DRUMS OF WAR: That rhythmic pounding sound you hear from Washington is the growing drumbeat for military action to punish Iran for the Saturday strikes on two Saudi processing facilities that cut the country’s oil production in half.

“It is now time for the U.S. to put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries if they continue their provocations or increase nuclear enrichment,” tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham after the attack. “Iran will not stop their misbehavior until the consequences become more real, like attacking their refineries, which will break the regime’s back.”

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed they were behind the attack, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed that as a fiction. “There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen,” he tweeted. “Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”

‘LOCKED AND LOADED’: In a tweet last night, President Trump hinted he’s ready to pull the trigger on retaliatory strikes, once Saudi Arabia signs off. “There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification,” Trump said, “but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!”

Meanwhile, Trump said he has authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if needed, “in a to-be-determined amount sufficient to keep the markets well-supplied.”

The president also tweeted that he had “informed all appropriate agencies to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States,” although it’s not clear what impact that would have on what is expected to be a short-term shortfall.

The tweets followed a meeting of the National Security Council at the White House that included Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

OIL PRICES SPIKE: It is estimated the sophisticated attack from a swarm of drones temporarily knocked out more than 5% of the world’s oil supply, and as a result oil prices jumped by as much as 20%.

Much of Saudi crude goes to California, where drivers may be the first to feel the impact with higher prices at the pump.

IRAN DENIES: “Having failed at ‘max pressure,’ @SecPompeo's turning to ‘max deceit,’” tweeted the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif. Iran says the attack was made by Houthi rebels in Yemen and is a result of the long-running war with a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. “US & its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory. Blaming Iran won't end disaster. Accepting our April '15 proposal to end war & begin talks may,” he tweeted.

NO MORE TALK OF MEETING: Iran is now ruling out any meeting between President Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the U.N. General Assembly session next week, Iran’s state-run media reported.

“Neither is such a plan on our agenda nor will such a thing happen. This meeting will not be held," said foreign ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi at a press conference in Tehran, according to the state-run Fars news agency.

Despite administration officials saying last week Trump would be “happy to take a meeting with no preconditions” with Iran, the president tweeted last night, “The Fake News is saying that I am willing to meet with Iran, ‘No Conditions.’ That is an incorrect statement (as usual!).”

No explanation was forthcoming from the White House.

SUNDAY TALK SHOW REACTION:

“I think it's safe to say that the Houthis don't have the capability to do a strike like this without Iranian assistance. So Iranian know-how, Iranian technology, I think, was certainly involved,” said Rep. Adam Smith, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on CBS. “Whether the Iranians directly engaged in this or through the Houthi proxies has yet to be seen. But I think it underscores just what we really frankly came to expect from this unending war in Yemen, that it would escalate tensions in the region, but also our withdrawal from the JCPOA has led Iran to engage … in these escalatory tactics.”

“I would say we should deny the visas for the Iranian delegates who are planning to come into the United States, come to New York next week for the U.N. General Assembly,” said Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on NBC. “As her first step as our new U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft … ought to offer a resolution for snapback sanctions. … They're operating in total violation of the Iranian nuclear deal. And we ought to have those sanctions snapped back.”

“I think an escalation of the war would be a big mistake,” said Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul on CBS. “This all comes from the Yemeni civil war, where Saudi Arabia is heavily involved in another country, indiscriminately bombing civilians, killing children. And the Houthis are supported by the Iranians. So it's back and forth. But, really, the answer is trying to have a negotiated cease-fire and peace in Yemen. And bombing Iran won't do that.”

Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre ( @jamiejmcintyre ) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance ( @kjtorrance ). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense .

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HAPPENING TODAY: President Trump welcomes to the White House at 3 p.m. Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain, a country that is one of America’s closest Gulf allies and hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

You may recall Bahrain recently joined the United Kingdom and Australia in the U.S.-led “International Maritime Security Construct,” which is intended to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

“The two leaders are expected to discuss maritime security, countering the threat from Iran, efforts to promote peace in the region, and counterterrorism,” said a White House statement.

