AFRICOM’s Rodriguez speaks and Friday’s Top Headlines
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Hand-to-Mouth Disease. Contributor Ashley LaGanga cuts to the chase, and the quick, on Wednesday’s defense testimony on Capitol Hill: “Witnesses cited ‘uncertainty’ and ‘lack of stability’ as the greatest hurdles posed by Congress’ staggered budgetary progress, which cripple the military’s ability to develop long-term and cost-efficient strategy for acquiring new products and technology. . . . Funding insecurity imposes a hand-to-mouth existence, where forces must “forfeit long-term priorities to fund near-term readiness.” And, according to the AP, budget battles aren’t getting better.
2. After reputation, “what remains is bestial.” Oh, that Cassio could have contributor Chris Burgess at his side! Burgess explains, “Every snippet of information posted about you online will affect your reputation. If you do nothing else with respect to reputation management, set up a persistent search for any items containing your name (and include misspellings). While it may appear narcissistic it is an affordable, quiet and efficient way to compile information as it is rolling out on the internet.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. U.S. – Israel relations straining under Iranian pressure. Aljazeera.Com reports, “American and Israeli officials have differed over Iran’s nuclear programme, as Israel called for its effective dismantlement and the US suggested safeguards could show that it was peaceful rather than military. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began talks on Wednesday in Italy, in what is intended to be about Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations but appears to have been overshadowed by the Iranian issue. . . . Six global powers held talks with Iran last week in Geneva to test whether a diplomatic resolution might be reached, their first such negotiations since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s election in June opened up possibilities for a deal after years of increasing confrontation.” McClatchyDC.Com’s Jonathan S. Landay reports, “Iran has been expanding its uranium enrichment capability and now requires as little as one month to just over one-and-a-half months to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, according to a new report.” Read the report.
2. In AFRICOM, Rodriguez privileges partnerships. American Forces Press Service’s Donna Miles reports, “Partnerships — multinational and interagency — are the centerpiece of everything Africom does, Rodriguez told reporters during an online news conference held along with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield. . . . This promotes close collaboration with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other federal agencies as well as U.S. embassies across the continent that Rodriguez said ensures a coordinated U.S. government approach to African opportunities and challenges. . . . The goal, Rodriguez explained, is to strengthen the capabilities of individual African states and regional organizations so they ultimately can provide their own security. ‘Our strategy is to develop partners’ security capacity, strengthen relationships and enhance regional cooperation,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We conduct all our military activities in close coordination with our African partners and partners in the U.S. government.’”
3. Egypt’s next military dictator – el-Sissi. McClatchyDC.Com’s Amina Ismail reports from Shibin El Kom, Egypt, “At a tent in front of the local headquarters of provincial security forces, campaign workers grabbed freshly printed posters bearing the picture of Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt’s defense minister, who overthrew Mohammed Morsi in July and is now the country’s de facto leader. . . . As throngs of residents shouted their approval, police officers joined in. El-Sissi, they said, was the only person who could lead this polarized, embattled nation.” Also, in Egypt, stay off the streets on Saturday.
4. In Afghanistan, drone takes Dawat down. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “Qari Dawat, a Taliban commander in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunar who has been hunted by US forces for years and has vowed to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden, is reported to have been killed in a US airstrike . . . . The first report that Dawat was targeted appeared in November 2009. The US launched an airstrike in an effort to kill him, and claimed that four Taliban fighters were killed in the strike. . . . Dawat was responsible for the kidnapping of Paul Refsdal, a Norwegian journalist, on Nov. 5, 2009. Refsdal was released just six days later, after converting to Islam.” Also, 21 would-be suicide bombers arrested.
5. Alawites’ love-hate relationship with Assad. Time’s Aryn Baker reports from Beirut, “As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbies in Europe this week to bring Syria’s squabbling opposition groups, and their equally fractious international supporters, to peace negotiations in Geneva slated for the end of November, he may be overlooking one key interest group: an Alawite population that does not necessarily embrace Assad but is terrified by the prospect of a Syria without him. Assad, who sees himself in the ascendency, refuses to negotiate with “terrorists,” his term for the armed opposition. The opposition, for its part, is divided over whether Assad should have any role at all, either in negotiations or in a proposed transitional government. About the only group eager for negotiations is Alawites who want to see the war end.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” Government contractors’ candor before Congress point all fingers toward Pennsylvania Avenue: “Contractors who built the web portal for the Obama administration’s health insurance marketplace said Thursday the site’s crippling problems trace back to insufficient testing and changes that government officials made just prior to going live. . . . What was clear after more than four hours of testimony was that the contractors had only partial answers . . . . ”
2. Uncertainty – of that, we’re certain. Armed Forces Press Service’s Claudette Roulo reports, “With assessments ranging from “sobering” to “painful,” acquisitions chiefs from each of the military services yesterday described the devastation being wreaked upon their branches by sequestration and the continuing resolution. Citing halted development programs, hiring freezes, and narrowing technological advantages, the acquisitions chiefs warned members of the House Armed Services Committee that the ongoing budget uncertainty is putting the nation at risk.”
3. Defiant – that’s the name. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s Scott R. Gourley reports, “The Sikorsky–Boeing team used the venue of the 2013 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting, in Washington, D.C., to unveil the name for the team’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator aircraft. On the opening day of the three-day event, Sam Mehta, President of Sikorsky Military Systems, and Leanne Caret, Vice President/General Manager for Vertical Lift at The Boeing Company, jointly announced the name of their aircraft design: Defiant.” Also unveiled at AUSA, the Commando Select 90mm Direct Fire armored vehicle.
