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NO CORNERS TURNED THIS TIME AROUND: The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, is coming to the end of his two and half years leading the NATO Resolute Support mission. Yesterday he tried his best to explain to Pentagon reporters that despite the lack of military advances on the ground, the new Afghanistan strategy is working, just not the way it was envisioned. “We’re seeing the strategy is fundamentally working and advancing us towards reconciliation, even though it may not be playing out the way that we anticipated,” Nicholson said. What Nicholson refused to do was reprise his unbridled optimism of last November when he gushed that the U.S. and its Afghan partners had “turned the corner” and were “on our way to win,” thanks to President’s Trump’s “game-changer” new strategy. Pressed by Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio on whether the phrase “turned the corner” was “in retrospect, an overstatement, and should have been more nuanced,” Nicholson seemed to bristle, although it was hard to tell on the scratchy audio feed. “I just gave the reason why we outline progress with the Afghan security forces,” said Nicholson, who was being piped in from his headquarters in Kabul. “The growth of capability, the fact that they own the fight — these are the reasons we talked about progress in the Afghan security forces,” he said. “They’re in a tough fight, but despite the tough fight, we are seeing the progress towards reconciliation and a peace process that we have never seen before. “It’s significant, and it’s a result of the strategy.” And with that, Nicholson abruptly signed off with a terse, “Thank you very much.” In the Pentagon briefing room, Col. Rob Manning went to the next question, unaware that Nicholson had ended the briefing. A colonel came on the line to explain the general had a “hard stop” after 30 minutes and had to go. FOCUS ON THE TALKING: Nicholson’s nuanced argument was that while the military back and forth may be a stalemate, or at an “impasse” in his words, the pressure from the more capable Afghan military, especially its elite commandos and growing air force, was the driving force behind the willingness of the Taliban to explore peace talks. And he suggested that rather than focusing on how many districts the Afghan government controls (65 percent) compared to the Taliban (12 percent) or contested districts (23 percent), critics should “expand the aperture” to consider the effect of social and religious pressure for reconciliation. In explaining the recent deadly attacks by the Taliban, U.S. commanders have called the current phase of the war “talking and fighting.” Nicholson said critics who cite the lack of military progress are missing the bigger picture. “Yes, it is a bit of an impasse, but despite that, we’re seeing progress toward reconciliation,” Nicholson said. “So, what I would say is focus on the talking part of this … given that the traditional metrics of fighting are not explaining why the Taliban are willing to talk now.” WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN GHAZNI? Nicholson also disputed the characterization of the Taliban siege of the provincial capital of Ghazni two weeks ago as a military disaster for the Afghan army and police. They had been overrun by the Taliban and had to be rescued by Afghan commandos and U.S. airstrikes, but not before the Taliban fighters killed 100 Afghan troops and 70 police. “This was not a military victory by any stretch. They were driven out of the city and it was done in about four days,” Nicholson said. “So can they launch an attack for four days? Yes. Do those attacks succeed in gaining and holding new ground? No. They were driven out with higher casualties than they inflicted.” Nicholson defended the actions of the Afghan soldiers and police who were overwhelmed by the Taliban’s initial assault. “They fought back, they took casualties, too. Over 100 of them were killed fighting back. They lost lives because they were fighting on behalf of the Afghan people, and they were fighting to defend the Afghan people of Ghazni.” BAGHDADI SURFACES: The whereabouts of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi have been a mystery since the beginning of the war to rid Iraq and Syria of ISIS. He has been reported killed, several times, only to surface later. It’s believed he’s among the dead-enders trapped in the last pocket of ISIS-controlled territory in eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border. Now the shadowy leader is purportedly heard on a new audio recording released last night by ISIS’ central media arm, al-Furqan Foundation, according to the AP. It’s the first time Baghdadi has been heard from in more than a year, and in the 54-minute audio he urges followers to “persevere” and continue fighting the group’s enemies everywhere. IT’S OFFICIAL: Baghdadi may soon be the problem of Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, who Trump has nominated for promotion to general and assignment as head of U.S. Central Command. McKenzie, as Joint Staff director, is a familiar face to Pentagon reporters, having been a frequent briefing partner of Dana White, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson. Normally we might see McKenzie today at the Pentagon’s “regular” Thursday briefing, except that White — who is under investigation by the DoD Inspector General’s office for misusing office staff to conduct personal business — has not briefed since May. As of this morning, no briefing was on the Pentagon’s daily list of public events. 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. |
