BIG FOUR HUDDLE ON NDAA: The Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress’ two armed services committees, called the Big Four, are set to meet today at 2:20 p.m. for the first time to hash out the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. The House has passed a $696 billion NDAA bill and the Senate has passed a $700 billion version, and both chambers named members to a conference committee this month aimed at negotiating compromise legislation. Sens. John McCain and Jack Reed will now sit down behind closed doors with Reps. Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith to discuss and smooth out differences, as well as “pass the gavel,” according to the committees. Each year the chairmanship of the NDAA conference alternates; McCain will be handing control over to Thornberry this year.
When asked recently what will be some of “the toughest nuts to crack,” McCain pointed to the House plan to create a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force. Sen. Bill Nelson, a senior Armed Services member who sponsored legislation opposing the move, has said the new military service will never happen. But Rep. Mike Rogers, who is spearheading the push for a Space Corps, said he was feeling optimistic. “The Big Four is where it is going to be decided,” Rogers told the Washington Examiner. “The Senate, once they become more familiar with the underlying issues, it sells itself.” Pentagon leaders are against the proposal, saying the Air Force can handle military space functions already, and standing up a Space Corps would only create redundancies.
TRILATERAL CONFAB ON NORTH KOREA: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met in the Philippines with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting yesterday. “North Korea’s provocations threaten regional and global security despite unanimous condemnation by the United Nations Security Council,” Mattis said. He then quoted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has articulated the U.S. objective as “the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo said North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats “continue to heighten” and its “provocative behavior is becoming worse and worse.” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said the threat posed by North Korea has “grown to [an] unprecedented, critical and imminent level.”
3 CARRIERS IN ASIA: The Navy announced this morning that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has arrived in the 7th Fleet, joining the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Theodore Roosevelt strike groups as tensions increase with North Korea. A release from 7th Fleet said Nimitz is on its way home from the Middle East and will be “ready to support operations” throughout the area as it passes through and conducts a port visit in the region. Roosevelt entered the Western Pacific Monday. Reagan is homeported in Japan.
CHINA’S NEW ORDER: Chinese President Xi Jinping has ushered in a new era of leadership, consolidating his power under a new plan that does not include a designated successor among the six officials who will help him rule in his second five-year term. Xi was given a mandate at today’s meeting of the China’s Central Committee. The absence of an obvious successor pointed to Xi’s longer-term ambitions, Joseph Fewsmith, an expert on Chinese politics at Boston University, told The Associated Press. “It suggests that Xi will likely serve a third term, and that he is likely to name his own successor,” Fewsmith said. “We have not seen that for two decades.”
KURDS CAVE ON INDEPENDENCE, FOR NOW: Two days after Tillerson, in a brief visit to Baghdad, called for Kurds to negotiate with Iraq’s central government, it appears they are willing to put their desire for independence on hold and give talks a chance. Baghdad has been methodically pushing the Kurds out of areas of northern Iraq that they occupied as the Islamic State was pushed back in 2014. A referendum on support for an independent Kurdish state in the north won overwhelming support, and fueled tensions with the government of Haider al-Abadi. The U.S. supports Abadi’s insistence on a unified Iraq.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Regional Government said, “The fighting between the two sides will not produce a victory for any, it will take the country to total destruction,” according to Reuters, which says the Kurds are proposing an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the referendum result, and “starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi Constitution.”
McCAIN SAYS ‘I CHOOSE THE KURDS’: In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain says he’s solidly behind the Kurds in the dispute. “Let me be clear: If Baghdad cannot guarantee the Kurdish people in Iraq the security, freedom and opportunities they desire, and if the United States is forced to choose between Iranian-backed militias and our longstanding Kurdish partners, I choose the Kurds.”
McCain says while the U.S. is “basking in the feeling of victory,” Iranian forces are “working to sow discord inside Iraq, maneuver Iraqi politics against the United States; and turn next year’s election into a strategic setback that drives American influence out of the country.”
TILLERSON IN PAKISTAN, INDIA: From Iraq, Tillerson moved on to Pakistan, where he pressed for new measures to prevent northern regions of the country from being used as a terrorist haven. Speaking to staff at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Tillerson said, “We’re going to be very open, very frank about the challenges that we see, how we need to work together to address those challenges, certain things we really need for the Pakistan leadership to undertake, but we also want them to understand we’re here to work together as partners, and we should be working toward the same objective.”
Today, Tillerson is in New Delhi, where the U.S. wants to urge India to play a bigger role in the region and serve as a counterbalance to China.
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). 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.
Q3 EARNINGS: F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin yesterday reported net sales of $12.2 billion for the third quarter of this year, up from $11.6 billion one year ago. Net earnings dipped, from $1.1 billion last year to $939 million this quarter. “Our continued focus on operational performance and meeting our delivery commitments has enabled us to increase our financial guidance and post a record backlog that supports long term growth,” CEO Marillyn Hewson said in a release. “As we look ahead to 2018, we remain focused on delivering for our customers, investing in innovative solutions, and returning value to our shareholders.”
