Category Archives: Department of Defense

Iran Deal Terms Revealed, They DID Lie

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   Do you wonder what world leaders know that we don’t? Shall we start with the Iranian nuclear deal?

From the White House website January 2016:

On January 16, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran has completed the necessary steps under the Iran deal that will ensure Iran’s nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful.

Before this agreement, Iran’s breakout time — or the time it would have taken for Iran to gather enough fissile material to build a weapon — was only two to three months. Today, because of the Iran deal, it would take Iran 12 months or more. And with the unprecedented monitoring and access this deal puts in place, if Iran tries, we will know and sanctions will snap back into place.

Here’s how we got to this point. Since October, Iran has:

  • Shipped 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium out of the country
  • Dismantled and removed two-thirds of its centrifuges
  • Removed the calandria from its heavy water reactor and filled it with concrete
  • Provided unprecedented access to its nuclear facilities and supply chain

Because Iran has completed these steps, the U.S. and international community can begin the next phase under the JCPOA, which means the U.S. will begin lifting its nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. However, a number of U.S. sanctions authorities and designations will continue to remain in place. More here.

Sept, 2015: Democratic senators Tuesday blocked for the second time an attempt by frustrated Republicans to stop the Iran nuclear agreement from taking effect. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed to try again to derail the deal.

Senators voted 56-42 in favor of bringing to the floor a resolution of disapproval opposing the Iran deal — four votes shy of the 60 Republican leaders need to advance the resolution. It was the second time in less than a week that Democrats safeguarded the Iran agreement. The votes spare President Obama from having to veto a disapproval resolution since it will not come to his desk. The House rejected the vote, so what did the Obama White House do? They took it to the UN and bypassed Congress completely…Now we know more details as it is demonstrated that Obama, John Kerry and Ben Rhodes all lied. Consequence? None yet unless we demand them.

 

U.N. Agency Publishes Secret Iran Deal Docs On Exemptions Obama Admin Dismissed

Top Nuclear Expert: “You just have to ask the question of, what else is being hidden?”

TWS: Iran was given secret exemptions allowing the country to exceed restrictions set out by the landmark nuclear deal inked last year, some of which were made public this week by the United Nations nuclear watchdog and others that are likely still being withheld, according to diplomatic sources and a top nuclear expert who spoke to THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday posted documents revealing that Iran had been given exemptions in January that permit the country to stockpile uranium in excess of the 300 kilogram limit set by the nuclear deal, experts said. The agreements had been kept secret for almost a year, but recent reports indicated that the Trump administration intended to make them public.

TWS reported earlier in December that top Democratic senators also supported releasing the documents.

Some details of the exemptions had previously been leaked. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) revealed in September that Iran had been allowed to exceed certain caps in the deal so that the country could come into compliance with the deal’s terms.

Administration officials dismissed the ISIS report at the time, and surrogates who White House officials have described as the administration’s “echo chamber” criticized the organization.

“The administration was really nasty after we released these documents,” David Albright, the founder and president of ISIS, told TWS on Friday. “It was very tough for us to get the information. … I think that if we hadn’t released, they had every intention to keep it secret. They may have given lip service to openness, but I think their intention was to keep it secret.”

Albright credited the release of the documents as a step towards greater transparency, despite administration attempts to conceal the agreements.

“You just have to ask the question of, what else is being hidden?” said Albright. “The administration did it to try to minimize the chance that people would know what was in these decisions, and certainly keep those people from talking to people like me in the technical community that can actually interpret what’s in those decisions.”

A source who works with Congress on the Iran issue and who had been briefed on some of the exemptions confirmed that assessment.

“The Obama team was just hoping to get through the next few weeks without revealing that they’ve been allowing Iran to go beyond the nuclear deal the whole time,” said the source. “That way the president and Secretary of State Kerry could keep declaring that Iran has been following the deal, and their echo chamber could keep saying the nuclear deal is working.”

