Category: Daniel Serwer
Stevenson’s army, April 21
– WaPo explains the State/HHS fight over refugees and Biden’s overruling Blinken on admissions.
– NYT says Biden has to choose between solar panels and punishing China for human rights violations.
– Centcom commander says fighting terrorists will be harder after Afghan withdrawal.
– US loses air superiority to drones.
– Russia is fighting ISIS in Syria.
– Chad president’s death raises many issues.
– Iran shaken by Israeli attacks.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. 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).
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It’s not just random acts of cruelty
Even if I am far from celebrating, I share the prevailing view this evening that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, deserved the jury’s verdict : guilty of killing George Floyd unintentionally (second degree murder) and negligently (third degree murder) while acting dangerously (third degree manslaughter). I might even wonder if he wasn’t guilty of intentional killing, but I have seen no evidence of the premeditation or malice aforethought required for a first degree murder convictiton. I can make a good guess, but it is hard to prove what was going through Chauvin’s head as he squeezed the life out of George Floyd despite the protests and videos of bystanders.
This entirely justified verdict in no way ends the story of police abuse against Black people in America. Most police killings are the result of a split-second decision to fire a gun, not a prolonged act of blatantly negligent and dangerous violence. Yes, the thin blue line’s protection for Chauvin was broken in this trial, as the police chief and other colleagues testified against him. But that isn’t likely to happen even in the trial of the Chicago policeman who killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo fearing he had a gun when he wasn’t holding a gun. Or the Brooklyn Center policewoman who claims to have mistaken her gun for a Taser in killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. Those will be much more difficult cases to prosecute.
Even the Chauvin story is not yet complete, as he will appeal. The appeals will take many months, if not years. There is always the possibility a judge will overturn the conviction. No trial is without some decisions by the judge that can raise questions in a higher court. At every stage, Chauvin’s lawyers will seek to put George Floyd on trial. He tried to use a counterfeit bill. He was not healthy. He took drugs. He resisted arrest.
So the Chauvin verdict is at best the start of something, not the end of it. Chauvin will be battling for his freedom and maligning Floyd for a long time to come. He’ll get a lot of support from other police officers and their unions in doing so. While I might find it hard to fathom, some right-wing politicians may also come to his aid, hoping thereby to reinforce their “law and order” reputations, which are exclusively directed against minorities. Remember: Donald Trump suffered no political damage with the right after he advocated the death penalty for five men convicted of rape who turned out to be innocent of the charges. Racists will have no fear of taking up Chauvin’s cause.
Those who want to see something done about police abuses still have a high wall of doubt to climb. Won’t convicting police discourage them from taking vigorous action against miscreants? Don’t the police need to be ready to meet violence with violence? Won’t finding them guilty in court discourage good people from seeking police jobs? Don’t law-abiding citizens need to support the police in all but the most egregious cases? How can you question a split second decision to fire at someone who may otherwise kill a police officer?
Those are all real concerns. But what Americans need to understand is that police abuse is not just the occasional random act of cruelty or excess. It is standard practice that targets minorities, especially Black and LatinX people. Chauvin will be genuinely surprised that he was not only charged but convicted for something that happens every day. We are talking about discriminatory violence that only rarely strikes white privilege, mainly by mistake. Systemic racism is real racism. No single trial is going to end it.
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Stevenson’s army, April 20
– New Zealand doesn’t went to expand Five Eyes [as a student urged in a policy memo] or even to join Biden’s “alliance of democracies.”
– Ukraine worries about Russian military moves and leaks memo.
– USAF sends planes to Poland.
-FP says Philippines is releasing more details about China maritime activities.
– FP writers urge new hotlines for crisis management.
-NYT surveys new research showing deepening US sectarian divisions. The two parties have not only become more ideologically polarized — they have simultaneously sorted along racial, religious, educational, generational and geographic lines. Partisanship has become a “mega-identity.”
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. 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).
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Stevenson’s army, April 19
– Unnamed officials are defending the administration’s process on Afghanistan, noting 4 NSC meetings, 3 principals’ meetings, and 10 deputies meetings.
– FT explains the political maneuverings in Jordan.
– NYT notes the arms race between North and South Korea.
– DOD says it may need surge to help withdrawal from Afghanistan. Note that this same argument angered Obama in 2009, though he acquiesced.
-US may build facilities in Norway.
-Local profs argue against selling arms to Philippines.
– Texas has prize for student papers on intelligence.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. 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).
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Stevenson’s army, April 18
As I’ve said in class, most leaks — other than authorized trial balloons — come from those who are losing the interagency debate. Now that President Biden has decided to wityjdraw from Afghanistan regardless of conditions, the other side is telling it story. To WSJ, which says Biden rejected military advice. To NYT, which details meetings where they made the case for staying. To WaPo, which warns about finding ways of fighting terrorists.
David Ignatius has the saga of Kash Patel, the unconfirmed boss of CIA & DOD.
Embassy staff withdrawn from Chad.
IISS analyst reviews Solar Winds.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. 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).
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Stevenson’s army, April 17
-Why didn’t US win the Afghan war? NYT’s Max Fisher says we pursued a fundamentally conflicted policy – strong central government and no reconciliation with Taliban. Fred Kaplan says it was unwinnable from the start.
– What about the contractors? Reuters says some will leave.
– Where’s the swagger now? State IG says Pompeo broke the rules.
– Who screwed up on refugee limits? NYT reports Administration disarray and political pushback. Politico finds critics of HHS head.
– Why did Biden win? Academic study says losing down-ballot candidates boosted turnout in red states.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. 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).
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