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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward and Quint Forgey | With help from Daniel Lippman | 
“Twenty years later, they still can’t accept that they’re culpable in keeping this war going long, and also the fact that they may have been part of the problem,” Rep. Ruben Gallego said. | Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images | Welcome to National Security Daily, your guide to the global events roiling Washington and keeping the administration up at night. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Quint Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-Ariz.), a former Marine infantryman who served in Iraq, has a message for the retired generals talking about Afghanistan on TV: You’re part of the problem. None of them solved the Afghanistan riddle during two decades of war, and yet the former flag officers are littering the airwaves with criticisms of President JOE BIDEN ’s decision to withdraw. They deserve more blame for the failures of the war than requests for comment and counsel, Gallego believes. “Twenty years later, they still can’t accept that they’re culpable in keeping this war going long, and also the fact that they may have been part of the problem,” he told NatSec Daily, singling out DAVID PETRAEUS and H.R. MCMASTER . “It’s ridiculous to see [them] walking around and giving an opinion about why we should maintain a military presence, when they’re the reason why we even have this problem in the first place.” “They conducted the war incorrectly. ... They hid real-time data from Congress and the American public about how weak the Afghan government was,” he continued, “and now they still come out as if their hands aren’t involved in the problems that they created.” NatSec Daily reached out to Gallego, a House Armed Services Committee member, after seeing him tweet that his TV hits on Afghanistan have been bumped for coverage of Hurricane Ida or the Texas abortion law. “Maybe this is not the media’s fault,” he said. “Maybe it’s a true reflection of the American public ” not caring deeply about the war, “and the ones missing that are the policymakers, the warhawks, the think tankers. We might be the ones missing the point that Americans want us to disengage from all these foreign entanglements that they don’t necessarily have any type of long-term connection to.” What to do about that disconnect ahead of the next foreign sojourn? One idea Gallego has is a “war tax” so that “every time we go to war, people understand that what we’re doing is costing us money.” Gallego noted that instead, past presidents promoted tax cuts while troops were fighting overseas at great cost to the taxpayer. Another proposal was a national volunteer program, where everyday citizens could help out at VA facilities or bases during a war. In the meantime, Gallego argues that any low-level enlisted service member or officer has more wisdom to impart on the last 20 years in Afghanistan than the men who wore large fruit salads on their chests. “The biggest frustration is the fact that the D.C. media elites don’t see what we see,” he said. “They see these guys as heroes and as these all-knowing geniuses when we know better. But nobody listens to us because we don’t have the gold-star lapels.” | | | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS SUPPORT AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: A new Chicago Council on Global Affairs/Ipsos poll shows 64 percent of Americans support Biden’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, with 34 percent in opposition. Those numbers track with other surveys in recent weeks indicating the public largely favors ending the war in Afghanistan, despite the withdrawal’s chaotic scenes. But the latest poll, conducted Aug. 23-26, does show that 56 percent of respondents disapproved of the way the drawdown was handled, while 43 percent are in approval. You might not be surprised to see the data shows the Afghanistan debate is turning into a partisan issue. When the Council conducted a similar poll in July, before the country fell to the Taliban, a majority in both parties favored the withdrawal. Now, 81 percent of Democrats approve while 57 percent of Republicans disapprove of Biden’s decision. TAJIKISTAN WON’T ACCEPT MANY AFGHAN REFUGEES: Tajikistan, the Central Asian country bordering Afghanistan, now won’t accept a large number of Afghan refugees after saying this summer that it would. “Tajikistan does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of refugees and asylum seekers,” Interior Minister RAMAZON RAKHIMZODA said in a statement Thursday. Tajikistan, the region’s poorest nation, said in July it would take in 100,000 Afghans after building infrastructure to house them all. That’s no longer the case. However, Rakhimzoda did say his nation opened up 70 hectares of land along its border with Afghanistan just for refugees. The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe announced Thursday it would help build a new facility for border guards along the border with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Earlier this month, Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN warned the United States against basing troops in Central Asia, and the Tajik military depends on Russia to keep it safe from threats next door. It’s unclear whether Russian-Tajik relations played any role in Rakhimzoda’s announcement. Other countries, including some in Europe, are shuttering their borders to Afghans, too. That’s partly why the European Union plans to offer big bucks to neighboring countries who will take in Afghans in need. “APOCALYPTIC” AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: The Associated Press’ LOLITA BALDOR interviewed members of the Air Force’s 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, who