WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused Russia Wednesday of violating the Open Skies Treaty designed to improve transparency and confidence between the militaries of the two superpowers.
Esper told a congressional hearing Russia had been blocking the United States from conducting flights over the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and near Georgia that are permitted by the 18-year-old agreement.
"We've also been denied access to military exercise overflights," he said. "I have a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now."
The deal, which has 32 other signatories, permits one country's military to conduct a certain number of surveillance flights over another each year on short notice.
The aircraft can survey the territory below, collecting information and pictures of military installations and activities.
The idea is that the more rival militaries know about each other, the lower the chances of conflict.
Esper said he raised the issue last month in the meeting with NATO defense ministers.
"This is important to many of our NATO allies, that they have the means to conduct the overflights," he said.
The Pentagon operates two old OC-135 aircraft for the overflight operations, and Esper acknowledged the need to update the aircraft, even if the Pentagon has not set aside the cash.
"At this point time, until we make a final decision on the path forward, I'm not prepared to recapitalize aircraft," he said.
Agence France-Presse
PENSACOLA, Florida -- The Saudi airman accused of killing three people at a US Navy base in Florida appeared to have posted criticism of US wars and quoted slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on social media hours before the shooting spree, according to a group that tracks online extremism.
Federal investigators have not disclosed any motive behind the attack, which unfolded at dawn on Friday when the Saudi national is said to have begun firing a handgun inside a classroom at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said during a public appearance on Saturday he was not ready to label it an act of terrorism.
A vigil was held on Saturday for those wounded and killed, among them a recent Naval Academy graduate who dreamed of being a fighter pilot, according to the victim's family.
A sheriff's deputy fatally shot the gunman, authorities said, ending the second deadly attack at a US military base within a week. Within hours, Saudi Arabia's King Salman had called U. President Donald Trump to extend his condolences and pledge his kingdom's support in the investigation.
Authorities confirmed the suspect was a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force who was on the base as part of a US Navy training program designed to foster links with foreign allies. They declined to disclose his name or identify his victims.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, named the shooter as Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani.
He was reported to have played videos of mass shootings at a dinner earlier in the week with other Saudi aviation students, according to US media reports on Saturday that cited an unnamed person briefed on the investigation.
Investigators have found no sign Alshamrani had links to international terrorist groups and think he may have radicalized on his own, the New York Times reported, citing an unidentified US official. It said the airman first entered the United States in 2018, returned to Saudi Arabia, then re-entered the United States in February, and had reported for training at the base about three days before the attack.
At least three of the eight people wounded were law enforcement officers shot as they responded to the attack, officials said, including one Navy police officer and two county sheriff's deputies. They were expected to recover.
One of the dead was identified by relatives as Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23. A recent graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, he had arrived at Pensacola two weeks ago for flight training, his family said.
"Joshua Kaleb Watson saved countless lives today with his own," Watson's brother, Adam Watson, wrote on Facebook on Friday. "After being shot multiple times he made it outside and told the first response team where the shooter was and those details were invaluable."
OTHER SAUDIS QUESTIONED
In comments to reporters at the White House on Saturday, Trump said the Saudi king and crown prince were "devastated" by what took place, and that the king "will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones."
"I think they're going to help out the families very greatly," Trump said.
Six other Saudi nationals were being questioned by investigators in Florida, three of whom were seen filming the incident, the New York Times reported, citing an unidentified person briefed on the investigation.
An uncle of Alshamrani, Saad bin Hantim Alshamrani, told CNN from Saudi Arabia that his nephew was 21, and "likable and mannered towards his family and the community." He said his nephew "has his religion, his prayer, his honesty and commitments."
The younger Alshamrani appeared to have posted a justification of his planned attack in English on Twitter a few hours before it began, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online Islamist extremism.
He referred to US wars in Muslim countries, writing that he hated the American people for "committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity," and criticizing Washington's support for Israel, SITE's analysis said. He also quoted bin Laden, the Saudi mastermind of the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, according to SITE.
Reuters has not verified the authenticity of the account, @M&MD_SHAMRANI, which was suspended by Twitter on Friday.
GLASS AND BLOOD
About 100 people gathered at the Olive Baptist Church for a vigil on Saturday, where Chip Simmons, chief deputy in the Escombia County Sheriff's office, recounted being one of the first on the scene, which he said was littered "with glass and blood, with killed and wounded lying on the floors."
