News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobua Kishi Before Their Meeting
2. Surprise Attack: How China Could Start a War Against Taiwan
3. INDOPACOM Drafts Regional Strategy For All-Domain Ops
4. A story for Quad
5. Quad heads welcome cooperation from other countries
6. FDD | After a decade of despair, Syria needs our help
7. History Can Teach Joe Biden How to Outcompete China
8. Report - Cyber Fundamentals for SOF | SOF News
9. The Military Could Soon Face a Flag Officer Talent Crisis
10. ‘Just not going to happen’: US warns China over Australian trade stoush
11. A New Step Forward in PLA Professionalization
12. Air Force squadron in South Korea replaces pit bull morale patch linked to white supremacy
13. After the Insurrection, America’s Far-Right Groups Get More Extreme
14. Op-Ed: Look to the Reagan administration for the answer to the China challenge
15. Cornell Faculty Revolt Against China Partnership
16. IOC under fire after ‘dismissing’ claims of genocide against Uighurs in China
17. The disinformation tactics used by China
18. New US Army doctrine coming summer of 2022
19. Why the U.S. Won’t Leave the Indo-Pacific
20. America’s Coronavirus Catastrophe Began With Data
21. Even Tucker Carlson Has a Right to Bash the Military
22. Five Strategies for the New 'Civil' War
23. DOD Officials Describe Conditions in Indo-Pacific
1. Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobua Kishi Before Their Meeting
state.gov · by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
2. Surprise Attack: How China Could Start a War Against Taiwan
19fortyfive.com · by Daniel Davis · March 15, 2021
Davis advocates for sustaining strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan.
3. INDOPACOM Drafts Regional Strategy For All-Domain Ops
breakingdefense.com · by Theresa Hitchens
Excerpts:
JADC2 is the emerging strategy for how the Joint Force will command the highly automated, fast paced and globalized battlefields of the future, now also sitting on Milley’s desk.
“We’ve been intimately involved in all things related to Joint All Domain Command and Control,” he said. As you know, each of the services are pursuing various command and control constructs. You’re very familiar, I think, with Project Convergence in the US Army, Project Overmatch with the US Navy. The Air Force, I think, has really been a driving force behind the JADC2 in the way of CONOPS, or concept of operations development, and some of the tactics, techniques and procedures that will go into that as well. And they’re doing that materially through their ABMS [Advanced Battle Management System] program — so we’re tied in directly with all of these efforts.”
INDOPACOM already has been working on some experimental tech to implement JADC2 with DARPA, Ka’iliwai said, although neither he nor a DARPA spokesperson would go into any detail citing the sensitive nature of the efforts.
“We also have a very robust experimentation program when it comes to JADC2,” Ka’iliwai said. “We’ve actually exercised some of those constructs during our recent exercise Valiant Shield in the fall of last year.”
4. A story for Quad
indianexpress.com · March 15, 2021
A view from India.
Conclusion: “This broad-based practical agenda of the Quad also counters a second Chinese narrative on the forum. When it was not demonising the Quad as “Asian Nato”, the Chinese leadership dismissed it as transient “sea-foam”. The repurposing of the Quad to deal with shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific ensures the forum’s political sustainability over the longer term. It has taken quite a while for the Quad to arrive at this balanced framework; but the summit has gotten it just right. As the Quad finds a new credibility, China might be unwise to continue with its dual policy of condemnation and condescension. All four capitals — Delhi, Canberra, Tokyo and Washington — have huge stakes in a productive, peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with China that has risen to become the world’s second largest economic and military power. It is up to Beijing now to rethink its current aggressive policies and seek cooperative relations with its Asian neighbours and the US. But if China continues to pursue hegemony, the Quad is bound to become an inevitable balancing force.”
5. Quad heads welcome cooperation from other countries
donga.com · March 16, 2021
Excerpt: “Recalling that the Quad was initially created to respond to the tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia in 2004, the leaders said they are again summoned to act together in support of a region in need in this new age of interconnection and opportunity throughout the Indo-Pacific. The Quad leaders also gave a detailed explanation on what they discussed at the Quad summit, such as response to the pandemic and cooperation on climate change.”