“But now it’s public. The only reason that the nuclear deal is still in place is because the Obama team has been secretly rewriting to let Iran cheat. The only question is, what’s still not being told?”

The now-confirmed exemptions reported on by ISIS include allowing Iran to keep low-enriched uranium (LEU) in various forms beyond what’s allowed under the nuclear deal. The concession applies to forms that have been “deemed unrecoverable” for use in a nuclear weapon, and Iran has promised not to build a facility to try recover them.

That language is not in the nuclear deal, and Obama officials have struggled to defend it. At a State Department press briefing in September after the release of the ISIS report, journalists pressed spokesperson John Kirby on the decision.

“You’re using this term that’s not in the document. I’m just trying to figure out how we can actually check that or understand what it means,” said Associated Press reporter Bradley Klapper. “If you say some things are usable but some things aren’t, but I don’t know which are which, that’s not spelled out in the document. That seems to be a new idea here.”

Albright suggested to TWS that the uranium could actually be recoverable and used in a rush to a nuclear weapon. The State Department in September distorted the nature of the exemption, he said.

“If this whole thing rests on [Iran] promising not to build a facility that they’d probably only build in secret if they were going to actually break out, then this material probably should not be deemed non-recoverable,” he continued. “The State Department … deliberately distorted what was in these decisions to make this point that somehow ‘non-recoverable’ meant [the LEU] really would never be able to be recovered, regardless if they build a facility.”

Russia Using Battlefield Electronic Warfare and Hacking

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Iran and Turkey met in Moscow directly after the operations began to finish off the hostilities in Aleppo. The United States, meaning John Kerry was not invited. A new global leadership arrangement is underway and the United States has lost her ranking. Even after the murder of the Russian ambassador by a Turkish police officer, the relationship appears to be getting more cozy. This may be a good place to remember the fact that Turkey is a NATO country and the United States still has an aging nuclear weapons inventory at Incirlik in Turkey.

So what is the ultimate objective? Hard to describe but the Kremlin is the grand marshal of building pattern for the future. Russia, previously the Soviet Union is a country built on a militarist model and not a peacetime model, always has been.

Russia’s military is now stronger that any possible foe, President Vladimir Putin told an annual end-of-year meeting with the defense ministry on Thursday.

“We can say with certainty: we are stronger now than any potential aggressor,” he told the meeting. “Anyone!”

Putin made the comments after Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu presented his annual report, lauding Russia’s military achievements in Syria as well as successful efforts to modernize the Russian army.

Among other things, Shoygu said Russia “for the first time in its history” has fully covered the Russian border with early warning anti-missile systems. Shoygu also announced plans to send more troops to Russia’s west, south-west and the Arctic region. More from FNC.

Iran is geared the same and expanding its offensive military systems including global militias and missile systems. Russia is testing an anti-satellite weapons system. Iran is expanding the weapons arsenal using much of the money we paid to them in ransom.

The nearly $2 billion, which was delivered to Iran in cash, is a substantial cash infusion to the country’s coffers and was viewed by lawmakers as a primary means for Iran to invest in advanced military technology.
Since the payment was made, Iran has pursued multiple arms deals with Russia and sought to purchase a slew of new commercial jetliners, which the country has historically integrated into its air force.
Dunford admitted in his correspondence to Congress that Iran’s actions—including the buildup of ballistic missiles and other advanced weaponry—continue to cause worry in the Middle East.
“Regional actors have expressed great concern about Iran’s activities and intent, but I have not received new, specific concerns regarding an increasing belligerence or growing military investment on the part of Iran,” Dunford wrote.

Then there is the Ukraine Baltic region where Russia has applied hacking and electronic warfare against U.S. drone systems and hacking communications. Further, independent white hat software experts are proving Russian electronic hacking in other battlefield systems that include artillery units.

