DEPLOYMENTS TO KOREA: The U.S. has agreed to begin regularly deploying “strategic assets” to the Korean Peninsula as early as this year, according to the South Korean government, as North Korea’s testing of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons puts the region on high alert. The chief of South Korea’s National Security Office, Chung Eui-young, made the announcement yesterday during a meeting with President Moon Jae-in and leaders of other political parties, a spokesman told reporters.
“The U.S. has pledged to expand the rotational deployment of its strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula,” Chung told the political leaders after being asked if there was “any crack” in terms of trust between the security allies, Yonhap News Agency reported. “[The deployment] will begin as early as late this year, and this will help us expand our defense capabilities.”
Officials said Moon and President Trump agreed on the additional deployments during their meeting at the U.N. last week. No one has yet specified what those strategic assets may be, but they usually refer to stealth planes, long-range bombers and ballistic-missile submarines. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that the assets will be deployed “in and around South Korea on a rotational basis.”
“We continue to work with our ROK allies on the best way forward to meet this intent but it would be inappropriate to discuss any additional details at this time,” he said in a statement.
ONE-STAR TO PUERTO RICO: The Pentagon has sent a one-star general to Puerto Rico to manage the hurricane disaster mission amid growing criticism of the speed at which the federal government responded to the crisis. Brig. Gen. Richard Kim, who is deputy commanding general of operations for U.S Army North, will set up an operational headquarters as the military ramps up efforts on the island with more airlifts and ships, and shifts from a short-term relief mission primarily from the sea to a land-based mission aimed at long-term aid, according to Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
Meanwhile, the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort was set to leave Norfolk, Va., on Friday and arrive in Puerto Rico next week. The ship can provide surgery and other medical care to some of the island’s 3.4 million American citizens who are victims of hurricanes Maria and Irma. “You’ll probably see here in the next, for Puerto Rico, in the next 12-24 hours we’re going to start sending even more stuff, but you have to understand what is happening on the ground so you don’t add to the burden,” said Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of U.S. Northern Command, which is overseeing the military response.
SEND IN THE CARRIER: A group of 145 House Democrats said the Defense Department response to the disaster in Puerto Rico has been inadequate and they urged Trump to send an aircraft carrier to help relieve the territory’s suffering residents. “The U.S. military has unique capabilities that can help alleviate this situation, and the president must exercise the proper leadership to make that happen,” said Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee. A carrier’s additional military aircraft and engineers are needed to help clear roads, rescue stranded residents and deliver emergency supplies to isolated parts of the island, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump. “To fulfill DOD’s mission, we believe the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, should be sent to the region, similar to its deployment to Miami following Hurricane Irma,” they wrote, adding that the Pentagon should send a higher ranking general to the region, as it did with Hurricane Katrina.
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HAPPENING TODAY: This morning at 11, Army Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, briefs reporters live from Baghdad to provide an update on the fight against the Islamic State.
U.S. COUNTERATTACK CAUSES CIVILIAN CASUALTIES: NATO forces confirmed civilians were killed Wednesday when a U.S. missile malfunctioned as coalition forces attempted to counter an insurgent attack at an Afghanistan airport. “During a failed attack today, insurgents fired several rounds of high-explosive ammunition, including mortars, into the vicinity of Hamid Karzai International Airport and detonated suicide vests endangering a great number of civilians,” NATO said in a statement Wednesday.
Militants attacked the airport two hours after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis landed for a surprise visit to the country. The official party had left the airport by the time of the attack and there were no casualties initially. U.S. forces responded by attempting an airstrike in support of Afghan Crisis Response Unit 222, but one of the missiles malfunctioned. Several casualties have been reported, but exact numbers were not released.
MATTIS CRITICIZES RUSSIA: During Mattis’ Afghanistan visit, he faulted Russia and Iran for supplying arms to the Taliban. “Those two countries have suffered losses to terrorism, so I think it would be extremely unwise if they think they can somehow support terrorism in another country and not have it come back to haunt them,” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal. Russia has denied sending weapons to the group.
And this morning, reporters are tweeting that Mattis has landed in Qatar to meet with his counterpart there.
SCHUMER BACKS KURDISH INDEPENDENCE: An effort to form a new state out of the most stable and U.S.-friendly region of Iraq has gained an ally in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The New York Democrat called for Trump to endorse the formation of an independent state out of northern Iraq, which is populated by Kurds. Such a move would reward the Kurdish militias, who proved the most effective local fighting force in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But it would also redraw the lines of the modern Middle East, which would have ramifications for other U.S. allies.
“The Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Middle East without a homeland and they have fought long and hard for one,” Schumer said Wednesday. “Despite this, the Kurds continue to get a raw deal and are told to wait for tomorrow, which is why it’s past due that the world, led by the United States, immediately back a political process to address the aspirations of the Kurds.” That statement follows a referendum that saw about 93 percent of Kurdish voters support a split from the central Iraqi government and the formation of their own state. Officials from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdish Iraq proceeded with the vote despite opposition from the U.S.-backed central government Baghdad.