ALSO TODAY: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani for a summit on Syria in the Turkish capital of Ankara, ostensibly to try to hammer out a truce in northwest Syria, where the forces of Syrian president Bashar Assad are gaining ground on the last rebel-held territory.

DUNFORD MEETS TURKISH COUNTERPART: With just two weeks left in his term, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford met with Chief of the Turkish General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler Saturday at a NATO Military Committee session in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Turkey has just announced it has taken delivery of a second shipment of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles and will soon activate the system over U.S. objections that it could compromise NATO systems. Erdogan’s refusal to buy U.S. Patriot missiles instead led to Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program, in which it was a production partner. But Erdogan is reportedly floating an offer to buy Patriots in addition to the Russian system.

Nevertheless, the United States and Turkey “enjoy a strong and continuous military-to-military relationship as key members of the NATO alliance,” according to a readout from Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for Dunford, who said the two generals discussed “updates to the security situation in Syria and the importance of U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the region.”

HAPPENING THIS WEEK: The Air Force Association’s annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference gets underway at National Harbor, Maryland, this morning. The three-day event features a cast of heavy-hitters including Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, U.S. Space Command head Gen. John Raymond, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Check out our calendar below for dates and times of some of the key speakers.

HAMZA BIN LADEN: On Saturday, President Trump confirmed the long-rumored death of Hamza bin Laden, the son of late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region.

The death was announced in a statement posted on the White House website, which gave no details or timeframe for the strike.

"The loss of Hamza bin Ladin not only deprives al-Qa'ida of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group," the president said in the statement.

“Good riddance. I think this is someone of great symbolic value to al Qaeda,” said Rep. Schiff on CBS. “He was not, I think, a current leader of al Qaeda in an operational sense.”

“If his name wasn't bin Laden, it wouldn't have had the same impact, but nonetheless an important step in terms of taking more of the leadership of al Qaeda off the battlefield,” said Schiff, who indicated he had been aware of the death for some time. “It also shows the importance of the region to us in terms of our security, that we need to maintain some footprint or some guarantee that al Qaeda won't resurge in the area.”

WHISTLEBLOWER FLAP: On Friday, Schiff — in his role as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — issued a subpoena to the Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to compel the production of a whistleblower complaint that the intelligence community inspector general determined to be credible and a matter of “urgent concern.”

Yesterday, he expressed outrage that Maguire was refusing to turn over the complaint, as required by law, insisting he’s answering to a higher authority.

“No DNI, no director of national intelligence has ever refused to turn over a whistleblower complaint,” Schiff said on Face the Nation on CBS. “It's a pretty narrow group of people that it could apply to that are both above the DNI in authority and also involve privileged communications. So I think it's fair to assume this involves either the president or people around him or both.”

“But at the end of the day, if the director of national intelligence is going to undermine the whistleblower protections, it means that people are going to end up taking the law into their own hands and going directly to the press, instead of the mechanism that Congress set to protect classified information.”

IN DEFENSE OF ISRAEL: President Trump tweeted on Saturday that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone about a potential defense treaty between Israel and the United States after Tuesday’s Israeli elections.

Trump said the deal "would further anchor the tremendous alliance between our two countries."

The announcement drew praise from the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.”This past July, a JINSA task force led by notable retired U.S. military leaders, chaired by Adm. James Stavridis, formerly NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, issued a paper advocating such a pact and drafted a proposed text for such a treaty, after proposing it last year,” the group said in a statement.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: 'Arrogance': Mattis co-author Bing West says US efforts to transform Iraq and Afghanistan were doomed

AP: US general for NATO: Afghan violence will rise before vote

Reuters: Two Afghan Taliban Shadow Governors Killed as Air Strikes Step Up

NBC: Trump's plan to pay for border wall with Air Force funds risks national security, report says

Reuters: Islamic State fills the void in Nigeria as soldiers retreat to 'super camps'

Bloomberg: Taiwan Signals to U.S. That It Will Act Fast on F-16 Jets

Agence France-Presse: Pentagon Steps Up Efforts To Counter China’s Rising Power

Reuters: Australia Concluded China Was Behind Hack on Parliament, Political Parties – Sources

