OBAMA IN HIROSHIMA: President Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city on Aug. 6, 1945, delivered a somber address, carried live around the world. Obama offered no apologies or second-guessing of the decision, choosing instead to acknowledge the devastating toll of war and focus on the need to prevent another nuclear bombing. Obama called for “a future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not known as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening.”
Before his historic Hiroshima remarks, the president addressed American and Japanese troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, outside Hiroshima. He thanked them, and said they were the backbone of “one of the greatest alliances of the world.” Obama is now on Air Force One, en route to Washington.
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NDAA DELAY: The 30-hour cloture clock to vote on beginning consideration of the defense policy bill expired at 6 p.m. Thursday, but the Senate skipped town for its week-long Memorial Day break without taking a vote. That means senators will vote to take up the bill when they get back to Washington on June 6.
What will $18 billion buy? Sen. John McCain said he would introduce an amendment to the NDAA that would add about $18 billion to the president’s budget request for defense to pay for the military’s unfunded priorities, including six extra Lockheed Martin F-35s for the Navy and Marine Corps, 36 more Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters for the Army and about $245 million worth of modernizations on Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles to send to Europe.
If all the different budget numbers in all the different versions are making your head spin, the Heritage Foundation’s Justin Johnson has a good chart that compares Obama’s request, the House plan and the Senate plan plus McCain’s amendment.
How Democrats will vote on the hike in defense spending remains to be seen, but Minority Whip Dick Durbin told reporters at the Capitol that the party “unanimously” will reject an increase in defense spending if it’s not matched by a boost in domestic spending.
APPROPS MOVES FORWARD: Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee sent the fiscal 2017 defense spending bill to the full Senate by a unanimous 30-0 vote. The bill, which stays inside caps set by last year’s budget deal, also includes $1 billion to hurry along procurement of a new heavy ice breaker.
STOP RIGHT THERE: Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced a bill on Thursday to stop the transfer of Gitmo detainees through the end of this year, or until Congress passes the defense policy bill, in an attempt to halt the two dozen releases expected to come this summer.
“President Obama is prioritizing a campaign promise over his oath of office by releasing enemy combatants – even though several have returned to the battlefield,” Daines said. “This reckless and irrational plan will only entice our enemies instead of serving as a powerful deterrent.”
AFGHANISTAN NEEDS AN AF: One of the biggest handicaps for the Afghan military as it battles the Taliban is the lack of air support. Yesterday, the commander of U.S. air forces in Central Command said he has enough warplanes to take on the mission, while making it clear expanding the role of U.S. airpower is not his call. “We’re just the provider of the air power,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Brown. It all depends on what Afghanistan commander Gen. Mick Nicholson recommends and what Obama decides.
Meanwhile speaking in Japan, Obama pledged to back the Afghan government against the Taliban, without providing details of any adjustments in strategy, Susan Crabtree reports.
Urging a “timely decision.” That’s the stance of McCain and nine other bipartisan members of his committee whose letter to the president urges him to decide quickly how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2016 in order to give NATO allies plenty of time to discuss what changes they will make in strategy at meetings scheduled for June and July.
“We urge you to announce any changes to our current planned force levels ahead of the relevant NATO conferences, giving the strongest consideration to the assessment of your military commanders and to conditions on the ground,” says the letter signed by five Republicans, four Democrats, and one Independent.
LEADING VS. BLEEDING EDGE: Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook found himself trying to explain away photos and videos published by Agence France-Presse that show U.S. special operations forces embedded accompanying Syrian rebels as they head off in the direction of Raqqa. The Syrian Defense Force commander told an AFP photographer the Americans are fighting alongside the YPG soldiers. Cook insists they are not on the front lines. Another “non-combat mission” for our combat troops.
COVERS WILL FLY: Defense Secretary Ash Carter addresses graduating midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy commencement ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland this morning. You can watch a live stream of his remarks at www.defense.gov at 10 a.m.
LATE NIGHT IN BAGHDAD: Carter’s commencement address pushes Col. Steve Warren’s briefing on the Fallujah offensive and other anti-Islamic State operation to 12:30 p.m. A late night for Warren, as he wraps up his tour as Operation Inherent Resolve spox, and packs up for the War College.
WHAT DO METRO AND MISSILE DEFENSE HAVE IN COMMON? National Security analyst Jonathan Bergner writes in the Washington Examiner this morning of the perils of neglecting critical infrastructure, and parallels with funding for National Missile Defense.
