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Presented by Lockheed Martin: From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward | Presented by Lockheed Martin | With help from Daniel Lippman and Ryan Heath Welcome to National Security Daily, your guide to the global events roiling Washington and keeping the administration up at night. As we end our 10th week here at NatSec Daily, we’re still soliciting your feedback on what you like and dislike about the newsletter, what you want to see more or less of, and anything else you think your hosts should know. Find our contact info below. Send tips | Subscription options here | Email Alex | Email Quint The progressive wing of the Democratic Party took its biggest collective stand on key U.S. foreign policy issues this week, proving themselves as a force that will challenge national security orthodoxy and their own leadership for months to come. On Tuesday, progressives — like Rep. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-Mich.) and ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) — stopped $1 billion to replenish interceptors in Israel’s Iron Dome system from passing in a government funding bill. That temporarily delayed President JOE BIDEN’s vow to replace hundreds of interceptors used to knock down rockets Hamas launched from Gaza in the spring. Progressives were “blindsided” by that measure appearing in the continuing resolution, a House aide to a progressive member told NatSec Daily. “It was more than just The Squad” who disapproved of that move. The next day, details of a two-state solution bill by Rep. ANDY LEVIN (D-Mich.) were exclusively released in NatSec Daily. The legislation called on the U.S. to pressure Israel to end further annexation of Palestinian territories, and to compel Palestinian leaders to adequately serve the needs of their people. The bill has received praise from other progressives and (quietly) from some moderate Democrats on the Hill. Then Thursday, progressives made their presence felt on three big votes. A standalone bill for Iron Dome funding passed overwhelmingly, 420-9, with eight Democrats and just one Republican voting against it. While the final result was always expected to be lopsided, the progressives still wanted to make their point. “If we pay $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome, then Israel has an extra $1 billion to buy weapons to bomb Palestinians in Gaza,” the House progressive staffer said. Rep. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D-N.Y.) also proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would’ve required congressional approval to have U.S. troops in Syria one year after the measure became law. It failed 141-286 , but the tally showed there’s strong support for ending America’s seven years of military operations there. “This was a really historic vote and an incredible advance for those who push for more congressional oversight and in the authorization of war,” ERIK SPERLING, the executive director of the left-leaning Just Foreign Policy who lobbied to pass that bill, told NatSec Daily. The White House, however, doesn't want a cap on military operations in Syria. "The United States is in Syria for the sole purpose of enabling the campaign against ISIS, which is not yet over," a National Security Council spokesperson said. "We are committed to preserving our limited presence in northeast Syria as part of a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIS and Al-Qaida working by, with, and through the Syrian Democratic Forces and other local partners." And then progressives had their biggest victory. A bill introduced by Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) to end U.S. logistical and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia in Yemen narrowly passed by 219-207. If that amendment ends up in the final NDAA and Biden signs it, then the U.S. will have all but extricated itself from the war. “After five years of work we now have a historic opportunity to end this war. My amendment which passed would ground the Saudi Air Force from engaging in an offensive war in Yemen,” Khanna told NatSec Daily. “We will not accept anything short of the Biden administration demanding that this amendment not be stripped,” noting that national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN previously supported America's defunding of the fight. Progressives NatSec Daily spoke to admit this monumental week occurred because so many big votes happened at once. They also admit that they lost much, much more than they won (for example, the NDAA authorized more defense spending than even Biden wanted) and have scored bigger victories in the past. But they do believe this week proved their mettle. They may not yet be an effective force in guiding U.S. foreign policy, but they are becoming a more effective force — causing more headaches for party leadership and the president. “It’s absolutely clear that the progressive movement has momentum on foreign policy, and this week was just another sign of that,” the progressive House aide said. | | | | 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. | | | | | | | | FBI GRILLS AFGHANISTAN EVAC GROUPS: The FBI has been reaching out to members of the veterans’ groups working to evacuate American citizens and at-risk Afghans and inquiring about their activities, in at least one case visiting a group leader at his home, LARA SELIGMAN, BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN, ERIN BANCO and your host reported. The agency has visited, emailed and called members of Task Force Pineapple and Task Force Dunkirk, two of the more prominent organizations, and other groups with a host of queries. The Bureau has asked groups about financial records, to provide manifests, and to make sure no federal laws are violated, according to eight members and congressional aides familiar with the moves. Some of the people described the outreach as nothing out of the ordinary and part of the growing public-private partnership on evacuations. “In my mind, the FBI was trying to be helpful, not intimidating,” a person familiar with the outreach said. Others saw it differently. “Anytime you get visited by the FBI or contacted by an entity like that, it's concerning,” said one person affiliated with the groups who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. A spokesperson for the FBI had no immediate comment. HOUSE PASSED $768B DEFENSE BILL: In a 316-113 vote, the House easily passed the National Defense Authorization Act to the tune of $768 billion — $25 billion more than Biden requested. Our own CONNOR O’BRIEN writes (for Pros!) that the legislation “would require women to register for a military draft. It also aims to extract information from the Biden administration on the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and launch a wide-ranging review of the two-decade war.” The Senate has yet to pass its own version of the bill, and NatSec Daily’s contacts say both chambers say there will be some tough reconciliation fights on nuclear weapons modernization and whether the legislation adequately prepares the U.S. to confront China. CIA REMOVES TOP VIENNA OFFICER: The top CIA official at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna was removed due to bad management and what some said was an insufficient response to incidents of “Havana Syndrome” at the mission, the Washington Post’s JOHN HUDSON and SHANE HARRIS reported. “The sidelining of the station chief in one of the largest and most prestigious CIA posts is expected to send a message that top agency leaders must take seriously any reports of ‘Havana Syndrome,’ the phenomenon named after the Cuban capital where U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers had first reported unusual and varied symptoms, from headaches to vision problems and dizziness to brain injuries, that started in 2016,” they wrote. Vienna, a global hub of spy activity, has become an epicenter of the anomalous health incidents seen elsewhere in the world from Cuba to China to Russia. TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM UNGA: NatSec Daily asked RYAN HEATH, POLITICO’s U.N. guru and host of the “Global Insider” podcast , what his main takeaways were from UNGA. Here he is, turning up the Heath: — Leader speeches were often the sideshow, rather than the main show at UNGA (and the show has already moved onto the Quad Summit in D.C.), but overall the collection of meetings and events is rising in importance as a place for governments, companies and NGOs to solve problems together.
