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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | | |  | | By Daniel Lippman, Alexander Ward and Quint Forgey | | 
Around two dozen former Iraqi interpreters seeking Special Immigrant Visas protest outside the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq, on Sunday. | Courtesy Ian Serwan | 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 FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — While thousands of former interpreters were left behind by the United States in Afghanistan, their counterparts in Iraq — comprising a much smaller number of people — are still trying to come to America, too, per our own DANIEL LIPPMAN. Roughly two dozen former Iraqi interpreters visited the U.S. consulate in the northern city of Erbil on Sunday to ask for the United States to reactivate the 1244 program that would allow eligible Iraqis to once again apply for Special Immigrant Visas, instead of having to apply to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Some held signs saying: “We can not wait until the last minute.” This marked the second time the interpreters visited the consulate after an unsuccessful trip there late last year, according to one of the group’s organizers, NIHAD YASEEN OTHMAN. “Unfortunately, after what happened in Afghanistan, it made us more worried about our future in Iraq,” he said. Othman, who worked for Americans for four years, said a U.S. consulate official told him to pick a couple representatives and come back Monday. So that’s what he did. Even then, the interpreters couldn’t get a proper meeting and instead only talked for five minutes through a glass window to a person whom Othman believes was the consulate’s chief of security. That official promised to send their letter to higher-ranking consulate staff. “They didn’t even let us go inside the consulate, [even though] we risked our lives” for Americans, Othman said — adding that he’s worried about hidden ISIS cells in Erbil that would “without any doubt kill us immediately” if they found out about his work for the United States. Othman estimated there are roughly 250 to 400 former interpreters in Iraq who would be interested in applying for such a visa. HANDREN ABDULLAH , another former linguist who joined the protest, said he was stopped by men with rifles last December asking him about his job. He said the experience led him to quit his work for the United States the next day and move to Erbil, as he believes his personal information was leaked to militias. “I can’t stop remembering that day,” he said. “I can’t put it outside of my head.” Asked for comment, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement: “We are committed to supporting those who have helped U.S. military and other government personnel perform their duties, often at great personal risk to themselves and their families. Everyone involved in this process, whether in Washington or at our embassies abroad, is fully aware of the contributions of our Iraqi colleagues and the risks they face. More than 21,000 Iraqis have benefited from SIV programs.” The spokesperson added that an SIV program for people who worked with U.S. forces or under chief of mission authority “remains active,” although it only “offers visas to up to fifty [people] a year.” | | | | INTRODUCING OTTAWA PLAYBOOK : Join the growing community of Politicos — from lawmakers and leaders to pollsters, staffers, strategists and lobbyists — working to shape Canada’s future. Every day, our reporting team pulls back the curtain to shed light on what’s really driving the agenda on Parliament Hill, the true players who are shaping politics and policy across Canada, and the impact it all has on the world. Don’t miss out on your daily look inside Canadian politics and power. Subscribe to Ottawa Playbook today. | | | | | | | | FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS ESCAPE FROM KABUL: In a lengthy statement Wednesday, ASHRAF GHANI sought to further explain why he fled Afghanistan last month as the Taliban closed in on the capital. He claimed he “left at the urging of the palace security who advised me that to remain risked setting off the same horrific street-to-street fighting the city had suffered during the Civil War of the 1990s.” “Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life, but I believed it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens,” Ghani said. “I have devoted 20 years of my life to helping the Afghan people work toward building a democratic, prosperous, and sovereign state — it was never my intent to abandon the people or that vision.” The exiled leader, currently residing in the United Arab Emirates, also used his latest statement to again deny reports that he departed the presidential palace with more than $169 million in cash. “These charges are completely and categorically false,” Ghani said, adding that he welcomed “an official audit or financial investigation under UN auspices or any other appropriate independent body to prove the veracity of my statements here.” POLL: 9/11 CHANGED U.S. FOR THE WORSE: A new Washington Post-ABC News survey shows a majority of Americans, 46 percent, believe the United States is worse off 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while 33 percent say the country improved. It’s a disheartening statistic, especially since in September 2002, one year after the attacks, only 27 percent of those polled said the United States was worse off. The new pessimism is fueled by liberals, 59 percent of whom agreed the country was in a worse position today. Only 44 percent of moderates and 45 percent of conservatives felt the same way. Americans also continue to fear terrorists, with only 49 percent saying the United States is safe from their threats. That figure nearly matches the record low of 48 percent, and it’s a far cry from the 64 percent who felt safe in September 2011, the year OSAMA BIN LADEN was killed. AFGHAN WOMEN CONTINUE PROTESTS, FACE CRACKDOWN: For the second straight day, hundreds of Afghan women took to the streets of Kabul to protest against the all-male government announced by the Taliban (more on that below). “Their government doesn’t count us as citizens of this country even though we are half of the population. We don’t care if they beat us or even shoot us, we want to defend our rights,” one woman told The Wall Street Journal’s YAROSLAV TROFIMOV. “We will continue our protests even if we get killed.” The Taliban, which long promised to form an inclusive government and society, violently quashed the demonstration and even roughed up reporters covering the event. Western governments, namely those in the United States and the European Union, have expressed their displeasure at the crackdowns and new administration. China, however, sent a different message. The new leadership “has ended the more than three weeks of anarchy in Afghanistan and is a necessary step toward Afghanistan’s restoration of order and postwar reconstruction,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson WANG WENBIN said during a briefing today. TEHRAN ISSUES WARNING AHEAD OF ATOMIC TALKS: According to a statement posted to his official website, Iranian President EBRAHIM RAISI told European Council President CHARLES MICHEL in a phone call Wednesday that an “unconstructive” meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency next week would disrupt nuclear negotiations with Tehran, per Bloomberg News’ ARSALAN SHAHLA. The IAEA, which functions as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, could move to censure Iran for its ramped-up atomic activity when diplomats convene in Vienna on Sept. 13. Meanwhile, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN told reporters in Germany on Wednesday that the Biden administration was “getting closer” toward abandoning attempts to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. IT’S WEDNESDAY: 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. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @BryanDBender, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmccleary, @leehudson, @AndrewDesiderio and @JonnyCustodio.
