TILLERSON’S PLEA: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson slipped into and out of Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, traveling under the radar for security reasons. In Baghdad, Tillerson issued a plea for the Iraqi government to reconcile with the Kurds, who are itching for independence. In an appearance with Iraqi President Haider al-Abadi, Tillerson said he was “concerned and a bit saddened” by open feuding between Abadi’s government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. “We have friends both in Baghdad, and we have friends in Irbil, and we encourage both parties to enter into discussion and dialogue,” Tillerson said. “I think if both parties commit themselves to a unified Iraq, to the Iraqi constitution, I think all differences can be addressed and the rights of all can be respected and Iraq will have a very secure and a prosperous future.”
In Afghanistan, Tillerson reiterated that Trump’s new strategy is aimed at breaking the will of the Taliban to drive them to the peace table. “We have to continue the fight against the Taliban and against others in order for them to understand they will never win a military victory,” Tillerson said. “There are, we believe, moderate voices among the Taliban, voices that do not want to continue to fight forever. They don’t want their children to fight forever. So we are looking to engage with those voices and have them engage in a reconciliation process leading to a peace process and their full involvement and participation in the government.”
Tillerson is in Islamabad today where he is pressing Pakistani officials to do more to ensure terrorist don’t enjoy safe haven across the border. “This whole strategy, this is a conditions-based approach, and so our relationship with Pakistan will also be conditions-based. It will be based upon whether they take action that we feel is necessary to move the process forward,” he said. Tillerson also visits India, before stopping in Geneva on his way back to Washington
DUNFORD BATTING CLEAN-UP: Acknowledging that “there’s a perception that the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming,” the nation’s top military officer decided it was time for him to mount the podium and begin to try to clear up the confusion over what U.S. troops are doing in the West African nation of Niger, and what is known about the circumstances of the deaths of four American soldiers.
THE MISSION: “Our soldiers are operating in Niger to build the capacity of local forces to defeat violent extremism in West Africa. Their presence is part of a global strategy,” said Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “As we’ve seen many times, groups like ISIS and al Qaeda pose a threat to the United States, the American people and our allies. They’re a global threat enabled by the flow of foreign fighters, resources and their narrative.” Since 2011, French and U.S. troops have trained a 5,000-person West African force and more than 35,000 soldiers from the region to fight terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State, al Qaeda and Boko Haram,
HOW MANY TROOPS: “The United States military has had forces in Niger, off and on, for more than 20 years,” Dunford said. “Today, approximately 800 service members in Niger work as part of an international effort, led by 4,000 French troops, to defeat terrorists in West Africa.”
THE TIMELINE: On Oct 4, 12 U.S. members of a special operations task force and 30 Nigerien troops came under attack from approximately 50 enemy fighters using “small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and technical vehicles.” Dunford revealed that it took two hours for French Mirage jets to arrive overhead, largely because the U.S. troops waited a full hour before calling for help. “We shouldn’t conclude anything by that one hour,” Dunford said. “I’ve been in these situations myself where you’re confronted with enemy contact, your initial assessment is you can deal with that contact with the resources that you have, and at some point in the firefight they concluded they then needed support, and so they called for additional support.”
NO EYES IN THE SKY: The patrol did not have the benefit of real-time overhead surveillance that might have spotted the hostile forces. A U.S. spy drone was sent, but only after the call for air support an hour after the shooting started.
THE QUESTIONS: Dunford said it’s perfectly reasonable to question what went wrong. “The questions include, did the mission of U.S. forces change during the operation? Did our forces have adequate intelligence, equipment and training? Was … a pre-mission assessment of the threat in the area accurate? How did U.S. forces become separated during the engagement, specifically Sgt. [La David] Johnson? And why did they take time to find and recover Sgt. Johnson? Again, these are all fair questions,” Dunford said.
