MOSUL OFFENSIVE ON A ROLL: The most obvious sign that the Iraqi offensive to liberate Mosul is on the road to victory is the crowded highway out of town. New reports describe a flood of thousands of civilians jubilant at being able to escape the fighting, as the Islamic State appears to be retreating to the western part of the city. Here’s how the Washington Post describes it in a dispatch from Bazwaya: “Even as they fled, some were almost giddy with relief. Drivers in the convoys blasted their horns and waved V for victory as Iraqi and Kurdish troops passed by on their way to the front lines. Girls and young women who were forced to wear black veils over their faces in Mosul took them off and let the wind blow through their hair.” The AP reports heavy fighting as Iraqi forces push deeper into the city, including a rocket attack that disabled an M1A1 Abrams tank. It seems the toughest fighting is still ahead.
RAQQA MONTHS AWAY? It was left to Air Force Col. John Dorrian to try to clear up the confusion of how soon the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital in Syria will be liberated, after Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week seemed the confirm the “assault” on the city was weeks away. The good colonel wasn’t going to contradict his big boss, but tried in various ways to say the isolation of Raqqa by Syrian Kurds would begin “soon,” but that the actual offensive to enter the city and rout the ISIS fighters was something that would require more local fighters, and resolution of the concerns of NATO ally, Turkey, which doesn’t want the Kurds to be the occupying force. “All options are on the table,” Dorrian said.
TURKEY’S KURDISH OFFENSIVE: Turkey has detained 11 pro-Kurdish lawmakers, including two leaders of the People’s Democratic Party. The members of Turkey’s parliament are accused of refusing to testify about alleged links to “terrorist propaganda.” Turkey considers Kurdish separatists to be terrorists. This morning, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reports a suspected car bomb exploded in the mainly Kurdish southeast region. AP reports eight people were killed.
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MCCAIN’S ON A TEAR: Sen. John McCain on Thursday criticized the Pentagon for yet another delay in the F-35 program that could mean up to $1 billion in cost overruns. In a letter to Carter, McCain said he was especially disappointed by the delays after getting repeated reassurances from DoD officials the program was on track.
In a separate statement, McCain said the ninth contract for Lockheed Martin’s F-35, finalized this week, is “troubling,” “disappointing,” and represents the worst of the Pentagon’s acquisition system. “The decision to produce hundreds of aircraft, on a cost-plus basis, before the technology is developed and completed, and to do all of this, lot after lot, without an actual contract in place between the government and industry, is the height of acquisition malpractice,” McCain said.
In yet another statement, McCain slammed the administration for its delay in releasing a supplemental budget request for fiscal 2017 to pay to keep more troops overseas after Obama revised the Afghanistan troop drawdown. “The need for supplemental funding to support increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan and expanded operations against ISIL has been well-known for months. And our troops in harm’s way need and deserve this additional funding now. Further delay by the Department of Defense in submitting and justifying a supplemental funding request to the Congress is unacceptable,” he said.
THE NEW ARMS RACE: Speaking at the STRATCOM change of command ceremony yesterday, Carter cast the Pentagon’s ambitious program to rebuild America’s nuclear triad from the ground up as an existential necessity at a time when potential foes are catching up. Carter called nuclear deterrence the bedrock of U.S. security, and said it would be a mistake to think spending less on nuclear weapons would prompt America’s foes to spend less as well. Price tag for the triad upgrade: an estimated $1 trillion over 30 years.
WE’RE NOT COOL YET: Despite signing a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear weapons program, President Obama isn’t ready to lift the national emergency against the Islamic Republic, Nicole Duran writes. Obama informed Congress on Thursday that he was extending the Iranian national emergency established Nov. 14, 1979, after rebelling students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 hostages and starting a 444-day standoff with Washington.
“Our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated Jan. 19, 1981, is still under way,” Obama wrote in a letter to lawmakers informing him of his decision. “For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency … with respect to Iran.”
SHRUG FROM AMERICA: The State Department dismissed the chants of “death to America” that rang out through Iran on Thursday as nothing more than heated political “rhetoric” that doesn’t prevent the U.S. and Iran from working together, Pete Kasperowicz writes. Thursday marked the 37th anniversary of the sacking of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and it was marked again by demonstrations that included burning American flags and the “death to America” chant.