DUNFORD REAPPOINTED: The Senate has voted to give Gen. Joseph Dunford another term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vote came almost immediately after the Senate Armed Services Committee reported his nomination to the full chamber and just a day after Dunford testified in a hearing. His reappointment was no surprise. The general, a former Marine Corps commandant, was first appointed chairman by President Barack Obama in 2015 but he has enjoyed widespread support on both sides of the aisle in Congress. Trump decided to keep him on earlier this year along with Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva, also an Obama appointee.
ARMY’S WIN-T 180: The Army’s decade-long, $6 billion program to build a better battlefield wireless network could finally be coming to an end after months of signals and criticism on Capitol Hill. The service asked House lawmakers to strip $545 million for the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical system, or WIN-T, and allow the money to be used elsewhere in the Army’s 2018 budget. “After almost a year of careful review … we’ve come to the conclusion that the network we have is not the network that we need,” Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford, Army deputy chief of staff, told a House Armed Services subcommittee. The Senate Armed Services Committee already proposed cutting the program in 2018 after Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said an Army review of WIN-T had raised questions over “whether it’s going to work” and Sen. John McCain suggested the billions in investment had been wasted.
The Army admission that the program was headed in the wrong direction and no longer wanted came just a few months after the service requested the funding from the House as part of its 2018 budget. The new request to move the money riled Armed Services committee members. “It’s an abrupt change, it’s months after we were told with a firm conviction from the Army in what direction you were going and now an undefined, unclear new direction,” said Rep. Mike Turner, the chairman of the Armed Services’ tactical air and land forces subcommittee. The subcommittee’s top Democrat, Rep. Niki Tsongas, was unsure whether she would support the request to shift the funding. “I’ve got to tell you, this is just a stunning hearing and turn of events, I’ve got to go home and now explain this to constituents back home,” subcommittee member Rep. Jim Langevin said. “It just falls into the category of ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ ”
ZARIF DON’T LIKE IT: Iran’s top diplomat scolded Trump on Wednesday for a weekend tweet about a nonexistent Iranian missile launch and essentially ruled out renegotiating or launching follow-up talks to a landmark nuclear accord that Trump is threatening to dismantle.
“We need to check our facts before we make statements,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It worries me that people play with facts and produce alternative facts.”
He also criticized a recent referendum on independence by Iraq’s Kurdish minority as “dangerous” to stability in a Middle East already beset by efforts to defeat the Islamic State extremist group and civil wars in Syria and Yemen.
NOT OK WITH CHE: The U.S. Military Academy condemned pro-communist photos posted by a graduate on social media this week and said the Army is investigating the infantry officer’s actions. In a statement issued Tuesday, West Point said the actions by the graduate, 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone, did not “reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army.”
“As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform,” West Point said in its statement. “Second Lieutenant Rapone’s chain of command is aware of his actions and is looking into the matter.” Rapone is now an infantry officer in the Army, according to his Medium account. He identifies himself as a “Commie/space cowboy” on his Twitter account.
The West Point graduate posted two photos on Twitter this week expressing pro-communist views. In one photo, tweeted Monday, Rapone opened the buttons of his uniform to show a Che Guevara T-shirt underneath. “In case there was any lingering doubt, hasta la victoria siempre,” he tweeted.
ISIS IS DOWN, BUT NOT OUT: The Islamic State is still able to inspire terror attacks around the world, even though U.S. strikes have made it harder for the terrorist group to direct those attacks, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen told a Senate committee on Wednesday.
“One thing that I think that I pointed to this year that was not on the table last year is we have seen a reduction in the ability of ISIS to be able to actually direct and command and control attacks from their safe haven in Iraq and Syria,” Rasmussen said at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. “That’s the good news,” he said. “The bad news is that they’ve shown an expanded ability to be able to inspire individuals to take the kinds of actions that we’ve seen in places, you know, across Europe and potentially even inside the homeland here.”
DRONE THREAT: FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate panel Wednesday that he expects that terrorists would be using unmanned aerial vehicles in attacks against the U.S. in the near future. Terrorists are using drones for attacks in other countries, he said, so it is only a matter of time before they are used in the U.S.
“It is a topic that we are discussing a lot lately. I think we do know that terrorist organizations have an interest in using drones. We have seen that overseas already with some frequency. I think that the expectation is that it is coming here, imminently,” Wray said at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
THAT’S NO MOON, COULD BE A SPACE STATION: NASA announced Wednesday the U.S. agency is partnering with the Russians on space exploration goals. “Building a strategic capability for advancing and sustaining human space exploration in the vicinity of the Moon will require the best from NASA, interested international partners, and U.S. industry. As NASA continues formulating the deep space gateway concept, the agency signed a joint statement with the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia,” according to a statement from NASA.
I GUESS THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT THE NEWS: Sir Elton John won’t be commenting on Trump’s use of “Rocket Man” to describe North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. “Have no comment,” John’s American-based publicist Fran Curtis, of Rogers & Cowan, told the Washington Examiner when asked about the British music legend’s thoughts on Trump using the title of his 1972 hit single to describe the rogue nation’s leader.
