Overnight Defense: NY/NJ bombings renew terror debate | US probes Syrian air strike | Senators push measure on Saudi arms sale
THE TOPLINE: The situation in Syria grew even murkier Monday as the U.S. military investigated a weekend airstrike that reportedly hit Syrian troops by mistake and a week-old ceasefire appeared to collapse.
The Hill’s Kristina Wong has more on the U.S. airstrike:
The U.S. military is still investigating whether a coalition airstrike accidentally hit Syrian military forces over the weekend, but a defense official said one thing being looked into is whether the forces were “easily identifiable as Syrian government forces.”
{mosads}”We’re still in the relatively early stages of determining what happened in this instance. It is premature to say we have any real clarity with what we will conclude contributed to the situation,” the official told The Hill.
“Clearly one of the factors that might be at play here is whether the forces were easily identifiable as Syrian government forces,” the official added.
Investigators are looking into whether the forces struck were Syrian prisoners or conscripts forced to fight on behalf of the regime, leading to a case of mistaken identify since such forces would likely not be wearing uniforms, the Daily Beast reported.
Read more about the investigation here.
In ceasefire news, the Syrian military declared it over, but U.S. officials were not ready to give in.
“Syria’s army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 07:00 pm (1600 UTC) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the U.S.-Russia agreement,” the general command of the armed forces said in a statement carried by Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.
The statement blamed rebel groups for failing to uphold the ceasefire, which it said had “a real chance to stop the bloodshed.”
The State Department followed up with its own statement putting the onus on Russia to uphold the ceasefire.
“We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in the statement. “We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends. While we have seen comments attributed to the Syrian military, our arrangement is with Russia, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance, so we expect Russia to clarify their position.”
GOP PRESSES KERRY ON RUSSIA USING IRANIAN BASE: Thirty-four Republican senators are pushing the State Department to confirm Russia and Iran violated a United Nations Security Council resolution when Russia launched its Syria airstrikes from an Iranian airbase this summer.
“We should be using all available tools to dissuade Russia from continuing its airstrikes in Syria that are clearly not in our interest,” the senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday. “If launching such airstrikes from Iran violates a legally binding Security Council Resolution, then that point should be made clear and enforced.”
In August, Russia began using an airbase near the city of Hamadan in Iran to launch airstrikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
The move was the first time in its year-old air campaign that Moscow used a base outside of Russia or Syria and was the first time a foreign power used an Iranian airbase since World War II. It was also widely seen as sending a message to Washington.
TERROR DEBATE: Officials on Monday confirmed the Saturday bombings in New York and New Jersey were a terrorist act, elevating fears about homegrown terrorism, reports The Hill’s Katie Bo Williams.
The attacks shook up the presidential race, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton battling over who is best equipped to protect the nation.
Click here for the five biggest takeaways from the attacks and the political aftermath.
EX-OFFICIAL: PENTAGON ‘HARDBALL’ MEMO NO SURPRISE: The Hill’s Kristina Wong recently spoke with a former Pentagon comptroller, who said the leaked memo on the Pentagon’s strategy to oppose the House’s budget plan should come as no surprise.
Here’s more on what Bob Hale said:
“I don’t recall writing a memo quite like that one, but the issues that were in there are discussed regularly at staff meetings and as the Department tries to figure out how best to interact with the Congress,” he told The Hill in a recent phone interview.
An internal Pentagon memo from May detailed its strategy to thwart the House GOP’s defense budget plans for 2017, by playing “hardball” in opposing a plan to shift $18 billion from the Pentagon’s war fund to its base budget.
The memo, written by Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Stephen Hedger, noted that Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, “may be less enthused” about the plan and suggested “capitalizing on his discomfort.”
Hale also played down the impact of the memo, which Republicans have blasted as “shameless.”
“It shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re opposing it, so in that sense I don’t think it was news to Capitol Hill,” he said.
SENATORS PUSH SAUDI ARMS SALE RESOLUTION: Congress risks “never, ever” being relevant on foreign policy if it stays silent on the civil war in Yemen, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) warned Monday.
“Through it’s refusal to authorize the current operations inside Yemen, we are at risk of never, ever again being relevant, at least in our lifetimes, on matters of war making and foreign policy,” Murphy said. “So I think this is serious and precedential.”
Murphy and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke at the Center for the National Interest in support of a resolution that would block the United States’s latest planned arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which is leading the coalition fighting against rebels in Yemen.
The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the resolution, which Murphy and Paul introduced with Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).
DEMS: TRUMP WILL MAKE US LESS SAFE: Eleven Democrats signed a letter Monday warning that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would make the United States less safe if elected.
The Hill’s Julian Hattem has the details:
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Serviced Committee, led 10 of his colleagues in a letter organized by 4D PAC, which supports left-leaning lawmakers with a focus on national security.
“Given the challenges our country faces today, America needs a commander-in-chief with proven qualities of wisdom, experience, resolve, and rationality,” they wrote. “Trump has none of these.”
“We believe, as president, Donald Trump would simply make America less safe.”
ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:
The Senate Armed Services Committee will consider the nomination of Gen. John Hyten to be commander of U.S. Strategic Command at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Hart Senate Office Building, room 216. http://bit.ly/2cePbt7
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on the crisis in South Sudan with testimony from outside experts at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 419. http://bit.ly/2ceRhsF
ICYMI:
— The Hill: National security amid topics for first Trump-Clinton debate
— The Hill: Clinton: Trump inspiring terrorism
— The Hill: Trump camp: Clinton presidency would bring more attacks
— The Hill: Cruz calls for refugee crackdown after attacks
— The Hill: Rubio: Let terrorist attack survivors defer student loans
— The Hill: Amnesty International: US-made bomb used in Yemen hospital strike
— Reuters: New B-21 bomber named ‘Raider’: U.S. Air Force
— Wall Street Journal: U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan killed eight policemen, local officials say
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