Aftermath of the fall of Kabul Defense News Weekly Full Episode 8 28 21

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- Defense News is proudly sponsored  by Navy Federal Credit Union.   If you're a member of our Nation's  Armed Forces, the Department of Defense,   or if your family is, we'd  be proud to serve you too. - On this episode of Defense News Weekly more  fallout from the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan,   and the effort to evacuate US citizens and  vulnerable Afghans. And we hear from a former  

Secretary of Defense on how you can help. We  have updates on the Pentagon's vaccine mandate,   and the reason 18 midshipman were kicked out of  the Naval Academy. Also the latest headlines from   the defense industry, an American version of this  Israeli Iron Dome system, the army tested out.   With the latest news and updates from the Pentagon  to the platoon. This is Defense News Weekly.   Welcome back to Defense News Weekly, I'm Andrea  Scott. The news has been coming in a mile a minute   lately, so let's get right to it. First up service  members, not yet vaccinated against COVID-19,  

will have to sit down for their shots soon or  risk administrative or criminal action. On Monday,   the Food and Drug Administration announced that  the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has received full   licensure. And the Defense Department is now  working up a policy to require it for troops.   A timeline for vaccination completion will be  provided in the coming days, according to Pentagon   spokesman, John Kirby. White house officials  remain committed to ending the US evacuation   mission in Afghanistan by August 31st, despite  increasing pressure from lawmakers and advocacy   groups who worry that vulnerable individuals will  still be trapped in the country at that point.   The Associated Press said President Joe  Biden, has asked his national security team   to draft contingency plans should an extension  to leave the country be needed, but he has opted   for now to keep his deadline, to withdraw all  US troops. The looming deadline for US Forces  

to pull out of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan  has received international scrutiny, as thousands   of individuals are seeking to flee the country.  The US Naval Academy has expelled 18 second year   midshipman, after an investigation determined that  they cheated on a remote physics exam in December,   2020. According to the investigation, more  than 105 students were found to have quote,   likely access unauthorized resources for the  exam. 82 of those were found to have violated   the school's honor code, but were retained with  sanctions and a five month remediation program.   Instructions were clear and explicitly stated  that use of outside resources was prohibited.  

The academy said the biggest vulnerability  identified was an adequate proctoring.   Now turning back to Afghanistan, one question  many people have about the situation there   is about the impact the rapid fall of the army and  government has on veterans of the war. Recently,   former acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher  Miller sat down with Military Times to talk about   the importance of checking in on veterans  and a group he works with to do just that. - So this morning, 20 years of war you've known,  we've known people who have lost their lives, who   lost limbs, who have continued to suffer the seen  and unseen wounds of war. You know, many families   that have lost loved ones, paid the ultimate price   for this last 20 years. What's  your message to those people?

- I mean, that's really what has brought me out  to speak with you and go public. That hasn't been   what I've done since I left the office. No, my  heart goes out to the Gold Star families and I   can't even fathom what they're going through the  reinjury and the re-traumatization of what they're   going through. And every, the cliche question now  is, was it worth it? Well, there's an, I just,   and I'll go to my grave believing this, there's  just an inherent value of service to your country   and the tragedy that befalls that's the nature of  war and the tragedy that is war wouldn't be war if   there wasn't tragedy. So I can't even fathom and  have any words of solace or anything like that.  

I just, have been so honored to serve with them  and their, well serve with their loved ones.   And, there's biblical scripture of course, about  no greater love hath a man than to give his life   for a friend. I obviously didn't get that exactly  right. But, and then for me, there's just enormous   value and courage and dignity and serving  your country. And, we are so fortunate. - Have many Gold Star family reached out to you? - Sure. - Can you share anything-- - No.

