INTO THE STORM: Defense Secretary Ash Carter is in Ankara, Turkey, this morning landing right in the middle of a simmering dispute between two of America’s most important allies in the fight against the Islamic State: Turkey and Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is furious about being cut out of the offensive to liberate Mosul, and Iraqi Prime MInister Haider al-Abadi is equally fuming about Turkey’s deployment of about 500 troops into northern Iraq just north of Mosul, which Abadi considers a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. The U.S. agrees in principle with Iraq’s position, and Carter makes the point at every opportunity that all U.S. military activity in Iraq is at the invitation and with the permission of the Iraqi government. But Carter must walk a delicate line so as not to offend Turkey, which provides key support, including use of the Incirlik Air Base for counter-Islamic State airstrikes.
If that weren’t enough of a diplomatic challenge, Carter must also deal with Tukey’s latest air attack against Kurdish YPG militias in northern Syria, who are among the U.S.-backed forces battling ISIS, but are considered terrorists by Turkey. Carter, both at a Pentagon press conference yesterday, and again speaking to reporters traveling with him to Turkey, professed ignorance of the details of the Turkish attacks on the Kurds, saying “I can’t clarify that now.”
ISIS ATTACKS KIRKUK: As Iraqi and Kurdish forces slowly tighten the noose around Mosul, capturing small villages on the outskirts of the city, the Islamic State launched an attack on the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The size of the assault is unclear; it appears a power plant was targeted, and that suicide bombers killed about a dozen people, AP reports.
U.S. COMBAT DEATHS: An American service member was killed yesterday by an improvised explosive device in northern Iraq, where U.S. troops are advising Iraqis in the fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. The service member is the fourth American hostile death of Operation Inherent Resolve. And the Pentagon has identified the two Americans who were killed in an “inside-the-wire,” attack in Kabul this week as 26-year-old Army Sgt. Douglas Riney and 40-year-old Michael Sauro, a civilian employee of the Army. Both were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the U.S. counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan.
The top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, briefs Pentagon reporters from Kabul this morning at 11 a.m. Watch live at www.defense.gov.
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) 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 be sure to add you to our list.
Want to learn more about Daily on Defense? See our introductory video here.
WE DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING: Like one partner in a marriage who has no idea their spouse is having an affair, the U.S. has been totally blindsided by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s flagrant flirtations with China and Russia, while filing for divorce from the United States. “Baffled” is the word State Department spokesman John Kirby used as to describe Duterte’s decision to announce a “separation” from the U.S., Joel Gehrke writes. Kirby says the U.S. is seeking clarification on that statement, which could undermine a decades-old alliance
“We still hold that it is inexplicably at odds with the very close relationship that we have with the Filipino people as well as the government there on many different levels,” Kirby told reporters. “We are going to be seeking an explanation of exactly what the president meant when he talked about ‘separation’ from the U.S. It’s not clear to us exactly what that means in all of its ramifications.” Duterte announced the “separation” during a visit to China, which has agreed to resume direct talks to resolve disputes between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.
MAKING AN ASSAD OF HIMSELF: Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Thursday that the photo of a little boy sitting in an ambulance after his home was devastated by an airstrike in August was an altered image, Anna Giaritelli writes. “This is a forged picture and not a real one,” Assad told Swiss media outlets, according to a Time report. “We have real pictures of children being harmed, but this one specifically is a forged one.” The picture of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh has become a symbol of the Syrian civil war in Western nations. The child is known as a casualty of the battle over Aleppo, which cost his family their house on Aug. 17.
LACKING EVIDENCE: Law enforcement officials reportedly lack evidence that would tie a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor accused of stealing NSA hacking tools to an online leak of data in August, Rudy Takala writes.
Court documents say 51-year-old Harold Thomas Martin III, who goes by “Hal,” surreptitiously took “many terabytes” of data home from the National Security Agency over the course of his 16-year career in the intelligence community. However, according to unnamed law enforcement officials who spoke with the New York Times, investigators lack evidence to suggest that data was obtained by anyone else, either as a result of Martin giving it to them or of Martin being hacked.
THIS DUDE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR US: Remember Wednesday night, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump accused each other of being a puppet for Russian President Vladimir Putin? Well, the Puppeteers of America just want you to know they have nothing to do with Vlad either, Mariana Barillas writes. “Thank you for contacting Puppeteers of America,” responded the executive director of national nonprofit Puppeteers of America, Paul Robinson, to Death and Taxes after being asked how the organization felt about the politicians’ marionette mudslinging. “First, Mr. Putin is not a member of Puppeteers of America. Second, no further comment.”
