Mark Esper headed for quick confirmation after acing largely bipartisan Senate hearing

ON THE GLIDE SLOPE: Mark Esper, President Trump’s fallback nominee to head the Defense Department, did everything he needed to do yesterday to win quick and easy confirmation. With one notable exception (more on that below), he cruised effortlessly through his 2 hour, 45 minute hearing before the Armed Services Committee, telling the senators just what they wanted to hear, reassuring them he would work on their concerns, and generally showing a deep understanding of the issues facing the U.S. military.

For the most part the hearing was a bipartisan lovefest, beginning with the introduction of the nominee by Democratic former vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine, who compared Esper to Jim Mattis, the widely-respected previous defense secretary, who resigned last December over policy differences with the president.

“Most of us were very discouraged by the resignation of Secretary Mattis. And what we’ve hoped for is a successor who could show the same level of candor and principle and a willingness to remain independent even in the most challenging circumstances,” Kaine said at the start of the hearing. “I believe that Dr. Esper has those traits.”

IN THE MOLD OF MATTIS: Though lacking Mattis’ résumé as a decorated general and legendary commander, Esper does have a solid military background, having spent 10 years on active duty and another 11 years in the Guard. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, he served as an infantry officer with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

And while Esper was not exactly a protégé of Mattis, he has adopted his positions, including Mattis’s three “lines of effort” to move the Pentagon into the 21st century, namely to build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances, and reform the Pentagon to free up resources.

Michigan Democrat Gary Peters asked Esper point-blank, “Would you be a secretary of defense with views more aligned with Secretary Mattis or more aligned with President Trump?”

“I don’t know where to pick between the two,” Esper said, “but clearly I shared Secretary Mattis’ views and I’ve expressed that publicly.” Pressed by Peters about whether he might also consider resigning on principle if asked to support a policy counter to his values, Esper said, “Absolutely,” adding “In the Army, I grew up with this view that you’re asked to do anything that is illegal, or immoral, or unethical, then that would be the point at which you have to consider resignation and you’d be willing to do that.”

WARREN’S CRUSADE: The one tense part of the hearing came when Massachusetts Democrat and presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren began aggressively grilling Esper on one of her pet issues. Warren has proposed legislation to tighten the rules designed to avoid conflict of interests when members of the administration come from, or move to, private industry.

Warren pressed Esper repeatedly to agree to voluntarily extend the period in which he is required to recuse himself from matters affecting his prior employer, Raytheon, from two years to the rest of his term. And she wanted a promise he would never ask for a waiver that is provided for under law in extreme circumstances. Both go beyond current ethics requirements.

But it was Warren’s prosecutorial tone, demanding yes-or-no answers and refusing to let Esper give nuanced answers, that rubbed a lot of her colleagues the wrong way.

Committee chairman Jim Inhofe had to intervene to allow Esper to answer Warren’s question, and he later apologized for the exchange, which he called “unfair.” Democrat Joe Manchin also expressed consternation, telling Esper: “I hope you realize that this is part of this process.”

“I’m very disappointed that Sen. Warren would demonize you after you decades of service simply because you served in the private sector,” said Rick Scott, a Florida Republican. “There’s a lot of us who have been in the private sector and that doesn’t take anything away from our ability to do our job. I guess she just needed a moment for her presidential campaign,” Scott said.

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 Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: The annual Aspen Security Forum begins tonight in Aspen, Colorado, with a discussion on the future of NATO with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The three-day event features a who’s who of national security luminaries, including Adm. Philip Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, director, Defense Intelligence Agency; Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation; and Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. Video from the various panels will be broadcast live today through Friday. The full agenda is posted here.

WILL TRUMP SANCTION TURKEY? The Pentagon, the State Department, and the Congress have repeatedly said over the last year that Turkey cannot have both the U.S. F-35 fighter and the Russian S-400 missile system designed to shoot it down.

Now that Turkey has begun accepting delivery of the sophisticated Russian air defenses, we’ve been waiting for a formal announcement about whether the U.S. will make good on its threat, as well as whether it will impose additional economic sanctions against Ankara as mandated in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

While there is still no formal announcement, yesterday President Trump reluctantly conceded that the U.S. can’t give Turkey the 100 F-35s it’s ordered, or allow them to build parts for them, even though he says Turkey is the victim here.

“We have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets. It’s a very tough situation that they’re in, and it’s a very tough situation that we’ve been placed in, the United States,” Trump said. “With all of that being said, we’re working through it. We’ll see what happens, but it’s not really fair.”

