Trump tamps down war talk as he seeks to avoid hostilities with Iran

IN THE DARK: The Trump administration has also begun to bring Congress up to speed after a week of complaints that none of the intelligence about “credible threats” from Iran has been shared with all members. “This is the most opaque administration I’ve ever dealt with over four presidencies,” complained Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on CNN. “Right now we’re being asked to make foreign policy and national security decisions while flying blindly.”

Members of the so-called Gang of Eight were briefed yesterday, with more briefings set for next week. New reports suggest that Iran is using modified freighters to move missiles or plans to use the ships as a platform for launching them.

“I am convinced that the information and warnings that we have collected are of greater concern than the normal Iranian harassment activity that we’ve seen in the Persian Gulf and surrounding area,” Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, told reporters yesterday. Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he has been briefed separately over the last two weeks by both the military and the intelligence community. “To me, it’s not business as usual. It was more concerning. There had to be a strong signal sent to Iran that we were going to defend ourselves with the attack.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that the Senate Intelligence Committee has been getting regular daily updates for at least a week about “multiple and credible sources of increased threats” from Iran. “Every senator, at least as of today, has access to all of the information that the Intelligence Committee has seen. So even if there’s not going to be a briefing until next week, any senator can read that intelligence and see the multiple, credible, serious threats that we’re facing from Iran that’s just picked up the pace over the last couple of weeks.”

TAKING THE WIND OUT OF THE WINDS OF WAR: “I like what I hear from the president that he has no appetite for this,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday. “This is one place where — one of the places that I agree with the president is both of us in our opposition to war in Iraq, and I hope that that same attitude will prevail with the president of the United States even though some of his supporters … are rattling sabers.”

CAN WE JUST TAKE A BREATH?: While some see the flexing of U.S. military muscle as provocative, can we just recognize that the deployment of four B-52s at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where America regularly bases strike aircraft to use in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and the movement of Patriot missiles, which are a defensive system, are in fact rather modest steps? Had they been made without the foot-stomping from national security adviser John Bolton, they might have gone unnoticed, along with the arrival of USS Abraham Lincoln, which routinely hangs out in the Persian Gulf.

“The administration’s deployments of additional combat power to the Middle East represent a prudent and constructive step to deter Iranian aggression and ensure that the U.S. prevails if deterrence fails,” says Brad Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It is important for Tehran to understand that the U.S. will deploy and employ whatever combat power is necessary to protect Americans, our allies, and our interests.”

Good Friday 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.

WARREN TARGETS DoD REVOLVING DOOR: “Too many of our defense contractors, they don’t just want a seat at the table, they want to own the table. And that’s a problem,” said presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Northern Virginia yesterday.

The rallying cry came on the same day the Massachusetts Democrat introduced the Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act, which she says would limit the influence of contractors and establish greater transparency in their interactions with the Pentagon.

Among the bill’s provisions:

• Impose a four-year ban on major contractors hiring senior DoD officials, especially any who managed their contracts.
• Extend the existing ban on former military officers lobbying the DoD to four years.
• Ban senior DoD officials from owning any stock in major defense contractors.
• Ban all former military and civilian intelligence officers from working for any foreign government or private entity that operates predominantly on behalf of a foreign government.
• Make private defense contractors subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the federal open records law.

A companion bill will be introduced in the House by California Democrat Jackie Speier.

WHAT THE GENERAL MEANT TO SAY: The explanation given for British Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika’s screw-up at Tuesday’s Pentagon briefing, which touched off an international incident, is basically that he didn’t get the memo — the memo that said he was supposed to highlight the increased threat from Iranian forces and their proxies, not downplay it.

According to Britain’s Sky News, Ghika, the coalition’s deputy commander for strategy and information, was aware of the increased threats but didn’t know if he was supposed to disclose them. “When asked to comment at briefing, he had not known whether he was authorised to disclose this info, which is why he struck a more cautious tone,” said a tweet by Sky News foreign affairs editor Deborah Haynes.

Pentagon officials were shaking their heads over the explanation yesterday, noting Ghika’s briefing had been scheduled for a week and everyone knew he would get the question about the threat to U.S. forces.

When I asked one official if Ghika’s bad briefing day meant reporters would again get no briefings from the theater, he said he didn’t think so. “It just might not be Ghika,” he said.

BRITS ON BOARD: Meanwhile, the U.K. followed the U.S. lead and raised the threat level for its military and diplomats in Iraq. Mike Pompeo’s British counterpart Jeremy Hunt tweeted, “.@SecPompeo and I discussed #Iran last week in London and again in Brussels on Monday. We share the same assessment of the heightened threat posed by Iran. As always we work closely with the US.”

BEIRUT BOMBING REPARATIONS: Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress have drafted bills to give the families of the Americans killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing access to $1.68 billion of Iranian funds being held by a Luxembourg-based firm.

The Our Obligation to Recognize American Heroes Act, or OORAH Act, aims to bring Iran to justice for its part in the 1983 Hezbollah bombing, which killed 241 American service members, including 220 Marines. “Oorah” — the Army version is “hooah” — is a Marine battle cry that has been used for decades.