Both Russia and Iran are looking at the long game while the United States changes leadership and diplomacy every 4-8 years. So what is the long game? For Iran and Russia it is the same, military expansion. For Iran, it goes beyond their existing power in Lebanon and building bases in the region which include more of the Middle East with Yemen and to challenge the Gulf States, Bahrain, most especially Saudi Arabia and may involve Armenia. Iran has joint control of Syria and Iraq presently and Rouhani recently visited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The president is accompanied by a number of his ministers and deputies. Kazakhstan is a former Soviet biological weapons facility of which the United States is paying still to this day to clean up and Baikonur is also the location for the space race and exploration systems.

For Russia it is the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles. This could be a power coup on Turkey that Erdogan has not figured out yet or may approve if there is another financial deal in the works.

The Black Sea is the ultimate power target by both nations. The Black Sea gives Russia more region authority over the Baltics and more access to the Mediterranean.

TURKEY BLOCKADING RUSSIA FROM DARDANELLES; BLACK SEA FLEET COMPLETELY CUT OFF

For Russia, the United States is not alone as the UK is also the target.

Vladimir Putin’s defence minister today compared the British army to Nazi Germany as the new Cold War plunged to a fresh low.

Sergei Shoigu claimed British troops on a Salisbury Plain training facility have started to use Russian-made tanks and uniforms of the Russian military to designate the enemy.

And the 61-year-old general, one of Putin’s closest allies and a personal friend, also alleged that NATO has doubled the intensity of military exercises, and dubbed them ‘anti-Russian.’

The man who heads the former Red Army said: ‘The last time this training method was used was by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.’

His comments came during a meeting in the Russian defence ministry of his top brass. More here from DailyMail.

 

 

 

Chinese Spy Caught Stealing Military Documents

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If you don’t think that our country is full of foreign spies and operatives engaged in industrial espionage, perhaps this case will change your mind. One has to ask why foreign nationals are employed by domestic corporations that are government contractors in the first place.

Long Yu Criminal Complaint

Related reading: Russian Spies and Espionage in NATO and USA

Chinese National Admits to Stealing Sensitive Military Program Documents from United Technologies

Yu Long, 38, a citizen of China and lawful permanent resident of the U.S., waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to charges related to his theft of numerous sensitive military program documents from United Technologies and transporting them to China.

The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly of the District of Connecticut, Special Agent in Charge Patricia M. Ferrick of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, Special Agent in Charge Craig W. Rupert of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Northeast Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Danielle Angley of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

“Long admitted to stealing and exploiting highly sensitive military technology and documents, knowing his theft would benefit China’s defense industry and deliberately contravene the embargo on U.S. Munitions List technology the United States has imposed on China,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. “Export laws exist as an important part of our national security framework and disrupting and prosecuting this kind of economic espionage is one of the National Security Division’s highest priorities.”

“In an effort to further his own career, this defendant stole an extraordinary amount of proprietary military program information from United Technologies and transported much of that stolen information to China,” said U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly.  “His actions, which he knew would benefit China, not only violated his employment agreement and damaged the company, but have threatened our country’s national security interests.  U.S. companies continue to be targeted by those who seek to steal intellectual property, trade secrets and advanced defense technology – whether through a computer hack or cyber intrusion, or through a rogue employee.  Working closely with our nation’s defense contractors, we will relentlessly investigate and prosecute those who steal, or attempt to steal, trade secrets and sensitive military information, whether for their own personal gain or for the benefit of foreign actors.”

“This case highlights the complexity in which the FBI and law enforcement are being challenged to keep the integrity of our industry intellectual property intact,” said Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  “Investigating criminal activity of this nature will continue to be a priority.”

“These sophisticated technologies are highly sought after by our adversaries,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre of HSI Boston.  “They were developed to give the United States and its allies a distinct military advantage, which is why HSI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively target the individuals who steal the ideas of others and sell these items.”

“Today’s plea demonstrates the commitment of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and our federal law enforcement partners to identifying those who illegally export sensitive defense information to adversarial Foreign governments,” said Craig W. Rupert, Special Agent in Charge, DCIS, Northeast Field Office.  “DCIS will continue to safeguard sensitive technology and to shield America’s investment in national defense by disrupting efforts of groups and individuals who try to illegally acquire our national security assets.”

