Daily on Defense — Sept. 8, 2016 — A lightning round on candidates’ natsec plans

JUDGMENT:

Clinton: “I have taken responsibility for my decision [to support the Iraq war]. [Trump] refuses to take responsibility for his support. That is a judgment issue.”

Trump: “I think the main thing is I have great judgment. I have good judgment. I know what’s going on. I’ve called so many of the shots.”

IRAQ:

Clinton: “I think that the decision to go to war in Iraq was a mistake. And I have said that my voting to give President Bush that authority was, from my perspective, my mistake. I also believe that it is imperative that we learn from the mistakes.”

Trump: “I was totally against the war in Iraq. From a — you can look at Esquire magazine from ’04. You can look at before that. And I was against the war in Iraq because I said it’s going to totally destabilize the Middle East, which it has. It has absolutely been a disastrous war.” [Interviews from around that time have shown his support for the war.]

IRAN:

Clinton: “I am focused on all the other malicious activities of the Iranians — ballistic missiles, support for terrorists, being involved in Syria, Yemen, and other places, supporting Hezbollah, Hamas. But here’s the difference, Matt. I would rather as president be dealing with Iran on all of those issues without having to worry as much about their racing for a nuclear weapon.”

Trump: “If you really look at the aftermath of Iraq, Iran is going to be taking over Iraq. They’ve been doing it. And it’s not a pretty picture.”

ISIS:

Clinton: “We have to defeat ISIS. That is my highest counterterrorism goal. And we’ve got to do it with air power. We’ve got to do it with much more support for the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against ISIS. We have to squeeze them by continuing to support the Iraqi military.”

Trump: “I have a plan. But I want to be — I don’t want to — look. I have a very substantial chance of winning. Make America great again. We’re going to make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”

VETERANS:

Clinton: “I have been very clear about the necessity for doing whatever is required to move the VA into the 21st century, to provide the kind of treatment options that our veterans today desperately need and deserve. And that’s what I will do as president. But I will not let the VA be privatized.”

Trump: “The VA is really almost, you could say, a corrupt enterprise. If you look at what’s going on, as an example, Matt, in Arizona, where they caught people stealing, and they can’t even do anything about it, they can’t even fire the people. So we are going to make it efficient and good. And if it’s not good, you’re going out to private hospitals, public hospitals, and doctors.”

SUICIDE:

Clinton: “We’ve got to remove the stigma. We’ve got to help people currently serving not to feel that if they report their sense of unease, their depression, that somehow it’s going to be a mark against them.”

Trump: “A lot of it is they’re killing themselves over the fact that they can’t — they’re under tremendous pain and they can’t see a doctor. We’re going to speed up the process. We’re going to create a great mental health division.” Trump’s answer of a veteran’s question began with a correction, but he was using an old number.

WHERE CLINTON STEPPED IN IT: Asked about fighting ISIS, Clinton said: “We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again. And we’re not putting ground troops into Syria.” Clinton seemed to be ignoring or downplaying the role of the 5,000 or so U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria. She did refer to “special forces,” the American advisers working as “enablers,” but her answer gave the impression that she was discounting the danger to U.S. troops on the front lines, on the ground.

WHERE TRUMP STEPPED IN IT: Asked about his plan to order his generals to come up with a plan to defeat ISIS more quickly, Trump said: “Well, they’ll probably be different generals, to be honest with you.” The offhand comment seemed to indicate Trump thought senior military officers changed with the new administration, or maybe that he would fire the generals who he said “had been reduced to rubble,” under President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. If elected, at some point Trump would select his own Joint Chiefs chairman and combatant commanders, but in his first 30 days he’d be depending on the same generals and admirals who he only half-heartedly endorsed. “I have great faith in certain of the commanders, certainly,” Trump said.

And then there was this: Matt Lauer: “In 2013, on this subject, you tweeted this, quote, “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military, only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?” Trump: “Well, it is — it is — it is a correct tweet. There are many people that think that that’s absolutely correct.”  That required some explanation.

Another immigration pivot? Trump added another wrinkle to his evolving thinking on immigration, indicating last night one path to legal status might be service in the U.S military.  Asked by former Army Capt. Sue Fulton, “Do you believe that an undocumented person who serves — who wants to serve in the U.S. armed forces deserves to stay in this country legally?”  Trump replied “I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that’s a very special situation, and I could see myself working that out, absolutely.”  Later on during the post-game show on MSNBC, NBC pentagon producer Courtney Kube added this context: There are about 20,000 non-US citizens serving. Since 9/11, almost 110,000 individuals have gained their citizenship based on honorable military service.

