LET THE CONFERENCE BEGIN: House and Senate negotiators officially met for the first time yesterday to begin the long process of hammering out differences in the National Defense Authorization Act. Leaders called it a “fruitful” first step. Once Congress leaves town for a seven-week break at the end of this week, staff will step up to continue discussions while members are in their home districts.
While the conferees may have had their first official meeting, the Senate has yet to formally decide to go to conference. That vote, as well as one urging negotiators to boost the number of visas for Afghan interpreters who served with U.S. troops to come to America, is expected this morning.
The biggest issue they’ll have to hash out is an $18 billion difference in how much money is allotted for base priorities, but the conference will also have to reconcile a change to the Pentagon’s acquisition system included in the Senate bill, but not the House plan. The Senate’s bill would split the Defense Department’s top acquisition, technology and logistics official into two positions: one focused on day-to-day buying, and one that prioritizes innovation.
While the Pentagon and some Dems have pushed back against this plan, Geoff Orazem, the managing partner of Eastern Foundry, a contractor incubator, said many of his members are excited that the military may be trying something new.
“Everyone is so painfully aware that system isn’t working, especially for small innovative companies. … We’ve heard some of our members say, ‘I have no idea if it’s going to work or not, but thank God they’re trying,’ ” Orazem said.
Another place where there’s daylight between the two chamber’s bills: the Senate would get rid of the F-35 joint program office once the program hits its last milestone, leaving further work to the services, while the House does not. Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, the commander of Air Combat Command, told lawmakers on Wednesday that that’s not a good idea.
Finally, on the appropriations side, senators will take another swing at invoking cloture on the defense bill, which failed to advance last week.
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TERRORIZING THE TERRORISTS: U.S. drones and planes continue to rain down death from the sky on America’s enemies. The latest confirmed kill announced by the Pentagon comes after a U.S. airstrike conducted in southern Afghanistan Saturday. The U.S. says Umar Khalifa died along with along with four other enemy combatants. Khalifa orchestrated some of the deadliest attacks in neighboring Pakistan, including the December 2014 Peshawar school attack that killed more than 130 children. Meanwhile CNN reports the U.S. is still trying to determine if Islamic State leader Omar al-Shishani, aka “Omar the Chechen,” was killed in Iraq in an airstrike south of Mosul. Four months ago, the Pentagon thought it killed Omar in Syria. Stay tuned.
SUDANESE DEPLOYMENT: As the the security situation in South Sudan deteriorates, President Obama has dispatched almost 50 reinforcements to protect the U.S. embassy in Juba, Nicole Duran reports. The U.S. has ordered some staff to leave, but for now is not evacuating the American embassy. “Although equipped for combat, these additional personnel are deployed for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property,” Obama wrote in a notification to Congress. Another 130 troops stand ready in neighboring Djibouti to assist if the situation worsens, Obama wrote.
HELPING EUROPE A ‘MORAL HAZARD’: Rep. Beto O’Rourke on Wednesday wondered why we are quadrupling spending to help protect Europe from Russian aggression when most NATO allies in Europe don’t even spend the required 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. “It blows me away that of the 28 NATO member countries, only five have met a minimal threshold of 2 percent, while we’re spending near 4 percent,” he said. “We are creating a moral hazard by upping an investment from $789 million to $3.4 billion without a concurrent commitment in real dollars or euros from our allies on the continent.”
WINNING THE ONLINE WAR: Richard Stengel, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. is not losing the war against the Islamic State’s virtual caliphate, and that anti-ISIS messaging is up while the terrorist group’s presence is down. But he said the department waging this online war of information could use more resources. Asked by Rep. Eliot Engel, the committee’s ranking member, if he has enough money, the former Time magazine manager said he could use more.”I had a lot more resources running Time than I have running the [Global Engagement Center],” he said.
NO WILL, NO STRATEGY: Former DIA Director retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was at Heritage yesterday and he urged the audience to read his new book for a detailed outline of how to defeat the Islamic State, but the headline was this: “We have forgotten how to win wars.” Flynn argued the U.S. lack of resolves is a “fundamental weakness” that the Islamic State and other enemies use against us.
On possibly being Donald Trump’s VP, Flynn said he’s “honored to be in the conversation,” Anna Giaritelli writes. “You’ll have to ask the Trump campaign that; that’s the only thing I can say at this stage,” Flynn said when asked by radio host Alan Colmes.
TRUMP’S SHOWBIZ CONVENTION: The first night of the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland will be Benghazi night, T. Becket Adams reports. Sens. Tom Cotton and Joni Ernst — both veterans — will be speaking. The economy will take center stage the following night, and the themes of the other nights haven’t been announced. Trump has said the convention will have the pizzazz that other conventions have lacked.