SALES TO QATAR: The State Department announced on Thursday that it had approved the possible sale of $20 million worth of javelin guided missiles and associated equipment to Qatar. Lockheed Martin is the principal contractor.
FLAGS IN: To mark Memorial Day, the U.S. Army has placed a small American flag at every grave at Arlington National Cemetery. You may know someone buried there, but our David Wilkes has compiled a list of 21 famous names you may not have realized are among the 400,000 grave markers.
Also the Pentagon hosts more than 350 grief camp children, parents and counselors as part of the annual Military Survivor Seminar put on by TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. It’s the third consecutive year Carter has opened up the building the Friday before Memorial Day to welcomed these family members to the Pentagon.
And this is the weekend of Rolling Thunder, with the Pentagon’s expansive parking lots serving as a staging area.
Garrison Keillor on NPR this morning reminded us that today is the birthday of Julia Ward Howe, born on this date in 1819. Most people know her as the woman who wrote “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She was also a writer, a suffragist, an abolitionist, and also helped establish Mother’s Day.
COOK TIMER: Peter Cook’s on-time performance continues to trend in the wrong direction. Last time he was 11 minutes late for his scheduled 1:30 briefing. Yesterday, it was more than 20 minutes. He gave his traditional apology, and explained he was getting late info on the four pilots who ejected safely from a pair of F/A-18F Super Hornets that apparently collided off the East Coast. They were “talking and alert,” when transported to the hospital, he said.
Fun fact to know and tell: The stirring music the Pentagon’s internal TV channel uses to fill the long gap between the time the DoD briefing is supposed to start, and when Cook actually arrives is a patriotic piece called “The Chosen,” by Mark Petrie, from his album “Heroes.” A hat-tip to the Daily Beast’s Nancy Youssef who used her Shazam app to identify the composition.
THE RUNDOWN
Daily Beast: Top Congressman Accuses Pentagon of ‘Criminal’ Leaks
Washington Post: The secret life of Kim Jong Un’s aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998
Defense News: Welsh: F-22 Restart for US Air Force Not ‘A Wild Idea’
Defense News: Driven by B-21, Annual Bomber Spending Spikes to $11B
War on the Rocks: It’s not about the airplane: Envisioning the A-X2
UPI: General Dynamics contracted for Shadow Compass prototype
UPI: Raytheon gets SM-6 contract modification
Daily Beast: The U.S. Air Force Is Running Out of Fighter Jets
Air Force Times: U.S. worries about declining precision weapons stocks for wars
Task and Purpose: The Navy’s Problem Balancing Strategy And Operations
USNI News: Navy Lays Bare F/A-18 Readiness Gaps, Could Take Year to Surge Air Wing
Defense One: ‘Give Surprising New Capabilities to Old Platforms,’ Carter Tells Engineers
Defense News: US Army To Brief Industry on Future of Network Modernization
AP: Obama defense his nuclear record on eve of Hiroshima visit
Task and Purpose: US Nuclear-Launch Capabilities Run From Floppy Disks. Seriously
Breaking Defense: An Anti-Daesh Strategy, One With A Chance Of Success
Defense One: Iraq Is Trying to Fight a War Around 50,000 Civilians in Fallujah
Fox News: Iraqi PM asks protesters to stay home to aid offensive against ISIS in Fallujah
CNN: New Taliban leader vows: No peace talks; ‘terror on enemies’ will continue
Reuters: China says it followed rules in U.S. aircraft intercept
Calendar
TUESDAY | MAY 31
9:30 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Brookings Institution hosts a panel to discuss if the Iran nuclear deal is a prelude to proliferation in the Middle East. brookings.edu
12 p.m. 1667 K St. NW. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments will host a panel to discuss a new report on the extended nuclear deterrence in the second nuclear age. csba.org
1:30 p.m. 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Center for a New American Security hosts an event looking at a two-state solution that can meet both Israeli and Palestinian needs. cnas.org
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE.The Heritage Foundation hosts a discussion on how President Obama’s foreign policy has weakened America. heritage.org
3:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Wilson Center hosts a panel on the U.S. Pacific partnership in light of President Obama’s visit in late May. wilsoncenter.org
THURSDAY | JUNE 2
7 a.m. Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Dennis Crall speaks at NDIA breakfast on command, control, communications, and computers. ndia.org
7:45 a.m. Army Navy Club NW. Stephen Welby, assistant secretary of defense for research and development will speak at a science and engineering breakfast. ndia.org
8:30 a.m. Murrow Room. The National Press Club hosts a meeting to establish common ground to destroy ISIS/Al Qaeda. press.org
