Pompeo: Taliban peace talks dead ‘for the time being’

“Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people,” Trump tweeted. “I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. … If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway.”

TALKS DEAD ‘FOR NOW’: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was deployed yesterday to make the rounds on all four Sunday morning network news programs to explain how the deal — negotiated in months of talks by U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad — unraveled at the last minute.

“We had a commitment that they would meet in Oslo to begin to begin reconciliation conversation, and then the Taliban overreached,” Pompeo said on ABC. “They killed an American in an effort to gain leverage at the negotiating table, and President Trump said enough.”

“So are the talks now dead?” asked Chris Wallace on Fox. “Well, for the time being they are,” Pompeo replied. “I hope we get them started back. It will ultimately be up to the Taliban. They have got to demonstrate that they’re prepared to do the things that we ask them to do in the course of those negotiations.”

“We’re looking for more than words on paper. We’re looking for real, delivered commitment, and the Taliban demonstrated either that they weren’t willing to or couldn’t live up to the commitment they needed to make to reduce violence there.”

TALIBAN DEFIANT: In a statement issued yesterday, the Taliban vowed to continue attacks that target U.S. troops. “The Americans will suffer more than anyone else for cancelling the talks,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, according to Reuters.

Pompeo said it is the Taliban who will pay the price for failing to seize the opportunity to end the 18-year war. “They forgot that America is always going to protect its interests,” Pompeo said. “The commander of Resolute Support and the NATO forces there are still at this hard. We killed over a thousand Taliban just in the last 10 days.”

In his Saturday tweets, Trump also indicated the United States would keep taking the fight to the Taliban. “How many more decades are they willing to fight?” he said.

WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?: Several Republican members of Congress were upset that the Taliban, responsible for so many American deaths, would be accorded the honor of a Camp Davd summit.

“Negotiations between nation-states can happen there, but a terrorist organization that doesn’t recognize nation-states, that kills innocent women and children, that denies women the right to really even be in the same room as their husbands … to have them at Camp David is totally unacceptable,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on CNN.

“As we head into the anniversary of 9/11, I do not ever want to see these terrorists step foot on United States soil. Period,” said Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also on CNN.

“Who thought it was a good idea for the president of the United States to meet with Taliban leaders who have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands just three days before 9/11?” Wallace asked Pompeo on Fox.

“The president ultimately made the decision,” Pompeo replied. “He said, ‘I want to talk to President Ghani. I want to talk to these Taliban negotiators. I want to look them in the eye, I want to see if we can get the final outcome that we needed so that we could sign off on the deal.'”

“It’s almost always the case … that you don’t get to negotiate with good guys,” said Pompeo, “almost always … the person across the table from you isn’t exactly the finest.”

PAYING RESPECTS: Pompeo also made the trip to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, late Saturday night to be on hand for the return of the remains of Army Sgt. 1st Class Elis Angel Barreto Ortiz, 34, the American soldier killed by the Taliban car bomb last Thursday. Pompeo joined Barreto’s widow and two children as an Army team carried out what the military calls a “dignified transfer ceremony.”

“He was a great American serving in the 82nd Airborne who was killed this past week. And it’s a reminder that we’ve got to get it right,” Pompeo said on Fox.

The dignified transfer ceremonies don’t routinely include the participation of the secretary of state, writes Kelly Jane Torrance in the Washington Examiner, though Pompeo and Trump, along with then-acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan, did go to Dover in January for the return of four Americans killed by a suicide bomber in Syria.

“Personally, I will tell you that the ‘Paratrooper’ is the lifeblood of our Division and every time we have a casualty it is felt deeply across our formation. At the same time, it strengthens our resolve,” Lt. Col. Mike Burns, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, told the Washington Examiner. “Sgt. 1st Class Barreto will forever be a hero in our Division. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow Paratroopers.”

Good Monday 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 Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. 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 THIS WEEK: Congress is back and facing an end-of-the-month deadline to pass a number of budget bills, including funding for the Pentagon.

According to the latest schedule released by the Senate Appropriations Committee, markup of the 2020 Department of Defense Appropriations Act begins in subcommittee tomorrow and then in the full committee Thursday.