— There’s a big piece of that puzzle missing, however: The U.S. and China are still talking at and over each other, rather than really engaging.
— Chinese President XI JINPING clearly wants to supplant the U.S. as the dominant player in multilateral forums — including both the U.N. and G-20, which is why he proposed a new “Global Development Initiative” that would include options for suspending the debt of poorer countries. Biden is pushing back, including by creating his own forums: like this week’s parallel virtual Covid summit, which sees the U.S. and EU finally working together on a Covid supply chain taskforce.
— Climate was the thematic elephant in the UNGA room. Leader after leader admitted to POLITICO that they’re worried climate change is now out of control. The big coordinated promises are yet to materialize, but the fear is real, and at least some action is likely to follow. DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of Washington’s national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we’re featuring Sen. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-N.H.), member of the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs committees. After a long day, the lawmaker likes kicking back on her deck in New Hampshire with a single-malt scotch on the rocks. That’s also a drink of choice for your host on most days. Cheers, Senator! IT’S FRIDAY. WELCOME TO TEH WEEKEND.: 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. Make sure to join POLITICO on Thursday, Oct. 7, for our inaugural defense forum, where we’ll talk to the decision-makers in the White House, Congress, military and defense industry who are reshaping American power abroad and redefining military readiness for the future of warfare. Assure your spot now by registering here. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Essential to allied airpower.
The growing community of F-35 nations strengthen our national defense and deter our enemies. The F-35 is diplomacy in action, fueling shared global deterrence through interoperability and collaboration. Learn More | | | | | | NORTH KOREA WAFFLES ON END OF WAR: The U.S. is open to it. South Korea wants it. But North Korea doesn’t yet want an end of war declaration, which would officially bring the 1950s Korean War to a close. In a statement yesterday evening, North Korean Vice Minister RI THAE SONG said it was “too early” for the U.S., China, and South Korea to sign an end of war declaration because of the presence of American troops and military equipment on the peninsula. But hours later, KIM YONG JONG, the powerful sister of North Korean leader KIM JONG UN, released her own statement saying such a signing was an “interesting proposal” and “good idea.” However, she did add that now may not be the right time for it. “Smiling a forced smile, reading the declaration of the termination of the war and having photos taken could be essential for somebody but I think that they would hold no water and would change nothing,” she continued. Talks between Washington and Pyongyang have all but stalled. But it’s increasingly possible that discussions about an end of war declaration could crack open the shuttered door. | | | EU ACCUSES RUSSIA OF INTERFERING IN GERMANY’S ELECTION: The Council of the European Union on Friday accused Russia of interfering in Germany’s parliamentary election. Coming just days before Sunday’s vote, the Council released a statement saying “Some EU Member States have observed malicious cyber activities, collectively designated as Ghostwriter, and associated these with the Russian state.” “These malicious cyber activities are targeting numerous members of Parliaments, government officials, politicians, and members of the press and civil society in the EU by accessing computer systems and personal accounts and stealing data,” the statement continued. NABILA MASSRALI, a spokesperson for the Council, told NatSec Daily that it’s “too early to speculate on the measures” of retaliation. But, the E.U. felt the need to put out a statement after Germany, in the course of normal discussions, declared it was under cyberthreat from Russia. The election is this Sunday. | | | |   | | | | | | MILLEY: NEED MORE TALKS WITH RUSSIANS: Gen. MARK MILLEY, the Joint Chiefs chair, told reporters that the U.S. must have more military contacts with Russia, to include having observers at each other’s training exercises. “We need to put in place policies and procedures to make sure that we increase certainty, to reduce uncertainty, increase trust to reduce distrust, increase stability to reduce instability in order to avoid miscalculation and reduce the possibility of great power war,” the top military official said after meeting with his Russian counterpart for six hours in Finland. “That’s a fundamental thing that we should try to do, and I am going to try to do it.” Milley also said military contacts between the U.S. and Russia have helped in “a couple of incidents that occurred between us and the Russians over the last two years.” Biden has made stability with Russia a pillar of his foreign policy, signing an extension of the New START treaty and meeting this year with President VLADIMIR PUTIN . But with U.S. troops operating nearby