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HAPPENING TODAY: As Hurricane Lane bears down on Hawaii, the Navy has ordered all ships and submarines based in Pearl Harbor not undergoing maintenance to go to sea to avoid the Category 4 storm. Navy aircraft have been secured in hangars or flown to other airfields to avoid the effects of the hurricane. The ships are being positioned to be able to quickly return and aid in disaster relief after the storm passes, according to Rear Adm. Brian Fort, commander of Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific. Ships that can’t get underway are taking extra precautions to avoid damage, including adding mooring and storm lines, dropping the anchor and disconnecting shore power cables. Hurricane Lane is forecast to hit the Big Island and the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai today with winds 130 to 156 mph, which would make it the most powerful storm to hit Hawaii since Hurricane Iniki in 1992. The Navy in Hawaii is posting updates on its Facebook page FLAKE JOINS EFFORT TO CURB TRUMP’S POWER: Frequent Trump critic Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is joining Democrat Mark Warner in sponsoring an amendment to the 2019 defense appropriations bill to prohibit the executive branch from revoking security clearances for political reasons. “Pleased to cosponsor this amendment. Granting/revoking security clearances should not be a political exercise,” Flake, who is retiring after this term, wrote on Twitter. Warner tweeted back, “Thank you, @JeffFlake, for cosponsoring this amendment. We can’t just sit by as the President abuses this vital national security tool to punish his critics.” The amendment would prohibit the use of federal funds to “grant, deny, or revoke” an individual’s security clearance, except in accordance with the Constitution and all current federal laws and regulations governing security clearances. “Congress has a bipartisan responsibility to ensure that the president is not misusing his executive power by revoking any individual’s security clearance for purely political reasons,” Flake said in a statement. “The authority granted to the president by the Constitution is limited, and there are well-established processes and procedures in place that determine steps for granting and revoking a security clearance. These steps include identifying a non-political reason for a clearance revocation.” AN OUNCE OF DETERRENCE, WORTH A POUND OF DEFENSE: On CNN yesterday, Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen made another pitch for his DETER Act, legislation he’s proposing along with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio aimed at preventing future foreign interference in U.S. elections. “What we’ve learned is that slapping on sanctions after the fact and sanctions that will remain on, regardless of Russian conduct and behavior, are not going to incentivize them to change their behavior,” Van Hollen said in an interview with CNN. “What it says is, if we catch you again, Vladimir Putin, you will face automatic severe penalties. “All the testimony that we’ve heard from national security experts and Russia experts is if you really want to deter Putin and the Russians, you have to make it clear in advance what the penalty will be if they engage in interfering in our elections,” Van Hollen said. “Doing stuff after the fact is punishment, but it doesn’t create that incentive to prevent future conduct.” MURPHY BLOCKED ON YEMEN: The Senate is nearing a final vote on that appropriations measure for the Pentagon, possibly today. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called a procedural vote at 10:30 a.m. and said yesterday he looked forward to a final vote “in the coming days.” The window is quickly closing on amendments and the vast majority of the more than 160 filed by senators will likely not be heard. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, tried to leapfrog the queue and get his amendment curbing U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war on the floor. But the move was blocked by Sen. Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who is shepherding the $675 billion in Pentagon spending. Murphy, standing in front of a photo of bomb damage in Yemen, pointed to recent strikes by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on a school bus, community center and cholera treatment facility that killed civilians. “The United States is a key player in this bombing campaign. The United States has personnel that sits in the targeting center when decisions are made as to what sites on the ground will be bombed. The United States pays to put planes in the air, to refuel the fighter jets flown by the Saudis and the Emiratis and the United States sells … the coalition the bombs that are used,” Murphy said. HUNTER FIRES BACK: A day after being indicted for misusing campaign funds, Rep. Duncan Hunter came out swinging on Wednesday, calling the charges against him a “witch hunt” and the product of politically biased federal authorities. “One of the pillars of our country since its founding is that those tasked with enforcing the law would do so in an unbiased manner, allowing evidence to dictate how cases should run, with nothing impeding the rule of law. Unfortunately, this is not the case today,” Hunter said in a statement. “The fact is that there is a culture operating within our Justice Department that is politically motivated.” The soon-to-be former House Armed Services member pointed to a decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton and alluded to a private 2015 fundraising event in his home state of California that Justice Department personnel attended as evidence of bias. “We are seeing this with President Trump; we are seeing this with my case. This is evidenced by the fact that after two years of investigating, the Department of Justice decided to take this action right before my election. For over two years, I have made myself available to cooperate with this investigation in any manner. To date, I have not been asked one time to answer any questions or address any issue. I have not had one opportunity to present my side of anything in this investigation or to counter any allegations against me,” Hunter said. QUITE AN INDICTMENT: The 47-page indictment laying out federal prosecutors’ case against Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, is a riveting and detailed read on how the couple allegedly stole more than $250,000 to fund their lavish lifestyle over about seven years. The charges led House Speaker Paul Ryan to say the Republican congressman will be stripped of his seat on House Armed Services. ‘VERY SPECIAL’ MILITARY COAL PLAN: Cryptic remarks by Trump during his rally Tuesday night are raising questions over what role the military will play in a coming plan to save coal power plants. “We love clean, beautiful West Virginia coal. We love it. It’s great,” Trump riffed to the applause of the West Virginia audience. “And you know, that’s indestructible stuff. In times of war, in times of conflict, you can blow up those windmills, they fall down real quick. You can blow up those pipelines. They go like this, and you’re not going to fix them too fast. You could do a lot of things to those solar panels, but you know what you can’t hurt? Coal. You can do whatever you want to coal,” he said, rousing the crowd. Then he teased the secret project: “Very important. And we’re working now on a military plan that’s going to be something very special.” Meanwhile, Democrats are pressing for answers on the plan and how it might be undermining the independence of federal electricity regulators. RUSSIA’S QUAGMIRE: National security adviser John Bolton says Russia’s not so much winning in Syria, but rather has found itself trying to prop up a regime that can’t afford to rebuild a country wracked by civil war. “I don’t think they want to be stuck there. I think their frenetic diplomatic activity in Europe indicates that they’d like to find somebody else, for example, to bear the cost of reconstructing Syria — which they may or may not succeed in doing,” Bolton told Reuters during a visit to Israel. Bolton, who is now in Geneva meeting with his Russian counterpart, says the U.S. remains focused on finishing off the last remnants of ISIS fighters in the east. “Our interests in Syria are to finish the destruction of the ISIS territorial caliphate and deal with the continuing threat of ISIS terrorism and to worry about the presence of Iranian militias and regular forces,” he said. PAY NO MIND TO THOSE RUSSIAN SHIPS: Russian warships sailing through the English Channel pose no threat to the United Kingdom, according to Russia’s diplomatic corps. “The Russian naval ships act under international law and strictly observe the operating laws for the passing of military ships through the English Channel; they do not pose any threat to Great Britain,” the Russian Embassy in London said in a Wednesday bulletin. “The British side is well aware of this fact.” COMFORT TO COLOMBIA: The hospital ship USNS Comfort will depart late next month for Central America and South America to begin a two-month humanitarian mission with stops in Colombia and the region. Colombia, which is dealing with an influx of refugees from neighboring Venezuela, requested the medical assistance during the visit of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week, in order to relieve the pressure on its national health system. “This mission is a symbol of what can be accomplished when partners work together to aid people in need,” said Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander of U.S. Southern Command. “Because this mission is humanitarian in nature, it will focus on the people we’re assisting, on the nations we’re partnering with, and on the region we’re supporting together.” THE PATTERN IS FULL: The Navy confirmed Wednesday that a crew from Paramount and Bruckheimer Films is aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Va., as part of production for the sequel to “Top Gun.” Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesperson Cmdr. Dave Hecht verified to the Virginian-Pilot that a crew has been aboard the Lincoln this week and will be shooting footage of the flight deck air operations until Saturday. Paramount “will reimburse the Navy for any costs incurred for flying sequences which do not meet training objectives,” according to CNN. THE RUNDOWN New York Times: Taliban Says It Will Attend Afghan Peace Talks in Russia Defense News: Newly reorganized littoral combat ship program faces its first big test in 2019 BuzzFeed: A Year Ago, Trump Announced His Strategy To Win In Afghanistan. It Hasn’t Worked. USNI News: Pentagon, Defense Industry Brace for Expected Dip in Future Funding Air Force Times: ‘Ned Stark,’ whose leadership op-eds created a stir, is considering chief of staff’s job offer CNN: Analysis: South and North Korea want a peace treaty. What if the US doesn’t? Bloomberg: Lockheed Poised to Get $11 Billion F-35 Contract Despite Delays Business Insider: An Air Force F-35A just collapsed on a Florida runway — and a photojournalist captured it Daily Beast: Congress Still Has No Idea What President Trump Said to Vladimir Putin Breaking Defense: Army Warhead Is Key To Joint Hypersonics |
CalendarTHURSDAY | AUG. 23 10 a.m. Pentagon Auditorium. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis participates in the Medal of Honor Hall of Heroes induction ceremony for Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Chapman. The ceremony will also be streamed live on www.defense.gov/live. 2 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Afghanistan: 17 Years On. hudson.org MONDAY | AUG. 27 8 a.m. 2121 Crystal Dr. Electronics Division Meeting. ndia.org 1 p.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. Industry Dialogue – Shay Assad, Director of Defense Pricing, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy. ndia.org 1 p.m. 5000 Seminary Rd. iFest 2018. ndia.org TUESDAY | AUG. 28 7:30 a.m. 5000 Seminary Rd. iFest 2018. ndia.org 8 a.m. 2121 Crystal Dr. Electronics Division Meeting. ndia.org WEDNESDAY | AUG. 29 7:30 a.m. 5000 Seminary Rd. iFest 2018. ndia.org THURSDAY | AUG. 30 10 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy: Signaling Foreign Policy Restraint. stimson.org |
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