THE ANSWERS: “We owe you more information,” Dunford said. “More importantly, We owe the families of the fallen more information, and that’s what the investigation is designed to identify.” Dunford said once the investigation is complete, family members will be fully briefed.“You want the family to understand the why,” Dunford said. “One of the most important things that we would try to do in this particular case is be able to explain how what their loved ones were doing was related to the protection of the homeland in dealing with the threats that we confront, and, frankly, I think in this particular case we’ll be able to do that.”
SGT. LA DAVID JOHNSON: Dunford said U.S. and Nigerien forces did not leave the area until the body of Johnson was found Oct 6. Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, says she was not allowed to see his remains, telling ABC “They won’t show me a finger, a hand. I know my husband’s body from head to toe. They won’t show me anything. I don’t know what’s in that box. It could be empty for all I know.” See the rest of the interview here.
“There are times when we make a suggestion to the family that they may not want to review the remains,” Dunford said. “At the end of the day, the policy is it’s the family’s decision as to whether or not they do that.”
PROXIMITY TO COMBAT: “We don’t in the normal course of events accompany those local partnered forces when contact with the enemy is expected,” Dunford said. “We either stay back at what we call the last covered and conceal position — so that’s before enemy contact is made — or we don’t even go on an operation.” On this reconnaissance mission, “The assessment by our leaders on the ground at that time was that contact with the enemy was unlikely,” Dunford said.
CONGRESS IN THE DARK: Although Dunford said U.S. troops were sent to Niger by former President Barack Obama, and have been operating there for six years, many in Congress said they had no idea about the scope of the mission, or the number of troops involved. “With regard to Congress, for the criticism of we’re not providing enough information. In a way I’ve taken that to say if the Congress doesn’t believe that they’re not getting sufficient information, then I need to double my efforts to provide them with information.”
TRUMP’S BENGHAZI? When a reporter tried to lure Dunford into the political debate, specifically Rep. Frederica Wilson’s charge that the Niger ambush would become “Trump’s Benghazi,” Dunford did not rise to the bait. “I personally see no utility in comparing this incident to any other incident,” Dunford said. “What’s most important to me, besides from getting the facts, is identifying those things that we can do better in the future. And that’s my focus.”
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) 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 add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.
HAPPENING TODAY: It just so happens that today Dunford is hosting chiefs of defense and representatives from 75 nations at Fort Belvoir in a conference aimed at finding smarter ways to defeat terrorism. “In our discussions over the next day or two, we’ll focus on improving information sharing between nations to detect and defeat attacks before they occur, and to improve the support we provide to nations confronted with violent extremism,” Dunford said, which he added was “exactly what our forces in Niger were doing.”
Dunford and Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, will talk to reporters at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort Belvoir Officers Club. The news conference will be livestreamed on www.defense.gov.
FALSE ALARM: Though it did not ask for a correction, the Air Force strongly denied it is preparing to put B-52 nuclear bombers on 24-hour alert for the first time since 1991 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana following a story in Defense One over the weekend. “What I can tell you and just make as clear as possible, and I want to make sure we are clear on this, is there are not any discussions and there is not any plans to bring back our bombers on 24-hour nuclear alert right now,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Thomas, the head of Air Force public affairs at the Pentagon.
In the story, which drew a lot of online attention, Defense One pointed out that no alert order had been given for the long-range bombers at Barksdale and quoted Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, who said the Air Force was taking “one more step” to ensure it is prepared. Thomas told reporters that Barksdale is upgrading an alert facility that will house nuclear bomber crews for the 2nd Bomb Wing and that the service is preparing for a 24-hour nuclear alert “only from the broadest sense that we prepare for every contingency.” Of the Defense One account, he said “much of the story was accurate.”
HELO SALE TO CZECH REPUBLIC: The Czech Republic is now in line for a $575 million purchase of 12 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters, which are made by Bell Helicopter for the Marine Corps, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The potential sale by the U.S. to a NATO partner, which has been approved by the State Department, was aimed at modernizing the Czech Republic’s air forces and boosting security in Europe. The deal also includes 12 of the helicopters’ standard 7.62 mm M240 machine guns, GAU-17A and GAU-21 Gatling guns, engines and a variety of electronics and parts. Defense contractors Textron and General Electric will also be prime contractors along with Bell. Full details can be viewed here.