Russians in Syria and elsewhere, and with trust plunging between the two nations, Milley wants to ensure the risk of miscalculation stays low. | | | LAWMAKER WANTS TALIBAN RECOGNITION BLOCK: Rep. SCOTT FRANKLIN (R-Fla.), a member of the House Armed Services committee, proposed a bill Thursday to block the U.S. from recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan — and instead have the U.S. label the militants as a terrorist group. While the administration has said the Taliban will only be recognized if it adheres to democratic values, Franklin — one of 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election results — doesn’t trust Biden to keep to his word. “I see no reason for Congress to trust the Biden administration’s claim that they will not recognize the Taliban, considering they have already shared the personal information of Americans and allies with this terrorist group in an attempt to clean up the mess they created during our disastrous exit from Afghanistan,” Franklin told NatSec Daily. “Our government is based on a system of checks and balances, not vague promises.” “This is the same Taliban that gave al-Qaeda a safe haven to plan the attacks on 9/11 and then spent two decades killing our forces,” he continued. “Our government should have designated the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization a long time ago.” But Franklin is well aware the chances his bill becomes law are slim to none. Still, the 26-year Navy veteran believes this is a discussion Congress should be having, and proposed the bill to gin up that conversation. “I hope we don’t have to suffer more loss of life to eventually achieve some bipartisan support,” he said. | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | CHINA’S U.S. ENVOY SAYS BEIJING “MISUNDERSTOOD”: QIN GANG, China’s new ambassador to the United States, used his first speaking opportunity since arriving in July to rebuke Biden’s U.N. speech and to argue that China is a misunderstood democracy. “What China has today is whole-process democracy,” he implausibly told an audience of the Carter Center and George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, arguing “whether a system is democratic depends on whether it can represent the overall interests of the people and whether the people are satisfied.” And then Qin took it to Biden: “Some people are busy fanning up the battle between democracy and authoritarianism, and putting together an alliance of democracies,” he said, as reported by our own PHELIM KINE. “To define America’s relations with China as democracy versus authoritarianism and to stoke up ideological confrontation … has led to serious difficulties in China-U.S. relations.” This comes as Biden argues the world is locked in a struggle between democracies and autocracies, in which both the U.S. and China aim to prove their systems are better. Qin argues that Biden has it all wrong and that China is actually democratic -- but your host wonders what Xi thinks about that. | | | — STACY DAWN is now director consulting executive-cybersecurity at CGI Federal and a virtual chief information security officer at Trusted Internet LLC. She most recently was a senior adviser to the CIO for Cybersecurity and Privacy at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and was a previous CISO for the Export-Import Bank and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
| | | — HABIB ZAHORI, Newlines Magazine: “An Elegy for Afghanistan” — JACK MONTGOMERY, Breitbart: “ Pence in Hungary: You Can Be for Working-Class Families or Open Borders -- Not Both” — ANNA SAUERBREY, The New York Times: “Farewell, Angela Merkel. You Were Once the ‘Leader of the Free World’” | | | — The European Council on Foreign Relations, 5:30 a.m.: “German Elections Debriefing: Results Are In, What’s Next? — with GUSTAV GRESSEL, JANKA OERTEL, JANA PUGLIERIN and JEREMY SHAPIRO” — The Istituto Affari Internazionali, 6:30 a.m.: “The G20 High-Level Conference on Local Infrastructure Investment — with MARCO BUCCI, ROBERTO CINGOLANI, DANIELE FRANCO, ENRICO GIOVANNINI,GIOVANNI TOTI and more” — The Brookings Institution, 9 a.m.: “ Interpreting the 2021 German Federal Election Results — with ISABELLE BORUCKI, JAMES GOLDGEIER, RIEKE HAVERTZ, YASCHA MOUNK, DANIELA SCHWARZER and CONSTANZE STELZENMÜLLER” — The Royal United Services Institute, 9 a.m.: “Germany Votes: The Next Five Years — with JOHN KAMPFNER and CLAUDIA MAJOR” — The Middle East Institute, 10:30 a.m.: “Energy Markets in the Middle East — with MICHAEL COHEN, CAROLE NACKHLE and KAREN E. YOUNG” — The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2 p.m.: “Africa’s Security Challenges: A View from Congress, the Pentagon and USAID — with TRAVIS ADKINS, CHIDI BLYDEN, ANTHONY BROWN andJUDD DEVERMONT” — The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 5 p.m.: “ Japan’s Defense Equipment and Technology Policy: Implications for the U.S.-Japan Alliance — with MICHAEL J. GREEN and ATSUO SUZUKI” 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. And thanks to our editor John Yearwood, who always has a monumental week. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Essential to allied airpower.
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