ONE MORE SHOT AT A CEASE-FIRE: The latest negotiated cease-fire for Syria, announced late Friday, is scheduled to go into effect at sundown tonight. The two-part deal, hammered out between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, would first halt Syrian regime airstrikes in defined areas where fighters opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad are concentrated. “By all accounts, the Assad air attacks have been the main driver of civilian casualties and migration flows and the most frequent violations of the hostilities,” Kerry said in Geneva, expressing the hope the agreement would put an end to the barrel bombs and indiscriminate bombing of civilians, and change the nature of the conflict.
Then, only after “a sustained period of reduced violence,” the U.S. and Russia would work together to target both the Islamic State and the former Nusra front, which has renounced its links to al-Qaeda and rebranded itself as the “Front for the Conquest of Syria,” or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. The whole deal hinges on opposition fighters adhering to an agreement to which they were not a party, and for the fighting to stop for seven straight days after a 48-hour “pause” to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Aleppo and other besieged areas.
At least 90 people were killed in Syrian and Russian airstrikes in Aleppo and Idlib over the weekend, in what appeared to be an attempt to maximize Syria’s battlefield advantage before the front lines are frozen.
B-1s TO FLY OVER KOREA: In a symbolic show of resolve, the U.S. is planning to fly a pair of nuclear-capable B-1 bombers over South Korea in the wake of last week’s nuclear detonation by the North. South Korea is warning that Pyongyang could fire off another nuke in the coming days. Without explaining further, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry said North Korea has the ability to detonate another atomic device anytime. Meanwhile, reports suggested the South has a plan to destroy parts of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang should the North mount a nuclear strike.
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TRUMP IN BALTIMORE: Donald Trump is scheduled to appear at 1 this afternoon as the National Guard Association of the United States wraps ups its annual convention in Baltimore. This comes a week after Trump said America’s generals “have been reduced to rubble” under the leadership of President Obama and Hillary Clinton, and made a cryptic reference to working with “different generals,” if he’s elected. As commander in chief, the president has full authority to fire any general or admiral, but Time magazine has a nice primer on the practical limits of that power.
NO MORE “RANSOMS”: Bills prohibiting payments to Iran similar to the $400 million that Republicans said was a ransom attracted dozens of cosponsors during Congress’ first week back in Washington, Susan Crabtree reports. House leaders have agreed to squeeze in a floor vote on the measure from Rep. Ed Royce during a crowded legislative calendar this fall.
NORWAY AS A BRIDGE TO RUSSIA: Defense Secretary Ash Carter wrapped up his four-day Eurotrip on Friday in Norway, which officials said often acts as a window into the mind and motivations of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “They are a bridge in a lot of ways and they help explain their view,” a senior defense official said following a day of briefings in Bodo, Norway.
CALLING ON CHINA: Carter may have been in Norway on Friday, but was forced to respond to events on the other side of the world when North Korea conducted a nuclear test, its second this year. He said China bears much of the responsibility for the most recent test and called on it to step up and use its influence to stop future tests.
“It shares important responsibility for this development and has an important responsibility to reverse it. It’s important that it use its location, its history and its influence to further the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and not the direction things have been going,” Carter said at a joint press conference in an aircraft hangar in Oslo.
TECH TRIP: Carter is back on the road today, heading to Silicon Valley this afternoon to continue to build better relationships between the Defense Department and innovators.
LONE-WOLF THREAT: Fifteen years after 9/11, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the country is well-prepared to stop another attack of that nature. But what worries him is lone-wolf attacks that the U.S. may not be able to prevent. “Invariably, the higher probability type of threat is another San Bernardino, another Orlando, is the thing most in our minds,” Johnson said Sunday. “[It] keeps me up at night the most.” He also downplayed the idea that Russia could easily influence the November election, given that votes are tallied by thousands of different precincts.
HUMANE RELOCATION: According to the Des Moines Register, Green Party Candidate Jill Stein told reporters in Iowa that she would not have ordered Osama bin Laden be taken dead or alive. Stein termed the killing of bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 an assassination. Instead she would have ordered the SEALs to take him alive. “I think assassinations … they’re against international law to start with and to that effect, I think I would not have assassinated Osama bin Laden but would have captured him and brought him to trial,” Stein reportedly said.
WHAT READINESS REALLY MEANS: House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, writing in the Washington Examiner this morning, spells out the dangers of underfunding our military at a time of rising threats, and takes aim at what he calls a “readiness gap,” in the Pentagon budget proposed by President Obama. “What’s worse is that while proposing a significant increase in military deployments around the world, the president has not actually asked for additional funds to pay for their missions,” Thornberry said. “Instead, he again cuts tens of billions from what the services say they need for training, maintenance and replacements for weapons so worn out they can no longer be repaired.”
