TheArmyhas a message for its retirees: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight the novelcoronavirus.
A message sent by Defense Finance and Accounting Services, which processes and dispenses retiree pay, asked troops who had previously served in specific health care specialties to consider “re-joining the team” to address the current pandemic crisis. It’s signed by Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army Personnel, G-1.
“We need to hear from you STAT!” reads the message, obtained by Military.com.
The Army, it states, is gauging the interest of retired officers, noncommissioned officers and more junior enlisted soldiers in assisting service efforts to treat the sometimes-deadly disease. The message does not specify whether retired troops would be returned to active status or serve in some other capacity.
“These extraordinary challenges require equally extraordinary solutions and that’s why we’re turning to you — trusted professionals capable of operating under constantly changing conditions,”the message states. “When the Nation called — you answered, and now, that call may come again.”
The call was addressed to retirees from the following health care-specific military occupational specialties:
60F: Critical Care Officer
60N: Anesthesiologist
66F: Nurse Anesthetist
66S: Critical Care Nurse
66P: Nurse Practitioner
66T: ER Nurse
68V: Respiratory Specialist
68W: Medic
The message came with a caveat: retired personnel now working in a civilian capacity in a hospital or other medical facility should make that known. Army officials said they did not want to pull personnel from service they were “providing to the Nation” in that role. They added that former soldiers from a different specialty who were interested in supporting Army efforts should also reach out to communicate that interest.
The call-out directed interested retirees to contact Human Resources Command, Reserve Personnel Management Directorate at Fort Knox, Kentucky, providing contact info and MOS.
As of Wednesday, the Pentagon reported 227 cases of Coronavirus among U.S. troops and 435 total among Defense Department-connected personnel. U.S. cases on Wednesday passed 64,000.
This week, the Pentagon announced that military medical and dental treatment facilities would postpone the majority of elective surgeries, dental procedures and invasive procedures for 60 days as it shifts most resources to fighting the pandemic. A massive relief package moving quickly through Congress Wednesday would triple the number of hospital beds available at these facilities and give the DoD $1.5 billion to open expeditionary military hospitals.
The call to retirees also comes on the heels of a recommendation from the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service for the creation of a “critical skills Individual Ready Reserve” that would serve essentially as a roster of qualified individuals in high-demand fields, likely including health care, on standby to support the Defense Department in times of national emergency. It’s one of 164 recommendations that will be considered by Congress in coming months.
The U.S. Selective Service System also owns a yet-to-be activated standby plan known as the Health Care Personnel Delivery System, colloquially known as the “doctor draft,” that would “provide a fair and equitable draft of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and those with certain other health care skills if, in some future emergency, the military’s existing medical capability proved insufficient and there is a shortage of volunteers.”
That proposed mechanism, however, is designed for use only in wartime and in connection with a broader national mobilization effort, with the approval of Congress and the president.
In a briefing at the Pentagon Wednesday, Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, Joint Staff surgeon, said he felt generally comfortable that the U.S. military had the resources it needed to continue to fight the virus.
“I’m very comfortable that we’ve analyzed the communities where we have military bases. We’ve looked at what we think their medical requirements would be when an outbreak occurs or if an outbreak occurs in that community,” he said. “Do we have enough health care resources there? Is it the right mix of health care resources? That’s then allowed us to identify what medical capabilities from the military we can offer to help support the whole of government, or to support combatant commands in other parts of the world.”
Mnuchin says wants to get checks in Americans’ hands within 3 weeks
BoE cuts rates, launches QE after ’emergency’ meeting
Confirmed cases in the US climbs ~50% as testing ramps up
Connecticut reports 2nd death as US death toll hits 137
NY reports ~600 new cases, bringing total to 2,959; death toll hits 21
Cuomo signs NY unemployment-benefit expansion benefit package, warns of ‘astronomical jump’ in cases
China reports zero new cases in Wuhan for first time in months.
