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☆ State Department Official Resigns Over Arms Transfers to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A State Department official in the bureau that oversees arms transfers resigned this week in protest of the Biden administration’s decision to continue sending weapons and ammunition to Israel as it lays siege to Gaza in its war with Hamas. In his resignation letter, Josh Paul, who has been the director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for over 11 years, said the Biden administration’s “blind support for one side” was leading to policy decisions that were “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values we publicly espouse.”“The response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” he wrote, adding, “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer.”In an interview, Mr. Paul said that Israel’s cutting off of water, food, medical care and electricity to Gaza, a territory of two million people, should prompt protections in a number of longstanding federal laws intended to keep American weapons out of the hands of human rights violators. But those legal guardrails are failing, he said.

Persons: Biden, Josh Paul, Biden administration’s, ”, Paul Organizations: Department, State Department’s Bureau, Political, Military Affairs Locations: Israel, Gaza

☆ Three American Lives Forever Changed by a Weapon Now Being Sent to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Marines were experts in their craft, trained for missions like these, and still there was an accident. Their task that day was made even more difficult by the sheer scale of the mess they had to clean up. Mass produced toward the end of the Cold War, cluster munitions of this type scatter dozens or even hundreds of the tiny grenades at a time. These grenades were designed to destroy enemy tanks and soldiers deep behind enemy lines on land allied soldiers were never meant to tread. More than 100 nations have banned their use because of the harm they pose, especially to children, but the United States, Russia and Ukraine have not.

Organizations: Marines Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russia

In a long-awaited move, the United States will allow allies to send American-made F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv once Ukrainian pilots are trained to operate them, a U.S. official confirmed on Thursday. However, the requirement that Ukraine’s pilots be fully trained means that the approvals will not come for months. Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began two months ago, has a chance of prevailing without the fighter jets, experts say, but it is likely to be far more difficult. The U.S. decision had been anticipated since May, when President Biden eased his resistance to NATO allies’ efforts to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and provide the jets to Ukraine. The official who confirmed the U.S. shift was not authorized to publicly discuss the agreement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Persons: Yuriy Ihnat, ”, Biden Organizations: U.S, Ukraine’s Air Force, NATO Locations: United States, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Ukraine, U.S

☆ Russia Is Replicating Iranian Drones and Using Them to Attack Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia has begun making copies of attack drones it acquired from Iran last year and is using them in combat against Ukrainian forces despite sanctions imposed to cripple the country’s weapons production, according to a report issued Thursday by a weapons research group. The researchers traveled to Kyiv in late July and inspected the wreckage of two attack drones that were used in combat in southeastern Ukraine. Both appeared to be Iranian Shahed-136s, but they contained electronic modules that match components previously recovered from Russian surveillance drones, according to the report. The investigation was conducted by Conflict Armament Research, an independent group based in Britain that identifies and tracks weapons and ammunition used in wars. It is the group’s 10th published account of its work in Kyiv, where researchers have analyzed Russian military hardware collected on the battlefield by Ukraine’s security services.

Organizations: Ukrainian, Armament Research Locations: Russia, Iran, Kyiv, Ukraine, Iranian, Britain

☆ Biden Nominates Adm. Lisa Franchetti to Lead the Navy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the days of John Paul Jones and the American Revolution, the top job in the U.S. Navy has gone to a man, but that will change if President Biden’s pick to become the service’s top uniformed leader is confirmed. The White House announced on Friday that President Biden intends to nominate Adm. Lisa Franchetti to become the Navy’s highest-ranking officer following the retirement of Adm. Michael M. Gilday this summer. Lloyd J. Austin III, the secretary of defense, said he was proud that Admiral Franchetti had been selected to be the first woman to lead the Navy and to serve as a permanent member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “She will continue to inspire all of us,” Mr. Austin said in a statement. Currently the Navy’s vice chief, Admiral Franchetti will serve in an acting role as the Navy’s top officer, awaiting confirmation by the Senate — a process that Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, has blocked for hundreds of admirals and generals in an attempt to force the Pentagon to drop a policy offering time off and travel reimbursement to service members who need to go out of state for abortions.

