| HOPEFUL WORDS, LITTLE PROGRESS: Iran refuses to give up uranium enrichment. Ukraine refuses to hand over territory to Russia, and Russia refuses to make compromises of any kind. That sums up the state of the dual peace talks that took place in Geneva yesterday, as U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner shuttled between talks, trying to end war in Ukraine and prevent war with Iran. Let's start with Iran, whose chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a "general agreement" had been reached on "a set of guiding principles," which veteran diplomat Brett McGurk noted is typically code for the only agreement is to keep talking. "There's a saying in diplomacy, if you hear a diplomat say, we agreed in principle, it means we agreed on nothing in practice," he said on CNN. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — in a speech and a series of English language posts on social media, which included an image of a coffin in the shape of a U.S. aircraft carrier — threatened to sink American warships with Iran's arsenal of anti-ship missiles. "The Americans constantly say that they've sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware. However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea," Khamenei posted on X. "The US President keeps saying that they have the strongest military force in the world. The strongest military force in the world may at times be struck so hard that it cannot get up again." And in an apparent attempt to send a message that Iran can disrupt the international oil markets, Tehran announced the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz for live fire drills, blocking for a few hours the key waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil passes. THE U.S. BUILDUP CONTINUES: The world is watching as the size of the U.S. forces in the Gulf region continues to grow, and in the modern age, publicly available flight and ship tracking data paints a picture that shows President Donald Trump is not kidding when he says it's a massive display of U.S. military might. Amateur trackers report more than four dozen combat planes are moving into the region, including F-16s and F-22s, according to a post on X by a self-described military and intelligence enthusiast. "Flight tracking data indicate there was unusually heavy movement of dozens of fighter jets and other assets that might be used in a strike against Iran," Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. "The aircraft have been moved to bases in Europe and the Middle East. Some of them include the same types of aircraft that were involved in last June's Operation Midnight Hammer strike on Iranian nuclear facilities." "This military deployment … is a massive deployment. Clearly, this is an operational deployment. This is not just a show of force," McGurk said on CNN. "We're deploying two aircraft carrier strike groups, KC135 air refuelers that you need, all the air defense systems. This is a significant endeavor." "And it seems like this feels to me like in June, where we were trying to negotiate, but ultimately led to a military campaign." VANCE: THE U.S. HAS CERTAIN RED LINES: "The president has a lot of options. We do have a very powerful military. The president has shown a willingness to use it," Vice President J.D. Vance said on Fox News yesterday. "One thing about the negotiation I will say this morning is, in some ways, it went well. They agreed to meet afterwards. But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through," Vance told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. The big issue is Iran's refusal to give up on its uranium enrichment program, which it insists it needs for peaceful energy generation. "The Americans say, 'Let's negotiate over your nuclear energy, and the result of the negotiation is supposed to be that you do not have this energy!'" Khamenei posted on X. "If that's the case, there is no room for negotiation." Asked about it on Friday, Trump told reporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, "We don't want enrichment," and said the only way Iran can avoid a U.S. attack would be to "Give us the right deal." "Historically, they have not done that," he said. "They want to talk, but so far they do a lot of talking and no action." The New York Times reported that Iranian negotiators have floated a scenario whereby Iran would suspend nuclear enrichment for "three to five years" — which would cover the duration of Trump's presidency — "and then join a regional consortium for civilian-grade enrichment." "Iran would also dilute its stockpile of uranium on its own soil in the presence of international inspectors," the report said. "In exchange, Iran has demanded that the United States lift financial and banking sanctions and the embargo on its oil sales." "Our primary interest here is, we don't want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. We don't want nuclear proliferation," Vance said on Fox. "The president of the United States is very much trying to find a solution here, whether it's through diplomatic options or through another option." US AND IRAN HAVE 'GENERAL UNDERSTANDING' AFTER TALKS, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS Good Wednesday morning, and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email, and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE HAPPENING TODAY: HEGSETH TOUR: Secretary Pete Hegseth's "Arsenal of Freedom" tour takes him to St. Louis, Missouri, today to visit Boeing and administer the oath of enlistment to new recruits at the Naval Reserve Officer Recruiting Station. ALSO TODAY: ROUND TWO OF UKRAINE TALKS: For the second consecutive day, U.S., Ukrainian, and Russian negotiators are meeting in Geneva with no indication that either Volodymyr Zelensky or Vladimir Putin are willing to budge from their positions. In an interview with Axios, Zelensky told Barak Ravid that he doesn't have the option of withdrawing Ukrainian forces from the 10% to 20% portion of the eastern Donbas region still under Ukrainian control because the Ukrainian people would never approve that in a referendum required under Ukraine's Constitution. "Zelensky said it was 'not fair' that President Trump kept publicly calling on Ukraine, not Russia, to make concessions for peace," Ravid wrote. At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, CNN's Christiane Amanpour read Zelensky President Trump's