Treasury weighing 50- and 25-year bonds to finance stimulus package
South Africa case total passes 150
India halts incoming international flights for a week
Hong Kong doctors find virus inside 2nd dog
Spain total cases climb 28% overnight
Italian death toll expected to pass China’s on Thursday
Pentagon says 2,000 nat’l guardsman deployed around the country
NY implements 90-day delay on mortgage payments due to hardship
FedEx says drop in deliveries in China was smaller than expected
Trump and Xi reportedly agree to deepen medical research ties
UK gov’t denies plans for London lockdown
Amazon closes warehouse for ‘deep clean’ after worker tests positive
Germany death toll climbs to 43
Treatment trial in Wuhan yields disappointing results
Germany’s Bafin bans short selling
Russia reports first death
SPR to buy 30 million barrels immediately, will eventually buy 70 million
Wuhan police erase record of ‘admonition’ delivered to Dr. Li Wenliang
German gov plans to suspend debt brake on Monday
Netherlands reports another jump in cases after unveiling stimulus package outline
Switzerland warns situation rapidly deteriorating along the Italian border
Tiffany closes all US stores
* * *
Update (1100ET): New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported yet another round of new case data on Thursday as he held his daily press briefing following an earlier interview on “the TODAY Show”.
As NY emerges as the countrywide leader in testing, Cuomo announced that the state tested ~7,500 people on Wednesday night alone. The state confirmed 1,769 new cases last night, bringing the total to 4,152. 21 New Yorkers have died so far, along with 7 additional deaths in Conn (2) and NJ (5), bringing the tri-state area death toll to 28.
He also instituted a 90-day relief period allowing New Yorkers to delay mortgage payments during the period, but only due to financial hardship (not just because they feel like it). The state has already postponed any foreclosures, banned negative credit reporting and waiving overdraft, debit card and credit card fees.
Watch his press conference below:
Cuomo also said he has no plans for a ‘shelter in place’ order.
After ordering businesses earlier this week to let at least half of their employees stay home on any given workday, Cuomo said the state would now require 75% of “non-essential” workers to stay home.
Germany’s latest batch of new cases raised its national total to 13,944, up from 12,307, and an additional 14 deaths, bringing the total to 43.
The Pentagon just confirmed that 2,000 national guard soldiers are deployed across the country as more governors have called up the national guard to assist with the virus response effort. According to the Military Times, governors across 23 states have mobilized components of the Army and Air National Guard to assist in their state’s response to the pandemic.
The states where guardsmen have been mobilized include California…
…Illinois…
…and Maryland, among other states.
Additionally, the Navy is dispatching two hospital ships, plus millions of pieces of vital medical equipment.
Meanwhile, President Trump and the White House task force are preparing for today’s briefing, where President Trump is expected to unveil measures to get experimental treatments into the hands of patients, despite some resistance from the FDA.
* * *
Update: In keeping with the coordinated central bank response via Europe, the BoE held an emergency meeting on Thursday and has announced some unprecedented stimulus measures, including launching a £645 billion bond-buying program of government and corporate bonds “as soon as operationally possible.”
Meanwhile, the cut the target from a record low of 0.25% to a new record low of 0.1%
* * *
Update (0930ET):Just before the US open, health officials in the Netherlands reported a jump in cases to 2,460.
The Dutch government has announced a rescue package designed to shield companies from the impact of the coronavirus that Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said is unlimited but will likely cost tens of billions of euros. The government is working on eight measures, including a fund that makes it easier for firms to request compensation for lost revenues and helps them pay wages, Hoekstra said Tuesday at a news conference.
Swiss authorities warned Thursday that the situation in the southern canton of Ticino is rapidly unraveling as the government scrambles to secure more hospital beds. Ticino is situated along the Swiss border with Italy, and is the worst-hit region of the small Alpine nation.
Meanwhile, Tiffany said it would temporarily close all stores in the US.
* * *
(0920ET): With oil price benchmarks around the world sliding below $30 a barrel, the US, the strategic petroleum reserve will immediately buy 30 million barrels of oil, and eventually buy as much as 70 million.
In China, police in Wuhan on Thursday officially revoked the government admonition issued to Dr. Li Wenliang, the martyred doctor who was censored for trying to warn the government and the people about the outbreak.
* * *
Update (0835ET):It’s shaping up to be another busy day on Thursday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said his goal is to get checks into the hands of Americans within three weeks, up from two yesterday.
Some updates from Europe: the Swiss press is reporting that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country climbed to 3,888.
