Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, February 9
– Sy Hersh says the US secretly destroyed the NordStream 2 pipeline. He says that public comments by Jake Sullivan and Victoria Nuland and Biden that NordStream wouldn’t go ahead if Russia invaded Ukraine allowed the administration to call it a secret military operation rather than a covert operation requiring notification of Congress. The White House denies the story, but Hersh typically has many, many plausible details.
– CNN says the Chinese balloon was noticed and cited in intelligence reports but they weren’t treated as significant.
– US says the balloon could collect communications signals.
– NYT details an expected executive order limiting US technology investments in China.
– Trump’s final Acting SecDef has given a strange interview to the Hill.
-In WOTR, four airmen offer lessons from the air war over Ukraine.
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).
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Stevenson’s army, February 5
– NYT has a ticktock on US decisions to shoot down the spy balloon.
– NYT also reveals the campaign that saved several LCS from decommissioning. [Proving again that where you stand depends on where you sit.]
– New Yorker explains GOP rift over Ukraine.
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).
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Stevenson’s army, February 2, 2023
– McConnell punishes two of his critics.
– McCarthy rewards some of his.
– Bipartisan group warns DOD against unfunded priority lists.
– Poll shows US views on Ukraine options.
– Commerce official brags about effects of trade restrictions.
– Analyst urges making Commerce the 18th intelligence agency. Reasonable case to me.
– Nonpartisan agreement on some Constitutional amendments. These also look surprisingly reasonable.
– Jim Fallows has good list of things we Americans should know about China.
– DOD wants to manage itself better.
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).
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Stevenson’s army, February 1
– Air Force opposes Chinese-owned corn mill
– Ukraine hasn’t boosted US defense firms.
– But CSIS sees problems with US industrial base.
– CSIS also worries about US weapons inventories.
– AP says more weapons going to Korea.
– Reuters says longer-range rockets going to Ukraine.
– Pew sees bigger partisan divide on support to Ukraine.
– US says Russia is violating New Start treaty. In FT, Rose Gottemoeller says this could be fixed.
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).
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Stevenson’s army, January 31
– WaPo says US likely to get new Philippine bases.
– NYT describes WH procedures for classified materials.
– In FT, Gideon Rachman says culture wars are now part of foreign policy
– FP notes Biden donors who have become ambassadors.
SAIS grad John Gans has a review of Chris Whipple’s book on the Biden administration in NYT Book review. I’m a little less enthusiastic because it’s mostly interview quotes with officials with little new information. Whipple did succeed in getting many attributed quotes compared to a Bob Woodward book. So, yes, read Whipple.
Avoid, however, the new Mike Pompeo memoir, an angry, nasty book, full of venom even for most of his Trump administration colleagues, but not the former president. He brags about firing CIA analysts who said good things about JCPOA; he calls State the “worst platoon,” meaning it needed substantial reforms; he calls FSO’s “overwhelmingly hard left;” he savages Nikki Haley and John Bolton; he says Jim Mattis “was not a sound fit” for the administration and criticizes his views on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and China; he expresses gratitude that Hillary Clinton was willing to talk to him about the SecState job, but then blasts her for being “the center of the Russia Hoax.” Turn these pages only with protective gloves. Burn after reading.
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).
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Stevenson’s army, January 26
– Several insider stories about the tanks for Ukraine deal reveal bureaucratic politics at work. DOD did not want to send M1s for many reasons. Biden overruled the Pentagon to meet German demands. But DOD will contract to build the tanks, not send them from current stocks. Politico has the diplomatic angle. Fred Kaplan explains DOD. NYT has the Biden perspective, and NYT also details the broader Ukraine arms issue.
Ross Douthat has a powerful insight, that Washington and Moscow are both escalating to reach a peace settlement that is likely just to ensure stalemate.
BU study sees China changing its overseas development approach.
DOD”s Defense Innovation Unit brags in its annual report.
USNews explains America’s broken classification system.
CFR has a bunch of historical resources.
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).
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