‘OPERATION ALLIES REFUGE’: With time running dangerously short and most U.S. troops already out of the country, the United States is planning a massive eleventh-hour airlift to ferry thousands of Afghans who worked for the U.S. out of Afghanistan before they are subject to retribution from advancing Taliban forces.
“We are launching what we are calling ‘Operation Allies Refuge’ to support relocation flights for interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the United States and our partners in Afghanistan,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who provided few details about where the evacuees would be taken while their special immigrant visa applications are processed.
“In terms of the specific numbers, I’m not going to be able to provide those to you for operational and security reasons,” said Psaki, but she said the first flights out on chartered commercial flights would begin the last week of the month. “Our objective is to get individuals who are eligible relocated out of the country in advance of the withdrawal of troops at the end of August.”
PENTAGON PROVIDING ‘OPTIONS’: While it’s possible some Afghans could be brought to military bases on U.S. soil for processing, the Pentagon is still looking at U.S. bases in other countries as the primary option.
“To date, we have identified overseas locations, and we’re still examining possibilities for overseas locations to include some departmental installations that would be capable of supporting planned relocation efforts with appropriate temporary residences and associated support infrastructure,” spokesman John Kirby said at the Pentagon.
‘BELATED, BUT WELCOME NEWS’: Members of Congress, especially those who served with interpreters during their military service, expressed cautious relief that the evacuations were finally beginning. Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, called the announcement “belated, but welcome news.”
“I hope to see more details on the number of those being evacuated, how they are being prioritized, how the United States is helping them safely travel to evacuation sites given the Taliban’s gains,” Waltz said. “We must also prioritize helping those in Afghan civil society, especially women, who may be outside of the SIV requirements but that the Taliban will continue to target.”
“This is a massive step in the right direction,” said Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and former Marine captain who served four tours in Iraq. “And now we just need to keep pressure on the White House to ensure they see this through until all our Afghan allies are evacuated to safety.”
THE MAP GETS REDDER: In the absence of any hard information about Taliban gains from the U.S. military, maps prepared by Bill Roggio and the graphics team at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies have become the go-to resource for charting the Taliban’s rapid consolidation of territory.
An updated series of maps from the FDD’s Long War Journal is out this morning, which depicts the Taliban-controlled area in red. In just the last 30 days, the red area has been spreading over the country like a creeping bloodstain.
The map for June 16 notes at the beginning of the Taliban offensive that the strategy appears aimed at undercutting the Afghan government’s power base in the north. “If the north is lost the Afghan government loses its base of traditional support and is at risk of collapse,” writes Roggio.
The July 13 update has this ominous assessment: “The Afghan government is facing a critical test. It must halt the Taliban advance in the north as well as in the provinces surrounding Kabul. To do so, the government must consolidate its forces, which will only be possible if it accepts that certain regions of the country have been lost rather than continuing to defend indefensible terrain, especially in the south and the east.”
BUSH: WITHDRAWAL CONSEQUENCES ‘UNBELIEVABLY BAD’: In an interview with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, former President George W. Bush expressed deep concern for the fate of Afghan women in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, which he called a mistake.
“I think it is, yes. Because I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad,” Bush said. “Sadly, I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.”
“I’m sad. I spent — Laura and I spent a lot of time with Afghan women, and they’re scared,” he said. “I think about all the interpreters and people that helped not only U.S. troops but NATO troops. And they’re just — it seems like they’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people. And it breaks my heart.”
TALIBAN KILL 22 AFGHAN COMMANDOS ATTEMPTING TO SURRENDER: REPORT
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House this afternoon, as relations between the two allies have warmed considerably after the tumultuous Trump years.
While the White House said the two leaders will discuss a “full range of issues,” including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and shoring up democracy, the biggest point of contention is Germany’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline deal with Russia.
“I do expect that President Biden will raise his long standing concerns with Chancellor Merkel during their meeting about Russia’s geopolitical project and about the importance of developing concrete mechanisms to ensure that energy is not used as a coercive tool against Ukraine, our Eastern Flank allies, or any other country,” a senior administration official told reporters yesterday.
“We are not anticipating any sort of formal announcement or deliverable coming out of the leaders’ meetings,” the official said. “We believe that the sanctions waivers that we announced in May have given us diplomatic space to be able to work with Germany, to have these conversations, to try and find ways to address the negative impacts of the pipeline.”
Biden and Merkel have a joint news conference scheduled for 4:15 p.m. EDT.
ALSO TODAY: Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley is in Norfolk, Virginia, for a ceremony marking the full operational capability of NATO’s newest operational headquarters, Joint Force Command Norfolk.
His remarks will be livestreamed on https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live
MILLEY’S COUP FEARS DETAILED: So far, Milley’s office has not commented on the bombshell account in a new book by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year.
