There’s been a considerable amount of solid debate on whether the U.S. should withdraw all troops from Afghanistan and just watch to see what happens from the outside. Against this backdrop President Trump is anticipated to call for a firm commitment to the region, perhaps adding 4,000 U.S. troops.
President Trump will give a prime-time address to the nation at 9 p.m. tonight to detail his view of the U.S. role in Afghanistan, and the continued presence held.  However, the majority of President Trump’s speech is now anticipated to be a ‘big picture’ overview with an accompanying public outline of expectations for regional participants such as Pakistan and India.
The problem, at least as it is presenting itself, stems from any U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan likely to embolden the extremist outlook of the Taliban and local people who would be captive to the extremist ideology.  With a growing extremist sense, and with an already admitted tenuously perched nuclear Pakistan as the neighboring conduit, the potential for expanded terror threats looms significant.
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USS John S McCain was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore early in the morning on Aug. 21 (as reported 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time) and arrived at Changi Naval Base in the afternoon.
Significant damage to the hull resulted in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery, and communications rooms. Damage control efforts by the crew halted further flooding.

There are currently 10 Sailors missing and five injured. Four of the injured were medically evacuated by a Singapore Armed Forces Puma helicopter to a hospital in Singapore for non-life threatening injuries. The fifth injured Sailor did not require further medical attention.
The U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced a worldwide operational pause and an investigation into operations into Navy forces around Japan on Aug. 21, 2017. US Navy Video (below):
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The USS Fitzgerald collided with a merchant vessel in June of this year killing seven members of her crew.  Unfortunately today the USS John S McCain has also collides with a merchant vessel; details unknown.
Update 10:00pm EDT: Unfortunately it appears there are numerous injuries and missing sailors:

“Ten sailors were missing after a Navy destroyer collided with a merchant ship east of the Singapore and Malacca Straits, authorities said Sunday.   Five sailors were injured in the collision between the USS John S. McCain and the merchant vessel, a 30,000-ton chemical and oil tanker, the Navy said in a statement.
A Navy spokesman told NBC News the incident was being treated as an accident. (link)

Original Press release from Pacific Command 7th Fleet Operations:

SOUTH CHINA SEA – The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca on Aug. 21.

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Earlier in the day Defense Secretary James Mattis announced President Donald Trump has made a decision on the United States’ strategy for Afghanistan after a “sufficiently rigorous” review process.   The White House announced a few hours later that President Trump will deliver a prime-time address on the issue:

BRIDGEWATER, N.J./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump will lay out his long-awaited U.S. strategy for the war in Afghanistan in a prime-time television address to the American people on Monday night, the White House said on Sunday, with a modest increase in U.S. troops possible.
A White House statement said Trump’s 9 p.m. (0100 GMT Tuesday) speech from Fort Myer, Virginia, near Washington, would “provide an update on the path forward for America’s engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia.”  (read more)

Statement by The President –  I have directed that United States Cyber Command be elevated to the status of a Unified Combatant Command focused on cyberspace operations.
This new Unified Combatant Command will strengthen our cyberspace operations and create more opportunities to improve our Nation’s defense. The elevation of United States Cyber Command demonstrates our increased resolve against cyberspace threats and will help reassure our allies and partners and deter our adversaries.
United States Cyber Command’s elevation will also help streamline command and control of time-sensitive cyberspace operations by consolidating them under a single commander with authorities commensurate with the importance of such operations. Elevation will also ensure that critical cyberspace operations are adequately funded.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis release a joint Statement/Op-ed discussing North Korea and accountability.  However, against the backdrop of visible diplomacy the joint statement is more about terms, than accountability.
Note a pointed subtlety.  Secretary Tillerson lays down the terms to China; while Secretary Mattis lays down the terms to North Korea.

WASHINGTON – The U.S., its allies and the world are united in our pursuit of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
In the past few months, multiple illegal North Korean ballistic-missile and ICBM tests—coupled with the most recent bellicose language from Pyongyang about striking the U.S., Guam, our allies and our interests in the Asia-Pacific region—have escalated tensions between North Korea and America to levels not experienced since the Korean War.
In response, the Trump administration, with the support of the international community, is applying diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to achieve the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a dismantling of the regime’s ballistic-missile programs. We are replacing the failed policy of “strategic patience,” which expedited the North Korean threat, with a new policy of strategic accountability.
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National Security Adviser HR McMaster appears on NBC ‘Meet the Press’ with Chuck Todd to discuss issues surrounding North Korea.   However, Todd predictably uses the first half of the interview to discuss the “Charlottesville Trump-is-racist narrative”, and then, rather sneakily, shifts the discussion into the “alt-right” -vs- McMaster angle.
Chuck Todd uses the “Bannon-wing talking points” and “allies within the White House” to draw out a division within the administration.  It’s obvious the MSM are ‘all-in’ on the strategy to highlight the division.  The second half of the interview finally focuses on North Korea.
At 08:06 the China as an economic enabler to DPRK comes in. Watch how HR McMaster responds on the economics of the North Korean issue.

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President Trump and Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin announce the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an emergency spending bill that will pump more than $2 billion into a program that allows veterans to receive private medical care at government expense.
Trump, who made improving veterans care a central campaign promise, signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act while at his New Jersey golf club on Saturday. The bill, which addresses a budget shortfall at the Department of Veteran Affairs that threatened medical care for thousands of veterans, provides $2.1 billion to continue funding the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans to seek private care.
Another $1.8 billion will go to core VA health programs, including 28 leases for new VA medical facilities. (read more)

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Really good stuff – President Trump called Guam’s governor Friday night to assure him the U.S. will protect its Pacific Island territory “1,000 percent” from North Korean aggression.
Guam’s governor, Eddie Baza Calvo, posted a video to Facebook in which he has a more-than-three-minute phone conversation with Trump, heard on speakerphone. WATCH:

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Speaking from Bedminster New Jersey, President Trump answers questions from media surrounding the ongoing issue with North Korea, and the intransigent republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his inability to move legislation.

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It’s always about the economic folks.  President Trump is the first U.S. president to fully appreciate, and utilize, economic leverage to achieve U.S. national security objectives.

…”If China helps us with North Korea I will feel a little differently about trade”…

~President Donald Trump

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