Tag: Congress
Stevenson’s army, August 18
– Somebody is leaking intelligence reports showing that the IC warned of Afghan weaknesses.
– Others are describing the slow and confused process of planning withdrawal.
– The Special Inspector General has released a big “I told you so report” about problems with US assistance.
– Democratic chairmen plan hearings.
– Other Democrats join the chorus of criticism.
– Administration seizes Afghan accounts.
– Eliot Cohen reflects on his Afghanistan experiences.
– This analysis explains Taliban’s soft power offensive.
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, September 13
-About 8000 US troops are being deployed to help in what the Pentagon refuses to call an evacuation from Afghanistan.
– AEI’s Fred Kagan says Biden could have stopped the Taliban
-In the Atlantic, a retired Army colonel says US training of Afghan forces was flawed.
-Speaker Pelosi says House staff can now earn more than Members.
We’ll have an exercise in week 2 where you get to decide on the jobs and pay for a House office. Here’s more background from CRS.
-The Guardian profiles Biden’s head of legislative liaison.
-Venezuelan government and opposition are talking.
– FP profiles new Chinese ambassador to US, who used to work for UPI.
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, August 11
– Lured by the prospect of an August recess, the Senate approved the infrastructure package and, after only 14 hours of votes, and 47 amendments, approved the budget resolution intended to pave the way for a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill.
-WaPo reports an intelligence assessment says Kabul could be overrun in 6-12 months. The reporters give no hints of their sources, but I would note that Senators got a secret briefing on Afghanistan on Monday.
– Politico reports that the administration has made a major effort to fill Senior Executive Service positions across government.
– Meanwhile, Senator Cruz [R-TX] still blocks many State Dept nominations because of his opposition to the administration’s NordStream2 policy. [Here’s a CRS report from June, shortly before the Biden-Merkel deal on the project.]
– Nobody blocked former SAIS Prof Mara Karlin, who was confirmed yesterday.
– Biden’s promised “Summit of Democracies” is now set for December.
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, August 8
– An individual Senator is slowing work on infrastructure bill.
– In fact, the Senate has been meeting on a lot of weekends in recent years.
-NYT reports on fall of Kunduz to Taliban.
– NYT also details recruitment of mercenaries from Colombia.
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, August 6
The Senate is all tangled up this morning. No wonder several majority leaders have used the same metaphor for their job — “herding cats.” Leader Schumer is using the allure of an August recess to force action on the infrastructure package and a budget resolution that will allow a filibuster-free package of other measures. But since so much is done by unanimous consent, any Senator can slow things down. And the budget process leads to all-nighters. with meaningless vote-a-ramas. We’ll sort this out in class.
Politico says China is worried about US withdrawal from Afghanistan. But State reminds us that there is a great power venue for Afghan policy.
Australia is launching a reparations program for indigenous people.
Book note: I’ve just finished reading Alexander Vindman’s memoir, a chapter of which was published last week. It’s a typical military memoir — lessons learned at key points in his career, one of which was a willingness to “start over and start over again.” Besides the impeachment-related story, he describes normal NSC staffer work. Most troubling to me is his tale of punishment by his colleagues after his testimony and the ways the Army misled him and then failed to protect him from White House retaliation.
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, August 5
– The administration announced a $750 million arms sale to Taiwan, its first.
– Reuters says a new arms transfer policy will be coming soon, with added human rights criteria.
– CRS has an updated report on the congressional process in arms sales.
– China may have converted ferries for amphibious operations.
– Politico explains how HAC Chair Delauro gets her bills approved. [This reinforces my point that appropriations and armed services are the rare committees that know how to pass controversial legislation.]
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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