6. FDD | After a decade of despair, Syria needs our help
fdd.org · by David Adesnik · March 15, 2021
Conclusion: “There have been few major battles in Syria since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, yet the war is far from over. The U.S. may not be able to end that war, but a well-crafted policy, including sanctions, can shape its course and alleviate suffering while imposing a measure of accountability on Assad and his enablers.”
7. History Can Teach Joe Biden How to Outcompete China
19fortyfive.com · by James Holmes · March 14, 2021
Conclusion:
“That the balance of folly favors the United States and its friends is no cause for complacency, though. Carl von Clausewitz counsels that failure is always an option in strategic competition or warfare. Clausewitz would concur with King Archidamus: it’s natural to hope an antagonist will blunder, and to welcome and exploit such blunders when they occur. It is unsafe to depend on an opponent to defeat itself.
Let’s up our game—and be safe.”
8. Report - Cyber Fundamentals for SOF | SOF News
sof.news · by SOF News · March 16, 2021
The four page paper can be accessed here.
9. The Military Could Soon Face a Flag Officer Talent Crisis
defenseone.com · by Col. Charles Luke
I did not expect this argument:
“At a minimum, Congress should delink the pay cap for retirement pay. This would provide a retirement equivalent to the pay scale for all service members, while not paying them more than members of Congress. Additionally, military pay caps should be adjusted based on the annual increase in the Employment Cost Index.
Another possible solution with historical precedent would be to selectively remove the cap for certain positions based on the level of responsibility, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the service chiefs, and the combatant commanders. Finally, the military should adopt an innovative retirement system commensurate with the inherent risks, responsibilities and commitment of a senior military leader.
It’s time for Congress and the Pentagon to begin serious consideration of how to address senior leader pay. Delinking military pay from the civilian Executive Schedule is an important start.”
10. ‘Just not going to happen’: US warns China over Australian trade stoush
The Sydney Morning Herald · by Peter Hartcher · March 16, 2021
We should pay close attention to this. This is one line of effort for the Quad. Coming to the defense of a member against Chinese economic warfare. South Korea should understand this is the kind of defense the Quad can offer if China again conducts economic warfare against the South as it did during the THAAD deployment.
11. A New Step Forward in PLA Professionalization
realcleardefense.com · by Joel Wuthnow and Phillip C. Saunders
A New Step Forward in PLA Professionalization
12. Air Force squadron in South Korea replaces pit bull morale patch linked to white supremacy
Stripes · by Matthew Keller · March 16, 2001
13. After the Insurrection, America’s Far-Right Groups Get More Extreme
defenseone.com · by Matthew Valasik
Excerpts:
“But that approach has ended. Merrick Garland’s appointment as Biden’s attorney general is a big signal: In his career at the Department of Justice before becoming a federal judge, Garland supervised the investigations of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing.
These were two of the most noteworthy acts of far-right domestic terrorism in the nation’s history. Garland has said that he will make fighting right-wing violence and attacks on democracy major priorities of his tenure at the head of the Justice Department.
In January, Canada designated the Proud Boys and other right-wing groups as terrorist organizations, which puts pressure on U.S. law enforcement to reconsider how they evaluate, investigate and prosecute these extremist groups. Beyond law enforcement’s treating these far-right groups like street gangs, there are also laws in place to combat violence associated with domestic terrorism.
It appears that U.S. prosecutors may finally begin to take seriously the violent actions of Proud Boys, especially as more and more members are being charged with coordinating the breach of the U.S. Capitol Building.
But as police power comes to bear on these violent right-wing groups, many of their members remain at least as radicalized as they were on Jan. 6 – if not more so. Some may feel that more extreme measures are needed to resist the Biden administration. “
14. Op-Ed: Look to the Reagan administration for the answer to the China challenge
Los Angeles Times · by H.R. McMaster and Jonathan D.T. Ward · March 15, 2021
The 10-page declassified NSDD 75 can be accessed here.