"You realize in that moment that you are witnessing loss of life and hatred, but there was also heroism," Simmons said.
The base outside Pensacola, near Florida's border with Alabama, is a major training site for the Navy and employs about 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel, according to its website.
On Wednesday, a US sailor shot three civilians at the historic Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii, killing two of them before taking his own life.
Military personnel are normally restricted from carrying weapons on US bases unless they are part of their daily duties, a policy designed to reduce the risk of suicides and accidental shootings.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Amazon.com Inc on Friday filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims contesting the Pentagon's award of a cloud computing contract worth up to $10 billion to Microsoft Corp.
An Amazon spokesman said that the company filed a complaint and supplemental motion for discovery. The filing was under seal.
"The Complaint and related filings contain source selection sensitive information, as well as AWS's proprietary information, trade secrets, and confidential financial information, the public release of which would cause either party severe competitive harm," Amazon said in a court document seeking a protective order.
"The record in this bid protest likely will contain similarly sensitive information."
Last week, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper rejected any suggestion of bias in the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the contract after Amazon announced plans to challenge it.
Amazon was considered a favorite for the contract, part of a broader digital modernization process of the Pentagon, before Microsoft emerged as the surprise winner.
The company has previously said that politics got in the way of a fair contracting process. US President Donald Trump has long criticized Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos.
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BANGKOK - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper rebuked China's behavior in the South China Sea in a meeting Sunday with his Southeast Asian counterparts.
Esper, speaking at the ASEAN-US ministerial meeting of the annual ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus, also cast doubts on Beijing's sincerity in forging a "meaningful" Code of Conduct with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"China's activities there are a threat not only to other claimants and to many Southeast Asian nations, but to all trading nations who value freedom of the seas, and the peaceful settlement of disputes," Esper said at the meeting.
"(China's) maritime claims in the South China Sea, exemplified by the illegitimate nine-dash line, are both unlawful and unreasonable, and counter to the July 2016 ruling of the UNCLOS Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague," he said.
The nine-dash line refers to a demarcation used by China for its claim in the South China Sea, where ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam also have claims. UNCLOS stands for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
In a bid to clarify its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea amid China's aggressive assertion of its claims over almost the entire body of water, the Philippines sought arbitration in 2013 with the international tribunal and eventually won the case in 2016.
Rejecting the arbitration process and the ruling, China reclaimed disputed features in the South China Sea and fortified them with military installations, and has been driving away foreign fishermen, coast guards and militaries.
Esper said China has "stepped up its use of what it calls 'maritime militia vessels'" to ward off Filipino, Indonesian, Malaysian and Vietnamese sailors, and fishermen, as well as employing its coast guard to prevent Vietnam from "drilling oil and natural gas off its own shores."
"Through repeated provocative actions to assert the nine-dash line, Beijing is inhibiting ASEAN members from accessing over $2.5 trillion in recoverable energy reserves, while contributing to instability and increasing the risk of conflict," Esper said.
"This behavior contrasts sharply with the rules-based order we have all worked together to build for more than 70 years," he added.
Esper said Beijing's "actions in the South China Sea present a maritime challenge that requires a multilateral solution."
"I encourage you to use your sovereign spaces, as well as international ones, or risk losing them," he told his ASEAN counterparts, stressing, "multilateral approaches are key" and reaffirming Washington's intention to continue flying, sailing and operating "where international law allows."
"Together, we must stand for lawful uses of air and maritime spaces to push back against coercion and intimidation," he said.
Expressing skepticism over Beijing's "sincerity to negotiate a meaningful Code of Conduct that reinforces international law," Esper urged ASEAN not to allow the proposed set of guidelines "to be manipulated by the PRC to legitimize its egregious behavior and unlawful maritime claims, or to evade the commitments" it has signed up to.
He warned that "if this were to happen, the Code of Conduct would be counterproductive and harmful to all who value the freedoms enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea." The United States is not a signatory to the 1982 accord.
ASEAN and China last year agreed on the text, which will form the basis of future COC negotiations. Aimed at managing tensions in the South China Sea, the envisioned Code of Conduct is hoped to be fully negotiated by 2021.
China has initially proposed in the COC that nonparty militaries who wish to hold exercises with ASEAN and China must have their approval, in an apparent swipe at the United States.
