Hagel’s keynote, Haqqani’s rift, and JLTV’s battle with uncertainty

SecDef Hagel’s Keynote & It’s downhill from here

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Taxing troubles for cleared crowd. Contributor Diana Rodriguez examines the implications of delinquent federal taxes on the government’s confidence in you: “It may be interesting to note that current federal laws do not prohibit an individual with unpaid federal taxes from holding a security clearance, but it is recognized that any tax debt poses a potential vulnerability. GAO could not determine the number of individuals who were denied security clearances due to IRS tax debts, as there is currently no process to detect unpaid federal taxes accrued after an individual has been favorably adjudicated . . . .”

2. Google’s Vet help. Also from contributor D. Rod., how Google has stepped up to help Vets, and their families transition: “Within the last few years, Google has launched a few sites with a very specific mission to assist veterans and families. One of those sites ,’Google for Veterans and Families,’ was created in 2011 by veterans, families of veterans, and friends who work at Google. The developers and administrators of the site have special understanding of the challenges of service members and those who are making the transition to civilian life. The site is ‘dedicated to those who gave their lives while serving with honor or those they left behind.’”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. SecDef Hagel’s Keynote. American Forces Press Service’s Cheryl Pellerin reports, “The U.S. military will remain an essential tool of American power in 21st century foreign policy, a tool that must be used wisely, precisely and judiciously, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said . . . . the secretary said most of the century’s pressing security challenges have important diplomatic, national and global economic and cultural components that cannot and will not be resolved by military strength alone. . . . America’s hard power always will be critical to fashioning enduring solutions to global problems, the secretary said, but success ultimately depends on all instruments of power working together, on how well such instruments are maintained and funded, and on how well they are balanced and integrated.” Also, see Hagel’s 6 priorities that will shape defense institutions. Read Hagel’s full speech here.

2. Illegal immigrant crackdown in Saudi Arabia. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Saudi authorities rounded up thousands of illegal foreign workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown, according to media reports. . . . The government hopes that reducing the number of illegal workers will create opportunities for Saudi jobseekers. The official Saudi unemployment rate is 12 percent, but excludes a large number of citizens who say they are not seeking a job. However, the majority of the kingdom’s nine million foreigners are unskilled labourers or domestic workers, jobs usually shunned by Saudis.” Sound familiar?

3. Haqqani network in-fighting slows violence in Afghanistan. Khaama.Com reports, “A considerable reduction has been noted in overall violence in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan with reports of discontent among the Haqqani Network. . . . Leaders from Haqqani’s native Zadrean tribe in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan say they have formally broken with the Haqqani Network. Faisal Rahim, a former Haqqani commander and head of the Zadran Tribal Council told New York Times, ‘The tribe now understands who Mr. Haqqani works for,’ referring to Pakistan’s support for the network. The former Haqqani commander further added, ‘His war is not a holy war. It’s a war for dollars, for Pakistani rupees and for power.’”

4. For Kerry, Netanyahu is a downer. Reuters’ Lesley Wroughton reports, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday peace talks with the Palestinians had failed to make real progress and he hoped visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry could get them back on track. The grim picture painted by the right-wing leader was similar to the one sketched by senior Palestinians, who have said an Israeli plan announced last week for 3,500 more settler homes in the occupied West Bank was a major obstacle to the success of the negotiations.”

5. Keeping the Brotherhood down in the UAE. Aljazeera.Com reports, “At least 30 Emiratis and Egyptian nationals have gone on trial accused of setting up an illegal branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood in the United Arab Emirates. The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi adjourned the case, which is viewed as an attempt to stamp out what the UAE says is a threat from political Islam, until November 12. . . . New York-based Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about Tuesday’s trial and questioned the ability of the UAE judicial system to uphold basic rights of free speech and peaceful association.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. JLTV’s battle with uncertainty. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s Steven Hoarn reports, “In the midst of a tidal wave of budget cuts, furloughs, sequestration, continuing resolutions, ongoing force structure changes, and a recently ended government shutdown, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program has remained relatively unscathed. The U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps have both reaffirmed their commitment to buying the same amount of JLTVs that they initially promised. The Army is still planning to acquire 49,000 JLTVs, while the Marine Corps is looking at acquiring 5,500. . . . The closure of BAE Systems’ Sealy, Texas, plant due to the economic climate in the defense industry, for example, means Lockheed Martin will have to produce JLTVs in its Camden, Ark., plant should the company win the contract.”

