"It is not lost on anybody...that the traditional risks that we are facing coming from places like #Moscow & #Beijing have been augmented" @AsstSecPM R Clarke Cooper tells #EUDefense re #COVID19 - forcing US, EU allies to look to strengthen resilience, augment capabilities
"It's no surprise that the #Russia|ns would like to see less exercises, less coordination less integration & interoperability" w/US & EU, per @AsstSecPM
"Adversaries are looking to disrupt..." but he says there's also opportunity to shore up gaps, vulnerabilities
#COVID19 "is a new type of crisis because unlike previous great crises like 9-11, for the 1st time we face an invisible enemy" @eu_eeas Deputy Secretary General Charles Fries tells #EUDefense
"We have no vaccine & we have no treatment"
"It's a huge challenge. It's a huge strain on the US & on all Europe" per @eeas' Fries "We have to be prepared for a potential second wave"
"I would not say that #COVID19 itself is a game changer" per @eeas' Fries "It's more a great accelerator of pre-existing trends"
"It has accelerated geopolitical tensions, particularly between the US & #China"
"We have also seen the weakening of multilateralism, with for instance the weakening of the @UN Security Council" per @eeas' Fries
"The neighborhood of the EU is more & more unstable, ans also we have seen deepening inequalities"
"Our friends in the world & maybe even our adversaries are genuinely shocked by the shambolic policies that have aggravated the cost & the tragedy of the crisis in the #UnitedStates" per @KoriSchake
"They are also shocked by a global pandemic that the United States government has no international policy to manage" per @KoriSchake
"That will damage the relationship" between US and EU, per @KoriSchake "The United State sis failing at being a good partner to our friends...and that's going to leave a mark"
"I don't think its unrecoverable" she adds, saying that US-EU will have to expand views of security
"We know there are some divergencies between the EU and the United States w/certain decisions being made over the last years" per @eeas' Fries, noting US withdrawal from #Paris climate change agreement & #jcpoa
"With such a crisis like #COVID which is a real stress test for all of us for the cohesion of the EU, for the cohesion of the US, for the cohesion of the transatlantic partnership, we managed to get out of this crisis by increasing our cooperation" per @eu_eeas' Fries
"We want to reduce our dependencies. We want to reduce our vulnerabilities in the health sector, in the economic & digital sectors...promote strategic stockpiles" per @eu_eeas' Fries
Interoperability "1 of the strengths of the transatlantic alliance" per @AsstSecPM
"We certainly don't want to duplicate efforts either" he adds "We don;t want to be in a situation where the creation of #EDF diverts the trajectory or attention when it comes to interoperability"
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HAPPENING NOW - US intelligence chiefs testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee:
@ODNIgov Dir Avril Haines
@CIA Dir William Burns
@FBI Dir Christoper Wray
@NSAGov Dir Gen Timothy Haugh
@DefenseIntel Dir LtGen Jeffrey Krause
@StateDept Asst Sec for Intel Brett Holmgren
Noting that the current era is as challenging as ever, with a wide variety of threats, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair @MarkWarner calls for "redefining what we think of" when it comes to national security
@MarkWarner "We are no even seeing the possibility of foreign adversaries weaponizing space" in ways that could be detrimental to US way of life, per @MarkWarner
NEW: @FBI joins White House, Senate intelligence committee chair in sounding alarm about foreign interference in #Election2024
"This election cycle, the US will face more adversaries, moving at a faster pace & enabled by new technology
per Dir Christopher Wray at @INSAlliance
#ArtificialIntelligence advances "lowering the barrier to entry-making it easier for both more & less-sophisticated foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence" per @FBI's Wray
"Making foreign influence efforts by players old and&new more realistic & difficult to detect"
@FBI Where are US adversaries focused?
“The attack surface for the bad guys is the private sector” per @FBI's Wray "The intelligence that we need is in the hands of the private sector, often”
NEW: US worried about #Russia seeking to interfere in #Election2024
"Of course there are concerns" White House Nat'l Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46 tells @MeetThePress
"There's plenty of reason to be concerned" per @JakeSullivan46
"There is a history here in presidential elections by the #Russia|n Federation, by its intelligence services" he says
"We are going to be vigilant"
Concerns about #Russia|n interference in #Election2024 "not about politics" per @JakeSullivan46
"This is about national security. It is about a foreign country, a foreign adversary seeking to manipulate the politics & democracy of the United States of America."
NEW: US confirms #Houthis using "various #Iran|ian-origin missiles & unmanned aerial vehicles" in their attacks on shipping in the #RedSea #GulfofAden
Conclusion based on new analysis by @DefenseIntel
The assessment is based on information current as January 2024 - including a "comparative analysis of publicly available images of #Iran|ian missiles & UAVs to those displayed & employed by #Houthi forces in #Yemen to attack commercial shipping" per @DefenseIntel
US @DefenseIntel on #Iran|ian drones in #Houthi arsenal:
-Sayad (Sammad) - range of 1800km
-Shahed-136 - range of 2500km
-Waid-1 (version of the Shahed-131) - range of 900km
AQ "established up to 8 new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in #Ghazni, #Laghman, #Parwan & #Uruzgan Provinces w/a new base to stockpile weaponry in the #Panjshir Valley" per new @UN report
The new #alQaida camps appear to be "conducting suicide bomber training for TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban #Pakistan]" per the @UN report
Intelligence provided by @UN member states also notes #alQaida is operating madrasas in #Laghman, #Kunar, #Nangarhar, #Nuristan & #Parwan provinces
AQ also "maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between #Afghanistan & the Islamic Republic of #Iran"
NEW: @usairforce disciplines 15 Air National Guard members as a result of the so-called Discord intel leak this past April
Inspector General report cited lax inspections, lack of guidance & lack of supervision as contributing factors in the leaks by 21-year-old Jack Teixeira
"The IG investigation found individuals in Teixeira’s unit failed to take proper action after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities..." per @usairforce statement
"...However, the investigation did not find evidence that members of Teixeira’s supervisory chain were aware of his alleged unauthorized disclosures" per @usairforce