News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. U.S. Enlists Allies to Counter China’s Technology Push
2. Joe Biden’s Mixed Iran Messages
3. 'There's a degree of mistrust': a third of US military personnel refuse Covid vaccine
4. At pivotal moment in Afghanistan war, Biden weighs a dilemma about future of US troop involvement
5. The Pentagon’s sexual assault review committee wants troop input on policy and culture change
6. Powerplay: America eyes ICBM-killing ships
7. Hyten: US Must Broaden Its Strategic Deterrence Concept — and Keep Its ICBMs
8. ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s Sub-Saharan Affiliates Are Poised for Growth in 2021
9. ICAS Spring Symposium Libertas - The Honourable Admiral Philip S Davidson, US Navy
10. China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency
11. China to strengthen global influence campaign amid rising discontent: Report
12. Space Force Should Embrace the Natural Inclusivity of Space Nerds
13. India considers long-term economic ties with the Philippines, to boost Indo-Pacific initiative
14. The soft but unmatched power of US foreign exchange programs
15. Can the United States Prevent a War over Taiwan?
16. BYU Professors Create Ethics Field Guide To Help US Special Forces
17. Desert Storm at 30: Aerospace Power and the U.S. Military
18. China Appears to Warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out
19. Xi Jinping says China has a legal problem: finding the lawyers to defend its interests abroad
20. Avril Haines Takes Over As Intelligence Chief At 'A Challenging Time'
21. The Mole and Me (Robert Hanssen and the psychiatrist)
22. Royal Marines take on sabotage raids & spying to help ease pressure on SAS & SBS
23. Special Operations News Update - Monday, March 1, 2021 | SOF News
1. U.S. Enlists Allies to Counter China’s Technology Push
WSJ · by Bob Davis
There is no going it alone against China.
2. Joe Biden’s Mixed Iran Messages
WSJ · by The Editorial Board
I wonder why no one seems to mention that Kim Jong-un and his top officials are studying everything we say and do regarding Iran.
We must consider how the regime is going to act and react. It will seek to exploit what it can from the US-Iran situation.
If we lift sanctions on Iran it is likely the north will not even agree to talk without actual sanctions relief first or at least a very public promise of sanctions relief in return for talks. Our negotiating leverage will be undercut significantly with north Korea if we lift sanctions on Iran.
3. 'There's a degree of mistrust': a third of US military personnel refuse Covid vaccine
The Guardian · by Oliver Milman · February 27, 2021
One third? What is wrong with our active duty service members?
4. At pivotal moment in Afghanistan war, Biden weighs a dilemma about future of US troop involvement
militarytimes.com · by Robert Burns · February 26, 2021
Should I stay or should go? (to the tune of music by the Clash). The chorus is appropriate:
“Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know”
5. The Pentagon’s sexual assault review committee wants troop input on policy and culture change
militarytimes.com · by Meghann Myers · February 28, 2021
Excerpts:
“Details about who else will sit on the committee and how they will conduct their work were not available, but Rosenthal said that travel to installations will likely be part of the plan, as well as an online resource where service members can share their stories and insights.
“This commission says to that service member, you do belong in this military...and it’s our job to make this climate safe for you to be here,” she said.
The committee’s top priority is accountability for sexual assault, she said, but the team will also be looking at climate, culture and prevention.”
6. Powerplay: America eyes ICBM-killing ships
asiatimes.com · by Dave Makichuk · February 27, 2021
This would seem to have some real promise. I hope we can develop these capabilities.
7. Hyten: US Must Broaden Its Strategic Deterrence Concept — and Keep Its ICBMs
defenseone.com · by Patrick Tucker
Excerpts:
“Hyten cautioned that such a move would radically change the balance of nuclear deterrence since the United States and Russia together possess far more nuclear weapons than does China. “If you go to that kind of number, all of a sudden China becomes a peer adversary and maybe even a superior adversary in their nuclear capability and we don’t understand their nuclear doctrine and that puts you in a difficult place. So with that ground-based leg that overall deterrence, especially with China, is really challenged.”
Kingston Reif, the director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association, took issue with Hyten’s logic. “Why would Russia risk attacking the U.S. homeland with nuclear weapons when at least 700 U.S. warheads would remain at sea to respond — to say nothing about any remaining bomber forces? Gen. Hyten alludes to the potential unforeseen emergence of a vulnerability to the submarine force. But in that case, silo-based ICBMs would not provide a reliable hedge given their vulnerability.”