latest admonition that "Ukraine better come to the table fast," and asked Zelensky if he was feeling the pressure. "A little bit," Zelensky said with a half-smile. "We can't just withdraw when there are 200,000 people there. They are Ukrainians. We can't just run away. We didn't run away from the first day of this war. Why would we do it today?" he said. "This is a big mistake to allow the aggressor to take something. It was a big mistake at the very beginning, starting with 2014," Zelensky posted later on X. "Many mistakes were made. That's why now I don't want to be the President who will repeat the mistakes made by my predecessors or other people." "You can't stop Putin with your kisses or flowers. I never did it, and that's why I don't feel that it's the right way." OPINION: WHY A EUROPEAN ARMY IS UNLIKELY TO WORK HEGSETH'S PURGE CONTINUES: Secretary Pete Hegseth is continuing his campaign to rid the Pentagon of anyone he sees as too woke or insufficiently supportive of President Trump's America First agenda. The latest victim is Army Col. David Butler, a respected public affairs officer who has served as a senior military adviser to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and has served others in the same capacity. This includes former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump had made no secret he despises. Butler was on a promotion list to get his first start and become a brigadier general, but Hegseth opposed the promotion for reasons he has not disclosed. Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin laid out the background in a detailed post on X, reporting that Hegseth's unexplained firings "have led to fear, uncertainty, and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders." "Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President J.D. Vance, attended Yale Law School with the Vice President and had resisted Hegseth's pressure to fire Col. Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the U.S. Army," Griffin reported. "His name appeared for two years in a row on an Army list of 34 officers selected for promotion. That list has been held up by Secretary Hegseth for nearly 4 months because he reportedly has concerns about 4-5 officers selected by the Army board, but by law cannot remove them from the list. Col. Butler volunteered to take his name off the promotion list, if it would help unlock the other promotions, according to a well-placed Army official." "One of the Army's best communicators, Col. Butler served alongside the nation's tiered Special Operations units on countless missions overseas attached to the Army's Delta Force from 2010-2014. He served as the public affairs officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2015-2018 and as the public affairs officer for Gen. Scott Miller when he was JSOC commander from 2016 – 2018 and then at Gen. Miller's request served in Afghanistan when Gen. Miller deployed to Afghanistan from 2018-19," Griffin wrote. HEGSETH REPORTEDLY PUSHES OUT ARMY CHIEF OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: US and Iran have 'general understanding' after talks, Iranian foreign minister says Washington Examiner: Inside the Coast Guard's multimillion-dollar mission to revitalize its aging facilities Washington Examiner: Hamas dismisses Israel threat to 'complete the mission' if terrorist group doesn't disarm Washington Examiner: DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin quits as Noem impeachment calls continue Washington Examiner: Hegseth reportedly pushes out Army chief of public affairs Washington Examiner: ICE blocked from detaining Abrego Garcia by judge ahead of hearing Washington Examiner: Keir Starmer announces investigation into Labour smear campaign alleging journalists part of Russian conspiracy Washington Examiner: Capitol Police arrest 18-year-old with gun near Capitol building Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump and Rubio campaign for Viktor Orban, Xi's European pet Washington Examiner: Opinion: Why a European army is unlikely to work Washington Examiner: Editorial: In Munich, Rubio brings a plan, and Democrats bring a pose Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Boris Johnson: Put Up or Put a Sock in It, Europe The Atlantic: Marco Rubio's Impressive Speech AP: Former army chief seen as Zelenskyy's top rival reveals to AP a rift between them Air & Space Forces Magazine: US Amasses More Airpower in Middle East with Dozens of Fighters Washington Post: U.S. offers more details on claim China conducted secret nuclear weapons test AP: US Plans to Deploy More Missile Launchers to the Philippines Despite China's Alarm Bloomberg: Pentagon Says RTX Improves 'Poor' Performance on Crucial Missile Air & Space Forces Magazine: Sentinel ICBM to Have First Launch in 2027, Go Operational by Early 2030s Wall Street Journal: 'Woke' AI Feud Escalates Between Pentagon and Anthropic Politico: Canada Defense Plan Aims to Reduce 'Dependency' on US Breaking Defense: Venezuela Operation Relied on Little-Known Cyber Center, Official Says SpaceNews: Portions of the Pentagon's LEO Constellation on Hold as Acquisition Reviews Proceed Breaking Defense: LongShot Program Eyes New Target for Early Flight Tests Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Surveys Industry For Refueling Tech DefenseScoop: Pentagon Looking to Scale AI-Infused Enterprise Task Management Platform to More than 150K Users Air & Space Forces Magazine: USAFA Board Seeks More Cadets, New Facilities THE CALENDAR: WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 18 10 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council Latin America Center discussion: "Venezuela's Public Opinion in the Post-Maduro Era," with Mark Feierstein, senior adviser at the DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group; Luz Mely Reyes, co-founder and general director of Efecto Cocuyo; and Geoff Ramsey, senior Latin America threat intelligence analyst, Recorded Future https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/venezuelas-public-opinion 10 a.m. — Center for European Policy Analysis Zoom press briefing discussing two reports, "Ukraine 2036: How Today Investments Will Shape Tomorrow Security" and "Wartime Assistance to Ukraine." with Marianna Fakhurdinova, coordinator, EU–Ukraine Partnership Program, Transatlantic Dialogue Center; Uliana Movchan, Ax:son Johnson Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis; Kseniya