News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs
1. Four times as many troops and vets have died by suicide as in combat, study finds
2. ‘This May Not Be The Big One’: Army Scientists Warn of Deadlier Pandemics to Come
3. Afghanistan's air force is a rare U.S.-backed success story. It may soon fail
4. An international anti-corruption court is needed to deter kleptocrats
5. FDD | What Happened at the Biden-Putin Summit? Not Much.
6. America Shall Be Judged By How We Leave Afghanistan — By Allies, Foes, and History by Angus King
7. US Companies Won’t Pay to Prepare for Cyber Attacks. Congress Must Step In
8. As Afghanistan war nears end, details emerge on how Predator drone revolutionized warfare
9. Disinformation, Annexation, & Deterrence: Why the CCP Is More Likely to Subvert Taiwan Than invade
10. Finding an alternative to the Belt Road Initiative: Statesman contributors
11. Opinion | The Vacuous Phrase at the Core of Biden’s Foreign Policy
12. ‘Gray zone’ intrigue may derail Russia-Japan cooperation
13. Failure to intervene in Myanmar same as giving tacit consent to junta's rule
14. ‘The Last G7’: Satirical cartoon mocking bloc’s attempt to suppress China goes viral - Global Times
15. China’s ambassador to the US to leave after eight years
16. The Incompleteness of the Fulbright Paradox
17. US-China rivalry is extending from Earth into space. That poses a challenge to American dominance
18. Xi’s Rewriting of History Won’t Stay in China
19. The 'Trojan Parachute Club' Were the Army's First Combat HALO Jumpers
20. Op Pocket Change: The Delta Force operation to rescue U.S. POWs allegedly left behind after the Vietnam War
21. U.S. investigating possible ties between Roger Stone, Alex Jones and Capitol rioters
22. Unmasking the far right: An extremist paid a price when his identity was exposed online after a violent clash in Washington
1. Four times as many troops and vets have died by suicide as in combat, study finds
militarytimes.com · by Meghann Myers · June 21, 2021
What an unbelievable statistic. What can be done?
2. ‘This May Not Be The Big One’: Army Scientists Warn of Deadlier Pandemics to Come
defenseone.com · by Tara Copp
Not good news.
3. Afghanistan's air force is a rare U.S.-backed success story. It may soon fail
bakersfield.com · by Nabih Bulos
Excerpts: “Jack McCain, a former adviser to the Afghan air force who helped train UH-60, said the pace was "not sustainable."
"You're going to burn your people and your aircraft out if you don't prep their replacements and get them out of the fight," he said, adding that flying in Afghanistan was akin to "flying in Vietnam every single day and with nowhere else to go."
Despite those issues, few dispute that the AAF gives the government a crucial edge over the Taliban — or that it's a relative success story in an overall spotty U.S. record.
"The Afghans did something the U.S. would never ask of their own pilots: from never touching a Blackhawk to flying operational missions in under a year, which is flabbergasting," McCain said.
The AAF, Michel said, was "the single most important capability that we have done in our investment of people and resources."
But the air force is under constant threat. On Wednesday, an antitank missile slammed into the side of a Blackhawk near the airport in Ghazni, a stop that pilots had been forced to make every day to replenish fast-depleting ammunition stores. The pilots survived. The Blackhawk couldn't be repaired; 46 remain.
4. An international anti-corruption court is needed to deter kleptocrats
Financial Times · by Elaine Dezenski · June 21, 2021
Excerpts: “More than one hundred former heads of state, cabinet ministers, legislators, intergovernmental officials, business leaders and representatives of civil society have signed a declaration in support of the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) to prosecute corrupt officials when their governments are unable or unwilling to do so.
The court would bring together expert investigators, experienced international prosecutors and judges to preside over complex criminal proceedings involving transnational financial networks. Although kleptocrats will not willingly sign up their countries, the IACC could still have jurisdiction to recover, repatriate and repurpose stolen assets with the co-operation of major financial centres.
The sanctioning, defunding and potential imprisonment of kleptocrats by an IACC would act as a deterrent and allow them to be replaced by principled officials. Honest multinational corporations would have better opportunities to compete for public contracts, and a court would help businesses resist corrupt overtures.