2. A vote for Consolidated Nuclear Securities. NextGov.Com reports, “Congressional investigators prompted the U.S. Energy Department’s nuclear weapons branch to re-evaluate its January decision to award the deal to Consolidated Nuclear Security, which promised to eliminate $3 billion in government costs by combining management of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas. . . . In a Friday statement, [National Nuclear Security Administration] Acting Administrator Bruce Held said ‘CNS represents the best value to the government as evidenced by its superior technical and management approach and its lower evaluated cost.’ Selecting the firm would enable NNSA officials to focus on ‘improving the way we operate, saving taxpayer dollars,’ he added.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. More than a decade after 9-11, we’re still stove-piped. DefenseOne.Com contributor Aliya Sternstein explains, “The departments of Homeland Security and Defense, including the National Security Agency, have no way of sharing current alerts about computer breaches with each other or industry, an inspector general memorandum reveals. The problem is not an inability to document incidents, but, rather, an inability to alert potential victims as the situation unfolds and to provide instructions. . . . The report suggests the chasm between NCCIC and various agency operations centers might open the door to incoming threats, such as malicious code targeting military systems or oil and gas companies.”

2. Dark Mail – beating the NSA. VentureBeat.Com contributor Meghan Kelly reports, “If you’ve been complaining about the lack of privacy in your email, now’s the time to put your money where your mouth is. The Dark Alliance has put up a Kickstarter for its project Dark Mail, an open-source secure email product that ensures you are the only person to hold your encryption keys. . . . If the funding goals are met, Levison will work with developers to clean up Lavabit’s source code and publish it for anyone to use.”

3. Burn Pits and the Sullivan Center. TheVerge.Com contributor’s deep cover of burn pits and Soldier sickness: “The Sullivan Center is headquartered in a windowless, one-room office in Washington, DC. For Daniel, the Center has become a full-time job: he dedicates his days to doing research, corresponding with civilian and governmental scientific experts, and trying to bring toxic exposures to the attention of members of Congress and the general public.”

potomac two-step

1. My god, get a new writer, Rand . . . or get a writer. The sordid tale of NoDoz, deadlines, and plagiarism continue to plague Paul’s publications: “Sections of an op-ed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wrote on mandatory minimums in The Washington Times in September appear nearly identical to an article by Dan Stewart of The Week that ran a week earlier. The discovery comes amid reports from BuzzFeed that Paul plagiarized in his book and in several speeches. Paul also delivered testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 16, 2013, that included the copied sections.” My grade: F – Come see me!

2. Remember Marion. When scandal is too slow, how about a blast from the good old past: “There’s something familiar in the unfolding of the scandal involving Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who on Tuesday admitted to smoking crack (but not all the time! And in his defense, he says he was drunk.). Maybe it feels like deja vu because Ford’s saga has so much in common with that of former mayor and now D.C. City Council member Marion Barry. Both men were mayors when their drug scandals broke (Barry’s was in 1989), both were apparently caught on video smoking crack, and both men possess a certain bombast that makes their legal travails oh-so-entertaining.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “Hakimullah Death Will Cost Pakistan.” Khaama.Com contributor Manish Rai explains, “The Killing of Pakistani Taliban aka Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud along with his four associates by the drone strike in the lawless North Waziristan agency has jeopardize the proposed peace talks between the Pakistani Government and Taliban.”

2. “Egypt’s unsustainable path.” Aljazeera.Com contributors Scott Field and Dariush Zahedi argue, “While it is easy to sympathise with the Egyptian military’s decision to intervene and force a political reset back in July, the decision to then embark on a violent campaign to cast the Muslim Brotherhood – whose members and sympathisers may account for a quarter of the country – into political outer darkness, is the very antithesis of the inclusive trajectory that is needed.”

3. “John Kerry’s Wishful Thinking About Egypt.” Time contributor Lee Smith argues, “The Obama administration seems to have overlooked the fact that two and a half years of street protest have shown the population of Egypt to be broadly anti-American and more dangerously yet anti-Israel. If Sisi doesn’t want to wind up out of power, his leadership will amount to him having to follow the crowd, whichever way it’s going.”