| | | | |  | | By Eric Bazail-Eimil and Robbie Gramer | |  Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria twelve years ago, give a press conference in Beirut on Dec. 4, 2018. The Tice family and advocates close to them say that bureaucratic hurdles remain within the U.S. government — hurdles that may have hindered prior efforts to secure his release. | Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images | | With help from Phelim Kine Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric Twelve years after journalist AUSTIN TICE was kidnapped in Syria, the U.S. government believes the fall of Syrian leader BASHAR AL-ASSAD presents the best window in years to locate the missing freelancer. It’s unclear whether Tice is still alive, as there have been no sightings of him in over a decade. Yet the Tice family and U.S. government officials have said over the last week they have reason to believe he is alive, that he was being held by Assad forces and can be recovered from Syria. That said, the Tice family and advocates close to them say that bureaucratic hurdles remain within the U.S. government — hurdles that may have hindered prior efforts to secure his release. Unlike other formerly jailed journalists like Wall Street Journal reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH or The Washington Post’s JASON REZAIAN, Tice has not been declared “wrongfully detained” because the Syrian government under Assad never publicly confirmed or denied he was in its custody. MARC TICE, Tice’s father, told NatSec Daily in an interview that successive administrations let Tice’s legal status serve as a justification for not taking more action. “I see that as more of an excuse than a reality that's letting bureaucracy get in the way of work that could be done,” Tice said. “This bureaucratic hurdle has kept them from actively engaging to bring Austin home.” As it stands, Tice’s case is the responsibility of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, an FBI-led interagency unit created under the Obama administration. It also gets some resources from the State Department’s office of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, which was also created under President BARACK OBAMA. But Tice’s father said that these offices are now bogged down in that bureaucratic process, even though they were created precisely to eliminate jams and allocate adequate resources. “It worked for a while,” he said. “But it has devolved, in our assessment, back into the silos that prevent good information from being shared from one organization to another so that action can be taken.” The National Security Council said in a statement that the Biden administration is committed to securing the release of Americans around the world and will continue to do so before the end of its term in office. And Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN and special envoy for hostage affairs ROGER CARSTENS all traveled to the Middle East this week and have pledged that the U.S. is working on the Tice case. The sense within the U.S. government is that the Tice case is a complicated one — the Assad regime never negotiated in good faith and Tice’s whereabouts were always unknown, meaning the case was best handled as an intelligence and law enforcement matter. There is a recognition that bureaucracy might have affected the handling of the case, but agencies and the special envoy’s office were collaborating and diplomatic outreach nevertheless occurred to Damascus regarding Tice’s release despite Tice not being designated as “wrongfully detained.” Lawmakers want more answers, however, about what the U.S. is doing now that Assad is out, and how the administration may be working with the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the push that saw the Assad regime collapse. HTS vowed to search for Tice. Both Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) and Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) are pushing the administration to brief members of Congress on its efforts going forward. “Locating Austin Tice and bringing him home could be one of the tests of whether or not [HTS] are going to cooperate,” Van Hollen said in an interview.