Said Reif, whatever benefits ICBMs have, “They can be had at lower numbers and by deferring the development of a new ICBM. Life-extended Minuteman III missiles can get blown up in their silos by incoming Russian ICBMs less expensively than new GBSD missiles."
8. ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s Sub-Saharan Affiliates Are Poised for Growth in 2021
defenseone.com · by Colin P. Clarke
A survey of the threats.
9. . ICAS Spring Symposium Libertas - The Honourable Admiral Philip S Davidson, US Navy
Register online here.
10. China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency
The New York Times · by Nathaniel Popper and Cao Li · March 1, 2021
One of the lines of effort to try to replace the dollar as the reserve currency?
Excerpts:
“Beyond those ambitions, the eCNY could immediately give the Chinese government more power to monitor finance flows because a digital currency system can record every transaction. That poses privacy concerns, with China having used many tools in the past to crack down on dissidents.
“If I cannot buy you a coffee without the government knowing about it, I do worry about what this could mean,” Mr. Prasad said.
Ms. Huang, the business strategist in Shenzhen, said she already assumes that most of her data can be tracked and has gotten used to it.
11. China to strengthen global influence campaign amid rising discontent: Report
hindustantimes.com · March 1, 2021
Excerpts:
“According to Lin, the scope of the CPC's global influence campaign encompasses politics, economics, the military and education including Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the more than 500 Confucius Institutes all over the world.
The CPC hopes to export its cultural values and ideologies to other countries through these Confucius Institutes and to lure developing countries to its side with money through the BRI, he said.
Lin pointed out that the CPC's united front tactics evolve through time and that the party now uses the popular app TikTok to air political ads, reaching people in as many as 150 countries around the world.
Another social media platform worth watching for the CPC's influence campaign is the Clubhouse, he
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and other Chinese leaders look at a display of lunar samples retrieved from the moon by China's Chang'e 5 lunar lander at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.”
12. Space Force Should Embrace the Natural Inclusivity of Space Nerds
defenseone.com · by Sarah Mineiro · February 28, 2021
I thought from the title this would be from the Onion or the Duffelblog but it is not.
Space Force Should Embrace the Natural Inclusivity of Space Nerds
13. India considers long-term economic ties with the Philippines, to boost Indo-Pacific initiative
theprint.in · March 1, 2021
Excerpts:
“According to sources, India is planning such mini-trade deals with those ASEAN countries with which it does not have a trade pact. New Delhi is doing this to better integrate itself in ASEAN’s supply chain networks and development in trade infrastructure since it is not a part of the Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) that is expected to come into effect later this year.
The RCEP is a mega trade pact between ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its five trading partners — China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2019, India had walked out of the RCEP over concerns that Chinese goods and services could flood its markets.
At a recent business conference, organised by Confederation of Industry (CII) and Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), India’s Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu S. Kumaran said the new strategic construct of Indo-Pacific is a key focus for both countries and that the PTA will help in deepening ties between the two sides.
Meanwhile, sources added, the PTA will also be a “step in the right direction” to boost India’s ‘Act East Policy’, which is aimed at reducing China’s growing influence in the region.
In infrastructure development, Indian companies such as the Adani Group, GMR, L&T and IRCON among others are also exploring investment opportunities in potential sectors such as railways, airports, shipbuilding, ports and urban infrastructure in the Philippines.”
14. The soft but unmatched power of US foreign exchange programs
The Hill · by Paula Dobriansky, Ed Gabriel and Marisa Lino · February 25, 2021
The soft but unmatched power of US foreign exchange programs
15. Can the United States Prevent a War over Taiwan?
warontherocks.com · by Robert D. Blackwill and. Philip Zelikow· March 1, 2021
I certainly hope so. But as we all know the best way to prevent war is to be prepared for one (or more).
To the authors' conclusions we must prepare for the enemy's most likely and most dangerous course of action with the proper balance between the two.
Excerpts;
“We stress that our proposal could not be successful in the absence of advance coordination and preparation with, at a minimum, Taiwan and Japan. That means the United States must listen to their preferences. If they argue for other approaches, then they have to recognize, accept, and be willing to act upon the responsibilities and risks that go with those approaches. On the other hand, if they join the United States to prepare the further plans envisioned in our fourth option, that joint planning would help unite their societies in more common readiness for joint action.
