News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. It's A Gray, Gray World - by Nadia Schadlow
2. "Cocaine Logistics" for the Marine Corps
3. China Refuses to Quit on the Philippines
4. U.S. Policy Toward China: Deputy Secretary Biegun's Remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
5. Pentagon's Number 2 Officer Says Military Must Do Better On Diversity
6. FDD | Amazon Pays a Fine for Crimea Business, but Occupied-Territories Policy Remains Murky
7. Adapting the Image and Culture of Special Operations Forces
8. House passes defense policy bill that Trump threatened to veto
9. 'What choice do we have?': Portland's 'Wall of Moms' faces off with federal officers at tense protests
10. Watch: Navy vet says federal officer who beat him in Portland protest video was 'working me like a lumberjack chopping at a tree'
11. Coronavirus finds a welcome host on world's deadliest battlefields
12. How Taiwan Beat COVID-19 With Transparency and Trust
13. Milley Assigns Service Roles In All-Domain Ops Concept
14. Pentagon AI team sets sights on information warfare
15. The People of Portland: DHS's Involuntary Human Test Subjects
16. Private Donations and National Defense
17. China's Five-Finger Punch
18. 'Get the hell out of our uniforms': It's getting hard to tell who are the real law enforcement as camouflaged Feds crack down on protests
19. How the Cold War Between China and U.S. Is Intensifying
1. It's A Gray, Gray World - by Nadia Schadlow
Dr. Schadlow was the primary author of the National Security Strategy.
hudson.org · by Nadia Schadlow
2. "Cocaine Logistics" for the Marine Corps
warontherocks.com · by Walker D. Mills · July 22, 2020
I wonder why the author did mention the north Korean ISILC semi-submersible. They long ago developed this capability and I suspect they sold some (or at least plans and design) to the cartels.
3. China Refuses to Quit on the Philippines
thediplomat.com · by Derek Grossman · July 22, 2020
Yes China missed the opportunity. But this might not be an issue if the Philippines had anyone else as president.
4. U.S. Policy Toward China: Deputy Secretary Biegun's Remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
state.gov · by Stephen Biegun, Deputy Secretary of State
5. Pentagon's Number 2 Officer Says Military Must Do Better On Diversity
NPR · by Tom Bowman · July 22, 2020
Unfortunately we have been saying this for years. How do we do better? What is "meaningful change?" Those are the questions.
6. FDD | Amazon Pays a Fine for Crimea Business, but Occupied-Territories Policy Remains Murky
fdd.org · by Brenda Shaffer Senior Advisor for Energy and Jonathan Schanzer Senior Vice President for Research· July 22, 2020
7. Adapting the Image and Culture of Special Operations Forces
warontherocks.com · by Emma Moore · July 22, 2020
This is an interesting statement: "The Department of Defense has not explained what it expects irregular warfare to look like in coming years." Is that true?
This focuses on recruiting the soF operator as well civilian oversight and concludes saying that those conducting oversight must "be cognizant of the concentration of white men in Pentagon leadership and Congress."
8. House passes defense policy bill that Trump threatened to veto
The Hill · by Rebecca Kheel · July 21, 2020
Will there be a veto proof majority in Congress?
9. 'What choice do we have?': Portland's 'Wall of Moms' faces off with federal officers at tense protests
"Mom power". You have to appreciate these moms and what they are doing.
10. Watch: Navy vet says federal officer who beat him in Portland protest video was 'working me like a lumberjack chopping at a tree'
americanmilitarynews.com · by Nancy Dillon · July 22, 2020
When I watch this video and others similar to it I just cannot imagine what these federal law enforcement people were thinking? That they can just go beat up American citizens, split heads and crack skulls? What was their mission? What effect were they trying to achieve? I hear some people call these protestors an insurgency. If that is so these federal officials have no idea how to counter it and their attempt to employ draconian population and resources control measures plays right into the hands of an insurgency (if there is one which I doubt).
The actions against the veteran were uncalled for to say the least. He was assaulted and it appears to me to be depraved indifference by these thugs who should not be allowed to wear military style uniforms. (e.g., 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime.)
I have a lot of respect for Mr. David.
11. Coronavirus finds a welcome host on world's deadliest battlefields
washingtontimes.com · by Lauren Meier
"Weaponizing the local health infrastructure." What a concept. We should not forget that throughout history the largest casualty producer in war is disease and non-battle injuries. The coronavirus must amplify this.
12. How Taiwan Beat COVID-19 With Transparency and Trust
Medium · by Nick Aspinwall · July 14, 2020
Two important words: transparency and trust. I have a lot of time for the great people of Taiwan. We should learn from them.
13. Milley Assigns Service Roles In All-Domain Ops Concept
breakingdefense.com · by Theresa Hitchens
This seems like the right division of labor for service expertise.
Air Force: commander and control
Navy: fires
Army: logistics
Though I think the Navy could do command and control very well as they do surface, subsurface, and air very well. As an aside some of the most competent battle captains I had working in a special operations joint operations center were Navy Surface Warfare Officers (SWO). Without any previous SOF experience they could grasp the big picture, multi-task among various disparate missions and operations, and communicate extremely well. I attribute this to working in a Ship's command center.
But this to me is the buried lead" "Milley and Esper have put a high priority on figuring out a new American way of war." I hope that includes military support to an American Way of Political Warfare as well. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PE300/PE304/RAND_PE304.pdf
14. Pentagon AI team sets sights on information warfare
c4isrnet.com · by Mark Pomerleau · July 22, 2020
I hope AI can help with influence operations. But can it provide us with the necessary and deep) cultural understanding that is required to be effective? Yes data is extremely important (and I have heard experts say he who controls the data controls the outcome). But there will always be a human element to this and I wonder if AI can effectively predict how humans will make decisions and act though I am sure that with enough data they will have a higher success rate than anyone else. But this is in keeping with the American way of war - we will throw money and technology at any and all problems. (I am not complaining about that because I would rather have the resources to do that but I do not think we can forget about the human element and its unpredictability which makes influence operations so difficult.)
15. The People of Portland: DHS's Involuntary Human Test Subjects
Cato Institute · by Patrick G. Eddington ·July 21, 2020
Patrick Eddington is one of the foremost authorities on civil liberties.
16. Private Donations and National Defense
realclearpolitics.com · by Karl Zinsmeister
Another good piece recognizing the excellent and unique work of Spirit of America. All special operations forces, particularly Civil Affairs, should know this organization well. As well should US diplomats. Anyone who is participating in Small Wars should know this organization. https://spiritofamerica.org/
17. China's Five-Finger Punch
project-syndicate.org · by Brahma Chellaney · July 21, 2020
The opening paragraph cannot be any more strongly stated.
18. 'Get the hell out of our uniforms': It's getting hard to tell who are the real law enforcement as camouflaged Feds crack down on protests
Business Insider · by David Choi
You can always count on tough talk from Lt Gen Honore. But it is this quote from Marine Veteran and Congressman Seth
Moulton that should get people's attention: ""We shouldn't just tell these police officers to change out of camouflage, we should do away with BORTAC ... so that federal law enforcement masquerading as military can never again be used as the president's secret police," Moulton added.
19. How the Cold War Between China and U.S. Is Intensifying
The New York Times · by Rick Gladstone · July 22, 2020
Cold is good (or tolerable) Hot is bad. Very bad.
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"Stay focused on the mission. Line up military tasks with political objectives. Avoid mission creep and allow for mission shifts. A mission shift is a conscious decision, made by political leadership in consultation with the military commander, responding to a changing situation."
- General Anthony Zinni
"Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much."
-Oscar Wilde
"Of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. (at the Nuremberg Trials, shortly before being sentenced to death)"
- Hermann Goering