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Pulling the covers off of strange bedfellows. Snowden’s leaks may reveal surprising alliances. AP’s Kimberly Dozier reports, “Two Western diplomats say U.S. officials have briefed them on documents obtained by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that might expose the intelligence operations of their respective countries and their level of cooperation with the U.S. . . . some of the documents Snowden took contain sensitive material about collection programs against adversaries such as Iran, Russia and China. Some refer to operations that in some cases involve countries not publicly allied with the United States.” Also, see AP’s “Shattered Trust”: “European leaders united in anger as they attended a summit overshadowed by reports of widespread U.S. spying on its allies – allegations German Chancellor Angela Merkel said had shattered trust in the Obama administration and undermined the crucial trans-Atlantic relationship.” And, “Frosty Merkel.”
2. Classifying the un-classified. Armed Forces Press Service’s Claudette Roulo reports, “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently directed that DOD organizations take additional steps to ensure unclassified controlled technical information is protected from cyber intrusions. ‘Stolen data provides potential adversaries extraordinary insight into the United States’ defense and industrial capabilities and allows them to save time and expense in developing similar capabilities,’ Hagel said in a memo dated Oct. 10. . . . Unclassified controlled technical data losses have become a major problem for the nation and its industrial base . . . . And the problem is getting worse. Data and intellectual property concerning defense systems requirements, concepts of operations, technologies, designs, engineering, systems production and component manufacturing are all being targeted . . . . While the information is unclassified, its loss still represents a significant threat to national security.”
3. Budget Casualty: Office of Net Assessment (ONA). DailyBeast.Com contributor Josh Rogin writes, “U.S. defense officials confirmed this week to the Daily Beast that Hagel is considering moving the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), which now reports directly to him, to the purview of the policy shop at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. While the budget for the internal think tank is a tiny fraction of the budget for most major weapons systems, the plan to close it has met stiff opposition from Capitol Hill and others in the defense policy community. Already, leading members of Congress—including the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee—have implored Hagel to save the small think tank. In a letter earlier this month to Hagel, Rep. Howard McKeon, the Republican chairman of the committee, and Rep. Adam Smith, the committee’s ranking member wrote, ‘We believe that any marginal savings the Department hopes to achieve by shuttering the office do not outweigh the benefits it provides.’” So, we’re not going to tell you how to suck eggs, but when you put your lips on the narrow end . . . .
4. Birds Anonymous. NextGov.Com’s Bob Brewin argues, “Since Edward Snowden started leaking details on how the National Security Agency gobbles up exabytes of data worldwide, it has become increasingly clear that it has an unhealthy addiction. NSA chief Keith Alexander has said the agency needs to collect ‘haystacks’ of data in order to detect terrorist needles, an effort that The Washington Post reported ‘occasionally threatened to overwhelm storage repositories, forcing the agency to halt its intake with ‘emergency detasking’ orders.’ The above are real signs of addiction – and if we knew anyone trying to consume haystacks of cocaine that overwhelmed their systems, we would offer help.” In other words, Alexander is a lot like Sylvester in this Looney Tunes classic.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Political points – contract that out. TheDailyBeast.Com explains, “Congressmen didn’t just berate the contractors for incompetence, they also used them to score political points. When Democrats like Maryland Congressman John Sarbanes asked if the website failures had any connection to the underlying law, the contractors said no. Several Republican congressmen pressed the contractors on whether, if they were President Obama, they would have let healthcare.gov launch. Needless to say, the executives under question declined to put themselves in the President’s shoes.”
2. Dance with Dick. Also from TheDailyBeast.Com, “Sweet Jesus, did anyone see either of Dick Cheney’s TV interviews this week? The man looks amazing. And I don’t mean amazing for a septuagenarian with a tortured health history. I’m talking there’s-an-oil-portrait-hidden-in-his-attic-growing-more-grotesque-by-the-day amazing. Gone is the wan, wasted figure of 2010, replaced by pink cheeks, a solid physique, and—dare I say it?—a twinkle in those pale blue eyes. Whoever’s donated heart now beats in the former VP’s chest must have been in crackerjack cardiac condition, because Dick has never looked better.”
3. Dancing with numbers. WaPo’s fact checker catches Coburn calculated error: “Coburn’s general point about potential unfunded liabilities is worth noting, but just because a number is large does not mean it is worth quoting. In general, we would hope for a little more rigor from lawmakers than simply citing a Web site with fuzzy sourcing. Throwing out figures such as $128 trillion without context (percentage of GDP) or explanation (this is over an infinite horizon) does a disservice to listeners. In any case, there are little data available that give much credence to this particular figure.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. Afghanistan and the United States – shared interest. WaPo contributors John R. Allen and Michael O’Hanlon argue, “The U.S.-Afghan relationship should be more than a partnership of convenience. Rather than parse our respective motives in the war and nation-building efforts, it should be underscored that both sides wish for a sovereign, stable, secure, increasingly democratic and prosperous Afghanistan that can protect its people and territory. This would be good for both the Afghan people and a region badly in need of an example of political and economic development and a platform for regional economic integration.”
2. “Let Pakistan’s Taliban talks fail without us.” Reuters’ contributor Daniel Markey argues, “Sooner or later, these parleys are almost certain to fail. The crucial issue for Washington is how that failure unfolds. Two historical examples are illustrative.”
3. “All Eyes on China.” WaPo contributor Fareed Zakaria argues, “As China has grown in importance, its neighbors have become increasingly attentive to the Middle Kingdom. In the past, the only politics they followed outside their country was in Washington. Today they feel they must also understand Beijing.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Ma Bell.
2. Drone home.
3. Snoop de France.