Back in New York State, Cuomo reported another ~600 case jump to 2959 cases. The death toll in the state has climbed to 21, with at least 11 of those in NYC, as Gov. Cuomo warns that
After signing a paid sick leave law to guarantee pay for those under mandatory or precautionary quarantine into law, Cuomo appeared on “the Today Show” to discuss his response to the crisis, which has won him accolades from practically everyone, including President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and other conservatives like Candace Owens.
We are seeing the enemy on the horizon and they are approaching very quickly.
What we do between now and then matters gravely.
Do everything you can. Do everything you can to flatten the curve.
The NY governor repeated his claim that the ‘hysteria’ surrounding the outbreak is more damaging and dangerous than the virus itself during a Thursday appearance on the “Today Show.”
It’s a claim he’s made several times during press briefings and television appearances.
“We know what we have to do on the virus. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be disruptive but we know what we have to do there. The fear and the panic can actually get out of control more than the virus can,” he said in an interview on “TODAY” with Savannah Guthrie.
While he warned against increasing fear and panic, Cuomo said, “This is a war, Savannah. We have to treat it like a war.”
Cuomo appeared on the show one day after NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. When asked about his spat with de Blasio over the ‘shelter in place’ order, Cuomo again rejected the idea, saying it would be unnecessary thanks to NY’s proactive efforts to quarantine clusters like New Rochelle.
“States don’t fight wars…they need the federal government…equipment, equipment, equipment is going to be key…the federal government has recognized and is acting that responsibility…” Cuomo said, referring to the Defense Production Act invocation and the Army’s plan to send 2 Navy Hospital ships and millions of pieces of medical equipment across the US. Even Nancy Pelosi called on Trump to use his powers this morning.
New Yorkers should prepare to see an “astronomical” jump in cases as testing ramps up, Cuomo said. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing: the more cases exposed, the more quickly the government can act to stop the spread.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the country’s health minister declared that the government of PM Pedro Sanchez will pass a €210 billion stimulus package to help alleviate the crisis as the total number of cases in Spain has climbed 28% to 17,147. 169 new deaths were reported, raising the country’s death toll to 767, as we noted earlier.
At the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin and his staff are reportedly considering issuing a 50-year bond and 25-year bond to finance the $1.3 trillion stimulus, despite telling Congress during testimony earlier this year that demand for the 50-year bond was tepid.
As the number of cases explodes in India, PM Modi has halted arrivals of international flights for at least a week beginning on Sunday.
And as the virus spreads in Africa, South Africa said its total cases confirmed climbed to 158 on Thursday after reporting its first case of human-to-human transmission within the country.
In Hong Kong, researchers have apparently found samples of the novel coronavirus inside another dog, the second time the pet of a Covid-19 patient was also found to be carrying the virus.
However, pet owners needn’t worry – at least not yet. As CNBC’s Eunice Yoon reports, there’s no evidence that these dogs can be the source of the virus for humans.
Following a barrage of easing measures by global central banks overnight, and more talk of German fiscal stimulus Thursday morning, stock futures have sunk back into the red as promising gains from overnight fizzled.
It seems the world is finally waking up to some disappointing realities: In many places around the US, and around the world, millions of people simply aren’t heeding advisories – and, in some cases, emergency declarations – pertaining to avoiding.
In California, the backlash against Elon Musk and Tesla has intensified as the billionaire openly beckoned employees of his Fremont, Calif. factory back to work despite a ‘shelter in place’ order requiring everyone to stay home to avoid the virus. Now that testing is finally ramping up around the country, with New York State taking the lead with its aggressive drive-thru push, the total number of cases confirmed in the US climbed to 9,415 (according to Johns Hopkins data), an increase of roughly 50% overnight.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that President Trump’s decision to stop travel from China, although prescient, was clearly not enough to stop the virus’s spread in the US. Officials squandered the entire month of February, and the Trump Administration is finally beginning to realize just how far it has fallen behind.
The biggest news overnight was out of Italy, which has been reporting record numbers of newly confirmed cases and deaths, as well as a surprising number of young and healthy people hospitalized in serious condition. Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said Thursday that the government would extend the nation-wide lockdown beyond April 3 because too many Italians are disregarding the orders. The extension comes as Italy faces an alarming milestone: On Thursday, Italy is very likely to officially overtake China as the country with the largest number of deaths from the virus. 475 people lost their lives on Wednesday, the largest daily jump yet, taking the total in Italy to 2978. Officially, China’s death toll is 3,231, according to the WHO, though many suspect the real death toll is much, much higher.
