Yesterday Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel laid out his plan for how to manage the Defense Department through the downturn, including six points largely focused on force sizing and the touchy subject of compensation. (Marcus Weisgerber, Defense News)
Despite prior indications that UAV operations were going to shift from CIA to DoD, Gordon Lubold reports that plan has been put on hold. Citing anonymous officials, the report describes the difficulties of moving UAVs away from CIA, with several saying that the goal is still to transfer authority, but complications have stalled the process. (Gordon Lubold, Foreign Policy)
Foreign Affairs has a look at the US effort to build a capable military in Libya. It’s an interesting case to follow, an example of how US efforts to shape the region now require slightly distanced support given concerns about getting bogged down in any one country. (Frederic Wehrey, Foreign Affairs)
Warlord’s Quote
“The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish … the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its nature.” – Carl von Clausewitz, On War Contributed by Cmdr. Tom Mahnken, USNR, formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning, who handles economic geography and national security at the Naval War College. From a list compiled by the Warlord Loop, a private email forum for national security experts.
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