The Secure Line

A deep dive episode to make up for skipping last week. The President broke the Iran deal for no clear reason. We talk about what it means and what comes next. The Kim-Trump Summit has a date — June 12! — so we discuss approaches to the negotiation. And then the President’s CIA Director nominee sat in the hot seat this week.

The President of France Visits. The future of peacekeeping. Supreme Court arguments over the Muslim Ban. Updates to previous legal issues. And more. Mentioned in segment 2 — Foreign Policy: Peacekeepers Shouldn’t Always Be Peaceful, http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/19/peacekeepers-shouldnt-always-be-peaceful/

This week we discuss the options (and legality) of humanitarian intervention in Syria, CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s secret visit to North Korea, and Nikki Haley for President 2024.

With the possibility of military strikes against Syria on the horizon, we look into why this problem is just so difficult. There were new sanctions levied against Russian businesses, government officials and oligarchs last week. And we end with a bit on Paul Ryan’s retirement and the threats to journalism in Myanmar. Consider supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists: https://cpj.org/

We discuss the purpose and impact of tariffs on Chinese imports, the decision to send national guard troops to the border to supplement the border patrol, and the fact that the White House rarely seems to be on the same page as the rest of the administration.

John Bolton heads to the White House as the new National Security Advisor. There’s a unified international response to the recent Russian assassination in the UK. And Kim Jung Un may be winning.

For the second in our 1 on 1 interview series with the Secure Line’s regular contributors, we dig into nuclear issues, the practicalities of diplomacy, her time in the Peace Corps, and more with Secure Line regular contributor Alex Bell. This episode was recorded about 10 days ago because your Secure Line host is on an trip to South Korea to study the Korean War.

So much happened this week, it’s not possible to fit it into this summary. We do a lightening round through the “secondary” issues before diving into the dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and what that means for the CIA and State. Then we head over the pond to the UK where the culprits of the assassination of a former Russian agent are increasingly clear *coughputincough.*

Wow, the news of this week was busy! A former Russian spy is killed with a nerve agent in the UK. Vladimir Putin does his nuclear show and tell. North Korea might want to talk. Trump wants to impose tariffs on steel. And the Holocaust Museum revokes an award they gave to Aung San Suu Kyi.

The team tackles why Cyber Command hasn’t received authority to respond to Russian hacking and wonders what Jared Kushner’s job is now that he doesn’t have a security clearance. We also talk about the legal difficulties of search warrants for “cloud” data when it’s actually on a server in a different country. And it looks like China may have a new leader for life. All that, and the final Olympic curling update of 2018.

Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russians brings the investigation fully into meat space reality. Mike Pence is unprepared for handling Kim Jung Un’s sister. And no, it turns out the President didn’t ask any generals about his military transgender ban before announcing it.

The intelligence community has a warning about Russia and the 2018 elections. Security Clearances: What are they good for? And swapping foreign aid for votes at the UN. Stick around for a report on biathletes, Norwegian fashion, and dogsledding.

How FISA warrants are obtained. How the CDC works overseas to keep us safe. And why military parades make people nervous.

This bonus episode is a one-one-one discussion with Dr. Kevin Woods, who has spent years studying American and Iraqi attempts to understand each others’ intentions and signals from the time before the first Gulf War through the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. It’s an instructive example because the many challenges inherent to clearly sending and accurately interpreting other countries’ signals are an active part of today’s public discourse about other potential crisis flash points. In this episode, Dr. Woods recommends a book: Thinking in Time by Richard Neustadt and Ernest May. On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Time-Uses-History-Decision-Makers/dp/0029227917/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517534327&sr=8-2&keywords=thinking+in+time Three of Dr. Woods’ publications to look into if you want to learn more: The Iraqi Perspectives Report: Saddam’s Senior Leadership on Operation Iraqi Freedom from the Official U.S. Joint Forces Command Report. https://www.amazon.com/Iraqi-Perspectives-Report-Leadership-Operation/dp/1591144574 The Saddam Tapes: Inner Workings of a Tyrant’s Regime, 1979-2001. https://www.amazon.com/Saddam-Tapes-Workings-Tyrants-1978-2001/dp/1107693489/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517537169&sr=1-1&keywords=the+saddam+tapes The Mother of All Battles: Saddam Hussein’s Strategic Plan for the Persian Gulf War. https://www.amazon.com/Mother-All-Battles-Husseins-Strategic/dp/1591149428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517537211&sr=1-1

We watched the State of the Union and then immediately sat down and recorded a podcast.