FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – American Liberty News (ALN) – in collaboration with respected national security expert Paul Crespo and the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – provides our readers the PDB:
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING.
Get Your Best Daily Defense and Foreign Affairs Intelligence Here in One Brief. Read the summaries or dive deeper via the linked articles.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
BUT MILITARY ISN’T LIKE THE CIVILIAN SECTOR, THAT’S THE PROBLEM – Army’s parental leave policy will mirror private sector more closely. The Army’s parental leave policy will mirror policies more common in the private sector, a top Army official said Friday.
POLITICS
Key Republicans launch two-part plan to pressure Biden on Ukraine. National security committee leaders in Congress are waging a public campaign to signal they support sending more advanced weapons to Ukraine–and faster than Biden is allowing.
NATIONAL SECURITY
US downs Chinese balloon, a flashpoint in US-China tensions. The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast on orders from President Joe Biden, after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America, becoming the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The inside story of how the US shot down the Chinese balloon. Intelligence analysts distinguish between secrets and mysteries. The bizarre Chinese balloon overflight of the United States that ended with Saturday’s shoot-down over the Atlantic coast has elements of both.
Furor over Chinese spy balloon leads to a diplomatic crisis. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday canceled a weekend trip to Beijing after a Chinese spy balloon was sighted above the Rocky Mountain state of Montana, igniting a frenzy of media coverage and political commentary over a machine that the Pentagon said posed no threat to the United States.
HOMELAND SECURITY
America’s top cyber diplomat says his Twitter account was hacked. America’s top cybersecurity diplomat Nate Fick said his personal Twitter account was hacked, calling it part of the “perils of the job.”
SAME PUNISHMENT AS BLM RIOTERS WHO ASSAULTED POLICE? – Marine veteran gets 5 years for assaulting police at Capitol riot. Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon.
3 Navy warships, FBI now hunting for wreckage of Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina. A trio of Navy warships, service divers and the FBI are on the hunt for the wreckage of a high-altitude Chinese spy balloon that was shot down on Saturday by an Air Force F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Carolina.
CHINA THREAT
China accuses the U.S. of indiscriminate use of force in shooting down of balloon. China on Monday accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force when the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon Saturday. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy on Sunday over the “U.S. attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.”
Pentagon confirms second Chinese ‘surveillance balloon’ seen over Latin America. A second Chinese “surveillance balloon” was spotted flying over Latin America after another one traveling across the continental U.S. was detected earlier in the day, officials confirmed Friday evening.
The 47 pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial. Forty-seven pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong have been accused of a conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark political case. Many of the defendants have been in jail for nearly two years while awaiting trial. SOUNDS LIKE JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS IN U.S.
UKRAINE WAR
US pledges longer-range ‘small-diameter bomb’ for Ukraine. The U.S. announced Friday it will send Ukraine the ground-launched small-diameter bomb, a weapon that can double Kyiv’s strike range, as part of its latest military aid package, worth $2.17 billion.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 348. Fierce battles being fought in Ukraine’s Donetsk region are making the situation “very difficult”, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Kyiv braced for a possible Russian offensive this month before the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
RAND experts fear stalemate, ‘frozen conflict’ in Ukraine. Experts believe Ukraine’s near-term will be a grueling marathon between the West’s ability to churn out arms and Russia’s capacity to suffer.
Ukraine replacing its defense minister nearly one year into Russia’s invasion. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, is slated to be the next defense minister.
Urban combat is changing. The Ukraine war shows how. Four attributes distinguish today’s city battles from those that have come before.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
B-1s join F-22s and S. Korean F-35s, in latest bomber task force mission. A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers and F-22 Raptors flew alongside F-35s from the Republic of Korea on Feb. 1—the third bomber flight near the Korean Peninsula in recent months.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, ASIA, LATIN AMERICA
Britain remains a major military power — but for how long? In 1976, George S. Brown, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter, once dismissed Britain and its military as “pathetic.” For good measure, he added, “They’re no longer a world power. All they’ve got are generals, admirals and bands. They do things in great style … on the protocol side. But it makes you sick to see their forces.”
US destroyer operating near the Black Sea for first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. USS Nitze stopped on the edge of the Bosphorus Strait, on its way to make a port call in Turkey.
Moscow, Tehran advance plans for Iranian-designed drone facility in Russia. Moscow and Tehran are moving ahead with plans to build a factory in Russia that could make at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones for the Ukraine war, said officials from a country aligned with the U.S.
Norway wants to buy dozens of new Leopard 2 tanks. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense put an end to months of speculation, confirming at a Feb. 3 press conference that the government has selected the German Leopard 2A7 as the country’s next main battle tank over a South Korean contender, the K2 Black Panther.
Brazil sinks aircraft carrier in Atlantic despite pollution risk. Brazil has sunk a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean despite concerns expressed by environmental groups that the ageing warship was packed with toxic materials.
Major earthquake in Turkey, Syria kills more than 1,300 people. The magnitude 7.8 tremor caused buildings to collapse and was felt as far as Lebanon and Cyprus.
SPACE
NASA and DARPA are working on a nuclear-powered rocket that could go to Mars. A nuclear-powered rocket would use a nuclear reactor to heat propellant to extreme temperatures before shooting the fuel through a nozzle to produce thrust.
Weather forces SpaceX to delay weekend launch from Cape Canaveral. Citing poor weather at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SpaceX has decided to delay this launch to no earlier than the evening of Monday, Feb. 6.
US MILITARY
US special operators surprised the hell out of San Diego residents during urban combat training. “It might have been nice … if there had been something obvious and clear to say that we weren’t being attacked by a foreign power.”
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: WATCH: 4-Star General Drops Bombshell on Chinese Balloon Story
Perhaps if Russia had to defend Russia it would reconsider its aggression. Of course Putin and his military could care less about Russian or Ukrainian civilians. If the old style socialist Putin is were a Capitalist he’d do a quick cost-benefit analysis and that would have stopped him. He’s reduced the once feared and respected Russian Army to a joke with nukes much like North Korea.