But in Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said repeatedly that this is just rhetoric, even as reporters noted that “death to America” appears to be Iran’s official government policy that is repeated at the highest levels of its government. “This day certainly brings out the over-hyped rhetoric on the part of many in the Iranian government,” Toner said. “We don’t necessarily want to engage in all the various statements that are made on a day like today.”
SLO-MO DEPLOYMENT: For more than a year now, the U.S, has been talking about the deployment of Lockheed Martin’s THAAD, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to South Korea to counter the growing missile threat from the North. On more than one occasion U.S. officials have made it seem the move was imminent. Now Reuters reports the U.S. Korea Commander, Gen. Vincent Brooks, has said a single battery will finally be deployed in the next eight to 10 months.
TRUMP: CLINTON NO CINC: At a rally in North Carolina yesterday, Donald Trump again questioned Hillary Clinton’s qualifications to lead the nation’s military as commander in chief. “When I look at these great admirals and these great generals and these great Medal of Honor recipients behind me, to think of her being their boss? I don’t think so.”
Trump also touted his special kind of bravery last night. “We’re joined by a number of those admirals and generals and seven Medal of Honor recipients right behind me,” Trump told the crowd. “Oh they’re so much more brave than me, I wouldn’t have done what they did. I’m brave in other ways. I’m brave. I’m financially brave. Big deal, right? These are real brave.”
FROM RUSSIA WITH BREEDLOVE: Whoever wins the presidency will need to work on having a productive conversation with Russia to fix some things that worry retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, the former supreme NATO commander. His biggest concerns? Cyber attacks that are below the threshold of war, disrespect for internationally-recognized borders and Russia’s threatened use of nuclear weapons.
PUT SOME MUSSEL INTO IT: No more Band-Aids on the bottom of the pool! The Office of Naval Research has developed a glue that keeps its adhesiveness when it gets wet. It uses a protein produced by mussels and can be turned on and off using electricity. Dr. Bruce Lee, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan Technological University, is doing the research, which has broad implications for the military, including new bandages or attaching sensors to ships underwater.
THE RUNDOWN
Aviation Week: What Drove Pentagon Cost Growth Down?
Defense News: After Tuesday, Can McCain and Clinton Find Their Reset Button?
Army Times: Embedded cyber teams prepare Army brigades to face invisible threat
Breaking Defense: DARPA Ups Funding For Autonomous Electronic Warfare Work
UPI: U.S. Army employee receives light munition patent
Defense News: What is the Next-Gen Combat Vehicle?
Military.com: Army Orders Armored Brigade to Europe to Bolster NATO
Stars and Stripes: As many as 32K National Guard soldiers outside Calif. faced with repaying bonuses
Defense One: The US Military Is Doing Its Job Against ISIS. The Rest Is Politics.
CNN: ISIS leader al-Baghdadi releases rare audio message
Wall Street Journal: Battle for Mosul Resets Ties Between Kurds and Baghdad
Washington Post: This video shows ISIS destroying an advanced U.S.-built tank outside Mosul
Military.com: NATO: Montenegro Membership Certain Despite Russia Objection
Calendar
MONDAY | NOVEMBER 7
9:30 a.m. Capitol Visitor’s Center 208/209. Pilots of the F-35 and F-22 talk about fifth generation air combat and maintaining air superiority. mitchellaerospacepower.org
10:30 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. A panel of experts discusses how to improve the security relationship between the U.S. and Georgia. heritage.org
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 9
4:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council hosts an event with industry leaders titled, “Corporate-Venture Investing in Aerospace & Defense.” atlanticcouncil.org
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 10
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Officials speak on a panel on preventing terrorists from getting chemical weapons. csis.org
10:30 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Think tank experts talk about security and insecurity in the relationship with Iran after the nuclear deal. stimson.org
5:30 pm. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. National Journal’s James Kitfield speaks about his new book, Twilight Warriors: The Soldiers, Spies, and Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War. csis.org
