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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward | | 
A senior defense official assured that Gen. Mark Milley was prepared to follow any lawful order from former President Donald Trump, including the invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo | With help from Lawrence Ukenye and Lara Seligman Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex Now that you’ve read SUSAN GLASSER and PETER BAKER’s book excerpt on Gen. MARK MILLEY’s yearslong struggle with former President DONALD TRUMP, NatSec Daily wants to know: Is the Joint Chiefs chair a champion of civil-military relations or one of its greatest antagonists? Col. DAVE BUTLER, Milley’s spokesperson in the Pentagon, told your host that, “Yes,” the chair sees himself as an upholder of civil-military relations. A senior defense official later assured that Milley was prepared to follow any lawful order from Trump, including the invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 . But when NatSec Daily asked some experts Monday about the piece, the reviews of Milley’s civ-mil performance were decidedly mixed. “Gen. Milley faced as challenging an environment as any of his predecessors in the modern era. He should be evaluated the way we judge Olympic diving: by the difficulty of the dive. It is not surprising that he kicked up splash because circumstances were forcing him to attempt some exceedingly difficult dives," said Duke University’s PETER FEAVER, who is quoted in the article offering advice to Milley about what to do following the Lafayette Square photo op. The American Enterprise Institute’s KORI SCHAKE said she plans to teach the article in class: “The exam question will be for students to identify the number of civil-military norms violated by Gen. Milley in the course of this story.” (She didn’t provide the answer, likely so her students couldn’t use NatSec Daily to cheat.) The Glasser/Baker excerpt shows a chair working internally against Trump’s desires, namely to withdraw troops from Germany, send active-duty soldiers to quash domestic protests and counter Iran. But even if Milley deemed those orders awful, he must obey them as long as they were lawful . If he doesn’t, “the military becomes an arbiter of the political fate of the country and that's undemocratic and inappropriate,” said LINDSAY COHN, a civil-military relations expert at the U.S. Naval War College (speaking for herself as an academic and not the institution or Navy). But Cohn added there’s also a line that, “once crossed, means that civilian control as a value must be subordinated to some other value.” Upholding the Constitution by not participating in a forceful takeover of power by the sitting president following an election defeat could be such a moment. The problem, Cohn noted, is that “we have no consensus on where that line is.” “I think reasonable people can disagree on whether he made the right choices,” she said of Milley, “but I also think it's important for all of us to ask ourselves where exactly we think that line is.”
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At Lockheed Martin digital transformation means simulating wear-and-tear with digital twins, industry-wide experience and next-gen technologies. We do it all to help you prevent and deter emerging threats sooner and faster than ever. Learn more. | | | | | | $1B FOR UKRAINE: The Pentagon on Monday announced an additional $1 billion in military aid for Ukraine , the single largest such allocation from the presidential drawdown account since before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. The latest tranche of aid includes for the first time munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, as well as additional ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), 1,000 more Javelin missiles, and more, according to acting press secretary TODD BREASSEALE. On why the administration chose not to send more HIMARS, the Pentagon top policy official COLIN KAHL said during a Monday news briefing that “our assessment actually is that the Ukrainians are doing pretty well in terms of the numbers of systems and really the priority right now is making sure that they have a steady stream of these GMLRS .” He also said Russia has suffered between 70,000 and 80,000 casualties and lost 3,000 to 4,000 armored vehicles since the invasion. The U.S. has now provided Ukraine with $9.8 billion in security assistance since the start of the Biden administration. ISRAEL-GAZA CEASEFIRE: An Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza is still holding Monday following three days of violence that killed at least 44 Palestinians, the BBC reported . “The latest violence began with attacks by Israel on sites in the Gaza Strip, which its military said was in response to threats from a militant group. It followed days of tensions after Israel arrested a senior PIJ member in the occupied West Bank,” per the BBC. “Israel, for its part, says it hit 170 PIJ targets during the operation, codenamed Breaking Dawn, killing several high-ranking PIJ members and destroying tunnels and weapon storage sites.” The Israel Defense Forces say that militants inside Gaza launched 1,100 rockets during the fighting, with 200 landing inside the strip. There are no reports of any Israeli dead, though some were injured by debris from the rocket attacks. Humanitarian aid is returning to Gaza now that the borders, closed during the violence, have reopened following the ceasefire. In a statement, Biden said his “support for Israel’s security is long-standing and unwavering,” but that “reports of civilian casualties in Gaza are a tragedy.” ‘REAL CHANCE’ FOR IRAN DEAL RETURN: POLITICO’s STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN reports that Western officials told her “they had finished negotiating technical questions that had remained open in the final draft text circulated by the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on July 21.” On Monday, the EU will officially circulate the final draft document to participants and will ask the U.S. and Iran to agree on it. If there is agreement, foreign ministers are expected to return to Vienna to formally restore the 2015 nuclear accord. “There is a real chance for an agreement but there are still a number of uncertainties as always,” one senior Western official told POLITICO. However: An Iranian Foreign Ministry official told the official Iranian news agency IRNA on Monday that “given the continuation of discussions on some remaining important issues, we’re not yet at a stage to finalize the text.” IT’S MONDAY: 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 follow me on Twitter at @alexbward . While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi , @woodruffbets , @politicoryan , @PhelimKine , @ChristopherJM , @BryanDBender , @laraseligman , @connorobrienNH , @paulmcleary , @leehudson , @AndrewDesiderio and @JGedeon1 — plus our summer interns, @Lawrence_Ukenye and @nicolle_liu .
