Trump cancels summit; Pentagon accelerates arms exports; Syrian women join the fight; China disinvited from RIMPAC; and just a bit more...
Trump cancels summit with North Korea — and tosses in a threat of nuclear war. The official White House statement communicating as much (entitled “Letter to Chairman Kim Jong Un”), can be read in full (PDF), here.
How that threat was lobbed: "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours our so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.” But then Trump added: “...please do not hesitate to call me or write.”
Got it? Now let’s move on (sort of). Before a crowd of journalists, North Korea this morning destroyed its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in its far northeastern North Hamgyong Province, the Associated Press reports on location.
The demolition occurred just a few short hours after North Korean state media let loose some more bellicose rhetoric Wednesday evening — this time targeting not only White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, but also Vice President Mike Pence (who on Wednesday threatened the North with an attack if negotiations go south).
DPRK’s bluster today: “We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us,” Choe Son Hui, a vice foreign minister said. “Whether the U.S. will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision. . . of the U.S.”
And about that Pence swipe: “As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice-president,” Choe said. So things are going about as expected, if one has read anything from nuclear experts such as Jeffrey Lewis, James Acton, Joshua Pollack, Melissa Hanham, and others.
But back to that demolition at Punggye-ri: Said DPRK’s state-run KNCA: "Dismantling the nuclear test ground was done in such a way as to make all the tunnels of the test ground collapse by explosion and completely close the tunnel entrances."
From the scene: “The explosions at the nuclear test site,” AP reported, “centered on three tunnels at the underground site and a number of buildings in the surrounding area… [and] touched off landslides near the tunnel entrances and sent up clouds of smoke and dust.”
Meantime, it’s official: “Harry B. Harris, Jr., of Florida, [has been formally nominated] to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea,” the White House announced Wednesday evening.
And headed to North Korea in exactly one week: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Reuters reports. Most these items are fast becoming outdated, so just keep that in mind as you’re reading this morning.
From Defense One
Pentagon Is Speeding Up Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia, Other Allies // Patrick Tucker: A recent law allows one-size-fits-most-allies contracts, the U.S. military's head weapons buyer explains.
Arab Women in Syria, Inspired by Kurdish Sisters, Join the Fight — and the Movement // Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: "There is no difference between us and them, we are both women. What is really important now is women are having a role."
Former South Korean National-Security Adviser: The US May Have to Withdraw Some Troops // Uri Friedman: Breaking with his fellow conservatives, Chun Yung Woo says "there will be no solution" to the North Korean nuclear crisis without willingness to compromise on the U.S. alliance.
Pentagon Bans Personal Devices from Classified Areas // Jack Corrigan: That includes phones, smartwatches and other devices that can transmit, store and receive data.
Back Off, Congress: Don't Meddle With the US Navy's Command Philosophy // Bryan McGrath: A proposal to force surface-ship officers to specialize would undermine a conceptual pillar of the world's dominant naval power.
No Joke: Top Special Ops Commander Says No Offense Intended, Lauds Press // Kevin Baron: 'I don't condone that kind of violence' Gen. Raymond 'Tony' Thomas said in an exclusive interview, one day after joking about pretending to shoot at the press.
Welcome to this Thursday edition of The D Brief by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. And if you find this useful, consider forwarding it to a friend or colleague. They can subscribe here for free.
China has been disinvited to this year’s RIMPAC exercises. Why? It’s all about the South China Sea. “As an initial response to China's continued militarization of the South China Sea we have disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise,” Pentagon spox LtCol. Christopher Logan said Wednesday in a statement. "We have strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea. China's landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions."
The disinvitation from the Pacific’s largest naval exercise was first reported by WSJ’s Gordon Lubold.
SecDef Mattis plays cleanup: “We are not ratcheting up anything. In fact, we believe firmly in a stable Pacific,” Mattis told the Washington Examiner, which is traveling with him in Colorado. “What we are doing is we are cooperating with China wherever we can, and we are going to have to also confront them when we believe that the rule of law or that matters that can destabilize the region are being pursued.”
Iran responds to SecState Pompeo’s 12 steps to get back into President Trump’s good graces with a seven-step list of their own. Via WSJ, here.
Russian sub presence in UK waters has increased “tenfold,” the UK defence secretary told the Royal United Service Institute’s conference on sea warfare on Wednesday. That’s more of an ICYMI; Williamson has been saying so since November. The Guardian: He cited Russian submarine activity in the north Atlantic, which he said had increased tenfold. He said Russian warships had approached UK waters 33 times last year, compared with just once in 2010.” Read on, here.
Researchers ID the missile that downed MH17. “The JIT is convinced that the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17, originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade (hereinafter 53rd brigade), a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. The JIT reached this conclusion after extensive comparative research,” writes the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, here. And more, via WaPo, here.
China says buzz off with claims Beijing sonic-attacked a U.S. consular worker. NBC News has that one, here.
And here’s a gorgeous feature from the Reuters graphics team illustrating (in photos) how “China’s military bases on man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea are virtually complete” using “data and satellite imagery [that] shows the pace of construction on reefs and reclaimed land in the Spratly and Paracel Islands.”
More military analysis: The New York Times offers us a new window into that Feb. 7 failed assault on U.S. troops by Russian mercs in Syria. Worth the click, here.
And finally today, for all you special operations fan boys out there: For the first time in three years, the “MV Ocean Trader—the highly customized roll-on, roll-off freighter that was converted into a mothership and floating command center by U.S. Special Operations Command” was photographed last Friday “at a remote drydock facility in Oman,” The Drive’s Tyler Rogoway reported Wednesday. “The photos, which were posted on French defense journalist Philippe Chapleau's blog, were taken on February 27th, 2018, nearly two months after the picture was taken in Oman. The location is also important, with these photos being snapped in Victoria, on Mahé Island, the capital city of the Seychelles Archipelago.”
What it may be up to: “counter-piracy operations around the Horn of Africa as it was specifically procured and modified not to appear like a combat ship… Supporting special operations forces in Yemen and interdicting illicit cargo heading from Iran to Houthi fighters in that country is also another possibility.” Read on, here.