“This case was enabled by the outstanding teamwork of the FBI, DCIS, HSI, AFOSI and the U.S. Attorney’s office,” said Danielle Angley, Special Agent-in-Charge with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.  “In addition, it demonstrates the focus of law enforcement agencies to protect our nation’s critical resources.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately May 2008 to May 2014, Long worked as a Senior Engineer/Scientist at United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) in Connecticut. Long’s employment at UTRC included work on F119 and F135 engines. The F119 engine is employed by the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft, and the F135 engine is employed by the U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.

Beginning in 2013, Long expressed his intent to individuals outside UTRC to return to China to work on research projects at certain state-run universities in China using knowledge and materials he had acquired while employed at the UTRC. To that end, Long interacted with several state-run institutions in China, including the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA), a state-run university in China affiliated with CAS.

During 2013 and 2014, Long was recruited by SIA and other state-run universities, during which he leveraged information that he had obtained while working at UTRC to seek employment in China, culminating in his travel to China in the possession of voluminous documents and data containing highly sensitive intellectual property, trade secrets and export controlled technology, which he had unlawfully stolen from UTRC.

In December 2013, after Long agreed in principle to join SIA, an SIA-CAS Director and an SIA-CAS Recruiter asked Long to provide documents from his work at UTRC and examples of projects on which he had worked to substantiate the claims Long made in his application, and interview with SIA.  Long agreed.

On Dec. 24, 2013, Long emailed several documents to the SIA-CAS Director, including a document that contained the cover page of an export controlled UTRC presentation on Distortion Modeling dated Sept. 30, 2011.

While negotiating with SIA, Long also continued to explore other opportunities at other state-run institutions in China. In one email, Long stated: “I have made my mind to return to China, so have prepared a research plan based on my industry experience and current projects.” In the research plan, Long stated: “In the past five years, I have been working with Pratt Whitney, also other UTC business units, like UTAS (including Hamilton Sundstrand and Goodrich), Sikorsky, CCS (including Carrier and Fire & Security), and Otis. These unique working experiences have provided me a great starting point to perform R&D and further spin off business in China. I believe my efforts will help China to mature its own aircraft engines.”

On May 30, 2014, Long left UTRC. In June 2014, Long traveled to China and began working for SIA. Beginning in July 2014, digital evidence and forensic analysis indicated that Long brought with him and accessed in China a UTRC external hard drive that had been issued to him and that he unlawfully retained.

In July 2014, Long was listed as the project leader on a lengthy research plan for CAS involving fourteen other individuals.  The plan was replete with references to how the proposed research and development would benefit China. The plan stated: “The three major engine companies in the world, i.e. GE, Pratt & Whitney in the US and Rolls-Royce in the UK, are all using this technology. . . Our nation lacks the ability to process high performance components, such as airplane wings, tail hooks on carrier aircrafts, and blisks . . . Because of the technology embargo imposed by western developed countries, it is very difficult for us to obtain more advanced design and manufacturing technology . . . This research project will increase our independent ability, efficiency and quality in key component manufacturing.”

On or about Aug. 12, 2014, the Document on Distortion Modeling – the same document from which Long had sent the cover page to the SIA-CAS Director on Dec. 24, 2013 – was accessed on the external hard drive. Travel records and forensic analysis confirmed that both Long and the external hard drive were in China when this file was accessed.

On Aug. 19, 2014, Long returned to the U.S. from China through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. During a secondary inspection screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, Long was found in the possession of a largely completed application for work with a state-controlled aviation and aerospace research center in China. The application highlighted certain parts of Long’s work related to the F119 and F135 engines while at UTRC.

On or about Aug. 20, 2014, Long emailed an individual at a university in China, attaching an updated “achievement and future plan.” In the plan, Long discussed his work related to the F119 and F135 U.S. military fighter jet engines and stated that he also had knowledge of unpublished UTRC projects in which the U.S. Air Force had shown interest.

