Allies convene virtually as ISIS threat spreads beyond Syria and Iraq

“ISIS does continue to constitute a significant security threat, both to local partners in Syria as well as more broadly to the region, particularly across the border into Iraq, and even beyond that, ranging further afield to Europe and potentially to North America,” Godfrey told reporters in a conference call yesterday. “One of the reasons for that is that there continues to be a cadre of capable ISIS actors in Syria who have experience with plotting attacks further afield, and who we assess retain aspirations to continue doing that.”

ISIS CLAIMS CONTROL OF KEY CITY IN MOZAMBIQUE: U.S. officials are alarmed by the assault by ISIS-linked militants in Mozambique on Africa’s southeastern coast, where days of brutal fighting have left beheaded bodies strewn in the streets of the port city of Palma, and ISIS is claiming to have seized control of the northern town of about 75,000 people.

“Attacks such as these are clear indicators that ISIS continues to actively seek to spread its malign activity to new fronts,” said Godfrey. “Ensuring the enduring global defeat of ISIS will entail effectively countering ISIS branches and networks outside of Iraq and Syria, and we as a coalition recognize that.”

Godfrey cited the “increased brazenness of ISIS-Mozambique,” and said the U.S. is closely monitoring events in the country while condemning the attacks as “horrific,” showing “a complete disregard for the life, welfare, and security of the local population.”

ISIS has gone from conducting hit-and-run raids in 2017 and 2018, he said, to taking and holding “at least for some initial period of time, some of the towns that they’ve conducted these attacks against.”

TICKING TIME BOMB: While Godfrey called the Defeat-ISIS campaign across Iraq and Syria “a major success to date,” and said the capabilities of ISIS have been “significantly degraded,” he warned of the festering problem of detention camps, which are becoming breeding grounds for a new generation of future terrorists.

“There are more than 60,000 individuals in al-Hol, from dozens of nationalities, the vast majority of whom are children,” Godfrey said. “You have such a large number of children, it’s in the tens of thousands, who have been exposed to fairly horrific conditions for a period, in some cases, of several or more years is something that we and other international partners are quite concerned about.”

“Most troubling and potentially dangerous aspects of this, which is that a number of those children either have claims to or already have European citizenship,” he said. “And so there is the concern that down the road they could end up being able to go to other places and potentially do bad things.”

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AFGHANISTAN COUNTDOWN, DAY 32: As of today, there are 32 days left before U.S. and international troops are scheduled to withdraw fully from Afghanistan under the Feb. 29, 2020, agreement negotiated with the Taliban by the Trump administration, and with each passing day, it seems less likely President Joe Biden will meet the deadline.

Last week, the Taliban put out a statement in response to what it called Biden’s “vague remarks” in his Thursday news conference, in which he said, “It’s going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline. Just in terms of tactical reasons, it’s hard to get those troops out.”

“The Doha agreement is the most sensible and shortest path to ending the past twenty-year war between Afghanistan and America and establishing a peaceful Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate is firmly committed to its undertakings outlined in the agreement, and wants the American side to also remain firmly committed to the Doha agreement and not wasting this historic opportunity due to flawed advice and incitement by warmongering circles,” the statement said.

“If, God forbid, all foreign troops not withdraw from Afghanistan on the specified date in line with the Doha agreement, undoubtedly it will be considered a violation of the accord by America for which it shall be held liable and which shall also harm its international standing. In such a case, the Islamic Emirate — as a representative of the believing, valiant and Mujahid Afghan nation — will be compelled to defend its religion and homeland and continue its Jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces to liberate its country.”

GROUPS ACCUSE ARMY OF PROMOTING ‘ANTI-MUSLIM BIGOTRY’: Two religious advocacy groups have written acting Army Secretary John Whitley complaining about an article posted on the Army’s website, which they claim promotes “anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Iraqi, anti-Arab racism.”

“This ‘news’ article is quite obviously both hideously and blatantly Islamophobic and simultaneously a wretched yet clear example of fundamentalist Christian supremacy, domination, and exclusivism,” writes Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The article in question, “Soldier fights for her life to serve in US Army,” is a first-person account of Katya Frelund, an Iraqi woman who escaped to America and enlisted as a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army a decade later. “The Army has always been on my heart … I’ve always wanted to join to pay it back, because if it wasn’t for the Army, I wouldn’t be here today,” she said. “Back in 2009, this job wasn’t even open to women. I was saved by a scout, and now I am a scout.”

