Defense
The administration is putting attention-getting Pentagon projects on the chopping block in a bid to pressure Congress into making a deal that avoids $46 billion in military budget cuts March 1, analysts and congressional officials say. – Washington Times
Even without sequestration, the U.S. Army may be forced to cut its end strength further than the already planned-for 80,000 troops over the next several years, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said on Feb. 15. – Defense News
For all the budget hawks and foreign policy doves out there who think that the automatic cuts called sequestration might actually be a good way to reduce our military spending, Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno has a message: We already gave at the office. – AOL Defense
Impending defense cuts would cause the United States Air Force to furlough nearly 180,000 civilian employees across the globe, costing critical personnel nearly $8,000 each, or $1.4 billion in total, according to Air Force projections. – Washington Free Beacon
The powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Friday he sees no way to avoid the across-the-board cuts of sequestration. – Defense News
The defense industry is no longer fighting to stop sequestration before March 1. Recognizing that no one in Congress expects a deal before the across-the-board cuts hit in March, industry groups are now strategizing to get them reversed as soon as possible after they take effect, keeping the damage to a minimum. – DEFCON Hill
The War
The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said Sunday he would comply with an intended order by President Hamid Karzai that prohibits Afghan forces from calling in NATO airstrikes on residential areas. – Washington Post
Exactly how often the White House — and self-declared noninterventionist Chuck Hagel — will call on Rodriguez, instead of the FBI or the CIA, to stop the spread of terrorism in Africa is becoming one of the biggest questions the administration faces in the next four years. – The E-Ring
Foreign Armies East
The highest-ranking U.S. military commander in Japan expressed concern about Tokyo’s intensifying territorial dispute with China, calling it “a very bad situation,” and blamed the Chinese navy for what he termed “a provocative act that can become dangerous.” – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam [last] week in the latest sign of Moscow’s growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States. – Washington Free Beacon
Now in its eighth year, Iron Fist exercise is designed to enhance the Navy and Marine Corps’ interoperability with Japan. Yet unlike years past, this iteration featured Japanese troops much more willing to publicly display some of their tactical might. – Defense News
Indian troops have shot and killed another Pakistani soldier at the de facto border between the two countries in Kashmir, adding to an unusually tense period in the disputed region. – New York Times
A top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed in Syria and buried in Iran on Friday, actually died in Israel’s attack on a Syrian military compound in late January, according to a faction of Syrian rebels. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
NATO
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta may have one foot out the door at the Pentagon, but he’s headed to Europe next week for a NATO meeting of defense ministers. – DEFCON Hill
