Afghan peace negotiator killed by turban bomb ... Obama's
military benefit plan panned ... Obama meets new Libyan leader in New York ...
F-22s to return to the air

By CHARLES
HOSKINSON |09/21/11 6:02 AM EDT

HUNDREDS OF AFGHANS TODAY MOURNED former president
Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose assassination Tuesday threatened new problems
for the government in Kabul and U.S.-led coalition forces. http://bit.ly/ruTXJe  

RABBANI, WHO WAS LEADING EFFORTS TO RECONCILE the
Taliban with the government of Hamid Karzai, was the latest in a series
of high-profile officials to be assassinated this year. The assassin,
who hid the bomb in his turban, insisted on a face-to-face meeting and
waited days to see him, an associate told the Associated Press. http://bo.st/qZaFd1  

THESE ATTACKS HAVE CAUSED MANY TO QUESTION whether
Afghan officials are able to maintain their own security as foreign
forces pull out if the Taliban can't be enticed to make peace. U.S.
officials have noted that such high-profile attacks are a sign of
Taliban weakness, rather than strength, but understand the strategic
cost to public confidence when they are successful. "We take it very
seriously as a part of the campaign. We know that this is what the
Taliban are doing, and we've got to adjust, and we're doing it," Mullen
said Tuesday at a Pentagon news conference.

HIS DEATH ALSO HAS RAISED CONCERNS about the future of
the peace process, but James Dobbins, former U.S. special envoy to
Afghanistan, tells the National Security Network's Democracy Arsenal
blog that the targeting of Rabbani was actually a validation of that
process: "Assuming that the assassination was in connection with
[Rabbani's] leadership of the Karzai Peace Council and his U.S.-backed
efforts to launch a peace process, it suggests that some elements within
the insurgency greatly fear this initiative, both because it has great
public appeal throughout Afghanistan and because other elements of the
insurgency have been seriously considering engaging in such a process." http://bit.ly/pDKh5E 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE.
Please send feedback and tips to choskinson@politico.com,
and follow us on Twitter @morningdefense for updates between briefings.

AT THE NEWS
CONFERENCE, PANETTA AND MULLEN had a blunt warning for Pakistan
about the Haqqani network, which has been blamed for many of the recent
attacks. "We cannot have the Haqqanis coming across the border, attacking our
forces, attacking Afghanistan -- Afghanistanis -- and then disappearing back
into a safe haven. That is not tolerable," Panetta said, warning that the
United States would act unilaterally if that continues. "I think they've heard
the message, but we'll see."

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THE HOUSE TODAY BEGINS
DEBATING A CONTINUING RESOLUTION that will carry the government
through Nov. 18 and cut defense spending by 1.5 percent.

OBAMA'S PLAN FOR
MILITARY BENEFIT CHANGES to help pay down the national debt is
drawing a big thumbs-down from some veterans groups and advocates for service
members. VFW is calling the proposals "a breach of faith," and President
Richard L. DeNoyer says they "are all about money, not people." MOAA called the
plan "an attack on the fundamental principles that have sustained the
all-volunteer military force for the last four decades," and vowed to "use its
influence and that of its 370,000 members to fight both the philosophy and the
specifics of the plan." See MOAA President Norbert Ryan's message to members
here: http://bit.ly/pQkbTu  

IN NEW YORK, OBAMA
PROMISED TUESDAY THAT THE UNITED STATES will help Libya build a
democratic government and will reopen an embassy in Tripoli even as "difficult
days lie ahead. ... After decades of iron rule by one man, it will take time to
build the institutions needed for a democratic Libya. I'm sure there will be
days of frustration," Obama said during a high-level meeting on Libya at United
Nations headquarters in New York. "But if we have learned anything these many
months, it is this - do not underestimate the aspirations and will of the
Libyan people." Obama met with Libya's National Transitional Council and world powers
allied with the Libyan rebels, and had his first sit-down with NTC Chairman
Mustafa Abdel Jalil. Our story is here: http://politi.co/qF9mNm
 

ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
EMBASSY, Panetta noted Tuesday that 12 additional U.S. military
personnel had been dispatched to Tripoli to assist in getting it open.

MUAMMAR AL-QADHAFI
MEANWHILE broke nearly two weeks of silence Tuesday to denounce
the new government as a "charade which can only take place thanks to the air
raids, which will not last forever." His statement, broadcast on Syria-based
Al-Rai television, came as the African Union - where many nations had still
been loyal to Qadhafi -- recognized the new government. http://nyti.ms/oswMW4  

LIBYA OPS UPDATE
- NATO air raids continued Monday, with warplanes conducting 91 sorties, of
which 32 were strike sorties. That brings the total to 23,248 sorties and 8,719
strike sorties since March 31.

Raids were conducted near Sirte, Waddan, Hun, Sebha and Bani Walid. Key targets
hit included command and control nodes, surface-to-air missile systems, radar
sites and antiaircraft guns.

Nineteen vessels were hailed and two boarded Monday in arms embargo enforcement
activities. Since March 31, 2,735 vessels have been hailed, 290 boarded and 11
diverted.

AFGHAN OPS UPDATE
- Afghan and coalition killed one insurgent and detained two other suspects
overnight while searching for a Taliban leader in Now Zad district of Helmand
province, an ISAF spokesman said. The target of the search was suspected of
serving as a communications liaison for insurgents throughout the region and to
Taliban elements in Pakistan.

THE PROCESS OF GETTING
THE F-22 BACK IN THE AIR HAS BEGUN, Schwartz announced Tuesday
at the Air Force Association Conference. He said the aircraft would return to
flying status after a rigorous round of inspections, the fielding of new
protective equipment for pilots and additional training for aircrew. "It will
take us probably a couple of months to bring back the initial increments of
capability of the F-22," he said.

ALL 170 OF THE F-22s
WERE GROUNDED IN MAY, after a series of incidents in which
pilots reported that their oxygen system was not functioning. Schwartz said a
fatal F-22 crash in November 2010 in Alaska remains under investigation, though
investors have determined that it was not related to the pilot's loss of
oxygen. "We do not have a smoking gun here," he said.

THE UNITED STATES HAS
OPENED A BASE in the Seychelles for armed drones to escalate
attacks on Al Qaeda targets in east Africa, the Wall Street Journal reports
today. Read the story here: http://on.wsj.com/mT6QwD
 

THE WASHINGTON POST
SAYS THAT FACILITY IS PART OF A RING of secret bases in east
Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Their story is here: http://wapo.st/ndSgvC  

THE CENTER FOR
STRATEGIC AND BUDGETARY ASSESSMENTS releases a report this
morning examining concerns about the impact of DOD spending cuts on the defense
industrial base. You can find the report here: http://bit.ly/nNP3or
 

WHO'S WHERE WHEN
- Mullen delivers the Forrestal Lecture at the Naval Academy at 7:30 p.m.
Westphal is traveling in Latin America, and holds a 2 p.m. news conference in
Rio de Janeiro on partnerships with countries in the region. Donley and
Schwartz attend the Air Force Association Conference, where Schwartz hosts a
forum at 3:15 p.m.

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