News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs
1. Three Ways to Clean Up the Toxic Minefields of Social Media
2. The Mysterious Case of the Missing 250-Ton Chinese Power Transformer
3. Sen. Tammy Duckworth introduces bill to ban camouflage for federal agents
4. Secret Service consults with Cyber Command, private sector in updated approach to financial crime
5. Cyber Airmen Trained for a China-Taiwan Conflict That Unfolds Online
6. PACAF: Chinese Propaganda Targeting Andersen AFB is an Attempt to Intimidate
7. These Marine Expeditionary Forces are creating new war plans with Navy fleets to counter China
8. CIA clamps down on flow of Russia intelligence to White House
9. An Asian NATO? The U.S. Has Better Options for Its Allies
10. FBI, DHS Warn of 'Likely' Disinformation Campaigns About Election Results
11. FBI and CISA PSA: Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Result
12. (Philippine) Army captain named as operator of fake Facebook accounts
13. Op-Ed: Retired military leaders shouldn’t endorse presidential candidates. America is divided enough
14. Navy SEAL Chief Who Defied Trump Steps Down For New Assignment
15. What U.S. Troops Are Really Doing In Syria
16. The US is preparing for a fight with China in the Pacific. Here's how Army special operators will fit in
17. New Game, the First Offered by RAND to Public, Challenges Players to Design Defense Strategies for Uncertain World
1. Three Ways to Clean Up the Toxic Minefields of Social Media
defenseone.com · by Welton Chang, Dowan Lee and Peter W. Singer
Key points: " Recent actions taken by platforms like Facebook and Twitter to ban political ads, demonetize hateful content, and put disclaimers on certain types of content that is broad reaching and verifiably false, show that social media companies can, in fits and starts, make changes for the better. Yet their approach is woefully late and lacking. It is often characterized by an ex-post response, lack of sustained action, and insufficient sense of urgency.
2. The Mysterious Case of the Missing 250-Ton Chinese Power Transformer
It is a mystery. I would err on the side of caution despite Mr. Lee's research paper debunking the backdoor myth. I think this could be a page out of Unrestricted Warfare and I think it is a god thing this transformer is not attached to our electrical grid.
3. Sen. Tammy Duckworth introduces bill to ban camouflage for federal agents
Newsweek · by Jeffery Martin · September 23, 2020
Police should wear the uniforms of police. The military should wear the uniforms of the military.
4. Secret Service consults with Cyber Command, private sector in updated approach to financial crime
cyberscoop.com · by Shannon Vavra · September 23, 2020
Interagency coordination: "Meanwhile, Secret Service also has been staffing up at Cyber Command facilities to gather information from the military’s work about foreign hackers, said Jeremy Sheridan, a deputy assistant director at the agency."
And a "whole of society" effort: "Known as the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board (CIAB), the group met last week for the first time and is expected to provide insights on how the Secret Service must adapt to a rapidly changing criminal underground. The agency is best known for protecting public officials, but it has a long history of fighting financial crime, too."
5. Cyber Airmen Trained for a China-Taiwan Conflict That Unfolds Online
airforcemag.com · by Rachel S. Cohen · September 23, 2020
I wonder if the war has already begun in the cyber domain.
6. PACAF: Chinese Propaganda Targeting Andersen AFB is an Attempt to Intimidate
airforcemag.com · by Brian W. Everstine · September 23, 2020
China's three warfares: psychological warfare, legal warfare or lawfare, and media or public opinion warfare. Politics is war by other means and China is conducting political warfare. Can we compete in this form of Great Power Competition?
7. These Marine Expeditionary Forces are creating new war plans with Navy fleets to counter China
marinecorpstimes.com · by Todd South · September 23, 2020
Key point: "Commandant Gen. David Berger’s guidance has shifted the Corps' focus to a lighter force teamed with its Navy partner to provide combat capabilities that the fleet needs to deter and defeat China along a spectrum of conflict. And that has all eyes on III MEF, as it sits within firing distance of China."
8. CIA clamps down on flow of Russia intelligence to White House
- A lot of accusations in this. Troubling , if true.
