TRUMP’S STATE OF NAT SEC: There were no derogatory nicknames, no taunts of his political rivals, and very few unscripted moments in last night’s State of the Union address by President Trump. In other words, he delivered a traditional speech replete with soaring rhetoric, and punctuated with the personal stories of invited guests who embodied profiles in courage, including Bronze Star recipient Army Staff Sgt. Justin Peck, who saved the life of a Navy chief in Raqqa, and North Korea defector Ji Seong-ho, who traveled thousands of miles on crutches across China and Southeast Asia to freedom. At one hour and 20 minutes it was also one of the longest State of the Union addresses on record, eclipsed in modern times only by President Bill Clinton’s stemwinder in 2000 that went on for one hour and 29 minutes.
Here, in his own words, are points Trump made on key national security issues:
ROGUES AND RIVALS: Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values.
IRAN: I am asking Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.
NORTH KOREA: No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening.
Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position. We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and to our allies.
AFGHANISTAN: As of a few months ago, our warriors in Afghanistan have new rules of engagement. Along with their heroic Afghan partners, our military is no longer undermined by artificial timelines, and we no longer tell our enemies our plans.
REBUILDING THE MILITARY: In confronting these horrible dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means to our true and great defense. For this reason, I am asking Congress to end the dangerous defense sequester and fully fund our great military.
NUKES: As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Perhaps some day in the future there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet, sadly.
ISIS: Last year, I also pledged that we would work with our allies to extinguish ISIS from the face of the Earth. One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and in Syria and in other locations, as well. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated.
GITMO: I am asking Congress to ensure that in the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists, wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them. And in many cases, for them it will now be Guantanamo Bay.
And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are. In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield, including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released. So today, I am keeping another promise. I just signed prior to walking in an order directing [Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis — who is doing a great job, thank you — to re-examine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay.
There are 41 prisoners remaining at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo, despite President Barack Obama’s effort to empty the prison during his two terms. Some prisoners are expected to remain there indefinitely.
THE DEMS’ RESPONSE: The primary Democratic response, delivered by Rep. Joseph Kennedy, made no mention of North Korea, China, Iran, nuclear weapons, the sequester, ISIS, terrorism, or Guantanamo, or the state of the U.S military. His one reference to Russia claimed it is “knee-deep in our democracy.” Kennedy’s speech was one of five delivered by Democrats.
Good Wednesday 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.
HAPPENING TODAY: Boeing is scheduled to announce its 2017 fourth quarter financial results and 2018 guidance later this morning. Boeing is also announcing a new twitter handle for President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg, @BoeingCEO. “Starting with our fourth quarter financial results and 2018 guidance, this new communications approach for our CEO will provide an effective platform for sharing company news and industry insight,” said Boeing spokesman Phil Musser. “It also will help us highlight the inspirational, innovative work of our people, and better connect with customers, stakeholders and aerospace enthusiasts — where the conversations are taking place.”
Muilenburg and CFO and Executive VP Greg Smith will discuss the results and company outlook during a conference call and webcast at 10:30 a.m.
AFGHANISTAN WALK BACK: The U.S. military has denied it is intentionally hiding data that show the extent of Taliban control over parts of Afghanistan. In response to pointed criticism from the independent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko, a U.S. military spokesman for Operation Resolute Support blamed the request to withhold the number of districts controlled by the Taliban on “human error” during the classification process.
“It was NOT the intent of Resolute Support to withhold or classify information which was available in prior reports. A human error in labeling occurred,” said Navy Capt. Tom Gresback, public affairs director for the NATO-led mission. “The classification system, because it incorporates both a NATO and U.S. nomenclature, can be challenging, and a mistake was made,” Gresback said. “The data is not classified and there was no intent to withhold it unnecessarily.”
NO ONE’S TOLD HIM: In response to the response, Sopko repeated the criticism that he has received no explanation for the request to hold back the unclassified data. “SIGAR takes the classification and/or designation of information by a classifying authority, such as RS, very seriously; the implication being that it could have national security ramifications,” Sopko said in an email to the Washington Examiner. “We have yet to receive any formal notification that we are clear to release this information publicly.”
In his latest report to Congress, Sopko called the accounting of Taliban-controlled districts “one of the last remaining publicly available indicators for members of Congress and for the American public of how the 16-year-long U.S. effort to secure Afghanistan is faring.”
WHAT THE FIGURES SHOW: Operation Resolute Support yesterday did release the latest figures in an effort to demonstrate it wasn’t hiding anything from the American public. “As of October 2017, approximately 56 percent of the country’s 407 districts are under Afghan government control or influence, 30 percent remain contested, and approximately 14 percent are now under insurgent control or influence,” said Gresback.
