A NEW TENANT BILL OF RIGHTS: The appalling conditions that were first documented in media reports last year and exploded into public outrage this year have sparked quick, if belated, action by the military services.

Last month, senior Army leaders met with the top executives of seven private housing companies that manage roughly 87,000 units on more than 40 Army installations and pressed them to accept a “Tenant Bill of Rights” that would allow military families to suspend their rent payments and certain fees if they believe they are being forced to live in substandard conditions.

All the services have adopted the concept, and the service secretaries will come to this morning’s healing armed with a draft of the agreement intended to protect and empower renters, which will be implemented in the coming weeks as the military renegotiates leases with the private housing companies.

WHAT IT SAYS: The Tenant Bill of Rights stipulates that military families “have the right to reside in homes and communities that are safe; meet health and environmental standards; have working fixtures, appliances, and utilities; and have well-maintained common areas and amenity spaces.”

Among the guarantees: the right to a housing advocate, professional property management services, responsive communications, prompt repairs, third-party landlord-tenant dispute resolution, option to withhold rent, and protections against arbitrary fees and reprisal.

McSALLY: ‘I WAS … RAPED’: Some of the most gripping testimony at yesterday’s Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military came from not the 10 witnesses but one of the senators. “I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer,” said Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a former A-10 squadron commander and the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat.

McSally, a 26-year Air Force veteran, said she stayed silent for years and did not report the rape, for all too familiar reasons. “Like so many women and men, I didn’t trust the system at the time. I blame myself. I was ashamed and confused, and I thought I was strong but felt powerless,” she said, reading from a prepared statement and at times pausing to keep her emotions in check.

“But later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I too was a survivor. I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again,” McSally continued. “I share the disgust of the failures of the military system and many commanders who failed in their responsibilities.”

THE AIR FORCE APOLOGIZES: “The criminal actions reported today by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman. We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks,” the Air Force said in a statement released by spokeswoman Capt. Carrie Volpe.

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY: The hearing comes on the heels of the January release of the Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies for the 2017-2018 academic year and last year’s Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military. The latter document says the services received 6,769 reports of sexual assault in 2017, an almost 10 percent increase over 2016.

“No one can look at these numbers and call this success. We have heard for decades from military leadership how they are going to fix this and how they have zero tolerance. But these statements have proven empty,” said retired Col. Don Christensen, the former chief prosecutor of the Air Force and now president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group. “At the same time, the military leadership has pushed back on any effort to modernize the military justice system by giving military prosecutors the authority to make prosecution decisions rather than the small number of commanders who have that authority now,” said Christensen, who was one of the witnesses at yesterday’s hearing.

“I am in awe of the bravery shown today by the survivors who are testifying before the Senate and from my colleague, Senator McSally. I agree that the military has utterly failed at handling sexual assault through the Uniform Code of Military Justice process, and I will push for meaningful reforms,” said fellow combat veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. “As a former commander of an assault helicopter company, I want to know what else can be done beyond successful prosecutions that bring perpetrators to justice.”

“I’m deeply affected by that testimony,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who has pushed strongly for changes that take the decision about prosecution away from commanders and give it to career military prosecutors.

Good Thursday 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.

HAPPENING TODAY — VOTEL’S PARTING SHOTS: U.S. Central Command head Gen. Joseph Votel — who has admitted publicly that he would have advised against President Trump’s Syria withdrawal plan if the president had consulted him — makes what may be his final appearance before the House Armed Services Committee (2118 Rayburn) before he retires in the coming weeks.

Votel, who has been charged with managing the vicissitudes of Trump’s total and then partial pullout of U.S. troops, is expected to warn that ISIS is far from defeated, even as thousands of ISIS members have surrendered as the assault on their final stronghold comes to an end in Baghouz, Syria.

Votel and other U.S. commanders have consistently warned that once ISIS loses the last of its so-called caliphate, it will simply go underground and become an insurgent group. Though it holds almost no territory, the Pentagon estimates there are still thousands of motivated ISIS fighters spread across Syria and Iraq.

“Angry crowds evacuating from the last shred of territory held by Islamic State militants in Syria praised the extremist group Wednesday and chanted ‘Islamic State will remain,’ in a menacing show of support, even as defeat loomed,” the Associated Press reported from Baghouz.

Votel will be replaced as the top commander for Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and much of the Middle East by Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie, who was spotted leaving the Pentagon yesterday for a White House meeting with national security adviser John Bolton.

ABIZAID PRESSED: Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, a former U.S. Central Command head and President Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was pressed during his confirmation yesterday about whether he would hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegations of torture, and other human rights abuses.

