US Sends New Carrier Strike Group To Support Israel

MONDAY PDB – Eisenhower carrier strike group to join Ford in eastern Mediterranean. It will join the brand-new Ford Carrier Strike Group to provide support to Israel. While the White House says there are “no plans or intentions” for their use, it means U.S. military assets would be in place to provide significant air support to protect U.S. national security interests if needed.

Blinken and Austin bolster US support for Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is assuring Israel that “we have your back” as he and America's top diplomat met with Israeli and Arab leaders.

BUT WHO HAS THEIR BACKS? Americans remain stuck in Gaza as US evacuation deal falters. They have been unable to cross into Egypt from Gaza after the Rafah crossing remained closed Saturday despite a U.S. deal to open it for several hours.

Who is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, dubbed ‘a dead man walking' by Israel? While preparations for a ground invasion of Gaza gather pace, the hunt for him also appears to be on.

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:

POLITICS

MATT GAETZ DID THIS – House Republicans in chaos after rejecting McCarthy. What happens now? Some Republicans are supporting House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who narrowly lost the nomination to Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday.

GOP lawmaker wears Israeli military uniform to Capitol Hill. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) arrived Friday wearing his military uniform from his service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a display of unity with the country following the Hamas terror group's surprise murder rampage.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

BUT AT LEAST THEY ARE GETTING WOKE TRAINING! – Nearly 70% of active service members are overweight, report finds. More than two-thirds of active-duty service members are within the overweight or obese ranges of the body mass index.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Lessons for the US military from Ukraine and Israel. Hamas's shocking terror attack was the largest incursion into Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Lessons from that conflict shaped modern U.S. defense, and Israel's next war could have similar effects.

Everything you see is live as CENTCOM shifts to digital tools. A U.S. Central Command exercise shows that operations can—and soon must—be centered on live data feeds.

BIDEN, DO SOMETHING! – Fate of two idle Iron Dome batteries in US remains unclear. As thousands of military rockets have rained death on Ukraine and Israel, America has been unable to give either country two U.S. Army anti-rocket batteries that the service has no plans to deploy — despite months of congressional pressure for Team Biden to act.

CHINA THREAT

CHINA DIDN'T HAVE THE FORCES TO TAKE TAIWAN – TILL NOW – The US can still avoid war with China over Taiwan. For a half-century, America has avoided war with China over Taiwan largely through a delicate balance of deterrence and reassurance.

Israel-Hamas war upends China's ambitions in the Middle East but may serve Beijing in the end. In June, Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted the Palestinian leader in Beijing and invited the Israeli prime minister for an official state visit. Benjamin Netanyahu accepted, and China was on track for a bigger role in the region. DUMB ISRAELI MOVE. CHINA IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.

RUSSIA THREAT– UKRAINE WAR

Ukrainian pilots expected to start F-16 training in Arizona next week. News comes after Washington announced it will lead a coalition of countries training Ukrainian pilots.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 600. Russia's military continued its offensive in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka as local authorities said two civilians were killed in shelling so fierce, emergency crews were unable to recover the dead from the destroyed buildings.

SPACE THREAT

SpaceX launches NASA spacecraft to mysterious and rare metal asteroid. The Psyche should have soared a year ago but was held up by delays in flight software testing attributed to poor management and other issues.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Amid wars in Ukraine and Israel, ‘long-planned' B-1 Task Force deploys to UK. Multiple B-1B Lancers arrived at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, on Oct. 12, kicking off a Bomber Task Force deployment as tensions rise across the globe.

Russia, North Korea expanding military partnership, White House says. Russia and North Korea are building a military partnership amid heavy U.S. sanctions and support for Ukraine.

France is deploying 7,000 troops after a deadly school stabbing by a suspected Islamic radical. They will increase security around the country after a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people wounded in a school attack by a radicalized former Muslim student.

Britain sends spy planes, ships to Mediterranean amid Israel-Hamas war. These are some of the assets the UK is deploying in response to the attack on Israel by Hamas, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced.

Finland's 2024 defense budget targets arms restocking, border security. It intends to strengthen the country's 830-mile-long border with Russia as well as replenish military equipment and weapons supplied to Ukraine over the last two years.

US MILITARY

Starlink, skis and frozen batteries: Army seeks ‘bespoke' kit for Arctic warfare. “If you sweat, you die,” said the commander of the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division. “That's the environment we're talking about… the harshest environment on the planet.”

Big bonuses, relaxed policies, new slogan: None of it saved the military from a recruiting crisis in 2023. Of the five DoD military service branches (Coast Guard is under DHS in peacetime), only two met their active duty enlisted recruiting goals.

Marine Corps exceeds its enlistment goal by 21 people. The Corps was the only branch other than the relatively small Space Force to hit its recruitment targets by Oct. 1

Happy 248th birthday, US Navy! Many years ago, before the oldest and saltiest master chief at your command was even a twinkle in his daddy's eye, the Continental Congress established the makings of the U.S. Navy on Oct. 13, 1775.

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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