Persons: John Paul Jones, Biden’s, Biden, Lisa Franchetti, Michael M, Lloyd J, Austin III, Franchetti, “, ” Mr, Austin, Admiral Franchetti, Tommy Tuberville Organizations: American, U.S . Navy, White, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Senate, Republican, Pentagon Locations: Alabama

U.S. officials said Thursday that they had no information on the whereabouts or condition of an Army soldier who crossed into North Korea without authorization and had not spoken to North Korean authorities about the incident. The soldier, Pvt. Travis T. King, was supposed to fly to Texas on Tuesday to face disciplinary actions for misconduct. But instead of boarding his flight at the international airport in Incheon, about 30 miles west of Seoul, he joined a civilian group that went to tour the joint security area between North and South Korea at Panmunjom, where he ran across the border and was taken into custody by North Korean forces. John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the administration is “doing everything we can” to determine the soldier’s condition and “making it clear that we want to see him safely and quickly returned to the United States and to his family.”But winning Private King’s release — and learning about his status — is greatly complicated by a deep diplomatic freeze between the United States and North Korea, which technically remain at war.

Persons: Travis T, John Kirby Organizations: Army, North, National Security Council Locations: North Korea, Texas, Incheon, Seoul, North, South Korea, Panmunjom, North Korean, United States

☆ What the U.S. Risks By Supplying Ukraine With Cluster Weapons - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Cluster munitions used by both Ukrainian and Russian forces have led to, reportedly, at least dozens of civilian deaths and serious injuries, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Thursday. Specifically, the report said Ukrainian cluster-munition rocket attacks on Russian-controlled areas around the city of Izium in 2022 “caused many casualties among Ukrainian civilians.” (Ukraine denied that cluster munitions were used there.) While it is Ukraine’s decision to choose what weapons it uses in its defense, it is for America to decide which weapons to supply. Sending cluster munitions to Ukraine amounts to a clear escalation of a conflict that has already become far too brutal and destructive. In 2008, the Pentagon set a limit of 1 percent on cluster munitions, and Congress has since banned the use, production or transfer of weapons over that rate.

Persons: “, Abrams, America’s, Russia’s, John Ismay Organizations: Human Rights, Pentagon, Times, Foreign Assistance Locations: Ukrainian, Izium, ”, Ukraine, America, United, Russia, Washington, Vietnam, Afghanistan

☆ Cluster Weapons U.S. Is Sending Ukraine Often Fail to Detonate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When the White House announced on Friday that it would agree to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, it came after assurances from Pentagon officials that the weapons had been improved to minimize the danger to civilians. The weapons, which have been shunned by many countries, drop small grenades that are built to destroy armored vehicles and troops in the open, but also often fail to immediately explode. Years or even decades later, they can kill adults and children who stumble on them. The Pentagon said the weapons they would send to Ukraine had a failure rate of 2.35 percent or less, far better than the usual rate that is common for cluster weapons. But the Pentagon’s own statements indicate that the cluster munitions in question contain older grenades known to have a failure rate of 14 percent or more.

Organizations: White, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine

☆ Allies React Cautiously to Prospect of U.S. Cluster Weapons for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | Thomas Gibbons-Neff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The United States appears to be on the verge of providing Ukraine with cluster munitions, a senior Biden administration official said. What are cluster munitions? “There’s just not a responsible way to use cluster munitions,” said Brian Castner, the weapons expert on Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Team. The New York Times has documented Russia’s extensive use of cluster munitions in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022. The Convention on Cluster Munitions also limits the ability of nations that have signed on to cooperate militarily with countries that employ them.

Persons: Laura Cooper, “ There’s, ”, Brian Castner, Castner, “, Ukraine —, Jerry Redfern, Mary Wareham, Cooper, Biden, Gabriela Rosa Hernández, David Guttenfelder, Oleksandr Kubrakov, ” Eric Schmitt, John Ismay, Gaya Gupta Organizations: Biden, Washington, U.S, Pentagon, National Public Radio, United Nations, Amnesty, Cluster Munitions, Getty, The New York Times, The Times, Human Rights Watch, NATO, Ukraine, Munitions, Arms Control, Ukraine’s, Brigade, ., Munich Security Locations: States, Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia, Eurasia, Tibnin, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Balkans, Laos, U.S, United, United States, LightRocket, Russian, Kramatorsk, Ukrainian

In a sealed room behind a gantlet of armed guards and three rows of high barbed wire at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, a team of robotic arms was busily disassembling some of the last of the United States’ vast and ghastly stockpile of chemical weapons. In went artillery shells filled with deadly mustard agent that the Army had been storing for more than 70 years. “That’s the sound of a chemical weapon dying,” said Kingston Reif, who spent years pushing for disarmament outside government and is now the deputy assistant secretary of defense for threat reduction and arms control. The depot near Pueblo destroyed its last weapon in June; the remaining handful at another depot in Kentucky will be destroyed in the next few days. And when they are gone, all of the world’s publicly declared chemical weapons will have been eliminated.

