CONFRONTING RUSSIA: “A resurgent Russia has turned from partner to antagonist as it seeks to reemerge as a global power,” was the blunt warning from Supreme NATO and U.S. European Commander Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti to Congress yesterday. “Accordingly, we are adjusting our posture, our plans, our readiness, so that we remain relevant to the threats we face,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, and he appears before the House Armed Service Committee next week to repeat the message.
IN THE MIND OF PUTIN: Scaparrotti provided committee members with a map showing the borders of Russia today, compared to the Soviet Union in 1989. It showed how the border with Europe moved about 1,000 miles to the east. “That’s why I think the map’s illustrative, Scaparrotti explained, “because I think if you’re [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, you’re looking out from Moscow and you see what he would consider to be his strategic buffer.”
“It tells you a bit about his mindset. And from what we know about him, he feels as though he’s been encroached upon. That he has [lost] this sphere of influence that he believes are rightfully his.” Scaparrotti testified, concluding that Putin is working feverishly to neutralize NATO by causing divisions among its member nations. “I think his intent is actually to fracture NATO and I think it’s because he does fear NATO. He knows the power of that alliance,” Scaparrotti said.
MONTENEGRO’S IMPORTANCE: That’s why the top NATO commander sided so strongly with Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, who is pushing for Senate ratification of a treaty to make the tiny Balkan country of Montenegro the newest member of the alliance. While Montenegro has a small military, its addition to NATO would be a poke of the Russian bear, and send a powerful signal to Putin. Russia has tried to pressure NATO nations to reject Montenegro, but so far 26 of 28 have indicated support, and Scaparrotti said Putin seems to know it’s going to happen. “In a conversation with one of the NATO’s ministers, one of the countries that has communication with Russian leadership,” Scaparrotti said, “He shared with me that a Russian leader told him Putin had said he lost Montenegro, but there’ll not be another Montenegro.” McCain is in a public and acrimonious dispute with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who blocked a vote on Montenegro’s membership last week.
PUTIN’S MURDEROUS WAYS: At the Senate hearing, McCain deviated from his prepared opening remarks to rail against Putin, accusing him of ordering the murder of a prominent Russian lawyer and Putin opponent, Nikolai Gorokhov, who McCain said was thrown from a fourth floor room in Moscow this week. “I mean, this kind of stuff you can’t make up. And it’s an indication of Vladimir Putin’s feeling of impunity that he can go around killing people without any penalty to pay,” McCain said. “I’m sure that’s what Mr. Putin was trying to do was send a message to anybody else in Russia who wants to stand up against him.”
Later McCain doubled down on the accusation that Putin was engaging in “state terrorism” following the murder of another prominent Putin critic, who had fled the country in fear of his life. “Today, in yet another brazen act of Russian state terrorism, former Russia parliamentarian Denis Voronenkov was assassinated in broad daylight on the streets of Kiev,” McCain said.
Voronenkov, who was shot outside of his hotel days after complaining to media that he was in danger, had moved to Ukraine after stepping down from the legislature and compared Putin’s Russia with Nazi Germany. He was also helping Ukrainian authorities build a treason case against former president Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader whose ouster precipitated the Russian annexation of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine.
