Thursday, November 29, 2018
Senate Advances Bill To End U.S. Involvement In Yemen
The Senate on Wednesday delivered a strong bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump's policy on Saudi Arabia by overwhelmingly voting to advance a resolution that would end all U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The 63-to-37 vote came after a contentious closed-door briefing by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis on the war in Yemen and U.S. support for Riyadh. The vote also reflected lawmakers’ growing frustration with the Trump administration for defending Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s denials of culpability in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the CIA’s finding that he had almost certainly ordered the killing.
At the briefing on Wednesday, Pompeo and Mattis urged senators against withdrawing U.S. military support for the war in Yemen, warning that doing so could embolden Iran and endanger U.S. national security. In written remarks, Mattis said the U.S. could not afford to cast aside its partnership with Saudi Arabia and said Washington should not cut weapons sales to Riyadh. “We are seldom free to work with unblemished partners … Saudi Arabia, due to geography and the Iranian threat, is fundamental to maintaining regional and Israeli security, and to our interest in Mid-East stability,” he said. Pompeo also cautioned against pulling back from Saudi Arabia. “Degrading U.S.-Saudi ties would be a grave mistake for the national security of the U.S. and its allies,” he wrote in an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal.
However, following the briefing, lawmakers continued to express concern with U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that senators “on both sides of the aisle have legitimate concerns about the war in Yemen, the terrible humanitarian plight of Yemeni citizens caught in the cross-fire, and the multiple U.S. interests wrapped up in this conflict.” He also noted concerns “about the recent conduct of the Saudi government” from senators of both parties.
Senators also expressed frustration that the session did not also include CIA Director Gina Haspel, whom they want to question about the agency’s assessment that the Saudi Crown Prince orchestrated Khashoggi’s murder. “I am not going to blow past this,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said. “Anything that you need me for to get out of town — I ain’t doing it until we hear from the CIA,” he said. “Nobody was happy” that Haspel was not at the briefing, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said, adding that he thought Pompeo and Mattis’ briefing about continuing support for Saudi Arabia was “unpersuasive.” CNN, NBC News, New York Times, Washington Post
Related:
CBS News: Senator Threatens to Withhold Vote on Spending Bill Until Hearing From CIA On Khashoggi
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Ukraine is Moscow’s guinea pig: “The Kremlin dared to act in such a brazen way because the West’s response to its campaign in Ukraine so far has been largely feckless. The U.S. and its European allies answered the annexation of Crimea and occupation of the Donbas region with halfhearted rhetoric and meager material aid to the Ukrainian resistance. The Russians this week had little reason to expect that their overt attack would prompt a reaction they couldn’t withstand,” Adrian Karatnycky writes in the Wall Street Journal. “Russia has long used Ukraine as a testing ground for its hybrid-war techniques. What happens in Ukraine does not stay there; it is a preview of what Russia will bring to its fight with the West.”
The pieces are in place for a grand bargain with China: “When Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump meet for the third time in Buenos Aires this week, it will be the culmination of many intense months of work on both sides to try to overcome the current economic, political, and security tensions,” Kevin Lu writes in Foreign Policy. “The size and complexity of the relationship, and the sheer number of areas it touches on demand a ‘grand bargain’ between the two powers: a deal that involves multiple areas for an outcome that ultimately benefits both sides.”
Trump’s deal with Mexico could make asylum next to impossible: “U.S. and international law would dictate that the migrants have the right to apply for asylum once they’re inside the U.S.,” Priscilla Alvarez writes in The Atlantic. “But a deal designed to keep asylum seekers in Mexico would make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to successfully present their case before an immigration judge.”