As of Thursday morning in New York, Italy has recorded 35,713 cases, along with 2,978 deaths.
After pleading with Schengen Zone members to keep their borders open, the EU has closed its external borders to non-EU citizens as a growing number of countries close their borders. In the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, members of the British Commonwealth, have barred non-resident, non-citizens from entry. The closures will take effect on Friday, local time.
China again tightened its restrictions on foreign nationals traveling to the country by requiring airlines to “reduce” international flights.
In other news, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, announced on twitter Thursday that he had tested positive.
By now, we’ve heard dozens of dire predictions from Wall Street banks about the economic fallout from the crisis. At this point, a recession is virtually assured, and an all-out global depression – the likes of which haven’t been seen for nearly a century in the developed world – could arrive by the second quarter, according to JPM Morgan and Mohammed El-Erian.
Now, Germany’s Ifo Institute forecast a 1.5% contraction in the German economy after one of its preliminary gauges released on Monday showed a sharp drop in sentiment.
Yesterday, we saw some rumblings about Russian disinformation campaigns targeting the West, as Vladimir Putin seizes the opportunity to destabilize the West after taking steps to fortify Russia from the onslaught (by being one of the first major countries to close its border with China, among other measures).
A document sent to European lawmakers Monday by EU officials asserted that Russia is carrying out a “significant disinformation campaign” in an effort to sow discord and panic in Western nations over the coronavirus, according to a Reuters report. Reuters apparently got its hands on the 9-page memo, and now a handful of left-wing media organizations like Axios and the Daily Beast are spreading the news.
How much longer until the West blames the severity of the “Chinese Virus” outbreak on Vladimir Putin? At any rate, despite Russia’s lockdown measures, the country recorded its first virus-related death on Thursday. A 79-year-old woman died in a Moscow hospital, the country’s pandemic response agency said on Thursday.
Yesterday, we shared a report published by the Telegraph claiming that PM Boris Johnson had asked his cabinet heads to draw up plans for a total lockdown in London, with hefty criminal penalties for all those who disobey. Dozens of reports across social media showed how millions of Londoners appear to be ignoring the government’s advice, prompting the NHS to prepare to be overwhelmed by cases. Some have warned that tens of thousands could die in the UK thanks to Johnson’s perhaps misguided hope that he could shield the British economy from the worst of the fallout by simply focusing on containing the sick. Unfortunately, one of the themes of this outbreak has been millions of people putting their own petty wants and desires above protecting the public health.
Florida and Texas have finally shut down most of the beaches where thousands of undaunted spring breakers have continued to party.
It’s likely this crisis won’t truly be over until a vaccine is mass-produced. And looking forward, headlines pertaining to drug trials for treatments and vaccines might be some of the only positive news investors get. Unfortunately, the opposite happened on Thursday, when the first scientifically controlled clinical trial of existing antiviral drugs to treat Covid-19 has delivered disappointing results.
As the FT reminds us, the next important controlled clinical trial result to look out for involves remdesivir, a drug originally developed by Gilead Sciences of the US to treat Ebola. That trial is also taking place in Wuhan. Meanwhile, in the US, a vaccine trial is underway in the Pacific Northwest.
Though the trials are continuing in Wuhan, the epicenter of the crisis, which has been struggling against the virus since it first emerged in early December, finally saw a day where no new coronavirus cases were reported. While it’s important to take this news with a grain of salt, the city has pretty much reopened for business.
A few days ago, the NYT ran a story praising India’s response to Covid-19, which had kept the number of confirmed cases down. Unfortunately, the good times couldn’t last forever, and the Indian people are finally getting a taste of the hoarding and panic that has come to dominate life in the US. After Prime Minister Modi announced plans to deliver a televised address on Thursday, which prompted Indians to scramble to stock up on essentials as they feared a national lockdown order could be delivered during that speech.
