REFUSENIKS IN THE RANKS: Normally, members of the military don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to getting required vaccinations, but because the COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration under an emergency use authorization, it cannot be mandated. And despite rising case numbers — 138,763 in the military, with more than 90,000 recovered, almost 1,300 hospitalized, and 17 dead — many troops are declining the vaccine.
“In general, the trends are very similar to what we’re seeing in the U.S. population as a whole, that the older population has been more willing to take the vaccine,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs during a Pentagon briefing yesterday. “The younger population has been a bit more hesitant about it, and, you know, I think that’s understandable. I think as we go forward and we educate our population about the safety of the vaccine, we hope and trust that that will allay some of the concerns.”
“This gets into the fact that this is voluntary,” he said. “We are not compelling people to take a vaccine. This is truly something that they have to volunteer for.”
NO NUMBERS: How many troops are turning down inoculations? The Pentagon can’t, or won’t, say. As of yesterday, the Defense Department has received 769,000 doses of the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines and has given shots to some 320,000 people, including some front-line civilian workers.
“So, there are people who have said they don’t want to get it. I’ll have to get back to you on the latest numbers for the Pentagon,” Friedrichs, the joint staff surgeon, told reporters. “I mean, I’ve had people say that for a variety of reasons — they’re pregnant, which is a very reasonable concern; they want to talk to their doctor first, very reasonable concern.” A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommended pregnant women consult their doctor, noting that while the vaccine appears safe, the data is limited.
As reporters pressed for a clearer picture of the level of vaccine resistance in the ranks, Friedrichs said, “It changes daily, and I don’t have those numbers with me right now.”
Luis Martinez of ABC News related that he’d had a conversation with somebody at a very large base who told him only 60% of those who were eligible had agreed to take the vaccine. Abraham Mahshie of the Washington Examiner asked whether troops who refused the vaccine could still deploy, especially for vital national security functions, such as manning nuclear weapons.
“It is ultimately a voluntary vaccine. And so, the answer is yes,” said Friedrichs. “I mean, there are people in, I think, every walk of life across our country who are making this choice as they’re offered the opportunity to get vaccinated. … I asked for your help with that to reinforce the safety and the efficacy of this.”
THE PLAN? The Pentagon officials who briefed reporters included former New York Rep. Max Rose, who is now the DOD COVID-19 coordinator, who called distribution of the vaccine “a monumental task.”
Asked specifically if he had inherited a plan from the previous administration to get vaccines into people’s arms, Rose referred reporters to the White House, which previously said there effectively was no plan.
Friedrichs confirmed that the Pentagon’s role was limited to planning for vaccine distribution within the Defense Department, and to help deliver the vaccine doses to states, which would have to develop their own plan with the CDC to get the vaccine into people’s arms.
“It’s really the states and territories that develop their plan, came back and said, ‘Here’s our requirements through CDC,’ and then work with the logistical team to execute the distribution of that,” he said. “So that — there’s no one organization that develops those plans. It’s really a partnership to pull those together.”
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited today by David Sivak. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 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: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is scheduled to be interviewed at 9:45 this morning by NBC News Correspondent Carol Lee at an Aspen Security Forum virtual event: “The View From Kabul: A Live Conversation With the President of Afghanistan.” Registration required at https://aspeninst.zoom.us/webinar/register.
READY TO PUT THE BREAKS ON: The conversation comes as the new Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, in his debut briefing, accused the Taliban of failing to live up to last February’s withdrawal agreement and strongly hinted the United States may not withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops by May as agreed.
“The Taliban have not met their commitments. As you know, there is a looming deadline of early May,” Kirby said. “But without them meeting our commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan National Security Forces and, by dint of that, the Afghan people, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement.”
“The Afghan government has to be involved in this. And thus far, the Taliban has been, to put it politely, reticent to their requirements,” he said.
CURRENT TROOP LEVELS ‘SUFFICIENT’: Kirby said the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, is comfortable with the current U.S. troops strength in the country, with 2,500 U.S. forces conducting the counterterrorism mission against al Qaeda and ISIS-K and a similar number of NATO partner troops continuing the “advise and assist” mission to the Afghan forces fighting the Taliban.
“Both Gen. Miller, the commander in Afghanistan, and, of course, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. [Mark] Milley, had made clear that they believe that this is a sufficient number to accomplish the mission,” Kirby said but added there has been no decision yet by President Biden on whether to withdraw completely in May.
“I would say this to the leaders of the Taliban, that they make it that much more difficult for final decisions to be made about force presence by their reticence to commit to reasonable, sustainable, and credible negotiations at the table,” he said. “We obviously want to see a responsible end to this war. We obviously want to see successful negotiated settlements to end it. … Any decision on force levels in Afghanistan is going to be driven by our security requirements there, our security commitments there, and driven by conditions.”
REASSESSING GERMANY: Under Biden and Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon is taking a much warmer attitude toward Germany, lavishing praise on the NATO ally and signaling that President Donald Trump’s punitive order to pull troops and long-standing headquarters out of Germany may be shelved.