Sotnikova, Ax:son Johnson Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis; and moderator: Elina Beketova, fellow, Democratic Resilience, Center for European Policy Analysis https://cepa.rsvpify.com/cepapressbriefingukraine 1:30 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion about a new report: "Adversary at the Table: Negotiating with Putin's Russia," with co-author Donald Jensen, adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences; and co-author Iuliia Osmolovska, head of the Kiev office of GLOBSEC https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/report-launch 5 p.m. — Pew Charitable Trusts and Disagree Better virtual discussion: "The state of U.S. democracy," with Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK), chairman, National Governors Association; Gov. Wes Moore (D-MG), vice chairman, National Governors Association; Gov. Spencer J. Cox (R-UT); Steve Inskeep, host of NPR's Morning Edition; and Susan Urahn, president and CEO, Pew Charitable Trusts https://web.cvent.com/event/ 6 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Fletcher School at Tufts University discussion: "The State of Civil-Military Relations in 2026 and Beyond," with Eliot Cohen, chair in strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Kori Schake, director of foreign policy studies, American Enterprise Institute; Saskia Brechenmacher, senior fellow, CEIP Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program; Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics, Fletcher School at Tufts University; and Kelly Sims Gallagher, nonresident scholar, CEIP Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2026/01/the-state-of-civil-military-relations 8 p.m. — Jews United for Democracy and Justice virtual discussion: "Collapsing Norms: Can American Democracy Survive This Stress Test?" with Susan Glasser, American journalist and news editor; and Madeleine Brand, host of the daily news and culture show Press Play https://www.jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/blog/event THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 19 9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: "Japan's Election and Implications for Korea and U.S," with Kristi Govella, associate professor at the University of Oxford; Philip Luck, CSIS chair in international business; Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chair; and Mark Lippert, CSIS nonresident senior adviser https://www.csis.org/events/japans-election-and-implications 11 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE — Heritage Foundation book discussion: The Great Heist: China's Epic Campaign to Steal America's Secrets, with author David Shedd, former acting director, Defense Intelligence Agency https://www.heritage.org/china/event/chinas-epic-intelligence-heist-insights-david-shedd 11 a.m. — Foreign Policy virtual discussion: beginning at 11 a.m., on "Decoding Trump's China Policy.," with former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell https://foreignpolicy.com/live/kurt-campbell-trump-china-policy 12:30 p.m. 125 E St. NW — Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy discussion: "What is the 'Trump Doctrine?' with Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst, and vice president for global studies and fellows at New America https://events.georgetown.edu/event/37826-what-is-the-trump-doctrine 2 p.m. 37th and O Sts. NW — Georgetown University Security Studies Program; and GU Bern Security Dialogue Initiative event: "Alpine Security in a Fragmented World, the launch of the new Bern Security Dialogue initiative, with former Joint Chiefs Chairman retired Army Gen. Mark Milley; and retired Lt. Gen. Jurgen-Joachim van Sandrart, former commanding general of the NATO Multinational Corps North-East https://events.georgetown.edu/event/bern-security-dialogue 3 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies media call on the on the four-year mark (Feb. 24) of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with FDD senior fellow retired Rear. Adm. Mark Montgomery, who is in Kyiv, and in Washington John Hardie, deputy director, FDD Russia Program; Ivana Stradner, FDD research fellow; and Peter Doran, FDD adjunct senior fellow. email [email protected] to RSVP and to receive the Zoom link. 4 p.m. — Jewish Democratic Council of America virtual discussion: "What Comes Next in Iran?" with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro; Dana Stroul, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East; and Holly Dagres, Middle East analyst and Iran expert https://www.mobilize.us/jewishdems/event 5 p.m. 16th St. NW — Institute of World Politics lecture: "The War in Ukraine: An Update from the Front," with Glen Corn, 34-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence and foreign affairs communities and founding partner of Varyag https://www.iwp.edu/the-war-in-ukraine-an-update-from-the-front FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 20 10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: "Engineering the Future of Deterrence: Integrating Advanced Systems for Modern Security," with Laura McGill, director, Sandia National Laboratories https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/registration-coming-soon/ 2 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Cato Institute book discussion: Retrench, Defend, Compete: Securing America's Future Against a Rising China, with author Charles Glaser, senior fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program; Patricia Kim, Brookings Institution fellow in foreign policy; and Evan Sankey, Cato policy analyst https://www.cato.org/events/retrench-defend-compete | | | | "Does Europe actually want this war to end? Then what are we doing about it? If we care about the suffering of these Ukrainians, as we say we do, then for God's sake let's give them the means to take out the factories that make Russia's drones. Why are the Germans still sitting on their arsenal of Taurus cruise missiles? Fears of 'escalation'? The history of the war so far is that the only person who fears escalation is Mr. Putin himself." | | Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and an opinion essay in the Wall Street Journal |
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Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
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