IT’S ALL OBAMA’S FAULT: Trump blames the Obama administration for allegedly refusing to sell U.S. Patriot missiles to Turkey, and thereby “forcing” the NATO ally to go with Russia. But one reason Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a deal with Moscow is that it includes a co-production agreement that would eventually allow Turkey to produce its own surface-to-air missile defenses, based on Russian technology.

The U.S. was willing to sell Turkey Patriot missiles, but not to give up the technology behind them. In the end it was that, along with Erdogan’s increasing tilt away from NATO and toward Russia, that killed the Patriot sale.

ARE SANCTIONS COMING? Congress has called on Trump to follow the law and punish Turkey beyond just booting it out of the F-35 program. “The Secretary and the President are examining all of the options that are in the CAATSA legislation,” said State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, adding they “will make a decision based off what they’re required to do according to U.S. law.”

IRAN SUSPECTED IN SHIP SEIZURE: A Panamanian-flagged oil tanker last seen near the Strait of Hormuz may have been seized by Iranian naval forces.

The MT Riah went missing after entering Iranian waters over the weekend, according to ship tracking data. U.S. intelligence officials believe it may have been forced into Iranian territory by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, according to CNN’s Barbara Starr. Some reports claim the Riah belonged to the United Arab Emirates, but a UAE official denied that claim on Monday.

McKENZIE IN GULF REGION: This latest incident comes as U.S. Central Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie is traveling in the region, reviewing the U.S. plans to deter Iran from threatening international shipping.

“Obviously we would take that very seriously,” McKenzie told CBS’s David Martin, who is traveling with him.

McKenzie is reviewing plans for the U.S. to conduct what Defense Secretary-nominee Esper told Congress yesterday would be “passive patrols,” under a mission dubbed “Operation Sentinel.”

“I think our ability to bring forces into the theater has acted to deter them. And I think we’re in a period right now frankly where they’re sort of recalculating and they’re trying to sort of gauge our intent,” McKenzie told CBS.

MORE DIPLOMACY NEEDED: “We do not want war with Iran. We are not seeking war with Iran. We need to get back on the diplomatic channel,” Esper testified at his confirmation hearing yesterday.

He also said a future nuclear agreement with Iran should include a more permanent end to Iran’s nuclear activities and address its ballistic missile program. “I do think we need to get back to a negotiated path with them,” Esper said. “Preferably an updated version of the [2015 nuclear deal] if you will, that addresses, with finality, a verifiable, irreversible, and permanent prohibition on their nuclear work and efforts.”

“So that would be number one, and then, we also need to address the means to deliver them, ICBMs,” he added.

THEY’RE AT IT AGAIN: It was just over three weeks ago that President Trump and North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un were all smiles at their historic meeting at the DMZ, but now North Korea media is ramping up the rhetoric again, complaining about the latest round of U.S. and South Korean military exercises.

“This is clearly a breach of the main spirit of June 12 DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement and an undisguised pressure upon us,” said a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“The suspension of joint military exercises is what President Trump, commander-in-chief of the U.S., personally committed to at the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Singapore under the eyes of the whole world,” the statement said, according to an English translation.

The complaint came with a threat to resume tests of missiles and possibly nuclear weapons. “With the U.S. unilaterally reneging on its commitments, we are gradually losing our justifications to follow through on the commitments we made with the U.S. as well.”

A MOMENT MEMORIALIZED: In other Korea-related news, a photograph of Trump and Kim is one of four new photos hanging in the White House. The photos were added to the West Wing on Monday, according to Bloomberg White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs.

The photo is of Trump and Kim at the DMZ last month. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit North Korea when he stepped across the DMZ into the country for a few moments.

Other photos show Trump with soldiers at the DMZ, the president with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, and Trump with French President Emmanuel Macron in Normandy.

DANGEROUS LIAISONS: The Center for Strategic and International Studies has released a new brief: “Dangerous Liaisons: Russian Cooperation with Iran in Syria.”

The key takeaway: “As tensions escalate between the United States and Iran in the Middle East, Russia is engaged in covert and overt cooperation with Iran in ways that undermine U.S. national security interests. This analysis of commercial satellite imagery at Tiyas Airbase in Syria indicates the scope and proximity of Russian and Iranian military ties. If Washington wants to contain Tehran and prevent further Iranian expansion, U.S. policymakers will need to increase pressure on Moscow to curb Tehran’s activities in countries like Syria.”