In excerpts from the book first reported by CNN last night, Milley is depicted as very worried that President Donald Trump will use his false claims of a stolen election to engineer a military coup to remain in power.
Milley is said to have convened the joint chiefs, who agree to resign one-by-one if Trump attempts to use the military to re-run the election, as advocated by pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, or take other unconstitutional measures to overturn the election of Joe Biden.
At one point, Milley is said to have told his deputies, “They may try but they are not going to f***ing succeed … You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We are the guys with the guns.”
In an author’s note, Leonnig and Rucker say the book is based on interviews with more than 140 people, including senior Trump administration officials, friends, and advisers and that scenes were “reconstructed based on firsthand accounts and multiple other sources.”
JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN FRETTED OVER COUP ATTEMPT AFTER TRUMP LOST 2020 ELECTION: BOOK
STUDY FINDS TINY PERCENTAGE OF RADICALIZED VETERANS: The University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism is out with an analysis of Americans who were charged with crimes motivated by extremist views over the past two decades and found that 11.5% had military backgrounds.
Extremists with prior military service made up only a small portion of the 2,200 radicalized individuals in the online database maintained by the group, but the analysis showed an uptick since 2010 when the average number of subjects with military backgrounds tripled from six to more than 21 per year.
Those numbers are extremely small compared to the tens of millions of people who have served in the military since 1990. In the case of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, of the 563 individuals who are facing charges, only 14% had ever served in uniform, and the vast majority (75) were no longer on active duty, with many separated from the military for more than a decade.
“The majority of extremists in the U.S. do not have military backgrounds,” said Michael Jensen, who leads the START Radicalization and Disengagement portfolio and co-authored the report. “Of those that do, most of the individuals in our data radicalized after they left the military. So when we talk about the problem of extremists with military backgrounds, this is primarily a problem among veterans.”
You can read the full report here.
‘I WAS GOING TO BE EXECUTED’: Masih Alinejad, the Iranian American journalist who, according to a Justice Department indictment, was the target of a kidnapping plot by Iranian intelligence agents, told CNN yesterday she has no doubt about her fate if the FBI had not intervened.
“What do you think if they had succeeded in kidnapping you and getting you on a boat and taking you on that boat to Venezuela, what do you think they were going to do with you?” asked CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“Can I be honest with you, Jake? When you ask this question, I got goosebumps,” Alinejad said. “Because it just reminds me of the time when Ruhollah Zam, Iranian journalist, found himself in the car with the Intelligence Service Officers.”
Zam was an Iranian journalist living in exile in France. He was detained while visiting Iraq and hanged in December after a conviction by Iran’s Supreme Court for using the Telegram messaging app to stir up dissent.
Alinejad says she was headed for the same fate. “If they kidnapped me, I wouldn’t have been here with you, Jake, I would be there, fake trial, and then they would execute me.”
“I left my homeland to come to America to be safe. And now, I found out that even here in America, in the United States of America, I’m not safe because the Islamic Republic of Iran can easily hire someone here to kidnap me,” she said while crediting the FBI with saving her life.
“And right now that I’m talking to you, Ruhollah’s two children were dreaming that some police in France were actually warning him the way that FBI warned me that you’re not allowed to travel abroad. So, I was going to be executed.”
WHITE HOUSE WILL CONTINUE PURSUING IRAN DEAL DESPITE IRANIAN PLOT TO KIDNAP US JOURNALIST IN NYC
BROWN DOWN: Facing a whistleblower complaint and an investigation by the Office of Inspector General, Mike Brown, the Defense Innovation Unit head, has withdrawn his nomination to be the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer.
“I can confirm for you that the secretary is in receipt of a letter from Mr. Brown expressing his desire to withdraw his name from nomination for the position of undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“I really am uncomfortable speaking for Mr. Brown,” Kirby said, “But what I can tell you is that in his letter, he cited his concerns over the lengthy process of the investigation and his desire not to slow up the work of the department.”
Kirby did not say if Brown would continue to lead the Defense Innovation Unit.