| | | |   | | | | | | THE BROKEN U.S.-CHINA HOTLINE: On Friday, your host and LARA SELIGMAN reported that top Chinese military officials didn’t respond to repeated calls from Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN and Milley, the Joint Chiefs chair, during the live-fire exercises off the coast of Taiwan. “[T]he last call Milley had with his Chinese counterpart, Chief of the Joint Staff Gen. LI ZUOCHENG, was on July 7, the Pentagon said. The two spoke by secure video teleconference about the need to maintain open lines of communication, as well as reducing risk, according to a readout from Milley’s office. Austin, meanwhile, met in person with Chinese Defense Minister Gen. WEI FENGHE in June on the sideline of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore,” we wrote. “The secretary has repeatedly emphasized the importance of fully open lines of communication with China’s defense leaders to ensure that we can avoid any miscalculations, and that remains true,” DOD spox Breasseale told us in an email. The Wall Street Journal’s ALISTAIR GALE and NANCY YOUSSEF report that the four days of drills showed “the progress China has made coordinating different branches of its armed services, a hallmark of a modern military. China appeared to lack the military assets to impose a total blockade on Taiwan, they said, but Beijing showed it had enough maritime firepower to severely disrupt the island’s economy.” Related: “ ‘Spiral into crisis’: The U.S.-China military hotline is dangerously broken ” by POLITICO’s PHELIM KINE. RUSSIAN ATTACKS NEAR NUCLEAR SITES: The White House on Monday urged the Russian military to end operations near Ukrainian nuclear facilities, AFP reported. The call comes as both Russia and Ukraine shifted blame during the weekend as shelling threatened the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex. Kyiv has advocated for a demilitarized zone near nuclear facilities to limit the potential for catastrophe. "What needs to be done is to remove occupying forces from the station and to create a demilitarized zone on the territory of the station," said PETRO KOTIN, a Ukrainian energy official. Kyiv alleges that attacks near the complex, which is still operated by Ukrainian technicians, damaged the facility and led to two workers being hospitalized.
| | | U.S. SANCTIONS TORNADO CASH: The Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned Tornado Cash , one of the largest so-called cryptocurrency mixers, for helping hackers in North Korea and elsewhere launder stolen money, our own ERIC GELLER reports (for Pros!). Since its creation in 2019, Tornado Cash has helped cyber criminals and nation-state hackers launder more than $7 billion, a senior Treasury Department official told reporters, speaking on the condition of anonymity per standard government practice. After a record-breaking $620 million cryptocurrency heist in March , the Lazarus Group, one of North Korea’s leading hacker gangs, used the service to launder over $455 million in Ethereum, according to the Treasury Department. A senior administration official told reporters that the sanctions on Tornado Cash represented a key part of the Biden administration’s response to North Korea’s yearslong use of virtual currency thefts to finance its missile program. In May, the U.S. sanctioned Blender.io, another virtual currency mixer. “We will continue to aggressively pursue actions against currency mixers laundering virtual currency for criminals,” Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN said in a tweet .
| | | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — MILLEY TO CANADA: Joint Chiefs chair Milley is headed to St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, on Monday to meet with the chiefs of defense from arctic nations, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, Col. Dave Butler told Seligman today. The visit comes amid increasing concern among the West over Russian aggression, coming almost six months into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grinding war with Ukraine. Canada and the U.S. conducted joint military exercises in March in the Arctic, where Moscow has stepped up its military presence in recent years. The meeting “is an opportunity for like-minded Arctic nations to share lessons-learned from ongoing Arctic operations, coordinate enhanced cooperation between our nations, and re-affirm the shared commitment to the international rules-based order,” Butler said. TOP 100: Defense News’ annual rankings of the world’s “ Top 100 ” performing defense contractors was released Monday without many surprises. The top five, ranked in order of 2021 defense revenue, are all American: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.
