OPERATIONS CONTINUE TO ELIMINATE ISIS: The ISIS caliphate is history, but the battle to eliminate the terrorist group continues in Iraq and Syria. The U.S.-led coalition, officially named Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, no longer conducts regular briefings, but it does issue a bi-weekly “strike summary,” which shows plenty of bombing is going on along with ground operations as ISIS continues to pose a threat in both countries.
“Between March 24 – April 6, the U.S. and its coalition partners conducted 52 strikes against nearly 100 targets in Syria and Iraq,” according to the latest CJTF-OIR release.
“In Syria, CJTF-OIR conducted 29 strikes consisting of 53 engagements, engaged 28 [ISIS] tactical units, and destroyed 72 vehicles, 17 fighting positions, 15 supply routes, and three vehicle borne improvised explosive devices,” said the summary. “In Iraq, CJTF-OIR conducted 23 strikes consisting of 45 engagements, engaged three [ISIS] tactical units, and destroyed seven tunnels, four supply routes, two buildings, two caves, one command and control center, and one compound.”
U.S. TROOPS STILL ON THE GROUND: For three months, the U.S. military has insisted the withdrawal of forces from Syria is underway, in accordance with President Trump’s orders. But there is little evidence that many of the 2,000 American troops in Syria have actually left.
“We don’t talk troop movements and we don’t talk troop levels,” Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Fox News anchor Bret Baier this week. He was talking about Afghanistan, but the same can be said for Syria. Repeated requests for confirmation of any units that have come home since the first of the year are met with only the most generic response.
“Yes, we are drawing down our forces in Syria,” said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman. “This work is ongoing and, for operational security reasons, we will not discuss specific U.S. troop numbers or drawdown timelines.”
A U.S. military official who did not want to be identified said that after an initial influx of additional personnel that peaked in early February, the number of troops in Syria has been slowly declining to the point that there are fewer there now than in December, when Trump made his withdrawal announcement. But other sources indicate the number remains above 2,000.
TURKEY STILL A PROBLEM: The U.S. military is still trying to reach an agreement with Turkey that would protect Kurdish troops after America leaves, but relations between Washington and Ankara are at a low point as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan grapples with political problems at home.
The Institute for the Study of War says Erdogan is preparing to challenge the results of local elections held on March 31, in which his Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the key urban centers of Istanbul and Ankara.
“Erdogan has rejected these results and plans to seek a total annulment of the vote in Istanbul. Regardless of the ultimate ruling by the Turkish Supreme Election Board, this approach will further disrupt the fragile electoral processes and institutions in Turkey. Erdogan could exploit a protracted legal dispute over the election to fraudulently reverse the results and partially reverse the gains of the opposition.”
AND THERE’S THE F-35 FLAP: And Erdogan appears to be digging in as America puts more pressure on him to cancel the purchase of an advanced Russian air defense system or lose its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and be kicked out the program to help build the high-tech jet.
The folks over at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies have put together a helpful infographic that charts the timeline of Turkey’s problematic pursuit of American F-35s and Russian S-400s.
BREAKING — ASSANGE ARRESTED: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London after police were allowed into the Ecuadorian embassy, where Assange has been holed up since 2012.
In a statement, British police said Assange was arrested by officers at the embassy on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in 2012 for failing to surrender to the court. British authorities have long made clear that Assange, 47, would not have diplomatic immunity if he left the embassy. The Ecuadorians evicted Assange, a scourge of American government officials for allegedly leaking classified and secret documents, saying he had violated the rules of asylum.
Good Wednesday 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: South Korean President Moon Jae-in has a meeting with President Trump in Washington today, their first since Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed in Hanoi last month.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump will welcome Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook to the White House as the two leaders search for a way to restart the denuclearization talks. The breakdown in negotiations has been politically damaging for Moon, a liberal who has worked to be a broker between Washington and Pyongyang.
Moon, who arrived in Washington last night, will meet this morning with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton, and Vice President Mike Pence before meeting Trump this afternoon.
