TUESDAY PDB – Judge issues temporary order keeping Confederate memorial at Arlington Cemetery. The Army had planned to remove the memorial this week.
LEAVE OUR HISTORY ALONE!
A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday.
Work to remove the memorial had begun Monday before the restraining order was issued, but the memorial remains in place on cemetery grounds.
David McCallister, a spokesman for the Florida heritage group, welcomed the judge's order while acknowledging it is only temporary. He said have evidence that the work is being done in a way that disturbs grave sites.
“The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial long standing at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial's eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the lawsuit accuses.
Generally, McCallister said the memorial promotes reconciliation between North and South, and removing it erodes that reconciliation.
More than 40 House Republicans wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently, arguing that the “independent commission” created by Team Biden overstepped its authority when it recommended that the monument be removed.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin disagrees with the decision to remove it and plans to move the monument to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley, if it is eventually removed from Arlington.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST HAMAS TERROR
Israel strikes south Gaza and raids a hospital in the north as war grinds on with renewed US support. It raided one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza's north and bombarded the south with airstrikes, pressing ahead with their offensive Tuesday.
Keeping 2nd carrier near Middle East adds long-term strain on Navy, analysts say. The Navy's decision to keep two aircraft carriers near Israel will make it difficult to meet maintenance schedules unless one returns home by early next year.
POLITICS
Biden to use last of Ukraine funds this month if Congress doesn't act. Team Biden has notified Congress it will authorize a $1 billion tranche of Ukraine military aid at the end of the month, but it will be the last package Kyiv can expect if lawmakers do not pass additional funds.
Congress demands quicker fielding of hypersonic weapons interceptor. Congress is pushing the Missile Defense Agency to field interceptors that can defeat hypersonic weapons more quickly than planned in the recently passed fiscal 2024 NDAA.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
Military experts blame Biden's DEI push as US military enters 2024 with smallest fighting force in 80 years. Biden's ‘leadership problem' has caused massive troop shortage, retired Navy SEAL warns.
NATIONAL SECURITY
US Indo-Pacific commander ‘concerned' about China-Russia military ties. Adm. John C. Aquilino said he is “very concerned” about increased joint military actions by China and Russia in the region.
The US and Europe must recalibrate their security partnership. Europeans can help blunt the argument in Washington that U.S. resources are too stretched to focus on Europe and the Indo-Pacific at the same time.
Did America get ‘ripped off'? UFO disclosure bill derided for lack of transparency. The recent measure directs the government to disclose to the public at least some records about UFOs, but some transparency advocates don't think it goes far enough.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Arizona's Democrat governor sends National Guard to the border. Katie Hobbs issued an executive order deploying the state's Guard to the border with Mexico.
CHINA THREAT
5 Indo-Pacific stories: China's neighbors clasp hands while AUKUS tumbles along. The biggest strategic shift in the Indo-Pacific was clearly the combination of China's economy faltering at the same time as turmoil roiled the top echelons of the Chinese Communist Party and its government.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 664. Ukraine's Armed Forces Commander said the situation on the front line was not at a stalemate, after suggesting last month that it might be. He declined to comment on coming counteroffensive operations. “This is a war. I can't say what I plan, [or] what we should do. Otherwise, it will be a show, not a war.”
Germany orders artillery shells for Ukraine for over $400 million. The orders for 155mm artillery shells were in separate deals with Rheinmetall and an unidentified French company.
US Marine vet in Ukraine repulsed Russian attack in final moments. Graham Dale is among more than 30 US military vets who have died in Ukraine, and at least the 10th Marine Corps veteran.
IRAN THREAT
Pentagon announces international mission to counter attacks in Red Sea. The U.S. and other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the strategic waterway. Two more of the attacks on commercial vessels occurred Monday.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
US, Asian allies launch system to track North Korea missiles in real-time. South Korea, the U.S. and Japan said on Tuesday they have activated a new system to detect and assess the North's missile launches.
US POWER OVERSEAS
US, Australia, and UK bring their C-17s together for Pacific mobility exercise. The 3 allies joined forces for “Global Dexterity,” a two-week exercise in the Pacific that saw C-17 transport crews from all three nations practice mobility operations from Nov. 27 to Dec. 8.
Strykers from Fort Cavazos will deploy to South Korea in 2024. A Stryker-outfitted cavalry regiment from Fort Cavazos, Texas, will deploy to South Korea in a few months.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
British Army runs armed drone test campaign to assess urban warfare strike options. “This evidence will further inform the concept of recce-strike at all levels as outlined in the Land Operating Concept; urban operations doctrine development and human-machine teaming.”
Paramilitary force takes city in heart of Sudan's breadbasket, 300,000 flee. The paramilitary force fighting the Sudanese government has entered a major city in the heart of the nation's grain-producing region.
Five people feared dead in suspected ADF attack in Uganda. This, after suspected rebels from an armed group allied to ISIL (ISIS) attacked an area in western Uganda late on Monday.
US MILITARY
Marine Corps seeks lighter .50-caliber ammo for agility in battle. The Corps has asked ammunition vendors whether they could manufacture cartridges 24%-30% lighter than what Marines currently carry.
Coast Guard gets new ship assigned to Hawaii. This week, U.S. Coast Guard's CGC Harriet Lane and its crew arrived in its new home port of Honolulu.
Firms get face time, but no new details from Hicks' Replicator tour. Nine companies got a meeting. Two companies got site visits. But very few of the industry executives who spoke with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks last week said they got answers.
US military struggles to stop Osprey crashes after decades of flaws. Japan incident killing eight is the latest involving hybrid helicopter-plane and leads to global grounding of the fleet.
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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