Iran’s WMD; the Kremlin’s 2020 strategy; DHS assessment of foreign VPNs, and more

Yet, in much of the Western world, including in the United States, we seem unable to fully grasp the fact that Russia is waging war on Western democracies. While it is not an overt or declared war, it is a war nonetheless. And, while Russia’s successes are sometimes exaggerated, those who dismiss Russian tactics as marginal or insignificant simply fuel our own inaction. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov’s much-discussed 2013 on hybrid warfare was seized on by Western pundits for its explicit articulation of the need to develop “hybrid” or unconventional tactics. However, it is not the tactics themselves that are noteworthy, but rather Gerasimov’s tacit declaration of an asymmetric war on the West.

Mueller: My hands were tied on charging Trump (Justin Miller, Betsy Woodruff, Adam Rawnsley, Daily Beast)
Special counsel breaks more than two years of silence and reveals why he didn’t accuse the president of breaking the law.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller broke more than two years of silence on Wednesday to address the central mystery of his investigation: why he did not make a determination about whether President Trump broke the law.
Mueller said it was because his hands were tied by Justice Department policy that forbids indictment of a sitting president—a statement already being interpreted as an invitation for Congress to impeach Trump.
“Charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider,” he said in a surprise press conference at DOJ headquarters.
The special counsel investigation reported 10 episodes of possible obstruction-of-justice offenses allegedly committed by Trump, including the president’s failed efforts to fire Mueller. At the press conference, Mueller said the lack of an official charge of misconduct against Trump should not be interpreted as an exoneration—as Trump and his allies have endlessly claimed.
“If we had had confidence the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so,” Mueller said.
Instead, Mueller said “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”

Federal cybersecurity agency on the way? (Sam Bocetta, CSO Online)
As human activity migrates into the online space, keeping the bad guys from mucking it all up becomes paramount. Does that mean it’s time for a federal cybersecurity agency?

DHS assessment of foreign VPN apps finds security risk real, data lacking (Sean Lyngaas, Cyberscoop)
The risk posed by foreign-made virtual private network (VPN) applications must be accounted for — even if government device users have avoided such apps — because adversaries are interested in exploiting the software, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.

Sunk costs: The border wall is more expensive than you think. (Gus Bova, Texas Observer)
When the federal government builds a border wall, the taxpayer foots two bills. First, there’s the cost to get the thing built, a figure proclaimed in presidential budget requests and press accounts. And second, there’s a slew of concealed costs — expenditures that hide in general operations budgets, arise from human error or kick in years down the line. In the Trump era, those twin outlays combine to make the wall outlandishly expensive.

Florida 2019 hurricane season opens with lessons from Matthew, Irma, Michael (Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel)
Michael was particularly chilling for experts. It gained far more intensity than expected and, making landfall on Oct. 10, came as the June 1 to Nov. 30 hurricane season was winding down.

Mayors appear increasingly concerned about infrastructure (Daniel C. Vock, Governing)
More than half of mayors discussed it during their annual State of the City addresses this year — double the number four years ago.