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The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Blinken invites UN to investigate ‘contemporary forms of racism’ in US
Washington Examiner: Biden weighs military help for Haiti as some fear exodus to US shores
Washington Examiner: Taliban kill 22 Afghan commandos attempting to surrender: Report
Washington Examiner: Joint Chiefs chairman fretted over coup attempt after Trump lost 2020 election: Book
Washington Examiner: White House will continue pursuing Iran deal despite Iranian plot to kidnap US journalist in NYC
Washington Examiner: Iran’s attempted kidnapping of American journalist not the first nefarious plot on US soil
Washington Post: Nuclear Talks On Hold Until After Raisi’s Government Takes Office In Tehran
AP: Afghanistan’s neighbors wary as US seeks nearby staging area
Military.com: Huge Military Exercise Kicks Off In Australia Amid Tensions With China
Reuters: U.S. Rejects China Maritime Claims, Calls For ASEAN Action On Myanmar
CNN: Biden Administration Looks To Set Up ‘Red Phone’ To China For Emergency Communications
Air Force Magazine: More than 40 F-35s Without Engines, Air Force Leaders Say
USNI News: Navy Adjusts F-35C Squadron Size to End Fighter Shortfall by 2025
USNI News: U.K. Welcomes Chance to Put British F-35Bs on American Warships
Military.com: After Delays, the Navy Takes Delivery of First Improved Nuclear Warhead
Defense Daily: Two More Overlord Unmanned Surface Vessels To Sail Next Year
New York Times: Gillibrand Hits Resistance After Expanding Bill’s Scope
Air Force Magazine: Biden Nominates First Commander for Space Systems Command, New Boss at AMC
Washington Post: Military’s Effort To Reduce Deadly Rollovers Has Been Inadequate, GAO Says
Bloomberg Government: Pentagon Set to Release Comprehensive Climate Plan by September
Stars and Stripes: Shipping Container Falls From Marine Corps Helicopter Into Ocean Off Okinawa
19fortyfive.com: Is a China-Japan War in the East China Sea Possible?
19fortyfive.com: Hell with the Critics: Stop Complaining About the F-35s Costs (They Are Wrong)
19fortyfive.com: Stop Debating Afghanistan Withdrawal, Start Debating How to Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack
19fortyfive.com: Iraqi Kurdistan Is In A Moment of Crisis: Where Is the Biden Administration?
Calendar
THURSDAY | JULY 15
12 p.m. — R Street Institute virtual discussion: “The Pentagon’s Fiscal Responsibility and Government Waste,” as part of the Pentagon Purse Strings series, with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy at the National Taxpayers Union; and Jonathan Bydlak, director of governance at R Street. https://rstreet-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
12 p.m. — Washington Space Business Roundtable virtual discussion: “Ensuring America’s Space Leadership in the Face of Growing Global Competition: Vital Role of the Aerospace Sector,” with Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. https://www.wsbr.org/events/virtual-program
2 p.m. — Intelligence National Security Alliance virtual discussion: “The New IC: Empowering Women and Engaging Men,” with Lt. Gen. Mary O’Brien, Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cyber effects operations; and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon. https://www.insaonline.org/event
3:30 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu
4 p.m. — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness Hearing: “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for Military Construction, Energy, and Environmental Programs,” with Paul Cramer, performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for sustainment; Jack Surash, acting assistant secretary of the Army, Installations, environment and energy; Todd Schafer, acting assistant secretary of the Navy, installations, environment and energy; Jennifer Miller, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force, installations, environment and energy. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
FRIDAY | JULY 16
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “Religious Freedom and a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” with Yahya Cholil Staquf, general secretary of Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, fellow at Hudson; and Kenneth Weinstein, fellow at Hudson. https://www.hudson.org/events
On Friday July 16, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Virtual Retreat, where Leaders will discuss ending the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting the global economic recovery, hosted by Prime Minister Ardern of New Zealand.
MONDAY | JULY 19
5:30 p.m. 232A Russell — Senate Armed Services Subcommittees begin markups of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, beginning with closed hearings by the subcommittee on strategic forces and cybersecurity. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
TUESDAY | JULY 20
9:30 p.m. 106 Russell — Senate Armed Services Subcommittees continue markups of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, with open hearings by the subcommittees on readiness and management support, and at 11 a.m. on personnel; followed by closed hearings by the subcommittees on airland, emerging threats and capabilities, and seapower. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Non-Governmental Views on the Fiscal Year 2022 Department of Defense Budget,” with Stacie Pettyjohn, senior fellow and director, Defense Program, Center for a New American Security; Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information, Project on Government Oversight; Roger Zakheim, director, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
1:30 p.m. — Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies releases new policy paper, “Speed is Life: Accelerating the Air Force’s Ability to Adapt and Win,” with Tim Grayson, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Strategic Technology Office. https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register
2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing: “The Findings and Recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military,” with Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of defense; Lynn Rosenthal, chair, Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military; Meghan Tokash, member, Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military; retired Maj. Gen. James Johnson, member, Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military; and Kyleanne Hunter, member, Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
WEDNESDAY | JULY 21
3 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations hearing: “Review of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for U.S. Special Operations Forces and Command,” with Joseph McMenamin, PTDO assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict; and Gen Richard Clarke, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command.https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
8.p.m. Cincinnati, Ohio — President Joe Biden takes part in a town hall event moderated by CNN anchor Don Lemon. Live on CNN and CNN.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They may try but they are not going to f***ing succeed. You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We are the guys with the guns.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley on his concerns about former President Donald Trump attempting a coup to remain in power after the 2020 election.