In the US, Amazon announced that it had closed one of its warehouses in New York for deep cleaning after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.This is a major threat to the US, since Amazon has emerged as a last lifeline for US consumers. If its warehouses are sidelined by the virus, the gears of consumption could truly come to a screeching halt, per Bloomberg.
Bafin, the German financial regulator, joined Italy’s Consob and a handful of other European regulators by imposing restrictions on short-selling. Though the West has been reluctant to adopt the heavy handed measures imposed on China’s population, when it comes to markets, China style crackdowns on shortsellers are apparently more palatable. Handelsblatt reported Thursday morning that Germany could move ahead with suspending its constitutional ‘debt brake’ as soon as Monday.
After UK PM Boris Johnson announced earlier this week that he would close UK schools for all except the children of essential workers and those who wouldn’t have access to food otherwise, Gavin Williamson, his education secretary, said there are “certainly no plans” at this stage to force the closures of bars and restaurants, even as speculation about a possible London lockdown continues to grow. Another government spokesperson said Thursday that there is a “zero chance” of a London lockdown.
A few minutes ago, Spain reported another alarming jump in deaths and confirmed cases that was on par with the figures coming out of Italy. Spanish Covid-19 cases rose to 17,147 (prev. 13,716) and deaths climbed to 767 (prev. 558):
Back in the US, the state of Connecticut on Thursday confirmed its second virus-linked death as the US death toll nears 140, with 137 deaths confirmed so far.
Meanwhile, as millions of young people brush off the risks to their personal health due to the virus, Bloomberg has some disappointing news: New evidence from Europe and the US suggests that younger adults aren’t as impervious to the virus as they would like to think.
Before we go, we’d like to leave readers with a rare bit of positive corporate news, courtesy of last night’s FedEx earnings report:
The Pentagon is sending 160 soldiers to California’s border with Mexico in order to assist border agents resist an anticipated surge in migrants if the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals strikes down Migrant Protection Protection Protocols (MPP), according toBreitbart.
Approximately 60,000 migrants have been returned to Mexico prior to their US asylum hearings through the MPP program, which is aimed at preventing migrants from obtaining work in the United States, according to the report.
Some of the 30,000 migrants waiting in Mexico rushed for the border February 28 when the court declared the MPP program to be illegal. The court then quickly put a stay on its decision to block the MPP until March 12, pending any Supreme Court intervention.
The California-based court also decided to allow the MPP program to operate in Texas.
Officials at the Department of Justice have asked the Supreme Court to extend the delay. –Breitbart
Trump administration officials added that the troops could help prevent the migration of people carrying diseases, such as coronavirus.
On Friday, the Washington Examiner reported that US border officials have blocked ‘hundreds’ of foreigners from entering the country at land ports of entry along both the Canadian and Mexico borders, according to a senior homeland security official.
“We’ve turned people away on both borders, hundreds of them. In total, during the course of the last month … we’re under 1,000, but you’re in the hundreds, to give you a ballpark sense,” said deputy secretary of DHS, Ken Cuccinelli.
Customs and Border Protection officials (CBP) say their duty is to “secure our nation’s borders, and measures such as the Crisis Response Force employment allow CBP to do just that.”
Based on the pending MPP decision, continued concerns of large groups attempting to forcibly enter through [Ports of Entry] PoEs, and Covid-19 containment and mitigation concerns, CBP has activated the Crisis Response Force.
The Crisis Response Force will provide military police support, engineering support, and aviation support to CBP. Approximately 160 active-duty personnel will reposition from their CRS standby location at Fort Polk, Louisiana, to the southwest border in support of CBP.
Approximately 80 personnel will be deployed to PoE in El Paso, Texas, and approximately 80 personnel will be supporting the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California.
The CRF will remain at or adjacent to the selected PoEs as the operational environment evolves.
If necessary. the CRF has the ability to lift-and-shift via air or ground from one PoE to another PoE to support CBP.
The employment of the CRF is one element of CBP’s larger, comprehensive border security efforts to help CBP ensure everyone’s safety and security, to include travelers, asylum seekers, business stakeholders, and our own employee.
This CRF effort should not be confused with a current and distinct Texas National Guard annual training status deployment that is being conducted as the port of entry in Brownsville, Texas. Texas National Guard routinely conducts training events with CBP components.