One concern we have heard is that our report is overly worried about Chinese military dangers. Instead, we should focus on “gray zone” ways China might pressure Taiwan, since these are more likely. Yet we notice that China tried incremental pressure in Xinjiang, but it was counterproductive, and the People’s Republic of China then finally decided to wield the hammer. We notice that China tried incremental pressure in Hong Kong too, but it was counterproductive, and Beijing then finally decided to wield the hammer. Now we notice that China is trying incremental pressure in Taiwan, but it has had counterproductive effects in Taiwan’s politics. And China will now … ?
We would like to be wrong about the possible seriousness of a coming Taiwan crisis. We hope we have exaggerated the danger. We just cannot convince ourselves that the ominous clouds we see gathering are not really there.
16. BYU Professors Create Ethics Field Guide To Help US Special Forces
ksltv.com · February 24, 2021
I had not heard about this effort. I have not found a copy of the "A Special Operations Forces Ethics Field Guide" yet. I would like to take a look at the 13 "battle drills."
Interestingly I found this from 2019: Federal Contract Opportunity for SOF Ethics Field Guide H9240019RSOFEFG.
I also found Pete Dillion's 1992 MMAS thesis: Ethical Decision Making on the Battlefield: an analysis of Training for U.S. Army Special Forces.
Video at the link.
17. Desert Storm at 30: Aerospace Power and the U.S. Military
warontherocks.com · by David Deptula · March 01, 2021
From our nation's preeminent airpower expert.
18. China Appears to Warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out
The New York Times · by David E. Sanger and Emily Schmall · February 28, 2021
Sounds like a Chinese version of north Korean Blackmail diplomacy (with Chinese characteristics).
19. Xi Jinping says China has a legal problem: finding the lawyers to defend its interests abroad
SCMP · by Jun Mai · March 01, 2021
Lawyers do not want to be complicit in Chinese "Lawfare?"
20. Avril Haines Takes Over As Intelligence Chief At 'A Challenging Time'
NPR · by Greg Myre · February 28, 2021
She is living the Chinese curse: "may you live in interesting times."
21. The Mole and Me (Robert Hanssen and the psychiatrist)
spytalk.co · by David Charney
I have not yet watched this documentary.
22. Royal Marines take on sabotage raids & spying to help ease pressure on SAS & SBS
The Sun · by Jerome Starkey · March 1, 2021
Hmmm.... UK and US SOF similarities?
23. Special Operations News Update - Monday, March 1, 2021 | SOF News
sof.news · by John Friberg · March 1, 2021
Another excellent SOF roll-up from John Friberg.
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In honor of the Korean March 1st (Samil) Movement in 1919 and the reported 7,509 people killed, 15,849 wounded, and 46,303 arrested:
"We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. This we proclaim to all the nations of the world in witness of human equality. This we proclaim to our descendants so that they may enjoy in perpetuity their inherent right to nationhood. In as much as this proclamation originates from our five-thousand-year history, in as much as it springs from the loyalty of twenty million people, in as much as it affirms our yearning for the advancement of everlasting liberty, in as much as it expresses our desire to take part in the global reform rooted in human conscience, it is the solemn will of heaven, the great tide of our age, and a just act necessary for the co-existence of all humankind. Therefore, no power in this world can obstruct or suppress it!"
"Mansai"
- Read by Chung Jae-yong on March 1, 1919, along with 33 Korean activists who formed the core of the Samil Movement
"A single feat of daring can alter the whole conception of what is possible."
- Graham Greene
"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
- Henry David Thoreau
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إذا تعرض ملفوف الشامواه لبقع…
إذا تعرض ملفوف الشامواه لبقع دهنية مثل زيت الطهي والزبدة وما إلى ذلك.، يوصى باتباع هذه الخطوات قبل التفكير في التنظيف الجاف.ضع كمية صغيرة من بودرة التلك أو نشا الذرة على بقعة الشحوم ، وربت عليها واتركها طوال الليل حيث يمتص المسحوق زيت بقعة الشحوم ويجففها. يمكن إزالة المسحوق في اليوم التالي عن طريق فركه بفرشاة ناعمة أو سحبه باستخدام مكنسة كهربائية. لإزالة جميع الآثار المتبقية من وصمة عار ، فمن المستحسن استخدام ممحاة قلم رصاص أو ممحاة الشامواه. قد تحتاج البقع العنيدة والبقع الكبيرة إلى تكرار الإجراء 2-3 مرات للتخلص منها تماما.