|
STRAIGHT TALK: In testimony before Congress yesterday, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris delivered a series of stark warnings about North Korea, China and the message of weakness sent by the budget battles on Capitol Hill. The blunt-speaking admiral, known for his willingness to share his unvarnished views with lawmakers, and about to hang up his stars after a 39-year Navy career, drew plaudits from chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry as the House Armed Services Committee wrapped up its hearing. “If you could help coach other DOD witnesses to give clear, direct answers to questions it would be a really good thing,” Thornberry said. If the lovefest in the House carries over to the Senate, Harris should win easy confirmation as ambassador to Australia, a nomination announced by the White House last week. MISREADING KIM: For years the conventional wisdom in the U.S. intelligence community has been that North Korea’s fixation with becoming a nuclear power is all about regime preservation. The thinking goes that Kim Jong Un and his father before him, after seeing what happened to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in 2003, and facing a formidable force to the South, wants nuclear weapons as a shield against an invasion that would topple the regime. “I don’t ascribe to that view,” said Harris dryly, as he endorsed an alternative theory that is gaining traction among North Korea watchers, namely that Kim’s ultimate goal is to reunify the Korean Peninsula under his brutal communist rule. “He’s after what his grandfather failed to do and his father failed to do and he’s on a path to achieve what he feels is his natural place and where North Korea’s natural outcome is a unified Korean Peninsula.” It’s the same assessment shared the day before by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, testifying before the Senate. “Kim Jong Un remains not only intent on staying in power, the thing all dictators prefer to do, right — die in their sleep, fully at the peak of their power — but he has this mission that is a longstanding North Korean idea of reunification,” Pompeo told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Wednesday. Ultimately Kim hopes to paralyze the U.S. and its allies with the threat of nuclear attack. “It puts him in a position to blackmail the South and other countries in the region, and us,” Harris said. “The Republic of Korea and Japan have been living under the shadow of the DPRK’s threats for years, and now that shadow looms over the American homeland.” Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the committee, gently pushed back on the level of certainty about Kim’s motivations. “I think the real answer is there is no way to know. We can guess what he is trying to do,” Smith said. “I think anyone who confidently asserts that all Kim Jong Un wants to do is protect his regime is just as wrong as anyone who confidently asserts that he definitely wants to unify the peninsula.” RED STORM RISING: While North Korea is the imminent threat, China poses the real long-term challenge to U.S. influence in the Indo-Pacific region, Harris testified. “China’s impressive military buildup could soon challenge the United States across almost every domain. Key advancements include fielding significant improvements in missile systems, developing fifth-generation fighter aircraft capabilities, and growing the size and capability of the Chinese navy to include their first overseas base in the port of Djibouti,” Harris said. “They’re also heavily investing in the next wave of military technologies including hypersonic missiles, advanced space and cyber capabilities, and artificial intelligence.” Harris urged committee members to take seriously the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said at the last party Congress that his goal is to develop a world-class military and become a global leader in terms of composite national strength and international influence. “Ladies and gentlemen, China’s intent is crystal clear. We ignore it at our peril,” Harris said. GUSHING OVER THE BUDGET: Harris lavished praise on Congress for the two-year bipartisan budget deal that will fully fund the military, and begin to restore America’s credibility around the world. “One of the possible problems that we face in the region is overcoming the perception that the United States is a declining power,” Harris said. “A fully-resourced defense budget leading into long-term budget stability will send a strong signal to our allies, partners and all potential adversaries that the U.S. is fully committed to preserving a free and open order in the Indo-Pacific.” Harris noted that as of Saturday he will have been in command at PACOM for 1,000 days, 433 under a continuing resolution. “So, this budget is terrific,” he said. “It gives us two years to plan … something we haven’t had for a long time.” Good Thursday 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 add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense. |
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
||||||
|
HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is in Brussels as NATO wraps up a two-day defense ministerial. Mattis was planning to have a private talk with his Turkish counterpart over U.S. concerns that Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria is undercutting the final push against Islamic State fighters. No readout of that meeting has been provided by the Pentagon. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is stopping in Turkey today, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by news services as saying “It is clear that those who say, ‘We will respond aggressively if you hit us,’ have never experienced an Ottoman slap.” Asked for a reaction at the State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “As funny as the comment was … I’m not going to respond to every foreign leader’s comment, you understand that.” Nauert says the U.S. recognizes Turkey has legitimate security concerns along its border with Syria. “We have had a series of high-level meetings with the Turkish government about our concerns, about the escalation of violence in Syria in particular in the Afrin area, which by the way we are not operating, but nonetheless it is a concern of ours.” ALSO TODAY: A rare media appearance is scheduled this morning with Army Secretary Mike Esper at the Pentagon. It’s a low-key affair, off-camera, and in the Press Operations office, not the briefing room. Esper wants to call attention to the Army’s budget, but apparently not too much attention. There will be no live stream of the event, just a cozy gaggle with Pentagon reporters at 9:45 a.m. UNFIT FOR SERVICE: The Heritage Foundation is out with a new report examining the challenge posed to the military by the fact that 71 percent of young Americans 17-24 (24 million out of 34 million) are ineligible to serve for one reason or another. “If only 29 percent of the nation’s young adults are even qualified to serve, and these negative trends continue, it is inevitable that the U.S. military will suffer from a lack of manpower.” This comes as the Pentagon is expected to announce details of a new “deploy or be removed policy.” Robert Wilkie, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, testified yesterday before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee that Mattis has given his department clear marching orders. “He has instructed us to address resource gaps and capabilities, readiness and the capacity to project power in globally contested environments,” Wilkie said. “It is a world that is brutal and unforgiving and a world in which the grim reality now is that the enemy is catching up and exploiting areas of weakness.” Under the new policy, service members who have been non-deployable for the past 12 months or more will be separated from the military, the Military Times reported last week. CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS PARRIS ISLAND: Rising seas associated with climate change are threatening to inundate the Marine Corps’ iconic Parris Island boot camp, Gen. Glenn Walters, the service’s assistant commandant, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. The base on the South Carolina coast faces the “most critical vulnerability” among Marine installations when it comes to sea rise, and a seawall may be needed to protect it, Walters said. “I’ve come to the conclusion in my own mind that it’s not today, we don’t have to build a seawall today, but we have to consider one and we’re monitoring it every day,” he testified. The Navy also testified that it faces stark threats from sea rise to many of its facilities over the next 30 years. “If the ocean is going to rise, we are going to be impacted everywhere, so it does demand a kind of comprehensive look at all of our bases,” said Adm. Bill Moran, the vice chief of naval operations. The increasing concern from the services comes as the Trump administration cut climate change from its new National Security Strategy. At the same time, the Republican-controlled Congress has called climate change a direct threat to national security and ordered the military to take a closer look at its most at-risk facilities over the coming year, including how much money will be needed to protect them. Sen. Tim Kaine, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services subcommittee that heard the testimony Wednesday, said the cost of needed improvements to protect bases from sea rise could be exorbitant. “I don’t know how many don’t get done because of absence of budget resources,” Kaine said. “You start to add in significant resilience investments in things like seawalls, etc., you are really going to have a traffic jam of projects looking for scarce dollars.” PARADE PRICE TAG: President Trump’s proposed military parade would cost the federal government between $10 million and $30 million, budget director Mick Mulvaney told Congress yesterday. Mulvaney, who leads the Office of Management and Budget, was asked by Rep. Barbara Lee during a hearing on the president’s proposed 2019 budget about a possible price tag of a military parade, an idea that the president is mulling. “It’s between 10 [million] and 30 [million], depending upon the length,” Mulvaney said. “Obviously an hour parade is different than a five-hour parade in terms of cost and equipment and those types of things.” Mulvaney said the money was not included in Trump’s budget request for 2019 because the president started discussing a military parade with defense officials just last month. The budget director said Congress would either have to appropriate money for the event if it were to move forward, or the Trump administration would need to find funds. NAKED AND FIRED: The top three leaders of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 were fired Sunday after the unit’s executive officer was discovered walking through the woods naked and drunk on Camp Shields in Okinawa, Japan. The unit’s