By Charles Hoskinson

THE PLAN to shrink the Navy’s fleet – already the smallest since 1916 at 285 ships – which many lawmakers say doesn’t match up with the shift to a Pacific focus in the administration’s new strategy. GOP lawmakers on the House side have already signaled a fight on this issue, and McCain added his concern Thursday at a SASC confirmation hearing for Adm. Samuel Locklear, nominated to lead PACOM. “Cuts to our naval capabilities such as these without a plan to compensate for them only puts our goals in the Pacific region at greater risk,” he said.

A HASC REPORT NOTING THAT 27 PERCENT of released Guantanamo detainees were either suspected of or confirmed to have returned to terrorism has caused some division on the usually bipartisan panel. Majority Republicans have used its findings to argue against the proposed transfer of Taliban detainees to Qatar as an incentive for the Afghan Islamist group to engage in peace talks. “The high rate of recidivism can’t be ignored,” Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif) told us. “Now the administration is talking about transferring multiple high-value detainees with the interest of drawing the Taliban into talks. The idea that this would make the Taliban negotiate in good faith is nonsense. And if there are transfers in the works, then the appropriate entities in Congress need sufficient time to assess the details, taking into account a detainee’s record and an assessment on the chances of that person reengaging in terrorist activity. We need know who and what we are dealing with.”

DEMOCRATS ON THE PANEL HOWEVER noted that the report did not take into consideration whether there’s strategic value in closing the detention center at Guantanamo altogether, saying both the Bush and Obama administrations had reached that conclusion. “The minority and majority worked together in good faith to try to come to an agreement that would allow the minority to sign onto this report. There were attempts on both sides to reconcile the differences, but they fell short. This is a decent start, but we need to do more,” HASC ranking Democrat Smith said in a statement.

The report is here: http://1.usa.gov/zzlFyk. The Democrats’ dissent is here: http://bit.ly/xH8t3x

MARINE SNIPERS WHO POSED for a photo in Afghanistan with a flag showing the Nazi SS symbol will not be disciplined, Marine officials said, but Corps leaders have made clear that further such displays would not be tolerated. A Marine source told us an investigation had determined the snipers’ action was not racially motivated and they didn’t understand the historical connotations of the symbol. Our story on the flag flap is here: http://politi.co/AoCHkI

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