Defense & National Security: Worries grow over chemical weapons allegations

Worries were growing on Tuesday after Ukrainian officials accused Russia of using chemical weapons in the city of Mariupol. 

We’ll talk about today’s reactions to the accusations and discuss the comments about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that led a Virginia GOP official to resign.  

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

World on edge amid chemical weapons allegations

Ukrainian officials on Monday night accused Russia of dropping a “poisonous substance of unknown origin” on Mariupol.  

The use of chemical weapons is something that the Biden administration and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have indicated would lead to a response, but neither the alliance nor the administration have specified what that response would look like.  

Taking the allegations ‘seriously’: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address Monday night that officials in his nation are closely watching for chemical weapons use by Russia. 

He also called for Western countries to implement an oil embargo on Russia for its actions.  

“One of the Russian occupiers’ speakers said that they might use chemical weapons against our defenders in Mariupol,” Zelensky said. 

“We take it very seriously,” he added. 

Before the allegation: NATO officials have said that a chemical attack violates international law, and the alliance has vowed to respond to such an attack.  

President Biden last month vowed that Moscow would pay a “severe price” if chemical weapons are used, but his administration has not detailed what that response would look like.  

However, the White House said last month that it has a team set up for contingency planning on a variety of scenarios, including the possible use of chemical weapons.  

The World Health Organization has also indicated that it was preparing for the possibility of chemical weapons use in Ukraine.  

Wait and see: Pentagon press secretary John Kirby reiterated on Tuesday that the agency couldn’t verify the social media reports, though he said the agency is monitoring the situation.   

Watchdog group Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said that it is “monitoring closely the situation in Ukraine.”  

The group said any use of chemical weapons would be “reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community.” 

Check out more on the allegations here. 

Official resigns over comments about Pentagon chief

The Republican chairman of a Virginia electoral board has stepped down after a racially charged Facebook post he made about Defense Secretary Llyod Austin and others came to light last week.  

David Dietrich, the former chairman of the Electoral Board in Hampton, resigned Saturday, two days after his social media posting was discovered.  

The discovery prompted Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and other GOP lawmakers to call for his removal. 

What did Dietrich say? In a post from February 2021, Dietrich targeted Austin and retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré — both Black men — in a post, using the n-slur and calling for “a good public lynching.” 

The ranting post was written shortly after Austin ordered a stand-down across the Defense Department to address extremism in the ranks, a decision made following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Trump.  

Dietrich’s post said that Austin’s decision was meant to “remove conservative, freedom-loving Americans” from the military.  

Dietrich also targeted Honoré, who House Speaker Navy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appointed to conduct a review of the Capitol’s security failures during the insurrection.   

Virginia Republicans raise the heat: Dietrich’s resignation came after Youngkin called for his removal from the board. 

“As governor, I serve all Virginians. I won’t accept racism in our Commonwealth or our party. The abhorrent words of a Hampton Roads official are beyond unacceptable and have no place in Virginia,” Youngkin wrote on Twitter Saturday. 

The Republican Party of Hampton released their own statement on Facebook along with a screenshot of the offending post, saying the “abhorrent and unacceptable racist language” has no place in the GOP or the Commonwealth.   

Reaction from the Pentagon: Asked about Dietrich’s resignation, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that Austin is “going to be focused on leading the department forward and trying to continue to set an example going forward.”  

“No matter who you are … where you came from, what your background is, he believes that if you’re qualified and you want to serve this country, you should be able to do it. And you’ll be able to do it without fear of discrimination or harassment,” Kirby said.  

“In his view, there’s no place in the Department of Defense for comments like that, for the actions that come from comments like that.”  

Read the full story here. 

Carrier strike group operating off Korean Peninsula

A U.S. carrier strike group is operating off the Korean Peninsula for the first time in years, the Navy confirmed to The Hill. 

Lt. Mark Langford, a U.S. Navy spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is in the Sea of Japan conducting bilateral operations with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force. 

Langford did not provide a timeline for when the carrier strike group arrived or for when it would leave. 

The missile tests: News of the strike group’s arrival in the Sea of Japan comes as Washington tries to deter North Korea, which this year conducted multiple missile tests.   

On March 5, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea and later in the month conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test since 2017. 

Following the March 5 test, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said aircraft from the USS Abraham Lincoln conducted a “carrier-based air demonstration” in the Yellow Sea, which it said was a “demonstration of our resolve and commitment to our regional allies.”    

Read the full story here. 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

• The Association of the U.S. Army will host its 2022 Hot Topic Series on Army Installation Partnerships for Mission Assurance at 8 a.m. 

• The National Defense Industrial Association will host a meeting of its Integrated Program Management Division at 9 a.m. 

• Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stacy Dixon will participate in a conversation with The Center for Strategic and International Studies at 12 p.m. 

• Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will participate in an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on “Russia, Ukraine, and Great Power Conflict” at 1:30 p.m. 

• The National Defense Industrial Association will honor Ret. Gen. John Hyten, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at its Dwight D. Eisenhower Award Dinner at 6 p.m.

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• Blinken says US monitoring rise in rights abuses in India

That’s it for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

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