The folks over at the Long War Journal have illustrated the ebb and flow of Taliban control over time and have created a dynamic map to show who controls which Afghanistan districts. Many have been taken or retaken only to be lost shortly thereafter, largely resulting in the conflict’s current relative stalemate.
GOP DEFENSE BILL VOTE: The House again passed a $659 billion defense appropriations bill yesterday, just hours before Trump took the stage for his address. The 236-183 vote was no surprise. The chamber passed the same spending bill twice last year, despite nearly all but 23 Democrats voting “no.” Four Republicans also voted against it. The bill has no future and will remain stymied unless Congress comes up with a budget deal to raise a $549 billion cap on defense for 2018. But Republicans teed up the newest vote to point a finger at Democrats over the failure so far to pass 2018 defense funding, and to provide some partisan ammunition for Trump. “The fiscal year is over 30 percent done and we have been unable to appropriate the funds our military needs to defend the nation,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, a House Armed Services member, who spoke on the floor in favor of the budget bill. “For those who vote ‘no’ there will be no place to hide when history comes to ask why they failed to do their duty.”
Rep. Jim McGovern wanted to know why the chamber was wasting its time with another symbolic vote on the appropriations bill without a budget deal. “I know … that many people think that the third time’s a charm but I think that the third time is a farce,” McGovern said. The bill would boost spending for the Pentagon, though not as high as Trump’s requested $668 billion budget. It includes $584 billion in base defense spending ($35 billion over the cap) and $75 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations account, as well as increases in troop numbers. “Neither this defense bill nor any other appropriations bill can move until the House and Senate Republican leadership get their acts together, negotiate a budget agreement that works for all our federal programs and finally set the top-line numbers for all our appropriations bills.”
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Next week, Mattis and Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva are scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee. The Tuesday hearing will pack in discussions of both the National Defense Strategy, which was released this month, and the Nuclear Posture Review. The administration plans to release its new strategy for U.S. nuclear weapons on Friday, but an early draft was leaked and has been circulating for weeks.
Selva spoke to defense reporters Tuesday about the nuclear review. The breakfast event was RSVP’d to capacity within hours of being announced last week. He denied the U.S. will consider nuclear strikes in retaliation to a cyber attack, even if language in the leaked drafted seemed to imply that, Defense Tech reported. “The idea that we would resort to a nuclear attack based on cyber is actually not supported by the document,” Selva said. The official release of the review could also answer questions on whether the U.S. could pursue new low-yield nuclear weapons, which some arms control advocates worry could increase the likelihood of war.
CHA IS OUT: Trump’s original pick for ambassador to South Korea is no longer being considered after he disagreed privately with some aspects with the administration’s policy on North Korea. The Washington Post reports Victor Cha was set to become the next ambassador in time for the Winter Olympics, but White House officials now say they have moved on to other candidates.
Cha, an academic with experience in the Bush administration, is reported to have raised concerns over the National Security Council’s consideration of a limited strike on North Korea, a so-called “bloody nose” strategy intended to shock Kim Jong Un, without sparking all-out war.
In an op-ed published in today’s Washington Post, Cha outlines why he believes the notion of a limited strike is folly. “If we believe that Kim is undeterrable without such a strike, how can we also believe that a strike will deter him from responding in kind? And if Kim is unpredictable, impulsive and bordering on irrational, how can we control the escalation ladder, which is premised on an adversary’s rational understanding of signals and deterrence?” Cha argues.
“I empathize with the hope, espoused by some Trump officials, that a military strike would shock Pyongyang into appreciating U.S. strength, after years of inaction, and force the regime to the denuclearization negotiating table,” Cha writes. “Yet, there is a point at which hope must give in to logic.”
NORTH KOREA CANCELS: North Korea has canceled a planned joint cultural event with South Korea that was to have marked the start of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, another sign relations between the two Koreas remain fragile despite the conciliatory tone of recent talks.
In a letter to Seoul’s Unification Ministry, North Korea said it had no choice but to cancel the event, accusing South Korean media of smearing the North’s “sincere” efforts at the Olympics. The North also said South Korea’s media was taking issue with another unspecified event in North Korea, according to a ministry press release.
The event, sponsored by the ministry, was supposed to take place at the North’s Diamond Mountain on Feb. 4, the week of the Olympics opening ceremonies. “It is greatly regrettable that an event agreed by the South and North will not be held due to North Korea’s unilateral notification,” the ministry said in an unofficial translation of the press release.
MISHEARD MISSILE WARNING: The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency worker who erroneously sent an alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile misheard a recorded message that was part of a drill and believed the threat was real. The Federal Communications Commission released a preliminary report into the events of the morning of Jan. 13, when a ballistic missile alert was sent to more than 1 million people through the emergency alert system in Hawaii. The worker, who has still not been publicly identified, was fired, and the head of the emergency management agency has resigned.