This morning, Northrop Grumman is reporting third quarter 2017 sales up 6 percent to $6.5 billion from $6.2 billion in the third quarter of 2016. Net earnings increased 7 percent to $645 million from $602 million in the prior year. “All three of our businesses continue to execute well. Our third quarter operational performance in combination with strategic actions, such as the agreement to acquire Orbital ATK, continues to support our strategy to drive profitable growth over the long term,” Chairman and CEO Wes Bush said in a statement.
MORE NIGER AMBUSH DETAILS, PART I: The team of U.S. soldiers that were ambushed in Niger this month, which led to the deaths of four soldiers, was reportedly collecting intelligence on a terrorist leader when they came under fire. Two military officials told CNN the 12-man U.S. Army team did not have orders to kill or capture the terrorist leader.
MORE NIGER AMBUSH DETAILS, PART II: Army records show that the four U.S. soldiers killed during the ambush had little to no combat experience prior to their deployment. Three had only been deployed once, and one of them had never been deployed abroad, according to the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, none of them had received the Army’s combat infantry badge or combat action badge, awards given to those who have encountered action with an enemy.
MORE NIGER AMBUSH DETAILS, PART III: Video footage depicting a group of young men riding motorcycles and armed with rifles and machine guns is being examined by U.S. intelligence officials as part of an effort to identify the militants behind the ambush. The video was given to ABC News by retired Lt. Col. Rudolph Atallah, a former U.S. military expert on West Africa, who said it was provided by villagers near the attack. Atallah said the video was recorded by Abu Walid, a leader of a local terrorist affiliate that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
SASC TO BE BRIEFED: The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to get a classified briefing on the Oct. 4 Niger ambush tomorrow. Among the questions the committee has is whether Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, has all the assets he needs to carry out his assigned mission, Sen. Richard Blumenthal told NPR this morning. Blumenthal says AFRICOM is suffering from a shortage of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance platforms, in other words, aerial drones.
The lack of a U.S. surveillance drone overhead that would have spotted the hostile forces before they surprised the U.S. and Nigerien troops is one of seven unknowns we have identified about the Niger mission.
CHINA SANCTION: House lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly in favor of new sanctions designed to curtail China’s support for North Korea. Rep. Andy Barr wrote the legislation to impose sanctions on “virtually anyone that facilitates trade and investment with North Korea.” Chinese companies represent the chief target of those measures, as China stands as the leading patron of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The legislation also builds upon U.S. efforts to stiffen economic sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, in the face of Russian and Chinese recalcitrance. The bill — the Otto Warmbier North Korea Nuclear Sanctions Act — is named for the American college student who was arrested while traveling in North Korea and died shortly after being returned to the U.S. in a coma.
URANIUM DEAL: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes yesterday announced the launch of a joint investigation with the House Oversight Committee into a 2010 deal under the Obama administration that resulted in Russia taking control of a significant amount of America’s uranium supplies.
“This is just the beginning of this probe,” Nunes said in a press conference from the Capitol. “We are not going to jump to any conclusions at this time, but one of the things, as you know, that we’re concerned about is whether or not there was an FBI investigation. Was there a DOJ investigation? And if so, why was Congress not informed of this matter?”
The controversies over the 2010 deal have resurfaced after media reports suggested that Russia was working to blackmail and extort people in America in order to further Moscow’s pursuit of atomic energy interests in the United States.
RUSSIA’S MOVE: Russia blocked an effort to extend an investigation into Syria’s use of chemical weapons by casting a veto Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council. The investigation into chemical weapons in Syria has been a political football for years, but especially in recent months following President Trump’s authorization of an airstrike against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in April. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that Assad might have been framed by terrorists in order to justify the strike, a claim that set the tone for the debate over the U.N.’s Joint Investigative Mechanism for reviewing the attacks.
IT WAS ALL US: The State Department is rejecting any suggestion that the defeat of the Islamic State in its chief stronghold was the result of a “multi-administration” effort that began under former President Barack Obama. “The previous administration tried,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters Tuesday. “But President Trump, and under this administration, we have doubled down on the efforts to take back all of the territory that had been taken by ISIS.”
The refusal to give any credit to Obama’s team ignores the fact that the “by, with and through” strategy that defeated ISIS began three years ago, and the crucial battle that broke the back of the terrorist group was the assault on Mosul, an operation that was planned and began before Trump took office (and a campaign he completely called “a disaster”).
Military scholars can debate to what extent adjustments to the strategy implemented under Trump accelerated the defeat, but the outcome was clear by the time of Trump’s inauguration in January.
