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Stevenson’s army, January 19

There’s other news, but I want to draw your attention to an excellent piece in NYT on what Congress knew about the Manhattan Project to build atomic weapons. It’s detailed, accurate, and includes links to several important documents. Sadly, I don’t see it anywhere on the NYT website, but I knew it existed because I saw it in the printed paper.

Reporter Catie Edmondson shows that at least 7 members of Congress knew key details, including the $800 million initial funding, because Secretary of War Stimson had briefed them. Speaker Sam Rayburn told others “trust me,” and they did. Edmondson doesn’t mention that wartime appropriations bills were lump sum measures, with very few line items, so most details of  military spending were known only to a few members. I see this as proof that there was knowledge and accountability, despite the necessary secrecy.

[Be sure to read the Rayburn interview with Forrest Pogue, which has several stories about how Rayburn operated.]

– FP has more details about the Houthi terrorist designation.

– FT says Arab nations have a plan to recognize Israel in return for a Palestinian state

– WSJ assesses Iran’s military capabilities.

– Semafor says some of Speaker Johnson’s problems come because he “talks like a lawyer”

– Lawfare ponders sources of JCS Chairman’s power

– DIA released report on Iranian UAVs in Ukraine

– It now looks as if Speaker Johnson, talking with Trump, wants to prevent a border security bill [so the GOP has the issue] and avoid any votes on Ukraine [where GOP is divided] Unclear how many GOP Senators agree with that strategy.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).