Speaking of distancing itself from Putin, WikiLeaks did the same thing yesterday, T. Becket Adams writes. The email-leaking org challenged Clinton’s claim that the entire U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that it’s colluding directly with Russia to influence the 2016 election. “Clinton’s ’17 US intelligence agencies’ may be the biggest, most immediately disprovable wopper [sic] ever intentionally made during a debate,” the group said Thursday on Twitter. It then went on to list some of the agencies, such as “Coast Guard, DEA, Navel [sic] Intelligence, Department of Energy, Air Force Recon.” It’s unclear what point they were trying to make, but it appears to involve belly buttons.
NO NUKE SLIP: Clinton’s team denies that the candidate revealed classified information when she said during the presidential debate that it takes roughly four minutes from when the president gives the order to the initiation of a nuclear strike, Adams also writes. Clinton’s reference to the four-minute gap came as she dinged Trump for being “cavalier” and “casual” about “the use of nuclear weapons.” The campaign released links to several news stories and interviews suggesting it was common knowledge among weapons experts that it’s a matter of a very few minutes from when a launch is ordered and the missiles fly. Just don’t refer to it as a “hair-trigger.” The Strategic Command folks don’t like that term.
PODESTA HOOKED BY PHISHING BAIT: Clinton’s campaign chief probably handed access to his personal email account to hackers in March, by falling for a classic “phishing” scam, a security research firm said Thursday. It appears John Podesta got one of those fake emails that looks like it’s from Google notifying him his password had been compromised and including a link to reset his password. But as Rudy Takala writes, complying with the instructions simply took Podesta, or someone acting on his behalf, to an official-looking, but phony, website that gave hackers access. Researchers told Motherboard the link was clicked twice after its delivery to Podesta’s Gmail account, probably by Podesta himself.
THE RUNDOWN
Breaking Defense: Semper Robotic: Marines Try Out New Tech, Tactics
Defense One: Robotic Wingmen Are Coming. The Air Force Doesn’t Know How to Test Them.
Defense News: US, South Korea Pledge Increased Maritime, Cyber Cooperation
Military.com: US Reportedly Weighs Deploying B-52s, F-22s to South Korea
CNN: UN human rights chief warns of war crimes in Aleppo
Defense News: New L-CAT Amphibious Craft Being Offered
UPI: Future USS Rafael Peralta completes alpha trials
The Daily Beast: Donald Trump’s Election Threat Sickens the Pentagon
Associated Press: UK sends warships to watch Russian ships in English Channel
Associated Press: Russian military holds missile exercise near western border
Politico: Clapper calls Russia hacking a ‘new aggressive spin on the political cycle’
Wall Street Journal: How Islamic State Weaponized the Chat App to Direct Attacks on the West
CNN: Exploring ISIS tunnels near Mosul
Reuters: Mosul offensive going faster than planned, Iraqi PM says
Wall Street Journal: EU Backs Off Threats of Immediate Action Over Aleppo Attacks
Military Times: Top military doctor says trend toward overweight troops is troubling
Calendar
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 21
10 a.m. Baltimore Hilton Hotel, Baltimore. Defense Information Systems Agency Director Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn provides keynote remarks at the CyberMaryland Conference
11 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Army Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, deputy chief of staff for communication, Resolute Support Mission, briefs the media on operations in Afghanistan live from Kabul. Livestreamed at www.defense.gov.
1 p.m. Livestream. The Council on Foreign Relations hosts a livestream looking at the state of the relationship between the U.S. and Russia. cfr.org
MONDAY | OCTOBER 24
9 a.m. Willard Intercontinental Hotel. Army Secretary Eric Fanning, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus talk about the transition to the next administration. cnas.org
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The CSIS Aerospace Security Project hosts its inaugural event on the U.S. military and commercial space industry. csis.org
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 26
12:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. The Stimson Center release its new report, “Military Budgets in India and Pakistan: Trajectories, Priorities, and Risks.” stimson.org
12:30 p.m. 901 17th St. NW. A group of experts talks about the defense relationship between the U.S. and Sweden, especially amid mounting Russian tension. atlanticcouncil.org
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 27
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A representative from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides keynote remarks at an event looking at the root cause of conflict in the Middle East. atlanticcouncil.org
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 28
8 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Robert Work, the deputy secretary of the defense, and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Paul Selva speak about the third offset strategy. csis.org
