"We all saw in 2016 what happened when the #Russia|ns & possibly others, but the Russians for certain tried to do both influence operations & actually get in & actually corrupt some of the election process" per SecDef Mattis before meeting w/#British Defense Sec @GavinWilliamson
"The adversaries may be more than just #Russia" @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis tells reporters re #election security "We are not focused solely on one country. We are focused on protecting the elections themselves"
"I believe it is official #Russia|n support however that is not exclusive" per SecDef Mattis of election meddling "There is also activities that went on that are perhaps not directly ascribed...But we atch for all of it & we can trace at least parts of it back to the Russian gvt"
Are #Russia info ops targeting US troops?
"Like all Americans we have to be alert to the people who would try to manipulate an election in the information age when there's so many feeds coming in to everybody" per @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis
"Certainly we pay attention to that" per SecDef Mattis of #Russia info ops aimed at US troops "But its part of the larger domain of protecting America"
Status of US #SpaceForce - "We need to address space as a developing warfighting domain &a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can establish" per SecDef Mattis "We are in complete alignment w/the president's concern about protecting our assets in space"
"We are working our way through all this" add SecDef Mattis of @POTUS request for a Space Force Combatant Command "What that actual organization will look like is it will be fit for purpose...but I don't have all the final answers yet"
No timeline for answers on a possible US Space Force, says @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis
"We'll get it right. We'll work it through the Congress. We have the direction from the president and we're underway"
"We protect against anyone who would try to muck around from outside the country" per SecDef Mattis "We work together [w/@NSAGov#CyberCommand] to watch for any kind of threats from wherever, from criminals, from countries"
On #Russia submarines in the North #Atlantic - "We watch all submarine activity. Not concerned about it" per @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis
"We always keep an eye on the submarines at sea," Mattis adds when asked again about #Russia#China
More praise for US #SouthAsia strategy in #Afghanistan: "No doubt the strategy has confronted the #Taliban with a reason to go to ceasefires that President Ghani has led & offered & to go into discussions" per SecDef Mattis "But it is still early in that reconciliation process"
No victory yet against #ISIS - "I don't declare victory until its in the rear view mirror" says @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis "As we close in, what happens w/ISIS is that they become more concentrated so there is hard fighting ahead. That's all there is to it"
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
NEW: 12 former senior intel official issue statement on "ill-considered & unprecedented remarks & actions by the White House" re former @CIA Dir. @JohnBrennan
"Insinuations and allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Brennan while in office are baseless," they say
"The president’s action regarding John Brennan and the threats of similar action against other former officials has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances – and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech" per statement
"We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool...this action is quite clearly a signal to other former and current officials" the former intel officials say
re @POTUS revoking @JohnBrennan's security clearance
DEVELOPING: #ISIS force strength now may be close to its peak in 2015.
As of June 2018, estimated 28,600 to 31,600 #Daesh fighters in #Iraq#Syria per IG report
US intelligence estimates had 33,000 #ISIS fighters at group's peak in 2015
Highlights fro #Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on foreign interference via social media platforms:
"Election interference from abroad represents an intolerable assault on the democratic foundation this republic was built on" per @SenatorBurr
"It's also important that the American people know that these activities neither began nor ended with the 2016 elections" per @SenatorBurr "Foreign actors continue an aggressive and pervasive influence campaign against the #UnitedStatesofAmerica"
Efforts like those id'd by @facebook "creating events on our streets w/real #Americans unknowingly participating" adds @SenatorBurr
BREAKING: Senate Intelligence Committee issues initial findings on its assessment of the 2017 US intelligence community assessment that #Russia meddled in #Election2016 "supported by the evidence"
MORE: Senate Intel Committee "concurs with intelligence and open-source assessments that this influence campaign was approved by President #Putin" per just issued report
re #Russia meddling with #Election2016 with eventual goal to boost @realDonaldTrump
NEW: Senate Intel Committee report backs US intelligence finding that #Russia#Putin "aspired to help" President-elect Trump - says US agencies provided intel "to support this assessment...information obtained subsequent to publication of the ICA provides further support"
US needs low yield nuclear weapons, @US_Stratcom Cmdr @usairforce Gen John Hyten tells #SASC hearing - "That capability's a deterrence weapon to respond the threat that #Russia in particular is portraying"
"The #Russia|n doctrine will be to use a low-yield nuclear weapon on the battlefield in case of a conventional over-match with an adversary" per Gen Hyten, citing Vladimir Putin's own words
"Our defense is deterrent capability" per @US_Stratcom's Gen Hyten, when asked about threat from #Russia#China#hypersonic missiles "We don't have any defense that could deny the deployment of such a weapon against us"
#Europe "an increasingly complex & competitive security environment," SACEUR/@US_EUCOM Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti tells #SASC in opening statement
"Our adaptation to the environment has made significant progress...particularly under the European Deterrence Initiative" per Gen Scaparrotti, calling it "the largest reinforcement of Euro-Atlantic Defense in a generation"
Gen Scaparrotti also says @NATO alliance "is strong" and that "European allies & #Canada have turned a corner on defense spending with increases in each of the past 3 years" adding $46 billion to defense spending