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.
POLITICS
Warnock beats Walker in Georgia, padding Dems' Senate edge. The Democratic senator won a full six-year term. Trump-backed Walker fumbles the ball.
DEFENSE BUDGET
Military COVID-19 vaccine mandate repealed in defense bill compromise. House and Senate lawmakers on Tuesday night unveiled plans for a compromise defense authorization bill that would boost the military budget by 8% over fiscal 2022 levels and rescind the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members.
Progressives push back on effort to put Manchin permitting deal in NDAA. At least two leftist Democrats on Monday said they would vote against a defense spending bill if it contains elements of Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) provisions permitting reform.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Air Force clears hurdle with first hypersonic weapon amid ‘new arms race' with Russia, China. The Air Force has cleared a key hurdle that will allow the military branch to test fire its first hypersonic weapon — an air-to-ground missile that can travel more than five times the speed of sound.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
EXCELLENT – Senator vows hold on military nominees over Pentagon abortion policy. A prominent Republican senator is threatening to hold up all Defense Department nominations over senior leaders' decision to provide leave and travel expenses to help troops access abortion services.
EASY FIX, CARLOS – LET THEM ALL DEPLOY. Ending COVID-vax mandate would divide troops into two classes, Navy secretary says. The military would consist of “those that can't deploy and those that can deploy. And that creates all sorts of problems,” Carlos Del Toro told lawmakers.
HOMELAND SECURITY
POLITICIZED WITCH HUNT. Jan. 6 committee to issue criminal referrals, chairman says. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will make criminal referrals to the Justice Department as it wraps up its probe and looks to publish a final report by the end of the year, the panel's chairman said Tuesday.
BECAUSE IT'S A POLITICIZED WITCH HUNT – The military still has no good way to spot extremist recruits and troops on social media. The Pentagon still hasn't implemented a social media vetting process to identify extremists trying to join the ranks despite a high-profile push to root out the activity by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to a new think tank report released Tuesday.
WHAT ABOUT THE COPS WHO DEFENDED THE WHITE HOUSE ON MAY 31, 2020? – Congress awards gold medals to police who defended Capitol on Jan. 6. The law enforcement officers who protected lawmakers while defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack were awarded Congressional Gold Medals — the highest honor from Congress — nearly two years after the riot.
GOOD – THEY EARNED THEIR CITIZENSHIP – A bill to help deported veterans and non-citizen troops clears House. Deported veterans would have an easier path to returning to the United States, and non-citizen service members would have earlier opportunities to apply for naturalization under a bill passed Tuesday by the House.
CHINA THREAT
China blasts US report, reiterates ‘no first use' nuke policy. The Pentagon last week released an annual China security report.
Strengthened Japanese brigade on Okinawa would act as China deterrent, experts say. A reported plan by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to increase its presence on Okinawa and add weight to its leadership there is a prudent decision, according to a pair of Japanese security experts.
US, Australia vow to counter China's ‘destabilizing military activities.' Australia and United States are determined to “counter destabilizing military activities by the People's Republic of China”, their defense ministers said after a meeting at the Pentagon at the start of annual talks between the allies.
Podcast. Today's Episode: China scolds Pentagon report on its nukes. A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Defense responded to the U.S. Defense Department's annual report that highlighted Beijing's efforts to strengthen its nuclear capabilities. Listen Here.
Hawley presses Blinken to prioritize arming Taiwan over Ukraine. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday to prioritize sending arms to Taiwan to defend itself against China over helping Ukraine hold off the Russian invasion, arguing that the former is more important to U.S. national security interests.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine leader defiant as drone strikes hit Russia again. Drones struck inside Russia's border with Ukraine Tuesday in the second day of attacks.
Ukrainian civilians facing test of survival: UN. The United Nations humanitarian chief says Russia's “sustained” attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as temperatures fall below freezing, has created a “new level of need” in a war he has called “senseless.”
Explosions at Russian air bases may change several nations' calculations. Moscow says Ukraine converted old Soviet drones into long-range weapons that struck hundreds of miles inside Russian territory.
IRAN THREAT
US accuses Iranian boat of using spotlight to blind the bridge crews of two Navy ships in Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian patrol boat on Monday flashed its spotlight at the bridges of two Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which U.S. military officials said blinded the crews and created an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA
US troops to expand patrols in Syria despite tensions. The move risks further upsetting relations between NATO allies.
Will the US supply Australia with AUKUS subs? ‘That's not going to happen,' key US lawmaker says. The US should take the “next Virginia class that's built, designate that to the Australian AOR, and [say] we're going to dual-crew it with Australian sailors and US sailors,” says Rep. Rob Wittman.
US military to increase the presence of rotational bomber forces in Australia. The U.S. military will increase the rotation presence of its forces in Australia, including bomber forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday after talks with his Australian counterpart in Washington.
BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER
YES – Veterans urge Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. The Act would allow Afghans who came to the U.S. during the Afghanistan evacuation to be re-vetted and apply for permanent status.
US MILITARY
Marines' updated amphibious concept calls for disruptive technologies. The U.S. Marine Corps is getting closer to finalizing a new amphibious warfare concept, which the head of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab said will focus on leveraging and defending against emerging technologies.
The Army will finally stand up a laser-equipped Stryker platoon next month. Here comes the laser platoon.
US Space Force takes over the Army battalion mission in Colorado. A U.S. Army battalion was officially inactivated Monday afternoon as the Space Force takes on its mission.
Eight features that show the new Raider is not the B-2.1. The unveiling of the new B-21 bomber was staged to keep many of its innovations under wraps, but more than 34 years of technological advances since the B-2's 1988 rollout were clearly in evidence.
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.
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