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.
Socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders eyeing Yemen war powers resolution vote ‘hopefully next week.’ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he could introduce a war powers resolution soon that would block U.S. support for the war in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia.
OF COURSE, IT DOES – White House raps lawmakers over troop vaccine mandate repeal. Republicans would “rather fight against the health and well-being of those troops, rather than protecting them,” spokesperson John Kirby said.
DEFENSE BUDGET
Congress approves A-10 retirements, more F-35s in defense bill. The compromise National Defense Authorization Act released by lawmakers Tuesday would grant the Air Force’s long-awaited wish to start retiring the A-10 Warthog.
NATIONAL SECURITY
TRUST, BUT VERIFY – Why would you trust the Pentagon on UFOs? We have been lied to for years.
Disentangling the digital battlefield: how the Internet has changed war. Journalists have described the invasion of Ukraine as the world’s “first TikTok war,” the most “internet-accessible war in history,” and history’s “most viral” social media war. But this kind of hype tells us only so much about the real impact of digital technology on the current conflict.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
ONLY IF THEY LET IT – Pentagon worries repealing COVID vaccine mandate will affect readiness. Pentagon leaders on Wednesday voiced continued support for their decision to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for service members in the face of a proposed law that would force the Defense Department to repeal the policy.
NO KIDDING – IT’S A TINY BUT HIGHLY POLITICIZED ISSUE – STOP SEARCHING FOR A NON-EXISTENT PROBLEM – Domestic extremism is rare in the military, ‘but it is an issue.’ The Pentagon is still working on getting an idea of just how common extremist activity and affiliations are among service members.
HOMELAND SECURITY
New Texas House bill would give survivor benefits to families of National Guard who die on state active duty. A new bill in the Texas House would provide survivor benefits to the families of Texas National Guard members who die in the line of duty on state-sponsored missions such as Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
CHINA THREAT
WAKE THE HELL UP – China may have surpassed the U.S. in number of nuclear warheads on ICBMs. The U.S. may no longer enjoy a numerical advantage against China in certain elements of its Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program, according to Strategic Command, which oversees the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Biden administration signs off on $425M in arms sales to Taiwan. The Biden administration has approved two separate arms sales to Taiwan worth more than $425 million as China has stepped up its threats and aggression toward the island.
How ‘MacGyver’ magic can get Taiwan its Harpoon defenses faster. The Defense Department report last month on the Chinese military makes clear that Beijing is sprinting to develop the means it would need to conquer Taiwan.
US military’s National Media Exploitation Center to refocus on China. U.S. officials plan to shrink the National Media Exploitation Center, a hub coordinating FBI, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency efforts to parse documents, video, audio and other information sources for defense and intelligence distribution, to better position it for a future competition with China.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
YA THINK? – Putin says Ukraine fight is taking longer than expected. Russian troops invaded Ukraine more than nine months ago.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 288. Russian shelling has killed at least six people and set buildings on fire in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kurakhove, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russian ally Belarus sparks fears it could join the Ukraine war as it moves troops. Belarus, a loyal Russian ally on Ukraine’s northern border, announced Wednesday that it would be moving troops inside the country in a counterterror exercise that some feared could be a mobilization for actual war.
Russia killed 441 civilians extrajudicially in the Kyiv area early in war, UN finds. The findings add to mounting evidence that Russian forces have targeted and summarily executed Ukrainian civilians in grave violations of international law.
CYA – US did not encourage or enable Kyiv to strike within Russia, Blinken says. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was responding to news of drone attacks on Russia’s Engels-2 and Dyagilevo airbases, as well as an airfield in Kursk.
IRAN THREAT
U.S. Navy sailors used laser rifles to ward off an Iranian boat in the Strait of Hormuz. Pew pew pew!
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA
China’s Xi Jinping visits Saudi Arabia amid strained US ties. The world’s top oil importer and exporter are cooperating increasingly on military and geopolitical matters
Russia deploys Bastion anti-ship missile system to another island near Japan. Russia has deployed more coastal defense missiles near disputed islands north of Japan, according to Russian and Japanese officials.
MORE BS FROM TURKEY – As Finland and Sweden wait to join NATO, Turkey extracts concessions. Ankara is holding up expansion of the Western alliance, and the Biden administration may have to step in to get the deal done.
BIDEN’S AFGHAN DISASTER
‘Land, load ’em, go’ — How Army helicopter crews risked their lives to save 10,000 during the Afghanistan evacuation. “From the first takeoff to very later in the night, 12 hours later, we were getting shot at.”
AND ALL ON BIDEN – New film ‘Retrograde’ documents chaotic final months in Afghanistan. An emotional documentary that captured the last nine months of the war in Afghanistan will soon debut across various streaming platforms, offering viewers firsthand insight into what led up to America’s chaotic withdrawal from the conflict in August 2021.
SPACE
Fight over allowing part-time Guardians or creating a Space Force Guard punted. Congress is asking for the Space Force to research the idea of allowing Guardians to serve part-time on active duty in the latest defense budget agreement, further delaying a decision on how the service will develop auxiliary forces and delivering a blow to advocates who fought throughout the year for a separate National Guard component.
US MILITARY
Steel Knight exercise tests Marine, Navy integration in ‘island fight’ scenario. A pair of helicopter gunships swept over a scrubby valley and waited overhead as the first two MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors landed on the dusty landing zone. The rear-mounted machine guns provided cover as Marines raced into the nearby brush.
Ukraine war ‘validates’ key principles of new Marine unit in Pacific. Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine is validating some of the underlying ideas of the U.S. Marine Corps’ new littoral regiment, meant to operate against China, according to the service’s top officer.
As Marines’ arms and gear flow to Ukraine, Corps keeps close tabs on its own stocks, the commandant says. Service leaders have “healthy” discussions with the defense secretary during aid-package planning, Berger said.
This is the Marine Corps debate we should be having. Many Marines — former, retired and active duty — have valid concerns about the current direction of the Marine Corps.
Limiting Gen Z Marines’ phone use is hard but necessary, top Marine says. “Now we have to completely undo 18 years of communicating all day long and tell them, ‘That’s bad, that will get you killed.’”
WOW – VERY COOL – Old Air Force A-10 Warthog learns new trick: Covering fire for B-1B bombers. The saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ apparently does not apply to the A-10 Warthog, because an A-10 squadron proved last month that the vaunted close air support platform can also be used to confuse enemy air defenses so friendly bombers can attack targets without as high a risk of being shot down.
Everything we know about the Army’s new Black Hawk replacement, the Bell V-280 Valor. Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft was announced Monday as the eventual replacement for the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter.
The Army wants one shoulder-launched munition to rule them all. Soldiers are getting a new weapon to take out buildings, bunkers, and armored vehicles.
THEY DO VITAL, DANGEROUS, COOL STUFF – How the Coast Guard plans to boost recruitment after years of shortfalls. One of the obstacles is that potential recruits don’t know what the Coast Guard does.
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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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.
Pentagon if your so focused on China than why is China’s Police in NY and a few other states in our country! Bad enough china has infiltrated our college’s and Media. What the F is wrong with you higher ups🤦♀️ You ALL HAVE DESTROYED AMERICA.
2 abuse the military for leftist ends & to aid China