- About what they told you? - No. It's just too, it's too searing and I'll  break down in tears. I can't talk about it here. - Anything else, any final thoughts, anything  you wanna share the American public about   your role as Secretary of Defense? - No one really cares about that. What  I'd really like share though is, the goal   that I had while I was there was to draw down  these wars responsibly. I firmly believe that,   then to organize the department for the  future, which weren't very successful with,   but still I think through some ideas on the table,  but at the end of the day with the most important   thing was to, give voice and provide support  to members of our Armed Forces, veterans and   their families. And I just, as a veteran,  I think it's really, really important now,   more important than ever that we come together  as a country. And, only 1% of population serves,  

that's fine. That's what we decided as a nation is  the way we wanna do our national defense about 7%,   I think are veterans. It's very small population  and I just urge, the American people to reach out   to a veteran. I represent, it was this one officer  that I grew up with named Mike Carmichael had   felt a calling and he's retired now. And he felt  to call in about two months ago to establish an   organization that brings public awareness to  the crisis of veteran suicide. And of course,  

Mike sent me a note. I'm like, "How can I help?"  'Cause I love the guy to death. And he established   an organization called Check-A-Vet, checkavet.org  and it provides public awareness. So for American   citizens that are trying to learn about veterans  issues, it's a great website, now look, we're not   gonna make any money on it. That's not our point  at all, happy to take donations to help expand  

our base. But it, and the other thing is it's for  veterans, if they're feeling in need, it's a good   place to go for some resources. But at the end of  the day, if you know a veteran go give him a hug. - Do you think after the tumult of  Afghanistan subsides, do you think   the United States, the public American  public will still have that kind of same   caring about veterans or is that gonna go away? - I mean, that's the thing I worry about  the most. That's what I'm very focused on.   Ministration has put a lot of money into  veteran's administration, but let's be honest.  

They only service about 30 to 40% of  veterans needs. This is about America.   We sent these folks off the war. We have a moral,  ethical obligation to continue to provide support   to them 'cause although the guns have fallen  silent, the war continues for a lot of people.  

And that's my biggest concern is like, "Oh,  wars are done. We're gonna move on." This is   the most critical time where we have to pay  attention to these issues and make sure that   our veterans and their families and Gold Star  families that they're getting the services and   the support they need. That's my fundamental  principle that that's why I'm going public. - We had the cost of war report  came out today and said that the   cost of care for veterans of this war is  jumping to $2.5 trillion over the next, by 2050. - Okay, so when we go to war, that's the cost  of going to war. That's why these decisions   of war and peace are so important. And that's  why I think it's really important as well that   the American people pay a lot more attention to  these things as we go forward and that we have   a strategy and we look at this clear eyed about  what our objectives are and we stick with that.

- When we come back more analysis  on the events in Afghanistan.   And the latest headlines  from the defense industry. - The military and defense market is constantly  evolving. Stay on top of the latest news with   Sightline Media Group, live events, continue to  learn, understand new tools and technologies. - [Man] We're live, you're on three-- - Defense government and industry leaders  come together for successful and proven,   engaging events. You'll gain valuable  insight. Get the chance to ask questions  

all from the comfort of your own home  or office. Sign up for our events,   newsletters, and receive alerts  for upcoming live streams. -   Welcome back for more analysis on the collapse  of Afghan resistance to the Taliban. We turn   to an expert on the region from the Brookings  Institute on how things fell apart, so fast. - The failure has been in the making for years  and years. And the responsibility lies foremost   with the Afghan government, the United States,  the international communities made plenty of   mistakes. Pakistan has duplicitously supported  the Taliban for many years and never reduced it  

support for Taliban. But at the end of the day,  the most important responsibility is that of   the Afghan political class, Afghan government that  over and over put narrow parochial self-interested   corrupt interests over the national interest,  over the basic interest of their land of their   people. To a large extent, leaving that they will  be able to persuade the international community to   stay in Afghanistan with an open-ended commitment  for another five years, 10 years, they persuaded   themselves that Afghanistan was too important  to fail. And correctly believe that it was a geo  

strategic center of the so-called New Great  Game. Those were wrong judgements on their part.   They've were repeated told that these were wrong  judgments. Then the United States had over several   presidents now sought to depart from Afghanistan,  but they never believed it. And so they allowed   the perpetuation of the most disastrous forms  of corruption, of the most disastrous forms of   misgovernance even in the very core of the most  fundamental institutions, like the Afghan Security   Forces. There is also the need for protection  for the largest segment of people, not just   those who directly work for the United States,  but those who chose to work for Afghan human   rights organizations, who were Afghan journalist  who chose to work for the government, but they're   not corrupt, they did not participate in the  looting and malfeasance in the country. They   should be made available to them also, and  to come to the United States. So the crucial  

