MILITARY FACES Army bans TikTok Esper: US expects more How Carrie Fisher’s on military devices attacks from Iran-backed role was woven into amid security concerns groups in Middle East ‘Rise of Skywalker’ Page 3 Page 8 Page 19 Watson’s winning attitude inspires Texans » NFL playoffs, Back page Volume 78, No. 185 ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas Former SEAL rebrands after being acquitted of war crimes BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS Stars and Stripes Eddie Gallagher, the former Navy SEAL acquitted this sum- mer of murdering an Iraqi cap- tive, is cashing in on his newfound notoriety with an apparel line. Gallagher in September 2018 faced 10 charges including pre- meditated and attempted murder based on accusations that he shot at Iraqi civilians and stabbed a captured teenaged Islamic State fighter to death a year earlier. He was ultimately convicted of one charge, posing with the teen- ager’s corpse in a photo he sent to friends. Gallagher was reduced in rank after his conviction, a de- cision President Donald Trump reversed. Now, the square-jawed, tattooed former chief petty officer poses in photos of a different kind: ad- vertisements for his new clothing line through the veteran-owned Nine Line Apparel online store. Gallagher briefly met Nine Line’s CEO Tyler Merritt during a deployment. When the news of Gallagher’s prosecution broke, Nine Line reached out to sup- WINTER port him and later “came up with the idea of a brand and to create a partnership,” Gallagher said in a statement on the Nine Line Firewood seller website. Baba Pahlawan, 70, The collaboration created Gal- of their discontent is pictured on Dec. 25 lagher’s Salty Frog Gear brand in Kabul, Afghanistan. under Nine Line. Pahlawan says most Afghans feel chill of endless peace talk, political paralysis customers can afford SEE SEAL ON PAGE 7 to buy only a few sticks of firewood at a time as Former BY PAMELA CONSTABLE up and there is no work,” said Baba Pahlawan, 70, the winter cold begins. Navy SEAL The Washington Post who sells firewood for about 8 cents a pound. Most Eddie customers, he said, can afford only a few sticks at PAMELA CONSTABLE The Washington Post Gallagher KABUL a time. When they run out, they buy a few pieces of models cross the Afghan capital, carpentry coal. When that runs out, “people stay under their items from shops are turning out crude pine tables. blankets and wait for the morning.” his new Soon, thousands of families will spend As another harsh winter approaches, worry is apparel icy winter evenings huddled around sharpening the seasonal chill in this bustling but line, Salty them, with a few hot coals underneath bedraggled city of 4 million surrounded by white- Frog Gear, and blankets spread over the top. In capped mountains. It is being felt not only in com- in this A many areas, electricity cuts and high munities like Pahlawan’s — and not only because screenshot firewood costs have made these tradi- of the worsening daily struggle to survive. from the tional “sandalis” the only source of heat. brand’s “The cold is getting worse, the prices are going SEE WINTER ON PAGE 6 web site. PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, January 3, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9713 Drastic drop in global air crash fatalities in ’19 Euro costs (Jan. 3) ............................$1.1481 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 30.13 Dollar buys (Jan. 3) .............................€0.871 Turkey (Lira) .........................................5.9564 British pound (Jan. 3) ........................... $1.36 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press 100 crashed Friday on takeoff in million flights in 2019 from 0.30 Japanese yen (Jan. 3)......................... 107.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (Jan. 3).............1,128.00 Kazakhstan, killing 12 people. accidents per million flights in Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance FRANKFURT, Germany — for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3770 The worst crash of 2019 involved 2018. That means there was one Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For The number of deaths in major British pound .....................................$1.3149 an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 fatal accident for every 5.58 mil- nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.2997 air crashes around the globe fell purchasing British pounds in Germany), Max plane that crashed March lion flights. China (Yuan) ........................................6.9632 check with your local military banking by more than half in 2019, ac- Denmark (Krone) ................................6.6872 10, killing 157 people. Last year may have seen fewer facility. Commercial rates are interbank cording to a report by an aviation Egypt (Pound) ....................................16.0434 The report said fatal accidents deaths but did not equal the his- Euro .........................................$1.1174/0.8949 rates provided for reference when buying consulting firm. in 2018 and 2019 that led to the toric low of 2017, which saw only Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7906 currency. All figures are foreign currencies The To70 consultancy said Hungary (Forint) .................................294.90 to one dollar, except for the British pound, grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max two fatal accidents, involving re- Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4546 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, Wednesday that 257 people died raised questions about how avia- gional turboprops, that resulted Japan (Yen) ...........................................108.68 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) in eight fatal accidents in 2019. tion authorities approve aviation in the loss of 13 lives. Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3031 INTEREST RATES That compares to 534 deaths in Norway (Krone) ...................................8.8037 designs , and about pilot training . This report excludes acci- Philippines (Peso)................................. 50.74 Prime rate ................................................4.75 13 fatal accidents in 2018. The fatal accident rate for large dents involving small planes, Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.80 Discount rate ..........................................2.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7509 Federal funds market rate ...................1.55 The 2019 death toll rose in late planes in commercial air trans- military flights, cargo flights and Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3472 3-month bill .............................................1.54 December after a Bek Air Fokker port fell to 0.18 fatal accidents per helicopters. South Korea (Won) ..........................1,159.06 30-year bond ...........................................2.39 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 31/28 Kabul 31/26 Seoul 37/27 Baghdad 63/48 Kandahar 55/42 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 38/28 46/33 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 50/42 41/29 44/32 Iwakuni 52/45 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 72/68 Brussels 41/31 Guam 68/60 48/45 Ramstein 52/44 80/77 Lajes, 44/28 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 83/59 81/60 63/60 44/31 35/27 Aviano/ Vicenza 44/32 Naples 52/41 Okinawa Morón 69/64 55/43 Sigonella Rota 55/37 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 83/74 57/50 53/50 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ...20 Comics ....................21 Crossword ...............21 Faces ......................19 Opinion ..............22-23 Sports ............... 25-32 Wired World .............12 Friday, January 3, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Army next to ban TikTok on military devices BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY statement. on government mobile devices, “Security experts have voiced al security risks posed by China- Stars and Stripes The Army’s ban only applies to including phones and tablets, cit- concerns that China’s vague owned technology companies government phones, according to ing “cybersecurity threat assess- patchwork of intelligence, na- before choosing to utilize certain WASHINGTON — The Army Lt. Col. Crystal Boring, an Army ments,” Cmdr. David Benham, a tional security, and cybersecurity platforms,” he wrote. has banned the use of TikTok, spokeswoman. spokesman for U.S. Fleet Cyber laws compel Chinese companies In response to congressio- a popular video app, on govern- The DOD guidance recom- Command and U.S. 10th Fleet, to support and cooperate with in- nal concerns, TikTok released ment phones, following a similar mends that TikTok be uninstalled said in a statement. telligence work controlled by the ban by the Navy amid growing so that personal information is not In the past several months, Chinese Communist Party,” the a statement Oct. 24 that its U.S. concerns about its potential secu- exposed to “unwanted actors,” Lt. Congress has raised concerns letter stated. user data is stored in the U.S. rity risks to users. Col. Uriah Orland, a Pentagon about the app’s potential risk to In November, Schumer also with a backup in Singapore, and The app, which allows users to spokesman, said in a statement. national security. sent a letter to Army Secretary it denied that its data is subject to share short videos, is owned by “The Department