We need an IACC that dramatically curtails the freedom with which kleptocrats pillage national resources and hide their wealth around the world. Only with a global system to hold officials to a higher standard will ethical politicians and businesses have a chance to promote liberty, prosperity and security.
5. FDD | What Happened at the Biden-Putin Summit? Not Much.
fdd.org · by Thomas Joscelyn · June 18, 2021
Excerpts: “It’s true that Russia has concerns about jihadism flowing out of Afghanistan’s borders, through Central Asia and into Chechnya and Dagestan. Al-Qaeda has worked with Chechen jihadists since the 1990s. and ISIS also has a significant contingent of members and leaders from the Caucasus region.
But throughout the past few years, the Russians haven’t “helped” on Afghanistan. They have undermined the Afghan government by hosting the Taliban for talks in Moscow. The Russians have also likely provided a low level of arms and other support to the Taliban insurgents, who are still closely allied with al-Qaeda. So any assistance from the Russians would be a real about-face.
Curiously, President Biden didn’t say anything during his press conference about the alleged Russian bounties offered for American soldiers. This story is murky – and the U.S. intelligence community still can’t point to any actual attacks carried out on Americans as a result of the purported bounties.
The press made a big deal out of it when President Trump didn’t raise the reporting with Putin. But it appears Biden wasn’t asked if he brought it up during the summit. The Biden administration has said that the Russians should answer some of its questions concerning the reported bounty scheme. However, we are left to wonder what President Biden said about this issue and how Putin responded.
6. America Shall Be Judged By How We Leave Afghanistan — By Allies, Foes, and History by Angus King
militarytimes.com · by Angus King · June 22, 2021
7. US Companies Won’t Pay to Prepare for Cyber Attacks. Congress Must Step In
defenseone.com · by Corye Douglas
8. As Afghanistan war nears end, details emerge on how Predator drone revolutionized warfare
Stars and Stripes · by Gary Robbins · June 20, 2021
9. Disinformation, Annexation, & Deterrence: Why the CCP Is More Likely to Subvert Taiwan Than invade
lawfareblog.com · by Libby Lange and Doowan Lee · June 22, 2021
Conclusion: “Given the prevalence of the CCP’s subversive efforts in Taiwan, a politically driven annexation campaign poses a far greater threat to Taiwanese sovereignty than a military invasion. In fact, military threats are likely aligned with cyber and disinformation operations to enable the latter while undermining the Tsai administration. This pattern was especially pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic. Such efforts could help lay the groundwork to preemptively undermine Taiwan’s future leadership, set to be elected in 2024. Moreover, a subversive campaign would make a U.S. military intervention far more difficult. That same strategic dilemma stymied a U.S. or NATO response to the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
What are the main efforts that Taiwan and the U.S. can undertake to ensure no annexation happens? Both internal resilience in Taiwan and extended deterrence from the U.S. should work together. The Tsai administration has tirelessly worked to increase the resilience of the Taiwanese government and civil society. The DAP (Digital Accountability Project) is a great example. The Tsai administration has worked with industry and civil society to dampen the proliferation of foreign disinformation. Taiwan has taken proactive measures to mitigate CCP subversion and sabotage.
The U.S. should focus on imposing disproportionate costs to the prospect of a PLA invasion to ensure Taiwan can continue to strengthen its resiliency and economy. Steering the Quad Alliance to embrace Taiwan would make a PLA invasion appear much costlier than it is now. Extended deterrence does not rely solely on military means. The U.S. can also help Taiwan with additional diplomatic efforts. For instance, the U.S. should consider providing coronavirus vaccines to the remaining 15 countries that maintain a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan in order to hinder the CCP’s efforts to isolate the Tsai administration. It can solicit and develop multilateral ties to increase the perceived cost of the CCP’s crisis engineering against Taiwan. The U.S. should also enhance interoperability and intelligence sharing with Taiwan on cyber and information operations. The recently introduced Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act, which calls for the establishment of Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnerships to boost resiliency, would be an optimal channel. Working with Taipei to expose and counter the CCP’s ongoing cyber and information operations would also go a long way to keep the Taiwanese political process unmolested by illicit meddling from the CCP.
