In London visit, Mattis says North Korea’s ‘reckless’ behavior must be stopped

Mattis hailed the U.S.-U.K “special relationship” as a source of strength between the two nations, and said “Britain’s global leadership is needed today as much as anytime in history.” He then took questions from reporters:

On recent actions in North Korea: “It appears to be going in a very reckless manner and that has to be stopped.”

On whether the U.S. should withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty because of Russia’s violation with the deployment of land-based cruise missiles: “We have been in consolation with allies, formulating the way ahead, and it will be addressed very soon.”

On whether Russia was arming the Taliban in Afghanistan: “We have seen Russian activity,” but he was not willing to say that involved weaponry. 

On whether it was still U.S. policy that Syrian President Bashar Assad must go: “We are working this one day at a time.”

TILLERSON IN BRUSSELS: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Brussels attending the NATO foreign ministers meeting that was rescheduled from April to accommodate Tillerson’s jam-packed schedule. While Tillerson will be again underscoring the president’s message that NATO nations needs to get with the program when it comes to spending more on their own defense, and transforming to counter the threat of terrorism, it’s likely to be more friendly turf than his last stop in Ankara, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Tillerson tried to mend the severely strained ties with Turkey by criticizing a terrorist group that the angry NATO ally claims has worked with the United States in Syria, Joel Gehrke writes. “We stand alongside Turkey in their fight to stop terrorism directed against its country and its people,” Tillerson said Thursday after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara.

But it didn’t take much reading between the lines to tell there are still deep divisions between the U.S. and Turkey. Take this answer to a reporter’s question about whether the two allies have gotten over their differences:

“So there is more discussion yet to be had regarding the way forward. What we discussed today were options that are available to us. [Translation: Nothing was resolved.] They are difficult options, let me be very frank. These are not easy decisions. They are difficult choices that have to be made. [Translation: We are not even close.] So this has been very good, the conversations today were very frank, very candid, and we will be taking those conversations away. [Translation: We didn’t agree on much.] I know the foreign minister and the president and the prime minister, they will consider all of the exchanges we had today, but ultimately, Turkey and the United States will stay together in the fight as part of the broader coalition to defeat Daesh. [Translation: The U.S. is not planning to change its policy of working with the YPG Kurds that Turkey considers terrorists.]

ASSAD’S FUTURE: The very last question was about whether the Trump administration would stick to the Obama policy that insisted Assad would have to give up power for peace to come to Syria. Tillerson answered in one sentence: “I think the status and the longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people.”

That drew a sharp, and immediate rebuke from Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham. “This overlooks the tragic reality that the Syrian people cannot decide the fate of Assad or the future of their country when they are being slaughtered by Assad’s barrel bombs, Putin’s aircraft, and Iran’s terrorist proxies,” McCain said last night in a statement. “Trying to fight ISIS while pretending that we can ignore the Syrian civil war that was its genesis and fuels it to this day is a recipe for more war, more terror, more refugees, and more instability.”

TILLERSON’S PEOPLE SKILLS: The Washington Post has a front page story portraying Tillerson as “isolated, walled off” from veteran State Department diplomats, which the paper says “has sown mistrust among career employees at State.” It also noted that his first three foreign trips, “Tillerson skipped visits with State Department employees and their families, embassy stops that were standard morale-boosters under other secretaries of state.”

As if to answer the criticism, the State Department posted a transcript of a “meet and greet with personnel at the U.S. embassy in Ankara, in which Tillerson acknowledged the high-stress jobs of the diplomatic corps, and thanked embassy staff for their dedication and commitment.

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 Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) 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. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.

ALL ABOVE BOARD: The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, went after President Trump’s nominee for Air Force secretary Heather Wilson on Thursday for $450,000 in consulting payments from the country’s contractor-run nuclear laboratories. At the confirmation hearing, Reed pressed Wilson on a Department of Energy inspector general report in 2013 that found the payments and work were not properly documented and said the issue deserved deeper scrutiny. But Wilson pushed back, telling Reed and other Democrats on the committee that she worked at least 50 hours per month as an adviser to the laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009. “I did the work and complied with the contract,” she said.