McCASKILL’S RANT: At one point during yesterday’s Senate hearing Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill could not contain her rage. “You know I’m going to say, for the record, what needs to be said here,” she said, working up a head of steam. “A big piece of it is having a commander in chief that will say the right things to Russia. And until we have a commander in chief that is willing to speak out against this thug and his behavior, I don’t know that all the great work that you and your command can do is ever gonna move the needle enough.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: U.S. Africa Commander Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who testified last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee about Russian designs on Libya, will answer questions from the Pentagon press corps this afternoon at 1:15. The session in the Pentagon briefing room will be live streamed at defense.gov
AFGHANISTAN DEFEAT OR RETREAT: In response to reports that Sangin, the strategic capital of Helmand province, had fallen to the Taliban, the official Twitter account of Headquarters Resolute Support pushed back in a statement insisting the Afghan forces “defended the district center for two months and left on their terms. The only thing they left to the Taliban is rubble and dirt.” Chief U.S. military spokesman Navy Capt. Bill Salvin argues Afghan government forces still control Sangin, and with U.S. backing “inflicted heavy casualties on Taliban forces during operations in the district.” But by the time the Afghans left, Salvin said, there was nothing left to defend. “Fighting destroyed infrastructure and there were no more civilians in the district center. The new district center and ANP HQ were repositioned just over two kilometers south. This move to a new district center has been planned for some time.” Salvin said once the Afghan forces repositioned, the U.S. warplanes destroyed the buildings and inoperable vehicles that were left behind.
That’s not how it played in the British press, which lamented that more than 100 British troops died in a decade during fighting so heavy the town was nicknamed “Sangingrad” by U.K. troops. A quarter of all British fatalities in the entire Afghan campaign were lost during the four-year mission in Sangin that began in 2006, reports the Times of London, which also noted U.S. forces also suffered heavy casualties when they took over the district from the British in 2010.
IRAQ APPEALS FOR US AID: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, in town for the big counter-ISIS summit hosted by the State Department, is making a direct appeal to U.S. citizens for more aid to rebuild his war ravaged country. Writing on the opinion pages of the Washington Post, Abadi acknowledges that without the help of the United States and other coalition countries, Iraqis would not have been able to rebuild its Army so it could defeat ISIS. “Now, we ask Americans to assist us as we restore our infrastructure and diversity and partially privatize our economy,” Abadi writes. “We need U.S. investment to rebuild our housing, hospitals, schools, sanitation facilities, roads, highways and bridges. We can also benefit from Americans’ technical expertise as we improve and expand our telecommunications, information technology and health-care sectors. Iraq needs U.S. financiers and corporate partners to help us develop agriculture, petrochemicals and other industries.”
At Wednesday’s gathering of 68 coalition countries, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. is willing to do its part, but having done the heavy lifting in the military campaign, the U.S. expects other countries to provide 75 percent of the reconstruction money, estimated at more than $50 billion.
LONDON RADICAL: In London, police have arrested two more people in connection with the attack on Westminster bridge and Parliament, and revealed the attacker was self-radicalized convert to Islam, 52-year-old Khalid Masood, who was born in England as Adrian Russell Ajao. London’s top counterterror officer said the two arrests are “significant,” according to the AP. There are now three people in custody. Masood was killed at the scene. Four people were killed and as many as 50 injured in the SUV attack. Two people are in critical condition in the hospital.
NUNES FALLOUT: House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes‘ decision to brief the White House and hold a press conference on potentially improper “monitor[ing]” of President Trump’s transition team drew a rebuke from a Senate Republican counterpart, Joel Gehrke writes.
“No, I think our committee should function independent of the White House and anything that happens within our committee needs to be completely — not only bipartisan, but nonpartisan — we’re going after a set of facts and issues,” Senate Intelligence Committee Republican member James Lankford told reporters Thursday during a joint press availability with Maine Sen. Angus King. “So, I think it’s most appropriate for the committees to work independent of the White House, not next to the White House.”
NUNES’ GENERIC APOLOGY: Rep. Jackie Speier, another member of Nunes’ committee, said he was asked by several members of the committee why he revealed his information the way he did, and that “after a few minutes, Devin Nunes did apologize in a generic way.”
The White House, meanwhile, pushed back at the suggestion that Nunes traveled to the White House to brief Trump on surveillance findings provided to him by the White House team, saying it “doesn’t pass the smell test,” press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday.
Nunes traveled to the White House on Wednesday to inform Trump that his committee had uncovered evidence that the identities of several transition associates — and possibly of Trump himself — had been “unmasked” and placed in intelligence reports that were then distributed widely throughout the federal government. Spicer wondered why Nunes would need to brief the White House if the White House had given him the information.
