PDB – 100,000 US Troops in Europe

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – American Liberty News (ALN) – in collaboration with 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.

Today's PDB includes a variety of critical, global national security issues.

** For additional daily intel on the Russia-Ukraine war and other hot topics we can't fit here, please also subscribe to ‘Paul's Defense Brief' at paulcrespo.substack.com 

READ TODAY'S PDB BELOW:

NATIONAL SECURITY

APPEAL TO CONGRESS AND BIDEN – Zelensky to US lawmakers: ‘We need you right now' as he invokes Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Congress for help in a historic speech as he invoked tragedies in American history like the attack on Pearl Harbor and the September 11 terrorist attack. The speech, given as a virtual address to members of Congress, came as the United States is under pressure from Ukraine to supply more military assistance to the embattled country as it fights back against Russia's deadly attack.

Ukraine war may lead to rethinking of US defense of Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine and his push to upend the broader security order in Europe may lead to a historic shift in American thinking about defense of the continent.

Without sending troops, the US wages ‘hybrid warfare' against Russia. The U.S. and Russia have talked for years about ‘hybrid war' – waging a conflict on multiple fronts beyond the battlefield. In unprecedented ways, the U.S. is now employing this against Russia.

BORDER SECURITY

BIDEN'S BORDER DISASTER – US looking for regional help to curb migration at Mexico border. US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was meeting with officials in Costa Rica Tuesday, a day after holding talks in Mexico. The support of allies would be critical to control a surge of migration when Covid-related border restrictions are lifted.

CHINA THREAT

On Taiwanese island, drills underscore strategic importance and vulnerability. Taiwan held live fire drills in its northernmost territory on Wednesday, putting the spotlight on a remote island that is strategically located at a chokepoint near China – and potentially vulnerable to attack.

RUSSIA THREAT

The US has 100,000 troops in Europe for first time since 2005. The United States has 100,000 service members operating in Europe, the largest number in nearly two decades, as the Pentagon shifts forces in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Ukraine says 20,000 escape besieged Mariupol; UK says Russian forces struggling. About 20,000 people have managed to escape the besieged port of Mariupol in private cars, the Ukrainian interior ministry said on Wednesday, but hundreds of thousands remain trapped by Russian shelling, many without heating, power or running water.

AS TRUMP WAS DOING – NATO begins planning to reset military posture on eastern flank. NATO is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, including more troops and missile defenses in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said.

World Court to rule on emergency measures in Ukraine vs Russia case. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to rule Wednesday on emergency measures sought by Ukraine in a case against Russia, including an order for Moscow to stop its military campaign.

Expired arms, tepid fighters: Russian ally Transnistria may have little to offer for Putin's war. A breakaway republic of Moldova on Ukraine's south-west border, which supports Russia and is seen as a possible staging post for Moscow's Ukraine invasion, hosts out-of-date weaponry and reluctant fighters, experts have said.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

US forces step up readiness after surge in North Korean missile launches. U.S. forces in the Korean Peninsula are ramping up troop readiness in response to North Korea's recent increase of missile launches since the beginning of the new year.

North Korean launch apparently ends in failure, South Korea says. South Korea said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile, but the launch Wednesday apparently ended in a failure.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

US troops ‘commuting' to Somalia is inefficient and risky, top Africa general says. It's been about 14 months since the Trump administration announced its decision to pull about 700 troops out of Somalia. The head of U.S. Africa Command has now assessed that strategy: It's not working.

BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER

SURPRISE? US less effective at countering terrorist threats in Afghanistan and Somalia since troop withdrawal, generals warn. U.S. troops' exit from Afghanistan and Somalia has limited the United States' ability to conduct counterterrorism operations against groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the American generals in charge of the Middle East and Africa told senators Tuesday.

US MILITARY AND SPACE

ARCTIC WARFARE – It's lethal here': Army aims to master the Arctic, where the environment is the enemy. Otherwise, simple combat training is against a real-world enemy — the environment. Any simulated adversary is only a secondary threat.

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.