VOICE OF ISIS SILENCED: The Pentagon is still assessing the outcome of yesterday’s airstrike near Al Bab, Syria, targeting Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, one of the Islamic State’s most senior leaders. In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook called al-Adnani “the principal architect of ISIL’s external operations” and “ISIL’s chief spokesman.” The Islamic State confirmed his death, and has vowed revenge.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on background, noted that calling al-Adnani “ISIL’s spokesman” doesn’t fully capture the true significance of his demise. “He was way more than that,” the official said. “Al-Adnani was one of ISIL’s most senior leaders, directly involved in the recruiting of foreign fighters into ISIL. And most notably, he served as ISIL’s chief of external operations, directing and inspiring major terrorist attacks outside of Iraq and Syria. Significant operations carried out on his watch include the Paris attacks, the Brussels airport attack, the Istanbul airport attack, the downing of the Russian airliner in the Sinai, the suicide bombings during a rally in Ankara, and the attack on a café in Bangladesh. In total, these attacks killed over 1,800 people, and wounded nearly 4,000. Al-Adnani was a legacy AQI member, a Shura council member, and the most publicly recognizable official in ISIL.”
IT’S NOT A CEASEFIRE, BUT THEY’VE CEASED FIRING: U.S. officials say their urgent calls to both Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG to stop shooting at each other seem to have worked for now. Yesterday, a U.S. Central Command official, monitoring the battlefield in northern Syria, said Turkish forces were moving west from Jarabulus, while the Kurdish YPG was keeping to the east. They’re not calling it a ceasefire, but there was no repeat of the weekend clashes between Turkish troops and the YPG fighters who Turkey regards as linked to terrorists. Yesterday, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel said Turkey’s intervention along the border was “extraordinarily helpful,” and that both Turkey and the Kurds have been told continued U.S. support is contingent upon them fighting the Islamic State, not each other. “What we are trying to do is ensure that we keep all of our partners focused on ISIL at this point,” Votel. “It’s not helpful to have infighting among themselves.”
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TRUMP’S BIG DAY: It’s a security nightmare for Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail: a hastily arranged last-minute trip to Mexico to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto and then fly back to the U.S. to deliver a major speech in immigration policy. The speech is aimed at clarifying his stance on his plan to protect the nation with mass deportations, and a wall along the Mexico border. Gabby Morrongiello writes that Trump hopes to put questions about his immigration policy to rest after spending the past week dancing around the signature issue of his presidential campaign.
INCUMBENTS’ NIGHT: Sen. John McCain easily won the Arizona GOP Senate primary a day after his 80th birthday, Sen. Marco Rubio won the Republican nomination for a second term he first claimed he didn’t want, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was unceremoniously ousted as DNC chairman won her Democratic primary in Florida.
VETO LIKELY: Experts are predicting the fiscal 2017 defense policy bill will face at least one veto because many people who have a hand in the bill could be lame ducks after the election. A veto from President Obama would have no impact on his legacy, while McCain could dig in his heels on his top priorities if he’s not coming back as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I can’t think of another year where the veto was a foregone conclusion,” CSIS’ Andrew Hunter said on a panel at a Heritage Foundation event.
NOT SO FAST: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking Obama to postpone the sale of tanks to Saudi Arabia because of its conflict with Yemen, Rudy Takala reports. “Past congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen have not been addressed,” said a coalition letter to the White House announced on Tuesday. “In October, members of Congress wrote to you urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict.” Congress will have just three days when it gets back to D.C. next week to weigh in on the sale of more than $1 billion in Abrams tanks and other armored vehicles.
WARNING TO IRAN’S “ROGUE COMMANDERS”: Votel essentially said Iran risks getting some of its boats shot out of the water if it keeps making high speed runs at U.S. Navy vessels in international waters in the Persian Gulf. Votel blamed what he called “rogue commanders” in the Iranian Quds Force, not the larger Iranian navy, for the unprofessional and provocative activity, which at some point may force the U.S. Navy to fire more than warning shots.
ALL HE WANTS IS SOME FRICKIN’ LASER BEAMS: Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, said Tuesday that, if he has his way, lasers will be on the F-35Bs as soon as the weapons are made small enough to do so. “It’s where we want to go,” he said of the advancements laser technology can bring in general. “I think that’s the key thing we see is lasers are going to lighten our load in terms of moving away from having to carry a lot of powder kinetic ordnance with us.”
MORE EMAIL REVELATIONS: The State Department said it found 30 emails on Hillary Clinton’s private server, which she had deleted, that involve Benghazi, Sarah Westwood writes. A judge asked the agency to hasten its review of the documents in preparation for release to Judicial Watch, the conservative-leaning group that filed the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The emails were included among the roughly 15,000 emails FBI agents said they pulled from Clinton’s server in the course of a year-long probe.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: State officials are also saying that we’d all be better off if the press didn’t cover what the Islamic State was doing, Pete Kasperowicz reports. “[I]f you decide one day you’re going to be a terrorist and you’re willing to kill yourself, you can go out and kill some people,” Secretary of State John Kerry said. “You can make some noise. Perhaps the media would do us all a service if they didn’t cover it quite as much. People wouldn’t know what’s going on.”
FOOL ME TWICE: The Pentagon failed to prevent staffers from expensing trips to casinos and strip clubs, even after the problem came to light, according to a DoD IG report released yesterday, Rudy Takala writes. The IG found “DoD management did not take appropriate action when notified that cardholders potentially misused their travel card at casinos and adult entertainment establishments.” It also criticized the Pentagon for not offering cardholders “assistance for financial concerns and gambling addictions.”
THE RUNDOWN
Defense News: Congress’ Watchdog Wants More Oversight for Army’s $3B Patriot Upgrade Plan
Forbes: America First: What A Trump Defense Strategy Would Look Like
Reuters: Trade critic Trump visits Boeing Co’s backyard
Military Times: Some but not all presidential candidates set to appear at American Legion event
Daily Beast: Leaked ISIS Documents Show Internal Chaos
Vice News: The US is pissing off everyone in northern Syria
Defense One: The US Military Will ‘Be Left Behind’ If It Doesn’t Embrace Open-Source Software, Report Says
USNI News: Pentagon Conducting New Review of Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program
Navy Times: LCS Coronado suffers engineering problem on first deployment and returns to port
UPI: Four companies receive LCS maintenance and sustainment contracts
Defense One: Pentagon Eyes Missile-Defense Sensors In Space
UPI: Datron gets $495 million Afghan radio contract
Military.com: Drone Piloting Now Open to Enlisted Airmen from All Career Fields
Reuters: North Korea makes progress on missiles, but no evidence of nuclear weapons yet
Army Times: An open letter to Colin Kaepernick, from a Green Beret-turned-long snapper
Washington Times: A pardon for Petraeus
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 31
8:30 a.m. 101 K. St. NW, Suite 500. Army Secretary Eric Fanning discusses expediting the fielding of critical solutions at a Bloomberg Government breakfast.
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 6
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen gives an assessment of progress and challenges that remain in Afghanistan. brookings.edu
4 p.m. 1050 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council hosts an event on the art of cyberwar. atlanticcouncil.org
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 7
8 a.m. Capital Hilton. Aerospace Industries Association hosts the National Aerospace and Defense Workforce Summit. aia.aerospace.org
2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Brookings Institution hosts a panel discussion on how to stop Islamic State recruitment. brookings.edu
6:30 p.m. Livestream. Sen. Bob Casey speaks about financing terrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations. cfr.org