XO, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Gabbard, was relieved after being found wearing only boots after getting intoxicated at a gathering for chiefs and officers. Both Cmdr. James Cho, and Command Master Chief Jason Holden were also fired for attempting to cover up the incident, a source told Navy Times. MAR-A-LAGO AIR DEFENSES: In an effort to improve response time to airspace violations over Mar-a-Lago, the Air Force plans to station fighter jets at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport during Trump’s visits, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. A spokesperson for NORAD told the Sun Sentinel that low-flying jets heard in the skies over South Florida on Wednesday were a part of military exercises intended to train pilots before they begin flying out of the commercial airport. Fighter jets have previously been scrambled out of Homestead Air Reserve Base, over 90 miles away from Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. THE RUNDOWN The Cipher Brief: US Demands Pakistan Arrest “Hit List” of Top Haqqani & Taliban Leaders AP: California teacher defends anti-military comments Navy Times: McCain second-in-command found guilty of dereliction charge Defense News: US, Germany Likely Home To New NATO Commands Air Force Times: Air Force special ops surgical team on front lines of ISIS war receives Bronze Stars The Hill: Pacific Command chief: ‘Fair’ to criticize Olympic coverage of North Korea Breaking Defense: Manpower, Parts Shortages Would Hinder Navy In Wartime Reuters: Democrats push $1 billion bill for election security Army Times: No GPS? In new budget request, that could be less of a problem Task and Purpose: A Damning DoD Report Just Blew A Hole In The Army IG’s Sexual Misconduct Defense Defense News: Corker lifts hold on arms sales to Gulf nations in Qatar row Daily Beast: Soldier Arrested in Cold-Case Rape of Teen Who Was Left for Dead Business Insider: It’s ‘just a matter of time’ until Israel’s F-35 sees combat in the intense air war heating up over Syria Defense One: Syria’s War Is Fueling Three More Conflicts Military.com: Nominee for Key Weapons Buyer Post at DoD Passes Senate Hurdle USNI News: PACOM Harris: U.S. Needs to Develop Hypersonic Weapons, Criticizes ‘Self-Limiting’ Missile Treaties |
CalendarTHURSDAY | FEB. 15 8 a.m. Rayburn 2168. Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition hosts a congressional forum. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller provides the keynote address. Amphibiouswarship.org 9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command with Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of U.S. Northern Command, and Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander of U.S. Southern Command. armed-services.senate.gov 10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Strategic Competition with China. armedservices.house.gov 10 a.m. Dirksen 419. Nominations hearing for Andrea Thompson to be undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, and others. foreign.senate.gov 2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Evolution, Transformation, and Sustainment: A Review and Assessment of the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request for U.S. Special Operations Forces and Command with Gen. Raymond Thomas, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and Owen West, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict. Armedservices.house.gov 3 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander, U.S. Southern Command, briefs the press on USSOUTHCOM operations. FRIDAY | FEB. 16 8 a.m. Fort Lesley J. McNair. Half-day seminar on the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review with a keynote address by Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, and comments by David Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. einvitations.efit.edu 8:30 a.m. 1777 F St. NW. The Russia Probe and U.S. National Security: A Conversation With Rep. Adam Schiff. cfr.org 9:30 a.m. 740 15th St. NW. Can Economic Interventions Reduce Violence? New Evidence from Kandahar. newamerica.org 9:30 a.m. 300 First St. SE. The Mitchell Space Breakfast Series Presents: Space as a Warfighting Domain, A Discussion with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. mitchellaerospacepower.org TUESDAY | FEB. 20 9 a.m. Washington, D.C. Iran’s Missile Program in Perspective. atlanticcouncil.org 9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Coping with Surprise in Great Power Conflicts. csis.org WEDNESDAY | FEB. 21 1300 Wilson Blvd. PSA Industry Roundtable Luncheon at Orbital ATK. ndia.org 11 a.m. 46870 Tate Rd. NDIA Patuxent River Speaker Series with Gerald Swift, Director for AIRWorks at Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. ndia.org THURSDAY | FEB. 22 7:15 a.m. 1250 South Hayes St. Special topic breakfast with Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, Navy Program Executive Officer for Submarines. navyleague.org 9 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The U.S.-Japan alliance and the problem of deterrence. brookings.edu 12 noon. 214 Massachusetts Ave NE. 10 Years after the Bucharest Summit: Strengthening the U.S.-NATO-Georgia Relationship. heritage.org 3 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy with Kentaro Sonoura, an adviser to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. atlanticcouncil.org 3:30 p.m. 740 15th St. NW. The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the Tragedy in Vietnam. newamerica.org
|
| ADVERTISEMENT |
|
