IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION: We’re wishing the U.S. a very happy birthday and sending our gratitude to those who are working overseas to help keep the homeland safe. In this week’s collection, a look at what some of those troops are doing in the Middle East, we think we found the pilot with the coolest call sign and we’re not gonna tell you what to read this summer, but we will tell you what the experts are reading.
WHAT ARE ALL THOSE U.S. TROOPS DOING IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Serving overseas can be a dangerous job, as we were reminded after the U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, when fears were heightened that U.S. troops in the region might become targets of Iran’s retaliation. Outside of an Iranian attack against a base in Qatar that was advertised before it happened - all has been quiet on the payback front. The Cipher Brief took the opportunity though, to chat with former CENTCOM Commander General Frank McKenzie (Ret.) to ask what the 40,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East are actually doing there. Hint: a lot of it has to do with Iran.
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY: Major Melanie Kluesner, Pilot & Commander of the F-35 Demo Team (yes, that’s a thing) gave a rare up-close tour of the stealthy jet on the ground and in the air at the Paris Air Show. We have to admit, we didn’t even know there was an F-35 Demo Team. Not only did viewers get an up close look at the stealthy tech on the ground, but there was also cockpit video of the very, very expensive jet doing its thing in the air. Much like the Blue Angels, the F-35 Demo Team travels around the world to teach people about the jet and to inspire the next generation of Top Gun pilots. We personally think that Major Kluesner would give “Maverick” a run for his money when it comes to callsigns. Hers is “Mach”.
SHRINKING THE ODNI: Back in Washington, it’s never easy to find things that many in Congress and the administration agree on, but one might be the downsizing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. NBC News says that a bill by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) would cut ODNI by about 60% capping the workforce at 650. The current headcount is 1600, down from about 2,000 in January. DNI Tulsi Gabbard is said to be working on her own plan, along with Senator Cotton and other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to get rid of some ODNI functions and transfer others to different parts of the intelligence community. Politico’s NatSec Daily quotes a ODNI official who requested anonymity as saying Gabbard plans to announce her reform plans “soon.” The official boasted that Team Gabbard has already saved taxpayers millions by reducing its workforce by a fourth via a combination of early and regular retirements, terminations and the sunset of some offices. “Find another agency who has reduced 25 percent of their workforce in four months on the job,” the official challenged. We were going to suggest USAID or Voice of America – but that just feels mean.
BATTLE OF ANONYMOUS SOURCES: The latest commentary on insecurity at the National Security Council can be found in the pages of Politico. The news outlet cites sources saying “the national security policymaking process” is dysfunctional under the leadership of Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio citing there are fewer meetings (but is that really ever bad?), fewer career staff and more opportunities for big players like the Pentagon and State Department to operate without supervision. An also unnamed official at the White House disagrees saying: “The White House — and the president — has more visibility now into what the NSC is working on than ever.”
WE SAW WHAT YOU DID THERE, CONGRESSMAN: Congressman Pat Harrigan (R- NC) recently introduced a bill that would impose tough penalties on “individuals who commit economic or defense espionage for America’s top enemies: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.” The congressman is a West Point grad and former Green Beret. In announcing the legislation, he said: “When individuals steal defense secrets or compromise our critical infrastructure on behalf of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, they are committing an act of betrayal against this country. This legislation ensures they face severe, unrelenting consequences. There will be no plea deals, no light sentences, and no path to parole. If you betray America, you will face the full weight of American justice.” What made the proposal stand out for us, however, was the name: the Foreign Adversary Federal Offense Act. Otherwise known as “FAFO,” an acronym that generally refers to something else. (If you had to look it up, like our Editor did, it means F*** Around and Find Out.)
DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO READ: No one likes being told what to do. Just ask Vladimir Putin. So, take The Cipher Brief’s hottest summer reading list as merely a suggestion. The list ranks the hottest books of the year (so far) as reviewed by experts in the national security space. While there are both fiction and non-fiction recommendations on the list, our favorite might be the one debuting at the top of the Amazon charts in the whiskey section.
