Think again, North Korea tells US; Dollars flowed to Afghan warlords; New law would reframe command at sea; Let’s talk about food; and just a bit more...

"The land of morning surprise." That's what America's military chief in Korea, Gen. Vincent Brooks, called the peninsula in the wake of President Trump cancelling the big U.S.-North Korean summit in mid-June.

"We all had high expectations that there will be a successful summit on the 12th of June," Brooks told a seminar in Seoul on Friday, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News agency. “Korea remains not the land of morning calm, but the land of morning surprise.”

The warrior ethos: "I am not worried about it because the opportunity is not lost. It is just delayed,” Brooks continued. “Don't worry about what happened last night because it may have been too early to celebrate, it is also too early to quit. Never quit."

North Korea’s reax: “The U.S. side’s unilateral announcement of the cancellation of the summit makes us think over if we were truly right to have made efforts for it and to have opted for the new path. But we remain unchanged in our goal and will to do everything we could for peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and humankind, and we, broad-minded and open all the time, have the willingness to offer the U.S. side time and opportunity. The first meeting would not solve all, but solving even one at a time in a phased way would make the relations get better rather than making them get worse. The U.S. should ponder over it.”

And so it would seem the door is not closed, yet. Continuing, North Korea’s vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan added, “We would like to make known to the U.S. side once again that we have the intent to sit with the U.S. side to solve problem regardless of ways at any time.” Read Pyongyang’s statement in full over at Quartz.

You can game out how a confrontation could go between the U.S. and North Korea in this remarkable interactive op-ed from Mark Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Institute for International and Strategic — Americas, writing in The New York Times.

And: “Kim Jong Un doesn’t need to dance with Trump. He’s got his own nuclear weapons.” Read how Melissa Hanham, an expert in the use of open-source data to assess WMD capabilities and verify treaties, experienced Thursday’s remarkable events, here.


From Defense One

Trump’s Reckoning Arrives // David Frum, The Atlantic: The president’s unpredictability once worked to his advantage—but now, it is producing a mounting list of foreign-policy failures.

WTF: A Few Morning Thoughts on US-North Korea Relations // Melissa Hanham: Kim Jong Un doesn’t need to dance with Trump. He’s got his own nuclear weapons.

The Word That Derailed the Trump-Kim Summit // Uri Friedman, The Atlantic: The Americans and the North Koreans were all set for a historic meeting. Then they started talking about Libya.

Dance party at a defense firm; New B-52 engines; Is the defense bubble bursting? and a lot more. // Marcus Weisgerber’s Defense Business Brief

Show of Unity: US’ NATO Ambassador Says ‘We Are One’ // Caroline Houck: Working to ease continental worries deepened by Trump’s Iran-deal decision, a top U.S. diplomat says America is as committed as ever to the alliance.

Let’s Talk about Food — and What Happens In a Crisis // Elisabeth Braw: Sweden is telling its citizens to be ready to feed themselves for a week. Other nations should follow suit.

Welcome to this Friday 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. OTD1953: The U.S. performs its only test-firing of a nuclear artillery shell.


House legislators passed the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday in a 351-to-66 vote, U.S. Naval Institute News reported from Capitol Hill.
Broadly speaking, the House version of the authorization bill includes “several provisions intended to increase the Navy’s warfighting ability. Recently added amendments include increasing the pace of new aircraft carrier procurement and allowing the Pentagon to purchase more F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters if the price per jet continues to decrease. The NDAA also includes language reforming how surface warfare officers are trained and how forward-deployed forces are organized.”
ICYMI: A former destroyer skipper argues that the requirement to force U.S. Navy surface-warfare officers to specialize — as the Royal Navy does—would undermine the command-at-sea philosophy that has helped turn the American fleet in the world’s dominant naval force. Read that, here.
Next item of business: “The Senate Armed Services Committee wrapped up its subcommittee and full committee markups on its version of the NDAA this week. Following a full Senate vote to approve that bill, the two chambers will have to work out the differences between their defense bills and pass the compromise language on both sides of the Hill.” A bit more, here.