On Nov. 5, 2014, Long boarded a flight from Ithaca, New York to Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, with a final destination of China. During Long’s layover in Newark, CBP officers inspected Long’s checked baggage and discovered that it contained sensitive, proprietary and export controlled documents from another defense contractor, Rolls Royce.

Further investigation determined that the U.S. Air Force had convened a consortium of major defense contractors, including Pratt and Rolls Royce, to work together to see whether they could collectively lower the costs of certain metals used. As part of those efforts, members of the consortium shared technical data, subject to restrictions on further dissemination. Rolls Royce reviewed the documents found in Long’s possession at Newark Liberty Airport and confirmed that it provided the documents to members of the consortium, which included Pratt. Rolls Royce further confirmed that Long was never an employee of Rolls Royce. A review of UTRC computer records indicated that Long had printed the documents while employed at UTRC.

Long was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on Nov. 7, 2014. A review of Long’s digital media seized at the time of his arrest revealed voluminous files protected by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations, and voluminous files proprietary to various U.S. companies. In short, the investigation revealed that Long took his laptop and the UTRC external hard drive with him to China in 2014, at which time there was a substantial body of highly sensitive, proprietary and export controlled materials present on that digital media. UTRC has confirmed that the hard drive that Long unlawfully retained and accessed in China contained not only documents and data from projects on which Long worked while employed at the company, but also from projects on which he did not work to which he would have had access.

Long pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in the theft of trade secrets knowing that the offense would benefit a foreign government, foreign instrumentality or foreign agent, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years. He also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful export and attempted export of defense articles from the U.S. in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Long, who has been detained since his arrest, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford.  A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

This investigation is being led by the FBI in New Haven in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations in New Haven and Newark; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in New Haven; the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations in Boston, Massachusetts; and, the Department of Commerce’s Boston Office of Export Enforcement. U.S. Attorney Daly and Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord also thanked the FBI in Newark, Ithaca and Syracuse, New York, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service in New York and Newark, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of New York and the District of New Jersey, for their efforts and assistance in this matter.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracy Lee Dayton and Stephen B. Reynolds of the District of Connecticut, and Trial Attorneys Brian Fleming and Julie Edelstein of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

Trump’s Pick for Sec. of Army, but Tillerson is Still a Problem

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For the most part, the team leading the auditions for Cabinet posts in the Trump administration are pretty good. It was announced on December 19, that Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Army is Vincent Viola. Viola is a billionaire and a West Point graduate. Formerly an air borne ranger, Viola is in fact a military patriot as he helped fund the ‘counter-terrorism’ center.

Hat tip on this choice.

Upon continued deeper dives however on Rex Tillerson, there is an iceberg ahead on this as his Russian ties are even more robust than previously reported.

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ExxonMobil helped defeat Russia sanctions bill

The company’s formidable lobbying operation cleared the way for outgoing CEO Rex Tillerson to help restore a program worth billions of dollars as secretary of state.

ExxonMobil successfully lobbied against a bill that would have made it harder for the next president to lift sanctions against Russia, clearing the way for the oil giant to restart a program worth billions of dollars if Donald Trump eases those restrictions as president.

The company’s effort could be helped by outgoing CEO Rex Tillerson, who, if confirmed as secretary of state, would be a key adviser on the decision.

The bill, known as the STAND for Ukraine Act, would have converted into law for five years President Barack Obama’s measures punishing Russia for annexing Crimea, making it more difficult for Trump to roll them back. The Senate left town on Monday without acting on the bill, making it easier for Trump to end the sanctions with a stroke of the pen.

The sanctions forced Exxon to step back from a drilling project in Russia’s Arctic, a loss that the company valued in a regulatory filing at as much as $1 billion. Exxon also lobbied the Senate Foreign Relations Committee against previous bills punishing Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the company’s efforts on Capitol Hill.