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PEACEKEEPING MISSION: Defense Secretary Ash Carter is still in London for the United Nations Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial this morning at Lancaster House, a historic government event space just around the corner from Buckingham Palace, which has also been used as a film location for BBC’s Downton Abbey. Carter has no public remarks at the summit, but British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon urged members to “pursue opportunities” to increase the numbers of women participating in peacekeeping missions.

On the sidelines of the ministerial, Carter will hold bilateral meetings today with Turkish Minister of Defense Fikri Isik and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak. He also has a scheduled meeting with actress Angelina Jolie Pitt, who serves as a United Nations special envoy for refugees.

After the ministerial, Carter is off to Norway, where he’ll see Norwegian military capabilities in Bodo, about an hour and a half flight north of Oslo, the capital, where he’ll hold a press conference with Minister of Defense Ine Eriksen Søreide on Friday. Jacqueline Klimas is traveling with the secretary, so stay with us for updates.

SPECIAL CYBER RELATIONSHIP: On Wednesday, Carter announced that the U.S. and U.K. had agreed to a new memorandum of understanding that would allow for greater sharing of information on cybersecurity, including joint research and development to improve offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.

Carter also talked with Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday about ways to expand and accelerate cyber coordination between the U.S. and Israel, according to a Pentagon readout of the bilateral meeting.

CLOSE CALL: A Russian jet came within 10 feet of a Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft over the Black Sea on Wednesday in a move that a defense official called “unsafe and unprofessional.”

MOVING INTO THE MAINSTREAM: Before he appeared at the Commander in Chief Forum in New York, Trump laid out some specifics for his plans to rebuild the U.S. military, calling for a buildup to 350 ships for the Navy, 36 battalions for the Marine Corps and 1,200 fighter jets for the Air Force in a speech in Philadelphia. If those numbers sound familiar, they’re the same ones former candidate Carly Fiorina called for a year ago, and are also similar to goals laid out by Mitt Romney in 2012. Trump, it would seem, is aligning himself with mainstream conservative goals for U.S. defense.

SECRET CASH TO IRAN: Trump, along with Rep. Ed Royce, had harsh words following a Tuesday night revelation that the U.S. paid Iran a total of $1.7 billion (the $400 million you’ve already heard about, plus another $1.3 billion) all of which were made in cash installments, Pete Kasperowicz reports. “What on Earth was the White House thinking?” Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asked Wednesday morning. “Sending the world’s leading state sponsor of terror pallets of untraceable cash isn’t just terrible policy. It’s incredibly reckless, and it only puts bigger targets on the backs of Americans.”

So after all that secret stuff, the State Department reversed course on talking about the money. Kasperowicz: “The State Department admitted Wednesday that it had no good reason to hide the fact that it paid Iran $1.7 billion in cash to Iran to settle a decades-old dispute.”

But on Wednesday, after the Treasury Department acknowledged the entire sum was paid in cash, Toner agreed that his argument from just two weeks ago didn’t hold water. “I think it was done out of an overabundance of caution with regard to the confidentiality of these financial transactions,” he said when asked why the Obama administration was suddenly free to talk about the transaction.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM: Well, not funny, but certainly also not a coincidence. Clinton announced she had the endorsement of 95 retired generals and admirals, just one day after Trump touted his list of 88. Gabby Morrongiello has the story: “According to yesterday’s media reports, Trump has received more than 400 fewer endorsements than Mitt Romney received — 88 to Romney’s 500,” the Clinton campaign was eager to note in a press release. See the list of retired officers here.

Even before the forum, Trump was posting some big league numbers among the rank-and-file and veterans. Kelly Cohen reports that the nominee was almost 20 points ahead of Clinton in a new poll. But it’s qualified support: “The poll also found that although 47 percent of military and veteran voters would not be confident in Trump’s ability to serve as an effective commander in chief, a slight majority of 53 percent does feel confident.”

That qualified support extended to Sen. Bob Corker, who repeatedly refused to say during a TV interview that he was fully confident in Trump. Al Weaver writes that he had this to say about Trump: “I think the candidate is certainly deepening — Donald Trump is deepening in what he’s throwing out.” So … thanks?

LATEST ON THE “SWINGER” GENERAL: A general fired for a “swinger” sex scandal kept his security clearance until USA Today made the story public, Army officials have acknowledged. The married Maj. Gen. David Haight was removed from his post directing plans and operations for the Pentagon’s European Command after an internal investigation in April found that he misused his government email and cell phone to conduct an 11-year affair amid allegations of a “swinger lifestyle.” However, USA Today reported Wednesday that he kept his classified information clearance for five more months after the Army inspector general reached those conclusions.

