6/27/2020 News & Commentary – National Security
News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. Russia secretly offered Afghan militants bounties to kill troops, U.S. intelligence says
2. SECDEF seeks to reassure NATO over U.S. troop plans
3. Barr forms task force to counter ‘anti-government extremists’
4. Spying on Americans: infamous 1970s White House plan for protest surveillance released | National Security Archive
5. Most U.S. Travelers will be barred from E.U. when bloc reopens
6. China’s military provokes its neighbors, but the message is for the United States
7. Pakistan seeks relief from China over Belt and Road
8. China is more democratic than America, say the people
9. Violence by far-right is among US’s most dangerous terrorist threats, study finds
10. System overload: can China’s military be distracted in a war over Taiwan?
11. Trump signs order prioritizing job skills over college degree in government hiring
12. SOCOM’s tech initiatives reflect old, new mission sets
13. U.S. curbs visas for Chinese officials over Hong Kong freedoms: Pompeo
14. Why is the Stars and Stripes military newspaper on Trump’s chopping block?
15. A more resilient union – how federalism can protect democracy from pandemics
1. Russia secretly offered Afghan militants bounties to kill troops, U.S. intelligence says
The New York Times · by Charlie Savage · June 26, 2020
I have no words. Months ago we allegedly concluded this.
2. SECDEF seeks to reassure NATO over U.S. troop plans
Military Times · by Lorne Cook · June 26, 2020
Seems like a real challenge for the SECDEF. I do not envy the work he must do.
3. Barr forms task force to counter ‘anti-government extremists’
The Washington Post · by Matt Zapotosky · June 26, 2020
I hope we learn from the past. Here is an article that was just released from the National Security Archives at GWU. Everyone should read this, and Congress and the American public need to ask the tough questions about this plan so we do not have happen again what happened in the 1970s.
Here are the subtitles of the article linked above:
- Nixon-era “Huston Plan” was too far-reaching even for J. Edgar Hoover
- Government sought more infiltration of Black political movements than FBI was already doing
- 50 years later, censors still hiding “sources and methods” for tracking Soviet-Chinese roles (and lack thereof) in antiwar movement
Are there parallels? Have we learned from the past?
4. Spying on Americans: infamous 1970s White House plan for protest surveillance released
National Security Archive · June 25, 2020
Links to 29 documents for those who want to do some in-depth research.
5. Most U.S. travelers will be barred from E.U. when bloc reopens
The New York Times · by Matina Stevis-Gridneff · June 26, 2020
Can you blame the EU? But it sure is tough to be lumped in with Russia and Brazil.
6. China’s military provokes its neighbors, but the message is for the United States
The New York Times · by Steven Lee Myers · June 26, 2020
So what is the message? What effects are they trying to achieve with these provocations? What is China’s strategy and what do they really want to achieve?
7. Pakistan seeks relief from China over Belt and Road
The Financial Times · by Stephanie Findlay · June 25, 2020
This is the debt trap China sets for countries that participate in One Belt One Road. I hope the Global Engagement Center will exploit this and other stories to inform countries about the threat of One Belt One Road.
8. China is more democratic than America, say the people
Bloomberg · by Ben Schott · June 26, 2020
Some fascinating data. Take a look at the chart. The American statistics sadden me.
9. Violence by far-right is among US’s most dangerous terrorist threats, study finds
The Guardian · by Jason Wilson · June 27, 2020
10. System overload: can China’s military be distracted in a war over Taiwan?
National Defense University · by Joel Wuthnow · June 25, 2020
The 66 page report and EXSUM from INSS at NDU can be found at link.
11. Trump signs order prioritizing job skills over college degree in government hiring
USA Today · by Michael Collins · June 26, 2020
12. SOCOM’s tech initiatives reflect old, new mission sets
National Defense · by Yasmin Tadjdeh · June 26, 2020
No mention of the most important SOF mission sets: irregular warfare, unconventional warfare, and support to political warfare. It does mention MISO (AKA Psychological Operations) and the war of influence but does not mention governance or support to indigenous forces and populations. Except for PSYOP, none of the mission sets are technology centric (but even PSYOP should not be technology centric – it must be focused on the cognitive and influencing the behavior and decision making of target audiences).
13. U.S. curbs visas for Chinese officials over Hong Kong freedoms: Pompeo
Reuters · by David Brunnstrom · June 26, 2020
14. Why is the Stars and Stripes military newspaper on Trump’s chopping block?
The Washington Post · by the Editorial Board · June 26, 2020
I hope Congress will act to protect Stars and Stripes.
15. A more resilient union – how federalism can protect democracy from pandemics
Foreign Affairs · by Danielle Allen · July/August 2020
Is the United States’ constitutional democracy fragile and unsteady?
“No man has the right to be ignorant. In a country like this, ignorance is a crime.”
– Louis L’Amour
“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”
– Sun Tzu
“No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.”
– Clausewitz
“If there is not struggle, there is no progress.”
– Frederick Douglass