The Pentagon is looking to divert $3.8 billion, mostly from its fiscal 2020 weapons procurement budget, to helpfund President Donald Trump’s border wall, according to areportfrom Defense News.
Defense News listed the items that are expected to be cut:
A mass of aircraft purchases including F-35 joint strike fighters, C-130J cargo aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones and P-8 maritime surveillance planes, as well as ground vehicles and
In sum, the plan would take $2.202 billion in FY20 defense appropriations and $1.629 billion in FY20 overseas contingency operations funding and direct it towards the wall. The wall on the southern border is a crucial plank of President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Air Force and Navy aviation spending make up the bulk of the Pentagon’s cuts, with aircraft procurement being slashed by $558 million for Navy and Marine Corps and $861 million for the Air Force.
In the Navy’s case, the Pentagon plans on cutting two of the six F-35B short takeoff and landing aircraft that Congress tacked on to the FY20 budget. It will also slash two MV-22 Ospreys, claiming that “current funding is more than sufficient to keep the production line open.” Further, the Navy plans on eliminating funding for one of the nine P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft funded in FY20, declaring that the additional aircraft is “[in] excess to the 117 aircraft required.”
As far as the Air Force’s budget is concerned, the Pentagon cut funding for four of the eight C-130Js that Congress added for the Reserve and Air National Guard. The department said that funding for those aircrafts can be re-allocated for fiscal year 2021.
The request would get rid of eight MQ-9 Reaper drones, cutting off most of the funding Congress added for an increase of 12 MQ-9s. “The program is currently undergoing a strategic review,” the department noted in a written justification. “Procurement, if necessary, can be rescheduled to a later fiscal year.”
It additionally peels off $156 million for advanced procurement for the F-35A and cuts $180 million for light attack aircraft for the Air Force.
The Army expects to lose $100 million in funding for National Guard Humvee modernization and $194.5 million in Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck funding.
The reprogramming request also implements cutbacks of $650 million in advanced procurement funding for an America-class Amphibious Assault Ship, LHA-9. This ship is currently being built in Mississippi at Ingalls Shipbuilding. According its website, Huntington Ingalls Industries claims that the advanced funding Congress provided, “enables a hot production line and a supplier base of 457 companies in 39 states to build this powerful warship.”
The reprogramming also reduces funding for one expeditionary fast transport ship, which is built in Alabama at Austal USA. The Republican Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Alabama Senator Richard Shelby has taken a particular interest in this project. According to the reprogramming document, the ship was viewed as “excess to current programmatic need.”
“The procurement exceeds the program-of-record requirement,” the document highlighted. “This is a congressional special interest item.”
Furthermore, the National Guard and reserves are set to lose approximately $1.3 billion in what the reprogramming request views as unnecessary funding. This decision was made due to historic under-execution of the previous year’s funds.
This is a solid win for America First and big blow against neoconservatives, neoliberals, and other factions that suck up the military-industrial complex.
The quicker that Trump’s wall can be built, the better.
While the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon are remembered every year with heavy hearts, the bizarre and inexplicable events that happened the day before are usually glossed over, lost down the memory hole due to the war on terror that has gripped the nation for nearly 18 years now.
On Sept. 10, 2001, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that $2.3 trillion had gone missing at the Pentagon. He made a statement blaming the corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy for these funds vanishing essentially into thin air.
CBS News issued a report as apart of their “Eye on America” series about the loss of funds, and how that scandal was conveniently lost in the shuffle only a day after it was made public:
While Rumsfeld’s announcement could have garnered widespread outrage and eventually sparked an impetus to reform the out-of-control Pentagon bureaucracy, that was made impossible after the attacks as the public suddenly supported even more national defense spending to defeat global terrorism.
Since the attacks, the problem of disappearing defense funds has gotten exponentially worse. It was widely reported earlier this year that the Pentagon can not account for $21 trillion in spending as the military-industrial complex has swelled to unforeseen proportions while endless wars continue throughout the Middle East.
Forbes published an analysis by top economists of the astronomical military waste at the Pentagon:
Mark Skidmore and Catherine Austin Fitts, former Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, conducted a search of government websites and found similar reports dating back to 1998. While the documents are incomplete, original government sources indicate $21 trillion in unsupported adjustments have been reported for the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the years 1998-2015.