Exxon’s intervention against the sanctions bill could add to concerns among senators — including Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio — that Tillerson is too chummy with Vladimir Putin. Exxon’s business partner in Russia is state-owned Rosneft, led by Igor Sechin, a close Putin ally who was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2014. Tillerson and Putin personally concluded the joint venture in 2011.

In a statement, Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said the company “sought and provided information” about its activities in Russia and Ukraine and disclosed its lobbying as required. “Our contacts were reported per congressional requirements, but were mainly in the first half of 2014,” when the Russia sanctions were first imposed, he added. More detail here from Politico.

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Yes there is more:

Leak reveals Rex Tillerson was director of Bahamas-based US-Russian oil firm

Documents from tax haven will raise more questions over suitability of Donald Trump’s pick for US secretary of state

Rex Tillerson, the businessman nominated by Donald Trump to be the next US secretary of state, was the long-time director of a US-Russian oil firm based in the tax haven of the Bahamas, leaked documents show.

 Mediaite

Tillerson – the chief executive of ExxonMobil – became a director of the oil company’s Russian subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas, in 1998. His name – RW Tillerson – appears next to other officers who are based at Houston, Texas; Moscow; and Sakhalin, in Russia’s far east.

The leaked 2001 document comes from the corporate registry in the Bahamas. It was one of 1.3m files given to the Germany newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source. The registry is public but details of individual directors are typically incomplete or missing entirely.

Though there is nothing untoward about this directorship, it has not been reported before and is likely to raise fresh questions over Tillerson’s relationship with Russia ahead of a potentially stormy confirmation hearing by the US senate foreign relations committee. Exxon said on Sunday that Tillerson was no longer a director after becoming the company’s CEO in 2006.

ExxonMobil’s use of offshore regimes – while legal – may also jar with Trump’s avowal to put “America first”.

Tillerson’s critics say he is too close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and that his appointment could raise potential conflicts of interest.

ExxonMobil is the world’s largest oil company and has for a long time been eyeing Russia’s vast oil and gas deposits. Tillerson currently has Exxon stock worth more than $200m.

Since his nomination, Tillerson’s Russia ties have become a source of bipartisan concern. In 2013, Putin awarded him the Russian Order of Friendship. Tillerson is close to Igor Sechin, the head of Russian state oil company Rosneft and the de facto second most powerful figure inside the Kremlin. A hardliner, Sechin is ex-KGB.

Tillerson’s award followed a 2011 deal between ExxonMobil and Rosneft to explore the Kara Sea, in Russia’s Arctic.

It was put on hold in 2014 after the Obama administration imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Russia. The sanctions were punishment for Putin’s Crimea annexation that spring and Russia’s undercover invasion of eastern Ukraine.

The ban covers the US sharing of sophisticated offshore and shale oil technology. Exxon was supposed to halt its drilling with Rosneft. The firm successfully pleaded with the US Treasury department to delay the ban by a few weeks, with the Kremlin threatening to seize its rig. In this brief window Exxon discovered a major Arctic field with some 750m barrels of new oil.

Tillerson has criticised the US government’s policy on Russia. In 2014 he told Exxon’s annual meeting that “we do not support sanctions”. He added: “We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who they are really harming.”

It is widely assumed by investors that the new Trump administration will drop sanctions. This would allow the Kara joint venture to resume, boosting Exxon’s share price and yielding potential profits in the tens of billions of dollars. According to company records, Tillerson currently owns $218m of stock. His Exxon pension is worth about $70m. The complete summary is here from the Guardian.

 

A Message to Trump? China Seizes U.S. Underwater Drone

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A Navy file photo shows T-AGS 60 Class Oceanographic Survey Ship, USNS Bowditch. The Navy says the ship’s mission includes oceanographic sampling and data collection and the handling, monitoring and servicing of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), among other things. U.S. Navy 

China Seizes U.S. Underwater Drone From International Waters, Pentagon Says

NPR: A unmanned underwater vehicle deployed by a U.S. Navy ship in international waters has been seized by China, according to Pentagon officials.

