6/17/2020 News & Commentary – National Security
News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. The U.S. is losing the information war with China
2. How the Kremlin targets lies, and truths, about Russia’s COVID response
3. To prepare for the next pandemic, the U.S. needs to change its national security priorities
4. Twitter needs to do more about Chinese disinformation
5. Study: face masks critical in preventing spread of coronavirus
6. All of America’s expensive weapons are useless without this one system
7. The drums of war in Asia grow louder
8. China flexes its muscles while America sleeps
9. Two ways to stop secrecy from undermining US national security
10. Sorry, China: U.S. aircraft carriers are far from obsolete
11. What we know about the ‘Boogaloo Bois’
12. Australia accuses China and Russia of virus disinformation
13. PLA death squads hunted down Indian troops in Galwan in savage execution spree, say survivors
14. Renaming military bases is not erasing history. It’s erasing propaganda.
15. Is veterans’ preference bad for the national security workforce?
16. On press freedom in the Philippines
17. Sun Tzu’s fighting words
18. Can we keep our ‘grey zone’ edge over our enemies?
1. The U.S. is losing the information war with China
The Wall Street Journal · by Jude Blanchette & Seth G. Jones · June 16, 2020
Yes language and culture are critically important. This is one of the key weaknesses of America. Most other countries can speak English to a large extent, but most Americans cannot speak another language – especially Chinese, Russian, Persian, Korean, and Arabic.
Note the comments on FBIS/Open Source Center. We should be investing in this capability, not reducing it. I depended on FBIS throughout my military career. It provided a great service.
2. How the Kremlin targets lies, and truths, about Russia’s COVID response
DefenseOne · by Justin Sherman · June 16, 2020
Russia has to control the narrative – internal and externally. Internet control and censorship is a key element.
3. To prepare for the next pandemic, the U.S. needs to change its national security priorities
The Washington Post · by Shane Harris & Missy Ryan · June 16, 2020
Let us heed the lessons of Eliot Cohen and John Gooch in Military Misfortune. All military (and – I would extrapolate – national security) failures are the result of three things: failure to learn, failure to adapt, and failure to anticipate. We can and must learn, adapt, and anticipate.
4. Twitter needs to do more about Chinese disinformation
National Review · by Jimmy Quinn · June 17, 2020
Yes, it does. It would be good to see the company (and all social media companies) adopt of a philosophy of corporate and national responsibility. But, I know I am naive.
5. Study: Face Masks Critical in Preventing Spread of Coronavirus
The National Interest · by Ethen Kim Lieser · June 15, 2020
A public service announcement. Note the subtitle of the article. My family wears masks when we (rarely) go out. We only go to our nearby US Army installation to the commissary (once a week) and the hospital (as needed) because masks are mandatory on post and required in all facilities on post. The military knows how to respond to the pandemic. We are safer on post than anywhere else.
6. All of America’s expensive weapons are useless without this one system
The National Interest · by David L. Mann, Roger F. Mathews, & Francis G. Mahon · June 17, 2020
Air and missile defense has been one of the least resourced and under appreciated elements of military power. We have long been lulled into complacency because of our ability to dominate the skies with US air power. But that is no longer the case, especially when aerial observation capabilities are difficult to detect and can make significant contributions to lethal operations.
7. The drums of war in Asia grow louder
The Washington Post · by Ishaan Tharoor · June 17, 2020
It does seem that way. Although I do not think many (or any) of the players are intending to go to war, it is easy to speculate on how miscalculation can occur as we climb the escalatory ladder. I am less concerned about war on the Korean peninsula (we have been through the current tensions many times in the past – though I do not want to be dismissive or complacent) than I am about the China-India conflict that appears to be growing. And, of course, the potential clashes over the sea lines of communication are worrisome.
8. China flexes its muscles while America sleeps
The Bulwark · by Shay Khatiri · June 17, 2020
Are we sleeping? Really? I know a lot of government and military officials who are not “sleeping” on the Chinese threat. The author blames both Obama and Trump for the abdication of the US leadership role.
9. Two ways to stop secrecy from undermining US national security
DefenseOne · by McDaniel Wicker · June 16, 2020
“Need to know” versus (something one of my many mentors taught me) WESK – Who Else Should Know? We need to know how to share information effectively. The right information to the right people/organization at the right time within what the author calls “acceptable risk.” I worked with some intelligence officers over the years that get this and they were more willing to provide actionable intelligence to the organizations that could take it for action than they were about writing intelligence reports to higher HQ. And we really need to exploit open source unclassified information better. Just because a piece of information is classified or has a high classification level attached to it does not mean it is necessarily “better” than open source information (and information is generally classified to protect sources and methods. The analysis of that information may or may not need to be classified). And despite the controversy over the following statement (and I will take the heat for it), some of the best “collectors” are journalists who know how to ask questions, connect the dots, and investigate issues.