Esper underscored his country's freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, which he said has been most frequent this year compared to any in the past 25 years, as "particularly important in responding to steps Beijing has taken to militarize outposts" there.
"America's sustained military presence in the region is an enduring source of stability," he said, eliciting approval from Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who spoke on behalf of all ASEAN ministers.
"I encourage all of us to work together to push back on this unacceptable behavior, to ensure we do not cede space or abdicate our rights," Esper said.
"For our part, the United States raises its concerns about Chinese behavior directly with the Chinese government. And we hope our words and actions provide you space to do the same."
The rivalry of the United States and China, the world's current leading powers, has extended to the influence they have over ASEAN, with each country holding a maritime exercise once with the bloc over the last two years.
At the ASEAN-China defense ministerial meeting earlier in the day, the South China Sea issue was also raised.
The two sides agreed in principle to conduct a second joint maritime exercise following their inaugural drills in 2018, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu told reporters afterward.
Mohamad said ASEAN again requested that the COC be respected and that Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe responded that China is willing to work with ASEAN in addressing the sea dispute.
The two-day ADMM-Plus opened Sunday in Bangkok, as Thailand is this year's chair of ASEAN, which also includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Singapore.
At an informal retreat of the ASEAN defense ministers following their meeting with Wei, some voiced concerns over the South China Sea row, but overall there was optimism about the progress of the COC negotiations.
The ADMM-Plus meeting also involves the defense chiefs from the ASEAN's eight regional partners -- Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.
(Chananthorn Kamjan contributed reporting.)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - Microsoft Corp. has won the Pentagon's $10 billion cloud computing contract, the Defense Department said on Friday, beating out favorite Amazon.com Inc.
The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract is part of a broader digital modernization of the Pentagon meant to make it more technologically agile.
But the contracting process had long been mired in conflict of interest allegations, even drawing the attention of President Donald Trump, who has publicly taken swipes at Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos.
Oracle Corp. had expressed concerns about the award process for the contract, including the role of a former Amazon employee who worked on the project at the Defense Department but recused himself, then later left the Defense Department and returned to Amazon Web Services.
In a statement, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) spokesman said the company was "surprised about this conclusion."
The company said that a "detailed assessment purely on the comparative offerings" would "clearly lead to a different conclusion," according to the statement.
AWS is considering options for protesting the award, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Although the Pentagon boasts the world's most potent fighting force, its information technology remains woefully inadequate, according to many officials.
Officials have complained of having outdated computer systems and being unable to access files or share information as quickly as they might be able to in the private sector.
Some companies were also concerned that a single award would give the winner an unfair advantage in follow-on work. The Pentagon has said it planned to award future cloud deals to multiple contractors.
This week, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper removed himself from reviewing the deal due to his adult son's employment with one of the original contract applicants, IBM Corp. IBM had previously bid for the contract but had already been eliminated from the competition.
Microsoft said it was working on a comment. IBM and Oracle did not immediately return requests for comment.
The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that retired Navy commander Guy Snodgrass, who served as a speech writer and communications director to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said in a forthcoming book that Trump sought to “screw” Amazon by awarding the cloud computing contract to a rival.
"We’re not going to do that," Mattis told Pentagon officials, according to The Post's report on the book, which is due to be published on Oct. 29. "This will be done by the book, both legally and ethically."
Reuters could not immediately obtain a copy of the book to verify the Post's report.
In a statement announcing Microsoft as the winner, the Pentagon underscored its view that the competition was conducted fairly and legally.
"All (offers) were treated fairly and evaluated consistently with the solicitation's stated evaluation criteria. Prior to the award, the department conferred with the DOD Inspector General, which informed the decision to proceed," it said.
Microsoft shares were up 2.5 percent to $144.35 in after-hours trading after the news. Amazon shares were down 0.98 percent to $1,744.12.
The Pentagon said it had awarded more than $11 billion across 10 separate cloud contracts over the past two years.
"As we continue to execute the DOD Cloud Strategy, additional contracts are planned for both cloud services and complementary migration and integration solutions necessary to achieve effective cloud adoption," the Pentagon said.
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WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday the Pentagon would cooperate with the congressional impeachment inquiry -- in an apparent break with President Donald Trump's policy to thwart the probe.
Esper said his department would try to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats seeking records relating to the withholding of US military aid to Ukraine.
"We will do everything we can to cooperate with the Congress," Esper said on CBS's "Face The Nation."
