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Welcome to today's Early Bird Brief, featuring concise summaries of articles in the DoD Current News Early Bird.
PANETTA INTERVIEW1. Not Time To Arm Syrians, Pentagon Chief Says
(Reuters.com) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta defended the Obama administration's decision not to arm the Syrian opposition, saying the country risked being pushed into an all-out civil war if efforts to secure a smooth political transition fail.
2. Strikes On Al Qaeda Leave Only 'Handful' Of Top Targets
(Reuters.com) Nearly one year ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta predicted the strategic defeat of al Qaeda was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 leaders of the core group and its affiliates.
3. Pentagon Chief All But Rules Out Apology For Pakistan
(Reuters.com) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta all but ruled out an apology over an air strike last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and badly set back efforts to improve U.S.-Pakistani ties, saying it was "time to move on."
4. Pentagon Chief Urges Iraq To Keep Daqduq Behind Bars
(Reuters.com) Iraq has given the United States assurances it will not release a suspected Hezbollah operative accused of killing American troops, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Reuters, saying he expected Baghdad to honor its commitment.
MIDEAST5. Syrian Fighter Pilot Flees To Jordan
(Washington Post) A Syrian pilot defected to Jordan on Thursday, flying his MiG-21 fighter jet south across the border and seeking asylum at a Jordanian air base in the first such case involving a plane since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule began 15 months ago.
6. Some Rebels Wonder If Syrian Troops' Poor Use Of Tanks, Helicopters Is Intentional
(McClatchy Newspapers (mcclatchydc.com)) The Syrian military, whose advantage in heavy equipment has been emphasized repeatedly by critics of the government of President Bashar Assad, rarely uses its tanks and helicopters effectively in combat against rebel forces, a shortcoming so consistent that it raises the question of whether some pilots and troops may be intentionally missing when they target rebel positions.
7. Fighting Creeps Closer To Damascus
(Financial Times) Faced by fighting on their doorstep, a grounded UN peacekeeping mission and the simple exhaustion of 15 months spent in tense political limbo, some residents of the capital are starting to question whether anyone has the ability or will to stop the deadly drift towards ever-widening war.
8. Leading Syrians Prepare For Exodus
(London Daily Telegraph) MEMBERS of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle are secretly making plans to defect to the opposition should the Syrian regime become critically threatened by the rebellion, US officials have told The Daily Telegraph.
9. Competing Election Claims Amplify Tensions In Egypt
(Wall Street Journal) Political tensions continued to rise over last weekend's election as the Muslim Brotherhood called for a mass demonstration against the military on Friday, and the candidate associated with the military repeated claims that he won and that the Brotherhood cheated.
10. Member Of Egyptian Terror Group Goes To Washington
(TheDailyBeast.com) Terrorists aren't supposed to get visas. But Hani Nour Eldin was apparently invited to D.C. this week to meet with top officials. Did no one Google him?
11. Blasts Kill Eight, Wound 50 In Iraqi Market: Sources
(Reuters.com) At least eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when two roadside bombs exploded in a popular market on the northern outskirts of Iraq's capital on Friday, police and hospital sources said.
AFGHANISTAN12. Standoff At Afghan Hotel Over; 17 Dead
(Yahoo.com) An Afghan security official says Taliban insurgents have killed 17 people--most of them civilians--in an attack on a lakeside hotel just north of Kabul. The attack set off an hours-long gunbattle with Afghan forces. The Kabul police department says the fifth and final attacker was killed about midday Friday and that the standoff is over.
13. Taliban Attack Lakeside Resort Hotel Near Kabul, Taking Families Hostage
(New York Times) By early morning, American helicopters were shooting flares and the area was swarming with Afghan National Police and army troops. More NATO forces were on the way, according to Afghan officials at the scene, and NATO officials confirmed that it was a joint operation.
14. Karzai Calls On Afghans To Combat Corruption
(Washington Post) Ahead of an international conference aimed at collecting billions more in foreign aid for Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai on Thursday urged his government to step up the fight against the corruption that has eroded his administration's credibility over the years.
15. Taliban Attacks On US Bases In Afghanistan: Enabled By Pakistani Forces?
(Christian Science Monitor (csmonitor.com)) A recent spate of attacks on US military bases in Afghanistan points to a resilient Taliban with a steady supply of arms. It is a supply stream flowing from Pakistan one that US troops, try as they might, are proving unable to interrupt.