10. Sorry, China: U.S. aircraft carriers are far from obsolete
The National Interest · by Kris Osborn · June 16, 2020
This should generate some (emotional) discussion.
11. What we know about the ‘Boogaloo Bois’
The San Francisco Chronicle · by Alejandro Serrano · June 17, 2020
I listened to a report on this today and it said this group is made up of those on the right AND left. But this article only mentions the right wing.
12. Australia accuses China and Russia of virus disinformation
The Washington Post · by Rod McGuirk · June 16, 2020
We are not the only targets of Chinese and Russian disinformation. This is an ideological fight of authoritarian systems versus democratic systems.
13. PLA death squads hunted down Indian troops in Galwan in savage execution spree, say survivors
News18 India · by Praveen Swami · June 17, 2020
The Chinese are pretty brutal.
14. Opinion | Renaming military bases is not erasing history. It’s erasing propaganda.
The Washington Post · by David Von Drehle · June 17, 2020
Hear hear. I will repeat my previous comments:
For those who do not want to rename the installations in the name of preserving history, perhaps we should consider this proposal. This would be my recommendation: with the name of each installation, we should include this history: “this installation was named during the Jim Crow era some 45-75 years after the Civil War. It is the result of subversive actions by those who sought to subtly perpetuate the ideals of the Confederacy. The US government allowed these names so that it could establish military installations in these states and locations. These names are a reminder that there are those who tried to prevent equal rights for all Americans many decades after the Emancipation Proclamation, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.” This is the history that is being defended when the argument is made to keep the names so we do not “erase history.” These bases were not given these names to honor these Confederate generals but solely as an act of subversion to perpetuate ideals that are contrary to our trying to form a more perfect union.
I would also recommend taking a look at this 2 year-old Twitter thread (from The Angry Staff Officer) that shows the military men (and some civilians, to include women) from the South did not betray their allegiance to THE United States.
15. Is veterans’ preference bad for the national security workforce?
War On the Rocks · by Frances Tilney Burke and Mackenzie Eaglen · June 16, 2020
An interesting argument. I would give veteran preference to junior enlisted and NCOs, but not senior officers. Junior Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines deserve preference for serving in uniform and then seeking to continue service to our nation as civil servants. Political appointees are a different story. Ideally, we want the best qualified for the position but in recent years that means best politically qualified (which may or may not be someone who has served in uniform).
I agree with the bottom line argument we need to rebuild the deep bench of civilian defense personnel, women and men.
16. On press freedom in the Philippines
US Department of State · by Morgan Ortagus · June 16, 2020
I wish our government would take stronger action on Maria Ressa’s issue and the larger issue of freedom of the press in the Philippines and around the world. However, I am sure our diplomats are putting the right pressure on the Philippine government behind the scenes.
17. Sun Tzu’s fighting words
The Strategy Bridge · by John F. Sullivan · June 15, 2020
No one can read enough of Sun Tzu. We should internalize these 13 short chapters. I have long argued that the solutions to complex politico-military problems can be discovered by reading Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, and Thucydides. You cannot find the answers in their writings. But, by engaging with their arguments, concepts, and history, you can discover a solution for every complex problem (the answer is not in the books, but in your head).
18. Can we keep our ‘grey zone’ edge over our enemies?
The Hill · by Seth Cropsey · June 16, 2020
The author focuses on the technical – e.g., missiles and UAVs.
Here are some of the key readings on the gray zone when it was re-popularized a few years ago:
2010 QDR, page 73 – ‘gray area”
GEN Votel, March 2015 – Congressional Testimony
DEPSECDEF Robert Work, April 2015 – Army War College
USSOCOM White Paper, September 2015
Mike Mazarr, December 2015 – 7 Hypotheses of the Grey Zone
Hal Brands, February 2016 – Paradoxes of the Gray Zone
Frank Hoffman, 2016 – The Contemporary Spectrum of Conflict
Autilio Echevarrio, April 2016 – Operating in the Gray Zone
Adam Elkus, December 2015 – You Cannot Save the Gray Zone Concept
“If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.”
– Voltaire
“Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”
– Aldous Huxley
“He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.”
– Confucius