But “Rocket Man” is not the only lyric from John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin’s discography to find its way into the president’s lexicon. During a Tuesday press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Trump said he was not preoccupied with his battle with the NFL over players protesting police brutality during the national anthem: “I have plenty of time on my hands, all I do is work.”
“Time on my hands” features in John’s 1983 song, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”
In addition, Trump has repeatedly called Kim a “madman,” borrowing from John’s 1971 studio album and track “Madman Across the Water.”
THE RUNDOWN
Defense News: Pentagon asks Congress to move $416 million for missile defense
New York Times: Chad’s inclusion in travel ban could jeopardize American interests, officials say
Roll Call: Poll: Nearly half support U.S. military action against North Korea
Defense One: Here’s how much of your taxes have gone to wars
New York Times: Iraq escalates dispute with Kurds, threatening military action
War on the Rocks: Russian active measures in Germany and the United States: Analog lessons from the Cold War
DefenseTech: Inside ‘ripper lab,’ Marines 3D-print drones that can support combat
Wall Street Journal: U.K.’s Theresa May ‘bitterly disappointed’ over U.S. Bombardier sanctions
UPI: Navy contracts Orbital ATK for additional AARGM missiles
DoD Buzz: NORTHCOM general ‘amazed’ at North Korea’s rapid missile advances
Calendar
THURSDAY | SEPT. 28
8 a.m. 2799 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Integrated Air and Missile Defense Conference with Rear Adm. Jon Hill, deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency. Airmissiledefenseevent.iqpc.com
9 a.m. House Visitor Center 210. Full committee hearing on document production. intelligence.house.gov
10 a.m. Rayburn 2172. Committee markup of eight bills. foreignaffairs.house.gov
10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Assessing the defense industrial base with Jerry McGinn, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense. heritage.org
FRIDAY | SEPT. 29
8 a.m. 2799 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Integrated Air and Missile Defense Conference with Brig. Gen. Sean Gainey, commanding general of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. airmissiledefenseevent.iqpc.com
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Global hotspots and security challenges: A conversation with Sen. Joni Ernst. csis.org
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. What the new Russia sanctions law does and how to make it work. atlanticcouncil.org
12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation with Sen. Jack Reed. cfr.org
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Strengthening the federal government’s cyber defenses with Rep. Will Hurd and Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. csis.org
3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A panel discussion with veterans and experts on Ken Burns‘ “The Vietnam War.” csis.org
MONDAY | OCT. 2
10 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Public opinion on “America First” with Rep. Mike Gallagher. wilsoncenter.org
12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation with Alan Peter Cayetano, the secretary of foreign affairs for the Philippines. cfr.org
6 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Realism and democracy: American foreign policy after the Arab Spring. cfr.org
TUESDAY | OCT. 3
9:30 a.m. Dirksen 342. Nomination of John M. Mitnick to be general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. hsgac.senate.gov
10 a.m. Capitol Visitor Center. Issue brief launch on Ukraine’s internally displaced persons holding a key to peace with Rep. Marcy Kaptur. atlanticcouncil.org
10 a.m. House Visitor Center 210. Examining the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity mission. homeland.house.gov
2 p.m. Rayburn 2154. Innovations in security: Examining the use of canines. oversight.house.gov
2 p.m. Rayburn 2172. Iraq and Syria genocide emergency relief and accountability with former Rep. Frank Wolf; Shireen, a Yazidi survivor of ISIS enslavement; and Stephen Rasche, the legal counsel of the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, Iraq. foreignaffairs.house.gov
2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Securing the peace after the fall of the Islamic State with Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq. armedservices.house.gov
6 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation on the Iran nuclear deal with Sen. Tom Cotton. cfr.org
WEDNESDAY | OCT. 4
10 a.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Countering violent extremism in the Trump era. cato.org
10 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Protecting children in armed conflict with Virginia Gamba, special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for children and armed conflict. stimson.org
12:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The space race and the origins of the space age with Robert Curbeam, vice president, of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. wilsoncenter.org
3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Escalation and deterrence in the second space age. csis.org
THURSDAY | OCT. 5
8 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. Health affairs breakfast with Tyler Bennett, deputy for acquisition at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency, and Kathy Berst, deputy for acquisition at Army Medical Materiel Development Activity. ndia.org
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Russia’s military robots: Key trends and developments in Russia’s unmanned systems. csis.org
10:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Sixteen years and counting in Afghanistan and what’s next for America’s longest war with Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan ambassador to the United States. wilsoncenter.org
1 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Middle East crises, conflicts and the way ahead. brookings.edu
1 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Foreign affairs issue launch: Trump, the allies and the view from abroad. cfr.org
1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Bringing the Air Force into its centennial with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. csis.org
4 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Book launch: “The China Order: Centralia, World Empire, and the Nature of Chinese Power.” csis.org
4 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Japan’s choices and the challenges ahead post-election. wilsoncenter.org
4:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Zbigniew Brzezinski annual prize and lecture with former Vice President Joe Biden. csis.org
6 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Elliott Abrams discusses his new book, “Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Policy after the Arab Spring.” cfr.org