Republicans on the committee were much more eager to discuss how Wilson planned to rebuild the Air Force, which is suffering from a shortage of 1,555 pilots and an aging fleet of aircraft. She is only the second Trump nominee for a top Pentagon post to make it to the confirmation process, though the White House said others including a deputy defense secretary candidate are in the pipeline. Wilson spoke the right language to committee defense hawks such as McCain when she warned against Congress passing a continuing resolution at the end of April in lieu of standard budget legislation. McCain has said he would rather shut down the government. Wilson said a CR would make Air Force problems “so much worse.” Also, when pressed on plans for the F-15C/D, Wilson refused to pledge to put any future retirement of the fighter jet on hold, despite urging from Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

STATE BUDGET HAS NO CHANCE: Trump’s initial proposed budget won’t dictate how the State Department gets funded, according to one of his allies in the Senate, Joel Gehrke writes. “The president’s budget goes in the waste basket as soon as it gets here,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said during a Thursday hearing.

Corker is one of Trump’s closer congressional allies, and was considered for the post of secretary of state and a potential running mate in the 2016 election. His comment suggests that Trump’s budget proposal — which the White House offered as an example of Trump keeping his campaign promises — won’t get much more respect from Republicans than former President Obama’s did, despite their agreement that the State Department should be cut.

ISIS’ LATEST ATROCITY: When is a human shield not a human shield? When the U.S. doesn’t even know there are large numbers of civilians being held hostage at a legitimate military target. The chief military spokesman in Iraq says that’s what ISIS was doing and blamed the odious tactic for the deaths or more than 100 civilians in Mosul this month. And the U.S. claims it has drone video to prove it. “What you see now is not the use of civilians as human shields. Now it is something much more sinister,” Army Col. Joseph Scrocca told Pentagon reporters in a telephone briefing yesterday. “ISIS is smuggling civilians into buildings, so we won’t see them, and trying to bait the coalition to attack to take advantage of the public outcry and deter action in the future,” Scrocca said. Pentagon officials said the video will be released after it passes through a declassification review, possibly today, or perhaps Monday.

Associated Press reporters in Baghdad report the anti-U.S. propaganda campaign is in full swing, in an attempt to drum up outrage and undermine Iraqi public support for the anti-ISIS campaign. Photos of a destroyed medical center and homes reduced to rubble have been posted online with a caption reading, “This is how Trump liberates Mosul, by killing its inhabitants.”

SOMALIA ESCALATION: Trump has given U.S. commanders expanded authority to conduct airstrikes in Somalia against the al-Shabaab terrorist group, an affiliate of al Qaeda. The U.S. has already been conducting drone strikes against the group in support of the Somali government and the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM. The new authority frees up U.S. commanders to conduct offensive strikes against al-Shabaab, and is part of an effort to speed the defeat of the terrorist group. The New York Times reports the new authority “relaxed some of the rules for preventing civilian casualties,” something the Pentagon vehemently denies.

FLYNN SEEKS IMMUNITY: Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn is willing to testify to investigators in return for immunity, according to a report Thursday. The Wall Street Journal cited officials saying Flynn, through his attorney Robert Kelner, has made the offer to both the FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees that are probing any possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. In a statement from Kelner, he didn’t explicitly mention anything about testimony, but said Flynn “certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit.” But it was this caveat from Kelner that raised eyebrows: “No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution.’’

That quickly resulted in the surfacing of two other quotes on the subject of immunity, uttered during the campaign by then-candidate Trump and Flynn himself, both criticizing five Hillary Clinton staffers who were given immunity during the investigation of her private email server.

“If you are not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for? Right?” Trump said at a Florida rally in September.  And around the same time Flynn said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “When you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime.”

Trump tweeted this morning: “Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!” 

SCHIFF HEADS TO THE SCIF: House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff told reporters Thursday that he has been invited by White House counsel to review intelligence materials that have to do with foreign surveillance and U.S. persons who may have been incidentally caught up in those conversations, Todd Shepherd reports.

Last week, the White House allowed Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to review documents. When Nunes revealed his knowledge of the documents’ existence, he said names of people in the Trump transition team had been “unmasked,” meaning their names should have been anonymous in the raw intelligence reports, but weren’t. Schiff said then that the timing of the request by the White House to view the documents “concerns me.” When asked if he was being requested to view the same documents that Nunes has been referencing for more than a week, Schiff said, “None of us have any way of knowing.”

RUBIO HACKED: A panelist at the Senate Select Intelligence Committee’s hearing shocked the room Thursday when he claimed Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was also a target of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Todd Shepherd writes. Clint Watts, a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute Program on National Security, said most of the Kremlin’s disinformation efforts were targeted at candidates who had strong anti-Russian views. “Sen. Rubio, in my opinion, you anecdotally suffered from these efforts,” Watts told the Florida senator.

