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Today’s PDB includes a variety of critical, global national security issues.
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READ TODAY’S PDB BELOW:
NATIONAL SECURITY
BIDEN’S INFLATION HARMS NATIONAL DEFENSE – Defense firms push Congress for Pentagon budget increase over inflation. U.S. defense and aerospace firms are asking Congress for a defense budget for 2023 that exceeds inflation by 3 to 5 percent and challenged lawmakers to pass their annual defense bills by Sept 30.
CHINA THREAT
THEY NEED TO BE – Are Americans prepared to fight a nuclear war over Taiwan? For the third time, President Joe Biden declared a new U.S. policy toward Taiwan, only to have his officials insist that nothing has changed.
SOMETHING NEW IN SEA OF JAPAN – Expeditionary Strike Group 7 conducts mine-countermeasure exercise Noble Vanguard. Ships from Expeditionary Strike Group 7 conducted unprecedented integrated mine-countermeasure training during Noble Vanguard in the Sea of Japan earlier this month.
GROWING THREAT – China Seeks Sweeping Regional Deal with Pacific Island Countries. China is pursuing a regional agreement with Pacific Island nations that would expand Beijing’s role in policing, maritime cooperation and cybersecurity while offering scholarships for more than 2,000 workers and young diplomats, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.
RUSSIA THREAT
KISSINGER’S APPEASEMENT – Zelensky, Western partners warn appeasing Putin will not end invasion. “It seems that Mr. Kissinger’s calendar is not 2022, but 1938,” Zelensky said in a speech late Wednesday, adding that “geopolitical speculations” overlook the millions of Ukrainians “who actually live in the territory they propose to exchange.”
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 92. Russian forces are close to encircling two key towns in the eastern Donbas region with constant mortar bombardment destroying houses and killing civilians, Ukrainian officials said. About 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war are held in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Luhansk official Rodion Miroshnik said, according to TASS news agency.
Maps of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces have likely given up on planning a single large encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the country’s east, analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said in their latest assessment. Instead, Russia is likely to seek smaller encirclements and more incremental territorial gains.
IRAN THREAT
LET IT GO, JOE! – Biden envoy makes the case for Iran nuclear deal as prospects fade. “The military option cannot resolve this issue” and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Robert Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday.
WELL DONE – Israel tells US it killed Iranian officer, official says. Israeli officials say the officer, Sayad Khodayee, was a leader of a covert unit tasked with abductions and killings of Israelis and other foreigners around the world. Iran does not acknowledge that the unit exists.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
TIT FOR TAT – US and South Korea fire missiles in exercise following North Korean ballistic missile demonstration. Hours after North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off of its eastern coast on Wednesday, the U.S. and South Korea together launched some live-fire missiles of their own, U.S. Forces Korea confirmed in a statement.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
INDEED – Spain, Britain call on NATO to look at Russian threat from Africa. Russia’s expanding influence and activity in Africa pose a “worrying” threat to the security of NATO countries along with its invasion of Ukraine and must be addressed by the military alliance, the Spanish and British defense ministers said Wednesday.
M23 rebels advance on major military base in eastern Congo. Fighters from the M23 rebel group advanced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday and were locked in heavy fighting with the army outside the region’s largest military base, security sources and the local park director said.
India’s Kashmir sees upsurge in violence, tense after separatist convicted. Indian security forces have killed six militants in Kashmir in the past 24 hours while militants shot dead a female TV performer and a police officer, officials said on Thursday, following the conviction of the region’s best-known separatist.
US MILITARY AND SPACE
AMONG MANY OTHER ISSUES – The Army’s reputation for sexual harassment and suicide is keeping Gen Z from joining up, Army secretary says. To recruit Generation Z, the Army has to clearly and publicly show the effort they’re making to address sexual harassment, assault, and suicide, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said.
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) expands use of commercial satellite imagery. The National Reconnaissance Office, the Pentagon agency that designs, launches and operates earth observation satellites for the U.S. government, said it awarded imagery contracts worth billions of dollars to three companies, significantly expanding its use of commercial space services.
END of PDB
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for state and federal office, taught political science, wrote for the editorial board of a major newspaper and had his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and from abroad. To read more go to: paulcrespo.com.
Let is analyze the CCP plan.
(Jennifer’s note: The following is the English translation of a leaked secret audio file of the war mobilization meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Communist Party Committee of China on May 14, 2022. The audio file was released by Lude Media.
https://www.jenniferzengblog.com/home/2022/5/16/top-secret-recording-war-mobilization-meeting-of-the-southern-war-zone-of-the-pla-guangdong-province-is-in-a-state-of-war
Let’s read the CCP plan!
(Jennifer’s note: The following is the English translation of a leaked secret audio file of the war mobilization meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Communist Party Committee of China on May 14, 2022. The audio file was released by Lude Media.
https://www.jenniferzengblog.com/home/2022/5/16/top-secret-recording-war-mobilization-meeting-of-the-southern-war-zone-of-the-pla-guangdong-province-is-in-a-state-of-war