WEDNESDAY PDB – U.S. lawmakers are pressing ahead with a bipartisan bill that could force TikTok's Beijing-based owner ByteDance to sell the platform or see it banned in the U.S.
This, amid concerns that the company's ties to Beijing pose risks to U.S. national security – Joe Biden says he will sign the bill.
TikTok fires back at House China committee over anti-ban campaign. TikTok didn't hold back in replying to a letter from the House China Select Committee Monday, defending its right to engage users to advocate against a fast-moving House bill that could lead to a ban of the Chinese-owned app.
TikTok refutes claims that ByteDance is a Chinese-owned company, saying that only 20% is owned by Zhang Yiming – its founder, a Chinese individual.
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
America's leaders don't understand nuclear weapons. Recent comments by both Trump and Biden reveal that America's nuclear rhetoric is woefully inadequate for a new era of great-power competition.
America's newest nuclear warhead will cost under $100M to produce, budget docs show. The B61-13, announced in October, seeks to create a higher-yield nuclear bomb that can be used to penetrate hardened enemy locations.
US doubles Pentagon budget for multinational Haiti force, hoping to expedite deployment. This, hoping to speed up the start of the mission as criminal gangs threaten to topple the government.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Four more ships deploy to build Gaza humanitarian aid port. Four Army logistical support vessels are on their way to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to build an offshore pier that will open a maritime corridor to flow humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Senate Dem says blocking weapons shipments ‘on the table' if Israel invades Rafah. Democrats are increasingly worried about what an all-out Israeli offensive on Rafah will mean for civilians in Gaza.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
THE COLONEL IS A DISGRACE AND HAS BEEN AN AGGRESSIVE ADVOCATE OF CRT – Does blocking this Air Force colonel's promotion set a precedent? Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt from Missouri is blocking Jonsson's promotion because of many things, including a commentary he wrote in 2020, in which he urged his fellow white colonels to acknowledge racial disparities in the service.
POLITICS
Pentagon rushing Ukraine $300 million in weapons. This, after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its desperate fight against Russia.
House Democrats and centrist Republicans launch separate efforts to force a vote on Ukraine aid. The long-shot efforts to force a vote on tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine is intensifying pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the foreign funding package.
Republican hawks denounce defense budget caps from debt ceiling deal. Republicans are condemning Joe Biden's fiscal 2025 defense spending request for failing to keep pace with inflation, but it's unclear whether Congress will revisit the cap it imposed on itself as part of last year's debt ceiling agreement.
GOP lawmaker calls for House to form committee on UAPs. The request for a House select committee on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers to demand more answers from the Pentagon on unknown flying objects.
US POWER OVERSEAS
Army planning big boost to Pacific operations next year with more training, deployments, and equipment. It is seeking to better prepare itself for a potential conflict in the Pacific, with more regional training, deployments, and equipment.
Pentagon to release Arctic strategy that outlines tech, presence needs. The U.S. military is staging at least three major exercises north of the Arctic Circle this month, while it seeks to define what its Arctic presence should be and the technology it needs to make it happen.
Supply or die: Sustaining Marines in the High North so they can fight and win a future war. Coolant dripped into a pan from a seven-ton truck as Cpl. Kayla Julow jumped up on its chassis to fix it with a fellow Marine.
IRAN THREAT
What Navy destroyers bring to the Red Sea fight. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched dozens of missiles at cargo and military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
CHINA THREAT
NORAD boss: Chinese aircraft could start operating near US this year. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot warned lawmakers March 12 that Chinese warplanes could begin operating near the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) very soon.
Pentagon's $850 billion budget would tap US stockpiles to arm Taiwan. The Pentagon budget for fiscal 2025 sends less-than-subtle strategic messages aimed at China: It would tap U.S. stockpiles to arm Taiwan and provide major funding increases for long-range, air-launched anti-ship missiles.
SOUTHCOM commander warns of risk of Chinese ‘dual-use' investment in South America, Caribbean. China's ability to flip its big money investments in the Caribbean and South American – ports, 5G telecommunications networks, space infrastructure and clean energy – from civilian to military use is a growing security concern.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war. Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant (maybe even nuclear) escalation.
Ukraine could deploy F-16s as soon as July, but only a few. Countries promised the fighters last year but delivering them and training pilots have proved complex. Ukraine may start with as few as six, out of about 45 pledged.
A Russian military transport plane with 15 people on board has crashed on takeoff, officials say. This, on Tuesday while taking off from an air base in western Russia.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Iran, Russia, and China show off their ships in a joint naval drill in the Gulf of Oman. This, in the crucial waterway near the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Inside NATO's Apache helicopter fleet. One of the most feared pieces of the NATO arsenal in Europe is the American Apache helicopter. Get an inside look at the scout and gunship.
US MILITARY
Army will field ‘mixed reality' headsets to combat units this year. Soldiers complained that the first version of the headset gave them motion sickness, nausea, and neck injuries.
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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