| | | 2002 AUMF REPEAL IN NDAA?: The next National Defense Authorization Act may include a provision to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force. “I’ve talked with Senator [ CHUCK] SCHUMER about it [and] he had promised a floor vote on this at some point,” Sen. TIM KAINE (D-Va.) told our own LAWRENCE UKENYE and CONNOR O’BRIEN . “He obviously wants to do it in a way that does not chew up the maximum amount of time, so we’re trying to figure that out.” Kaine said tacking the repeal onto the defense policy bill or holding a standalone vote in connection with the 20th anniversary of the vote that preceded the U.S. invasion that toppled SADDAM HUSSEIN’s regime are possibilities. Finding time on the Senate floor, though, is a major obstacle. “I’ve been reassured by Senator Kaine that we will likely have a vote between now and year’s end,” Sen. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), who’s spearheading the effort with Kaine, said in a brief interview. “I agree that the NDAA is the most logical vehicle, but frankly we’ll hitch a ride wherever we can catch it. It’s a busy calendar.” FIGHT OVER TAIWAN POLICY ACT: Congress is working on a bill to strengthen America’s policy toward Taiwan. The White House is trying to water it down. “The legislation, initially introduced by the Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, represents the most dramatic shakeup of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship since the Taiwan Relations Act, which has guided U.S. policy on the subject since 1979. It authorizes $4.5 billion in security assistance for Taiwan and gives the island the distinction of being a ‘major non-NATO ally’ of the U.S., among other provisions,” our own ANDREW DESIDERIO reported. The Biden administration isn’t necessarily against the bill, but it is trying to shape it. That’s normal –– a lawmaker from the president’s party typically gives the White House a chance to weigh in, especially if it contravenes a previous policy. The question is just how much input Sens. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) and LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.), who introduced the measure, are willing to accept. As NatSec Daily will write a lot this August: We’ll see what happens after the recess.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Lockheed Martin, helping you outpace evolving threats by accelerating digital transformation.
At Lockheed Martin digital transformation means simulating wear-and-tear with digital twins, industry-wide experience and next-gen technologies. We do it all to help you prevent and deter emerging threats sooner and faster than ever. Learn more. | | | | | | PETRAEUS SLAMS AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: Retired Gen. DAVID PETRAEUS, who commanded forces in Afghanistan, targeted the Biden administration for taking troops out of the country a year ago and its predecessors for failing to win the 20-year war. “The fact and manner of America’s departure also enabled our adversaries to claim that the United States is not a dependable partner and is instead a great power in decline,” he wrote for The Atlantic on Monday. “[W]e left behind hundreds of thousands of Afghans who shared risk and hardship with our soldiers, diplomats, and development workers, and whose lives are now endangered, along with those of their family members.” “It did not have to turn out this way. I do not mean simply that there were reasonable alternatives to withdrawal that were not adequately considered, alternatives that would have led to better results than what we see today—though there were, and they would have. “Rather, I mean that it did not have to be this way at all; that despite the selfless, courageous, and professional service of our military and civilian elements, and also of our coalition partners—as well as that of innumerable great Afghans—we underachieved in Afghanistan,” he said. His main critique is that America didn’t have the commitment to win in Afghanistan, even if it spent two decades there. The U.S. didn’t follow a coherent strategy from administration to administration, he said, and the nation cared more about the fate of Iraqis. All told, the U.S. entered the war but never fully competed in it.
| | | Our own DANIEL LIPPMAN sends in these two scoops: — FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: VERONICA VALDEZ is now White House liaison at the Defense Department. She most recently was special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs. LEO CRUZ is now deputy White House liaison at DoD. He most recently was special assistant to the under secretary of Navy and is also a Biden campaign alum. — FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: ZEPPA KREAGER is now senior adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico KEN SALAZAR. She most recently was White House liaison at the U.S. Agency for International Development and is an alum of the Biden campaign and the Obama White House. JENNIFER SOSA replaced Kreager as White House liaison at USAID. She most recently was deputy White House liaison at DoD.
| | | — WHITE HOUSE: “ U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa ” — CAITLIN DICKERSON, The Atlantic: “ ‘We need to take away children’ ” — STEPHEN BIEGUN, ERIC EDELMAN, DANIEL FATA and DAVID KRAMER, The Bulwark: “ With Enough Help, Ukraine Can Win ”
| | | — The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 10 a.m.: "New Nuclear Troubles in Southern Asia?" — The Association of the U.S. Army, 12 p.m.: "Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump" — Washington Post Live, 5 p.m.: "U.S. economic and military ties to Japan and South Korea, and the threat posed by China” — White House, 8 p.m.: Biden delivers remarks on the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022. Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at award@politico.com to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. And thanks to my editor, Ben Pauker, who prefers cannonballs to Olympic diving. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