BRAIN DRAIN: In last week’s Dead Drop we reminded you about how Israel managed to wipe out a large chunk of the Iranian Air Force leadership in a single strike. Details of the overall mission continue to dribble out. The Wall Street Journal published a lengthy piece about how Israeli attacks killed a major portion of Iran’s top nuclear scientists. Near-simultaneous attacks at the start of the war on June 13th killed nine people who had worked on Tehran’s nuclear program for years. Sources cited as “People familiar with the attacks” were quoted as saying the nine were targeted at their homes in the opening salvo so that they could not go into hiding when the war fuse was lit. It wasn’t a clean sweep on leadership targeting, however. The New York Times reported that Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, who was believed to have been killed in the initial strikes, was seen walking with a cane at a funeral service for other military commanders who were not so lucky. Shamkhani gave an interview to Iranian state TV detailing his narrow escape. We’re not so sure, if it was us, that we’d be making a whole lot of public appearances. Just sayin’.
BIG BANG THEORIES: Just when you thought (perhaps) the world was made safer by the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program, Foreign Affairs published a lengthy piece called “How to Survive the New Nuclear Age” by two people from the Center for Nuclear Security Policy at MIT. The article says the U.S. “now faces a Category 5 hurricane of nuclear threats.” Unsurprisingly, China is judged a rapidly growing nuclear threat and Russia remains one. But one noteworthy item in the piece is the revelation that “U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Pakistani military is developing an ICBM that could reach the continental United States. In acquiring such a capability, Pakistan might be seeking to deter the United States from either trying to eliminate its arsenal in a preventive attack or intervening on India’s behalf in a future Indian-Pakistani conflict.” Like we needed just one more nuclear threat to worry about this weekend…
LOST IN TRANSLATION: Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis has captured more compelling commentary broadcast recently on Russian State TV. In this clip, host Vladimir Solovyov muses about President Trump considering additional sanctions against Russia while reportedly lifting some sanctions against Russian nuclear companies. He says with a smile “Comrade Trump is doing everything very correctly. Comrade Trump will unleash civil war. He will destroy America’s trade with its partners. He will deliver everyone to destruction.” Then, Russian Television (RT) head Margarita Simonyan jumps in with a rambling discourse that includes something about the only reason everyone thinks breakfast is important is because studies saying so were funded by U.S. cereal manufacturer Kellogg, and that the universal push to drink more water was created by the manufacturers of bottled water. She ended up with a prediction that, before long, science will enable the resurrection of all 150 billion people who ever lived. Exactly what any of these thoughts have to do with each other – was apparently lost in translation.
GETTING HISTORY RIGHT: We hear that the former chief historian at the National World War II Museum, Seth Paridon and retired Navy Captain William Toti have landed a book deal with St Martin’s Press to write The Killing Sea, the story of the battle of Guadalcanal, attempting to make the case that Guadalcanal, not the Battle of Midway, was the final turning point of the war in the Pacific. No word on a publication date. The authors may find that Martin Dugard, author of Taking Midway: Naval Warfare, Secret Codes and the Battle that Turned the Tide of World War II disagrees. His book was reviewed in The Cipher Brief in May. Dugard was also a guest on our Cover Stories podcast. We’ll reserve a slot for Paridon and Toti so they can make their case for taking Guadalcanal when their book comes out.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
BREAKING THE CODE ON A LONG LIFE: Joan Mace was an RAF member who worked at Britain’s Bletchley Park codebreaking facility as a teleprinter operator during World War II. Intelligence aficionados know that was where Alan Turing and company cracked the Nazi Enigma code. Mace recently turned 106 years-old. The BBC reports that those around her describe her as still very guarded about what went on at Bletchley. “Even at 106, she is not giving away any national secrets,” the manager of her care facility was quoted as saying. The British broadcaster asked Mace for the secret to such a long life. "No alcohol, and cycling” adding she “never learnt how to drive a car." Inspired by her example, we have decided to give up…umm…cycling?
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