Picks 2

President Trump's proposed 2018 budget is billed as the initial investment on his planned military buildup, but Pentagon officials are worried about the long-term costs — and whether Congress can be counted on to keep paying.
At a Defense Department press conference after the White House budget blueprint was released Thursday, John Roth, the acting comptroller for the Pentagon, acknowledged the budget office is keeping a nervous eye on the costs for increasing the force, saying they hope to see a “pattern” of growth for future budgets.

It looks as though the Supreme Court may have to step in and settle a particularly thorny question involving the First Amendment, Second Amendment, national security interests, and 3D-printed weapons. Cody Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, sued the State Department over its demands he cease distributing instructions for the creation of weapons and weapons parts.

Key lawmakers in the House and Senate are racing to craft bipartisan Iran sanctions legislation before the nation’s largest pro-Israel lobby holds its policy conference starting this weekend, March 26.

Saudi Arabia’s king Salman last week invited Beijing to take a more active part in Middle East politics and in response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would be happy to act as mediator between Riyadh and Tehran – and this on top of preliminary investment deals with a potential total value of $65 billion.

After curbing arms transfers and cooling military ties more than a decade ago, China and Russia are increasing joint exercises and stepping up sales of advanced weaponry to counter the US.
The most recent military maneuvers took place in the South China Sea in September. Ten Chinese warships and two submarines joined three Russian vessels in large-scale exercises that included drills in capturing islands.

US President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas finally spoke on the phone March 10. But anyone privy to this conversation would not have been surprised. In a cordial dialogue with little substance, Abbas called for a two-state solution effort on the 1967 lines, and Trump promised a peace effort in order to reach a regional deal and called on the Palestinian leader to halt incitement to violence. In the conversation, Abbas was invited to visit the White House. This undoubtedly is an incentive for the pragmatic Arab leaders to join the coalition against the Islamic State.

We have to give credit to Rex Tillerson for at least trying to pretend that Washington has good relations with China.
On Sunday, the U.S. Secretary of State concluded his visit to China. He has returned to Washington with an awkward handshake and a flurry of meaningless formalities:
"You said that China-U.S. relations can only be friendly. I express my appreciation for this," Xi said.
What did Tillerson expect, though?

President Trump will nominate Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan for Deputy Defense Secretary, one of six key Pentagon appointments announced today. All six have extensive service in government or, in Shanahan’s case, the defense industry. That’s a stark departure from the two billionaires with no prior government service Trump initially picked as secretaries of the Army and Navy, Vincent Viola and Philip Bilden, both of whom withdrew.

Total signed a preliminary deal for the project last year, and today stated its intentions in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The move makes Total the first Western supermajor to sign a deal with Iran on energy following the easing of sanctions.
According to Total’s SEC filing, the company would finance 50.1 percent of the South Pars 11 project, which requires a total investment of US$4 billion.

Britain's most prestigious military boarding school is facing damaging new claims that it covered up allegations of abuse against students.
On Saturday The Telegraph exposed how the Ministry of Defence appeared to collude The Duke of York's Royal Military School to stifle claims of bullying and abuse.
Kent Police launched a review into their alleged failure to investigate dozens of criminal allegations at the school, and at least one detective inspector has been disciplined.