IS RUSSIA PULLING A SYRIA IN LIBYA? The U.S. is watching warily as Russia appears to be positioning forces to possibly intervene in Libya, a fractured country with a barely working “Government of National Accord.” This morning, Moscow is denying that Russian special forces have deployed to an airbase in western Egypt near the border with Libya, as reported by Reuters. And U.S. aerial reconnaissance assets have spotted Russian transport aircraft and a large Russian drone at the Sidi Barrani airbase in Egypt, about 60 miles from the Libyan border, and unnamed U.S. officials are saying it’s an indication that Russia is interfering in Libya, CNN reports.
The concern, raised last week at the Senate Armed Services Committee, is that Russia may be moving to support Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar in the same it way moved into Syria to prop up Bashar Assad in 2015. “Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who becomes and what entity becomes in charge of the government inside Libya. They’re working to influence that decision,” Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of the U.S. Africa Command, testified Thursday. When Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested, “They’re trying to do in Libya what they’ve been doing in Syria?” Waldhauser replied, “That’s a good way to characterize it.”
U.S. airstrikes in Libya have helped the “unity” government forces defeat the Islamic State, which had established a beachhead in the northern Libyan port city of Sirte, but the U.S. has no permanent forces in the country that is still wracked by conflict from rival Libyan factions. The State Department again seemed a bit out of the loop yesterday. When acting spokesman Mark Toner was asked about the Russian troop movements, he said, “I’d just have to refer you to the Russians to speak to that. I don’t have any official details.”
RUSSIA, THE FBI AND TRUMP: CNN is reporting that FBI Director James Comey is expected to reveal today whether whether the FBI is investigating ties between Russia and the Trump campaign in the run up to last November’s election. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has reportedly told the cable network that Comey made the promise, in a March 2 meeting with him and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. CNN quotes Whitehouse as saying Comey assured both senators them he would confirm if an investigation exists and it’s scope.
TILLERSON IN JAPAN: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Tokyo today, the first leg of his Asian trip in which he will discuss a number of issues, including trade, but which will be dominated by the vexing problem of how to curb North Korea’s increasingly ominous nuclear ambitions. His biggest challenge comes later this week, as he tries to persuade China to use its influence on North Korea’s mercurial leader Kim Jong Un. That’s particularly complicated given that Beijing is furious about the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile shield to South Korea.
Tillerson is on a small plane with none of his own staff. He has just one reporter with him, Erin McPike, a White House correspondent from the Independent Journal Review, according to Reuters, which describes IJR as “a digital news outlet founded in 2012 by former Republican political operatives.” He’s also traveling with acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton, a holdover from the Obama administration. Both the State Department and the Pentagon have been unable to fill a single politically appointed job below secretary level in the eight weeks since the President Trump’s inauguration. The State department has 118 key vacancies, the Pentagon 52, according to a database compiled by the Washington Post.
MATTIS LOSES A BATTLE: There are a number of reasons that it’s taking awhile to fill top jobs, including the financial burden public imposes on public servants, and political concerns for candidates who have in the past have been critical of the president, or supported policies out of sync with the Trump administration. That last one is what apparently doomed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ choice for undersecretary of defense for policy, Anne Patterson. Patterson’s crime was serving as U.S. ambassador to Egypt between 2011 and 2013, when Mohamed Morsi was in charge, and was believed to be too accommodating to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. She would have faced an impossible fight for confirmation, given that Sens. Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz are both strongly opposed to her nomination, according to the Washington Post.
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). 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 be sure to add you to our list.
HAPPENING TODAY: A number of legal challenges are popping up in courtrooms across the country today in an effort to delay implementation of President Trump’s revised travel ban, set to take effect tomorrow. In Maryland, a federal judge hears arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union. In Hawaii, attorneys are arguing the restrictions would hurt tourism. While in Washington state the team of lawyers who won a ruling blocking the original ban are back in court to argue the new ban is no better. Five other states have joined that case. The Trump administration says the new executive order was specifically crafted to overcome the legal questions raised by courts that blocked the first try.
ANOTHER AUMF: Rep. Jim Banks and Sen. Todd Young are introducing a new war authorization to fight the Islamic State today, but the new bill is likely to face all the same hurdles that have prevented Congress from considering an authorization for the use of military force on the floor for more than two years. The bill from the two Indiana Republicans would repeal the 2001 and 2002 authorizations, as well as give the U.S. the legal right to detain members of ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban.
NELLER IN THE HOT SEAT: It’s been awhile since we have seen a service chief raked over the coals the way Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller was yesterday in his appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee over the photo-sharing scandal. The big question for most of the senators was “why now?” when evidence of sexual assault and harassment of women in the Corps has been accumulating for years.
Among the most incensed was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who upbraided Neller for a lack of accountability after similar scandals hit the Marines in 2013. “It is a serious problem when we have members of our military denigrating female Marines who will give their lives for this country in the way they have with no response from leadership. I can tell you, your answers today are unsatisfactory,” Gillibrand said.
“I don’t have a good answer for you,” replied a chastened and contrite Neller. “I’m not going to sit here and duck around this thing, I’m not. I’m responsible, I’m the commandant, I own this and … you know, you’ve heard it before, but we’re going to have to change how we see ourselves and how we do — how we treat each other. That’s a lame answer, but ma’am, that’s all — that’s the best I can tell you right now. We’ve got to change, and that’s on me.”
In his opening statement Neller told senators that the service was introducing a new social media policy in the wake of the Marines United scandal that more directly prohibits some online activities, including publishing nude photos of female Marines without their consent.
THE CNO WEIGHS IN: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson sent a message to all of his commanders fleetwide yesterday, hours before Navy Times reported that sailors had been targeted at about a dozen commands. “I expect COs and each level of leadership to challenge your command leaders at the small team level,” Richardson wrote. “Division Officers and Chiefs talking to their divisions, branches talking to branches, Chief’s Mess to Chief’s Mess. Talk about what respect for our teammates looks like at work, at home, and online. Make it clear that individuals who can’t live up to our professional standards in competence and character are not welcome in our Navy.” “Team, we have a problem and we need to solve it. Really solve it – not put a band-aid on it, not whitewash over it, not look the other way.”
UP A NOTCH: A Democratic congresswoman said the House Intelligence Committee could subpoena the Trump administration, for evidence of his claim that President Obama spied on him at Trump Tower during the election, if no evidence is provided, Kyle Feldscher writes. Rep. Jackie Speier said on CNN Tuesday that the committee has gone “down a rabbit hole” investigating Trump’s tweets saying he “just found out” Obama had wiretaps at Trump Tower during the campaign. The administration was given a one-week extension to come up with proof of Trump’s claims on Monday. Speier said if no evidence comes in that week, she would expect the committee to use its subpoena power. “There’s no question that we would subpoena any evidence,” said Speier, a member of the committee.
TRUMP CONFIDENT: Trump fully expects that the Justice Department will submit that evidence to Congress to substantiate his claims of wiretapping, Gabby Morrongiello writes. “I think that he’s extremely confident,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ll let them do their job, but I think there’s significant reporting about surveillance techniques that existed during the 2016 election.”
MOSUL UPDATE: Iraqi forces claim to have the top ISIS commander in western Mosul, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Ansary, and today the Iraqi troops are advancing deeper into the old city, with the objective of reaching Mosul’s Grand Mosque. In Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the operation to liberate Mosul has entered “its last stage,” and he called on ISIS fighters to surrender to receive a fair trial. We expect an update in counter-ISIS ops this morning from Air Force Col. John Dorrian, chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, live from Baghdad at 11 a.m. Live streamed at defense.gov
MATTIS BREAKS WITH ADMIN: In a clash with Trump’s environmental team, Mattis has declared that climate change is a threat to national security and military planners must consider that threat in drawing up strategies, Paul Bedard writes. According to a report from ProPublica, Mattis told Democratic senators in written answers to questions that climate change is real and “can be a driver of instability.”
“I agree that the effects of a changing climate — such as increased maritime access to the Arctic, rising sea levels, desertification, among others — impact our security situation. I will ensure that the department continues to be prepared to conduct operations today and in the future, and that we are prepared to address the effects of a changing climate on our threat assessments, resources, and readiness.”
His position, at odds with Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency chief, came in answers to questions from senators following his confirmation hearing. They were released to ProPublica, which reached out to the White House and Pentagon for comment without success.
