Categories: Daniel Serwer

Stevenson’s army, January 29

– WSJ says the  drone attack at Tower 22 succeeded because it was confused with a returning US drone.

– NYT reports on possible retaliatory options.

– Politico sees GOP split.

Eliot Cohen says go to war with Iran. [FYI, I strongly disagree]

Best list I’ve seen is from MEI’s Lister, as in the ever-valuable D Brief:

What are some options for a U.S. response that are not inside Iran? One target might include the “general cargo” (and likely surveillance) ship Behshad, which has been hanging around the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden during virtually every Houthi naval attack off the Yemeni coast. 

MEI’s Lister had four suggestions: 

  • The “Glasshouse” at the airport in Damascus; 
  • The Imam Ali Base in eastern Syria, which features “hardened missile tunnels,” according to Lister; 
  • The Dimas Airbase, which is a “major drone facility” west of Damascus; 
  • And the Mayadin special forces training camp in eastern Syria.

– Keep an eye on Ecuador — will be part of week 4 exercise. FT today. 

– CFR’s Steve Biddle analyzes Russia’s defensive strategy

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. 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).

Daniel Serwer

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