KIM VOWS ‘TELLING BLOW’: Meanwhile, Kim is projecting a defiant tone, vowing to overcome the economic sanctions that Trump refuses to lift. At a meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea yesterday, Kim said his country needs to deliver a “telling blow” to those imposing sanctions by ensuring its economy is more self-reliant, according to a report in the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
“He underscored the need to more vigorously advance socialist construction by dint of self-supporting national economy suited to the specific local conditions of our country based on our efforts, technology and resources under the uplifted banner of self-reliance, so as to deal a telling blow to the hostile forces who go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring the DPRK to its knees,” the report said, according to a site that monitors North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency.
WHAT’S IN A PARADE?: The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Korea monitoring project Beyond Parallel reports that commercial satellite imagery from a few days ago shows what appears to be preparations in Pyongyang for a for a parade to honor either Kim Il-sung’s birthday (April 15) or Korean People’s Army Foundation Day (April 25).
The April 7 imagery shows 217 military vehicles at the Mirim Parade Training Facility on the east side of the capital city. So what?
“North Korea often holds military parades on important holidays to showcase new weapons systems and military equipment. In the aftermath of the Hanoi summit, and as U.S.-DPRK nuclear negotiations remain stalled, a military parade displaying new weapons systems, including long-range ballistic missiles, may indicate the regime’s retrenchment towards a hardline position and reluctance to denuclearize,” the analysis says.
ALSO TODAY: Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will take his now-well-rehearsed pitch for President Trump’s Space Force to the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning, joined by Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, and U.S. Strategic Command leader and Joint Chiefs vice chairman nominee Gen. John Hyten.
His elevator pitch: “With help from Congress, we will create the Space Force and ensure the focus is on growing warfighter capability, not bureaucracy. The Space Force is a low-cost, low-bureaucracy proposal that will ensure that America will have the ability to protect and defend our space interests for decades to come.”
“The initial numbers of the Space Force are small, 15,000 to 20,000 people drawn from existing forces, and by creating the new service inside the Air Force, the additional cost is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the DOD budget, or put another way, the Space Force will cost about $1.50 per American per year.”
The 9:30 a.m. hearing will be streamed live at www.defense.gov.
MORE TROOPS TO BORDER: President Trump says he needs to send more troops to the southern border after an increase in illegal crossings into America. “I’m going to have to call up more military,” Trump said at a Texas political fundraiser. “I think the border is going to be an incredible issue,” he added.
Trump lamented what he insists is a border crisis, claiming there are “many, many dead people” as a result of migrants’ attempts to come into the United States and accusing some of raiding houses near the border and creating a “very dangerous” environment.
WHO’S IN CHARGE?: Responding to questions about whether senior adviser Stephen Miller is the “puppet master” behind the administration’s hardline immigration policy, Trump said yesterday there should be no doubt who is pulling the strings.
“Stephen is an excellent guy. He’s a wonderful person. People don’t know him. He’s a wonderful — been with me from the beginning. He’s a brilliant man. And, frankly, there’s only one person that’s running it. You know who that is? It’s me.”
PENCE TO THE BORDER: Vice President Mike Pence flies to Nogales, Ariz., this afternoon to tour a section of the border wall and get a briefing from Customs and Border Protection agents on the “humanitarian and security crisis” on the U.S. southern border. He is scheduled to make remarks before flying back to Washington.
ABIZAID CONFIRMED: Retired four-star Army Gen. John Abizaid won easy Senate confirmation yesterday to be the next U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Abizaid, who led U.S. Central Command during the Iraq war, was confirmed on a 92-7 vote, with Democratic presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Kirsten Gillibrand among the “no” votes.
The 68-year-old Abizaid will lead Trump’s diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia at a time of increasingly strained relations between the two countries. Tensions have grown in recent months amid a controversial military campaign in Yemen and the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly at the order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
THE CASE FOR THE OA-X: In an analysis published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Nigel Mease makes a spirited case for the advantages of purchasing a fleet of light attack combat and reconnaissance aircraft, known as the OA-X program. The idea is to use cheaper planes to provide overhead observation and close air support (CAS) in uncontested or “low-intensity” environments, so you don’t have a $100 million stealth aircraft dropping a 200-pound bomb on a undefended target, as happened in Afghanistan.
Mease’s conclusion:
AMNESTY FOR VETS: Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro says if he wins the White House, he’ll “bring our deported veterans home.”