I like to read the Reagan national security documents because there are a lot of brilliant ideas in them. We can learn a lot from them.
15. Cornell Faculty Revolt Against China Partnership
freebeacon.com · by Yuichiro Kakutani · March 15, 2021
Good for the professors. Bottom line versus values.
Conclusion:
“The senate will hold a nonbinding vote on the issue on March 17. Administrators can push ahead with the plan even if professors disapprove, but the stakes are high. If faculty members vote against the joint degree program, they might also oppose Cornell's many other programs in China.
Abandoning those partnerships would be disastrous to the university's bottom line, something Fiskesjö says may be its only choice.
"If you carry on business as usual, you end up legitimizing and endorsing what they're doing," he said. "You can run a genocide … and it doesn't matter, we'll keep opening new exchange programs with you."
16. IOC under fire after ‘dismissing’ claims of genocide against Uighurs in China
The Guardian · by Sean Ingle · March 12, 2021
As it should be. Can anyone be neutral when genocide is being committed?
17. The disinformation tactics used by China
BBC · by Krassi Twigg and Kerry Allen · March 16, 2021
18. New US Army doctrine coming summer of 2022
Defense News · by Jen Judson · March 15, 2021
19. Why the U.S. Won’t Leave the Indo-Pacific
WSJ · by Walter Russell Mead
Excerpts:
“The picture wasn’t always a beautiful one. Racist attitudes and the U.S. colonial venture in the Philippines left a complicated and sometimes bitter legacy. But if Americans haven’t always been noble or wise in their Pacific policies, they have always been engaged.
That is unlikely to change today. The region is more central to U.S. prosperity and security than ever. Seeking a balanced and secure regional order—without war traps, Thucydidean or otherwise—is a challenging task. America and its allies are sure to make some mistakes.
But if allies sometimes doubt U.S. wisdom, the American commitment to the region is so deeply grounded in history and the structure of U.S. interests that walking away from the region is the one thing Washington is least likely to do.”
20. America’s Coronavirus Catastrophe Began With Data
defenseone.com · by Robinson Meyer and Alexis C. Madrigal
Excerpts:
To avoid another data calamity, our public-health system must expend as much energy on understanding the present as it does on modeling the future. Governing through a pandemic—or any emergency—is about making the least-bad decisions with the best information available. That information can take many forms; it doesn’t have to be data. But if you do look at the data, then you must understand how each point, each cell, was made; otherwise, you’re likely to be misled.
Our leaders should also put some faith in the capabilities of those whom they govern. The COVID Tracking Project clung to one principle: We told people the truth as we could discern it. We didn’t say what we wanted to be true, nor what we hoped would engender a specific public response.
Working on the COVID Tracking Project has been the honor of our lives. For a year, every day, dozens of volunteers—programmers, librarians, high schoolers, a former hotel manager—came together to make an honest account of one of the most horrifying ordeals that any of us had ever experienced. This team of former strangers, united by concern and curiosity, salvaged something useful from the din. We held fast to one another, and we made sense of the world as we could.
21. Even Tucker Carlson Has a Right to Bash the Military
The Daily Beast · by Matt Lewis · March 15, 2021
As I have previously written: What @TuckerCarlson said is reprehensible & indefensible. But there is only one response to it from any US military service member who believes in his or her oath:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - S.G. Tallentyre
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"Debate is never finished; it can't be, lest democracy be no longer democratic and society be stripped of or forfeit its autonomy. Democracy means that the citizen's task is never complete. Democracy exists through persevering and unyielding citizens' concern. Once that concern is put to sleep, democracy expires."
-Zygmunt Bauman
"The sides are being divided now. It’s very obvious. So if you’re on the other side of the fence, you’re suddenly anti-American. Its breeding fear of being on the wrong side. Democracy’s a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it’s no longer democracy, is it? It’s something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism."
- Sam Shepard
"Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson