WEDNESDAY PDB – This will only intensify drug trafficking and illegal migration to the U.S. – Biden rejects US troop deployment to Haiti as crisis spirals. Team Biden will not help Haiti's national police respond to a rapidly evolving security crisis, as a united front of gang leaders has led attacks on the country's main seaport, airports, and prisons.
Instead, Team Biden is trying to mobilize a Kenyan-led military force. Sadly, short-sighted Republican lawmakers in Congress have blocked a $50 million request to help get the mission going. (RELATED: Gangs Try To Seize Control Of Country's Largest Airport, Civilian Massacres Reported)
Meanwhile, gangs that had previously worked apart have united to topple the Haitian government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, and undermine the little control it has over the country and its capital.
On Monday, security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with gang members attempting to take over the international airport in Port-au-Prince, after gangs successfully orchestrated major prison breaks two days prior and laid siege to the country's main port.
The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince is calling on U.S. citizens to leave immediately on commercial or private aircraft, even with the airport under attack.
Henry is currently attempting to return from a trip to Kenya to finalize the deal for the deployment of an armed force. (RELATED: Dictator Attempting To Use Immigration As Leverage Against United States)
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
Spy balloons, drones and advanced UAP pose a clear and present danger. Last year, we were riveted by a Chinese spy balloon that maneuvered across the entire U.S. before it was finally shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
Rearming US Navy ships at sea is no longer an option, but a necessity. This one simple step can “revolutionize surface warfare.” Today the only way to reload vertical launching system cells — the mainstay of the Navy's front-line warships — is to pull into port, taking them out of action for weeks at a time.
The US must fully embrace the world's most effective weapon. Israel's big advantage in the Gaza war is built on senior technical expertise found in its mobilized reserve units. The mix of young, raw talent and the wisdom and experience of older reservists is a model the U.S. should embrace.
HOMELAND SECURITY – LAW ENFORCEMENT
Air Force employee allegedly leaked classified info on dating site. The information about Russia's war with Ukraine was sent to a romantic interest through a foreign online dating platform.
POLITICS
Survey: ‘Alarming' percentage accept conspiracies. Most Military Times readers believe they've been targeted with disinformation from malicious groups, politicians, and news media, and they think the responsibility to stop it falls to everyday people.
Majority of Biden voters oppose weapons shipments to Israel. This is the latest sign that Israel's offensive in Gaza remains a political liability for his reelection campaign.
Pentagon's budget process needs ‘fundamental restructuring,' panel says. The almost 400-page report resulted in 28 recommendations, half of which are denoted as key changes.
To keep pace, the Pentagon needs a new way to plan its budget. Will America be able to defend itself and its allies in the next decade? Only if the Pentagon changes the processes it uses to allocate its funding.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
VA reverses plan to ban iconic WWII kiss photo from medical sites. The Veterans' Affairs Secretary has overruled lefty plans to ban the famous Times Square photo marking the end of World War II from all its facilities, a ban criticized as political correctness run amok.
US POWER OVERSEAS
F-35s, F-16s slated to fly in large-scale US-S Korea exercise. Freedom Shield, an annual drill led by the U.S. and South Korea, began March 4.
US Navy deploys its newest multi-intelligence drone to Sicily. The Navy is boosting its intelligence capabilities in Europe and Africa with a contingent operating its newest high-altitude surveillance drone.
IRAN THREAT
Iran's elite Quds Force is following former leader's vision of chaos in the Middle East. Esmail Ghaani, who took over when Trump killed Qassem Soleimani in 2020, has doubled down on the strategy of supporting, arming and funding terrorist and insurgent groups.
US destroyer shoots down missile and drones launched from Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. This, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship hit by the Houthis.
All the Houthi-US Navy incidents in the Middle East (that we know of). A running list of every combat incident since October.
CHINA THREAT
Guided missile destroyer USS John Finn transits Taiwan Strait. It transited the 90-mile-wide Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.
Maldives signs China military pact in further shift away from India. China will soon provide it with “military assistance,” in the latest sign that the Indian Ocean archipelago's pro-China shift is well under way.
REALLY? PROVE IT – Company building US headquarters in Kansas says allegations of Chinese influence are ‘completely incorrect.' Allegations from Republican politicians in recent months that the company could steal military secrets hold “no semblance of reality.”
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
A shift in Russian tactics intensifies air war in Ukraine. Moscow's recent gains in the east have been aided by risky close air support on the front lines. But that also has helped Ukraine shoot down many of its planes in the past two weeks.
Too little ammunition, too many Russians: The harrowing retreat from Avdiivka. The fall of the city, when it came in mid-February, was brutal and fast. Soldiers fought for their lives. Many did not make it.
Ukraine's first lady declines Biden's State of the Union invite. Olena Zelenska's office cited a scheduling conflict. But there was another reason: A Biden invitation to murdered Russian dissident's widow, Yulia Navalnaya.
ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST HAMAS
US, Jordan drop second round of aid into Northern Gaza. The thousands of meals to Palestinians is part of new U.S. efforts to bypass issues with delivering aid via trucks on land.
US looking into maritime corridor to get aid to Gaza: Pentagon. The plan is to get aid into Gaza via sea amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Amid Russia jitters, NATO drills flowing troops across Polish rivers. One hundred kilometers from Poland's border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, forces from nine NATO countries set up their amphibious gear.
Russia-North Korea ‘partnership' could have long-lasting repercussions, NSC official warns. Pyongyang seeks “direct military assistance from Russia to include fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and ballistic missile production equipment.”
US MILITARY
Water games: Army observes Marine vessels at Project Convergence experiment. “Mechanical issues” sidelined the Army from debuting its new Maneuver Support Vessel-Light this year, while the USMC tested out the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel and a stern landing vessel concept.
Marine HIMARS battalion to fold amid modernization overhaul of Corps artillery. A Marine rocket and missile battalion with a legacy stretching back to World War II is set to deactivate in March.
With an eye on Ukraine, Army revamps training to reflect modern war. Soldiers are learning to hide their Starlink dishes—and relearning the importance of digging a deep foxhole.
Navy personnel leaders link rise in sailor stress to manning shortfalls. The Navy admits it has a major manning problem, and a stress one, as well.
Top Marine general returns to work, 4 months after cardiac arrest. The Marine Commandant is back after his cardiac arrest that scrambled the Marine Corps' leadership.
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.
READ NEXT: US Senator Hit With 12 Criminal Charges