16. Afghan Forces Need Reading Lessons Before Security Transfer
(Reuters.com) A third of Afghan national security forces are taking basic lessons in reading and counting as NATO commanders accelerate their training ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 2014, the coalition has said.
17. Air Force Sends Home C-27J Cargo Planes
(AirForceTimes.com) The two C-27J cargo planes deployed to Afghanistan have been shuttling supplies and troops all across the country for the last 11 months, but their work is being cut short.
PAKISTAN18. US Mulls New Covert Raids In Pakistan
(Yahoo.com) U.S. military and intelligence officials are so frustrated with Pakistan's failure to stop local militant groups from attacking Americans in neighboring Afghanistan that they have considered launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan to hunt them down, officials told The Associated Press.
19. Pakistan's Political Tumult Unlikely To Let Up
(Washington Post) Pakistan's shaky government, which lacks a prime minister and cabinet, will nominate a new premier Friday morning, ruling-party officials pledged Thursday, after the leading candidate for the job withdrew amid allegations of drug trafficking.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT20. Political 'Dysfunction' Threatens US Security: Panetta
(Yahoo.com) The "dysfunction" in the US Congress, where Republicans and Democrats have failed to compromise on debt reduction, threatens US national security, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. "One my greatest concerns as secretary is the dysfunction that we see in Washington," he said late Thursday at a ceremony in which he received an award for public service.
21. Pentagon Recommends Tiered System For Combat Pay
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) A Pentagon review recommends ridding the combat pay system of inequities that have allowed officers thousands of miles from battle to get better benefits proportionally than troops on the front lines in Afghanistan.
22. Pentagon Expansion Of Acquisition Staff Hurt By Funding Uncertainties
(GovExec.com) The Defense Department's ongoing effort to expand and better train its ranks of acquisition employees has been hindered by shifts in funding and the absence of an overarching strategy, auditors said in a report released Thursday.
ARMY23. Army Told To Spend Or Lose Mobile Tech Funds
(Washington Times) The Pentagon is planning deep spending cuts this year to a new mobile computing network for soldiers - a move that critics say punishes Army technology buyers for not spending appropriated funds fast enough.
24. Army Court Denies Group Access To Manning Files
(ArmyTimes.com) An Army appeals court has denied a request for public access to military court records in the case of an Army private charged with sending classified U.S. government documents to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks.
25. An Army Flier To The End
(Washington Post) John C. Pratt, who died in Afghanistan last month, always wanted to be a pilot.
MARINE CORPS26. Peralta's Medal Of Honor Case At DOD, Again
(U-T San Diego) The case for a posthumous Medal of Honor for a San Diego Marine killed in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004 has landed on the desk of the U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
AIR FORCE27. Training Boss Ousted In Lackland Sex Scandal
(San Antonio Express-News) The Air Force on Wednesday relieved the commander of a basic training squadron in which three instructors have been accused of illicit sexual contact with recruits.
CONGRESS28. McKeon: Congress 'Not Mature Enough' To Stop Sequestration
(Stripes.com) The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee expects Congress to "kick the can down the road" by delaying the dramatic defense budget cuts set to start in January.
29. Gays In Military Called Settled Issue
(Philadelphia Inquirer) The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday that allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a settled issue that he will not try to reverse even if Mitt Romney wins the presidency in November and the GOP captures the Senate.
30. Pentagon Gets Attention, But Planned Spending Cuts Range Far And Wide
(New York Times) But other government programs are facing equally large cuts, though they have received a scintilla of the attention and outrage that the planned Pentagon cuts have attracted.
ASIA/PACIFIC31. Vietnam Law On Contested Islands Draws China's Ire
(New York Times) In a show of its resolve in a dispute over the South China Sea, China sharply criticized Vietnam on Thursday for passing a law that claims sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, saying they are the "indisputable" territory of China.
32. US, Japan Begin Naval Drills Near China
(Financial Times) The US, Japan and South Korea began joint naval exercises in waters near China and the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, underscoring efforts to tighten military co-operation between the three nations.
33. Crashes Fuel Uproar In Japan Over US Aircraft
(MiamiHerald.com) While saying the U.S. takes Japan's concerns seriously, a Pentagon spokesman on Thursday said the U.S. stands by the aircraft. "The Osprey is a highly capable aircraft with an excellent operational safety record," Pentagon press secretary George Little said.
