While the world’s focused on ISIS we attack al-Shabab, Obama kick-starts his intel council, and What mission accomplished means in Afghanistan – all in today’s defense headlines.
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Sweet home, Huntsville, Alabama. Contributor Jennifer Cary explains, “Given the low cost of living, number of job opportunities and entertainment options in Huntsville, there’s a lot of upside to adding Redstone Arsenal to your job search.”
2. FBI’s hiring. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “Among the many duties assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the investigation of cybercrime. Those duties do overlap with other law enforcement agencies at times, especially for financial crimes, but it is the lead agency for investigations into cyberterrorism and espionage. Where and how those duties are performed are often shrouded in secrecy.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Attack on al-Shabab. AP’s Abdi Guled reports from Mogadishu, “U.S. military forces attacked the extremist al-Shabab network in Somalia Monday . . . and a witness described ground-shaking explosions in a strike that reportedly targeted the group’s leader. . . . After the U.S. strike Monday night in a forest south of Mogadishu, masked Islamic militants in the area arrested dozens of residents they suspected of spying for the U.S. and searched nearby homes, a resident said.” Reuters reports, “U.S. forces carry out operation against al-Shabaab in Somalia.”
2. Russian Tanks in Ukraine. Reuters’ Pavel Polityuk and Polina Devitt report from Kiev and Moscow, “Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Monday of ‘direct and undisguised aggression’ which he said had radically changed the battlefield balance as Kiev’s forces suffered a further reverse in their war with pro-Moscow separatists. In the latest in a string of setbacks in the past week, Ukraine’s military said it had pulled back from defending a vital airport in the east of the country, near the city of Luhansk, where troops had been battling a Russian tank battalion.”
3. Israel reaching out. Aljazeera.Com reports, “The Israeli military gave no reason for the move announced on Sunday. A spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories only confirmed that ‘according to the instructions of the political leadership at the end of the operation ‘Brother’s Keeper’, [we] started the process of declaring around 4,000 dunams at Gevaot in the Etzion region as state lands’. Israel Radio, however, said the move was a response to the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli settler teenagers who were hitchhiking in the occupied West Bank in June.”
4. NATO Summit begins. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “This spring, US officials and policy experts were preparing for a typical NATO summit in Wales. The main focus of the summit was to be troop levels in Afghanistan. . . . But since then, an explosion of global events has altered the security landscape and thus the agenda for the summit. Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. Now NATO officials say Russia has sent troops into eastern Ukraine and is assisting anti-Kiev fighters in that region.”
5. Mission accomplished Afghanistan? Reuters’ Adrian Croft and Mirwais Harooni report from Kabul, “NATO will declare ‘mission accomplished’ this week as it winds down more than a decade of operations in Afghanistan but departing combat troops look likely to leave behind political turmoil and an emboldened insurgency. The embattled country is also suffering a sharp economic slowdown.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Raytheon links with Navy for $25 million. MilitaryAerosace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “Military avionics experts at the Raytheon Co. will provide airborne computers that link sensors aboard the U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18E/F and EA-18G combat aircraft and the Raytheon AN/AGM-88 anti-radar missile. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $24.6 million order Thursday to the Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., to provide 158 command launch computers for the AN/AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM). The order involves 121 command launch computers for the U.S. Navy and 37 of the computers for the government of Australia.”
2. Saudis spend $235 million for Boeing support. GovConWire.Com reports, “Boeing (NYSE: BA) will provide long-lead items ahead of the assembly and delivery of 24 AH-6i aircraft and associated ground support equipment and spare parts as part of a $234.7 million foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia. The Defense Department said Friday the contract work will be done in Mesa, Arizona, through the end of 2016. Boeing received the contract through the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Reviving Obama’s dwindling intel council. NextGov.Com’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “The Obama administration is resuscitating a small intelligence council after membership dwindled to four people a year ago. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board—not to be confused with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board—is intended to enhance the effectiveness of surveillance activities. The White House late Thursday announced the appointments of six new members with backgrounds in technology research, telecommunications policy, cloud computing, financial regulation, the shipping business and private investment.”
2. Google goes to Seoul for innovation. VentureBeat.Com’s Nathan Millard reports, “Google, on an international mission to rapidly connect with the global startup community, has recently announced that it will open a startup campus in Seoul, Korea next year. This comes at a time when Korean entrepreneurs are beginning to show that they have what it takes to make an impact, as exemplified by a statement from Google’s Bridgette Beam: ‘Korean innovators and entrepreneurs are some of the best in Asia, and Korean startups are making headlines around the world, especially in the mobile space. We want to support this booming community of entrepreneurs.’”
3. Joint Legacy Viewer—DoD and Veterans Affairs. DefenseOne.Com contributor Bob Brewin reports, “The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have installed a software viewer that allows clinicians to jointly access health record systems at seven VA facilities and two Defense facilities—and this meets the definition of a ‘full deployment’ set by the secretaries of the two departments . . . . The two agencies combined operate a total of more than 1,300 clinics and hospitals. The Joint Legacy Viewer combines data from VA and DOD health information systems and displays it chronologically on a single screen, eliminating the need for clinicians to access two separate applications.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Politics of morals: “Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee have been planning for months to release the findings of their investigation on the CIA’s Bush-era interrogation program this fall. But with little more than 60 days until the midterm elections, a release of the report could leave Democrats vulnerable to attack from Republicans and other critics who say its details about U.S. intelligence gathering might jeopardize national security. . . . .”
2. Politics of procrastination: “Prominent Democratic strategists are worried that a major pre-election executive action by President Barack Obama on deportations could cost them the Senate majority. A growing number of Democratic operatives believe it would be politically wise to punt the announcement until after the election, which the White House is reportedly considering amid pressure from members facing tough races in red states. ‘Politically, waiting until after the election makes sense, and it shows the White House understands how important keeping the Senate is’. . . .”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The ‘Afghan Spring’ turns into an ‘Autumn of Discontent.’” Aljazeera.Com contributor Helena Malikyar argues, “As the anniversary of 9/11 tragedy approaches, the world must remember, though it lies physically far from New York, London or Berlin, Afghanistan and its journey towards democratisation is closely tied to world security.”
2. “Muslims must take back Islam from murderers.” Stars & Stripes contributor Yasmine Bahrani argues, “It might seem easier to evade this responsibility, but the price of doing so will be heavy. Because, to the rest of the world, that horrific picture is what Muslims have become. If we don’t do something now, that image will be the world’s perception of us for years to come.”
3. “The answer to Islamic State: by sword – or word.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “The long history of spreading a faith by the sword – which includes Christianity – must come to an end. But using sword against sword will not be enough. Religion, to live up to its role as a fount of peace, must be seen as something freely chosen. And that starts in a person’s thinking, not acts of enforced piety.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Sand in the face.
2. Love you not.
3. Contract work.