THE RUNDOWN
The Diplomat: North Korea Has Tested A New Solid-Fuel Missile Engine
Defense News: Pentagon kicks off intensive F-35 cost review
New York Times: Tillerson in Kabul? Two photos lead to many questions
Wall Street Journal: Russia casts cloud over future of chemical arms probe in Syria
Military Times: U.S. lawmakers seek vote to abandon Saudi-led war in Yemen
AP: U.S. suspects Niger villager betrayed Army troops
War on the Rocks: It’s too early to pop champagne in Baghdad: The micro-politics of territorial control in Iraq
CNN: U.S. team in Niger was collecting intel
Stars and Stripes: Mattis, allies eye faster military movement across Europe
Washington Times: China Claims U.S. Navy Accidents In Pacific Due To Overstretched Fleet
Daily Beast: GOP leaders refusing to pay for Dana Rohrabacher’s travel over Russia fears
Capital News Service: Maryland A Battleground In Transgender Military Ban Fight
New York Times: A Sergeant’s Last Mission: Soldiering, Barbering and Missing His Family at Home
San Diego Union-Tribune: Court: Top Navy Lawyer’s Unlawful Influence Tainted SEAL’s San Diego Rape Case
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | OCT. 25
8 a.m. 2401 M St. NW. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. Petr Pavel, chairman of the NATO Military Committee. centermediasecurity.org
9:15 a.m. Senate Visitors Center 217. Closed briefing on major threats facing naval forces and the Navy’s current and planned capabilities to meet those threats with Adm. Bill Moran, vice chief of naval operations, and Jason Reynolds, director of special programs for the chief of naval operations. armed-services.senate.gov
9:15 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Transformational leadership in international affairs with Sen. Ben Cardin. csis.org
10 a.m. Senate Visitors Center 217. Closed security update on Nigeria with Donald Yamamoto, acting assistant secretary of state, and Mike Miller, director of the Office of Regional and Arms Transfers at the State Department. foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. Rayburn 2172. Next steps after the president’s Iran decision. foreignaffairs.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Book discussion of “Vets and Pets: Wounded Warriors and the Animals that Help Them Heal” with authors Kevin Ferris and Dava Guerin. heritage.org
12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A book discussion of “Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent” with author Larry Pressler, a former U.S. senator. hudson.org
5 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Book launch of “Crashback, The Power Clash Between the U.S. and China in the Pacific” with author Michael Fabey. csis.org
THURSDAY | OCT. 26
8:15 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Documentary screening and discussion of “Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS.” cfr.org
9:30 a.m. 529 14th St. NW. The parallel gulag: North Korea’s “an-jeon-bu” prison camps. press.org
10 a.m. Senate Visitor Center 217. Closed briefing on Niger with Robert Karem, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and Maj. Gen. Albert Elton II, Joint Staff deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism. armed-services.senate.gov
12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Maintaining transatlantic unity on Ukraine with H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former secretary general of Nato. hudson.org
4 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. Redeploying U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea with Joon-Pyo Hong, chairman of the Liberty Korea Party and Congressional Delegation. press.org
FRIDAY | OCT. 27
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Mitchell space breakfast series: U.S. allies in space with Air Vice-Marshal “Rocky” Rochelle, of the Royal Air Force, and Wing Commander Steven Henry, Australian exchange officer at the Defense Department. michellaerospacepower.org
2 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Inclusion in combat and security: A book event with Maj. M.J. Hegar. wilsoncenter.org
2 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Book discussion of “Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny” with authors Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” and Don Yaeger. heritage.org
MONDAY | OCT. 30
5701 Marinelli Rd. IPPM: Future dimensions of integration. ndia.org
9 a.m. 901 N. Stuart St. Microelectronics manufacturing models workshop. ndia.org
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Iraqi public opinion on the rise, fall and future of ISIS. csis.org
11 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book discussion of “Inside Terrorism” with author Bruce Hoffman. wilsoncenter.org
2 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Russia’s demography: The basis for a prosperous future? atlanticcouncil.org
5 p.m. Dirksen 419. The administration perspective on the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. foreign.senate.gov
5:30 p.m. 1667 K St. NW. Book talk on “Safeguarding Democratic Capitalism: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, 1920-2015.” csbaonline.org
TUESDAY | OCT. 31
10:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The unfinished business of the 1989 East European revolutions. wilsoncenter.org
WEDNESDAY | NOV. 1
8 a.m. 1550 W. Nursery Rd. Cyber DFARS workshop. ndia.org
9:30 a.m. 1152 15th St. NW. Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Summit with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc. and the chair of the Defense Innovation Advisory Board. cnas.org
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Press briefing on President Trump’s trip to Asia. csis.org
2 p.m. House Visitor Center 210. Russia Investigative task force open hearing with social media companies including Kent Walker, general counsel for Google; Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook; and Sean Edgett, general counsel for Twitter. intelligence.house.gov
