News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. Report: "Clear evidence" China is committing genocide against Uyghurs
2. IndoPacom Seeks Billions to Move Forces West of International Dateline
3. Inside the Pentagon’s plan to keep extremists from joining up
4. A radical plan calls for shifting billions to State from Defense
5. Is a Pacific NATO the Only Way to Counter China?
6. Remote C.I.A. Base in the Sahara Steadily Grows
7. In One Afghan District, Peace From 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
8. Emilia Seikkanen Worked in a Trendy Video Start-Up in Berlin – Tells All about the Kremlin's Global Information Operation
9. SOCOM Shows Interest in Hybrid, AI-Enabled Vehicles
10. Are U.S. Special Forces Quietly Using Armed Robots?
11. Diplomats Warned of a Coronavirus Danger in Wuhan—2 Years Before the Outbreak
12. Key takeaways from the review of Capitol Hill security after Jan. 6 attack
13. How Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan Benefits the United States
14. Kamala Harris is playing an unusually large role in shaping Biden’s foreign policy
15. Frontline Geek Squads: SOCOM’s Secret Weapon
16. Preparing for Retaliation Against Russia, U.S. Confronts Hacking by China
1. Report: "Clear evidence" China is committing genocide against Uyghurs
Axios · by Rebecca Falconer
The 55 page report can be accessed here.
2. IndoPacom Seeks Billions to Move Forces West of International Dateline
nationaldefensemagazine.org · by Stew Magnuson and Meredith Roaten
But host nations have to agree to host.
3. Inside the Pentagon’s plan to keep extremists from joining up
militarytimes.com · by Meghann Myers · March 8, 2021
Excerpts:
“Several of the suggestions involve working more closely with the FBI, which has been sounding the alarm about the dangers of domestic extremism.
That would include running questionable recruit tattoos through the FBI’s database, creating a consistent definition of domestic extremism for reference across the services, giving an unclassified version of the FBI’s in-house domestic extremism training, as well as consulting other agencies about updating Standard Form 86, which the federal government uses to build background checks.
The only recommendation DoD hasn’t started to implement is the suggestion to create a military separation code that would indicate domestic extremism as a cause for discharge, which would not only inform potential employers of past activities, but give DoD a way to centrally track the number of service members booted for it.”
4. A radical plan calls for shifting billions to State from Defense
Defense News · by Aaron Mehta · March 9, 2021
If you want to lead with diplomacy, diplomacy must be able to lead with resources and authorities. This proposal will certainly upset the apple cart.
The report can be accessed here.
5. Is a Pacific NATO the Only Way to Counter China?
The New York Times · by Eric Schmitt and Christoph Koettl · March 8, 2021
No. We are not going to see a NATO-like military structure in Asia. I just do not think the member countries 9and others) would sign up to such a structure. Furthermore, it may be that the economic, political, and information aspects of a Quad (or Quad Plus) are more important than a military component.
7. In One Afghan District, Peace From 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
The New York Times · by Jim Huylebroek, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Taimoor Shah and Fahim Abed· March 8, 2021
Who owns the night?
8. Emilia Seikkanen Worked in a Trendy Video Start-Up in Berlin – Tells All about the Kremlin's Global Information Operation
yle.fi · by Jessikka Aro
So much to unpack here. This is political warfare. Information and influence. Using seemingly legitimate business to further national objectives through influence operations.
9. SOCOM Shows Interest in Hybrid, AI-Enabled Vehicles
nationaldefensemagazine.org · by Yasmin Tadjdeh
Excerpts:
“Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ International Security Program, said many of SOCOM’s vehicle programs are well suited for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations, which the command has become known for in the past two decades. However, with the Pentagon emphasizing great power competition with advanced adversaries such as Russia and China, those types of platforms are not as ideal.
The other services are moving “toward armored vehicles because of the higher level of threat,” he said. “SOCOM would have to at least balance its vehicle inventory with some sort of armored vehicle that could operate in a higher threat environment.”
A heavily armored vehicle such as JAGMS could be particularly useful in great power competition, Cancian said.
Meanwhile, Special Operations Command is maintaining its fleet of mine resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, which consist primarily of SOF-modified MRAP all-terrain vehicles and RG-33-A1 platforms.”
10. Are U.S. Special Forces Quietly Using Armed Robots?
Forbes · by David Hambling · March 9, 2021
11. Diplomats Warned of a Coronavirus Danger in Wuhan—2 Years Before the Outbreak
Politico · by Josh Rogin · March 8, 2021
We should pay attention to our diplomats and their reporting on what is going on around the world:
“After consultations with experts, some U.S. officials came to believe that this Beijing lab was likely conducting coronavirus experiments on mice fitted with ACE2 receptors well before the coronavirus outbreak—research that they hadn’t disclosed and continued not to admit to. In its January 15 statement, the State Department alleged that although the Wuhan Institute of Virology disclosed some of its participation in gain-of-function research, it has not disclosed its work on RaTG13 and “has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017.” That, by itself, did not help to explain how SARS-CoV-2 originated. But it was clear that officials believed there was a lot of risky coronavirus research going on in Chinese labs that the rest of the world was simply not aware of.
“This was just a peek under a curtain of an entire galaxy of activity, including labs and military labs in Beijing and Wuhan playing around with coronaviruses in ACE2 mice in unsafe labs,” the senior administration official said. “It suggests we are getting a peek at a body of activity that isn’t understood in the West or even has precedent here.”
This pattern of deception and obfuscation, combined with the new revelations about how Chinese labs were handling dangerous coronaviruses in ways their Western counterparts didn’t know about, led some U.S. officials to become increasingly convinced Chinese authorities were manipulating scientific information to fit their narrative. But there was so little transparency, it was impossible for the U.S. government to prove, one way or the other. “If there was a smoking gun, the CCP buried it along with anyone who would dare speak up about it,” one U.S. official told me. “We’ll probably never be able to prove it one way or the other, which was Beijing’s goal all along.”
Back in 2017, the U.S. diplomats who had visited the lab in Wuhan had foreseen these very events, but nobody had listened and nothing had been done. “We were trying to warn that that lab was a serious danger,” one of the cable writers who had visited the lab told me. “I have to admit, I thought it would be maybe a SARS-like outbreak again. If I knew it would turn out to be the greatest pandemic in human history, I would have made a bigger stink about it.”
12. Key takeaways from the review of Capitol Hill security after Jan. 6 attack
ABCNews.com · by Benjamin Siegel · March 9, 2021
Excerpts:
“Ahead of the report's release, Republicans have criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's appointment of Honore to conduct the review, pointing to his increasingly partisan tone on Twitter and attacks against Republicans.
"While there may be some worthy recommendations forthcoming, General Honore's notorious partisan bias calls into question the rationality of appointing him to lead this important security review," House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a statement Sunday. "It also raises the unacceptable possibility that the Speaker desired a certain result: turning the Capitol into a fortress."
Key takeaways from the review of Capitol Hill security after Jan. 6 attack
It calls for more officers, security upgrades. Lawmakers were briefed Monday.
13. How Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan Benefits the United States
The National Interest · by Gary Sands · March 8, 2021
Excerpts:
“President Biden is no stranger to the TRA, having argued nearly twenty years ago: “The president should not cede to Taiwan, much less to China, the ability automatically to draw us into a war across the Taiwan Strait.”
Much has changed in the two decades since Biden made those remarks, but the Biden administration appears to be sticking to the status quo of strategic ambiguity over Taiwan. In his Interim National Security Strategic Guidance released on March 3, the administration states “We will support Taiwan, a leading democracy and a critical economic and security partner, in line with longstanding American commitments.”
Unfortunately, Biden’s measured approach to calm the waters by staying the course of strategic ambiguity over Taiwan was not received well in Beijing. Four days later, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Washington to stop “crossing lines and playing with fire” on Taiwan, saying there was “no room for compromise or concessions.” How this latest exchange continues to be played out in the airspace around Taiwan remains to be seen, but no Chinese PLAAF sorties have been reported by Taipei since March 3.”
14. Kamala Harris is playing an unusually large role in shaping Biden’s foreign policy
The Washington Post · by Olivier Knox · March 8, 2021
15. Frontline Geek Squads: SOCOM’s Secret Weapon
breakingdefense.com · by Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.· March 8, 2021
Excerpts:
“The communication has to go both ways, Groen and Antani agreed, without either side lecturing the other or passively waiting for the other to fix the problem. That’s true when two very different cultures combine in any kind of organization, but it’s especially true in hardcore Special Ops units.
“It is a huge leap to bring somebody in from the outside, into those types of organizations,” he said. “So step one is, keep your mouth shut and learn, listen, earn the right to be part of the team.”
It’s also vital to earn credit by achieving some successes ASAP, Antani emphasized. “You have a limited amount of time to earn the right to be there,” he said. “If you try to do too much early you’re going to fail.”
In the case of Special Operations units, Antani said, the data scientists found plenty of back-office processes they could make more efficient, like personnel transfers – but those were the wrong thing to focus on first. The urgent need, the fix that could make the biggest impact in the least time, was getting operators data on their enemy as soon as possible.
“As we gained those quick wins, we earned the right to be there, and people recognized the impact we could have,” Antani said. “Make sure the sergeant majors believe you should be on the team, because … they will help advocate and evangelize [for] you.”
16. Preparing for Retaliation Against Russia, U.S. Confronts Hacking by China
The New York Times · by David E. Sanger, Julian E. Barnes and Nicole Perlroth · March 7, 2021
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“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others; Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected; Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it; Refusing to set aside trivial preferences; Neglecting development and refinement of the mind; Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you.”
- Aldous Huxley