THE RUNDOWN

Los Angeles Times: Trump administration stops disclosing troop deployments in Iraq and Syria

AP: U.S. Wants China To Take Action To Stop North Korea Nuke Test

Reuters: China Says ‘No Such Thing’ As Man-Made Islands In South China Sea

South China Morning Post: First China-Built Carrier On Target For April 23 Launch

Bloomberg: Northrop Maintenance for U.S. Surveillance Plane Dogged by Flaws

Associated Press: Shutdown? GOP says no as it tries to save Trump priorities

CNN: SpaceX makes history: It launched a used rocket and then landed it in the ocean

Defense One: Boeing Launches Info War on the Navy’s F-35

Military.com: Air Mobility Sees Rising Demand Despite Budget Uncertainty

DefenseTech: Driverless Convoy Technology May Be Fielded Soon

CNN: Military sharply warns Congress against punting on spending

Calendar

FRIDAY | MARCH 31

9 a.m. 1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Gen. John Hyten, head of U.S. Strategic Command, speaks at the Military Reporters & Editors Conference. militaryreporters.org

MONDAY | APRIL 3

8:45 a.m. Gaylord National Convention Center. The Navy League’s three-day Sea-Air-Space Exposition gets underway. seaairspace.org

TUESDAY | APRIL 4

9:30 a.m. Dirksen G50. Gen. John Hyten, head of U.S. Strategic Command, testifies about the programs under his command. armed-services.senate.gov

9 a.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. A forum on the progress, opportunities and challenges in Ukraine. atlanticcouncil.org

10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. Experts gather to discuss the many issues surrounding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. heritage.org

10 a.m. Capitol Visitors Center Room 210. A hearing on how to degrade and dismantle drug cartels that are threatening the United States. homeland.house.gov

10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Michele Flournoy, chief executive officer at the Center for a New American Security, as well as John J. Hamre, CEO and president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Dov Zakheim, a senior CSIS adviser, testify about reforming the Defense Department. armedservices.house.gov

10:15 a.m. Dirksen 419. David O’Sullivan, head of delegation for the European Union mission to the U.S., testifies about the EU as an ally against Russian aggression. foreign.senate.gov

12:15 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Ambassador Richard Olson examines the U.S. strategy and policy options in Afghanistan. stimson.org

6:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. A conversation with Rep. Martha McSally about border security, threats and the global war against terrorism. csis.org

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 5

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. An in-depth discussion about foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria and the threats they pose. csis.org

10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Military service chiefs including Air Force Gen. David Goldfein, Army Gen. Mark Milley, Marine Commandant Robert Neller, and Adm. John Richardson testify about the potential damage of a continuing budget resolution. armedservices.house.gov

10:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. The launch of a report and a discussion on the prospects for defense acquisition in the Trump administration. csis.org

Noon. Willard Intercontinental Hotel. A panel discussion with Michèle Flournoy about women in national security. cnas.org

1 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Experts gather to discuss the policy options for dealing with the imminent threat of North Korea. stimson.org

2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Deputy Marine commandants Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey, Lt. Gen. Michael Dana and Lt. Gen. Jon Davis testify on the current state of the Marine Corps.

2 p.m. Rayburn 2172. A hearing on challenges to democracy in Turkey. foreignaffairs.house.gov

2 p.m. Rayburn 2154. A hearing to assess the Iran nuclear deal. oversight.house.gov

THURSDAY | APRIL 6

9 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Sen. Chris Coons discusses whether we are headed for a crisis with Russia. brookings.edu

9 a.m. Rayburn 2212. An evaluation of the defense contract auditing process by Anita Bales, director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, John Panetta, national secretary of Financial Executives International, and James Thomas, assistant vice president for the National Defense Industrial Association. armedservices.house.gov

9:15 a.m. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation with Sen. Ben Cardin about anti-corruption in U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration. cfr.org

9:30 a.m. Dirksen G50. Adm. Kurt Tidd of U.S. Southern Command and Gen. Lori Robinson of U.S. Northern Command testify about the status of their responsibilities. armed-services.senate.gov

Noon. 1030 15th St. N.W. Vice Adm. Andreas Krause, chief of the German navy, and Rear Adm. Ulrich Reineke, chief of the German navy’s planning division, discuss the future of that nation’s fleet in a new European security environment. atlanticcouncil.org

Noon. 1777 F St. N.W. A conversation with Sen. John McCain. cfr.org

1:15 p.m. 1777 F St. N.W. A panel on fighting corruption through U.S. foreign policy, what has worked and what has not. Cfr.org