Friday Finale

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Whistleblower protections. Contributor Chandler Harris reports, “The newest addition to intelligence whistleblower protections, Title VI of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2015, only protects intelligence employees from retaliation when they disclose government waste, fraud, abuse, gross mismanagement or a violation of law. They are protected from retaliation from the Director of National Intelligence, the Inspector General of the IC, the head of the employing agency and others. Yet none these protections extend to intelligence contractors.”

2. Evolving defense intelligence roles. Also from Chandler Harris, “The current Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Michael G. Vickers, outlined five defense intelligence operational priorities at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last April. They were: countering terrorism and in particular threats posed by al-Qaida; countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; countering the actions of repressive governments, such as in Syria; countering state-on-state aggression; and countering cyber threats.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Rethinking ISIS strategy and Assad. The Atlantic’s Adam Chandler reports, “Doing little to counter Assad’s campaign of barrel bombs and mass civilian murder has come at a cost. The moderate (or ‘moderate’) rebels the United States is seeking to empower in Syria feel alienated by American actions at best, and imperiled at worst. The U.S.-led coalition’s focus on ISIS has freed up the Syrian government to launch attacks elsewhere in the country. Meanwhile, Turkey, the most important and reluctant ally in the international coalition, has refused to offer meaningful assistance unless plans to oust (or least confront) Assad make their way into the American strategy.” See also, “ISIS chief calls on supporters to ‘erupt volcanoes of Jihad.’”

2. Back to Mosul. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey appeared on Capitol Hill on Thursday, defending the U.S. strategy to defeat the Islamic State and President Obama’s decision last week to double the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to about 3,000. But Dempsey also talked about a daunting mission in which U.S. troops could see combat: taking back the city of Mosul.” See also, “Hagel: ISIL Degraded But Remains Dangerous” and “US general: combat troops being ‘considered’ for Mosul battle.”

3. Russia vs. the world, Down Under. Reuters’ Matt Siegel reports, “The G20 leaders summit in Australia starting on Saturday is setting up as a showdown between Western leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following fresh reports of Russian troops pouring into eastern Ukraine. . . . British Prime Minister David Cameron blasted Russia’s actions as unacceptable on Friday, warning that they could draw greater sanctions from the United States and the European Union.” See also, “Putin on G20: Russia sanctions contradict club principles,” “Dutch Fighter Jets Intercept Russian Plane Over Baltic Sea” and “What is Vladimir Putin up to sending Russian bombers close to the US?

4. LZ X-Ray’s Joe Galloway on the world. Medium.Com’s interview with the legend: “In the 49 years that have passed since Hal Moore first set foot on Landing Zone X-Ray, the ensuing battle has emerged as a significant episode in American history. General Moore is regarded today as one of our greatest warrior-scholars, while Joe Galloway established a standard for wartime reporting that continues to influence combat journalists today. Share a cigar and a lukewarm O’Doul‘s with an embedded reporter today, and the conversation inevitably turns to Joe Galloway. He is anything but an Average Joe.”

5. Ebola strikes Mali, again. The New York Times’ Donald G. McNeil Jr. reports, “The West African nation of Mali, which just beat its first outbreak of Ebola, has confirmed a second one that is larger and more threatening . . . .” See also from Aljazeera.Com, “Dozens in quarantine after Mali Ebola death” and from AP, “Doctor with Ebola coming to US for care.”

6. Warthogs side with Senate. DoDBuzz.Com’s Bryant Jordan reports, “Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, said Air Force leaders have been misleading Congress on the importance of the A-10 Warthog, and is calling for a closed-door meeting between Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and enlisted airmen who call in aircraft for close air support.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. F-16 upgrade contracts going south in Korea. DefenseNews.Com’s Aaron Mehta reports, “South Korea is claiming BAE owes it $43 million in punitive costs over a recently canceled F-16 upgrade program—and BAE is taking the Asian country’s military acquisition arm to court in order to block those charges. At the core of the lawsuit is a disagreement about who is to blame for unexpected jumps in cost for the F-16 upgrade program.”