The advocacy groups complain the account of how Frelund converted from Islam to Christianity and became a U.S. Army interpreter, attributed her conversion to “a series of Christian auditory and visual religious visions,” and “makes sweeping generalizations about Iraqi society.”

IN DEFENSE OF THE F-35: Last week, I wrote an article for the Washington Examiner magazine, “The sad saga of the F-35: Too big to fail, too expensive to fly,” in which I outlined the growing concerns about the cost of sustaining the high-maintenance jet and the failure of the plane to deliver on its original promise of being a suitable for both low-end and high-end missions.

Retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, who was the principal air attack planner for the 1991 Iraq war and is currently the dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, thinks critics who are focusing solely on the cost are missing the point.

Writing in Forbes, Deptula argues attacks against the Lockheed Martin F-35 program, such as House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Adam Smith’s recent vow not to throw any more money down the “rat hole” of F-35 funding, are misguided.

“The F-35 is actually excelling in combat, over a dozen countries are in line to buy it, and the price per unit is below the cost of alternative fighter designs with less capability,” Deptula writes, noting, “China has worked tirelessly to build a copy of the F-35 as a key component of its military modernization program. If the F-35 is such a ‘bad deal,’ why is the Chinese Air Force trying to copy it in quantity?”

“Following the recommendations of F-35 critics to slow down, reduce or terminate the program will cost American and allied lives, destabilize regions, put allied populations at risk, and empower adversaries,” he says. “The F-35 program is not too big to fail, but it is too critical to sacrifice. The defense of our nation, allies and partners depends on it.”

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The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Congress fights over liberal cuts to America’s nuclear arsenal

Washington Examiner: DOD and HHS mum on how many migrant children they will house on military bases

Washington Examiner: UN chief salutes ‘crucial’ US human rights advocacy as tensions with China rise

Washington Examiner: White House announces ‘expert’ review of WHO-China COVID-19 origins report

Washington Examiner: Lawmakers vent ‘frustration’ with Capitol Police’s lack of transparency in bipartisan letter

Reuters: Iran And China Sign 25-Year Cooperation Agreement

Financial Times: US to make it easier for diplomats to meet Taiwanese officials

Washington Post: China’s propaganda machine kicks into high gear over Xinjiang criticism

Politico: U.S. Tries To Break Iran Nuclear Deadlock With A New Proposal For Tehran

USNI News: Iran’s New Missile Corvette Could Reshape IRGC Naval Doctrine

New York Times: Full Moon and High Tide Free Suez Canal Tanker

The Hill: Trump Afghan Pullout Deal Unachievable, Says Ex-Pentagon Leader

Reuters: Biden Does Not Intend To Meet With North Korea’s Kim

Washington Post: Fort McNair officials say plan for water restrictions are not directly linked to recent reports of Iran threats

Breaking Defense: SolarWinds Hack: ‘The Truth Is Much More Complicated’

Washington Post: Lindsey Graham says he needs AR-15 for defense: ‘My house will be the last one that the gang will come to’

Air Force Magazine: Brown Says Networks are Key to New Revolution in Military Affairs

Air Force Magazine: Russian Tu-142s Enter Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone

Popular Mechanics: Why 11 Navy Aircraft Carriers Simply Aren’t Enough

19fortyfive.com: Russia Just Showed Off Its Most Powerful Submarine Ever (Maybe)

19fortyfive.com: The Russian Navy’s Battlecruisers: Battleships in Disguise?

First Coast News: Sen. Marco Rubio Joins Lawmakers’ Call To Use USS Bonhomme Richard As A Reef

Marine Corps Times: Online Sting Reveals Clues To Missing Ammunition, Explosives From California Marine Base

Washington Post: The WHO covid report is fatally flawed, and a real investigation has yet to take place

Washington Examiner: Opinion: China is jeopardizing its Europe and Middle East influence with Iran, Russia, and Myanmar partnerships

Breaking Defense: China—A Deadly ‘Infinite Game’: Army Chief McConville

Calendar

TUESDAY | MARCH 30

10 a.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: “Confronting Russian Interference in U.S.-Czech Missile Defense Cooperation,” Lt. Col. Otakar Foltyn, security expert in the Czech Ministry of Defense; Michaela Dodge, research scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy; Jakub Janda, executive director of the European Values Center for Security Policy; and Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Center for National Defense. https://www.heritage.org/missile-defense/event

