Happy Wednesday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Rebecca Kheel, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
THE TOPLINE: The United States has a new policy on sending individuals to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility — but it’s unclear what it is.
The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that Defense Secretary James Mattis sent the White House his guidance on the policy, but did not elaborate on what the guidance says.
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Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Sarah Higgins said Mattis “has provided the White House with an updated policy governing the criteria for transfer of individuals to the detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.”
“This policy provides our warfighters guidance on nominating detainees for transfer to Guantanamo detention should that person present a continuing, significant threat to the security of the United States,” she added in a statement.
Background: Mattis was given 90 days to craft his recommendations on Guantanamo under an executive order President Trump signed in January, a deadline that came Monday.
The order signed by Trump reaffirmed the president’s desire to keep the detention facility open by rescinding former President Barack Obama‘s executive order to close the facility.
It also said Mattis’s guidance should cover how to handle “individuals captured in connection with an armed conflict, including policies governing transfer of individuals to U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay.”
During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to “load” Guantanamo “up with bad dudes,” though no one new has been sent there since he took office last year.
Why it matters now: The issue of how to handle new detainees has taken on new urgency as U.S.-backed forces in Syria hold hundreds of foreign nationals accused of fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Sending an ISIS detainee to Guantanamo could put the United States on shaky legal ground, experts have said. That’s because the war authorization the U.S. uses to justify indefinite military detention does not explicitly mention ISIS. A detainee would likely immediately challenge their detention in court on that ground, experts say.
Mattis has said the U.S. preference is for the individuals being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to face justice in their home countries, but has declined to comment on whether Guantanamo is an option should that not happen.
One detainee out: Later Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that it transferred a Guantanamo detainee to his home country of Saudi Arabia, marking a first for the Trump administration.
The detainee, Ahmed al-Darbi, was transferred to Saudi Arabia pursuant to a plea agreement he made in 2014.
“The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
“In a February 2014 plea, al Darbi pled guilty at a military commission. Now, having complied with the terms of that agreement, al Darbi will serve out the balance of his 13-year sentence in Saudi Arabia. He has waived his right to appeal.”
By the numbers:
Number of current detainees: 40
Number cleared for transfer: 5
Number transferred since Trump took office: 1
NAVY WON’T ANNOUNCE FIRED OFFICERS: The Navy used to be the one military service to post names of fired commanders online and then notify news outlets via email.
But that’s not happening anymore. USA Today first reported the change in policy.
The Navy will still respond to media requests for information on fired commanders, but it won’t announce them of its own accord.
Top Navy spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks told USA Today the service is changing its practice to take “the necessary diligence to safeguard security, ensure information accuracy and stay within the bounds of both policy and privacy.”
Hicks added that Navy Public Affairs “will continue to respond to every query on reliefs in a timely and thorough manner.”
The Navy’s view: After the USA Today story broke, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters he thought the policy change was “being overblown.”
“I don’t think the practice is much going to change,” Richardson said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “I think that’s being overblown quite a bit. The thing that we value most of all is our relationship of trust and confidence, both within the ranks … and then certainly with the American people as well. I think there’s perhaps being more made of that then you’ll see in practice.”
Timing: The Navy changed its practice following the service’s so-called Fat Leonard scandal. The worst corruption scandal in Navy history centered around Malaysian contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, who bribed dozens of officers from the 7th Fleet with extravagant parties, luxury gifts, prostitutes and more in exchange for classified information used to win big-dollar contracts for his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.
Francis pleaded guilty to defrauding the government of millions of dollars, while more than 17 senior Navy and Pentagon officials pleaded guilty to criminal misconduct. The case is still ongoing.
MILITARY STORES ORDERED TO STOP SELLING CHINESE PHONES: The Defense Department is ordering retail stores on military bases to stop selling products made by Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE, citing security concerns.
“Huawei and ZTE devices may pose an unacceptable risk to Department’s personnel, information and mission,” Major Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “In light of this information, it was not prudent for the Department’s exchanges to continue selling them to [Defense Department] personnel.”
Eastburn would not go into details about the nature of the security concerns, but cited public testimony from intelligence officials warning that the firms may be compromised by the Chinese government.
The order was given to military bases around the world on April 25, the spokesman said.
Back story: In February, intelligence leaders told Congress that they would advise against Americans purchasing products from the two firms, warning that their devices could be used to conduct espionage on behalf of Beijing.
The officials were echoing a 2012 congressional report that effectively shut Huawei and ZTE out of the U.S. market.
ANOTHER DEADLY AIR CRASH: At least five National Guardsmen from Puerto Rico have been reported dead after a C-130 cargo plane went down in Georgia during a training mission.
The C-130 belonged to the Air National Guard’s 156th Airlift Wing out of Puerto Rico, the Air Force said.
The Air Force said the names of the aircraft’s crew would not be released until their next of kin have been notified.
President Trump offered his thoughts and prayers for the victims in a Wednesday afternoon tweet.
“I have been briefed on the U.S. C-130 “Hercules” cargo plane from the Puerto Rico National Guard that crashed near Savannah Hilton Head International Airport. Please join me in thoughts and prayers for the victims, their families and the great men and women of the National Guard,” he tweeted.
ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:
Former Japanese defense ministers will talk about Japan’s national security policy and priorities for the U.S.-Japan alliance at 10 a.m. at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://bit.ly/2HLLBCp
Chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White will brief the media at noon. Watch live at defense.gov/live.
ICYMI:
— The Hill: VA hospital cancels dozens of surgeries due to insect infestation: report
— The Hill: US support for Iran deal reaches highest point: poll
— The Hill: Russian military spending drops, US ends downward trend: analysis
— The Hill: Opinion: Don’t let Netanyahu talk America into yet another Middle East war
— The Hill: Opinion: Any North Korea nuclear deal must involve Iran’s nuclear program
— The Washington Post: Former Rep. Jeff Miller emerges as a leading contender for Trump’s VA
— Breaking Defense: Pentagon’s big AI program, Maven, already hunts data in Middle East, Africa