News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. Congress Wants to Better Understand Potential Risks from East Asian Adversaries
2. U.S. Soldier Admits Plotting With Neo-Nazi Cult to Kill Fellow Troops
3. Trump administration imposes new restrictions on Chinese state media outlets
4. Amid Virus Fears and Racial Discord, the World’s Bad Guys Dig In
5. Ex-CIA director, defense secretary Gates: US is paralyzed
6. U.S. soldier charged with plotting white supremacist terrorist attack against his own unit
7. US v China: is this the start of a new cold war?
8. What America Will Lose if the Voice of America Sounds Like Trump
9. The Stars and Stripes newspaper has long supported the troops. Now it needs Congress’s support.
10. China warns of reprisal as Japanese city changes disputed area name
11. Japan Has A Plan For Dismantling China’s Submarine Fleet
12. Corona and Bioterrorism: How Serious Is the Threat?
13. Taiwan raps China for military activity, says it should fight virus instead
14. U.S. Republican lawmakers urge Trump to reconsider Germany troop reduction plan
15. Japan's strike options assume new urgency
16. China think tank calls for U.S. to keep military communications open
17. Japan says U.S. hasn't requested more money to host American troops
18. When the CIA Interferes in Foreign Elections
19. Colin S. Gray: A Reminiscence
20. SOCOM command and control visualize data
21. The first Muslim Green Beret was also in Iran's Special Forces
1. Congress Wants to Better Understand Potential Risks from East Asian Adversaries
airforcemag.com · by Alyk Russell Kenlan · June 22, 2020
Some good questions from Congress.
2. U.S. Soldier Admits Plotting With Neo-Nazi Cult to Kill Fellow Troops
The New York Times · by Alan Feuer · June 22, 2020
- The enemy in our midst.
3. Trump administration imposes new restrictions on Chinese state media outlets
The Washington Post · By John Hudson and Carol Morello · June 22, 2020
While this may feel good for some of us, I think this is a slippery slope. Rather than restrict them we need to educate people about these news organizations. We should use these organizations and their methods to turn people against the methods and tactics (and strategy) of the Chinese Communist Party.
4. Amid Virus Fears and Racial Discord, the World’s Bad Guys Dig In
WSJ · Gerald F. Seib · June 22, 2020
Authoritarian regimes versus freedom loving countries. The modern ideological war.
5. Ex-CIA director, defense secretary Gates: US is paralyzed
AP · by Terry Spenser · June 22, 2020
Axios · by Ursula Perano
I am reminded of Napoleon. I think the revisionist and rogue powers may be looking at us and remembering the dictum: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." Our political partisan polarization is a huge problem and a self-inflicted wound.
7. US v China: is this the start of a new cold war?
The Guardian · by Patrick Wintour · June 22, 2020
Note mention of the D10 of democracies in the penultimate paragraph. Democratic middle powers may play a greater role.
8. What America Will Lose if the Voice of America Sounds Like Trump
defenseone.com · by Anne Appelbaum
Please protect my beloved Voice of America (and Radio Free Asia, et al.) Yes, this is a clickbait headline and much hyperbole but we need to ensure VOA remains true to its mission. Some of the best journalists and journalism is found on VOA, et al.
9. The Stars and Stripes newspaper has long supported the troops. Now it needs Congress’s support.
The Washington Post · by Graham Vyse · June 22, 2020
A different mission and style and target audience of course but Stars and Stripes is another media organization that should be sustained. I hope Congress will be able to protect both Stars and Stripes and VOA, et el.
10. China warns of reprisal as Japanese city changes disputed area name
Reuters · June 22, 2020
What’s in a name? How powerful are names? China (and many Asian countries) are very sensitive about names.
11. Japan Has A Plan For Dismantling China’s Submarine Fleet
Forbes · by David Axe · June 22, 2020
Good for Japan and the alliance. Very interesting how they plan to use their superior but outnumbered submarines.
12. Corona and Bioterrorism: How Serious Is the Threat?
warontherocks.com · by Marc-Michael Blum · June 22, 2020
I think military and civil society need to consider the coronavirus crisis as a rehearsal for a biological weapons attack. Just because bio attacks are rare or prone to failure I think our adversaries are also learning from the coronavirus and the effects it achieves. There must be myriad lessons learned. And even if another natural biological event occurs we should be better prepared for both natural events and man-made attacks.
13. Taiwan raps China for military activity, says it should fight virus instead
Reuters · by Ben Blanchard · June 23, 2020
14. U.S. Republican lawmakers urge Trump to reconsider Germany troop reduction plan
Reuters · by Patricia Zengerle · June 23, 2020
I wonder if some Congressmen regret not putting similar restrictions on troop withdrawal from Germany 9and other allies) as they did for Korea i the 2020 NDAA. Congress will not provide funds for removal of troops in Korea below 28,500 unless the SECDEF certifies that the removal of the troops does no harm to US and ROK national security.
15. Japan's strike options assume new urgency
japantimes.co.jp · by Brad Glosserman · June 22, 2020
Interesting discussion of Japanese security planning.
16. China think tank calls for U.S. to keep military communications open
Reuters · by Yew Lun Tian · June 23, 2020
Now this is something I can agree with. Open lines of communication are good. It improves the possibility that we can prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation and escalation.
17. Japan says U.S. hasn't requested more money to host American troops
Reuters · by Chang-Ran Kim and Daniel Leussink · June 23, 2020
When I met with Japanese officials last fall they were not concerned with the rumored $8 billion demand. They were more concerned with the stalemate in ROK-US SMA negotiations and the possibility of a US troop withdrawal from the Korean peninsula.
18. When the CIA Interferes in Foreign Elections
Foreign Affairs · by David Shimer · June 21, 2020
We must learn our lessons. Not encounter them (Joe Collins) or admire them.
David Robarge' comments remind me of "Spy vs Spy" as the KGB and CIA compete on the electoral battlefields.
An interesting discussion of our activities in the Balkans and in Iraq.
19. Colin S. Gray: A Reminiscence
warontherocks.com · by David J. Lonsdale · June 22, 2020
We lost a great modern strategic thinker. I would adapt one of his famous quotes from his book Fighting Talk:
“If Thucydides, Sun-tzu, and Clausewitz (AND Colin Gray) did not say it, it is probably not worth saying.”
20. SOCOM command and control visualize data
militaryaerospace.com · John Keller · June 22, 2020
Mission Command will connect SOCOM warfighters and a larger military program that seeks to connect sensors and shooters in near-real time.
21. The first Muslim Green Beret was also in Iran's Special Forces
We are the Mighty · Blake Stilwell · June 19, 2020
A truly great American. I had the honor of serving with him in 1-1 SFG n Okinawa.
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"Anybody can be angry, but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, that is not easy."
- Aristotle
"Living beings everywhere compete for the means of existence. Competition takes the more intense form we call conflict when ... contenders try to hamper, disable, or destroy rivals."
- Jack Hirshleifer, The Handbook of Defense Economics, vol 1, Keith Hartley and Todd Sandler, (eds).
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable."
- H. L. Mencken