“This legislation will help victims and their families obtain just a small amount of justice,” said Greg Pence, the older brother of Vice President Mike Pence.

The bill was introduced by in the House by Indiana Republican Pence and Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego yesterday, a day after several Democratic and Republican senators, including Tom Cotton, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

KISS OFF IN THE BRIEFING ROOM: Heavy metal icon Gene Simmons and his wife Shannon Tweed were at the Pentagon yesterday for a veterans’ event. The singer made an emotional speech in the Pentagon briefing room, captured on video by Tara Copp, McClatchy’s national military and veterans affairs correspondent.

“I’m a proud son of a concentration camp survivor of Nazi Germany. My mother was 14 when she was in the camps,” he said. She died recently at the age of 93.

Afterwards, Simmons, the most famous member of the rock group Kiss, posed for some selfies with fans, signing an album for one.

Noting the dearth of events in the high-tech venue now that news conferences have fallen out of vogue, one Pentagon wag said of the Simmons appearance, “Hey, we have to use the briefing room for something.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: What war with Iran would look like

Washington Examiner: Here’s how you’ll know we’re about to go to war with Iran — right now, we’re not

Washington Examiner: Mac Thornberry: Intelligence reports on Iran show ’cause for greater concern’

USNI News: Two U.S. Warships Enter Persian Gulf Without Incident

Breaking Defense: Shanahan Keeping Top Staff If Confirmed

Air Force Magazine: Get Your V-22 Orders In Now, Boeing Says, Or Risk Missing Out

Defense One: U.S.: We’ll Pay Countries to Ditch Russian, Chinese Arms

Washington Times: Chinese, Russian Hypersonic Weapons Advances A Growing Concern, Air Force Chief Says

The Diplomat: Russia To Procure 76 Su-57 Stealth Fighter Jets By 2028

CNN: F-16 fighter jet crashes into warehouse in California

Fox News: Navy SEAL pleads guilty in hazing death of Green Beret during Africa deployment

Military Times: Secret tracking device found in Navy email to Navy Times amid leak investigation raises legal, ethical questions

Air Force Magazine: USAF Looking to Overhaul Officer Promotion System

War on the Rocks: ‘‘Hard choices’ and strategic insolvency: where the National Defense Strategy falls short

Calendar

FRIDAY | MAY 17

9:30 a.m. 1800 M Street N.W. Foundation for Defense of Democracies breakfast event, “Muslim Brotherhood Designations: Understanding the Options, Criteria, and Implications.” Speakers: Amy Hawthorne, deputy director of research at the Project on Middle East Democracy; Samuel Tadros, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; and Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at FDD. Moderated by Nancy Youssef, national security correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. Register at fdd.wufoo.com.

10 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy and Acquisition Reform Alexis Ross discusses the Army’s latest policy directive related to intellectual property at the National Defense Industrial Association. www.ndia.org/events

11 a.m. 1030 15th St N.W. Atlantic Council “Commanders Series” conversation on “The Future of the Army in Great-Power Competition” with Army Secretary Mark Esper. Moderated by Vago Muradian, Defense & Aerospace Report. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. Heritage Foundation “fireside chat” with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on “Strengthening U.S. Leadership in an Era of Global Competition.” Hosted by the Heritage Foundation’s James Jay Carafano. Livestreamed at heritage.org/defense/event.

TUESDAY | MAY 21

2:30 p.m. Hangar 3, Joint Base Andrews. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein presides over farewell for Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, and Veteran’s Affairs Committee joint hearing on “Military and Veteran Suicide: Understanding the Problem and Preparing for the Future.” Witnesses: Elizabeth Van Winkle, Department of Defense; Navy Capt. Mike Colston, M.D., director, mental health policy and oversight; Keita Franklin, national director of suicide prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs; and Michael Fischer, chief readjustment counseling officer, Department of Veterans Affairs.

THURSDAY | MAY 23

9 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. “Change of Office Ceremony” for Rear Adm. Charles W. Brown, who takes over as U.S. Navy Chief of Information, or CHINFO.

3 p.m. 51 Louisiana Ave N.W. The National Security Institute and the Federalist Society co-host a symposium examining two questions regarding Syria policy: “Does Congress Need to Weigh In?” and “Stay In, Get Out, or Triple Down?” Speakers include: Jennifer Daskal, associate professor of law at American University; retired Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap, executive director, Center on Law, Ethics and National Security; Jeremy Rabkin, professor of law, George Mason University; Norm Roule, former national intelligence manager for Iran office of the DNI; and Dana Stroul, the Washington Institute. nationalsecurity.gmu.edu

THURSDAY | MAY 30

1:30 p.m. 1152 15th Street N.W. Center for a New American Security “Fireside Chat” on the FY 2020 defense budget with David Norquist, performing the duties of the deputy secretary of defense. Moderated by Susanna Blume, senior fellow and deputy director, CNAS’s Defense Program. www.cnas.org/events