aspects now are to allow the visa  processing to start taking place rapidly,   the screening as well, to  get people on the flights.   And to also engage with the Taliban. So it doesn't  start preventing the evacuations and departures.   The Taliban is not been doing that in Kabul, but  getting access to Kabul has been challenging. That   is banditry and looting and attached by robbers  on people watching to get to the Kabul Airport   and people who are far away, away from  Kabul might be very afraid and concerned to   travel on the road. There are tremendous amount of  road stops that have Afghan faces going forward.   Brain drain is one aspect that's already  happening with all those people who are trying to   get to the United States or Canada or  Europe. The big economic decline will be,   that is significant dimension affecting  all the many people who will not be able to   leave the country. That is also a high  possibility that the Taliban will simply not  

know how to administer more than governance  systems. And of course, it's an open verdict yet   as to how more moderate or not the Taliban  will be compared to the 1990s. As I mentioned,   I believe that kind of the maximum outcome  that we could expect is an Iran like regime. - Now for the latest, from the defense industry,  we turn to Defense News Weekly, Daniel Woolfolk. - The US Air Force awarded Kratos and General  Atomics contracts worth a combined $20 million   for further development of the autonomous Skyborg  drone wingman. That's according to a Monday  

announcement from the service. Kratos received  $13.2 million to continue work on its XQ-58A,   while General Atomics got $7 million for its MQ-20  Avenger. The funding will allow the companies to   continue integrating their air vehicles with  the Leidos-built Autonomous Core System,   which acts as a Skyborg's brain. It also pays  for continued flight testing and experimentation,   which will inform the Air Force. Whether the  Skyborg's drone is ready to move to a program   of record in fiscal year 2023. After integrating  the UTAP-22 Mako drone with the autonomy core,  

Kratos conducted its first Skyborg test flight  in April. A General Atomics Avenger equipped   with the autonomy core took to the skies  in the second Skyborg flight test in June.   General Atomics, Kratos and Boeing were tapped to  build Skyborg air vehicle prototypes in December   2020. So far, Boeing's Skyborg prototype  has not flown and the Air Force plans to  

host its next operational exercise this fall.  More drone development news out of the Middle   East. Two Saudi companies have inked an agreement  to co-produce and further develop the Sky Guard   drone for operational use. The UAV has only ever  undergone testing. The deal was signed on August  

19th, between the Prince Sultan Defense  Studies and Research Center and Advanced   Electronics Company, which is a subsidiary  of the Saudi Arabian Military Industries   better known as SAMI. The UAV originally  designed and manufactured by the Research   Center has successfully passed testing and  experimentation to qualify it's subsistence in   different environmental conditions. Flight tests  were also conducted to assess design requirements.   The United States is a little closer  to attaining hypersonic technology.   Army and industry officials announced that  the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body is expected   to take part in a second more challenging flight  test later this year. The Defense Department has   been jointly developing the C-HGB that will serve  as the base of its offensive hypersonic missile.  

The test marks a major step forward in  accomplishing that mission. Amid a mounting   criticism that the United States is behind China  and Russia in the hypersonic weapons development.   The glider body will be made up of the weapons  warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal   protective shield. Each service will use it as the  base while developing individual weapons systems   such as launchers capable of firing weapons  from the land or the sea. Hypersonic weapons  

are capable of flying faster than the speed  of sound and it can maneuver between varying   altitudes and azimuths, making it harder to detect  and kill. The Iron Dome system is well-known for   protecting Israel from rocket attacks. And it's  something the United States has invested in.   The US Army and the Israeli Missile Defense  Organization fired off the Iron Dome at White   Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The technology  is made by the Israeli defense company, Rafael.   The US army plans to create  two batteries with the system.   That's it for defense energy headlines.  When we returned to personal finance expert,  

Jeanette Mack. Explains the difference  between soft and hard credit pools. - On this edition of Money Minute, Navy  Federal Credit Union, personal finance expert,   Jeanette Mack gives you the details on  the different types of credit pools. - It's a fact of life, if you wanna buy  a car, be a homeowner or even a renter   you'll have to have credit. And lenders will  be making what's called hard and soft credit   inquiries to check your credit worthiness at  various times in your life. So it's important to   know the difference between the two. Lenders do  a hard credit pull to see if you're financially  

able and trustworthy to take on a loan like a  credit card or a mortgage. It helps them see   if you're managing current accounts responsibly.  This hard pull on your credit can also lower your   credit score because you're essentially asking  for a loan. A soft inquiry, has no impact on  

your score and happens when you receive an  offer like a pre-approval for a credit card,   or when you check on your own credit. Before you  apply for a loan, ask if a hard or soft inquiry is   required. Keep hard inquiries to a minimum because  multiple hard credit pools in a short time span,   can hurt your credit score even more. If  you consistently make on-time and maintain   low balances, a hard credit pull every once in  awhile, won't hurt. And it's always smart to   check your three credit reports once a year,  reviewing regularly, help spot any errors and   get them fixed quickly. Bottom line, your credit  score plays a big role in your financial life.  