Persons: ”, Kingston Reif Organizations: Chemical, United, Army Locations: Colorado, United States, Pueblo, Kentucky

☆ Coast Guard Apologizes for Covering Up Long History of Sexual Assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. Coast Guard apologized on Friday for covering up scores of documented sexual assault and harassment cases that took place at the service’s academy, and failing to properly investigate or discipline those accused in dozens more cases over a span of nearly two decades. According to Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington, the panel’s chairwoman, and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, an internal Coast Guard review called “Operation Fouled Anchor” determined that 62 incidents of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment either took place at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., or were committed by cadets during those years. Those cases may only be part of the problem. According to the letter, Coast Guard officials told senators during the briefing that their internal inquiry had yielded another 42 cases of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment that were never properly investigated. The letter said officials also revealed what Ms. Cantwell and Ms. Baldwin called a history of leaders who “discouraged survivors from filing formal complaints or otherwise disclosing their assaults.”

Persons: Linda L, Fagan, Maria Cantwell, Tammy Baldwin of, ”, Cantwell, Baldwin, “ Organizations: U.S . Coast Guard, Senate Commerce, Justice, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Guard, Coast Guard Academy, Coast Guard Locations: Maria Cantwell of, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, New London, Conn

And they clearly had little interest in helping Mr. Putin avoid a major, embarrassing fracturing of his support. While it is not clear exactly when the United States first learned of the plot, intelligence officials conducted briefings on Wednesday with administration and defense officials. Placing Wagner forces under the control of Mr. Shoigu was “out of the question” for Mr. Prigozhin, Ms. Stanovaya said. But it was only in recent days that intelligence officials got the initial warnings that Mr. Prigozhin might take action. President Biden, speaking in October, talked of the dangers that Mr. Putin would pose if he felt cornered and said the United States was looking for “off ramps” for Mr. Putin.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Prigozhin’s, “, ”, Sergei K, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner ., Tatiana Stanovaya, Shoigu, Stanovaya, Gerasimov, Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Wagner Group, United, CNN, United States, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Associated Press, Intelligence, Russian, Ukrainian, Mr, Ministry of Defense, Defense Ministry, Carnegie Endowment, International Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, United States, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Moscow, Belarus, United, U.S, Russian, Bakhmut, Wagner . Russia

☆ Chinese Firm Sent Large Shipments of Gunpowder to Russian Munitions Factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Ana Swanson | John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The powder had been shipped by Poly Technologies, a state-owned Chinese company on which the United States had previously imposed sanctions for its global sales of missile technology and providing support to Iran. Its destination was Barnaul Cartridge Plant, an ammunition factory in central Russia with a history of supplying the Russian government. These previously unreported shipments, which were identified by Import Genius, a U.S.-based trade data aggregator, raise new questions about the role China has played in supporting Russia as it fights to capture Ukrainian territory. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that China could funnel products to Russia that would help in its war effort — what is known as “lethal aid” — though they have not said outright that China has made such shipments. Speaking from Beijing on Monday, Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said China had assured the United States that it was not providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, and that the U.S. government had “not seen anything right now to contradict that.”

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, “, ” Organizations: Poly Technologies Locations: China, Russia, Zabaykalsk, United States, Iran, U.S, Beijing, Ukraine

The U.S. Navy’s deep-diving rescue vehicle can reportedly reach depths of just 2,000 feet. The missing Titan submersible was aiming to go far deeper into the North Atlantic. Numerous complications could hinder the effort to rescue the five people aboard the deep-diving submersible Titan, which failed to return from a dive on Sunday to the wreck of the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Navy has one submarine rescue vehicle, although it can reportedly reach depths of just 2,000 feet. That vehicle, called CURV-21, can reach depths of 20,000 feet.

Persons: — Organizations: U.S, U.S . Navy Locations: South, Newfoundland

☆ The Final Fight for Black Sailors Known as the ‘Philadelphia 15’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just over a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15 sailors assigned to the U.S.S. Philadelphia wrote a letter to a Black newspaper detailing the abuse and indignities they had faced on the warship solely because of the color of their skin. When they enlisted, the Navy had promised training and assignments that would lead to advancement, but the Black sailors soon found that those opportunities did not exist for them. The plight of the group, which became known as “the Philadelphia 15,” faded from public attention as World War II erupted. But the injustice they faced, and the stigma their discharge papers carried, lived on for more than 80 years.