| | | TOP STATE OFFICIAL WARNS OF CHINA’S NUCLEAR ADVANCES: NatSec Daily just caught up to a Monday speech by the State Department’s top arms control official, BONNIE JENKINS. In it, she confirmed China has its eyes set on more nukes and spoke of the danger that threat poses. “Beijing is planning to substantially expand its nuclear arsenal. The PRC’s nuclear build-up, which has accelerated in the last year, now looks to include novel nuclear-powered capabilities and a massive increase of its silo-based ICBM forces,” she said in remarks at a NATO conference on arms control. “The destabilizing dynamic originating from the PRC’s rapid and opaque nuclear build-up cannot be ignored.” “The unfortunate reality is that the United States and the PRC do not have the benefit of the same mature arms control relationship that we have with Russia, which was forged through decades of Cold War nuclear competition and cooperation. However, we will apply and tailor the lessons we’ve learned in the U.S.-Russia arms control process when possible to U.S.-PRC discussions,” Jenkins added. The Trump administration spent a while trying to convince China to discuss arms control. Critics of that effort said it was meant to stall the extension of the New START pact with Russia, since the United States at the time sought a three-way conversation before prolonging the deal. Biden did extend New START with Moscow, and it now seems his team is seeking a similar conversation with Beijing over its nuclear program. THREE CRUCIAL COURT DATES: At Guantanamo Bay, KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED — who allegedly plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks — appeared with four other defendants at a military tribunal Tuesday for the resumption of pre-trial hearings after an 18-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, per The Guardian’s JULIAN BORGER. The hearings, which have gone on for nine years, have been complicated repeatedly by the dubious admissibility of evidence obtained under CIA-conducted torture. In Paris, 20 men were scheduled to go on trial Wednesday for their roles in the Islamic State’s coordinated attacks at the Bataclan concert hall and elsewhere across the French capital in 2015, per The Associated Press’ LORI HINNANT and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY. Six of the defendants will be tried in absentia, and SALAH ABDESLAM — the sole survivor of the terrorist cell that perpetrated the attacks — is the only defendant facing murder charges. In Moscow, attorneys for PAUL WHELAN — one of two former U.S. Marines imprisoned in Russia, along with TREVOR REED — said a Russian court had agreed to consider their request to have Whelan serve out the rest of his sentence in the United States, per Reuters. The attorneys initially reported the hearing on the potential transfer was scheduled for Sept. 27, but they later said the court postponed the hearing and the date had yet to be determined.
| | | SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SPIES: America’s premier intelligence agency is embarking on what could be called its “least covert mission,” per our own ALEX THOMPSON , as staffers at Langley launch a social media offensive aimed at dispelling some of the negative press and conspiracy theories that have dogged the CIA for years. “Demystify, educate, and then recruit,” CANDICE BRYANT, the leader of the agency’s social media team, told POLITICO of its engagement strategy, adding: “There’s people who don’t realize that we have a softer side here.” But the efforts have drawn some bipartisan scorn, with liberals accusing the CIA of presenting a whitewashed version of its history and conservatives arguing the agency’s “woke” social media presence is making it appear weak. ENCRYPTION COULD COMPLICATE JAN. 6 PROBE: Our own NICHOLAS WU notes that the encryption used by social media companies like Signal, Discord and Rumble means the House’s Jan. 6 insurrection investigation may not get all the information it needs. “A former FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic, said the select committee investigators shouldn’t hold their breath about accessing encrypted data related to their inquiry. It would be a tough sell to a court, the official said, which would have to weigh how compelling a need there would be for the data and how burdensome it might be for the company to provide assistance to the committee,” Wu wrote. The tension between security and privacy has persisted since the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., when Apple refused to unlock an iPhone that could have helped the FBI with its probe. The FBI then hired a private firm to break into the device, ignoring user privacy concerns and defying Apple.