The seizure of the underwater vehicle took place Thursday, about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement Friday

The situation is unusual: U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told journalists there was no precedent for it in recent memory, NPR’s Tom Bowman reports.

The Pentagon says that the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, had two unclassified “ocean gliders” — unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) — in the water, conducting “routine operations in accordance with international law.” The undersea drones measure things like salinity and temperature, the Pentagon says.

The Bowditch was retrieving one vehicle when a Chinese warship pulled up, put a small boat in the water and retrieved the second UUV, officials told reporters.

The U.S. sent radio messages requesting that the drone be returned, the Pentagon statement says, but the Chinese ship merely acknowledged the messages and ignored the request.

No shots were fired by either vehicle, officials said, and the Chinese ship left with a final message that it was returning to normal operations — and with the drone.

The U.S. has issued a demarche — a formal diplomatic protest — and demanded the drone’s return, Reuters reports.

“We call upon China to return our UUV immediately, and to comply with all of its obligations under international law,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in his statement.

The incident occurred in the long-disputed waters of the South China Sea, where several countries make various overlapping territorial claims. China has been the most aggressive in claiming the strategically and economically significant waters as its own.

Competing Claims In The South China And East China Seas

South China Sea and East China Sea
These are the approximate claims by China and other countries. In many cases, countries are intentionally vague about the extent of their claims.
In South China Sea Islands, Anti-Aircraft And Radar Systems Emerge In Full Color

Highlighting new areas of Chinese construction on Mischief Reef, a monitoring group says that in addition to an airstrip, the artificial island will likely be outfitted with large anti-aircraft guns and a cruise missile defense system.

NPR: China “appears to have built significant point-defense capabilities” on artificial islands in the South China Sea, says a think tank that cites new satellite imagery showing hexagonal gun platforms and other recent construction.

In vivid color, the photos show what the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says is an array of anti-aircraft guns, cruise missile defenses, in nearly identical emplacements on islands created on large reefs to serve as outposts in the Spratly Islands.

In recent years, tensions around the islands have been an undercurrent in America’s relationship with China, featuring in talks between President Obama and President Xi Jinping and raising the specter of escalating shows of military might in the area.

China’s military emplacement on Fiery Cross Reef includes “four structures, consisting of tiered hexagonal towers oriented toward the sea,” according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. CSIS/AMTI/DigitalGlobe 
 

Discussing the satellite photos that were taken in recent weeks, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Director Gregory Poling told Voice of America, “This is further evidence that the commitment that President Xi Jinping made to President [Barack] Obama last year not to militarize these islands was, at best, premature.”

The new military emplacements are being highlighted months after an international tribunal in The Hague invalidated China’s claims in the South China Sea. That unprecedented ruling also found that China’s build-up of artificial islands in the region was also harming natural ecosystems.

China’s leaders rejected that decision, which came in a case that was brought by the Philippines. In addition to those two countries, parts of the South China Sea are also claimed by Taiwan, Malaysia, the Vietnam and others.

The disputed areas include busy shipping lanes in the sea, along with a wealth of natural resources, from fishing grounds to underground oil and gas reserves.

“But the dispute is not just about economic assets,” as our Parallels blog reported earlier this year. “The sea’s strategic location near half a dozen East and Southeast Asian countries means those countries want to control the military and civilian activities in the area.”

Providing analysis of China’s military goals in the islands, the AMTI says:

“These gun and probable CIWS emplacements show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea. Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others against these soon-to-be-operational air bases. They would back up the defensive umbrella provided by a future deployment to the Spratlys of mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) platforms, such as the HQ-9 deployed to Woody Island in the Paracel Islands.”

As the Parallels blog noted, “The potential for deteriorating cross-strait relations puts the United States in a tough spot — it must uphold its security commitments to Taiwan while avoiding confrontation with Chinese vessels patrolling Taiwanese islands.”