diplomatic goals,” he asserts. Read the full report here.
ANOTHER LOYALTY TEST? Foreign Policy magazine is reporting that a pair of 20-something White House staffers will begin conducting interviews with political appointees at the Defense Department starting this week — a move that some fear could lead to more dismissals of Pentagon officials considered disloyal to Trump.
According to the report, the White House liaison office sent an email to political appointees inviting them to schedule a meeting with representatives from the Presidential Personnel Office “to show off their credentials for a position in a possible second Trump term.”
“But current and former officials who spoke to Foreign Policy worry that the 30-minute interviews will be used to root out officials who aren’t seen as sufficiently loyal to Trump,” the report says, quoting a former senior Trump administration as saying, “I think the assumption is correct — aligned with Trump or you’re out.”
MOVING UP: Trump has nominated Joint Chiefs Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Glen VanHerck to get his fourth star and become the next commander of U.S. Northern Command and commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, the Pentagon has announced.
The announcement also included the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Clark to be superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Clark currently serves as Air Force deputy chief of staff, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, at the Pentagon.
INDUSTRY WATCH: Lockheed Martin’s F-35A fleet has become the Air Force’s third-largest fighter fleet — larger than its F-15C/D or E variants and larger than the F-22 Raptor fleet, reports Air Force Magazine.
The standard A-model of the multi-role plane will likely surpass 250 airframes by the end of August, according to the Joint Program Office. The U.S. Air Force’s F-35s compose nearly half of all those delivered globally.
Northrop Grumman has been cleared by the State Department to sell three E-2D advanced Hawkeye aircraft to France along with related equipment, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Monday. The potential sale is valued at $2 billion.
“The proposed sale will improve France’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing its Naval Air Forces with a sustainable follow on capability to their current, legacy E-2C Hawkeye aircraft,” DSCA said in its statement. “The E-2D aircraft will continue and expand French naval aviation capabilities and maintain interoperability with U.S. naval forces.”
Shipbuilder Bath Iron Works is looking to hire hundreds of nonunion workers temporarily to replace 4,300 unionized shipbuilders who have been on strike since June 21, reports Breaking Defense.
Bath President Dirk Lesko defended the search for nonunion workers in a July 2 letter to employees obtained by Breaking Defense. “Even during the strike, we have a job to get done for our Navy customer,” he wrote. “Even before the strike, the impact of attrition and COVID-19 had driven our manufacturing staffing more than 500 people below what was needed.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: EXCLUSIVE: Southcom commander describes Chinese and Russian threats in the Americas
Washington Examiner: John Bolton grilled on Russian bounties after Susan Rice says she believes he ‘would have’ briefed Trump
Washington Examiner: Soldiers given bayonets for DC protests
Washington Examiner: Grassley amendment to defense budget would reduce power of Pentagon think
AP: Hong Kong grappling with future under national security law
AFP: ‘We’re Next’: Hong Kong Security Law Sends Chills Through Taiwan
CNN.com: Tensions Heat Up In South China Sea As U.S. Makes Significant Show Of Force
Wall Street Journal: How Kremlin’s View Of U.S.’s War In Afghanistan Has Shifted
Business Insider: Black US Army cadets say they were called the N-word and ‘shunned’ for reporting discrimination at West Point
Washington Post: Sen. Duckworth to block more than 1,000 military promotions unless Pentagon vows not to retaliate against Vindman
Washington Post: New Iraqi leader tries to rein in Iran-backed militias, but task proves daunting
Military.com: Marine Units Deactivate in Aggressive Plan to Reshape the Corps
Seapower Magazine: Navy Will Inactivate 9 Ships In 2021
Bloomberg: Defense Industry’s Covid Closings Decline, Pentagon Agency Says
CNN.com: Military Deploying Medical Personnel As Texas Sees Spike In Coronavirus Patients
Washington Post: ‘The Cursed Platoon’
Washington Post: We asked veterans to respond to The Post’s reporting on Clint Lorance and his platoon. Here’s what they said.
