OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Boycott suggestion gets bipartisan pushback

by Jeremy Herb - 07/17/13 10:25 PM ET

Graham stood
by his position on Wednesday amid the pushback, broadening out his call for
a boycott to include Moscow’s policies toward Syria and Iran.

“Do I want to boycott the Olympics, absolutely not,” Graham
told reporters. But he said that if Russia continues to support Syrian
President Bashar Assad’s regime with weapons, provide cover to the Iran’s
nuclear program and grant Snowden asylum, the U.S. should not go.

{mosads}“Would I accept an invitation of the Russian president —
heck no,” Graham said.

Graham, who is up for reelection in 2014, is no stranger to
reporters in the Capitol, and he did not shy away from discussing his call for
an Olympics boycott on Wednesday.

After explaining his rationale for a boycott, Graham was
asked by another reporter to switch topics to immigration reform.

“I wanna talk about the Olympics,” Graham joked. “What we’re
doing in Russia is not working,” he added before allowing the reporter to
proceed.

Dempsey heads to
Capitol Hill: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey is heading
to Capitol Hill on Thursday for his confirmation hearing.

The hearing is not likely to be as tense as the hearing for
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, an eight-hour affair that delved into Hagel’s
past statements and positions with stiff Republican opposition.

But even if Dempsey’s confirmation to a second term as Joint
Chiefs chairman is likely, he is still going to face pointed questions on a
variety of issues Thursday.

The panel has numerous senators who are unhappy with the
Obama administration’s position on Syria, and Dempsey has been one of the most
skeptical voices on military intervention.

Republicans — and some Democrats — are likely to press
Dempsey on a possible “zero option” in post-2014 Afghanistan that the White
House has suggested remains on the table. And some GOP members could still have
some outstanding questions on last year’s attack in Benghazi.

There are also likely to be questions on sequestration and
the lack of detail in the Pentagon’s 2014 report sent to Capitol Hill last
week, and on Dempsey’s opposition to a proposal to take sexual assault cases
outside the chain of command.

Dempsey was approved by voice vote the first time he was
confirmed for the top military job, but Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) did not want to say just yet that
his confirmation was assured.

“I hope he’ll make it easily, but you never know,” Levin
told reporters Tuesday.

Defense
appropriations still on deck in Rules: Those hoping for quick action on the
Defense appropriations bill aren’t likely to get their wish this week, as the
Rules Committee had not begun considering the bill as of 6 p.m. Wednesday.

It’s still possible the Defense bill will get considered
this week. But even if debate begins on the legislation, it will not be passed
by the end of the week.

As of Wednesday evening, the bill had 167 amendments
filed. In previous years the bill has been considered on the floor under an
open rule, but this year the committee has indicated it could limit the number of
amendments that receive votes.

The list has already been whittled down just a bit — 14 of
the submitted amendments have been withdrawn.

US soldier killed in
Afghan attack: One American soldier is
dead and three others wounded after a brazen night-time attack against a
U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghan insurgents fired multiple recoil-less rifle rounds
into Combat Outpost Chamkani in Paktia province early Tuesday morning.

Officials from the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) in Kabul confirmed that one U.S. soldier was killed in the attack in a
statement on Wednesday. The Pentagon or ISAF officials have yet to release the
identity of the soldier killed in action.

The three other American service members who were wounded in
Tuesday’s attack, one critically, are in stable condition after being evacuated
to Forward Operating Base Salerno in nearby Khost province.

The recent uptick in violence underscores the fierce
fighting between U.S. and Afghan forces against Taliban and Pakistani-based
insurgent groups in eastern Afghanistan.