While government budgets can be complex, our government, like any business, can track receipts and payments and share this information in ways that can be understood by the public. The ongoing occurrence and gargantuan nature of unsupported, i.e., undocumented, U.S. federal government expenditures as well as sources of funding for these expenditures should be a great concern to all tax payers.
Taken together these reports point to a failure to comply with basic Constitutional and legislative requirements for spending and disclosure. We urge the House and Senate Budget Committee to initiate immediate investigations of unaccounted federal expenditures as well as the source of their payment.
While the credible reports of unprecedented government waste are disheartening enough, new developments show that more than bureaucratic incompetence may have proceeded the 9/11 attacks. A recent academic study commissioned by the University of Alaska-Fairbanks has concluded that office fires could not have caused the fall of building seven of the World Trade Center, casting aspersions on the official story offered by federal investigators.
Until a new independent investigation is commissioned, serious and troubling questions will always remain about arguably the most consequential day in American history.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released vision Friday morning that confirms a U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (or BAMS-D) ISR Global Hawk drone waslostto an Iranian surface-to-air missile.
The downed aircraft is large–wingspan the size of a Boeing 757–and designed for high altitude spy missions.
The command said the $240 million unmanned aircraft was operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19, 2019 when it was lost.
CENTCOM refuted Iranian reports that the aircraft was over its territory. Iran, for its part, released footage of its own that allegedly shows the drone being taken out by a surface-to-air missile:
The vision from both sides was made public at the same time the New York TimesreportedPresident Donald Trump ordered air and naval strikes against Iranian targets in response to the attack but canceled them “abruptly.”
Northrop Grumman, manufacturer of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, describes it as a “premier provider of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.”
The attack by Iran came just 48-hours after the Pentagon released new images which officials said offered more evidence operatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were responsible for last week’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
On Friday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahanconfirmed that the Pentagon has authorized an additional $1.5 billion to extend the wall along theU.S.-Mexicoborder 80 more miles.
Shanahan stated, according to Stars and Stripes: “The Department of Defense is fully engaged in addressing the crisis on our southwest border, with more than 4,000 servicemembers and 19 aircraft currently supporting the Department of Homeland Security. Today, I authorized the transfer of $1.5 billion toward the construction of more than 80 miles of border barrier. The funds were drawn from a variety of sources, including cost savings, programmatic changes, and revised requirements, and therefore will have minimal impact on force readiness.”
The additional $1.5 billion comes after the transfer of $1 billion for an additional 60 miles of wall in Yuma, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, that was made in March.
Fox News reports, “But the plan to divert Pentagon funding has sparked criticism from congressional Democrats, who accused Shanahan of not seeking approval to ‘reprogram’ the funds without congressional authority. Shanahan and other senior defense officials claimed in response they did not have to get permission from Congress despite the objections from Democratic lawmakers.”
The funds being transferred come from the Afghan Security Forces Fund, which describes itself as providing “assistance to the security forces of Afghanistan to include the provision of equipment, supplies, services, training, facility and infrastructure repair, renovation and construction, and funding.”
AP reported in late February that Shanahan visited the southern border and asserted, “How do we get out of treating the symptoms and get at the root of the issue? I don’t want to just add resources and not fix the problem.” AP wrote, “Shanahan said he was not volunteering the Pentagon to take over any part of border control, which is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. But he said his visit led him to question whether there should be a ‘wholesale redesign’ of the way border control is done by the federal government.”
The Hill reported on Friday that Democrats would fight against transferring money for the wall:
The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would prohibit using military construction funds on a border wall. The prohibition, included in the fiscal 2020 military construction and veterans affairs appropriations bill, would prohibit funds from the 2015 through 2020 fiscal years from being “obligated, expended or used to design, construct, or carry out a project to construct a wall, barrier, fence, or road” along the U.S. southern border. And House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told Shanahan during a panel hearing in March that the Pentagon would likely lose the reprogramming authority if it moved forward with the $1 billion funding transfer.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) added, “Funds for the wall should not be stolen from previously approved vital military construction projects that are a higher priority than any wall … Military construction dollars should be used only for the purpose they are provided, which is to support the Department of Defense’ mission, service members and their families.”