So take time to build and maintain your credit  worthiness for a strong financial future. - Thanks Jeanette, we'll see you next time. To  get more of our coverage, be sure to check out   our headlines online at army, navy, air force,  and marinecorpstimes.com and defensenews.com.  

And to be the most up-to-date in your unit, get a  list of our top stories in your email each weekday   with our Early Bird Brief. And make sure to  follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. -   Now on a lighter note, did  you know the CIS predecessor,   the Office of Strategic Services, once conjured  a unit of women posing as friendly companions,   but whose goal was to poison German morale  in world War II? It was called the League   of Lonely War Women. and history nets.  Claire Barrett is here to tell us about it. - I get kind of tired looking at these  fishermen, hanging around here to view us.  

But you, you're sort of of different. - During World War II, Allied Intelligence  Services tried all kinds of things to plan the   minds of Axis troops from radio broadcast, leaflet  drops, to straight up using British cadavers to   fool the Germans. No creative approach was spared  as the Allies performed psychological judo,   against their enemies. One of those propaganda  efforts was a little known outfit called the   League of Lonely War Women or in German, This  shadowy unit of women went around Western Europe,   preying on the emotions of homesick Germans,  trying to turn them against the war effort by   making them think their wives and girlfriends  were cheating on them. And in turn, lowering  

troop morale. Created by American Barbara Lauwers,  a corporal in the Office of Strategic Services,   the forerunner to the CIA, the League of Lonely  War Women utilized so-called black propaganda.   Propaganda intended to create the impression  that it was generated by those it was supposed   to discredit. Letters were airdropped to  Germans in the field with the intention of   casting doubt on their partner's faithfulness.  The letters, according to historian Kelly Keith,  

were supposedly written by women back home,  suggesting that they were seeking sex and   relationships with others. The mission's  purpose, was to bring down German soldiers   morale by making them believe their wives and  girlfriends were being unfaithful while they   were off fighting the war. The Czechoslovakia and  born Lauwers was multi-lingual, which aided the   Allies greatly in their war of disinformation.  One letter drafted by Lauwers read, "The dreams   you had at the front and the longings of your  lonely nights will be fulfilled. We want you   not your money. Therefore you should always  let us show you our membership card in advance.   There are members everywhere because we women,  understand our duties to the Homeland and to its   defenders. With all those foreigners around us,  the leaflet continued. We would like once more  

to press a real German youth who are bosom, no  inhibitions now. Your wife, sister, or lover is   one of us as well." Talk about insidious.  Additionally, leaflets were strewn around   occupied cities and towns with instructions  for those with lonely hearts, to show up to   coffee shops, bars and restaurants with a red  heart shaped cutout, adorning their uniforms.  

From there, a member of the League of Lonely War  Women would meet up with them and subtly stoke   their homesickness and frustrations with the war.  According to later accounts by the CIA, countless   Germans took the OSS agents up on their offer. And  while it's hard to quantify psychological warfare,   the League of Lonely War Women are certainly an  interesting postscript of the Second World War.   So these women or recruited in local towns who  spoke the language, who wouldn't really stick out.   So the OSS would go in and recruit these local  women to kind of pick up these German soldiers.  

And it was kind of their way of aiding the Allies.  So they were outright told to sleep with the   soldiers, someone flirt, obviously sometimes,  that was where it was taken, but they weren't   outright said like you had to sleep with these  men. There was definitely just some flirting,   some cajoling and just to make them feel homesick  really. It's very Soviet Sparrow style, but. - And that's all we have time for this week.  Please visit us on militarytimes.com and  

defensenews.com for more coverage. Thank you  for joining us and we'll see you next week.

2021-09-01

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