10. Finding an alternative to the Belt Road Initiative: Statesman contributors
straittimes.com · by Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy and Shreya Gulati
A positive view from India.
11. Opinion | The Vacuous Phrase at the Core of Biden’s Foreign Policy
The New York Times · by Peter Beinart · June 22, 2021
The phrase is "rules-based international order."
A progressive pundit criticizes Biden foreign policy.
12. ‘Gray zone’ intrigue may derail Russia-Japan cooperation
asiatimes.com · by Aditya Pareek · June 22, 2021
Excerpt: In conclusion, although the Miyasaka X-37B spy scandal and the Sojitz-MegaFon Arctic Connect sagas are only two anecdotal pieces of evidence, they signal a worsening trend of increased rifts and shrinking avenues of cooperation between Russia and Japan.
13. Failure to intervene in Myanmar same as giving tacit consent to junta's rule
I would like to see someone lay out a campaign for intervention by someone. ASEAN? How would that work?
14. ‘The Last G7’: Satirical cartoon mocking bloc’s attempt to suppress China goes viral - Global Times
Some interesting Chinese propaganda.
If the photo does not come through please go to this link:
15. China’s ambassador to the US to leave after eight years
The Guardian · by Helen Davidson · June 22, 2021
One thing about the Chinese: They seem to value continuity and the long game.
16. The Incompleteness of the Fulbright Paradox
mountainrunner.us · by Matt Armstrong
Matt Armstrong provides some additional analysis, historical context, and perspective to Charles' King's recent Foreign Affairs article on Senator Fulbright.
17. US-China rivalry is extending from Earth into space. That poses a challenge to American dominance
CNN · by Nectar Gan and Ben Westcott
18. Xi’s Rewriting of History Won’t Stay in China
WSJ · by Paul Wolfowitz and Bill Drexel
Excerpts: “In our experiences as a teacher and a student, we have observed that too many young Americans don’t know enough history to argue effectively with their Chinese counterparts, even in the freedom of an American university. Many now consider it politically incorrect even to try.
But pushing back against Chinese communist falsehoods is essential. U.S. information efforts in Western Europe during the early Cold War and in Poland and the Soviet Union in the 1980s had an advantage: People could readily discern the clumsiness of crude Soviet propaganda. They turned instead to Radio Free Europe, along with the BBC, for real news.
Those Western information efforts were successful because they became a recognized source of truth. Against the technologically sophisticated and more dangerous miseducation of Chinese youth, America needs to launch an even stronger effort to argue for the truth. More important, it needs Americans who know the history and why it matters.
19. The 'Trojan Parachute Club' Were the Army's First Combat HALO Jumpers
coffeeordie.com · by Matt Fratus · June 17, 2021
Some interesting Special Forces history.
20. Op Pocket Change: The Delta Force operation to rescue U.S. POWs allegedly left behind after the Vietnam War
audacy.com · by Jack Murphy · June 21, 2021
Another interesting piece of SOF history
21. U.S. investigating possible ties between Roger Stone, Alex Jones and Capitol rioters
The Washington Post · by Spencer S. Hsu and Devlin Barrett · February 20, 2021
Hmm.....
22. Unmasking the far right: An extremist paid a price when his identity was exposed online after a violent clash in Washington
The Washington Post · by Robert Klemko · June 21, 2021
Unmasking the far right: An extremist paid a price when his identity was exposed online after a violent clash in Washington
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"When I grew up, in Taiwan, the Korean War was seen as a good war, where America protected Asia. It was sort of an extension of World War II. And it was, of course, the peak of the Cold War. People in Taiwan were generally proAmerican. The Korean War made Japan. And then the Vietnam War made Taiwan. There is some truth to that."
- Ang Lee
"South Korea first allowed women into the military in 1950 during the Korean War. Back then, female soldiers mainly held administrative and support positions. Women began to take on combat roles in the 1990s when the three military academies, exclusive to men, began accepting women."
- Kim Young-ha
"A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill