The day after ISIS terrorists announced the execution of a captured Jordanian pilot, Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter promised the Senate Armed Services Committee he would work to speed both lethal and non-?lethal aid to the Jordanian government in Amman. SASC Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Jordan’s King Abdullah met with senators Tuesday prior to returning to Jordan, noting the king had expressed frustration in getting deliveries of certain weapons, such as munitions and spare parts, from the US. Carter said if confirmed he would work to identify the problems and “resolve them,” adding that when he was deputy secretary of defense he experienced frustration with getting equipment to US troops in Afghanistan, as well. The news of the Jordanian pilot’s death came the same day Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judah signed a bilateral assistance agreement stipulating the US would raise its foreign assistance to the kingdom from $600 million a year to $1 billion, to cover programs ranging from assistance for the country’s Syrian refugee crisis to economic support to “technical help and security.” The SASC also released a joint letter Wednesday that pressed the White House for answers and seeks a briefing on the state of foreign military assistance to the country.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
