MILITARY NATION NBA PLAYOFFS Space Force seizes Juneteenth Injuries, COVID $1.2M in cocaine on set as new are taking a toll shore of Cape Canaveral US holiday on All-Stars Page 6 Page 8 Page 24 Army chief of staff: Europe a ‘priority theater’ even amid cuts ›› Page 7 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 45 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY,JUNE 18, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas PACIFIC AFGHANISTAN Al-Qaida could regroup in 2 years, Austin says BY ROBERT BURNS AND LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON — An extre- mist group like al-Qaida may be able to regenerate in Afghanistan and pose a threat to the U.S. homeland within two years of the American military’s withdrawal from the country, the Pentagon’s top leaders said Thursday. It was the most specific public forecast of the prospects for a re- newed international terrorist threat from Afghanistan since President Joe Biden announced in April that all U.S. troops would withdraw by Sept. 11. At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley whether they rated Borrowing from the likelihood of a regeneration of al-Qaida or Islamic State in Af- ghanistan as small, medium or large. “I would assess it as medium,” Austin replied. “I would also say, the Green Berets senator, that it would take possi- bly two years for them to develop JOSEPH TOLLIVER /U.S. Army that capability.” Milley, the chairman of the Staff Sgt. Brandon Williams of the 1st Battalion, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade leads a team training in small-unit tactics at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, India, on Feb. 9. The brigade aims to strengthen alliances with foreign militaries to counter China and Russia. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, said he agreed. Rank-and-file soldiers begin Special Forces-style security missions across Indo-Pacific “I think that if certain other things happen — if there was a BY SETH ROBSON 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade out of build ties to militaries around the world. If a SEE AL-QAIDA ON PAGE 4 Stars and Stripes Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. conflict arises, it will be vital for American Small teams of soldiers have been deploy- Activated in May 2020, the unit was estab- troops to know how to work with their foreign ■ Biden must ing across the Indo-Pacific this year on mis- lished as part of a defense strategy that calls counterparts. sions akin to those performed by the Green for a shift away from counterinsurgency mis- The brigade’s mission, which involves order evacuation Berets. sions taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, strengthening alliances and finding new mil- The troops, who have already been sent to said brigade spokesman Maj. Willian Leasure. itary partners, is seen as crucial to that strate- of Afghan allies, places like India, Thailand, the Maldives, In- China and Russia have ramped up strategic gic competition, Leasure said in a telephone donesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philip- competition with the United States and its al- lawmakers say pines, are assigned to the 820-soldier strong lies, making it important for U.S. forces to SEE BORROWING ON PAGE 5 Page 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, June 18, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Fed may hike rates sooner as inflation rises EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1133.14 Associated Press mortgages and credit cards — rates low to encourage borrow- Switzerland (Franc) .9157 Euro costs (June 18) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 31.41 WASHINGTON — The Feder- twice by late 2023. They had pre- ing. Dollar buys (June 18) 0.8167 Turkey (NewLira) 8.6930 British pound (June 18) $1.36 al Reserve signaled Wednesday viously estimated that no rate The Fed has made clear that Japanese yen (June 18) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available that it may act sooner than previ- hike would occur before 2024. its first step in slowing its sup- South Korean won (June 18) 1099.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ ously planned to start dialing At a news conference, Chair port for the economy will be to many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ back the low-interest-rate poli- Jerome Powell said the Fed’s pare its bond purchases — and Britain (Pound) 1.3942 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2329 your local military banking facility. Commercial cies that have helped fuel a swift policymaking committee also that it would begin to raise rates China(Yuan) 6.4421 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2327 rebound from the pandemic re- began discussing when to re- only sometime after that. Its key Egypt (Pound) 15.6491 when buying currency. All figures are foreign cession but have also coincided duce its monthly bond purchas- rate has been pinned near zero Euro .8281 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7638 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ with rising inflation. es. But Powell made clear that since March 2020. Hungary (Forint) 298.15 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2671 The Fed’s policymakers fore- the Fed has yet to decide when it The central bank’s new fore- Japan (Yen) 110.44 INTEREST RATES cast that they would raise their will do so. The purchases, which cast for rate hikes starting in Kuwait(Dinar) .3012 Norway (Krone) 8.5138 Prime rate 3.25 benchmark short-term rate — consist of $120 billion in Treasu- 2023 reflects an economy that’s Philippines (Peso) 48.41 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.25 Poland (Zloty) 381 Federal funds market rate 0.09 which affects many consumer ry and mortgage bonds, are in- achieving faster progress than Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7503 3­month bill 0.04 and business loans, including tended to keep longer-term was expected earlier this year. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3404 30­year bond 1.57 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 61/56 Kabul Seoul 82/69 76/59 Baghdad 100/74 Osan Tokyo Drawsko Kandahar Mildenhall/ 77/58 70/66 96/61 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 82/64 74/67 58/53 Iwakuni Kuwait City 73/69 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 102/83 88/85 Brussels Ramstein 84/62 74/70 83/68 85/64 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, 101/77 Doha Azores Stuttgart 99/86 68/65 87/64 Pápa Aviano/ 85/65 Vicenza 77/66 Naples 80/66 Okinawa Morón 81/78 79/64 Sigonella Rota 87/57 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 70/64 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 101/83 73/65 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 14 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 18-24 Friday, June 18, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Top US admiral bristles at GOP criticism BY PAULINA VILLEGAS tive lawmakers. The Washington Post “Holy crap,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R- Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of Texas, said in a tweet. “Perhaps a Naval Operations, rebuffed point- woke, emasculated military is not ed interrogations by GOP lawmak- the best idea. ...” ers who grilled him over his deci- Cruz was referring to a TikTok sion to recommend sailors read a video that compared the U.S. Ar- book deemed by some conserva- my ad with a Russia campaign that tives as anti-American. showed buff soldiers doing push- The U.S. Navy’s top admiral also ups and leaping out of airplanes, defended moves to address and adding that the contrast made the root out racism and extremism in American soldiers “into pansies.” the forces as well as its efforts to The confrontation Tuesday is al- bolster inclusion and diversity, so the latest in reproaches by which have prompted criticism Banks, who is a Naval Reserve offi- from some conservatives and Re- cer, and other GOP members over publican lawmakers. Gilday’s recommendation to in- “Do you personally consider ad- clude Kendi’s book in the Chief of vocating for the destruction of Naval Operations Professional American capitalism to be extre- Reading Program. mist?” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., In February, Banks sent a letter asked Gilday during a House to Gilday arguing that the views Armed Services Committee hear- promoted in the book are “explicit- ing Tuesday, referring to a passage ly anti-American” and demanded from Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How Gilday explain the Navy’s decision to Be an Antiracist,” which argues MARVIN LYNCHARD/Department of Defense to include it on the reading list or capitalism and racism are interlin- Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, shown at the Pentagon last year, faced questions from remove it. ked. lawmakers Tuesday about moves to address racism and extremism. Gilday responded to Banks in a Banks continued to interrogate letter obtained by Fox News saying the admiral over specific quotes specific quotes from the book and ideology, as the military takes across the Defense Department that the book was included on the from Kendi’s book, which was a asked him how those ideas laid out steps to address issues of racial in- pausing regular activities to ad- list because “it evokes the author’s No. 1 New York Times best seller in by Kendi would further advance or clusion, extremism, racism and dress extremism and white nation- own personal journey in under- 2020, and statements he had made improve the Navy’s power.