ON THE FIGHT

The government of Niger has agreed to the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement it’s signed with the United States, and plans have been placed in motion to base unmanned and manned surveillance platforms on their soil.

The principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs told reporters in Addis Abba, Ethiopia that he believes the French-led campaign to oust Islamic militants in Mali "could take years".

The office in the Department of State responsible with shepherding a possible diplomatic solution to closing the U.S. military detention facility has been shuttered, as one of the last official acts of outgoing Secretary Clinton.

ON THE FORCE

The Marine Corps is tempering accusations by both ends of the political spectrum that the ban on women serving in combat positions being rescinded will result in a deluge of women poring into previously male-only billets. The Marine Corps Times has the skinny:

“None of these MOSs will be immediately opened to female Marines,” Milstead said in an exclusive interview at the Pentagon on Thursday. “That’s just not what this means. To simply just open up all MOSs to our female Marines would be irresponsible. We’re not going to just push them in there. We’re going to do that deliberate, measured responsible research to make sure that we can responsibly and safely get them into these MOSs.”

Earlier this week, Politico reported that the media embed process would be led by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense within a matter of months. Turns out, that’s partly true. The International Security Assistance Force will continue to oversee the embed process for reporters wishing to work alongside U.S. and coalition forces downrange. The MOD will be put in charge of embeds this spring — but only for journalists wishing to embed directly with Afghan forces. There are currently dozens, if not hundreds, of journalists who travel to and from Afghanistan every year to embed with U.S. forces. At some point, keeping an eye on the war will become progressively more difficult without assuming additional risk and embedding with Afghan forces. Some journalists will undoubtedly do it, but it remains to be seen how it will work and how open the Afghans will be.

The U.S. Navy minesweeper that ended up stuck atop a reef due to a navigational error is being sliced into a number of pieces in order to render the ship inoperable to foreign militaries and foreign intelligence agencies. 

A new special operations sub-unified command, Special Operations Command – North, is facing allegations its very inception was politically motivated. 

Starting February 4th, the escalators leading out of the Pentagon Metro Center will be inoperable and under repair.

THREAT WATCH

The United Kingdom has sent at least 350 military personnel to Mali to augment to the almost 4,000-strong French presence already there assisting the Malian military in disrupting and dismantling Islamic militant strongholds across the war-stricken country.

The Canadian government has also sent an undisclosed amount of special operations forces, ostensibly of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, to Mali.

POTOMAC TWO-STEP 

In a possible bid to argue for a persistent presence in Afghanistan, the U.S. Agency for International Development has announced that mineral deposits scattered throughout the country could be worth as much as one trillion dollars.

ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF

Meet the lawyer who made the extraordinary access afforded to the Zero Dark Thirty filmmakers possible.

 

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.

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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.