ON THE FISCAL CLIFF, NDAA AND THE BUDGET
The White House says its position has not changed on the threat to veto the defense authorization bill over restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees after the final bill was completed in conference committee Tuesday. White House press secretary Jay Carney would not elaborate when asked Thursday whether the president might veto the bill with restrictions Congress placed on transferring Guantanamo detainees. The restrictions have been in previous versions of the defense bill, and they were included in the conference report that House and Senate lawmakers agreed to despite the White House’s objections. “What we put out is still our position, and I don’t have any updates on that for you,” Carney said at Thursday’s White House press briefing.
ON THE FIGHT
Men responsible for the kidnapping Wednesday of a French citizen in northern Nigeria are believed to be linked to Al Qaeda’s North African affiliate or other radical Islamist groups in northern Mali, French officials said Friday. The man, an engineer working for a French renewable-energy contractor, was seized by a large group of armed men on Wednesday night in the town of Rimi, near the border with Niger. A guard and another man at the engineer’s residence were killed.
Yemen’s president has ordered a shake-up of the country’s Defense Ministry, removing the powerful son, relatives and aides of the ousted leader, in a harsh blow to the ex-president’s remaining ties to power. According to Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s orders, the elite Republican Guard and Special Forces, which were commanded by ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son, Ahmed, merged under the ministry, effectively reducing Ahmed Saleh’s power base. However, it was not clear whether Saleh’s son will remain in the Defense Ministry or in what capacity.
Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued a series of decrees Friday that served to both restructure Yemen’s security forces and to remove remnants of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s network from official command positions. Saleh had left behind a divided military dominated by his son, Ahmed, the commander of Yemen’s elite Republican Guard and Special Forces, and by General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, the commander of the army’s largest unit, the First Armored Division. Saleh’s nephew, Yahya, headed Yemen’s Central Security Forces, under which the country’s counter-terrorism units also fell. Restructuring Yemen’s security forces to improve command and control was one of the primary tasks mandated by the transition deal to remove Saleh from power. Hadi has had international backing throughout the transition process, and the U.S. and UN levied the threat of sanctions against spoilers.
Having seen its star wane in Iraq, al Qaeda has staged a comeback in neighboring Syria, posing a dilemma for the opposition fighting to remove President Bashar al-Assad and making the West balk at military backing for the revolt. The rise of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, which the United States designated a terrorist organisation last week, could usher in a long and deadly confrontation with the West, and perhaps Israel. Inside Syria, the group is exploiting a widening sectarian rift to recruit Sunnis who saw themselves as disenfranchised by Assad’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam that dominates Syria’s power and security structures. Al-Nusra appears to have gained popularity in a country that has turned more religious as the uprising, mainly among Sunni Muslims, has been met with increasing force by authorities. It has claimed responsibility for spectacular and deadly bombings in Damascus and Aleppo, and its fighters have joined other rebel brigades in attacks on Assad’s forces. According to Site Intelligence group, Nusra claimed responsibility in one day alone last month for 45 attacks in Damascus, Deraa.
Although Shabaab has now lost Kismayo, it is hoping for a repeat of what occurred from 2007 through 2011: that the country’s transitional government requires a foreign force to prop it up, which serves as an irritant and gives rise to a powerful insurgency. Whether they are able to do so, of course, remains to be seen.
ON THE FORCE
The nation’s most elite fighting forces — celebrated this year in film and best-selling books — are under more emotional strain after a decade of war than commanders realized, according to the senior non-commissioned officer for special operations.
Three Marines with an MV-22B Osprey squadron will be honored next month for their heroics during a rescue mission last year in Libya in which they recovered a downed Air Force pilot. Capt. Erik Kolle, Capt. David Potter and Sgt. Daniel Howington are scheduled to receive the Air Medal with combat distinguishing device on Jan. 7 at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., Marine officials said. They were involved in one of the Libya campaign’s most high-profile missions. The Marines were assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., and are credited with quickly preparing and launching their Osprey from the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge with a 30-man recovery force. Under cover of darkness, they flew 150 miles to the crash sight of an Air Force F-15E near the city of Benghazi as part of a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel mission on March 22, 2011.
Reservists from the 315th Airlift Wing delivered more than 38,000 pounds of humanitarian aid to the island nations of St. Lucia and Haiti Dec. 15 and 16. The missions involved two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft delivering humanitarian aid, medical and school supplies, food and construction equipment valued at more than $130,000, courtesy of the Good News Project, Inc. from Waussau, Wis. and the Apostolic Christian World Relief Organization. “This was a very rewarding mission to be able to bring a jet full of supplies to these people who really need it,” said 1st Lt. Sean Gribben, a pilot from the 300th Airlift Squadron.
The defense of Hagel for Defense begins: The attacks against Chuck Hagel for his views on Israel may be giving the White House pause — or perhaps it is just the shooting in Connecticut and the fiscal cliff negotiations that have delayed an announcement on new Cabinet appointments, including for Pentagon chief. But the delay has given time for the criticisms against Hagel to take form. And now a number of Hagel’s friends are pushing back. Several former high-level diplomats have written an open letter defending the former senator against what some have called a smear campaign on his views on Israel. Hagel would be an “impeccable choice” for SecDef, they say. “Senator Hagel’s political courage has impressed us all. He has stood and argued publicly for what he believes is best for the United States. When he was attacked for opposing the war in Iraq as ‘unpatriotic,’ he replied, ‘to question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic.’ Time and again he chose to take the path of standing up for our nation over political expediency.”
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute, a 210-foot Reliance Class Cutter homeported in St. Petersburg, returned home before the holidays after their five-week patrol, Dec. 19.During the homecoming, the crew of the Resolute offloaded recovered contraband from a self propelled semi submersible that scuttled itself in the Western Caribbean Sea.
ON TECH
Google has sold its Motorola Home division for a combination of $2.35 billion in cash and stock to Arris. The deal is not unexpected, as Arris was tipped to be a late-stage contender for the corporate asset. Google purchased Motorola to build its mobile division, and to become its own smartphone OEM. Arris picked up Motorola Home, which Google had placed on the block some time past. Motorola cost Google some $13 billion when it was purchased.
Two key Twitter executives got new titles as the company moves toward its highly anticipated IPO. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo confirmed that Mike Gupta has taken over as CFO from Ali Rowghani, who is leaving that position to assume his new role as Twitter’s chief operating officer.
Apple Maps: 3 Times More Likely to Get You Lost Than Google.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
It is plainly true that executive branch officials will sometimes disclose classified information to reporters and other uncleared individuals. But this practice is not explicitly authorized in any official statement of classification policy. In fact, with an exception for life-threatening emergencies, it is usually understood to be prohibited. How can the obviously flexible practice and the seemingly prohibitive policy be reconciled? A newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service presents a close reading of the relevant rules and regulations in search of some wiggle room for authorized disclosures of classified information.
A federal judge in Oregon agreed Wednesday to lock the public and press out of the courtroom when two undercover FBI operatives testify in the upcoming trial of a man charged with attempting to bomb a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Portland in 2010.
CONTRACT WATCH
CACI-WGI was awarded a $39,560,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure operations support to the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group, and is curiously enough being funneled through the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
