The SecDef will tell allies in Brussels next week they must take a hard line on Turkey as the body count in Syria continues to rise. The question is, does this emperil Turkey’s NATO membership?

More collective defense cooperation will be on display at the massive AUSA 2019 conference, attended by 92 different nations, including the chief generals of 13 armies.

The Pentagon and State Department spent much of Monday scrambling to respond to the White House’s Sunday night announcement. Three days earlier Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters he and the Turkish Defense Minister had reached an agreement on joint US/Turkish patrols in northern Syria.

General Counsel Paul Nay directed DoD officials to “preserve all documents, records, and writings, and any associated attachments, in any format,” that relate to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Subtle, significant differences in what the two men said about foreign allies reveal one of the potential fault lines between Trump and Milley.

“The US is doing far more than its allies in coming to grips with causing civilian harm,” a human rights NGO representative who has met with Pentagon leaders said. Still, the gap between government estimates and those from groups on the ground is often wide. 

“We need that partnership with customers on the DoD side where they’re willing to take a step forward with us in understanding that neither one of us knows the ultimate answer.”

Britain is on the verge of a much-delayed and debated decision about allowing Huawei to build “non-core” components of its 5G network.

With 10 major programs ramping up from prototypes to mass production by 2026, the Army can’t just count on “Night Court” cuts to free up sufficient funds, warned the service’s three-star chief of budget planning.

“But make no mistake…if in fact a war starts or extends into space, everyone loses,” Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein told the AFA 2019 conference. “I don’t see any winners.”