Kirby said Austin had a “great conversation” in his call with the German defense minister Wednesday.
“He made it very clear that he values the support that we’ve received for so many years from Germany,” he said. “As a veteran fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, he well knows the key role, logistical and medical role, that the German government has played.”
“What he did assert to the defense minister was that whatever decision we make, we’ll do it in consultation with her and her government. There won’t be any surprises,” he added. “I don’t want you to take away from this answer that — that there will be or won’t be any specific change.”
RETURN OF WAR GAMES? Another Trump policy under review is the former president’s order for the U.S. and South Korea to scale back large-scale, high-profile military drills that North Korea traditionally denounced as provocative “war games.”
“We recognize the value of training and exercises to keep forces ready, and no place is that more important than on the Korean Peninsula,” Kirby said while explaining any decision to resume major joint exercises would be up to U.S. Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams.
“What that exercise regime is going to look like specifically going forward, I’m just not prepared to tell you,” Kirby said, “but he fully understands the need to stay ready, and we’re going to be committed to that.”
DEFENSE OF TAIWAN: With China increasingly flexing its military muscle and stepping up its rhetoric aimed at Taiwan, the Pentagon says it stands by its commitment to help defend the island from a Chinese attack.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals. But the United States military remains ready in all respects to meet our security commitments in the region,” Kirby said. “We have obligations to assist Taiwan with their self-defense, and I think you’re going to see that continue.” He added: “The department sees no reason why tensions over Taiwan need to lead to anything like confrontation.”
Kirby called Beijing’s recent warning that “Taiwan independence means war” “unfortunate and certainly not commensurate with our intentions to meet our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act.”
‘AN AFFRONT TO TERRORISM VICTIMS EVERYWHERE’: The State Department is objecting to the decision by Pakistan’s Supreme Court to release a Pakistani-British man convicted and then acquitted in the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
“The court’s decision is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement. “The United States recognizes past Pakistani actions to hold Omar Sheikh accountable and notes that Sheikh currently remains detained under Pakistani law. We expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously review its legal options to ensure justice is served.”
“We are also prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen. We are committed to securing justice for Daniel Pearl’s family and holding terrorists accountable,” Blinken said.
SLEEPWALKING INTO A WAR WITH CHINA: Former Supreme NATO Commander retired Adm. James Stavridis has teamed up with writer and novelist Elliot Ackerman, who served five tours of duty as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan, to produce a novel that imagines how the political and technological conditions of today lead the U.S. and China to stumble into a future war.
The book, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, is being serialized in Wired magazine, with the first chapter, Part I: Peril in the South China Sea, now available in the February 2021 issue. If nothing else, you’ll learn a lot of inside jargon and gain a better understanding of maritime warfare.
A WHOLE DIFFERENT APPROACH: Yesterday’s Pentagon briefing was the first of what spokesman Kirby promises will be a much more open and transparent press operation than we’ve seen in years.
Over the last four years, public affairs officials at the Pentagon, both military and civilian, have been afraid to say much of anything in public for fear of ending up on the wrong side of Trump. Even the defense secretaries had to choose their words carefully so as not to find themselves sideways with Trump. But in an interview in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine, Kirby says that under President Biden, things will be different.
Here’s an excerpt:
Washington Examiner: We are now operating in an informational ecosystem in which many Americans are genuinely confused about what is fact and what is fiction, a time when the faith in the media and in the government is in decline. How are you going to approach that as the person who will be the face and the voice of the Pentagon?
Kirby: The way I’m going to approach it is one of obligation. It’s not just an opportunity to tell your story, speaking to the press. It is an obligation that you have when you work for the American people, as we do. We have an obligation to explain to them what we are doing with their tax dollars and the systems that we buy with those dollars. We have an obligation to explain to them what we do with their sons and daughters who willingly sign up, take an oath, and strap on a uniform. I very much view my job as a steward of that obligation.
Washington Examiner: President Trump railed against negative coverage of his administration by what he called “fake news” outlets, which at one point or another encompassed everyone from the New York Times to CNN to even Fox News, calling them ‘the enemy of the people.’ I’m sure you’ve encountered coverage of the Biden Pentagon that you feel is unfair or inaccurate. How will you handle it?
Kirby: Well, the first thing I’m going to do is to continue to build on and nurture the relationships that I have had and hope to have with the Pentagon press corps, and it all has to start from relationships. What you’re after is context, and it’s hard to get context into stories if you aren’t starting from a position of a healthy relationship with the reporter from a given outlet. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to have disagreements over a given story or the way a lede is written or how a policy is characterized in a piece. But if we have relationships, then we can have those conversations before and certainly during the reporting process.
Washington Examiner: When you left the State Department and signed on as a military analyst and regular contributor to CNN, you were often harshly critical of President Trump’s national security decisions. Does that make it harder to be seen as an unvarnished truth-teller?
Kirby: I hope not. I guess the people that have to judge that are the people that either watch my briefings or don’t watch them. I hope that that’s not the case. I was, yes, critical, harshly critical, as you say, of some of President Trump’s national security policies. But if you go back and look at the record, I also voiced support and in some cases gratitude for some of the things that the Trump administration did. I tried to play it straight, and I would say I was never once, not once in the three and a half years I worked for CNN, was any of my analysis questioned or checked or preset or influenced by anybody at CNN. Whatever I said on that network was what I believed, and I hope that that came through and that it’ll come through at the podium here at the Pentagon.
To read the full interview, subscribe to the Washington Examiner magazine.
INDUSTRY WATCH: Northrop Grumman is reporting a 9% increase in sales for calendar year 2020, with the year-end figures pumped by a 17% jump in sales in the fourth quarter. Northrop Grumman posted a profit of $4 billion, on sales of $36.8 billion, up 10%.
“The Northrop Grumman team delivered outstanding results in 2020,” said Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer, and president, in a statement.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Incoming flak: Pentagon’s new spokesman an old hand facing new reality in ‘post-truth’ age
Washington Examiner: Three things to watch as National Guard hunkers down in frigid DC
Washington Examiner: Biden ‘did not hold back’ about Navalny concerns in Putin call: White House
Washington Examiner: Pakistani Supreme Court tosses charges against man convicted in murder plot against Daniel Pearl
Washington Examiner: Iraq claims it killed ISIS deputy commander a week after dozens killed in Baghdad suicide attack
AP: Iran, Taliban Officials Say U.S. Pushing War In Afghanistan
Financial Times: Chinese Warplanes Simulated Attacking U.S. Carrier Near Taiwan
Breaking Defense: Two U.S. Destroyers Enter Black Sea; Russia Responds
New York Times: U.S. Names Iran Envoy Ahead of Nuclear Negotiations
Navy Times: ‘People Are Scared’: COVID-19 Outbreak Rattles Crew Of The Warship Chafee
Washington Post: Local members of Congress propose giving D.C. control of its National Guard troops
Washington Post: Biden administration halts effort to install Trump loyalists on Pentagon advisory boards
Air Force Magazine: Acting SECAF’s Goals: Sustain Momentum, Then Pass the Baton
USNI News: Latest Surface Navy Sleep Policy Aims for Better-Rested, More Alert, Healthier Crews
Wired: 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, an Exclusive Excerpt
AP: Navalny defiant as Russian court rejects his bid for freedom
AP: Pelosi wants security money to face ‘enemy’ within House
Wired: Facebook Ad Services Let Anyone Target US Military Personnel
Washington Post: Army cites ‘credible’ threats in defending water restrictions near Wharf in clash with D.C. officials
Calendar
FRIDAY | JANUARY 29
9:45 a.m. — Aspen Security Forum virtual event: “The View from Kabul: A Live Conversation with the President of Afghanistan,” with Ashraf Ghani; Carol Lee, NBC News correspondent; and Nicholas Burns, executive director, Aspen Strategy Group. https://aspeninst.zoom.us/webinar/register
11 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “Passing the Baton: Securing America’s Future Together,” with current national security adviser Jake Sullivan; former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien; and former Secretary of State and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice, the 66th U.S. secretary of state and former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, will moderate the conversation. https://www.usip.org/events/passing-baton
MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1
12 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation with Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander, Air Mobility Command. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/
TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 2
9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for Kathleen Hicks to be deputy defense secretary. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
TBA — Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee markup to consider committee rules and budget for the 117th Congress; and to vote on the nomination of Denis McDonough to be Veterans Affairs secretary. http://veterans.senate.gov
11:50 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association Virtual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger. Full agenda at: https://www.ndia.org/-/media/sites/ndia/meetings-and-events.
WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 3
11 a.m. Rayburn 2118/WebEx — House Armed Services Committee meets to organize for the 117th Congress. http://www.armedservices.house.gov
12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army Commander “Noon Report” webinar, with Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command. Register at: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/rg-AUSA-Noon-Report.
TBA — The Navy releases nearly 60 recommendations from the final report of Task Force One Navy, which for six months has been examining systemic racism and the needs of underserved communities in the ranks, with an eye toward dismantling barriers and equalizing professional development opportunities.
THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 4
10 a.m. — House Homeland Security Committee hearing on “Examining the Domestic Terrorism Threat in the Wake of the Attack on the U.S. Capitol.” http://homeland.house.gov
FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 5
9 a.m. — Wilson Center Middle East Program conversation with Amb. James Jeffrey, chairman of the Middle East Program, former ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS, to discuss the Biden administration’s Middle East policy. https://engage.wilsoncenter.org/a/media-briefing
MONDAY | FEBRUARY 8
9:15 a.m. — The Middle East Institute MEI-CENTCOM Annual Conference, with keynote remarks by Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, moderated by Amb. Gerald Feierstein, MEI senior vice president. https://www.mei.edu/events/keynote-address
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The enemy is within the House of Representatives. … We have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a news conference Thursday.