UNITED NATIONS34. US Drone Attacks Threaten 60 Years Of International Law, Says UN Official
(The Guardian (UK)) The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a United Nations investigator has said.
EUROPE35. Poland Shaken By Case Alleging An Illicit CIA Prison
(Los Angeles Times) For years, the idea seemed unthinkable, absurd. A secret U.S. detention center in a remote corner of Poland, where Al Qaeda suspects were brutally interrogated by the CIA? About as likely as "the Loch Ness monster," is how one Pole described it recently.
AMERICAS36. Lawyers For Guantanamo Prisoner Say Canada Stonewalling On Khadr
(MiamiHerald.com) Lawyers for the last remaining Western detainee at Guantanamo Bay are urging Canada's Conservative government to stop "stonewalling" the Canadian citizen's transfer to more jail time in his native country.
37. Uruguay Considers Selling Marijuana
(Wall Street Journal) Uruguay is showing a novel approach to Latin America's growing fatigue with the war on drugs with a new proposal: normalize marijuana use and hand over its distribution and marketing to the government.
MOVIES38. 'Invisible War' Fights For Military Rape Victims
(Washington Post) Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick's "The Invisible War" is a study of rape in the U.S. military that leaves viewers weeping and seething.
SPORTS39. Trained By SEALs
(Time) When a navy SEAL tells you to get wet, you'd better soak yourself real good.
MILITARY40. Preventing Military Suicides Focus Of Panel
(UTSanDiego.com) A recurring theme from the family members who spoke was military services' failure to provide appropriate and timely mental health care to service members who had sought help.
41. Health Care Is A Huge Drain, Military Says
(Philadelphia Inquirer) Army Undersecretary Joseph Westphal's Power Point slide showing the Pentagon procurement process flashed on the screen, prompting laughter from the audience at this week's Wharton Leadership Conference at the University of Pennsylvania.
42. Crackdown On Abuse Of Military Borrowers
(Washington Post) Federal financial regulators on Thursday moved to tighten oversight of how mortgage companies handle loans for servicemembers who are underwater and forced to transfer to new bases.
BUSINESS43. Study Says Pentagon Budget Cuts Would Destroy 1 Million Jobs
(Washington Post) Across-the-board budget cuts set to hit the Pentagon in January would destroy nearly 1 million jobs by 2014, with Virginia, California and Texas absorbing the biggest hits, according to an analysis released Thursday by the National Association of Manufacturers.
COMMENTARY44. In Need, In New York
(NYTimes.com) One in seven homeless people have previously served in the military. This year, at 25, I became one of those homeless veterans.
45. Clinging To Hope On Iran
(Washington Post) Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sat down this week with The Washington Post's Lally Weymouth.
46. A Marriage Of Convenience
(National Journal) Egypt's Islamists and generals don't want to admit it, but they need each other more than they--and their people--need a confrontation.
47. Washington Watching Egypt With Aid Stick Behind Back
(NationalJournal.com) The Obama administration has one form of leverage over Egypt's increasingly power-hungry military rulers: the $1.3 billion in annual U.S. aid to Cairo. Despite a power grab by the generals, however, there are few signs that the White House is preparing to use it by cutting or freezing the funds.
48. A Path For Global Justice
(Washington Post) The United States is not a party to the Rome treaty and will not join anytime soon. Still, Congress should revise legislation it passed in 2002 because of fears that the court might prosecute U.S. personnel. These outdated restrictions hinder the executive branch's ability to support the court's prosecutions of international war criminals.
49. Heed Sentiment On Osprey
(Japan Times) The government should not force the deployment of the Osprey unless the Okinawan people agree.
50. Sanctions Against Iran
(New York Times) Iran, always playing the angles, is still trying to figure out how much economic pain it is willing to accept to maintain its nuclear ambitions and what, if anything, it is willing to give up. It is in the interest of the United States and its allies to keep talking, especially since a new round of sanctions are scheduled to go into effect.
51. Coming Home, Without Homes
(Boston Globe) While homelessness has actually fallen since 2009, thanks to more aggressive efforts to keep vulnerable families in their homes, the number of homeless female veterans has doubled.
CORRECTIONS52. Corrections
(Washington Post) A-section articles on June 14 and 15 misstated the Obama administration's budget request for military and economic aid to Pakistan in fiscal 2013. The proposed amount is $2.2 billion, not $3.5 billion.
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