TUESDAY PDB – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – The new leaders of the axis of evil militarily harass Japan – China’s Xi makes ‘no-limits’ Moscow visit as Putin wages Ukraine war.
Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three-day visit that shows off Beijing’s new swagger in world diplomatic affairs and offers a welcome political lift for Russian leader Vladimir Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for him on war crimes charges related to the war in Ukraine.
AND TO MAKE A POINT OF THEIR COOPERATION, BOTH POWERS HARASSED JAPAN – Russia flies strategic bombers near Japan as its PM visits Ukraine. Two Russian strategic bombers flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday as Japan’s prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.
Chinese ships, including one armed vessel, repeatedly enter Japanese waters. Tokyo lodged a series of diplomatic protests with Beijing last week after China sent several coast guard vessels, including one armed with a deck-mounted machine gun, near its islets in the East China Sea.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of other developing stories.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
PENTAGON BUDGET
The Pentagon’s FY24 defense budget falls $40 billion short. Funding unfunded priorities and taking inflation into account means we need a bigger defense budget, argues AEI’s John Ferrari.
Republican budget plan will ‘undermine’ US security, warns Team Biden. It is portraying plans from Republicans to cut the entire federal budget as jeopardizing national security – the latest salvo in the partisan war over spending.
HOMELAND DEFENSE
Chinese spy balloon prompts $90 million in new air defense spending. The high-altitude surveillance balloon that transfixed the nation earlier this year may have popped, but funding to protect against similar threats is inflating.
Texas National Guard has built border barriers on federal land along the Rio Grande in El Paso. Guard troops begin guarding a section of the river where asylum seekers had been crossing in large numbers.
IRAQ WAR
Special report: The Iraq War, 20 years later. The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and its allies continues to resonate in the lives of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and veterans today.
CHINA THREAT
PACAF commander: Air superiority is the focus in Indo-Pacific. Give the commander of Pacific Air Forces one extra dollar, and he would spend it bolstering U.S. air superiority in the region.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia says jet scrambled as US B-52 bombers fly over Baltic Sea. Its defense ministry said a Su-35 combat jet was sent to intercept two U.S. strategic bombers that flew in the direction of the Russian border, but the jet fighter returned to base after the US planes moved away from Russian territory.
US sending ammunition, tanker trucks, boats to Ukraine. The U.S. will send Ukraine $350 million in weapons and equipment, as fierce battles with Russian forces continue for control of the city of Bakhmut, and troops prepare for an expected spring offensive.
EU nations rush to scrape up one million artillery rounds for Ukraine. Eighteen European nations have teamed up under the European Defense Agency to jointly buy ammunition, the latest move in the EU’s race to replenish Ukraine’s dwindling arsenal of artillery shells.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 391. Ukraine reported the destruction of “multiple” Russian cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail to Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea. The Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed by an explosion, its military said, without saying Ukraine was responsible.
Nebraska National Guard soldiers to deploy to Germany to mentor (TRAIN) Ukraine armed forces. The Guard Soldiers are about to deploy on a one-year deployment to the U.S. European Command theater.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
US begins air base rehab in Philippines as part of basing agreement. The two countries began refurbishing the runway of the Basa Air Base on the island of Luzon, one of the five original Philippine military sites to host rotating American troops and their equipment under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
USS America amphibious assault ship docks in Manila ahead of joint drills. The amphibious assault ship capable of operating F-35B stealth fighters docked in Manila over the weekend.
US, Japan exploring partnership on hypersonic missile interceptor. The two are exploring a partnership to develop a hypersonic missile defense capability as the Pentagon enters a program to develop an interceptor capable of neutralizing hypersonic threats in the glide phase of flight.
Improved Saudi-Iran relationship has Israel nervous — about Iran, and about China. The Israeli Ministry of Defense paused a large arm sale to a Middle Eastern nation when the Saudi-Iranian deal was announced.
US: War crimes on all sides in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict. Team Biden announced that all sides in the brutal conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
SPACE THREAT
Space Force seeking $1.2B for ‘Long Range Kill Chains’ target tracking. It is seeking the funds over the next five years for a secretive “Long Range Kill Chains” program to track moving targets from space.
Navy launching laser testing project to International Space Station (ISS). An experimental U.S. military project that will test laser beaming technology has arrived at the ISS and will spend a year in orbit.
US MILITARY
Female Petty officer killed by freak accident on secret mission. A Navy cryptologic technician died during a mission to an undisclosed country in 2021 after a freak windstorm collapsed part of the building in which her team was operating.
FINALLY – Soldiers are being issued high-speed Arctic gear as the Army gets serious about fighting in the cold. The first troops began receiving the Cold Temperature and Arctic Protection Systems (CTAPS), in February.
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: Trump Indictment Delayed After Grand Jury Schedules Additional Witness
Need another kamikaze wind right