Syria declares cease-fire over as aid convoy is attacked Presented by Northrop Grumman

With Zach Montellaro, Connor O’Brien, Ellen Mitchell and Bryan Bender

SYRIA SAYS TRUCE HAS FAILED, AS STRIKES HIT AN AID CONVOY: The Syrian government declared the cease-fire over Monday, while the U.S. and Russia appeared initially as though they weren’t yet ready to give up. But an attack on an aid convoy Monday complicates matters further. The Associated Press has the latest here: “Syria's cease-fire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by airstrikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers.

“The strikes late on Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the week-long U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia — after blaming rebels for the violations — suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. … Despite the setback, the State Department said it was prepared to extend the cease-fire window in the hopes that if it held, the U.S. and Russia could then turn to their planned military cooperation against the Islamic State militants and al-Qaida-linked groups in Syria.”

— CRISIS TALKS AT U.N. TODAY, writes The Wall Street Journal: “A group of international powers with interests in Syria, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia, will meet Tuesday after an agreement the U.S. had framed as the ‘last chance’ for a united Syria appeared to be shredding on Monday. … U.S. officials called the airstrike ‘outrageous’ and said it threatened the already strained cease-fire accord, one of several the U.S. and Russia have sought over the past year.

“‘This fundamentally calls into question the viability of what we are trying to achieve here,’ a senior administration official said late Monday, briefing reporters. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, before the larger gathering on Tuesday, another senior administration official said, voicing doubts about the cease-fire.”

N.Y./N.J. BOMBING SUSPECT ARRESTED IN NEW JERSEY AFTER SHOOTOUT, as authorities say the suspect doesn’t appear to be connected to a larger terrorist network, reports The Washington Post: “Authorities said they apprehended Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old wanted in connection with weekend bombings in Manhattan and Seaside Park, N.J., after a shootout Monday with police officers.. ... Even as the widening probe into the bombings continued across the region, authorities sought to reassure residents that the two incidents Saturday and the discovery of explosive devices at a train station here late Sunday did not appear to be the work of a larger network.”

— ATTACKS TURN 2016 CAMPAIGN TO TERRORISM, with the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees sniping at one another, writes our colleagues Nolan D. McCaskill and Louis Nelson: “Hillary Clinton on Monday leveled some of her most charged attacks against Donald Trump yet, accusing the nominee of enabling Islamic State fighters with his rhetoric and hinting he may be committing treason. With a spate of domestic attacks over the weekend refreshing terror fears, Clinton and Trump hurled insults at each other on Monday, trying to convince voters that the other candidate would be a disastrous commander in chief.

"Trump’s camp fired back, blaming Clinton for the rise of the Islamic State because she supported pulling back on troops in Iraq in 2011. ... Trump himself piled on, trying to shame Clinton and tying her to President Barack Obama on the terrorism issue. 'Today, Hillary Clinton showed again that she will say anything — and blame anyone — to shift attention away from the weakness she showed as Secretary of State,' Trump said in a statement."

HAPPY TUESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we’re always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at [email protected], and follow on Twitter @jeremyherb, @morningdefense and @politicopro.

HAPPENING TODAY — HYTEN CONFIRMATION HEARING: Air Force Gen. John Hyten, who has been nominated to be the next head of the Strategic Command, testifies this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Now the head of the Air Force Space Command, Hyten could get questions on everything from Russian rocket engines to nuclear modernization to whether the Cyber Command should be split from the NSA.

FOR YOUR RADAR — CARTER AND DUNFORD TO TESTIFY THURSDAY: Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford are testifying Thursday before the Senate Armed Services panel. The hearing, added to the committee’s schedule on Monday, is on “U.S. National Security Challenges and Ongoing Military Operations.”