American troops were disarmed by their Mexican counterparts north of the border.
By Richard Moorhead
A confrontation between American and Mexican military personnel earlier this month near Clint, Texas appears to have ended strangely, with Mexican troops disarming the American soldiers with the false impression the latter had intruded on Mexican territory. In reality, the encounter occurred within the territory of the United States.
A statement from the Department of Defense confirmed that the American soldiers allowed themselves to be disarmed in “an attempt to de-escalate a potentially volatile situation.” The two American soldiers, active in the area in support of border security operations, allowed the Mexican forces to place their sidearms in a Customs and Border Patrol Vehicle nearby.
The Pentagon went on to request an explanation from the Mexican government. It’s unclear if Mexico has apologized on behalf of its military personnel for the mistaken intrusion into American territory. The confusion may have been caused by the soldiers’ southern proximity to a security perimeter north of the Rio Grande River, which marks the border between the United States and Mexico across much of Texas. The fence is north of the actual border.
The Mexican soldiers were under the impression that they were in Mexican territory, as opposed to the United States. This wouldn’t be the first time that American and Mexican military have engaged in miniature border disputes, usually involving cases in which one party is unaware in regards to the nation they’re actually in.
Around 3,000 service members of the U.S military, mostly of the National Guard, are currently deployed at the southern border, tasked to assist Customs and Border Patrol with operations to secure the area. U.S troops are limited by federal law from acting directly as law enforcement, and have mostly been charged with acting in an auxiliary fashion to CBP agents. Service members have conducted tasks such as aerial reconnaissance and maintaining vehicles.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As the Pentagon weighs new troop deployments to the U.S.-Mexico border, Democrats in Congress are poised to usher in unprecedented scrutiny of a politically charged mission championed by Republican President Donald Trump.
Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, will hold a hearing on Tuesday with Pentagon officials he hopes will shed light on the costs, scope and goals of a deployment that critics have derided as a political stunt.
U.S. officials told Reuters the border deployment, which has fluctuated in size over the past three months, could grow again by as many as 2,000 or more troops.
Smith is skeptical about sending U.S. troops to deal with a crisis he believes would be better handled by judges. He told Reuters his committee may consider future funding restrictions for such missions.
“It’s undeniable that we have a significant increase in asylum seekers,” Smith said.
“But that’s not so much a job for the military as it is: we need more judges. We need to process them (the asylum seekers) more quickly,” he said.
Smith will receive testimony on Tuesday morning from John Rood, under secretary of defense for policy, and Vice Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of operations at the Joint Staff.
It is the first oversight hearing by the committee since Democrats took over the majority of the House of Representatives this month, a sign of the issue’s importance.
The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active duty U.S. troops to the Mexico border in October, ahead of U.S. midterm congressional elections. It was embraced by Trump’s supporters, including Republicans in Congress.
However, critics assailed the deployment as a political stunt to drive Republican voters to the polls and scoffed at Trump’s comparisons of caravans of Central American migrants, including women and children, to an “invasion.”
MORE TROOPS?
There are now about 2,350 active duty U.S. troops involved in the U.S. border mission. Although the figure is down from a peak of about 5,900 in November, it has expanded in scope from basic missions such as stringing concertina wire.
The Pentagon confirmed earlier in January that U.S. forces had provided medical support to 80 migrants.
A new request by the Department of Homeland Security for additional U.S. military support approved by the Pentagon earlier this month could require a fresh increase in troops, officials said. Smith said he had not been briefed by the Pentagon yet on potential new troop deployments.
He said public scrutiny was one of the best tools available to his committee to influence Trump’s decisions, given that the Senate is still controlled by Republicans and that Trump won’t want to sign legislation unfavorable to his agenda.
“What we can do is try to shine a light on it, to make the case that this is a bad idea, drum up public pressure so the president will stop doing these things,” Smith said.
For example, Smith said he wants to know what Pentagon funds might be used if Trump makes good on his threat to declare a national emergency in order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
He suggested his committee would also consider ways to introduce restrictions in next year’s budget legislation.
“That will be one of the chief things that my committee tries to do, is to put into the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) strict restrictions on how money can be used,” Smith said.
Tom's Blog 