“IT’S THE SILLY SEASON”: Former Defense Secretary William Perry is unconcerned over the lack of debate on the campaign trail over the wisdom of rebuilding all three legs of America’s nuclear triad of bombers, missiles and submarines at a cost of $1 trillion over 30 years. In fact he’s happy about it. “I do not want these issues to come up during the campaign,” Perry told a small group of national security reporters last night in Washington. “I see the campaign as being a silly season and not suitable for talking about issues of this importance. My concern is that the two candidates will say silly things that they get committed to later on, and would rather we don’t discuss them at all. One they are in office, I will be at their doorstep.” Perry was in town backing California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s quixotic quest to kill the $8 billion upgrade to nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, which is fully funded and enjoys strong bipartisan support.
ASSAD GOES AFTER … EVERYONE: In an interview with NBC News, Syrian President Bashar Assad went after past, present and future presidents for not knowing what they’re doing, Anna Giaritelli reports. If any of them had been president for 16 years like Assad, he said, things would be different. “Who had this experience before? Obama? Or George Bush? Or [Bill] Clinton before? None of them had any experience,” Assad in a clip that aired Wednesday night. “This is the problem with the United States.”
SYRIAN AID TALLY: The U.S. approved sending $439 million to Syria yesterday, Maria Biery reports, bringing the total to $5.6 billion since the crisis began in 2011. The additional funding, announced by Secretary of State John Kerry, is meant to provide food, shelter, drinking water, medical care and protection services to Syrians. It also will help communities that are hosting the estimated 4.8 million Syrian refugees in the region.
MOVIE EXEC DETAINED IN RUSSIA: The State Department is looking into Russia’s detention of Jeff Shell, a movie executive and chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Pete Kasperowicz reports. According to the BBG, Shell had valid entry documents, but was detained and “locked in a room for several hours,” and was then forced to board a flight to Amsterdam. The BBG runs the U.S. government-run pro-democracy radio programs that are broadcast around the globe, and which are often opposed by heads of non-democratic states.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman returned to its homeport of Norfolk yesterday after an eight-month deployment fighting the Islamic State in support of Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria. The Navy says Carrier Air Wing 7 completed 2,054 combat sorties, expending 1,598 pieces of precision ordnance – the most carrier-based ordnance throughout OIR – to go after ISIS resources and leaders.
THE RUNDOWN
New York Times: Iran Sticks to Terms of Nuclear Deal, but Defies the U.S. in Other Ways
Reuters: Russia offers to fly warplanes more safely over Baltics
The Daily Beast: Russia Is Building a Nuclear Space Bomber
Defense One: The Future of Boeing Defense, According to Its New CEO
Defense News: Sources: Reworked KC-46 Boom Refuels F-16, C-17
UPI: Lockheed Martin’s INFIRNO sensor makes first Black Hawk flight
Breaking Defense: Raytheon Piles On Cyber, Electronic Warfare Protections
Military Times: Stavridis would be Clinton’s perfect anti-Trump
Defense News: Standoff Brews Over the Future of US Security Assistance
Breaking Defense: Kongsberg, Raytheon Plan Missile Production In Arizona
Military Times: Activists praise repeal of military’s transgender ban as major step ahead
Military.com: To Seek Peace in Syria, US Offers to Cooperate with Russia
Calendar
THURSDAY | JULY 14
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G50. Senate Armed Services Committee will hear testimony on U.S. cybersecurity and national security. armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. Senate Foreign Relations committee discuss the Iran nuclear deal one year later. foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. Cannon 311. House Homeland Security committee will discuss the new wave of terror to the homeland. homeland.house.gov
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The Heritage Foundation hosts former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz to discuss his new book on the nuclear deal with Iran. heritage.org
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. House Armed Services committee hear testimony from Gen. Cecil Haney, U.S. Strategic Command commander, Gen. Robin Rand, Air Force Global Strike Command and other senior officials on President Obama’s nuclear deterrence modernization and budget plans. armedservices.house.gov
4 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council hosts a conversation on cyber risks and national security. atlanticcouncil.org
TUESDAY | JULY 19
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Brookings will host a discussion on President Obama’s role in African security and development. brookings.edu
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. CSIS hosts a panel of experts to discuss the risks and security of Afghanistan. csis.org
THURSDAY | JULY 21
9:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Wilson Center will host a panel discussion on post-ISIS politics, deal-making, and the struggle for Iraq’s future. wilsoncenter.org
FRIDAY | JULY 22
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. CSIS and the U.S. Naval Institute host Rear Adm. Mathias Winter, chief of naval research, to discuss naval innovation and capabilities. usni.org
TUESDAY | JULY 26
8:30 a.m. The Watergate Hotel. Defense One hosts a conversation with Air Force Secretary Deborah James on the readiness crisis. defenseone.com