| | | UPGRADING SATELLITES: Defense contractors including Northrop Grumman, Astroscale, and Lockheed Martin are thinking of ways to maintain and upgrade satellites while they continue to orbit the Earth, per C4ISRNET’s NATHAN STROUT. With the backing of the U.S. Space Force and DARPA, they’re “pioneering new on-orbit services that could enable everything from supplemental fuel for maneuvering to satellite repairs using mechanical arms. On the software side, companies are embracing software-defined payloads that the military can reconfigure for new uses using the hardware on orbit.”
| | | BACON BITS: NatSec Daily asked our loyal readers Tuesday to send in their suggestions for the renaming of military bases that commemorate the Confederacy. Rep. DON BACON (R-Neb.), a retired brigadier general and House Armed Services Committee member, wrote us an email with a thought. The United States should rename bases “after some of our Medal of Honor recipients. For example, Fort Benavidez would be great named after ROY BENAVIDEZ. His story of courage and selflessness in battle is legendary.” You should read the Navy’s full history of Benavidez’s actions during the Vietnam War , but here’s just a taste: “Prior to reaching the team's position, he was wounded in his right leg, face and head. Despite his injuries, Benavidez took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy's fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader.” Be sure to drop us a note with your best base-renaming submissions. | | | U.S. NAVY CLAPS BACK AT CHINA: The 7th Fleet announced Tuesday that USS Benfold conducted a freedom of navigation operation near the disputed and China-claimed Spratly Islands. This news angered HU XIJIN , editor of the Chinese state-run mouthpiece Global Times. “Hopefully when Chinese warships pass through the Caribbean Sea or show up near Hawaii and Guam one day, the US will uphold the same standard of freedom of navigation. That day will come soon,” he tweeted Wednesday. Chinese military officials had previously said the American guided-missile destroyer entered the area without permission. The U.S. Navy’s public affairs department wasn’t having it. “The @USNavy has upheld the standards of freedom of navigation longer than the PLA navy has existed,” the Navy Chief of Information quote-tweeted, linking to a 2015 Wall Street Journal article about Chinese ships coming within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coast near Alaska. The 7th Fleet also updated its news release Wednesday morning with some more direct language: “The PRC’s statement about this mission is false ... The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Benfold did here. Nothing PRC says otherwise will deter us.” | | | | 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 . | | | | | | | | — SUHAIL SHAHEEN, a spokesperson for the Taliban, released the full list of names of the militant group’s all-male “acting government” in Afghanistan. We detailed some of them already in Tuesday’s edition, but here are a few of the other officials we now know: MOLAVI MUHAMMAD YAQOB MUJAHID is minister of defense, MOLAVI AMIR KHAN MUTTAQI is minister of foreign affairs, ABDUL HAQ WASIQ is head of intelligence and QARI FASEEH UDIN is Army chief. JONATHAN SCHRODEN , an expert on the Afghanistan War at the CNA think tank in Virginia, tweeted that the cabinet list is “a big [middle finger emoji] to the international community & roughly 80% of Afghans.” — PAUL OSTROWSKI, a retired Army lieutenant general, has joined the defense lobbying firm J.A. Green & Company as executive vice president of defense programs. He left the Army in April 2020, ending his 35-year career as the principal military deputy to the Army’s assistant secretary of acquisition, logistics and technology. He also served as the top civilian at HHS for Operation Warp Speed.
| | | — CLAIR MACDOUGALL, The Nation: “Gitmo’s Forgotten Ex-Detainees” — LAUREN FRAYER, NPR: “ The Taliban's Ideology Has Surprising Roots In British-Ruled India” — ELIANA JOHNSON, POLITICO Magazine: “How Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Blew Open the GOP’s Foreign Policy Rift”
| | | — The Atlantic Council, 9:30 a.m.: “A conversation with Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee GREGORY MEEKS” — The American Enterprise Institute, 10 a.m.: “Continuity of government 20 years after 9/11” — The Middle East Institute, 11 a.m.: “Palestinian Protests and the Future of the Palestinian Struggle” — The Aspen Institute, 12 p.m.: “Building a More Inclusive Cyber Future — with Rep. LAUREN UNDERWOOD” — The Heritage Foundation, 12 p.m.: “Admiral MICHAEL ROGERS on Confronting the Challenging Cyber Landscape” — The Hoover Institution, 12 p.m.: “Return of the Taliban: H.R. MCMASTER in conversation with YALDA HAKIM” — The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1 p.m.: “A Clash of Contagions: The Impact of COVID-19 on Conflict” — The National Press Club, 2:30 p.m.: “NPC Headliners Newsmaker: Secretary of Homeland Security ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS ” — The Foreign Policy Research Institute, 3 p.m.: “Special Briefing: Former Ambassador RYAN CROCKER on Afghanistan” — The Miller Center, 3:30 p.m.: “ 9/11: Twenty years later — with TOM DONILON, RICHARD HAASS and PHILIP ZELIKOW” 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 | | | | |  |
