THREATWATCH
On the heels of reports that Syrian rebels and the military both have utilized chemical weapons, Senator Graham, a U.S. Air Force veteran of Iraq, is calling for the imposition of a no-fly zone and American – not U.N. – boots on the ground, inside Syria.
The State Department has placed a hefty $5 million bounty on the heads of at least two American citizens who have plotted against American installations and personnel while aligned with extremist groups in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.
ON THE FORCE
Drones are coming to Pennsylvania, and will be based at Horsham Air National Guard Base and fall under the cognizance of the National Guard, not the CIA.
An actual arms control expert has taken a hard look at the U.S. missile defense strategy to counter North Korea and finds it lacking, not to mention incredibly expensive.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
The Wall Street Journal has a tour de force out explaining the Obama’s administration’s internal rationale for signaling they will shift control of the so-called drone programs to the Penatgon, thereby stripping the CIA of that authority but retaining the capability.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
A Foreign Policy contributor is less than amused at the prospect that drones controlled by the Penatgon will afford greater transparency, noting that DoD lacks the statutory reporting requirements to keep Congress completely in the loop, unlike the CIA.
Someone can keep a secret, it seems, and that someone is…the Iranian government? And our Secret Service? Together?
