ON THE FIGHT
The Navy has a vision for future unmanned vehicles, and unsurprisingly that future lies underwater.
France24 News asks: Is Qatar fuelling the crisis in north Mali?
Lawfare jumps in with both feet and examines the forthcoming counterterrorism playbook, to be released imminently, reviewing recent Washington Post coverage and its suggestions that the CIA is getting preferential treatment in the ‘playbook.’
"The most interesting aspect of the article is its account of the differential rules that will apply to CIA strikes in Pakistan (yes, this is yet another document chock full of statements from unnamed US officials touching upon Title 50 operations in Pakistan) as opposed to lethal force elsewhere (presumably Title 10 operations carried out by JSOC or other DOD assets). In brief, the article suggests that CIA will continue to have signature-strike authority in Pakistan, while that same authority will not be extended elsewhere. That is, elsewhere the strike has to be focused on a particular, known person, whereas in Pakistan it can be driven by behavioral patterns of the particular-but-otherwise-unidentified target. The article makes clear this was a major bone of contention in the interagency fight over the details of the playbook, and that it was resolved at last by treating the CIA’s special treatment as a temporary situation meant to last more than one year but less than two."
ON THE FORCE
Secretary of Defense Panetta has lifted restrictions on women serving in combat. Details are scarce and more are expected at a Pentagon press conference slated for 2PM eastern time.
ON TECH
The Secret Service is reportedly interested in a gunshot detection system that can a shot from over a couple acres away.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
Salon has published a controversial piece defending conspiracy theorists, a move made even more puzzling by the omission of anything pertaining to assassination of former President Kennedy.
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.
