More Mosul obstacles; Syrian troops clash with Kurds; Soldier helps foil attack in Denmark; Palestine’s ninjas; and just a bit more.

Bombing at a mosque in Baghdad kills nine and wounds more than two dozen. It occurred at a Shiite mosque in the southwestern al-Radwaniya district, and so far there have been no claim of responsibility—though the Islamic State is known for the suicide-vest tactic used in Friday’s assault. More here.

Iraq’s military wants more rifles for its troops and rounds for its old T-72 Soviet-era tanks, the Washington Post’s Missy Ryan reported in travels with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford to Besmaya, Iraq.

Dunford’s goal: “Ensuring that a cohesive, well-equipped Iraqi force advances into Mosul…as military leaders seek to make up for flaws exposed in the army’s partial collapse in the same city in 2014. Among the challenges that U.S. and allied advisers face are ensuring that military equipment is procured and distributed to the right Iraqi units who will take part in that battle, and that foreign advisory efforts transform scattered, demoralized units.”

Ryan observed training with Iraq’s 9th Armored Division, which Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the head of U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq, said would be key in the battle for Mosul: “If we can get that right, hell or high water wouldn’t be able to stop these guys,” he said.

The big problem: Training “is still occurring too slowly, [MacFarland] said, leaving Iraq overly reliant on over-stretched counterterrorism troops rather than conventional army units. The military’s logistics and support systems remain underdeveloped, he said, as they have been since the United States began its massive military rebuilding effort in 2003.”

Another problem: Iraq’s Russian-made Su-25 jets that “miss more often than they hit.” Baghdad’s nearly half-dozen F-16s are reportedly more accurate—but, as with the troop levels, building capacity there will take some time yet. Read the rest, here.

One last bit on MacFarland: He made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people. That here and a little local celebration from MacFarland’s former base at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, here.

Syrian opposition withdraws from Geneva talks. “The opposition negotiators walked out of talks in Geneva this week, saying they refused to continue while the government was committing ‘massacres,’ and the warring parties showed signs of preparing for new battles,” the New York Times reported Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the only ones sad about that is the withdrawing party itself, the High Negotiations Committee.

Meantime, “clashes broke out between Kurdish militias and Syrian government forces [in northeast Qamishli], potentially opening a new front in the already complex conflict,” NYT’s Anne Barnard reported.  

How it went down: “Kurdish activists and news sites reported, as many as a dozen pro-government militia fighters had been killed, along with at least two Kurdish fighters, members of the autonomous region’s security forces. The reports showed video of a tattered government flag at the Alayia prison in the area, which they said had been taken over by Kurdish fighters. Pro-government websites said Kurds had started the battle by attacking army positions. Kurdish activists said in accounts posted online that the tensions began when government forces sought to prevent one of them from filming in the government-held security zone in the city.” Read the rest, here.

Putin’s artillery in Syria is dividing U.S. officials’ response, Reuters reports. “The Russian reassertion of military backing has prompted some U.S. officials to warn that a failure to respond would be seen by Moscow as a fresh sign of American timidity,” U.S. officials told Reuters. “The answer, they argue, is stepped-up U.S. support for moderate Syrian rebel factions with more anti-tank missiles and grenade launchers sent through third countries. However, other officials, including National Security Advisor Susan Rice, have vetoed any significant escalation of U.S. involvement in Syria, the officials said.”

“Rice is the fly in the ointment,” said a person familiar with the internal debate. That, here.

ICYMI: Russian forces in Syria have fired on Israeli aircraft at least twice, Israeli media reported this morning. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks published by Israeli reporters whom he briefed by phone on his talks on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said ‘there have been problems’ regarding Israeli military freedom of operation in Syria. He gave no details, but said: ‘If you don't deal with the friction, it could develop into something more serious.’ The unsourced report in Yedioth Ahronoth made no mention of dates or locations for the two reported incidents, nor did it give any indication of whether the Israeli planes were hit.”

Speaking of Russian air defense: How much does it cost to buy a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system? $6B, and it’s now on offer to India.

