ESPER DELIVERS THE BILL: Defense Secretary Mark Esper is in Seoul for meetings with senior South Korean officials, including President Moon Jae-in, and he’s delivering a message near and dear to his boss President Trump: South Korea should reimburse the U.S. for the protection provided by 28,000 American troops.
“This is a very strong alliance we have, but Korea is a wealthy country and could and should pay more to help offset the cost of defense,” Esper said at a joint news conference today with his South Korean counterpart.
After negotiations last year the U.S. and South Korea agreed on a stop-gap one-year deal that would increase Seoul’s contribution for 2018 to $920 million, but South Korean reports say the U.S. is demanding a five-fold increase to nearly $5 billion a year. Esper would not confirm that figure, but told reporters traveling with him en route to Korea on his plane that “we have asked for a significant increase in the cost-sharing for our deployed troops.”
Another round of negotiations is set for next week, and Esper said at the news conference that it is crucial South Korea agree to increased burden sharing before the end of the year.
CLOCK TICKING ON NUKE TALKS: North Korean official media is full of statements these days complaining about the lack of new proposals to restart denuclearization talks.
“If the negotiated solution of issues is possible, we are ready to meet with the US at any place and any time,” Kim Myong Gil, a North Korean foreign ministry official, is quoted by the state-run Korean Central News agency.
“If the U.S. still seeks a sinister aim of appeasing us in a bid to pass the time limit — the end of this year — with ease as it did during the DPRK-US working-level negotiations in Sweden early in October, we have no willingness to have such negotiations,” he says according to an English translation . “Now that we have already informed the U.S. side of our requirements and priority matters, the ball is in the U.S. court.”
NOT A FAN OF BIDEN: In separate screed on state media, North Korea labels former Vice President and current presidential candidate Joe Biden a “rabid dog,” who must be “beaten to death with a stick, before it is too late.”
The commentary accuses Biden of “reeling off a string of rubbish against the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK,” and picks up on the derisive nickname that President Trump has given Biden, saying Americans call him “Biden who does not wake from sleep.”
“Anyone who dares slander the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK, can never escape the DPRK's merciless punishment, whoever and wherever. And he will be made to see even in a grave what horrible consequences will be entailed by his thoughtless utterances.”
COST OF ENDLESS WARS: A new report from the Costs of War Project at Brown University tallies the amount of money the U.S. has spent on wars since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and comes up with $5.4 trillion, with future obligations — including healthcare for veterans — adding another trillion, bringing the total to $6.4 trillion.
The report also calculates that an estimated 801,000 people have died in the post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon estimated that the current wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost $7,623 per U.S. taxpayer through fiscal year 2018.
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HAPPENING TODAY: A group of Democratic House members plan to call for a Pentagon investigation into the ongoing deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border at a Capitol Hill news conference at 9:30 a.m. The group includes Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.; Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.; and Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif.
AMAZON PROTESTS JEDI AWARD: With a potential $10 billion at stake, it’s no surprise that Amazon Web Services is filing suit to protest the Pentagon’s award of its JEDI cloud computing contract to Microsoft.
Especially considering President Trump’s well known antipathy for Amazon owner Jeff Bezos who also owns the Washington Post, another frequent target of Trump’s ire. Trump directed the Pentagon to review the process as the award for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract was about to be announced, saying he had heard complaints that the fix was in for Amazon.
“It’s critical for our country that the government and its elected leaders administer procurements objectively and in a manner that is free from political influence,” said Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener in a statement. “Numerous aspects of the JEDI evaluation process contained clear deficiencies, errors and unmistakable bias — and it’s important that these matters be examined and rectified.”
Speaking to reporters in Seoul today, Secretary Esper, who recused himself from the process, said he believed the contract was awarded fairly and without outside influence.
WHAT A GOOD DEAL WITH THE TALIBAN SHOULD INCLUDE: Former U.S. Afghanistan commander and CIA director retired Gen. David Petreaus has an op-ed out this morning in which he argues that President Trump was right to abandon the peace deal that Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated with the Taliban over the summer.
Petraeus, writing with Vance Serchuk of the Center for a New American Security, says the Taliban pledge that Afghan territory under their control would not be used to launch terrorist attacks was a “compelling formula at first glance, but inadequate under scrutiny.”
“The Taliban must pledge to break ties with designated terrorist groups everywhere and show through active cooperation with the United States their willingness to fight them,” Petraeus and Serchuk write. “Moreover, any Taliban deal that requires all U.S. forces to withdraw from Afghanistan should be a nonstarter.”
Calling the Taliban untrustworthy, the writers argue it is essential for the U.S. to retain an independent means to protect itself against extremist networks, which now include an Islamic State affiliate, in both Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
F-35 SUSTAINMENT IN A BIG HOLE: On Wednesday Diana Maurer, director of defense capabilities and management for the Government Accountability Office, testified before a House Armed Services subcommittee that the success of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ultimately depends on sustainment, the cost of maintaining and operating the jet over time.
