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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
CLEAR MESSAGE – Japan, US fly fighters after China drill, N Korean missiles. Japanese and U.S. forces have conducted a joint fighter jet flight over the Sea of Japan, Japan’s military said Thursday, in an apparent response to a Russia-China joint bomber flight while U.S. President Joe Biden was in Tokyo.
HOMELAND SECURITY
SEMPER FI AND RIP – Hero teacher killed in Texas shooting was a Marine mom. Family members say the Marine’s father, Joe Garcia, died Thursday of a heart attack.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY? Capitol Police were told they likely saw an Army flight. They evacuated anyway. Capitol officers had communicated that the only aircraft anywhere near the Capitol airspace was the authorized Golden Knights flight, according to an FAA timeline.
CHINA THREAT
ABOUT TIME – Japan to ‘drastically strengthen’ military capability – draft. Japan aims to “drastically strengthen” its military capabilities, according to an economic policy draft seen by Reuters, as officials worry that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could prompt instability in East Asia.
RUSSIA THREAT
KEY ISSUE – Analysis: Fissures emerge over what constitutes victory in Ukraine. “Victory” may have a different definition in the United States, in Europe and, perhaps most importantly, in Ukraine.
IMPORTANT QUESTION – Has Ukraine broken the Russian military? With thousands of troops dead, Russia seems desperate for new soldiers—allowing enlistees as old as 50, U.S. defense official says.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 93. Russia’s offensive in the Donbas could leave the eastern region “uninhabited” and Moscow’s forces want to turn cities such as Popasna, Lysychansk and Severodonetsk to ashes, Zelenskyy said. The United States is considering supplying Kyiv with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which can have a range of hundreds of kilometers, US officials said.
Russians push to encircle Ukrainian troops, Pentagon says. Russia could soon make a direct assault on Severodonetsk, one of the largest eastern cities still under Ukrainian control.
Russia captures Lyman – separatists. Pro-Russian Separatist forces claim they have taken full control of the strategic town of Lyman in northeastern Donbas, with Ukrainian officials saying the unverified capture underscores Russia’s ‘growing’ tactical strength.
US and Ukraine discuss danger of escalation as new arms extend Kyiv’s reach. As the United States and its allies provide Ukraine with increasingly sophisticated arms, Washington has held discussions with Kyiv about the danger of escalation if it strikes deep inside Russia, U.S. and diplomatic officials tell Reuters.
Albania offers ex-Soviet built naval base to NATO. Albania has offered NATO a naval base in an effort to highlight the small country’s value in the alliance “in these difficult times,” the prime minister’s office said Thursday.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
EXACTLY – What Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means for the Middle East. Don’t bet on Moscow.
GREAT IDEA – Gilday: Navy could offer retired Littoral Combat Ships to South American nations. The Navy faces an uphill battle on trying to retire nine Littoral Combat Ships, but where will those vessels go after leaving the fleet?
GET IT DONE, JOE- US calls on Yemen’s Houthis to release its local embassy staff. The United States has renewed its call for Yemen’s Houthis to release detained US embassy staff after the death of a retired employee of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) who was in the rebels’ custody.
US MILITARY AND SPACE
RED FLAG – Nahom: F-35s must be the aggressors at Nellis and JPARC, contract AdAir not enough. “Adversary Air” companies are no longer able to provide a worthwhile opponent to Air Force fighters at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) Alaska, so Air Combat Command is letting contracts lapse and working toward creating a permanent F-35 Aggressor capability.
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.
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.
What did you expect. Russia has cruse missiles and can hit Ukraine any time and anywhere they want to but Ukraine doesn’t have that capability and Russia knows that. Russia is completely destroying , turning them into ashes, the cities of Ukraine. If Ukraine had cruse missiles it would be a different story, they have done EXCEPITIONAL well with what they have to work with.