WHITE NATIONALISM IN THE RANKS: Nearly a quarter of American service members who took part in a survey say they have witnessed instances of what would qualify as “white nationalism” from other service members. Additionally, about 42 percent of nonwhite troops say they have personally experienced cases of white nationalism in the military, in comparison to 18 percent of their white counterparts, a Military Times poll revealed. Troops also view white nationalism as a threat to national security: 30 percent of troops categorized it as a significant danger, but 27 percent said it was a greater threat than Syria.
BANNON SAYS DOHA ON PAR WITH PYONGYANG: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon argues the isolation of Qatar should be as much of a priority as confronting a nuclear-armed North Korea. “I think the single most important thing that’s happening in the world is the situation in Qatar,” Bannon said at the Hudson Institute on Monday. “What’s happening in Qatar is every bit as important as what’s happening in North Korea.”
Bannon expressed support for the group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia, that cut ties with Qatar in June over Qatar’s suspected financial assistance to terrorist groups. He also said Qatar must be held accountable for potentially assisting the Muslim Brotherhood and “radical Islamic terrorism.”
McCAIN & TRUMP: Republican Sen. John McCain stopped short of calling President Trump a “draft dodger” Monday even as he renewed his veiled criticism of medical deferments that kept Trump from serving in the Vietnam War. “I don’t consider him so much a draft dodger as I feel that the system was so wrong that certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country,” McCain said on ABC’s “The View,” where his daughter Meghan is the newest panel member.
One of Trump’s five draft deferments came as a result of a physician’s letter stating he suffered from bone spurs in his feet. Trump’s presidential campaign described the issue as a temporary problem. Speaking on a C-SPAN program remembering the Vietnam War, McCain said, “One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never, ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest-income level of America and the highest-income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. That is wrong.”
DO THE TWO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP? “Almost none,” McCain said.
PAUL’S TWEET TWEAKS GRAHAM: Sen. Rand Paul tweeted yesterday that the U.S. is involved in so many military conflicts that not even Sen. Lindsey Graham can keep up. “You know you are in too many wars in too many places when even warmonger Lindsey Graham can’t keep track anymore,” Paul tweeted. “I didn’t know there was 1,000 troops in Niger,” Graham said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
MEDAL OF HONOR: Trump on Monday awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Army Capt. Gary “Mike” Rose, a medic who delivered care under fire to nearly 70 wounded soldiers during the Vietnam War. “Mike did not stop to eat, to drink or even to care for his own injury as he saved his fellow soldiers,” Trump recalled during an East Room ceremony with Rose, his family, and 10 members of his former unit.
Rose was injured in his back and legs during Operation Tailwind, a covert four-day mission in southeastern Laos in 1970. “For many years, the story of Mike’s heroism has gone untold, but today we gather to tell the world of his valor and present him with the highest military honor our country has to offer,” Trump said. “This will enshrine him into the history of our nation.”
Rose will be inducted into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes in a ceremony this morning. The event will be live streamed from the Pentagon Auditorium at 10:30 a.m. on www.defense.gov.
ILL WIND FROM THE PAST: Operation Tailwind, those with long memories will recall, was the military operation that CNN claimed in 1998 involved the use of deadly sarin nerve gas. The report called “The Valley of Death” was retracted and the producers involved were fired, when it turned out the evidence did not support the sensational account. Members of Rose’s unit were outraged, and began to organize a campaign against CNN using the rudimentary social media aspects of the new Internet. If it aired today, it would have been called “fake news.” After the debacle, CNN created a new position to oversee standards and practices.