FIGHTING WORDS: Trump, who accuses Clinton of being “trigger-happy,” had a warning for those Iranian fast boats that have been harassing U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. At a rally in Florida Friday, Trump said, “By the way, with Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures that our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water.” U.S. Central Commander Gen. Joseph Votel recently praised U.S. Navy crews for deescalating the recent confrontations with what he called “rogue commanders” in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, but said the U.S. will not hesitate to exercise its right to self defense in international waters.
IN DEFENSE OF MATT LAUER: Byron York offers a spirited defense of Matt Lauer’s much-maligned performance as moderator at the NBC “Commander in Chief Forum” Wednesday night. “Lauer pressed Clinton on a number of questions. But he also pressed Trump. He fact-checked on the fly. He clarified Clinton’s position when Trump mischaracterized it. He elicited from Trump new statements on Putin, on the nation’s generals, on women in the military, on his intelligence briefings — all of which made news and served as ammunition for Trump’s adversaries. That didn’t just happen. Lauer, the moderator, made it happen. And neither side has any legitimate complaint about how he treated them.”
COOL VIDEO: The stealth destroyer Zumwalt is getting ready to join the fleet. Watch it get underway in Bath, Maine en route to its commissioning in Baltimore, Maryland, on Oct. 15. The destroyer is the first ship to be named for Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. Bonus audio track: listen to a bystander lecture the cameraman about kids these days not knowing how to build ships.
THE RUNDOWN
Marine Corps Times: Marine aviation is plagued with problems and it needs serious attention now
Defense News: Congress’s CR Talk Vexes Pentagon
Defense One: These Swarming Drones Launch from a Fighter Jet’s Flare Dispensers
USNI News: Michele Flournoy Calls For Next Admin To Reverse Sequestration; Discusses Women In Defense
Air Force Times: National Guard needed now more than ever, Air Force secretary says
Breaking Defense: 911: Do We Need A Director of National Intelligence?
Army Times: Terrorist threat hasn’t abated 15 years after 9/11, top Army general says
Military.com: Military Members, Veterans Recall America’s ‘Darkest Hours’ on 9/11
New York Times: Spate of Deadly Attacks in Syria Ahead of Cease-Fire
Associated Press: Analysis: Syria deal offers hope, but Russia calling shots
Military.com: For US and Russia, War in Syria is Mainly in the Air
CNN: French PM: Terror threat is ‘maximal’
Fox News: Teen suspected of plotting ‘imminent’ attack on Paris, report says
Air Force Times: Too soon to tell what U.S. response to North Korea nuke test might be, Pacific Air Forces leader says
Washington Post: Top West Point general: ‘Valid concerns’ raised about prayer after Army football game
Calendar
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 12
9 a.m. 1333 H St. NW. The Center for American Progress Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson speaks on naval strategy in Asia and the Arctic.
9 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. NW. The Center for New American Security unveils a new report of foreign policy strategy advice for the next administration. Cnas.org
11 a.m. 1 W. Pratt St., Baltimore. Baltimore Convention Center. Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, commander, U.S. Northern Command, speaks at the National Guard Association of the United States general conference and exhibition. Donald Trump speaks at 1.
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 13
8 a.m. 1250 S. Hayes St., Arlington. Rear Adm. Bret Muilenburg, the commander of Navy Facilities and Engineering Command, speaks at a Navy League breakfast. navyleague.org
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Marcel Lettre, the Defense Department’s undersecretary of intelligence, will speak at the Atlantic Council about the role of transparency in strengthening defense intelligence. atlanticcouncil.org
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. State and Treasury Department officials testify about what impact the Brexit will have on U.S.-U.K. relations. foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Brookings Institution hosts a panel to talk about how creating jobs in the Middle East could boost security. brookings.edu
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 14
10 a.m. Cannon 311. The House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing looking at the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to track and stop foreign fighters trying to enter the U.S. homeland.house.gov
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Amber Smith, a former Army helicopter pilot, speaks at the Heritage Foundation about her new book on her service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heritage.org
3:30 p.m. 2118 Rayburn. Four Air Force generals testify before the House Armed Services Committee on next-generation air space control. armedservices.house.gov
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 15
5 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The American Enterprise Institute hosts an event in its new building on tension between the U.S. commitment to religious freedom and the tools the government has to stop terrorists. aei.org
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 16
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council hosts an event on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new terrorism laws in Russia. atlanticcouncil.org
