09/20/2020 News & Commentary – National Security
News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. An "Oh So Social" Conversation Series Celebrating the OSS' 75-Year Legacy
2. Ending China's Chokehold on Rare-Earth Minerals
3. Why there's no such thing as 'tactical' nuclear weapons
4, Congress Must Act Now to Counter Chinese Propaganda in the U.S.
5. Over 300 Afghan Translators and Family Killed While Serving the U.S.
6. The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back.
7. We're in a cyber cold war with China. Here's how we gain the upper hand
8. China has told us how they see their place in the world. The question is, can we live with it?
9. Japan's Geopolitical Balancing Act Just Got Harder
10. Where Trump and Biden Stand on Foreign Policy
11. Rolexes are too mainstream for us - The fancy wrist watches of Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, Boris Johnson, and other world leaders - Putin has a $480,000 watch
12. Corps debuts new recruiting commercial, targeting Gen Z
13. That Big Military Contractor ... Patagonia?
14. The irreligious West doesn't grasp the significance of the Israel peace deal
15. New Japanese Strike Weapons Could Spark An Asian Arms Race
16. Opinion | The U.S. military is terrified of climate change. It's done more damage than Iranian missiles.
17. The Endless Fantasy of American Power By Andrew Bacevich
18. China is our greatest foreign policy issue. But neither Trump nor Biden have it right.
19. Opinion: U.S. hardliners on China are repeating historical mistakes - Xinhua
20. Taiwan president says drills show China is threat to region
1. An "Oh So Social" Conversation Series Celebrating the OSS' 75-Year Legacy
Since we are unable to hold our annual SOS Society awards dinner this year due to COVID 19, we are conducting a speakers series throughout the month of October.
(See list of speakers on the flyer below, Mark Mithcell, Keith Nightingale and I are on the first event on October 1st with Mike Vickers moderating).
As noted a portion of the proceeds will go toward the construction of the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations (NMISO).
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RSVP is at the link. |
2. Ending China's Chokehold on Rare-Earth Minerals
Bloomberg · by James Mattis · September 18, 2020
Definitely a national security issue. And one we should not have allowed to reach this point.
3. Why there's no such thing as 'tactical' nuclear weapons
taskandpurpose.com · by Jeff Schogol
There is some bizarre information in this report, some of which I am completely ignorant about.
4. Congress Must Act Now to Counter Chinese Propaganda in the U.S.
National Review Online · by Jim Banks · September 18, 2020
We have to be able to compete on the international battlefield and execute our own form of political warfare against China's. We must know, understand, undermine, and counter China's three warfares:" psychological warfare, legal warfare or lawfare, and media or public opinion warfare.
5. Over 300 Afghan Translators and Family Killed While Serving the U.S.
There are so many costs to these wars in Afghanistan and iraq. But it will cost the U.S. so little to allow and expedite special immigrant visas for these brave men and women.
Excerpt:
“As Governor Thomas H. Kean and Representative Lee H. Hamilton has said, "As former chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, we encourage the Congress to do everything in its power to keep the nation's promise to Afghan and Iraqi combat translators and to ensure these intrepid partners can achieve the American Dream. Special Immigrant Visas recipients from Afghanistan and Iraq loyally protected our men and women in uniform. Many directly saved American lives. Their future success will help to prevent the continued growth of Islamist terrorism - the third goal identified by the 9/11 Commission. A great nation keeps its promises." Let's keep this one.”
6. The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back.
news.yahoo.com · by Jack Murphy · September 19, 2020
First, condolences to the families for the loss of their family members.
Second, it is amazing that the author Jack Murphy was able to obtain this much information. I wonder if the CIA made a request to prevent publication.
As to the mission, it seems like we sent some relatively inexperienced operators. There are many qualified people in the military who could have conducted this mission (and likely have conducted similar missions).
I did not realize the maritime branch had to prove its relevance.
7. We're in a cyber cold war with China. Here's how we gain the upper hand
washingtontimes.com · by Matt Sandgren · September 19, 2020
This too, is critical battlespace in Great Power Competition (as well as competition with some not so great powers).
Excerpt:
“This won't be easy, but Congress is up to the task. As the former staff director of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, I helped craft the CLOUD Act - one of the most important pieces of data privacy legislation to pass Congress in the last decade. What helped get the CLOUD Act across the finish line will also help with a federal privacy proposal: strong (and growing) bipartisan support.
Both Republicans and Democrats have long recognized the need for a federal framework - and that need is greater today than ever before. By passing national data privacy legislation, Congress can give Silicon Valley a competitive edge over China and help ensure U.S. digital hegemony in the 21st century.”
8. China has told us how they see their place in the world. The question is, can we live with it?
ABC.net.au ·by Stan Grant· September 19, 2020
Should we? Do we have to?
9. Japan's Geopolitical Balancing Act Just Got Harder
project-syndicate.org · by Minxin Pei · September 17, 2020
The key point: "But Suga will find it increasingly difficult to avoid taking sides in the intensifying US-China conflict. In the short term, he will have to make a decision regarding Xi's postponed state visit. Opposition to the visit runs high within Suga's Liberal Democratic Party, owing to the Chinese government's recent imposition of a harsh national-security law in Hong Kong. A made-for-TV state visit to Japan would be a huge win for Xi, who is eager to demonstrate that the Trump administration's containment of China is failing."
10. Where Trump and Biden Stand on Foreign Policy
WSJ · by Warren P. Strobel and Michael R. Gordon · September 19, 2020
11. Rolexes are too mainstream for us - The fancy wrist watches of Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, Boris Johnson, and other world leaders - Putin has a $480,000 watch
luxurylaunches.com · September 19, 2020
Not really national security related but perhaps those Rolexes can be used when any of these leaders need to work their way out of a jam with some indigenous forces.
An interesting historical footnote about the Dalai Lama. He still carries Patek Philippe pocket watch he received as a gift from FDR in 1943. It was delivered to him by the OSS.
12. Corps debuts new recruiting commercial, targeting Gen Z
marinecorpstimes.com · by Philip Athey · September 19, 2020
The Marines get it right again. A pretty hooah commercial at the link.
13. That Big Military Contractor ... Patagonia?
National Review Online · by Jim Geraghty · September 16, 2020
I remember going to REI to buy gear in the 1980s when I was in 1st SFG. Patagonia was top of the line gear for us back then. Everyone on our teams had REI membership cards (I still have mine today).
14. The irreligious West doesn't grasp the significance of the Israel peace deal
The Telegraph · by Hazel Plush· September 20, 2020
A UK perspective: "For too long, Palestinians and many other Muslims have been fed the falsehood that Jews are outsiders and occupiers. British diplomats and politicians are yet to understand this new zeitgeist, or encourage other Muslim nations to sign up the Abraham Accord. Will they now change course?"
15. New Japanese Strike Weapons Could Spark An Asian Arms Race
The National Interest · by Lionel P. Fatton · September 19, 2020
I think the author may be mistaken. I think it is in US interests that Japan develop all necessary capabilities to defend itself and not be totally reliant on the U.S. Moreover, I think it is in US interests that Japan (like South Korea) be able to conduct the full range of military operations (short of nuclear) if war in the region breaks out. I think there are those who are skeptical about an increased Japanese military capability to include strike weapons will lead to an arms race. There are probably other causes as well.
Excerpt:
“What should the United States do? To answer, one needs to recognize that Tokyo's intention to acquire strike capabilities for missile defense is puzzling because, within the alliance framework, the United States already contributes to the defense of Japan with such assets. Then, one ought to admit that this potential duplication of American forces would largely be explained by the fact that the United States is not the reliable ally it used to be.”
16. Opinion | The U.S. military is terrified of climate change. It's done more damage than Iranian missiles.
NBC News · September 20, 2020
I am surprised the climate change deniers in Congress and the administration are not cracking down on these ideas within the military.
17. The Endless Fantasy of American Power By Andrew Bacevich
Foreign Affairs · by Andrew Bacevich · September 18, 2020
Bacevich's key point I believe: "An alternative path exists. Proponents of this path, most of them anti-interventionist progressives, propose to reframe politics as global rather than merely international. That is an important distinction. A global political ethos highlights problems affecting all nations, whether strong or weak, rich or poor, as opposed to emphasizing geopolitical competition, which sees the United States preoccupied with fending off any and all challengers to its preeminence. Those shared problems are not difficult to identify. They include communicable diseases such as COVID-19, the danger of nuclear conflict, the deterioration of the global commons, and, perhaps above all, climate change."
18. China is our greatest foreign policy issue. But neither Trump nor Biden have it right.
USA Today · by Robert Robb, Arizona Republic
The author's two key recommendations:
First, insulate the American economy from China to the maximum extent possible. Among foreign policy boffins, this is referred to as "decoupling."
Second, increase the military and diplomatic capacity of China's neighbors, so every regional conflict involving China doesn't automatically become a conflict with the United States. Our current role as the de facto security guarantor in the region isn't in our best interests.
19. Opinion: U.S. hardliners on China are repeating historical mistakes - Xinhua
China is lecturing us. Check this out:
“These political forces, though they look like powerful monsters, are in essence "paper tigers," which are outwardly strong but inwardly feeble, and doomed to failure given their incapability to represent the common will of the U.S. people and due to their unpopularity in the international community.
Washington's neglect of lives in its slow response to the virus, human rights abuses exposed in the domestic social problems, low efficiency in dealing with public crisis, short-sighted approach in handling economic and trade issues, to name a few, have revealed the true face of the politicians in the White House who put their political interests prior to American people. No wonder some U.S. media called the current situation "American Failure."”
20. Taiwan president says drills show China is threat to region
ca.reuters.com · by Ben Blanchard
Of course China says the same thing about our "drills" and FONOPs in the region.
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