9. An Asian NATO? The U.S. Has Better Options for Its Allies
Bloomberg · by Hal Brands · September 23, 2020
What is old is new again. We have tried SEATO and NEATO before.
I think there is merit to some new arrangements in the Aisa-Pacific but they have to be based on the unique political, cultural, geographic, and security conditions and situations that exist. I would like to see a community of democracies that come together because they share the common values of liberal democracy, individual freedom, free market economy, rule of law, and human rights and who want to protect those values rather than coming together to simply counter the China threat. But we must also consider the arrangements in a broader context than military and security. We must also secure ourselves against political warfare, economic warfare, information and influence warfare, cultural warfare and coercive diplomacy or punishment diplomacy. We should learn a lesson from our deployment of THAAD to the Korean peninsula. We did that for valid security purposes to protect US and Korean military forces from north Korean missile attacks and because of the nature of the system protects the South Korea population as well. But as we know China objected and conducted economic warfare against the ROK and ROK business as well as "punishment diplomacy." We did not come to the defense of our ally. If a new architecture is to be championed it must include mutual defense against the full spectrum of warfare.
But I agree with Professor Brands that we must shore up our bilateral alliances. And I would say that only when those alliances are shored up can we consider a broader architecture.
10. FBI, DHS Warn of 'Likely' Disinformation Campaigns About Election Results
Again we have to stop the argument of which candidates are our adversaries trying to support and all agree that they are trying to undermine the legitimacy of our democratic process. All sides of the political spectrum should be united in defending against these external threats and protecting our electoral process and our nation.
11. FBI and CISA PSA: Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Result
We need to understand, expose, and counter these threats. We need to be prepared against the disinformation that will inevitably proliferate as we count votes between the November 3d election and the meeting of the Electoral College on December 3d to determine the next president.
12. (Philippine) Army captain named as operator of fake Facebook accounts
rappler.com· Camille Elemia· September 23, 2020
13. Op-Ed: Retired military leaders shouldn’t endorse presidential candidates. America is divided enough
Los Angeles Times · by ML Cavanaugh· September 23, 2020
14. Navy SEAL Chief Who Defied Trump Steps Down For New Assignment
kpbs.org · by Steve Walsh· September 23, 2020
My comments below. I think the headline editor made two errors - Rear Admiral Green is not a "Navy Chief" but he obviously meant "Chief" of the Navy Seals. And while he is technically "stepping down" from command of NAVSPECWARCOM I think some might interpret the title to mean his new job as Chief of Staff of USSOCOM is a step down (though I think we all know that anything following a command and going from a command to a staff positions feels like a step down.
15. What U.S. Troops Are Really Doing In Syria
The National Interest · by Michael Hall · September 23, 2020
A strong negative critique: "U.S. policy toward Syria is defined by an absurdity that can’t be neatly untangled—a low-intensity regime change mission defined as anything other than its central mission. Every now and then, we’re offered a new explanation for why our troops are in Syria. At this point, the best response is to say, “enough is enough. ”We don’t need to keep playing this game of roulette where Washington spins the wheel and tells us why our troops are there—it’s a racket and should be recognized as such. Syria’s problems aren't our problems and the only sensible option that comports with U.S. interests is a full withdrawal of American forces."
16. The US is preparing for a fight with China in the Pacific. Here's how Army special operators will fit in
taskandpurpose.com · by Stavros Atlamazoglou, Business Insider
The two SOF "trinities" apply across the spectrum of Great Power Competition in the Asia Pacific and around the world.
- Irregular Warfare
- Unconventional Warfare
- Support to Political Warfare
The Comparative advantage of SOF:
- Governance
- Influence
- Support to indigenous forces and populations
And of course the exquisite CT and DA capabilities will remain a no-fail national requirement
17. New Game, the First Offered by RAND to Public, Challenges Players to Design Defense Strategies for Uncertain World
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"Perhaps the most central characteristic of authentic leadership is the relinquishing of the impulse to dominate others."
- David Cooper
"The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have solved this by defying their parents and copying one another."
- Quentin Crisp
"Read, observe, listen intensely. As if your life depended upon it."
- Joyce Carol Oates