2. $10 million to SARA for smarter munitions. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “The U.S. Air Force is developing special versions of two smart munitions that track and attack sources of electronic warfare (EW) jamming directed to throw the weapons off from their intended targets. Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced a $9.8 million contract . . . to Scientific Applications & Research Associates Inc. (SARA) in Cypress, Calif. . . .”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Lame duck NSA reform push. National Journal’s Dustin Volz reports, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid . . . moved to advance a bill that would usher in sweeping reforms to the government’s most controversial domestic-spying program, more than a year after Edward Snowden’s leaks exposed it publicly. . . . The bill, the USA Freedom Act, would effectively end the government’s bulk collection of metadata—the numbers and time stamps of phone calls but not their actual content. Phone companies such as Verizon would instead retain those records, which intelligence agencies could obtain only after being granted approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The bill would also usher in a host of additional privacy and transparency measures, including a more precise definition of what can be considered a surveillance target.”

2. Hagel’s nuclear options. AP’s Robert Burns reports, “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering top-to-bottom changes in how the nation’s nuclear arsenal is managed, vowing to invest billions of dollars more to fix what ails a force beset by leadership lapses, security flaws and sagging morale. Hagel is scheduled to announce Friday the results of two reviews—one by Pentagon officials and a second by outside experts—and to spell out actions he has ordered to improve nuclear force management.”

3. Rules of Cyber War. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Molly Bernhart Walker reports, “The State Department is trying to refocus an international conversation about how traditional military concepts and international law apply in cyberspace to ‘the next level down’ as a way to achieve stability . . . . For example, absent war, they may agree that no country should attack critical IT systems nor computer emergency response teams. They may also agree that it’s a nation’s duty to cooperate with law enforcement or counter any malicious cyber activity that they detect in their territory.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Painting pretty ponies and presidents: “George W. Bush unveiled two new portraits of his father this week. One, a painting, is the latest in George W. Bush’s body of artistic work, which has included portraits of world leaders and animals. The second is his new biography of his father, ‘41.’ What the two works have in common is that they are less informative than evocative, casting a deliberately rosy glow over the two presidents Bush at a pivotal moment for the family. A third Bush soon could look to make his mark on the presidency . . . .”

2. Escalation of force: “House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is mulling whether to expand a lawsuit against President Obama for exceeding his constitutional power to include action on immigration . . . . Boehner reportedly wants to act quickly if Obama uses executive action, as promised, to allow more illegal immigrants to stay in the country—an idea that has been discussed before. . . . Several Republicans[,] who spoke on the condition of anonymity, caution[ed] that any decision by House GOP leadership would be made after consulting rank-and-file members if Obama decides to issue executive orders on immigration.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “Russia and reconciliation in Afghanistan.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Ahmed Rashid explains, “Russia faces a dire threat from Afghanistan which it is fully aware of. The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have both recently expressed concern about the threat posed by militants belonging to several groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) now gathering on Afghanistan’s borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.”

2. “Icy Silence: The Future of U.S.-Russian Relations.” TheMoscowTimes.Com contributor Fyodor Lukyanov argues, “It seems that in the years ahead, a couple of words exchanged on the sidelines of international forums will be the only form of communication that the presidents of Russia and the U.S. will have.”

3. “Why the US Is Losing Yemen.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Adam Baron argues, “Security in the country—whether in terms of reckoning with al-Qaeda fighters or bringing an end to factional violence—will only come with a government with institutions that are capable demonstrating legitimacy and control over the country. Anything else—claims of ‘models’ and ‘success stories’ notwithstanding—will inevitably prove aesthetic at best.”

4. “Is it time to admit that Israeli settlements are here to stay?Reuters contributor Dimi Reider argues, “The reality is that the settlements—Israeli-only communities, often wedged deep in Palestinian territory—make the chances of a genuinely independent Palestinian state in the foreseeable future virtually non-existent. This does not mean that peace, along with Palestinian political rights, is necessarily ruled out. There remains the possibility of one-state solution.”

THE FUNNIES

1. When Hell freezes over.

2. Net neutrality.

3. What’s an ebola?

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.