11/11/2020 News & Commentary – National Security
News and Commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and Published by Riley Murray.
1. Biden landing team for Pentagon announced
2. Ponder the Rewards of Military Service
3. The Worst Day of the Pandemic Since May
4. Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign after China ruling
5. Taiwan Issues Rare Confirmation That U.S. Special Operators Are Training On The Island
6. U.S. Tried a More Aggressive Cyberstrategy, and the Feared Attacks Never Came
7. Biden will place Asia back at the centre of foreign policy – but will his old-school diplomacy still work?
8. K-pop band Blackpink prompt anger in China by holding baby panda without gloves
9. Philippines Extends Stay Order on Military Deal With U.S.
10. US ‘disappointed’ as Cambodia razes another military facility
11. US human rights ripped by Russia, China, North Korea during UN panel
12. American Military History is Wrong
13. 2020 Is An Election Security Success Story (So Far)
14. Remembering When the Memories Are No Longer Our Own
15. Special forces veteran and Stanford scholar applies data and scholarship to conflict
16. Department of Veterans Affairs Approves Green Beret Foundation Accreditation
17. Pentagon refutes reports that Marine Raiders are training forces on Taiwan
1. Biden landing team for Pentagon announced
Defense News · by Aaron Mehta · November 10, 2020
Here is the link to all the transition/landing teams for all the agencies: https://buildbackbetter.com/the-transition/agency-review-teams/
Personnel is policy or policy is personnel. I think you can make some assessments on the future of certain policies based on the personnel who will be recommending the personnel.
2. Ponder the Rewards of Military Service
WSJ · by H.R. McMaster
3. The Worst Day of the Pandemic Since May
defenseone.com · by Alexis C. Madrigal and Erin Kissane
Wow. What are we going to do? We cannot wait for a vaccine.
4. Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign after China ruling
This says it all. How would you like to live in a country that makes these kinds of loyalty demands: “Either way, now the city government has been empowered to remove any pro-democracy politician who is seen to have acted with insufficient loyalty to the motherland in the future.”
5. Taiwan Issues Rare Confirmation That U.S. Special Operators Are Training On The Island
thedrive.com · by Thomas Newdick · November 10, 2020
I have not yet seen any significant propaganda response from the CCP.
6. U.S. Tried a More Aggressive Cyberstrategy, and the Feared Attacks Never Came
The New York Times · by David E. Sanger · November 9, 2020
Good work by CYBERCOM.
7. Biden will place Asia back at the centre of foreign policy – but will his old-school diplomacy still work?
theconversation.com · by Nick Bisley
Of course, the title question is the $64,000 one!
8. K-pop band Blackpink prompt anger in China by holding baby panda without gloves
The Guardian · by Justin McCurry · November 11, 2020
The battlefield of soft power.
9. Philippines Extends Stay Order on Military Deal With U.S.
Bloomberg · by Andreo Calonzo · November 11, 2020
10. US ‘disappointed’ as Cambodia razes another military facility
news.yahoo.com · November 10, 2020
It seems for all intents and purposes Cambodia is being absorbed by China.
11. US human rights ripped by Russia, China, North Korea during UN panel
New York Post · by Emily Jacobs and Aaron Feis · November 10, 2020
Admit nothing, deny everything, and make counter accusations. We have ceded our place on the battlefield of international organizations as we no longer desire to compete there.
12. American Military History is Wrong
mwi.usma.edu · by Glenn M. Harned · November 11, 2020
Truth in lending. I was a team leader and then battalion S3 for COL Harned.
This is a provocative thesis: “The “So what?” is that our study of American military history has failed our profession and our nation. American military history as taught in professional military education institutions (and more generally in our public education system) is wrong and fosters a strategic culture inconsistent with strategic reality.”
Conclusion: “Outcomes-based strategies will be critical to reversing the trend of US armed forces winning every battle, prevailing in every campaign, and losing every war it has fought since 1955. The first step: fostering a more accurate understanding of American military history, especially in professional military education.”
13. 2020 Is An Election Security Success Story (So Far)
lawfareblog.com · by Scott R. Anderson, Susan Hennessey, Rohini Kurup, David Priess, Jacob Schulz · November 7, 2020
14. Remembering When the Memories Are No Longer Our Own
warontherocks.com · by Peter Lucier · November 11, 2020
15. Special forces veteran and Stanford scholar applies data and scholarship to conflict
news.stanford.edu · by Stanford University · November 10, 2020
Excellent story about a great American and veteran who continues to serve and contribute.
16. Department of Veterans Affairs Approves Green Beret Foundation Accreditation
greenberetfoundation.org · November 11, 2020
The Green Beret Foundation does great work for our Green Berets and their families.
17. Pentagon refutes reports that Marine Raiders are training forces on Taiwan
Stars and Stripes – by Seth Robson – 10 November 2020
I did not see this one coming. This will be interesting to run to ground and learn the facts.
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
– President George Washington
“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.”
– Ronald Reagan