Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, May 17
– NYT has long story revealing that WH aide Peter Navarro, in addition to being a hawk on China trade and conduit for companies seeking coronavirus contracts, has regularly pushed government agencies in favor of arms sales, notably to Saudi Arabia.
After the Yemen war began in 2015 and the Obama administration made a hasty decision to back the Saudis, Raytheon booked more than $3 billion in new bomb sales, according to an analysis of available U.S. government records.
Intent on pushing the deals through, Raytheon followed the industry playbook: It took advantage of federal loopholes by sending former State Department officials, who were not required to be registered as lobbyists, to press their former colleagues to approve the sales.
And though the company was already embedded in Washington — its chief lobbyist, Mark Esper, would become Army secretary and then defense secretary under Mr. Trump — Raytheon executives sought even closer ties.
They assiduously courted Mr. Navarro, who intervened with White House officials on Raytheon’s behalf and successfully pressured the State Department, diminished under Mr. Trump, to process the most contentious deals.
They also enlisted the help of David J. Urban, a lobbyist whose close ties to Mr. Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo go back to the 1980s, when all three men were at West Point.
As the nation turned against the war, a range of American officials — Democratic and Republican — tried three times to halt the killing by blocking arms sales to the Saudis. Their efforts were undone by the White House, largely at the urging of Raytheon.
– Dan Balz at WaPo details how the administration has “hollowed out” the federal government, weakening its ability to respond to the pandemic.
– WaPo Fact Checker discredits claim that Trump shipped 17 Tons of medical equipment to China.
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).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, May 9
– The USTR has released its annual trade policy report, with lots of discussion of Chinese practices. Nothing comparable from Peter Navarro, who is supposed to be busy getting companies to produce medical supplies.
– The president himself doesn’t know whether to call his Chinese trade deal a success or failure.
– To avoid border wall fights, Senate Appropriations will delay DHS, Veterans and MilCon bills until the expected big political fight in the fall — but will go ahead with other spending bills.
– Maybe South Korea declared victory too early.
– As most of you know, I have high regard for my former boss, Joe Biden. But I was appalled to read of the campaign’s amateurish efforts to produce a virtual rally.
– And if you want to contrast the smart Trump juggernaut with the oh too 20th century Biden approach, read this.
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).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, May 8
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe against Germany. Let us commemorate!
[I remember being in a meeting with then CJCS ADM Thomas Moorer in the early 1970s when he complained: “We never lost a war before we created the Department of Defense, and we haven’t won one since.” Typical Navy attitude: it opposed the creation of DOD and JCS in 1947.]
What next? Politico lists 8 more big dangers top worry about.
Lawfare chiefs are dismayed by the dropping of charges against twice-confessed and twice-convicted LTG Flynn.
US is still pressing South Korea for more money. House Intelligence Committee finally releases Russia probe transcripts.
WSJ says US to pull Patriot missiles out of Saudi Arabia.
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).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, May 7
-WSJ has a detailed report on how most government agencies are adopting policies to challenge or punish China
A review of the China policies of the Trump administration’s 23 cabinet and cabinet-level officials reveals that nearly all of them have adopted adversarial policies toward China or curtailed cooperation with the country..
– New example: DOD warns of predatory foreign investment in US tech firms.
– As expected Trump vetoed the war powers bill trying to bock a war with Iran. Here’s the veto message. The Senate is likely to fail to override today.
-FP says a Pence aide has been sent to DOD to purge the Department of disloyal officials.
– AP says CDC has been told its phased plan for reopening various activities will be shelved.
– Lawfare reports the partisan divide over remote voting by Congress.
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).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, May 6
– As you know, I believe in professionalism. So it’s important to study when the amateurs are empowered. Both the Post and the Times have stories today about how the “task force” led by Jared Kushner bungled its job of expediting supplies of medical equipment. The untrained volunteers gave priority to politically connected VIPs .
– VP Pence says the coronavirus task force that has been meeting in the White House will be disbanded. The new focus will be on reopening the country. It sounds like Sen. George Aiken’s [R-Vt] proposal for Vietnam: just declare victory and pull out.[Note that our “tremendous progress” now includes a death rate of one 9/11 every 30 hours — and that by June 1st one forecast says we will suffer one 9/11 every day.]
– Compare that with South Korea’s success story.
– BTW, CJR has a good piece on how to interpret health study stories.
– The president says the US government wasn’t involved, so that must be true. But look at the story of the ragtag force that tried to seize power in Venezuela.
– David Ignatius calls Huawei a paper tiger.
– SecDef Esper says the defense budget will come under attack. [I agree.]
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).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, May 5
– Several reports cite other governments that dispute the Pompeo claims about the Wuhan lab. See this from the Guardian and this from FP.
-But Post columnist Henry Olsen sees the China issue as good politics.
– Dan Baer proposes an alternative approach.
– Since I made so much of my fight to kill the B-1 when I was a Senate staffer, I feel obligated to send this report on how the plan is still in business.
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).
RSS - Posts