From Defense One

Come to the first-ever Defense One Tech Summit, on June 10. Join Defense Secretary Ash Carter and some of the brightest minds in military and consumer technology to discuss the future of innovation and national security at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Reserve your early seat, here.

As Pentagon dawdles, Silicon Valley sells its newest tech abroad. A trio of tech CEOs say red tape and onerous requirements are undermining Ash Carter’s outreach efforts. Tech Editor Patrick Tucker reports, here.

Here are some things lawmakers should do before they complain about military readiness. A few common-sense Congressional actions would go a long way toward funding troops’ preparedness. William Hartung of the Center for International Policy lays them out, here.

There are no good alternatives to the U.S.-Saudi relationship, according to Obama’s former Mideast advisor, who also says the administration did just enough in Syria to perpetuate the conflict without resolving it. Via The Atlantic, here.

Welcome to the Friday edition of The D Brief, by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. On this day in 1944, the helicopter made its combat-search-and-rescue debut in a mission by the USAAC’s 1st Air Commando Group. Shoot your friends this link: http://get.defenseone.com/d-brief/. And let us know your news: the-d-brief@defenseone.com.

Gambling with the Pentagon’s war chest. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, says his panel will authorize a Pentagon budget of $583 billion ($610 billion when nuclear and non-Defense Department-funded items are factored in) at exactly the level President Obama asked for in February. That means it will fall in line with the federal spending caps and no return of sequestration.

But there’s a catch. He would take about half of the Pentagon’s war chest and put it toward buying new weapons and other items traditionally funded in the base budget. Thornberry said his panel would only fund war efforts through April, leaving it up to the next president to ask Congress for the $18 billion balance.

“We looked seriously at upping the top line, but the judgment was that this gives us the same total level as the president gives us appropriation bills signed and authorization bills signed,” Thornberry said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast Thursday. More here and here.

That’s “budgetary sleight-of-hand,” says William Hartung of the Center for International Policy. “If members of Congress truly care about the needs of the troops, they should start by kicking their habit of raiding the operations budget.” Read on, here.

Gen. Scaparrotti’s advice on Europe: add one more permanent brigade of U.S. troops, he advised lawmakers Thursday at his confirmation hearing to take over as chief of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander. “Scaparrotti, who now commands U.S. forces in Korea, called Russia the top threat facing the U.S., and he said Moscow should be delivered a sharp warning to keep a distance from U.S. forces operating in the region. At present, only two brigades are permanently stationed in Europe, the Vicenza, Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment out of Vilseck, Germany,” Stars and Stripes reported as Scaparrotti was joined in testimony by the Air Force’s Pacific chief, Gen. Lori Robinson, who has been nominated to lead U.S. Northern Command.

Before we leave Europe, CIA Director John Brennan made an unannounced stop in Sarajevo today to talk counter-terrorism with Bosnian officials, who are tracking more than 120 fighters who have left to join the conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria. More on that drop-in here.

Disturbing assault in Somalia surfaces in video. Extremists from Africa’s al-Shebab reportedly wiped out an entire Kenyan army unit in a particularly intense and graphic battle. Here’s graphic video from the raid in El Adde, Somalia, in late February that killed a staggering 180 troops.

The quiet savior of Denmark, operating from Western Iraq. “Capt. Bradley Grimm provided ‘actionable intelligence’ gleaned from captured documents in Iraq about foreign fighters from Denmark that included information on threats against a Danish school using homemade explosives,” U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren said Thursday. “The information he provided helped to foil the plot and resulted in an arrest and the confiscation of explosives” in Denmark, Warren said Wednesday. “Brad’s work likely saved the lives of Danish citizens.” Grimm, who was based at al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, “did all of this voluntarily in addition to his duties,” Warren said. CNN has the story, here.

Because it’s Friday—Palestine has ninjas, and Foreign Affairs takes a look at them in a new photo spread here. If that’s too old-school for ya, try these photos of America’s Zumwalt (DDG-1000) stealth destroyer, via Defense News’ Chris Cavas.