PRETTY PLEASE: North Korea wants the United Nations to condemn U.S.-South Korean military exercises, and has accused the Trump administration of trying to “ignite a nuclear war” on the peninsula, Joel Gehrke writes. Regime propagandists have issued a series of bulletins as the war games unfold that accused the United States of “driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of war,” and promised “the toughest counteraction” of western military power in the region. A state-run outlet said North Korea lodged an official request for the UN Security Council to intervene.
“However, the UNSC neither intends to discuss the issue nor gives any reply to it,” the Korean Central News Agency posting said. “This proves once again that the UNSC fails to properly perform its duty and mission and it has been reduced to a marionette of a specified state and waiting maid of a bullying force as it is handling issues with a double standard.”
CROWLEY’S NEW GIG: Conservative commentator Monica Crowley, who dropped out of Trump’s National Security Council following a plagiarism scandal, has registered as a foreign agent working for Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, Daniel Chaitin writes. A document showing the registration, signed March 10, has been posted on the Justice Department’s website pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act statute.
The FACA form shows Crowley registered to work under political analyst Doug Schoen and that she will be rendering her “outreach services” to Pinchuk on a part-time basis.
THE RUNDOWN
Defense & Aerospace Report: Why Cutting the State Department, Coast Guard and TSA Budgets is a Mistake
Defense News: Textron AirLand to forgo T-X bid with Scorpion jet
Washington Post: Admiral, seven others charged with corruption in new ‘Fat Leonard’ indictment
Military Times: Inside Marines United: Infighting roiled the group that sparked the military’s nude photo scandal
Defense One: Flynn, Turkey, and The Long Paper Trail Trump Missed
Defense News: ‘Pivot to the Pacific’ is over, senior U.S. diplomat says
Defense One: China Won’t Solve Washington’s Problem with Kim Jong Un
New York Times: China’s Premier, Li Keqiang, Strikes Upbeat Tone Amid U.S. Tensions
Reuters: China begins new work on disputed South China Sea island
Bloomberg: Trump Can Broker ‘Historic Peace Deal,’ Abbas Tells U.S. Envoy
Reuters: After six years, Assad now secure but his country carved up as war thunders on
Military.com: Retired Marines Want Ship Named for Iwo Jima Flag Photographer
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | MARCH 15
9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. A panel discusses the defense budget and emergency war spending. aei.org
10:30 a.m. Senate Visitor’s Center 217. Vice Adm. James Syring, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, provides a closed briefing to lawmakers. Appropriations.senate.gov
11 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve briefs the media live from Baghdad. defense.gov
11:30 a.m. 1667 K St. NW. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments releases a new report on the defense strategy in the Middle East. csbaonline.org
4:15 p.m. Rayburn 2118. The House Armed Services Committee hosts a hearing on a strategy to counter propaganda in today’s environments. armedservices.house.gov
3:30 p.m. Russell 232-A. A panel of experts testifies on all arms warfare in the 21st century. armed-services.senate.gov
THURSDAY | MARCH 16
7:00 a.m. Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch from the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition speaks at an Air Force Association breakfast event. afa.org
8 a.m. Rayburn 2118. A panel of Navy witnesses testifies on the current state of the service. armedservices.house.gov
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Rep. Seth Moulton and Rep. Brad Wenstrup talk about America’s place in the world and foreign policy strategy. atlanticcouncil.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. A panel of nuclear experts testifies at an oversight hearing on the nuclear security enterprise. armedservices.house.gov
2 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft delivers his annual State of the Coast Guard address. press.org
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Army officials testify about sequestration’s impacts on the service’s readiness. armedservices.house.gov
FRIDAY | MARCH 17
8:30 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Rep. Adam Kinzinger speaks at the Atlantic Council about America’s role in the world. atlanticcouncil.org
MONDAY | MARCH 20
10 a.m. Longworth 1100. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence holds an open hearing on the investigation into Russian hacking. intelligence.house.gov
11:30 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Rep. Joe Wilson talks about countering threats from North Korea. hudson.org
TUESDAY | MARCH 21
8:00 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Army and Air Force chiefs speak at a day-long conference on the future of war. newamerica.org
WEDNESDAY | MARCH 22
8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a day-long conference on issues in space for the new administration. csis.org
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. A former CIA analyst discusses his new book, Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein. brookings.edu
