Stories We’re Watching

50+ Former High-ranking National Security Officials Publicly Rebuke Trump’s National Emergency

A bipartisan group of former high-ranking national security officials has published a scathing 13-page joint statement condemning President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. Authors such as Madeleine Albright and Thomas R. Pickering claim that “there is no factual basis” for the President’s emergency declaration and that “Redirecting funds for the claimed “national emergency” will undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” This is the latest public rebuke of the President’s domestic and foreign policies since his surprise announcement that US troops were withdrawing from Syria.

• Joint Declaration of Former United States Government Officials official joint declaration
• CNN: Former senior national security officials to rebuke Trump’s national
• Politico: 58 ex-national security officials to denounce Trump’s emergency
• Washington Post: 58 former senior national security officials to issue declaration on Trump’s national emergency

Trump Extends US-China Trade War Deadline

Yesterday, President Trump tweeted an extension to the March 2 US-China trade war deadline. The President cited ‘substantial progress” and “very productive” negotiations. Over the weekend, in Beijing, President Xi similarly encouraged investors. Following the announcements, global markets opened higher, and China’s Shanghai stock market had its biggest daily gain since mid-2015. Trade analysts warn that two presidents still have much ground to cover in terms of enforcement mechanisms and structural changes.

• CNBC: Trump says he will delay additional China tariffs originally scheduled
• Bloomberg: Trump Suggests ‘Signing Summit’ With Xi as China Talks Advance
• Financial Times: Donald Trump raises China trade hopes with tariff delay
• CNN: China’s stock market just had its best day in more than 3 years

Taliban Co-founder Mullah Baradar Arrives in Doha for US Peace Talks

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has arrived in Qatar to begin talks with Zalmay Khalilzad, the top US envoy for peace in Afghanistan. The talks are the latest round in a series aimed at finding a political solution to the decades-long war in Afghanistan. Regional analysts believe that Baradar could bring together disparate tribal factions within Afghanistan but caution that the continued exclusion of the current Afghan government would prevent real progress.

• Reuters: US, Taliban resume Afghan peace talks before spring fighting season
• BBC: Afghan peace talks: Taliban co-founder meets top White House envoy
• RFE/RL: Taliban Political Chief Baradar To Attend Afghan Peace Talks
• Voice of America: Taliban Hope for “Clear and Fruitful” Results from Doha Talks

Venezuelan Opposition Calls for Use of Force, Guiado Meets with Pence

Vice President Pence arrived in Colombia earlier today to meet with interim President Guiado and to announce new US sanctions on Venezuela. Guiado had set Saturday as a deadline for the Maduro administration to release humanitarian aid detained at the Colombian border. Violence escalated as the deadline approached, and on Saturday Maduro-backed military forces opened fire on civilian protestors who were demanding the release of the aid, most of which is food and medicine. Guiado has called for the use of US force to release the aid and remove Maduro.

• WSJ: Maduro’s Opposition Urges Military Force in Venezuela
• The Guardian: Spain would ’roundly condemn’ use of force in Venezuela
• Voice of America: Pence Meets With Guaido Amidst Venezuela Unrest
• TIME: The Crisis in Venezuela Is Rapidly Escalating. Here’s Everything That Happened Over the Weekend

Trump & Pompeo Lower Expectations ahead of Second US-North Korea Summit

President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have walked-backed previous US demands of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” ahead of Wednesday’s second Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi. The first US-North Korea summit last June concluded with no substantive agreement, and weapons analysts believe one of North Korea’s reactors may still be producing weapons-grade plutonium. Non-proliferation and regional experts warn that the two leaders are unlikely to reach a substantive agreement about denuclearization.

• The Atlantic: Trump Thinks He’s the Only One Who Can Fix North Korea
• CSIS: Donald Trump’s Skepticism of U.S. Troops in Korea Since 1990
• The Guardian: US negotiating position in disarray ahead of summit
• NPR: On Eve Of 2nd Trump-Kim Summit, Is North Korean Reactor Producing Plutonium?

From Deep State Radio

DEEPTECH:  Researchers Catfish NATO Troops

NATO researchers recently conducted an experiment to see if they could engage with and influence the behavior of NATO troops using fake Instagram and Facebook accounts. They could, and they did—easily. NATO’s Strategic Communications Center of Excellence just released the results of the covert experiment in a report focusing on ‘cognitive security challenges’. The report details how the researchers, using only social media and open-source records, were able to identify individual service members, track troop movements, and convince soldiers to disobey orders. The report highlights both the ease with which the researchers were able to infiltrate the troops as well as the troops’ overall vulnerability to disinformation. The exercise (and report) are part of a larger efforts aimed at combating ‘next-generation’ security threats. Report authors recommend additional training. Meanwhile, Russian officials have already … CONTINUE

FP INTERRUPTED: Trade War, Trade Peace ICYMI

It started in January 2018. Trump hit China with a $53 billion tariff on steel and aluminum. Next, he hit Chinese solar panels and washing machines. When September 2018 rolled around, he handed Beijing a $200 billion tariff bill. China reciprocated with its own tariffs on U.S. goods, such as soybeans. A trade war was born. READ MORE