Democrats and Republicans have agreed on a $738 billion top line for defense spending but have still not nailed down some important details, including whether to “backfill” the $3.6 billion that is being taken from military construction projects for Mexico border barrier improvements.

SYRIA SAFE ZONE: The United States and Turkey have begun joint patrols of a “safe zone” established in northern Syria, to reassure Turkey it is not under threat from U.S.-backed Kurds that Turkey considers terrorists.

“The patrols demonstrate continued commitment toward addressing Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on their southern border,” said a statement issued by U.S. European Command Saturday. “The purpose of the patrols is to maintain security in northeast Syria so ISIS cannot reemerge and to allow the coalition to remain focused on achieving the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

Under the plan, Kurdish-led forces agreed to pull back from bases within 50 miles of the Turkish border and withdraw heavy weapons from the region.

ENTER THE DANES: Denmark may not be willing to part with Greenland, but it is willing to help out in Syria, where the United States wants other countries to take over the mission of supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces that defeated ISIS.

“The United States welcomes the announcement by the Danish Government to make a military deployment to Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and to continue to share the burden and responsibilities of this important mission,” said Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, in a Friday statement.

“As a founding member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, this deployment demonstrates Denmark’s continued commitment to working with our partners, to include the SDF, to ensure ISIS cannot re-emerge,” Hoffman said. “Our Danish partners will work with the residual U.S. military force in northeast Syria to support stability and security.”

MATTIS THOUGHT HE WAS WRITING ANCIENT HISTORY: Asked during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation why he is sparing President Trump from criticism while disparaging former vice president Joe Biden’s judgment on Iraq, former defense secretary Jim Mattis said he would have done it differently if he had known Biden would be a presidential contender in 2020.

“Well, I was writing a history book at that point, Margaret, because I started writing this book in 2013. It was done pretty much by version five by 2017,” Mattis told CBS’s Margaret Brennan. “Had I known the former vice president was going to run for office, I assure you I would not have probably been that forthcoming. Why do I do that?”

MATTIS TO COHEN GROUP: The Cohen Group, a consultancy set up by former defense secretary William Cohen, announced that Mattis will join the group as a senior counselor next month.

Cohen, who first worked with Mattis in 1997 when the latter was a lowly colonel serving as the executive secretary in the front office at the Pentagon, called the legendary Marine commander “a national treasure, a leader known throughout the world for his strategic judgment as well as his unyielding principles.”

The Rundown

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Huffington Post: U.S. Military Forging New Contract to 2024 to Refuel Near Trump’s Turnberry Resort: Report

Wall Street Journal: Hong Kong Protesters Flood Streets to Call for U.S. Support

Air Force Magazine: Experts Urge USAF to Hang on to the Bombers, Invest in Long-Range Systems

New York Times: Russia and Ukraine Take ‘the First Step to Stop the War’

Defense News: Romania, Bulgaria Boost Defense Buys Amid Fear of Russia

Reuters: Russia’s Ruling Party Loses a Third of Seats in Moscow Election After Protests: RIA

Talk Media News: New suitors in the US-UK ‘special relationship’

Politico: ‘Tequila-drinking Navy SEAL’ in the running to oversee elite troops

Washington Examiner: Mattis recounts how the Marines accepted him even though he twice went to jail

The Hill: Opinion: The problem with the Pentagon’s ‘lethality’ branding

Calendar

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 9

11 a.m. The White House, East Room. President Trump presents the Medal of Valor and Heroic Commendations.

6 p.m. 1307 L Street N.W. Women’s Foreign Policy Group book discussion on Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, with author Angela Stent, director of the Georgetown University Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, and Jill Dougherty, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center. www.wfpg.org

TUESDAY I SEPTEMBER 10

9:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “Restoring U.S. Military Competitiveness: Mosaic Warfare,” with Tim Grayson, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office; Jan Javorsek, program manager of the DARPA Strategic Technology Office; retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute; and Heather Penney, senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

12 p.m. 1030 15th Street N.W. The Atlantic Council discussion with Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Fareed Yasseen, with Abbas Kadhim, director of the Atlantic Council’s Iraq Initiative. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

5 p.m. 616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies book discussion on Dividing America: How Russia Hacked Social Media and Democracy, with author Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser for homeland security at CSIS. www.csis.org/events

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 11

8:30 a.m. 2043 Rayburn. The Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “Light Attack Aviation: A Current Operational Partner Perspective,” with Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; Brig. Gen. Ziad Haykal, commander of the Lebanese Air Force; Afghanistan Col. Abdul Hadi Barakzai, military attaché at the embassy of Afghanistan; Phillip “Convoy” Clay, test pilot for the Navy’s Imminent Fury/Combat Dragon technology demonstration; and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem, research director at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

9 a.m. Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Ceremony marking the 18th anniversary of the September 11th attacks of 2001.