His reassurance came days after the White House announced it would not cooperate with the Democratic-led House of Representatives, calling its impeachment push illegitimate and unconstitutional.
Democrats are seeking information related to Trump pressing his Ukrainian counterpart to uncover dirt on 2020 US presidential contender Joe Biden -- and the alleged conditioning of military aid on that favor.
Democrats have slapped subpoenas on the Pentagon and White House, demanding documents tied to Trump's withholding of almost $400 million desperately needed by Kiev in its conflict with Russia over Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Esper told "Fox News Sunday" that administration officials and Trump himself may place restrictions on the release of documents demanded by the subpoena.
"I don't know the status of what that document preparation is. I don't know what restrictions they will have internally," Esper said.
"The White House has a say on the release of documents as well. There are a number of things that play into this."
Democrats obtained a string of text messages between US diplomats that showed the Trump administration's effort to pressure Ukraine into investigating Biden and his son Hunter, and that some diplomats in the text chain expressed concern that such actions were inappropriate.
'ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL'
On Tuesday, Trump's White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent senior Democrats an 8-page letter declaring the inquiry illegitimate. The letter has been rejected by experts as having little legal basis.
The Democrats' subpoenas focus in part is on Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A released rough transcript of the call shows the two leaders discussed Zelensky's desire to receive the military aid, followed by Trump responding that "I would like you to do us a favor though," and then bringing up Biden.
Esper was asked by Fox News if Trump had explained why he held up the aid, against the guidance of the Pentagon, and replied: "I have nothing to share with you on this."
Details of the call emerged last month in an explosive whistleblower complaint by an unidentified intelligence official.
The scandal is unusual in that the conduct in question -- Trump soliciting an investigation of a potential 2020 election rival from a foreign country -- is acknowledged by both sides.
At dispute is whether the phone call constituted a crime or an impeachable offense.
Federal Election Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub has declined to discuss the specifics of Trump's case.
But she told MSNBC earlier this month that "the law is pretty clear... It is absolutely illegal for anyone to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with any election in the United States."
Sunday's morning talk shows, in a repeat of last week, were notable for the absence of key administration officials willing to publicly defend Trump's actions.
Former Ohio governor John Kasich told CNN's "State of the Union" that his fellow Republicans needed to "look in the mirror" and speak out on the Ukraine call.
"Figure out how you want to be remembered later... There's nothing wrong with telling the truth and sharing your real feelings," he said.
"I think at the end of the day, the evidence is there to impeach Trump," Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, told ABC's "This Week."
But he added that the "real issue" is whether top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell will "do the right thing" if Trump is impeached, setting the stage for a trial in the US legislature's upper house.
"I am nervous that McConnell will put party in front of country," Sanders said.
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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley asked newly confirmed Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday about cost overruns and technical issues that have "plagued" the Pentagon's high-priced F-35 fighter jet program.
The Department of Defense failed to keep adequate records on the program's costs and installed parts that were not ready for use, according to reports from the Pentagon's inspector general in March and June.
These shortfalls, Grassley said in a letter to Esper, have resulted in "financial waste and further delays to the mission readiness" of the plane and have "potentially jeopardized the lives" of pilots who fly the F-35.
The Pentagon's Joint Program Office, which manages the F-35 program, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Lockheed Martin Corp, the lead contractor for the program, said in a statement that it "looks forward to partnering with" the Joint Program Office as the Pentagon adjusts procedures to address the reports.
Lockheed also said it manages all government property records in accordance with its contracts.
The Lockheed parts installed by the Pentagon were not ready for installation because they lacked electronic records, the inspector general said in June. Defense Department employees instead turned to keeping manual records, the June report said.
Installing the parts inflated the flying time of "mission-ready" planes, and in turn inflated the incentive fees paid to Lockheed by the Defense Department for mission-ready flying hours, the June report said.
The Joint Program Office knew about the issue, but "did not take adequate steps" to resolve it, Grassley said, citing the June report.
An earlier report in March found the Pentagon "does not know the actual value" of government-purchased F-35 property because it failed to keep an independent record, leaving Lockheed and its subcontractor with the only record of the property, which Lockheed valued at $2.1 billion.
The Department of Defense has no mechanism to verify Lockheed's record, the March report said.
As long as these issues remain, they will "continue hemorrhaging money" from the program and threaten the planes' readiness and safety, Grassley noted.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
