What countries might have posed a potential threat to the United States in 1796?

The U.S. military is officially fighting wars in seven countries, according to the White House's latest state of war report. Known formally every bit the "Study on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding the Usa' Military Force and Related National Security Operations," the unclassified portion flags ops in Afghanistan, Republic of iraq, Syrian arab republic, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Niger — all under the imprint of the aforementioned war authority granted in the 2002 Authorisation for the Use of Military Force to fight al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Groups the U.Southward. armed services is fighting: AQ, ISIS, the Houthis in Yemen, the Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Assad government (with the April 2017 cruise missile strikes), al-Shabab, and "elements [in Niger] assessed to be part of ISIS." The report'due south classified annex goes into the groups in more than detail.

The largest section is reserved for Syrian arab republic, not that that makes information technology any easier to say which of these conflicts might wrap upwardly get-go, as they still encompass the "arc of instability" referenced by Obama-era officials — and fifty-fifty President George W. Bush-league well-nigh exactly 12 years ago.

Reminder nearly why all these conflicts are legal: the 2002 AUMF "contains no geographic limitation on where authorized strength may be employed… to defend the national security of the Us."

Too in the report: confirmation "that the U.S. is sharing intel with the Saudis in their Yemen bombing campaign, though U.S. armed services officials continue to deny that they're doing and then," Breaking Defense'southward Paul McCleary noted Wed on Twitter. Read the full written report, here.

Ane more thing well-nigh Republic of yemen: Defence Secretary Mattis is a big fan of the U.Due south. military'southward Saudi support for its war in Yemen. So much and so that he's pleading with Congress (PDF) ahead of a Senate vote on whether to terminate U.S. assistance for a meandering conflict now its one,087th consecutive 24-hour interval. The Washington Postal service has the remainder of that story, here.

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From Defense One

Pentagon Tells Leaders to Talk More With Contractors — and Less to the Public and Press // Marcus Weisgerber: I 24-hour interval after Air Force leaders severely restricted media contacts, Deputy Defense Secretarial assistant Patrick Shanahan encouraged Pentagon officials to engage more with industry.

The Military Race for Space Volition Turn on the Ability to Cull Commercial Services // Patrick Tucker: Similar a addled consumer facing an entire aisle of jams and jellies, the Pentagon can't figure out how to buy smart in the exploding market of commercial satellite services.

Team of Sycophants // Eliot A. Cohen: Tillerson'southward dismissal leaves the White House more than than always the conniving and quack court of an erratic, ill-informed, and willful monarch.

Why Did Trump Burn Tillerson At present? // David Frum: The specific timing of the move—following the secretary of country'due south split from the president to condemn a Russian attack in the U.G.—raises questions about its motive.

Welcome to this Thursday edition of The D Cursory by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. Email us. And if you discover this useful, consider forwarding it to a friend or colleague. They can subscribe hither for complimentary. OTD2011: Syrians protest Assad regime in Damascus (more than beneath).

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Also in that war report: An operation in Niger you (probably) didn't know well-nigh. Most 3 months after information technology happened, the U.S. armed services told the New York Times about a Dark-green Berets assail in Niger that killed eleven declared ISIS fighters on Dec 6. The U.Due south. chemical element was partnered with Nigerien troops, and reportedly none of them were injured in the firefight. The battle was referenced in just a single line in the war report cited above.
But that's not the whole story: The combat "along with at least 10 other previously unreported attacks on American troops in W Africa betwixt 2015 and 2017 — indicates that the deadly Oct. 4 ambush was not an isolated episode in a nation where the United States is building a major drone base," the Times' Adam Goldman reported Wednesday.
While the public may non have known, and AFRICOM chief Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, failed to mention it in his February testimony before Congress, "A senior House Republican adjutant said on Wednesday that lawmakers had been notified about the Dec. half dozen attack before long later on it happened." Read on, here.

ICYMI: The U.S. Army says it'southward expanding its footprint in Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, Stars and Stripes' Chad Garland noticed afterward reading this release from Big Army public affairs a calendar week agone.
The relevant line: "Some of the FOBs we are extending communications capabilities to have not been in use for several years, and [are being renovated] to provide reliable and secure signal services to these places requires additional cloth and equipment, and the personnel to maintain and operate information technology," according to Col. Christine Rummel — whose title is the very long "managing director of communications integration in Afghanistan for the 335th Signal Control (Theater) (Provisional)."

Nosotros pivot e at present, considering PACOM'south Adm. Harris wants to sell F-35s to Bharat, the India-based Stratpost reported Wednesday, calling Harris "the beginning U.S. official to refer to such a potential sale."
Where they take their jump: Harris's Feb. 14 testimony before the House Armed Services commission. There, Harris flagged aircraft for possible sale to India, including F-16s, the F/A-18E, 12-15 P-8Is, a SeaGuardian UAS, an MH-60R multi-role bounding main-based helicopter, and the F-35.
According to Stratpost, "the main reason why there has been no discussion on such a potential sale [earlier that Feb. testimony] is the reluctance on both sides to be the get-go to initiate a conversation about the prospect. This appears to have changed."
Adjacent steps: "The two countries have planned a two+ii coming together of foreign ministers and defense force ministers side by side month." Read on, here.

NATO tells Moscow to explain itself. "The Western NATO military brotherhood called on Russia on Wednesday to requite United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland 'complete disclosure' of the Soviet-era nervus agent used in an attack on a Russian double agent on March 4, post-obit a British conference to allies at NATO headquarters," reports Reuters.
NATO'south argument: "Allies expressed deep business concern at the beginning offensive use of a nerve agent on Alliance territory since NATO's foundation [in 1949]."
High german defense minister: It'due south "highly likely" that Russian federation is behind this "serious violation of international agreements on chemical weapons."
Nikki Haley to the U.N. Security Council: we should hold the Kremlin accountable. "The United States believes that Russian federation is responsible for the assail on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-form nervus agent," Haley said at a UNSC coming together in New York, NBC News reported. "Haley said the Usa stood in 'absolute solidarity' with United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland after the country expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the chemic attack last week on the ex-spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia."

The U.Southward. Navy went to the Arctic and took CNN forth for the ride. While in that location, Jim Sciutto talks with the commander and crew of the USS Hartford, a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine, which breached the Arctic water ice. The v-infinitesimal study begins here.

And finally today: Exactly seven years ago, the protests that would morph into a civil war began in Syrian arab republic'southward majuscule city of Damascus. Six protesters were initially detained past Assad authorities forces, which would get on to use increasingly trigger-happy means to try to put downward the unrest. In the more than 2,500 days since, some 400,000 Syrians have died, and nearly 13 million have been displaced — including more than 5 million now living as refugees in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Review dozens of the weapons used throughout the conflict in our 10-part series produced in July 2016, here.

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Source: https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2018/03/the-d-brief-march-15-2018/146688/