THE RUNDOWN
Roll Call: Trump told the Senate about Niger actions in June
Reuters: U.S. Touts Military Ties In Philippines As Duterte Courts Russia, China
Military Times: Military Times poll: Troops support Trump’s transgender policies
Defense One: What McCain knows that Kelly forgot
UPI: Raytheon’s SM-3 intercepts medium-range target during NATO exercise
The Diplomat: South Korea To Build New Ballistic Missile Targeting North Korea
Defense News: Schumer: It’s Time For Congress To Re-Examine War Authorizations
Task and Purpose: The Air Force says it doesn’t plan to recall retired pilots to fix shortage
New York Times: ISIS threat in Philippines spreads in remote battles
Navy Times: Neither Congress nor the Pentagon have a path to a 355-ship Navy
Stars and Stripes: Bergdahl judge says he can be fair despite Trump’s comments
Fox News: Fallen soldier’s father receives promised $25G personal check from Trump
DoD Buzz: Corps of engineers costs top $1B for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands work
Foreign Policy: Abe, fresh off election victory, now gets to host Trump
Defense News: Air Force F-35s coming to Japan in November
Bloomberg: F-35s Hobbled By Parts Shortages, Slow Repairs, Audit Finds
Daily Beast: Congress: Trump won’t implement Russia sanctions—and he won’t tell us why
Calendar
TUESDAY | OCT. 24
7:45 a.m. 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd. Precision Strike Technology Symposium with Vice Adm. Mat Winter, F-35 program executive officer, and Gen. Stephen Wilson, vice chief of staff of the Air Force. ndia.org
8 a.m. 100 Westgate Circle. 22nd Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference with Lt. Gen. Bob Hedelund, commanding general of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, and Vice Adm. Kevin Scott, director of Joint Staff force development. ndia.org
11 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Securing democracy: The history of foreign election interference. Csis.org
5:30 p.m. 5500 Schulz Circle #20, Fort Belvoir Officers Club. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS hold news conference. Livestreamed on www.defense.gov.
WEDNESDAY | OCT. 25
8 a.m. 2401 M St. NW. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. Petr Pavel, chairman of the Nato Military Committee. centermediasecurity.org
10 a.m. Rayburn 2172. Next steps after the president’s Iran decision. foreignaffairs.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Book discussion of “Vets and Pets: Wounded Warriors and the Animals that Help Them Heal” with authors Kevin Ferris and Dava Guerin. heritage.org
12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A book discussion of “Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent” with author Larry Pressler, a former U.S. senator. hudson.org
5 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Book launch of “Crashback, The Power Clash Between the U.S. and China in the Pacific” with author Michael Fabey. Csis.org
THURSDAY | OCT. 26
8:15 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Documentary screening and discussion of “Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS.” cfr.org
9:30 a.m. 529 14th St. NW. The parallel gulag: North Korea’s “an-jeon-bu” prison camps. press.org
12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Maintaining transatlantic unity on Ukraine with H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former secretary general of Nato. hudson.org
4 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. Redeploying U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea with Joon-Pyo Hong, chairman of the Liberty Korea Party and Congressional Delegation. press.org
FRIDAY | OCT. 27
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Mitchell space breakfast series: U.S. allies in space with Air Vice-Marshal ‘Rocky’ Rochelle, of the Royal Air Force, and Wing Commander Steven Henry, Australian exchange officer at the Defense Department. michellaerospacepower.org
2 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Inclusion in combat and security: A book event with Maj. M.J. Hegar. wilsoncenter.org
2 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Book discussion of “Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny” with authors Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” and Don Yaeger. heritage.org
MONDAY | OCT. 30
5701 Marinelli Rd. IPPM: Future dimensions of integration. ndia.org
9 a.m. 901 N. Stuart St. Microelectronics manufacturing models workshop. ndia.org
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Iraqi public opinion on the rise, fall and future of ISIS. csis.org
11 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book discussion of “Inside Terrorism” with author Bruce Hoffman. wilsoncenter.org
2 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Russia’s demography: The basis for a prosperous future? atlanticcouncil.org
5 p.m. Dirksen 419. The administration perspective on the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. foreign.senate.gov
5:30 p.m. 1667 K St. NW. Book talk on “Safeguarding Democratic Capitalism: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, 1920-2015.” csbaonline.org
TUESDAY | OCT. 31
10:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The unfinished business of the 1989 East European revolutions. wilsoncenter.org
