Rising Sun – Japan Is Key US Pacific Ally To Fight China

MONDAY PDB – Our most powerful ally in the Pacific is becoming even stronger as it joins the U.S., Australia and Philippines to counter China. Japan is boosting defense spending after years of pacifism. Here's why. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tells us what he thinks of US-Japan relations and his country's changing defense capabilities.

Japan PM's Washington trip: Bilateral focus but ‘groundbreaking' trilateral goals. “Japan is basically signaling both to the Philippines and the US, and beyond that, [to] Southeast Asia and others in the region, that they should look to Japan as a leader in this space.”

The Biden-Kishida summit should set the stage for a unified US-Japanese military command. Joe Biden will host Kishida and Philippines President Marcos next week in a trilateral summit intended to further strengthen ties among the three allies.

US, Japanese and Australian warships join Philippine forces in South China Sea patrol. Six warships and four aircraft from the four allies conducted a joint patrol in the South China Sea on Sunday following Chinese harassment of Philippine Navy resupply missions in the region.

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:

NATIONAL SECURITY

SILLY BIDEN EFFORT – US talks with Russia to discourage space anti-satellite nuclear weapons ongoing. American officials are using the UN and countries such as China and India to persuade Moscow to back down from its plans to test launch its space weapon.

HOMELAND SECURITY

SERIOUSLY? – Alaska Air National Guard may miss half its alert missions under new manning rules. A plan to replace 80 active-duty spots with 88 civilian-style jobs could disrupt the 24/7 NORAD-mandated alert missions held by Alaska guard members.

Here's why you might've seen multiple military helicopters flying in the Philadelphia area this weekend. If you looked up at the sky and saw military helicopters over the weekend, don't worry, there's a good reason for it.

US POWER OVERSEAS

US set to expand naval base in Papua New Guinea. In an effort to push back China's influence and expand its presence in Oceania, the U.S. is renovating Lombrum Naval Base on the Island of Los Negros in Papua New Guinea.

US, partners carried out 94 anti-ISIS missions in first three months of 2024. Between January and March, the U.S. and partners killed 18 ISIS members and captured 63 other operatives.

ISRAEL WAR AGAINST HAMAS

Israel finds the body of a hostage killed in Gaza, while talks will resume on a cease-fire (and release of remaining hostages). It had recovered the body of a 47-year-old farmer who was held hostage in Gaza.

IRAN THREAT

WEAK BIDEN – US braces for retaliation after attack on Iran consulate. Shortly after an airstrike widely attributed to Israel destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Syria, Team Biden had an urgent (cowardly) message for Iran: ‘We had nothing to do with it.'

US coalition forces shoot down 2 missiles, 1 drone in continuing clashes with Yemen-based Houthis.

CHINA THREAT

USELESS BIDEN KOWTOWING – US-Chinese military talks resume on safety in the air and at sea. For the first time in nearly two years, U.S. and Chinese defense officials met this week to discuss unsafe and aggressive ship and aircraft incidents between the two militaries in the Pacific region, restarting a dialogue that Beijing abruptly ended in a dispute involving Taiwan.

Navy cancels ship briefings after damning internal report. As China's fleet grows, the U.S. is struggling with fresh delays in building new subs and warships.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Ukrainian forces rig machine gun networks to down Russian drones. Ukrainian forces have rigged an elaborate network of sensors in the country that feeds targeting data to heavy machine guns for downing Russian combat drones.

With no way out of a worsening war, Zelensky's options look bad or worse. As Russia steps up airstrikes and once again advances on the battlefield in Ukraine more than two years into its bloody invasion, there is no end to the fighting in sight. And Volodymyr Zelensky's options for what to do next — much less how to win the war — range from bad to worse.

Eight dead in two Russian strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

How Ukraine's tech army is taking the fight to Russia. On the computer screen, you can see the thicket of Russian jammers and antiaircraft missiles that obstructs a simulated Ukrainian drone attack from “Launch Site Alpha,” near Kherson, to “Target Site Oscar” in Russian-occupied Crimea.

RWANDA GENOCIDE

Though Rwanda has come a long way since the 1994 genocide, scars of the past still haunt the nation. Rwanda is preparing to mark the 30th anniversary of the East African nation's most horrific period in history — the genocide against its minority Tutsi. To this day, new mass graves are still being discovered across the country of 14 million people, a grim reminder of the scale of the killings.

BIDEN'S DEADLY AFGHAN DISASTER

US military finishes new Abbey Gate review, shares findings with Gold Star families. The Pentagon completed its additional review into the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing during the Afghanistan retreat and is now sharing the findings of it with the families of service members who died during the attack.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Europe is finally cranking up its creaky defense factories. At a moment when Congress cannot move forward with U.S. military aid to Ukraine, it is welcome news to see that the EU is taking important steps to fill the gap — and begin to address its own defense procurement woes. The E.U. announced it will spend about $550 million to bolster ammunition and artillery shell production at weapons plants in more than a dozen EU nations, among them Greece, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Air defense, tanks top Dutch military's wish list. Dutch top military leaders have a wish list for the next government: air defense, tanks and more military police.

Norway's Long-Term Defense Plan (LTDP) features sharp increase in spending. Norway's center-left government is set to present the most “ambitious and far reaching” LTDP in the country's history.

Italian leaders scramble to reverse military headcount shrinkage. As it shoots down Houthi drones in the Red Sea, sends submarines to monitor internet cables and shadows Russian ships in the Mediterranean, the Italian Navy has issued an urgent call for more personnel, echoing a growing debate in Italy about beefing up the country's armed forces as war edges closer.

US MILITARY

Navy tests look to shake up traditional carrier strike group model. When the destroyers The Sullivans and Delbert D. Black deployed in the fall to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, they joined the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group that was already well into its cruise.

‘Lancelot,' an aging B-1B bomber, is being pulled out of retirement and going back into service. Air Force maintenance teams are pulling a decommissioned Lancer bomber out of the boneyard and plan to put it back into active-duty service to replace another Lancer that was damaged in a fire.

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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