And the Senate’s plan? It includes “only half of President Donald Trump’s [requested] military end-strength increase for fiscal 2019,” Military Times’ Leo Shane III reported Thursday.
About those differences: “The White House had asked for an end strength of 15,600 troops across all four services, a plan that House lawmakers officially agreed to in a vote earlier on Thursday.” Currently, "[T]he Senate committee’s plan — which still must be adopted by the full chamber in coming months — calls for an increase of only about 8,600 new service members."
That means "The Army would see a boost of about 2,200 soldiers, as opposed to the 4,000-person increase in the White House plan. The Navy would see 3,000 more instead of the president’s 7,500-person request. The Air Force would get only 600 more airmen instead of the 4,000 the administration wants.|
Notable: "In all three plans, the Marine Corps will see a boost of only 100 troops," Shane reports. Read the rest, here.

Surprise: American money empowered Afghan warlords “who were just as bad as the terrorists themselves,” the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report released Thursday.
The core of the problem: “More money went to communities whose local political dynamics were poorly understood, which often exacerbated conflicts, enabled corruption, and bolstered support for insurgents,” SIGAR’s John Sopko told a crowd at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Thursday. Added Sopko: The “sheer amount of money spent … had no correlation with outcome.”
And the solution? A long view from the beginning — and a longer attention span throughout the process, according to USNI’s write-up of Sopko’s talk. USNI: “Stabilization of conditions in war-torn countries, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, is ‘going to take a long time. Be honest’ with the president seeking advice, cabinet officials, agency heads, Congress and the public, [Sopko] said. ‘We tend to think in the appropriation cycle’ of one or two years even in assessing long-term commitments and that leads to seeking fast solutions. By doing that, ‘we give [DoD, State, USAID] a box of broken tools.’” Stars and Stripes has a bit more, here.

India and Russia are teaming up in Afghanistan, The Indian Express reported Thursday amid a bit of gushing about how the two countries’ leaders are quite chummy with one another.
But teaming up on what? Something "possibly in the development sector." However, "India took up the issue of countering terrorism and made a veiled reference to Pakistan supporting terrorists across the world," and "forcefully argued that the international community needs to differentiate between victims of terrorism of their own making, and others."
Also notable: According to an unnamed New Delhi source, TE writes, “The two sides decided to discuss the issues related to defence, nuclear and trade areas during the annual summit in the latter half of this year.”
Oh, and about that chumminess: “The two leaders shared lot of chemistry, and that was evident when Putin — impromptu — decided to come to the airport to see off Modi. What became interesting was that they reached the airport in the car, and kept talking for almost 15 minutes, while everyone else was waiting for them to emerge from the vehicle. This just signifies the comfort level between the two countries,” the unnamed source said. Read on, here.

China’s reax to being dis-invited by the U.S. to its annual RIMPAC military exercises: That is “unconstructive,” and won’t alter China’s (stated) intent to “play a role in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” That’s all according to a statement from the defense ministry, posted on its website Thursday, the Associated Press reports.
Reading the tea leaves, AP writes, “The U.S. move raises the prospect of a renewed chill in military relations between the two countries amid high-stakes maneuvering over North Korea’s nuclear program.” Read on, here.

Still in operation: The U.S. Marines’ base in northern Australia, near the city of Darwin, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday on location.
The quick read: “The U.S. and Australia have begun a multibillion-dollar improvement of air bases in northern Australia to accommodate stealth warplanes and long-range maritime patrol drones, and are building wharves and refueling points for visiting warships in Darwin—part of a $150 billion upgrade of Australia’s military.”
The current U.S. troop count there comes to “almost 1,600 Marines,” the Journal writes. That number “will grow to 2,500 in the next few years.”
In the next few months, “the Marines will embed for the first time on Australian amphibious assault ships and practice humanitarian-disaster operations and combat skills… joining troops from the Philippines, Japan and Pacific island countries here and on Australia’s east coast.”
The view from locals: “People here don’t think China is a threat—unless they’re in defense,” said the Mayor of Darwin, Kon Vatskalis. A bit more (paywall alert), here.

Back stateside, the Marine Corps apparently does not kick out neo-Nazis easily. A recent investigation by ProPublica — with the help of a former Marine — found "Vasillios Pistolis — a current Marine — is a neo-Nazi who was at Charlottesville" during the bloody protests last year.
The former Marine with ProPublica then “armed himself with evidence,” presented it to the Corps, and… Pistolis is still serving under the presumed banner of protecting and defending the Constitution. Story, here.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, everyone. And we’ll catch you again on Tuesday!

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.