“You know that today there are several thousand Americans — they’re Americans in every way except a piece of paper — who served our country in the military, some of them served in Vietnam, some of them served in the Gulf War, and then they were deported,” Castro said. “They’re living in Mexico or other countries. In their hearts, they’re American, but our federal government has told them ‘You’re not welcome here.’”
Castro, 44, made the pledge yesterday during a counter-rally staged in his hometown of San Antonio, the Texas city President Trump visited earlier in the day for a fundraiser.
IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN: The House Armed Services Committee has released the full committee and subcommittee markup schedule for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020.
Tuesday, June 4
12 p.m. – Subcommittee on Military Personnel Markup
1 p.m. – Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Markup
2:30 p.m. – Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces Markup
3:30 p.m. – Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Markup
Wednesday, June 5
9 a.m. – Subcommittee on Readiness Markup
10 a.m. – Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Markup
Wednesday, June 12
The full committee will consider the chairman’s mark beginning at 10 a.m.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: China selling high-tech tyranny to Latin America, stoking US concern
AP: U.S. looks for options as embattled Venezuelan leader hangs on
Reuters: Egypt Withdraws From U.S.-Led Anti-Iran Security Initiative – Sources
Navy Times: Navy drops all criminal charges against commander, junior officer in Fitzgerald collision cases
New York Times: Pentagon Prosecutors Seek Trial Of 3 Guantanamo Prisoners For Indonesia Bombings
Bloomberg: Amazon-Microsoft Face-Off Set for Pentagon’s $10 Billion Cloud
Breaking Defense: F-35C Readiness Rises, Navy Fighter Shortfall Fades
New York Times: Taiwan Welcomes American Officials as Tensions With China Escalate
Navy Times: SecNav defends plans to mothball aircraft carrier Truman
Defense Daily: Navy Secretary ‘Pretty Confident’ Frigate Cost Will Stay At Estimate
Calendar
THURSDAY | APRIL 11
8 a.m. 15052 Conference Center Drive, Chantilly. Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) holds its third annual Foreign Naval and Maritime Threat Symposium. Keynote at 8:35 a.m. by Vice Adm. Matt Kohler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence. Register at www.afcea.org.
8:30 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research holds a discussion on “What is Next for U.S.-Venezuela Policy?” Speakers: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Roger Noriega, visiting fellow at AEI. www.aei.org. Livestream at www.american.com/watch.
8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Project on U.S. Leadership in Development holds fifth annual Global Development Forum. Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, delivers remarks. www.csis.org
9:00 a.m. 1667 K Street N.W. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments releases a report, “An Air Force for an Era of Great Power Competition,” which recommends creating a future aircraft inventory that would be more lethal and better able to operate in future contested and highly contested environments compared with today’s force. Experts include: Mark Gunzinger, Carl Rehberg, Jacob Cohn, Timothy Walton, Lukas Autenried. Register at www.csbaonline.org.
9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, and U.S. Strategic Commander Gen. John Hyten testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the “Proposal to Establish a United States Space Force.” www.armed-services.senate.gov
12 p.m. 1203 Van Munching Hall, College Park. The University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies holds a forum on “Building Bridges or a Road to Nowhere? International Frameworks for Preventing Nuclear Terrorism.” Speaker: Nickolas Roth, senior research associate in the Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affair’s Project on Managing the Atom. www.cissm.umd.edu/events
3 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on “EU-U.S. Digital Cooperation: A Common Response to Tech Challenges?” Featuring EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova; and Cameron Kerry, visiting fellow at Brookings. www.brookings.edu
3 p.m. 1030 15th Street N.W. The Atlantic Council holds a discussion on “European Neighborhood Policy: Eastern Partnership 10th Anniversary,” focusing on the EU’s joint initiative with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Speakers: EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Romanian minister of public finance Eugen Orlando Teodorovici. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 17
8 a.m. 2201 G St N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Forces Strategic – Air, U.S. Strategic Command. Crain Center Duques Hall, The George Washington School of Business. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Frankly, there’s only one person that’s running it. You know who that is? It’s me.”
President Trump, insisting that he, and he alone, is setting immigration policy.