“Senator, ambassadors don’t hold countries accountable; countries hold countries accountable,” Abizaid said in response to a question from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “It’s the role of the United States to ensure that the Saudis know what we stand for, what we believe, and what the relationship needs to be to move forward,” Abizaid said. “I will ensure that those ideals, those values, those mutual interests are conveyed as clearly as I can to the government of Saudi Arabia,” adding that he looked forward to working with the Saudis “not in an adversarial way, but in a way that promotes our ability to have the partnership move forward that makes the region more secure.”

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, pressed Abizaid about whether he would challenge Saudi Arabia. “Is that your view that we can challenge and seek to change the nature of the relationship or is it that we have to accept what they have done in order to pursue our greater national security goals?” he asked.

“I thought I was clear in saying we should not accept these outrageous sorts of problems such as the killing of Jamal Khashoggi,” Abizaid replied. “And it requires forceful discussions on behalf of the United States with the government of Saudi Arabia, and I am prepared to have those discussions if you confirm me.”

TRUMP ON NORTH KOREA: Asked yesterday for his reaction to reports that North Korea was violating U.N. resolutions and rapidly rebuilding a missile test and launch facility, in apparent response to the failure of the Hanoi summit to produce an agreement for Kim Jong Un to begin dismantling his nuclear arsenal, President Trump said he would be “disappointed” if the reports are accurate.

“It’s a very early report, and we’re the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim. And I don’t think I will be, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll take a look. It’ll ultimately get solved,” said Trump at a White House photo op. “Well, we’re going to see. It’s too early to see. But we have to solve a problem. We have a very nasty problem there. We have to solve a problem. The relationship is good. I would be very disappointed if that were happening.”

Just to be clear, it was not the U.S. government that revealed the construction at the Sohae launch facility but the private group Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, using commercially available satellite imagery.

BRING BACK MAX PRESSURE: On Tuesday, in an interview on Fox Business Network, John Bolton suggested the Trump administration is looking at increasing sanctions on the regime if they refuse to denuclearize.

Over at the Heritage Foundation, North Korea expert Olivia Enos, veteran of the Hanoi and Singapore summits, agrees it’s time to ramp up sanctions pressure on North Korea. “Our allies, especially South Korea and Japan, are fairly concerned that the Hanoi summit didn’t result in any specific deliverables. And I think that’s why the Trump administration needs to say ‘Okay, Hanoi, didn’t go so well, time to go back to a maximum pressure strategy, one that pushes North Korea,’” Enos writes.

“We need to press them and truly make this maximum pressure by targeting Chinese banks and by raising those thorny human rights issues,” she adds. “Going forward, the U.S. should integrate human rights into its diplomacy with North Korea — making smaller asks like granting humanitarian agencies access to political prison camps — as tests of KJU’s commitment to future diplomacy and reform.”

KEEPING DRONE STRIKES AND CIVCAS SECRET: The American Civil Liberties Union is upset that President Trump has signed an executive order revoking an Obama-era executive order requiring the government to release annual statistics on drone and other lethal strikes overseas. The 2016 order required the government to disclose the number of strikes as well as the number of combatants and non-combatants killed in counterterrorism operations “away from areas of active hostilities.”

“President Trump has already weakened rules that sought to limit civilian deaths caused by this country’s illegal and immoral lethal force program, in which it kills suspects in places where we are not at war,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, in a statement. “This order now shrouds those killings in even greater secrecy.”

I’m no lawyer, but a careful reading of Trump’s order would seem to indicate that he was revoking President Obama’s executive order because it has been superseded by provisions in the 2017 and 2018 National Defense Authorization Acts.

THE MILLION PERSON MARCH: The country’s top homeland security official told lawmakers Wednesday the department expects law enforcement on the border to encounter nearly one million people by the end of this year. “The total number we’re on track for — 900,000 apprehensions this year,” DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the House Homeland Security Committee.

“Our nation is facing a dire humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border,” she said. “The agency is now on track to apprehend more migrants crossing illegally in the first six months of this fiscal year than the entirety of FY17.” Slightly more than 310,000 people were arrested for illegally crossing into the United States in all of 2017.

KIDS IN CAGES?: At the hearing, Nielsen was accused of lying about whether cages are used to hold undocumented immigrant children at border detention facilities. She faced aggressive questioning from committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who claimed to have seen the cages on a visit to the border.

“Just yes or no. Are we still putting children in cages?” Thompson asked. “To my knowledge, CBP never purposely put a child in a cage,” Nielsen replied.

“Purposely or whatever. Are we putting children in cages? As of today?” Thompson pressed. “And I’ve seen the cages. I just want you to admit that the cages exist.”

“Sir, they’re not cages,” Nielsen insisted.

At another point Nielsen was challenged on her testimony that asylum seekers were not being turned back at legal points of entry, where they have a right to apply for asylum.

“They are not turned away, they are brought in,” she said, “They are allowed to make their claim.”

That drew an immediate rebuke from Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif. “Well, let me tell you, Madam Secretary, either you’re lying to this committee or you don’t know what’s happening at the border. And I have been there firsthand and I have seen it twice.”

GRAHAM ON BORDER: “Contrary to what some political opponents and media outlets claim, the situation at our southern border is dangerous and growing worse. It’s not a hoax. It’s not a manufactured crisis. It’s not a cable television ploy. It is real. It is serious. It is a threat,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., yesterday. “And it poses a direct challenge to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States. To believe otherwise is to deny reality and ignore the facts.”

Graham released a fact sheet of statistics from the first 5 months of this fiscal year, citing:

• An almost 55% increase in the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the border over the same time period last year.
• An almost 340% increase in the number of family units apprehended from the same period last year.
• The cost to the American taxpayer of an Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) is $375 per day.
• The cost per UAC per year is $136,875.
• As of January 4, 2019, there were 11,981 children in HHS care at a cost to the American taxpayer of more than $1.6 billion a year.

IRANIAN-BACKED TERRORIST GROUP MAKES THE LIST: The State Department has added Harakat al Nujaba (HAN) and its leader, Akram ‘Abbas al Kaabi (or Kabi), to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

HAN is an offshoot of two Iranian-supported militias, the Hezbollah Brigades and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the latter being an Iranian proxy force in Iraq with military, political, religious, and charitable components. That group began to receive training and support from the IRGC-Quds Force and Lebanese Hezbollah in 2006, when it splintered off from another Tehran-backed insurgent group, according to a profile produced by the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The group would go on to claim more than 6,000 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, including many with explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). Shortly after the departure of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011, Asaib Ahl al-Haq opened political offices in major cities, launched a network of religious schools, and began to provide social services to poor Shiites. Since its founding, the group’s leader has been Qais al-Khazali, who spent three years in prison for his role in an attack that killed five American soldiers in 2007,” the FDD profile says.

POMPEO’S Q&A WITH IRANIANS: “The U.S. has great respect for the people of #Iran, and I believe it’s important for us to hear from them directly. So I asked the Iranian people to send me questions. I received more than 100,000 questions. Go to @USAdarFarsi to see my answers to many of them,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted yesterday.

SCHULTZ’S TEXAS SWING: Potential independent presidential candidate and retired Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is making a swing through Texas, stopping in San Antonio and Austin to visit local foundations, universities, labs, and festivals before taking the stage for town hall discussions in each city. Tonight: military and veterans town hall in San Antonio. Tomorrow: a tour of Department of Defense Center for Innovation in Austin.

The Rundown

Wall Street Journal: North Korea Set to Grow Nuclear Arsenal Amid Impasse, North Korea Moves On

Military Times: More Lethal Aid To Ukraine? U.S. Trainers, Javelins Have Already Made Russians A Little More Nervous

Washington Examiner: US pushes Russia to keep Venezuela’s interim president safe from harm

Military Times: Lawmakers to DoD: You knew about water contamination. Why haven’t you done more?

Breaking Defense: Fear & Loathing In AI: How The Army Triggered Fears Of Killer Robots

Defense News: US Air Force’s new trainer jet could become its next light-attack or aggressor aircraft

Stars and Stripes: VA contracting at ‘high risk’ for wasting tax dollars

Stars and Stripes: Okinawa-based sailor sentenced to five years for attempted rape of a child, other charges

Washington Post: Hundreds of immigrant recruits risk ‘death sentence’ after Army bungles data, lawmaker says

New York Times: Huawei Sues U.S. Government Over What It Calls an Unfair Ban

C4ISRNet: Top U.S. General In Europe Wants To Keep China Out Of 5G Networks

Washington Post: U.S. allies differ on difficulty of containing Huawei security threat

ISNI News: Navy Appoints Admiral To Oversee Columbia Sub Effort

AP: Homeless Marine Veteran Charged in GoFundMe Scheme Pleads Guilty

Calendar

THURSDAY | MARCH 7

9:30 a.m. 216 Hart. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the “chain of command’s accountability to provide safe military housing and other building infrastructure to servicemembers and their families.” All three service secretaries, and all four service chiefs are scheduled to testify. Army Secretary Mark Esper, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Committee hearing on “National Security Challenges and U.S. Military Activities in the Greater Middle East and Africa.” U.S. Central Commander Gen. Joseph Votel, U.S. Africa Commander, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, and Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, testify. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

11:45 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Suite 400. “Revolution and Civil Unrest: Lessons From Venezuela and Syria.” www.hudson.org

12 p.m. 1152 15th St. NW Suite 950. Center for a New American Security. Robert Work, CNAS senior counselor; Dave Ochmanek, RAND Corporation, and Chris Dougherty, CNAS senior fellow to discuss Dougherty’s new initiative, “A New American Way of War,” examining why the U.S. military needs to change how it fights to meet the challenges of great-power competition as described in the 2018 National Defense Strategy. www.cnas.org

12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. “The Next Steps for Combatting Terrorist Travel.” Featuring Amb. Nathan Sales, coordinator for counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State. Heritage Foundation. Live streamed at www.heritage.org

1:15 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave N.W. The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts an expert panel to assess the outcome of the recent Hanoi summit between the United States and North Korea, followed by a speech from Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. Panelists: Amb. Alexander Vershbow, Atlantic Council; David Nakamura, Washington Post White House correspondent; Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, CSIS; and Sue Mi Terry, Senior Fellow, Korea Chair, CSIS. www.csis.org

2:00 p.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and Subcommittee on Readiness Joint Hearing: U.S. Transportation Command and Maritime Administration: State of the Mobility Enterprise. Gen. Steve Lyons, Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, and Rear Adm. Mark H. “Buz” Buzby, USN, Ret., Administrator of the Maritime Administration, are scheduled to testify. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2:45 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Bridging America’s Civil-Military Divide.” www.sais-jhu.edu

MONDAY | MARCH 11

7 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference. www.carnegieendowment.org

1 p.m. 2301 Constitution Avenue N.W. “How Pakistan Navigates the Saudi Arabia-Iran Rivalry.” www.usip.org

TUESDAY | MARCH 12

7 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference (Day 2). www.carnegieendowment.org

12 noon. Pentagon Briefing Room. Briefing by Pentagon officials on the FY 2020 DoD budget submission to Congress. https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events

2 p.m. 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing on “Outside Perspectives on Military Personnel Policy. Witnesses: Todd Harrison, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Peter Levine, Institute for Defense Analyses; Beth Asch, RAND Corporation. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 13

7 a.m. 1513 K St. N.W. McAleese/Credit Suisse 10th Annual FY2020 “Defense Programs” Conference. All-day speakers list includes: Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations; Gen. Robert Neller, Marine Corps commandant; Ryan McCarthy, under secretary of the Army, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., Armed Services Committee chairman; Rep. Joseph Courtney D-Conn; Rep. Robert Wittman, R-Va.; Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio; and many others. Email [email protected] to register.

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. U.S. European and Supreme NATO Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti and Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, testify before the House Armed Services Committee.

2 p.m. 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing on “Ensuring resiliency of military installations and operations in response to climate changes.” Witnesses: retired Rear. Adm. David Titley, Pennsylvania State University; Sharon Burke, International Security Program and Resource Security Program; and Nicolas Loris, Center for Free Markets and Regulatory Reform. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2 p.m. Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing on U.S. Cyber Command and operations in cyberspace. Witnesses: U.S. Cyber Commander Army Gen. Paul Nakasone and Kenneth Rapuano, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

4 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. “Putin’s World.” www.brookings.edu

THURSDAY | MARCH 14

10 a.m 2212 Rayburn House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing on “Department of the Air Force Fiscal Year 2020 budget request for seapower and projection forces.” Witnesses: William Roper, assistant secretary of Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics; Air Force Lt. Gen. Timothy Fay, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “The future of the Army in an era of great power competition.” www.brookings.edu

TUESDAY | MARCH 19

8 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Religious Authority in the Middle East: Implications for U.S. Policy.” www.carnegieendowment.org

9:30 a.m. 1800 M Street N.W. Breakfast discussion on “America’s Missile Strategy, Countering and Defending Against Threats from Iran and North Korea,” sponsored by Foundation for Defense of Democracies, featuring Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; David Maxwell, senior fellow at FDD; and Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at FDD. Invitation-only event open to government officials, Hill staff, foreign policy professionals, members of the diplomatic corps, the think tank and foreign policy communities, and credentialed press. Advance registration and confirmation is required.