Defense
Companies that do business with the federal government will have to announce “hundreds of thousands” of lay-offs just days before the November election, predicted the former Pentagon comptroller for George W. Bush – AOL Defense
Congress will spare critical funding for combat operations in Afghanistan from the federal budget axe, but the move will do little to ease to ease the blow of automatic defense cuts to the Pentagon. – DEFCON Hill
Automatic across-the-board cuts to the budget set for Jan. 2 will cost the United States 1 million jobs, according to a new study released Thursday by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). – The Hill’s On the Money
Read the BPC’s report.
Just back from his trip to Asia, the jet-lagged Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended graduation ceremonies at the Pentagon’s National Defense University, where he singled out NDU’s first-ever Vietnamese graduate, a colonel in the People’s Army of Vietnam, as an example of the kind of relationship-building the US military must do around the world and especially in the Pacific. – AOL Defense
Few attributes are more important to a U.S. Navy submarine than stealth. But U.S. Navy Seals also need to get to their job site from the subs undetected as well. And that is an increasingly difficult task as technology improves for active sonar, making good systems affordable in areas where Seals are likely to try to conduct missions. – Aviation Week
The War
The death this week of Al Qaeda’s deputy leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi, is likely to accelerate a shift in power from the group’s dwindling leadership in Pakistan to its increasingly autonomous franchises, particularly the branch in Yemen, whose focus on attacking American interests is sure to continue, according to United States counterterrorism officials. – New York Times
Military prosecutors won’t say whether they plan to use newly disclosed tape recordings in the upcoming trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed even though the tapes could solve the prosecution’s problems with tainted evidence. – Associated Press
The wife of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised Muslim women for their role in the Arab Spring uprisings and said the unrest would soon lead to an “Islamic Spring”, according to a rare message posted online on Friday. – Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday implicitly defended Washington’s use of drone strikes to kill suspected militants, just days after one of the aircraft killed one of al Qaeda’s most powerful figures in Pakistan. – Reuters
John Yoo writes: Some church thinkers approved of wars for conversion (i.e., the Crusades), reprisal, conquest and punishment. While Mr. Obama surely does not seek a return to these earlier forms of conflict, a return to first principles such as hostis humani generis may prove a better guide for a nation at war than a president’s day-to-day instincts. – Wall Street Journal
Nuclear Weapons
A leading Republican lawmaker renewed his criticism of the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons spending plan in a letter to the president this week, claiming that a recent memo from the White House budget office provided “fresh evidence” that it is reneging on prior commitments – Global Security Newswire
Missile Defense
The first of four satellites to be deployed for the planned U.S. Space-Based Infrared System has surpassed operational benchmarks following its launch in May 2011, project contractor Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday – Global Security Newswire