10:30 a.m. — Center for American Progress webinar: “Reinvigorating Diplomacy with North Korea,” with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Korea and Japan Marc Knapper; Frank Aum, senior expert on North Korea at the U.S. Institute of Peace; Jessica Lee, senior research fellow on East Asia at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; Yasuyo Sakata, professor of international relations at the Kanda University of International Studies; and Abigail Bard, Asia policy analyst at CAP. https://www.americanprogress.org/events

11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar: “The Army in the Indo-Pacific,” with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville; and Gen. Paul LaCamera, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific. https://www.csis.org/events/army-indo-pacific-conversation

1 p.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual book discussion on “You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War,”with author Elizabeth Becker; and Susan Hammond, founder and executive director of the War Legacies Project. https://www.stimson.org/event/book-launch

2 p.m. — U.S. Chamber of Commerce webinar” “North Korean Military Hackers Commit Cyberattacks,” focusing on cyberattacks by the Lazarus Group. https://www.uschamber.com/event

4 p.m. — Hudson Institute webinar: “China’s Techno-Authoritarianism, Political Interference, and Influence Operations,” with Samantha Hoffman, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Harry Krejsa, cyber policy adviser in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy; Charles Edel, senior fellow at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center; John Lee, senior fellow at Hudson; and Patrick Cronin, senior fellow at Hudson. https://www.hudson.org/events

4 p.m. — Institute of World Politics webinar: “The Biden Administration Faces Growing North Korean Threat,” with Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. https://www.iwp.edu/events/webinar

WEDNESDAY I MARCH 31

9:50 a.m. — Institute for Defense and Government Advancement virtual Counter Summit: “Update on DOD Counter Small UAS Strategy,” with Nicole Thomas, division chief for strategy and policy in the Army Joint Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office. https://www.idga.org/events

12:30 p.m. — Hampton Roads World Affairs Council Virtual Symposium virtual panel discussion: “Stronger Together: Perspectives on Strengthening the Alliance,” with the current and three former commanders of Allied Command Transformation, including French Air Force Gen. Andre Lanata; Retired French Air Force Gen. Denis Mercier, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, and retired Adm. Ed Giambastiani, ACT’s first commander. https://zoom.us/webinar/register

1 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Aerospace Nation event with Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of Air Mobility Command and nominee to head the U.S. Transportation Command; and retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Video posted afterwards at www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

1 p.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and Signal Magazine virtual discussion: “The Warfighter Advantage: Shaping Cloud Apps through Operational Monitoring,” with Paul Puckett, director of the Army Enterprise Cloud Management Office; Steve Mazzuca, defense and intel director at Dynatrace; and Kimberly Underwood, senior editor at Signal Magazine. https://www.workcast.com/register

2 p.m. — Defense One webinar: “The Future of Army Modernization,” with Maj. Gen. John Epperly, deputy commanding general of the Army National Guard – U.S. Army Futures Command; and Andrew Hunter, senior fellow of the International Security Program and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group. https://www.defenseone.com/feature/the-future-of-army-modernization

2:30 p.m. — National Iranian American Council webinar: “The Iran Nuclear Deal or No Deal?” with Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association; Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; Barbara Slavin, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; Peter Beinart, professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York; and Jamal Abdi, president of NIAC. https://secure.everyaction.com/

3:30 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group Conversation with Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/

THURSDAY | APRIL 1

9 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Whose Voices Count on Afghanistan? The Politics of Knowledge Production,” with Orzala Nemat, director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit; Bashir Safi, former senior adviser to the Afghan National Security Council; Mariam Safi, co-director of the Afghanistan Mechanism for Inclusive Peace; Obaid Ali, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network; and Sahar Halaimzai, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/whose-voices-count

9:50 a.m. — A Institute for Defense and Government Advancement virtual Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Summit, with Navy Rear Adm. John Fuller, deputy director for force protection, Joint Chiefs of Staff. https://www.idga.org/events

3 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studiesvirtual book discussion on This is How They Tell Me the World Ends, with author Nicole Perlroth, New York Times cybersecurity reporter. https://www.csis.org/events/how-they-tell-me-world-ends

FRIDAY| APRIL 2

8:30 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies “Space Power Forum” event with Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback, director of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, U.S. Space Force; and retired Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem, director of research at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

9:50 a.m. — Institute for Defense and Government Advancement virtual Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Summit, with Spanish Brig. Gen. Enrique Silvela Diaz-Criado, commander of the Spanish Army Air Defense Command. https://www.idga.org/events

MONDAY | APRIL 5

2:30 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/