OPINION: GET BACK IN THE GAME: Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, writes in the Washington Examiner this morning that Congress needs to get back in the arms deal game. Innocent Yemeni civilians are dying from weapons used by Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Houthi rebellion. US law allows Congress to prevent the sale of such arms, and DePetris urges Congress to do its duty.

THE RUNDOWN

Defense News: Kuwait, Qatar Jet Sales Still in Limbo

Aviation Week: DoD authorizes more funds to cover stalled F-35 contract

Defense Daily: Third Defense Innovation Unit To Launch By Year-End

Defense News: Kendall Spells out F-35 Concerns for Next US Administration

UPI: Raytheon to retrofit 130 F-16 center display units

USNI News: Zumwalt Destroyer Departs Bath Iron Works for San Diego Homeport

UPI: Marines order more advanced radars from Northrop Grumman

Air Force Times: U.S.-led coalition carries out 14 airstrikes against ISIS on Labor Day

Wall Street Journal: Syria’s Opposition Unveils Peace Plan

War on the Rocks: This is how Turkey’s incursion into Syria could get bogged down

Associated Press: Ancient Karkemish sees modern war on Turkey-Syria border

The Daily Beast: How Iran conned the Internet into believing a fake ISIS story

Reuters: Iraq militia fighters join battle for Syria’s Aleppo

Breaking Defense: Trump, Clinton Do Not Get PDB; DNI Stresses Intel Community Not Political

CNN: Retired general calls Trump’s 30-day ISIS order ‘sophomoric’

Task and Purpose: 6 WTF Moments From The Commander-In-Chief Forum

Stars and Stripes: GAO: DOD’s recovery from war ops, budget cuts might take another 10 years

Defense One: China to Expand Military Reach with a Fleet of the World’s Largest Planes

Associated Press: Prosecutors cite 2 soldiers’ injuries in Bergdahl arguments

Military.com: Sailor faces discipline after viral flag protest

Calendar

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 8

10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn. The House Foreign Affairs Committee holds a hearing on reforming the National Security Council. foreignaffairs.house.gov

10 a.m. 1152 15th St. NW. Michele Flournoy, the CEO of the Center for New American Security and widely speculated to be at the top of the list for a post in a Hillary Clinton administration, participates in a panel discussion on sanctions and the next administration. cnas.org

10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The Heritage Foundation hosts a panel looking at how threats how evolved in the 15 years since 9/11. Heritage.org

11 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve briefs the media via Skype. Live streamed at defense.gov

1 p.m. Walter Washington Convention Center. Adm. Michael Rogers, commander, U.S. Cyber Command; director, National Security Agency; Betty Sapp, director, National Reconnaissance Office; Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director, Defense Intelligence Agency; and Robert Cardillo, director, National Geospatial Agency, participate in a panel discussion on the state of U.S. intelligence at the Intelligence & National Security Summit.

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 9

7:30 a.m. Capitol Hill Club. Brig. Gen. Stephen Whiting, the director of integrated air, space, cyberspace and intelligence, speaks at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies breakfast event. mitchellaerospacepower.org

1 p.m. Livestream. The Council on Foreign Relations hosts an event looking at President Obama’s foreign policy legacy. cfr.org

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 12

9 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. NW. The Center for New American Security unveils a new report of foreign policy strategy advice for the next administration. cnas.org

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 13

8 a.m. 1250 S. Hayes St., Arlington. Rear Adm. Bret Muilenburg, the commander of Navy Facilities and Engineering Command, speaks at a Navy League breakfast. navyleague.org

9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Marcel Lettre, the Defense Department’s undersecretary of intelligence, will speak at the Atlantic Council about the role of transparency in strengthening defense intelligence. atlanticcouncil.org

10 a.m. Dirksen 419. State and Treasury Department officials testify about what impact the Brexit will have on U.S.-U.K. relations. foreign.senate.gov

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Brookings Institution hosts a panel to talk about how creating jobs in the Middle East could boost security. brookings.edu

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 14

10 a.m. Cannon 311. The House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing looking at the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to track and stop foreign fighters trying to enter the U.S. homeland.house.gov

12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Amber Smith, a former Army helicopter pilot, speaks at the Heritage Foundation about her new book on her service in Iraq and Afghanistan. heritage.org

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 15

5 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The American Enterprise Institute hosts an event in its new building on tension between the U.S. commitment to religious freedom and the tools the government has to stop terrorists. aei.org