Persons: ” Organizations: Navy, Philadelphia Locations: Pearl Harbor, Philadelphia

☆ The U.S. is providing $1.2 billion for Ukraine to buy air defense missiles and other crucial equipment.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The goods will arrive in Ukraine in the months and years to come, as defense companies produce them. A major focus of the $1.2 billion in new funds for Ukraine will go to purchase air-defense missiles for Kyiv to use in repelling Russian aerial attacks, General Ryder said. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has been targeted repeatedly by Russian strikes, including on Monday and early Tuesday. “We’re going to continue to rush ground-based air defense capabilities and munitions to help Ukraine control its sovereign skies and to help Ukraine defend its citizens from Russian cruise missiles and Iranian drones,” he said. “This is something that we’re going to keep after both in the near term and the long term.”General Ryder also confirmed reports that an American-made Patriot air-defense system provided to Ukraine shot down a Russian Kinzhal missile last Thursday.

Russian service members rehearsing last week for the military parade in Moscow on Tuesday, when Russia celebrates the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. More recently, he has tried to wrap Ukraine into that narrative, falsely depicting it as a Nazi redoubt. The parade is likely to be subjected to closer scrutiny than usual, both inside Russia and beyond its borders. This year, the jets have skipped their usual practice runs over Moscow, raising questions about whether they will participate. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the march was canceled as a “precautionary measure” against possible attacks.

☆ Airman in Leaks Case Worked on a Global Network Essential to Drone Missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — On an Air National Guard base in Cape Cod, Mass., more than 1,200 military service members and civilians maintain one of the largest support systems for Pentagon drone missions around the world. One of the workers was Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old accused of posting top-secret military reports online. It is also the result of a dramatic reorganization in the Air National Guard nearly two decades ago that left small, far-flung air bases in need of new responsibilities. The one on Cape Cod and many others became intelligence outfits. His arrest and subsequent Justice Department disclosures shined a light on a little-known Air Force mission that began in the 1990s and grew rapidly, eventually spreading to the base on Cape Cod.

☆ Army Grounds Nonessential Flights After 2 Helicopter Crashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army said on Friday that it was grounding all Army flights except those needed for critical missions until aviation squadrons complete required training after two deadly helicopter crashes in a month. Units can resume flights after completing the daylong training, which can begin as early as Monday. Active-duty units are required to complete the training by May 5, and Army National Guard and Reserve units will have until May 31. The grounding of flights follows the deaths of 12 soldiers in two separate midair collisions during training missions. Both incidents remain under investigation, and there is no indication of any pattern between the two mishaps, the Army said in its statement.

☆ Western Weapons Supplies Fall Short of Ukraine’s Needs, Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Lara Jakes | John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Western allies this week delivered some of the most powerful weapons that Ukraine says it will need for a looming counteroffensive against Russia: a Patriot air-defense system from Germany and the Netherlands. More 155-millimeter artillery from the United States. And on Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced that Ukrainians would soon begin training, for the first time, on American M1 Abrams tanks — an important step to getting the sophisticated weapon to the battlefield. But the reinforcements still fall short of what even American military planners have assessed that Ukraine needs to make the most of an offensive expected to begin in coming weeks to retake more territory captured by the Russians. Classified military assessments dating to February and March, from leaked documents, show dire gaps in what allies had pledged to Ukraine and what, at least by then, had been delivered.

☆ Pentagon Aid Package to Ukraine Includes Decades-Old Anti-Tank Land Mines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s most recent package of weapons for Ukraine includes relics from the Cold War to help blunt Russian advances and limit their ability to maneuver during an expected spring offensive. Those weapons, M21 anti-tank land mines, have been in service with the Defense Department since at least the early 1960s. An unknown number of them will be sent to Ukraine as part of a $325 million package of aid from U.S. military stockpiles that was announced this week, the 36th such transfer of lethal matériel to Kyiv since August 2021. M21 mines — large metal-bodied weapons that are usually buried and explode when a vehicle drives over them — contain a specialized warhead built to punch through inches of armor plating. “Anti-tank land mines are an important defensive capability against Russia’s tanks and armored vehicles, helping Ukraine’s forces repel Russia’s attacks and shape the battlefield to Ukraine’s advantage,” Maj. Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday.

Every day for months, Ukrainian soldiers have fired thousands of American-made artillery shells at Russian troops, and all of that ammunition begins its journey to the battlefield at factories in northeastern Pennsylvania. The oldest of those plants, in Scranton, first began making steel shells in the early 1950s for the Korean War. The empty shells are sent to rural Iowa, where they are filled with molten explosives and packaged for delivery.

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