flew the last missions out of Afghanistan, and the scenes they describe are reminiscent of a horror film. “It just looked apocalyptic,” Air Force Lt. Col. BRADEN COLEMAN , who was in charge of monitoring the outside of his aircraft for artillery fire and other threats, told Baldor. “It looked like one of those zombie movies where all the airplanes had been destroyed, their doors were open, the wheels were broken. There was a plane that was burned all the way. You could see the cockpit was there, and the whole rest of the plane looked like the skeleton of a fish.” Once the aircraft made their final liftoffs, cheers broke out on board, followed soon after by many falling asleep — even on water-bottle-crate “pillows.” DOJ IG GETS LETTER FROM 9/11 FAMILIES: Family members of 9/11 victims sent a letter Thursday to Justice Department Inspector General MICHAEL HOROWITZ asking the agency’s watchdog to investigate whether the FBI destroyed evidence potentially linking Saudi Arabia to the terrorist attacks two decades ago, per Reuters’ JAN WOLFE and MARK HOSENBALL. According to the letter, “circumstances make it likely that one or more FBI officials committed willful misconduct with intent to destroy or secrete evidence to avoid its disclosure.” The family members’ request comes after DOJ announced last month it would work to provide them with more information about the run-up to the attacks as part of a federal lawsuit that aims to hold the Saudi government accountable. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and qforgey@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @QuintForgey. 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Subscribe to Ottawa Playbook today. | | | | | | | | CHINA IS TALIBAN’S “MOST IMPORTANT PARTNER”: Taliban spokesperson ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID told an Italian newspaper that the militant group will rely on Chinese financing for their operations. “China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us, because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country,” he told La Repubblica today. There are “rich copper mines in the country, which, thanks to the Chinese, can be put back into operation and modernised. In addition, China is our pass to markets all over the world.” Ties between Beijing and the militants strengthened in recent months, including a high-profile Taliban visit to China in July. And Chinese media in recent days has published commentary essentially saying the government has no choice but to work with the group. This could all be Taliban posturing, of course. But it’s surely a worrying sign in the White House, as financial leverage is one of the few ways the U.S. can compel the Taliban to respect human rights. If the Taliban is flush with Chinese cash, though, then Washington’s influence wanes even further. CHINA’S NEW AMBASSADOR SCALDS U.S. IN MAJOR SPEECH: Speaking at the National Committee on United States-China Relations, QIN GANG offered his most substantive, scathing public remarks since becoming Beijing’s most senior envoy to Washington in July, per our own PHELIM KINE. The “wolf warrior” diplomat warned against violating the Asian power’s “red line” of core interests in areas including the South China Sea, Taiwan and Xinjiang. He also nodded to China’s nuclear weapons capability and said there would be “disastrous consequences” if the United States seeks to suppress China using a “Cold War playbook.” | | | PROMOTING CYBER MILITARY INNOVATION: C4ISRNet’s MARK POMERLAU reports the public-private Georgia Cyber Center wants to help the military better develop technology. “We’re trying to make a much less constrained environment,” said ERIC TOLER, the center’s chief and a former Army cyber and intelligence leader. “You don’t have to follow necessarily, if you’re doing a development project, the exact same rules — and not that you’re going to break any rules, but we have far less here.” The Georgia Cyber Center hosts the Defense Digital Service and Army Cyber Command’s Technical Warfare Center and aims to foster a collaborative environment where defense officials and troops can work on projects that could accelerate the cyber tech acquisition process. “When people start coming together and having a conversation — it can be downstairs over a cup of coffee — it’s like, ‘Yeah we’re really challenged with this problem.’ And then you’ve got like two industry partners that say, ‘We already have a solution to that problem,’” Toler told Pomerlau. “‘Really? Can we buy it?’ Yeah, and guess what? It’s cheap because it’s already developed. We don’t have to go through this six-year process of articulating a requirement that no one can understand.” BEWARE HOLIDAY RANSOMWARE: The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a joint advisory reminding companies to protect themselves from ransomware attacks over the holiday weekend. “Although FBI and CISA do not currently have any specific threat reporting indicating a cyberattack will occur over the upcoming Labor Day holiday, malicious cyber actors have launched serious ransomware attacks during other holidays and weekends in 2021,” the statement reads. The advisory reminds users to follow cybersecurity best practices, such as backing up data, not clicking on suspicious links, using strong passwords and updating software. | | | DEP. SECDEF ORDERS ACQUISITION REVIEW: Per our own LEE HUDSON: Deputy Defense Secretary KATHLEEN HICKS has directed a Pentagon-wide review of how the military services are maintaining their top acquisition programs, as part of an effort to better position the United States in its competition with China. The assessment — ordered Aug. 25 and due Sept. 17 — must detail operational availability and sustainment cost of major programs, which are projects that cost more than $525 million in research and development