Air Force Magazine: Senators Worry USAF’s Spending Decisions Will Hurt Future Force

Bloomberg: Pentagon Plans to Triple Audits Amid Surge in Defense Spending

Air Force Magazine: Boeing Rebuffed in Bid to Partner with Northrop Grumman on New ICBM

Navy Times: Armed With a New Missile, the LCS Comes of Age

Marine Corps Times: Inside the Corps’ Warplan to Sink Ships

Washington Post: The spy tale the CIA isn't ready for you to hear

Task & Purpose: The Pentagon needs to man up and hold a news briefing about Afghanistan

Calendar

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 16

9 a.m. 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. Air Force Association 2019 Air, Space and Cyber Conference, featuring Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group; Acting Air Force Secretary Matthew Donovan; and Will Roper, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics. www.afa.org/events/calendar

12 p.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. Atlantic Council discussion on "Cyber Operations in Context: A Look at Joint Task Force Ares," focusing on counter ISIS efforts, with Michael Martelle, cyber vault fellow at the National Security Archive; Audrey Alexander, research associate in the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center; Nina Kollars, associate professor at the Naval War College; Brig. Gen. Len Anderson, deputy commander of JTF-ARES at the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command; Peter Cooper, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and Trey Herr, director of the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative. www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

1:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. Heritage Foundation discussion on "How the U.S. Should Respond to China's Rising Influence in the United Nations,” with Victoria Holt, managing director of the Stimson Center; Dean Cheng, senior research fellow at the Heritage Asian Studies Center; Brett Schaefer, senior research fellow in international regulatory affairs at Heritage; and Walter Hohman, director of the Heritage Asian Studies Center. www.heritage.org/asia/event

3 p.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. Atlantic Council book discussion on The New Battle for the Atlantic: Emerging Naval Competition with Russia in the Far North, with author Magnus Nordenman, former director of the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative; retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Steve Wills, research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses; and Oriana Pawlyk, air warfare reporter at Military.com. www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

4:30 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Johns Hopkins University holds a book discussion on American Diplomacy in a Disordered World, with author former deputy secretary of state William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. sais.jhu.edu

5 p.m. 1957 E Street N.W. George Washington University discussion on "Ethics and Leadership: A Discussion on 'America First' Foreign Policy,” with Patrick Fine, chief executive of FHI 360. elliott.gwu.edu

7 p.m. PDT. 1411 16th Ave. Seattle. Elliott Bay Book Company conversation with former defense secretary Jim Mattis. www.elliottbaybook.com/event/jim-mattis

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 17

9 a.m. 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. Day 2 of the Air Force Association’s 2019 Air, Space and Cyber Conference, with remarks from Gen. John Raymond, commander of the Air Force Space Command at 9 a.m.; Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein at 10:45 a.m.; and a town hall with Goldfein and Acting Air Force Secretary Matthew Donovan at 2:10 p.m. www.afa.org/events/calendar

9 a.m. Capitol SVC-208. Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance briefing on "The Status of Missile Defense for U.S. National Security,” with Pentagon Undersecretary for Policy John Rood, and Riki Ellison, founder and chairman of MDAA. missiledefenseadvocacy.org/advocacy/events Live stream at www.youtube.com .

9:30 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace forum on "New Technologies and Nuclear Risk,” including discussions on "Conventional Precision-Strike Weapons and Non-Nuclear States” and "Artificial Intelligence, Strategic Stability, and Nuclear Risk.” carnegieendowment.org

10 a.m. 555 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Politico Artificial Intelligence Summit, with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. www.politico.com/live-events

12 p.m. 1776 I St. N.W. The Nuclear Threat Initiative film screening and discussion on The Atomic Soldiers, focusing on the experience of soldiers exposed to nuclear weapons tests, with filmmaker Morgan Knibbe. www.tfaforms.com

1 p.m. Pentagon River Entrance. Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain to the Pentagon. www.defense.gov