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies summit examining violent extremism in the Sahel region in Africa. www.csis.org/events

12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. The Hudson Institute holds a discussion on “Reinforcing the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Alliance,” with former Taiwanese defense minister Michael Tsai; Mike Kuo, president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs; and Seth Cropsey, director of the Hudson Center for American Seapower. www.hudson.org/events

12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Cato Institute discussion on “The Human Costs of War: Assessing Civilian Casualties since 9/11,” with Daphne Eviatar, director of the Amnesty International USA Security with Human Rights Program; Dan Mahanty, director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict U.S. Program; Emily Manna, policy analyst of Open the Government; and Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. www.cato.org/events

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 12

8 a.m. 2401 M Street N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast, with R. Clarke Cooper, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu

8:30 a.m. 1777 F Street N.W. Council on Foreign Relations discussion with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on a progressive foreign policy vision and national security interests in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with Margaret Talev, politics and White House editor at Axios. www.cfr.org

9:30 a.m. Dirksen SD-G50. The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a confirmation hearing on the expected nominations of Ryan McCarthy to be Army Secretary and Barbara Barrett to be Air Force Secretary. www.armed-services.senate.gov

10 a.m. 1030 15th Street N.W. Atlantic Council discussion on “Political Crisis in Hong Kong and the Future of ‘One Country, Two Systems,'” with former U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and Macau Kurt Tong, partner at the Asia Group; former assistant treasury secretary for international affairs Clay Lowery, executive vice president of the Institute of International Finance; Richard Bush, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; Sarah Cook, senior research analyst for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House; and Olin Wethington, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Brookings Institution discussion on “The Counter-ISIS Coalition: Diplomacy and Security in Action,” with Brett McGurk, nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Middle East Program; Susan Glasser, staff writer at the New Yorker; and John Allen, president of the Brookings Institution. www.brookings.edu/events

2 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Hudson Institute discussion on “Defending the Baltics: Alternative Approaches,” with Latvian Defense Ministry State Secretary Janis Garisons; Stephen Flanagan, senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation; and Tod Lindberg, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. www.hudson.org

2 p.m. George Washington University holds a Korea Policy Forum with the theme “Next Steps in U.S.-Korea Economic Relations,” with Wendy Cutler, vice president and managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Yonho Kim, associate director of the GWU Institute for Korean Studies. elliott.gwu.edu

3 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Stimson Center discussion on “Lessons from Taiwan: Disinformation, Cybersecurity, and Energy Security.” www.stimson.org/content

3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “Taiwan Goes to the Polls,” with Nathan Batto, associate research fellow at the Academia Sinica Institute of Political Science; Susan Lawrence, specialist in Asian affairs at the Congressional Research Service; and Scott Kennedy, senior adviser, China studies chair, and director of the CSIS Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy. www.csis.org/events

4 p.m. 1521 16th St. N.W. Institute of World Politics lecture on “The Fight So Far,” a “strategic review of the U.S. Government’s efforts against terrorism, both past and present,” with retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Nagata, former strategy director at the National Counterterrorism Center. www.iwp.edu/events

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 13

10 a.m. 1030 15th Street N.W. Atlantic Council discussion on “Hizballah and Iran’s Illicit Financial Networks,” with Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

10 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. N.W United States Institute of Peace discussion on “The Potential U.S.-Taliban Deal: A Step Forward for Peace in Afghanistan?” with Clare Lockhart, director and co-founder of the Institute for State Effectiveness; Barnett Rubin, associate director of the New York University Center for International Cooperation; Michael Semple, visiting professor at Queen’s University Belfast; Scott Worden, director of Afghanistan and Central Asia programs at USIP; and Nancy Lindborg, president of USIP. www.usip.org