PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – I can only hope so! – Why the religious beliefs of Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth matter. Hegseth claims that because of Jesus, he’s a “changed man.” The roots of Hegseth’s version of Christianity are worth a look as he heads into confirmation hearings.
In 2023, Hegseth moved from New Jersey to Tennessee to join a church and school community that arose from a 20th-century movement, called Christian Reconstruction. It holds deeply conservative views about the family, roles for women, and how religion and politics are related.
The followers of the movement seek to make America a Christian nation, by which they mean a nation built on biblical law, including its prohibitions and punishments.
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. (RELATED: Not Just Hegseth: Ernst’s Commitment To Conservative Ideals Faces Renewed Scrutiny)
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
US senator says mysterious drones spotted in New Jersey should be ‘shot down, if necessary, ’even as it remains unclear who owns the unmanned aircraft.
POLITICS
Pressure on a female Iraq War veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump.
Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency.
IRAN THREAT/ISRAEL WARS
Team Biden makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast.
How Israel used a power vacuum to destroy Syria’s military assets. The battle plans had been drawn up years ago, and when the Syrian state fell suddenly, Israel wasted no time putting them in motion.
Syrian rebels now in charge in Damascus offer to help US search for journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice, a move that could hasten efforts to learn his whereabouts, or whether he is living or dead.
WHO IS HE? From Syrian jihadist leader to rebel politician: How Abu Mohammed al-Jolani reinvented himself. (RELATED: CNN Politely Interviews Terror Leader With $10 Million US Bounty To Discuss Global Crisis)
The global players in Syria before and after Assad.
CHINA THREAT
Lawmakers wonder: Why don’t we hack back against China? Should American cyber warriors be further authorized to digitally retaliate against their adversaries in the East?
Chinese Arctic research expeditions inform military, economic goals. When Beijing sends research vessels into the Arctic, “it’s always double-dipping” for more than just science.
The tech investment playbook for victory against China. If the US doesn’t act fast, the next generation of dual-use technological innovation will belong to its adversaries — creating an irreversible gap. Over the past decade, China has rapidly evolved from an emerging economic and geopolitical force to an imminent great power threat.
Trump invites China’s Xi to his inauguration even as he threatens massive tariffs on Beijing.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
NATO chief warns that Putin wants long-term confrontation with Europe and warned on Thursday that the Russian autocrat wants to “wipe Ukraine off the map. He added that Putin could come after other parts of Europe next. This, as he urged Europeans to press their governments to ramp up defense spending.
Russian forces edge closer to the key eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk after a monthslong Russian push, with analysts estimating Russian forces are now within just a few miles of the city.
US MILITARY
Plans for new hardened aircraft shelters notably absent from new USAF base modernization strategy. This, despite acknowledgments that the service’s facilities “can no longer be considered a sanctuary” and that those facilities need to be better prepared to support operations “even while under attack.” This also comes amid a major debate about how best to defend all services’ key US military infrastructure, especially from growing drone and missile threats, and a potential high-end fight with China.
Littoral combat ships to sail with Mk70 vertical launchers strapped to their decks, allowing the beleaguered LCS to field the type of substantial firepower that has long eluded them.
Military academies report drop in sex assaults for 2nd straight year, marking a sharp turnaround from an alarming surge two years ago that triggered sweeping reviews and an overhaul in leadership.
Air Force names first female SERE specialist as chief master sergeant.
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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RE “Will A Christian Nationalist Soon Lead This CRUCIAL Department?”
[Re]make America a Christian nation? I understand the sentiment and applaud it, in principle, but I would not want that to be very narrowly defined. I’m Catholic, but a flawed human being. I believe that probably all who likewise identify as Christian of one denomination or another are also flawed. As such, whose Christian beliefs are we to follow. I think that George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew congregation of Newport, RI is instructive. While we can acknowledge that our country was founded on the Christian faith, it is also a religiously tolerant country. It is a country that only expects followers of any faith to be faithful, loyal citizens of the United States. Let God decide the rightness of our beliefs while pointing out our failures and misunderstandings.