ALSO TODAY — AFA DAY TWO: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein speaks this morning at Day Two of the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference. And this afternoon, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle and F-35 program chief Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan discuss the F-35. Pros can read more AFA coverage from National Harbor. Md., here, including Lockheed Martin’s latest on the T-X Trainer Jet and talk about speeding up the Future Vertical Lift competition. The full AFA schedule is here. And follow our colleague Ellen Mitchell on Twitter for the latest from the convention floor.

Back in Washington, House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) speaks this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute on winning the war against Islamic terrorism.

THE BOMBER GETS A NAME — THE B-21 RAIDER: Reaching back to its World War II roots, the Air Force on Monday announced it’s naming the Long-Range Strike Bomber the B-21 "Raider," after the famed Doolittle Raiders, then part of the Army Air Corps, who launched a surprise bombing raid on Japan in 1942. Retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last living member of the Doolittle Raid, joined Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to announce the name at the AFA Conference.

YOUR THOUGHTS? The expensive nature of the plane was still on the mind of our readers after the name was announced. “The B-21 Raider: The Black Hole of the Air Force Aviation Budget,” one wrote to Morning D. We’re still inclined to give the Air Force good marks on this one, though time will tell if the name sticks.

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NDAA AT AN IMPASSE — McCAIN TALKS SAGE GROUSE DISPUTE: Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told Morning D he’s optimistic the National Defense Authorization Act will get done in November, even if a House-Senate Republican dispute over the greater sage grouse fowled up the September negotiations. One reason the sage grouse became an issue, he said, was “because it has nothing to do with defense.” “Everything I know is if it were on the bill, then it would be a veto, and there would not be the votes to override a veto,” he said. “There’s a couple more issues but that’s the major [one].”

— VOTE ON STOPGAP SPENDING MEASURE KICKED TO TODAY, via our colleagues Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed a procedural vote on a must-pass government funding measure Monday as top lawmakers remained at odds over a handful of provisions in the spending bill, even with a months-long impasse over Zika aid largely resolved. The key vote is now scheduled for 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, McConnell said — giving negotiators more time to hammer out the fine print of the continuing resolution that will keep the federal government funded until Dec. 9.”

NORTH KOREA CONDUCTS NEW ROCKET ENGINE TEST, reports Reuters: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. Kim asked the scientists and engineers to make ‘preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test,’ the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket.”

THE DoD TECH PUSH — CARTER PLANS MORE OUTPOSTS: Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he plans to establish more technology outposts modeled on the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, the Pentagon's new outreach centers in Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin, Texas. "Sure, we're going to keep going because there are lots of good technologies," he responded Monday to a question about whether he plans additional hubs during a forum hosted by the Hoover Institution.

DOCUMENT DRAWER — FINDINGS FROM THE DIRECTED ENERGY SUMMIT: Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments are out with a report this morning detailing major takeaways from the directed energy summit held in June. The report concludes that developing the laser technology needs to happen on the ground first, and that the biggest obstacle of developing and integrating the weapons will be a source of funding, not surprisingly.

SPEED READ

— The U.S. military is investigating whether it mistakenly struck prisoners — not troops — in Syria, according to defense officials: The Daily Beast

— A U.S. airstrike kills as many as eight Afghan policemen Monday: Reuters

— Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions: The Washington Post

— Both Trump and Clinton are criticized on both the left and right for meeting with Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: POLITICO

— The latest U.S. terrorist attacks complicate the president’s push to admit more refugees to the U.S.: POLITICO

— Obama calls the Islamic State a “failed cause” after the latest attacks: POLITICO

— U.N. investigators want access to Syrian refugees to probe for potential war crimes: Reuters

— Some Israelis see the $38 billion, 10-year military aid deal with the U.S. as a failure: The Washington Post

— The U.S. and China target the finances of a Chinese conglomerate suspected of aiding North Korea’s nuclear program: WSJ

— The Hampton Roads, Va., economy prepares to shift away from shipbuilding: The Washington Post

— The Air Force is considering buying light attack aircraft in the near-term: Defense News

— Army layoffs slowed in the first half of 2016, with 121 soldiers cut to meet force-reduction requirements: Federal News Radio

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