| | THE TOLL IN GAZA: The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening as aid continues to trickle in at levels far lower than what civilians need, according to a rundown of the latest data from Mercy Corps and other humanitarian organizations involved in relief efforts there. These aid groups say that an average of 65 humanitarian trucks are entering Gaza per day — far short of the 500 humanitarian truckloads per day allowed prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which started the war. (Aid groups had said those earlier amounts were insufficient even before Oct. 7.) Some aid convoys are being looted by armed gangs or taken by unarmed groups as soon as they enter Gaza. “These incidents underscore the extreme desperation and suffering inflicted on Palestinians, who have been living in conditions that undermine their survival for over a year,” the humanitarian groups’ analysis concludes. ERDOGAN’S AFRICA GAMBIT: Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN has offered to broker talks between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, in a sign of Turkey’s growing clout and interest in Africa. The Sudanese government has accused the UAE of arming and funding the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, rebel group in the country’s ongoing civil war. Both Sudanese government forces and the RSF have been accused of widespread war crimes and atrocities in the conflict. For its part, the U.S. is praising at least some of Ankara’s actions on the continent. State Department spokesperson MATTHEW MILLER wrote in a post on X that the U.S. “welcomes” another deal Turkey helped broker — a declaration between Ethiopia and Somalia aimed at reducing tensions between the two Horn of Africa countries. PRINCE ANDREW’S SPY SCANDAL: Prince ANDREW, Duke of York and the younger brother of Britain’s King CHARLES III, has been ensnared in a Chinese spy scandal. A British court banned an alleged Chinese spy from entering the United Kingdom on national security grounds, reportedly following an investigation by British intelligence agencies into his efforts to penetrate the royal family’s inner circle for influence on behalf of Beijing. This Chinese national, whose identity has been sealed by British courts, worked for the Duke of York as an adviser on British investment opportunities in China. He reportedly had close ties to the Chinese Community Party and front companies that sought to advance Chinese interests. DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we’re featuring SEAN BARTLETT, a deputy assistant secretary with the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs. He’s been serving in the Biden administration since 2021, and previously served as spokesperson for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats. “I love a good bourbon on the rocks, but honestly my favorite drink that I have an unhealthy obsession with is Dr. Pepper. Those 23 secret flavors … how do they do it?” he said. (We’re assuming access to that recipe requires a TS/SCI clearance.) Bartlett said one time on a Texas road trip many years ago between Houston, Austin and San Antonio, he diverted to Waco to visit the Dr. Pepper Museum. “Highly recommend. In my older and wiser years I now limit myself to one to two max per week, but nothing hits during a stressful day at State like a crispy large Dr. P from the Subway in the cafeteria.” Hey, whatever you need to do to get through a stressful day. Cheers, Sean! IT’S FRIDAY! WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s global security team: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Innovation that Powers Economic Growth
The F-35 helps secure our world. The program unites valued allies and partners, powers small businesses, and creates high-paying, high-tech jobs for workers in critical innovation fields. Learn more. | | | | | HEGSETH’S BACKPEDALING: Trump’s Defense Secretary pick PETE HEGSETH is singing a bit of a new tune when it comes to women and members of the LGBTQ+ community serving in the military. The shift underscores how Hegseth’s confirmation may still be in trouble despite weeks of pressure from Trump allies on some Republican senators who are skeptical of Hegseth. With a 53-47 GOP majority in the Senate in the next Congress, every vote for Hegseth will count. As our own JOE GOULD and CONNOR O’BRIEN report, Hegseth is backtracking on his past comments against gay and transgender troops serving in the military as he looks to court votes among more moderate Republican senators such as SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) and LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska). Sen. JOSH HAWLEY said Hegseth has also pivoted away from his earlier comments that women shouldn't be in combat roles. “He was asked in our post-meeting gaggle [with reporters] whether he was supportive of women in combat and his answer was he was supportive of that.” INTRIGUE AT THE ARMY-NAVY MATCHUP: The upcoming Army-Navy football game this weekend has some political intrigue on the sidelines swirling around the Hegseth nomination, as Joe writes in. Trump will attend the storied annual rivalry match between the two service academies and bring with him both Hegseth and Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS — who some insiders have said would be Trump’s favorite for Hegseth’s replacement if Hegseth can’t secure Senate confirmation.
| | BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The Biden administration renewed the 45-year-old U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement on Friday, our own PHELIM KINE writes in. The deal, which outlines scientific cooperation between the two countries, expired in August 2023. But the White House kept it on life support. After nine months of negotiations, the two countries have now signed a five-year renewal of the deal that allows government-to-government scientific cooperation. The agreement will see Washington and Beijing continue to cooperate on science and technology issues in benign areas of cooperation as it has in the past — think geology and oceanography — but bars cooperation on national security-related issues such as quantum computing and AI. The deal reflects the Biden administration’s two-year effort to try to restore some semblance of stability to strained U.S.-China ties. Efforts to renew it met opposition from GOP members of the House Select Committee on China that same year who warned in a letter to Blinken that the agreement allowed Beijing “to advance its military objectives.” Those suspicions persist. The administration insists the deal is in U.S. interests. A failure to extend the deal “could have chilling effects in the areas of scientific cooperation, which do benefit the United States,” said a senior State Department official, who briefed reporters on condition they not be named. NEW IRAN MALWARE THREAT: An Iran-linked hacking group is likely behind a new form of malware targeting industrial control systems in the United States and Israel. As Hacker News reports, cybersecurity firm Claroty identified the malware, codenamed IOCONTROL, and traced it back to a hacking group known as Cyber Av3ngers. The U.S. government has identified Cyber Av3ngers as a hacking front for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military and security organization. It’s a sign that Tehran is still on the offensive in the cyber realm even if its influence in the Middle East has taken a beating over the fall of Assad in Syria and Israel’s pummeling of Hezbollah.
| | | BOOMING DEMAND: Lockheed Martin has doubled the production of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, a company spokesperson told our own JACK DETSCH — the latest indication of how the war in Ukraine is sending U.S. defense industry into high gear. Lockheed is now making 96 HIMARS launcher vehicles a year, a system that is highly sought-after by Ukrainian forces to target the Russian military, as Jack reported (for Pros!). Additionally, Lockheed plans to make some 400 long-range precision strike missiles per year starting in the next fiscal year. This is a replacement to another system Ukraine’s military covets — the Army Tactical Missile System. Still, it’s not all smooth sailing for the defense industry giant ahead of the Trump administration taking office. Billionaire Trump ally and X owner ELON MUSK has lambasted Lockheed’s $2 trillion F-35 fighter jet program, calling it “the worst military value for money in history” and advocating for drones as a replacement. Lockheed Martin CEO JIM TAICLET has defended the F-35 program in response. “I’m pretty sure that a $25,000 drone will have no effect on a Chinese J-20 jet,” he said at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 7.
| | LAKE’S VOA LIFELINE: Some Arizona Republicans are relieved that Trump picked longtime loyalist KARI LAKE to lead Voice of America, the U.S. government-funded international broadcasting service. Lake has dominated Arizona’s Republican party for several election cycles, losing back-to-back governor and senate races. Now some GOP operatives are thrilled that she is slated to leave the state and take up the top VOA job for the next administration in Washington. “I think it clears space for the conservative but normal wing of the Republican Party in Arizona,” BARRETT MARSON, a GOP strategist in Arizona told our own MEGAN MESSERLY. “She’s no longer Arizona’s problem. Now, she’s the world’s problem.”
| | | |   | | | | | — France has a new prime minister, its fourth in 2024. FRANÇOIS BAYROU, a longtime ally of French President EMMANUEL MACRON, will take over after the current government was toppled in a no confidence vote this week.
| | — EVAN GERSHKOVICH, The Wall Street Journal: Tracking Putin’s most feared secret agency — from inside a Russian prison and beyond — SAMIA NAKHOUL, MAYA GEBEILY, PARISA HAFEZI and SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI, Reuters: Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight — ISSA SIKITI DA SILVA, Foreign Policy: Why militancy is spreading in Mali
| | — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, 12 p.m.: Power plays: U.S. Turkey relations under Trump — Center for a New American Security, 2 p.m.: Shaping and implementing policy at the intersection of national and economic security with deputy secretary of Commerce DON GRAVES Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who is “the world’s problem.” Thanks to our producer, Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, who we’re appointing to run our own international broadcasting service.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: F-35: Strengthening Our Supply Chain. Securing Our Future.
The F-35 is the most economically significant defense program in U.S. history, contributing approximately $72 billion annually and advances the industry to outpace global competitors by supplying more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