PARTISAN PANEL: The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee has some concerns with relying on a select committee to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia, Daniel Chaitin writes. In an interview on MSNBC Thursday evening, Sen. Mark Warner said he is “wide open” to a special prosecutor. But when it comes to a select committee, which has been floated by some prominent politicians, Warner didn’t seem to be on board.
“My concern with a select committee would be both sides would end up picking their most partisan members, and it would take them literally months to get where we are already,” Warner said, referring to the investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
FLYNN’S RETIREMENT IN JEOPARDY? The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Pentagon is reviewing payments made to former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen Mike Flynn, after finding no record that Flynn properly reported or obtained permission for the compensation he received as a paid foreign agent for Turkish interests. The paper said that raises the possibility that the Pentagon could dock his retirement pay. A Pentagon spokesman said the department is reviewing the issue.
MORE DROP-BYS: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis welcomes two more foreign visitors the Pentagon today, beginning with Greece’s minister Panos Kammenos at 9:45 this morning, and followed by a meeting with Ajit Doval, India’s national security adviser, at 10:30 a.m.
THE RUNDOWN
Defense News: After delay, Trump’s Air Force secretary pick to get Senate hearing
U.S. News: U.S. General Pushes Back Against Claims of Indiscriminate Bombing in Mosul
Associated Press: Airlift of forces in Syria shows growing US involvement
Defense News: Boeing, US Army make multibillion, multiyear AH-64E deal official
BuzzFeed: It’s Hard To Overstate Just How Strange The House Intelligence Committee Drama Is
Defense One: Would Better Messaging Help the Military Boost Its Budget?
Fox News: North Korea will launch another nuclear test in next few days, officials say
Reuters: Russia may be helping supply Taliban insurgents: U.S. general
Military.com: Army Chief in Europe Wants More Weapons to Combat Russian Threat
USNI News: Navy Bracing For Air Wing Shutdowns, Ship Maintenance Cancellations If Continuing Resolution Extended
Calendar
FRIDAY | MARCH 24
1:15 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander, U.S. Africa Command, briefs the media. Live streamed defense.gov
MONDAY | MARCH 27
10:30 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Experts discuss Islam in France. brookings.edu
1 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Experts discuss regional collaboration in the Arctic. wilsoncenter.org
TUESDAY | MARCH 28
9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Va. William Roper, the director of the strategic capabilities office at the Pentagon, speaks at a Mitchell Institute event. Mitchellaerospacepower.org
10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, testifies at a hearing on Russian activities and security challenges in Europe. armedservices.house.gov
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 419. Two think tank experts testify on U.S. policy toward Iran. foreign.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Two admirals and a general discuss issues and concerns over naval strike fighters. armedservices.house.gov
4 p.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. Experts discuss the Russian military in the Ukraine and what the U.S. can learn from the situation. atlanticcouncil.org
WEDNESDAY | MARCH 29
10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, testifies on security challenges in the Middle East. armedservices.house.gov
2 p.m. HVC 210. Retired officers discuss “Threats to Space Assets and Implications for Homeland Security.” armedservices.house.gov
2 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Personnel chiefs from all four services testify on pilot shortages. armedservices.house.gov
2:15 p.m. Dirksen 419. Former Rep. Randy Forbes and Georgetown University’s Robert Gallucci testify on Asia-Pacific security issues. foreign.senate.gov
2:15 p.m. Russell 232-A. Systems command senior leaders from the four services testify on the defense industrial base. armed-services.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. Russell 222. Three Air Force generals testify on Air Force modernization. Armed-services.senate.gov
THURSDAY | MARCH 30
9 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Gen. Darren McDew, head of U.S. Transportation Command, testifies on the current state of his command. Armedservices.house.gov
10:30. Rayburn 2172. Three former officials discuss Russia’s violation of the INF Treaty. armedservices.house.gov