funding or over $3 billion in procurement dollars. The services also have to determine what availability and cost targets exist in policy or practice for each platform, while laying out current challenges. Hicks also directed a parallel baseline review of the Defense Logistics Agency that assesses how well the supply chain is working. The review should also include how current challenges may prevent the organization from reaching targets that are mandated in policy. Hicks did not spell out what the ramifications would be for underperforming programs, but the data could be used to inform the next budget cycle. It also could force the services to go back to the drawing board with defense contractors to negotiate more favorable sustainment contracts. MARINE CORPS CHIEF PROPOSES “DETERRENCE BY DETECTION”: Gen. DAVID BERGER, the commandant of the Marine Corps, told a Washington audience yesterday that America’s traditional forms of deterrence haven’t worked. Instead, the United States needs a new approach he termed “deterrence by detection,” per Breaking Defense’s JUSTIN KATZ . “[W]e deter by presenting an adversary with the perception — convincing them that there’s nothing they can do that we’re not going to see, and we’re not going to shine a big light on and make a big deal,” he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank Wednesday. “The threat of punishment — conventional deterrence … I don’t think that works, it hasn’t, clearly, the last 10 years, last five years have shown that that will not work in all cases.” | | | HOUSE DEMS NEEDLE BIDEN ON AFGHANISTAN: From our own CONNOR O’BRIEN and PAUL MCLEARY : House Democrats broke ranks with the Biden administration early Thursday morning, approving a defense policy bill that asks hard questions about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan while drastically increasing the Pentagon’s budget. For example, two amendments from Rep. VICKY HARTZLER (R-Mo.) will require the Pentagon to report to the committee no later than Nov. 1 on why it left Bagram Air Base and why it ended maintenance support to the Afghan air force. Each passed with unanimous support. And the panel adopted an amendment from Rep. JASON CROW (D-Colo.) requiring an annual report and twice-a-year briefings to Congress that assess "over the horizon" capabilities to conduct counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, continuing efforts to retrieve U.S. citizens, contingency plans for continuing to evacuate Afghans who hold special immigrant visas, and the threat posed by terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS-K. CHENEY NAMED VICE CHAIR OF JAN. 6 COMMITTEE: Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.), the chair of the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, has tapped Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) to serve as the second-ranking lawmaker on the panel, per our own NICHOLAS WU. The committee has ramped up its inquiry in the last week, sending a flurry of requests to federal agencies, social media platforms and telecommunications companies asking to preserve records and documents related to the attack on the Capitol, as well as efforts by Trump or his allies to overturn the 2020 election. Prosecutors have assessed that the pro-Trump rioters committed more than 1,000 assaults on federal officers, according to a review of body-cam footage described in a court filing late Wednesday, our own KYLE CHENEY reported. | | | SENATE GOP ASKS WHITE HOUSE WHO’S LEFT IN AFGHANISTAN: A group of 26 Senate Republicans, led by Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.), has sent a letter to Biden requesting information about how many Americans, green card holders and special immigrant visa applicants remain in Afghanistan following the completion of the U.S. military withdrawal and the end of the mass evacuation effort, per our own BURGESS EVERETT. “Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of American citizens, permanent residents, and allies who were left behind in Afghanistan,” the senators wrote in the letter. “We are also concerned by reports that ineligible individuals, including Afghans with ties to terrorist organizations or serious, violent criminals, were evacuated alongside innocent refugee families.” Their missive comes after a State Department official conceded in a private briefing that “the majority” of SIV applicants were left behind in Afghanistan due in part to the complications of the evacuation, as Alex reported Wednesday. | | | — RITA DAVIS is now deputy general counsel for the Defense Department, per our own DANIEL LIPPMAN. Davis most recently was chief counsel to Virginia Gov. RALPH NORTHAM. — MINA HSIANG will become the next administrator of the U.S. Digital Service, per Axios’ MARGARET HARDING MCGILL . Although the agency was created in 2014 as a federal tech troubleshooter following the tumultuous debut of HealthCare.gov, USDS teams also “are deployed for crisis work that needs a quick response — such as assisting at the southern border or helping with the Afghanistan evacuation,” McGill wrote. Hsiang will replace MATT CUTTS, who departed USDS in April. | | | | Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today . | | | | | | | | — KATHY GANNON, The Associated Press: “Those left in Afghanistan complain of broken US promises” — AMY GUNIA, Time: “ Just 39 Female Journalists Are Still Working in Kabul After the Taliban's Takeover” — MICHAEL ALLEN, The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Spies Didn’t Cause Kabul to Fall” | | | — The National Press Club, 11 a.m.: “Headliners Event: Foreign Correspondents to Discuss Impact of U.S. Afghanistan Withdrawal” Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot us an email at award@politico.com or qforgey@politico.com to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
