Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, Jun 5
– A former Senate staffer explains the success of the NDAA as a process. [I’d like to see the same for State and foreign aid.]
– Bloomberg has a history lesson: when MacArthur attacked the Bonus Army and hurt Hoover.
-Politico has more details on the many federal police forces.
– A Senator put a hold on top USAF nomination in order to get planes for his state. Many precedents for this kind of hostage-taking.
– BTW, Trump relented and let Esper send 82d airborne troops home.
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, June 4
Perhaps Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley have been shamed into restraint — by the avalanche of criticism from Gen Mattis, Dean Cohen, George Will, and others. What we do know is that the president shouted angrily at Esper in a Wednesday meeting and ordered him not to send 82d airborne troops back to NC, as Esper had earlier ordered. Esper reversed his decision. I don’t see how Esper can remain in office; I expect he’ll resign or be fired.
What we also know is that military operations in DC have actually been run by Attorney General Barr since the weekend. He ordered the clearing of Lafayette Square. He is in charge of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Prisons police which were deployed at the Square.[Attorneys General like to be addressed as “General,” though their title is actually the noun rather than the following adjective. And DC has over 30 police forces with varying jurisdictions and chains of command — DC Metro police, Park Police, Capitol police, Secret Service, US Marshals, Diplomatic Security, etc. It is unclear precisely which forces have been sent where in DC in recent days.]
Interesting development: yesterday, NYT posted an opinion piece by Senator Cotton urging “send in the troops.”That provocative article does not appear in the print edition, perhaps because of blowback from Times staffers and others.
Why have Republicans been so silent? Anne Applebaum discusses pressures for complicity and collaboration from Eastern Europe in The Atlantic. [BTW, an excellent series dramatizing moral dilemmas and compromises is “A French Village,” set in a rural French village during WWII and available through Amazon Prime.]
On this 31st anniversary of the Chinese attacks on protesters in Tiananmen Square, NYT sees this as opportune moment for China to crack down on Hong Kong.
FYI, there’s already some encryption on Senate phones.
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Stevenson’s army, June 3
– Several former military commanders are criticizing the president’s comments and photo op. Former CJCS ADM Mike Mullen among them. Many also criticize the SecDef and current CJCS.
– NYT has a detailed tick tock of the photo op event.
– Esper says he didn’t know. [But he did talk about dominating the “battlespace” with governors]
– Military.com lists the units in DC area.
In other news, Duterte has changed his mind on US military cooperation.
China is slowing grain purchases.
Russia changes its nuclear policy.
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, June 1
– FT says Israel and Iran have begun cyber war.
– USMC Commandant takes flak from Jim Webb.
– CFR has ideas for post-pandemic foreign policy.
– Many nuggets from long WaPo article on Trump’s rocky May.
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, May 27
– Several sources confirm NYT story that, to meet Trump’s demand to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan before the US elections, Pentagon planners will present options including that one,but recommending delay until at least May 2021.
– Africom head accuses Russia of sending camouflaged planes to fight in Libya.
-FT has more on the growing rift between China and Australia.
-Lawfare lists the US factions in the China debate
-Politico says Pompeo courted civic leaders while at CIA, too.
Recommendation for military officers: I just finished former CJCS General Martin Dempsey’s memoir. It’s mainly a collection of stories of Army life, both at West Point and in recent years, with common sense lessons offered. I was especially interested in how he depicts civil-military relations under OBama.
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, May 25
On this Memorial Day I want to honor Captain Levi Ely, head of an 88-man company from Springfield, Massachusetts, who died in combat in upstate New York in October, 1780. Captain Ely was a direct ancestor of my father’s mother. One of his ancestors, Nathaniel Ely, came to America in 1620 on the Mayflower, not as a pilgrim but as a member of the crew.
– NYT shows that the coronavirus has — so far — hit Democratic-voting [“blue”] counties harder than GOP-voting [“red”] counties, largely because of population densities.
– NYT also reports on a failed mercenary operation in troubled Libya.
– An Army War College professor lists some great books for colonels to read and engage with.
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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