Stevenson’s army October 28

– Key intelligence leading to the Baghdadi raid came from Iraqi intelligence, according to Reuters. But  NYT credits the Kurds and notes that the president’s order to withdraw troops from northern Syria, despite knowledge of the narrowing hunt for Baghdadi, forced a last minute scramble that could have jeopardized the operation.
– Congressional notification was not required because the operation was a “traditional Military Activity” rather than a covert action, title 10 rather than 50. Lawfare explains why.  The bin Laden raid was CIA controlled, with the SEAL force legally transferred to CIA under title 50, and the gang of 8 was notified as required by law [Hughes-Ryan as updated in 1990].
– There’s further confirmation of how Graham and Keane used the oil argument to get Trump to keep some forces in Syria. But legally, we can’t keep the oil.
-A tell-all book by Mattis’ speechwriter, whom he has denounced, is out this week. Ln the grounds that a review may tell you all you need to know, here’s a review.
– Those of you who remember my long history with the B-1 bomber may appreciate this: they have found a way to use them.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. If you want to get it directly, To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).