AP: Germany Spent Over $1B To Cover Costs Linked To U.S. Tro
Washington Post: Remains of missing soldier Vanessa Guillén likely found, family says, as suspect kills himself
Breaking Defense: Future Missile War Needs New Kind Of Command: CSIS
Washington Times: Navy’s Plan For Future Hijacked By Defense Department’s Bureaucracy
Air Force Magazine: AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference Will Be Virtual
Calendar
TUESDAY | JULY 7
9 a.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation with Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu
10:30 a.m. — Hudson Institute webcast: “China’s Attempt to Influence U.S. Institutions,” with FBI Director Christopher Wray; and Walter Russell Mead, Hudson Institute, strategy and statesmanship fellow. https://www.hudson.org/events
5 p.m. — George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School “NatSec Nightcap,” with Lisa Monaco, former White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser. https://nationalsecurity.gmu.edu/natsec-nightcap
WEDNESDAY | JULY 8
9 a.m. — Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program, and the European Union Delegation to the United States hold the EU Defense Washington Forum via webcast, with EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Marshall Billingslea. https://www.brookings.edu/events/webinar
9:30 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar: “The Scramble for Libya: A Globalized Civil War at Tipping Point,” with Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center; Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe; Jalal Harchaoui, research fellow at the Clingendael Institute’s Conflict Research Unit; Khadeja Ramali, Libyan researcher; and Frederic Wehrey, senior fellow at CEIP. https://carnegieendowment.org
11 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the United States debate: “Does Libya Need European Boots on the Ground?” with German Bundestag member Franziska Brantner; Nathalie Tocci, director of Istituto Affari Internazionali; and Kristina Kausch, GMF Brussels senior resident fellow. https://www.gmfus.org/events
No time given — The Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies releases its latest policy paper: “Resolving America’s Defense Strategy-Resource Mismatch: The Case for Cost-Per-Effect Analysis,” by retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, and Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation
THURSDAY | JULY 9
9 a.m. — Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program, and the European Union Delegation to the United States hold the EU Defense Washington Forum via webcast, with European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for European and NATO Policy Michael Ryan, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy James Appathurai, and Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. https://www.brookings.edu/events/webinar
12 p.m. — SETA Foundation webinar: “What’s at Stake for Turkey in Libya?” with Talha Kose, chair of the Ibn Haldun University’s Political Science and International Relations Department; Murat Yesiltas, director of the SETA Security Studies Program; and Kadir Ustun, executive director of SETA. https://setadc.org/events
1 p.m. Capitol Visitor Center Auditorium/Virtual — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Department of Defense Authorities and Roles Related to Civilian Law Enforcement,” with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
1 p.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Twitter, and the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations webcast: “Understanding Information Operations,” with Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Research Lab; Ben Nimmo, head of investigations at Graphika; Martin Innes, director of the Crime and Security Research Institute; and Kate Starbird, associate professor at the University of Washington; Renee DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory; Camille Francois, chief innovation officer at Graphika; Dhiraj Murthy, associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin; and Jake Shapiro, professor at Princeton University. https://carnegieendowment.org
1 p.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies book discussion on “How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict,” with author Nina Jankowicz, disinformation fellow in the WWC’s Science and Technology Innovation Program; Asha Rangappa, senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs; and Matthew Rojansky, director of the WWC Kennan Institute. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event
1 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Challenging Convention: Charting a Course for the New American Engagement Initiative,” with Susan Eisenhower, CEO and chairman of the Eisenhower Group Inc.; Edward Luce, associate editor of the Financial Times; Christopher Preble, co-director of the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative; Mathew Burrows, co-director of the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative; Gina Wood, vice president for foundational and institutional giving at the Atlantic Council; and Damon Wilson, executive vice president of the Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
No time given — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies conversation with Lt. Gen. Warren Berry, deputy Air Force chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation
FRIDAY | JULY 10
4:30 p.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance symposium: “The New IC (Intelligence Community): Empowering Women and Engaging Men,” with Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Ellen McCarthy; and Stacey Dixon, deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. https://www.insaonline.org/event
TUESDAY | JULY 14
No time given — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Aerospace Nation conversation with Uzi Rubin, former director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation
WEDNESDAY | JULY 15
No time given — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Aerospace Nation conversation with Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander, Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber). https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is not an attempt to erase history, but the bigger symbol is the things that draw the team together so we can operate with that kind of implicit trust. We have a flag. It’s the American flag. We have the Marine Corps colors. We have things that unify us. Anything that gets in the way of that is a problem.”
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, on ABC’s This Week, on his decision to ban the display of the Confederate battle flag.