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 18

8:30 a.m. 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. Day 3 of the Air Force Association 2019 Air, Space and Cyber Conference. With remarks by Defense Secretary Mark Esper at 8:30 a.m. and Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth Wright at 10:15 a.m. www.afa.org/events/calendar

9 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. N.W. United States Institute of Peace forum on "Resetting Priorities to Address Violent Extremist Threats,” with remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali at 9 a.m. and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Nagata, director of strategy at the Army National Counterterrorism Center, at 3:45 p.m. www.usip.org/events/resolve

10:30 a.m. 1619 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion on “Avoiding Failure in Afghanistan: The Impact of U.S. Engagement on Security, Political Stability and Economic Growth,” with Earl Anthony Wayne, senior advisor at the Wilson Center and former ambassador to Afghanistan; James Cunningham, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former ambassador to Afghanistan; Ronald Neumann, president of American Academy of Diplomacy and former ambassador to Afghanistan; Laurel Miller, International Crisis Group, and former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; and Rohullah Osmani, ADB North America and visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS. sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

11:30 a.m. Washington Space Business Roundtable discussion on "SATCOM DoD Requirements, Capabilities, and Acquisition,” with Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of Air Force Space Command; Skot Butler, president of Intelsat General Communications; Richard Lober, vice president and general manager of Hughes Network Systems; Pete Hoene, president and CEO of SES Government Solutions; and Janice Starzyk, vice president of commercial space at Bryce Space and Technologies. www.wsbr.org/upcoming-events

2 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. The American Enterprise Institute holds a discussion on "North Korea's Control Tower: The Organization and Guidance Department," with Robert Collins of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; Markus Garlauskas, officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council; David Maxwell, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and Nicholas Eberstadt, chair in political economy at AEI. www.aei.org Livestream at www.american.com/watch .

6:30 p.m. 700 L'Enfant Plaza S.W. International Spy Museum book discussion on The Nuclear Spies: America's Atomic Intelligence Operation Against Hitler and Stalin, with author Vince Houghton, historian at the Spy Museum, and Alexis Albion, historian at the Spy Museum. www.spymuseum.org/calendar/upcoming

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19

7:45 a.m. 701 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria. Defense Strategies Institute annual Cyber Operations for National Defense Symposium, with Gen. James Holmes, commander of U.S. Air Combat Command, delivering remarks at 8:15 a.m. Closed to news media. cybersecurity.dsigroup.org

11 a.m. 2301 Constitution Avenue N.W. United States Institute of Peace discussion on "Reintegrating Taliban Fighters in Afghanistan,” with Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko; Kate Bateman, project lead for reintegration in the SIGAR Lessons Learning Program; Erica Gaston, nonresident fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute; Laurel Miller, program director for Asia at the International Crisis Group; Timor Sharan, deputy minister for policy and technical affairs at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance; and Scott Worden, director of Afghanistan and Central Asia programs at USIP. www.usip.org/events

12 p.m. 1107 Van Munching Hall, College Park, Md. University of Maryland's Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland forum on "Total Defense in a Cyber Era: A Whole of Society Approach to National Cybersecurity Challenges,” with Melissa Griffith, public policy fellow at the Wilson Center. cissm.umd.edu/events/cissm-global-forum

5:30 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. American Security Project discussion on "Military Base Resilience," focusing on climate security, with Alice Hill, senior fellow for climate change policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, CEO of ASP; and retired Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, co-founder and CEO of Farmspace Systems. www.americansecurityproject.org/event

6 p.m. 1619 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion on "Tensions with Turkey,” with Alan Makovsky, senior fellow for national security and international policy at Center for American Progress. sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 20

8:30 a.m. 701 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria. Day 2 of the Defense Strategies Institute annual Cyber Operations for National Defense Symposium, with remarks by Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Cyber Policy Burke Wilson at 9 a.m. and Ian Crone, project manager at DARPA, at 2:15 p.m. Closed to news media. cybersecurity.dsigroup.org

7:30 p.m. CDT. 3000 Mountain Creek Pkwy., Dallas. World Affairs Council of Dallas conversation with former defense secretary Jim Mattis. www.dfwworld.org/events