“For too many years, sustainment has taken a back seat,” Maurer said. “Let there be no doubt, the program is trying to dig itself out of a big hole.”
Here’s a short excerpt from her testimony:
“As a result, we have a very capable, very expensive system that's not flying nearly as often as planned. During the last fiscal year, F-35’s were on average able to perform one of their many potential missions less than two thirds of the time, and all missions, only about one third of the time. These figures are far from the goals set by the secretary of defense and the services.
Our work has identified several reasons for these outcomes. First, there are not enough spare parts to go around. As we reported earlier this year, F-35’s cannot lie about 30 percent of the time due to supply issues. In addition, parts are breaking more often than expected, it's taking twice as long as planned to fix them, and the necessary depot repair capabilities won't be completed until 2024.
And then there is ALIS, the information system vital to the F-35's maintenance, logistics and mission execution. If ALIS doesn't work, the F-35 doesn't work and ALIS has been struggling for years.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner : Embracing AI: How thinking weapons will simplify — and vastly complicate — future warfare
National Defense Magazine: Commission Warns AI Could Help China Surpass U.S. Military
Fifth Domain : Russia And China May Not Be The Top Cyberthreats
USNI News : Navy Refining Unmanned Surface, Underwater Vehicle Command Structures
Air Force Magazine : Air Force Takes Lasers, Microwave Weapons for a Spin at Army’s MFIX
Wall Street Journal : U.S. Threatens Egypt With Sanctions Over Russian Arms Deal
AP : Syrian Troops Begin Deploying Along Border With Turkey
Washington Post : White House And Pentagon Prepare For Trump To Issue Pardons In War-Crimes Cases, Officials Say
Breaking Defense : Pentagon, NATO Warn European Union About Defense Spending
Foreign Policy : The Pentagon’s Invisible Man Is Winning Washington’s Power Game
Washington Examiner : Sen. Josh Hawley: Trump's efforts to refocus foreign policy being 'resisted' from within
Washington Post : Europe has resisted taking back citizens who joined ISIS. Now, it may not have a choice
The Diplomat : General Dynamics to Begin Construction of First Columbia-Class Ballistic Missile Sub in 2020
Calendar
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 15
8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. — Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies "Space Power to the Warfighter" seminar on "How Space Enables Theater Warfighting,” with Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of Air Force Space Command. http://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/
11:30 a.m. ET 6100 Main St. Houston, Texas — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Livestream at http://www.state.gov
12:15 p.m. 740 15th St. N.W. — New America discussion on a new report, "Decisionmaking in the Counter-ISIS War,” with author David Sterman, senior policy analyst at New America; Joshua Geltzer, fellow in the New America International Security Program; Alexandra Stark, senior researcher in the New America Political Reform Program; and Melissa Salyk-Virk, senior policy analyst in the New America International Security Program. https://www.newamerica.org
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on the progress of women and their role in the peace process in Afghanistan, with Afghanistan first lady Rula Ghani; and Earl Anthony Wayne, nonresident senior adviser in the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development. https://www.csis.org/events/conversation
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 19
2:30 p.m. Rayburn 2212 — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing: “Military Health System Reform: A Cure for Efficiency and Readiness?” with Thomas McCaffery, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs; Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, director, Defense Health Agency; Lt. Gen. Scott Dingle, Surgeon General of the Army; Lt. Gen. Dorothy Hogg, Surgeon General of the Air Force; and Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, Surgeon General of the Navy.
5 a.m. EST, 11 a.m. CET. NATO Headquarters, Brussels — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s pre-ministerial press conference. https://www.nato.int
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 20
2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing: “Climate Change in the Era of Strategic Competition,” with John Rood, under secretary of defense for policy; Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering; Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, Pentagon’s director for defense intelligence warfighter support; Maria Langan-Riekhof, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 21
9 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing: “The Department of Defense Organic Industrial Base: Challenges, Solutions and Readiness Impacts,” with Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, deputy Army chief of staff; Lt. Gen. Donald Kirkland, commander, Air Force Sustainment Center Air Force Materiel Command; Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Vice Adm. G. Dean Peters, commander, Naval Air Systems Command; and Maj. Gen. Joseph Shrader, Commanding General, Marine Corps Logistics Command.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We have a very capable, very expensive system that's not flying nearly as often as planned. During the last fiscal year, F-35s were on average able to perform one of their many potential missions less than two thirds of the time, and all missions, only about one third of the time.”
Diana Maurer, director, defense capabilities and management for the Government Accountability Office, in testimony before a House Armed Services subcommittee Wednesday.