The Rundown

New York Times: Iran’s Top Leader Strikes Defiant Tone As Trump Says ‘We’re Not Looking For Regime Change’

Breaking Defense: Esper: F-35 won’t hit 80% readiness, cites stealth parts

Bloomberg: U.S. Needs New Bases In Asia To Counter China Threat, Esper Says

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Lobbies To Secure The Gulf

The Diplomat: Japan Debates Sending Warships To Strait Of Hormuz

Washington Post: Secret locations of U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe accidentally included in report from NATO parliament

CNN: Duterte Invokes Military Pact With U.S. Amid South China Sea Dispute

Military Times: U.S. Forces Have Much To Learn From Ukraine’s Fight With Russia, Says State Department Official

Long War Journal: Taliban overruns district in eastern Afghanistan

Military Times: Pentagon: ‘Robust’ Counter-Terrorism Efforts In Afghanistan Must Continue — Even If Peace Deal Is Reached

Washington Examiner: Internal battle over Purple Heart trademark leaves wounded veterans in its wake

National Defense Magazine: Defense Department Accelerates Hypersonic Weapons Development

Air Force Magazine: The B-2 at 30: Improving with Age

Washington Examiner: Air Force warns storming Area 51 is ‘dangerous’ as 1.3M people sign up to break in

Defense News: Commentary: The Pentagon should treat Congress as a partner, not an obstacle

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | JULY 17

8 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Woodrow Wilson Center’s Polar Institute two-day symposium on “The Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations.” Speakers include: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Sen. Angus King, I-Maine; Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Charles Ray; Assistant Commerce Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Tim Gallaudet; and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. www.wilsoncenter.org/event

11:30 a.m. 2799 Richmond Hwy. Greater Washington Chapter of the Surface Navy Association discussion with Rear Adm. Gene Black, director of Surface Warfare Division. navysnaevents.org

2 p.m. Webinar on “Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. National Security, sponsored by the American Security Project and the Environmental Defense Fund, with retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, CEO of ASP, and Elgie Holstein, senior strategic planning director at EDF. Webinar can be viewed here: www.americansecurityproject.org/event/webinar.

3:30 p.m. 1630 Crescent Pl. N.W. The Meridian International Center holds an invitation-only discussion with House Foreign Affairs ranking member Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on national and global security, as well as U.S. foreign relations.

7 p.m. EDT 5 p.m MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion “NATO at 70: An Alliance in Crisis?” with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, and Courtney Kube, NBC Pentagon correspondent. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

THURSDAY | JULY 18

8 a.m. 300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Day Two of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Polar Institute symposium on “The Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations.” Speakers: Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command; Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations Vice Adm. Daniel Abel; and Rear Adm. John Okon, commander of Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. www.wilsoncenter.org/event

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “The Future of U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy,” with Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; and Seth Jones, director of the CSIS Transnational Threats Project. www.csis.org

2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “King of Battle: The Future of Long-Range Precision Fires,” with Col. John Rafferty, director of Army Futures Command’s Long-Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team; and Thomas Karako, senior fellow at CSIS. www.csis.org

3:15 p.m. EDT/1:15 MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion “A New Era of Great Power Competition,” with Jane Harman, CEO the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Robert Kagan, the Brookings Institution; Joe Nye, Co-Chair, the Aspen Strategy Group; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America; and Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent, the New York Times. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

5:30 p.m EDT/3:30 MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion “Great Powers Clash in the Arctic: The Struggle for the Northern Frontier,” with Matti Anttonen, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Finland; Elizabeth Economy, Council on Foreign Relations; Sherri Goodman, former deputy undersecretary of defense; Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard; and Jeanne Meserve, Transatlantic Commission on Election Security. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

7:30 p.m. EDT/5:30 p.m. MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion: “Military Competition with China: Maintaining America’s Edge,” with Adm. Philip Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Nicholas Burns, Executive Director, the Aspen Strategy Group. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

FRIDAY | JULY 19

8:30 a.m. 300 First St. S.E. AFA Mitchell Institute Space Breakfast Series Space, with Brig Gen DeAnna Burt, Director of Operations and Communications, Headquarters, Air Force Space Command. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

12:30 p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion: “Technology and National Security: A New Era of Innovation,” with Mike Brown, director, Defense Innovation Unit; John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security; Edward Screven, chief corporate architect, Oracle; and Kara Swisher, Co-Founder, Recode. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

3:30 p.m.EDT/1:30 p.m MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion: “A Conversation with the Defense Intelligence Agency Director,” with Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, director, Defense Intelligence Agency, and Jim Sciutto, CNN chief national security correspondent. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.

4:15 p.m. EDT/2:15 p.m. MDT Aspen, Colo. Aspen Security Forum discussion: “Is Peace Possible in the Forever War?” with Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, and Nick Schifrin, foreign affairs and defense correspondent, PBS NewsHour. Full agenda at aspensecurityforum.org/agenda. Watch live video at aspensecurityforum.org/media/live-video.