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Republicans block Mueller protection bill from Senate floor vote: Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday. Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) attempted to force the vote by unanimous consent. Lawmakers in both parties have for months advocated for legislation to safeguard Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, but the effort gained renewed momentum earlier this month when Trump fired Jeff Sessions as attorney general and replaced him with Matthew Whitaker. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has argued, as recently as Tuesday, that the bill is not necessary since he believes there is no indication Trump is moving to fire Mueller. CNN, NBC News
Trump won't rule out pardon for Paul Manafort: President Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to rule out a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. During an interview with The New York Post, Trump expressed admiration for Manafort, even after allegations emerged earlier this week that he repeatedly lied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and other federal investigators, potentially violating his plea bargain. Trump said a plea “was never discussed,” but added, “I wouldn’t take it off the table.” Politico
Pentagon planning to rotate in new troops at southern border: The Pentagon is actively planning for the U.S. troops deployed to the southern border to become a rotational force, meaning their mission would be extended and fresh troops would be rotated in, according to U.S. officials familiar with the planning. While there has not yet been a request for an extension of the mission from the Department of Homeland Security, defense officials are now planning for it to be extended past the December 15 end date and for new troops to be brought in. “There are discussions about extending the mission,” confirmed a defense official, “but without a formal request, it may not actually happen. It still depends on if DHS wants to make the request or not.” A source with direct knowledge of the discussions said the request to keep U.S. troops at the border longer will come from DHS to the Pentagon as early as this week. NBC News
UN envoy says no progress made at Astana talks at Syria: Russia, Turkey, and Iran failed to make any tangible progress in setting up a Syrian constitutional committee at a meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the office of UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said in a statement on Thursday. “There was no tangible progress in overcoming the ten-month stalemate on the composition of the constitutional committee,” the statement said. De Mistura said the meeting was “a missed opportunity to accelerate the establishment of a credible, balanced and inclusive, Syrian-owned, Syrian-led, UN-facilitated constitutional committee.” The three countries said in a joint statement issued after the talks that they would intensify consultations to establish the committee as soon as possible. But they also noted concern about recent ceasefire violations in the demilitarized zone in Idlib in northwest Syria. Reuters
U.S. strikes al-Shabaab in Somalia: The U.S. military said on Wednesday it had killed three militants in an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab in Somalia. The U.S. conducted numerous strikes in the same region on November 19 and 20, reportedly, killing 50 al-Shabaab fighters. The latest operation brings the number of U.S. strikes in Somalia this year to 36, all of them against al-Shabaab. The figure marks the highest number of strikes ever conducted by the U.S. military within a single year in Somalia. Voice of America
Scholars warn of Chinese influence operations in the U.S.: Beijing is mounting an aggressive influence campaign targeting multiple levels of American society, according to a report published Thursday written by some of the top China experts in the U.S. In a new report, led by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the Asia Society in New York, dozens of China experts warned that the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to influence U.S. universities, media, think tanks, and companies have become so pervasive that they are undermining democratic processes. “The ambition of Chinese activity in terms of the breadth, depth of investment of financial resources, and intensity requires far greater scrutiny than it has been getting, because China is intervening more resourcefully and forcefully across a wider range of sectors than Russia,” the report said.
According to the report, China hasn’t sought to interfere in national elections. Both President Trump and Vice President Pence have said, without evidence, that China tried to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections earlier this month to hurt their administration and the Republican Party. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said there was no indication of any foreign attempts to disrupt election infrastructure specifically, and described Beijing’s efforts to affect U.S. politics as “the more traditional, holistic state-influence campaigns.” Wall Street Journal
Russia says Trump and Putin will meet at G20: President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina, according to Moscow. The two leaders are expected to discuss several bilateral issues, including “ways to normalize” relations between the two countries, according to an aide to Putin. The meeting has not yet been publicly confirmed by the White House, and Trump had suggested in an interview Tuesday that he might cancel the meeting depending on the results of a “full report” about the recent maritime clash between Russia and Ukraine. National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters Tuesday that if the two leaders did meet, Trump would discuss security, arms control, and regional issues with Putin. CNN
Related:
New York Times: Naval Clash Raises the Stakes for Trump’s Meeting With Putin
North Korea lashes out at the U.S. over human rights criticism: North Korea has lashed out at the U.S. for continuing to press Pyongyang to improve its human rights record. The North Korean government accused the U.S. this week of “stoking confrontation” by calling a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss human rights in the country. The regime’s state media also accused Washington of “inciting an atmosphere of hostility” toward North Korea at the UN in a bid to justify sanctions. Earlier this month, the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee adopted an annual resolution expressing deep concern “at the grave human rights situation, the pervasive culture of impunity and the lack of accountability for human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” Washington Post
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Editor-in-Chief, Karen J. Greenberg, Center on National Security, Fordham Law School
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