A couple of takeaways: Don’t conduct an exercise during a shift change, and don’t use the phrase, “This is not a drill,” as part of the exercise scenario. Read how the events unfolded here.
NEXT NSA CHIEF: Trump is expected to tap Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone to oversee the National Security Agency after the current director, Adm. Mike Rogers, retires in the spring, according to Politico. Nakasone, who is head of the Army’s digital warfare branch, would not only run the NSA, but would also head the Pentagon’s digital warfare organization, the U.S. Cyber Command.
‘DUMB SHITS’ TEACHER PUT ON LEAVE: A California school district has put teacher Gregory Salcido on administrative leave after a video went viral in which he can be heard calling U.S. troops the “lowest of the low” and a “bunch of dumb shits,” the local Whittier Daily News reported. Salcido, who is also a city councilman in Pico Rivera, was also removed from the council’s committees after local officials condemned the comments, which were made to a group of high school students, a CBS News affiliate also reported.
Salcido’s anti-military rant prompted the Pentagon to respond on Monday.
HOW CLOSE WAS IT? See for yourself. The Navy has released video of the Russian Su-27 buzzing a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II spy plane over the Black Sea on Monday. In a statement the Navy called the intercept “unsafe” and said the Russian fighter closed within five feet and crossed directly through the EP-3’s flight path, causing the EP-3 to fly through the Su-27’s jet wash. The Russian plane shadowed the EP-3 for two hours and 40 minutes.
THE RUNDOWN
Washington Post: U.S. can destroy ‘most’ of N. Korea’s nuclear missile infrastructure, top general says
Stars and Stripes: Selva: North Korea yet to demonstrate it has ballistic missile that can hit America
New York Times: ISIS Is Weakened, but Iraq Election Could Unravel Hard-Won Stability
Daily Beast: Trans Soldier Going to State of the Union Tells Trump: You Can Count on People Like Me
Reuters: Tests link Syrian government stockpile to largest sarin attack – sources
Wall Street Journal: Yemen Separatists Seize Military Base
Navy Times: Growing the Navy requires a plan to save money, congressman says
Foreign Policy: Trump Administration Says No to New Russia Sanctions, Yes to Cribbing From Forbes
Defense News: The Pentagon is planning for war with China and Russia — can it handle both?
USNI News: Russian Operations, Exercises Have Better Integrated Electronic Warfare
Defense One: America’s Longest War—and the Ally That Fuels It
Task and Purpose: Elon Musk’s Flamethrower Is Now Available For Pre-Order
Reuters: Russian spy chief met U.S. officials in U.S. last week: sources
DoD Buzz: Pentagon Getting ‘Chief Management Officer’ to Shake Up Bureaucracy
Air Force Times: Japan base welcomes 1st deployed F-35A, but industry hiccups delay fighter’s supplies
UPI: German, Norwegian vessels join Truman strike group in Norfolk
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JAN. 31
1 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. Regional Stability: U.S.-Turkey Strategic Alliance and Cooperation under NATO with retired Gen. James Conway, former commandant of the Marine Corps. press.org
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Tet Offensive: Lessons from the Campaign After 50 Years. csis.org
THURSDAY | FEB. 1
9 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Strategic Significance of the South China Sea: American, Asian, and International Perspectives with retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former chief of naval operations. hudson.org
9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Changing dynamics in the Gulf: A conversation with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. aei.org
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Direction of Russian Politics and the Putin Factor. atlanticcouncil.org
11 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave NE. The Navy the Nation Needs with Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations. heritage.org
MONDAY | FEB. 5
8 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Taking Stock of Mexico’s Security Landscape. wilsoncenter.org
10 a.m. 2121 Eye St. NW. Rep. Michael McCaul delivers the “State of National Security Address” at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security. homeland.house.gov
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Enhanced Deterrence in the North: A 21st Century European Engagement Strategy with retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and retired Adm. Mark Ferguson.
2 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW. The Demise of America’s First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation. carnegieendowment.org
TUESDAY | FEB. 6
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Russia’s Cyber Operations in Ukraine and Beyond with Rep. Will Hurd. atlanticcouncil.org
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Russia’s Post-Authoritarian Future: A Conversation with Ksenia Sobchak. csis.org
10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify on the National Defense Strategy and the Nuclear Posture Review. armedservices.house.gov
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. The Administration’s South Asia Strategy on Afghanistan with John Sullivan, deputy secretary of state. foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. House Visitor Center 210. Ensuring Effective and Reliable Alerts and Warnings. homeland.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | FEB. 7
9 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Subcommittee on Senior Leader Misconduct: Prevention and Accountability with the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. armedservices.house.gov
3:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Rise and Fall of the ABM Treaty: Missile Defense and the U.S.-Russia Relationship. csis.org
3:30 p.m. Russell 222. Subcommittee hearing on Army Modernization. armed-services.senate.gov
