WEDNESDAY PDB – Prepare for all-out war on a scale not seen since WWII. Military fuel supplies could be targets in a Pacific conflict with China.
As the defueling of the Red Hill fuel facility enters final stages and the Navy prepares for a long cleanup process, the Pentagon is looking at how to support its vast Indo-Pacific operations without it.
Meanwhile, Chinese military analysts are also looking closely at U.S. military logistics in the region, and how to take them out.
BUT IN A MESSAGE TO BELLIGERENT BEIJING – Increased US partnership with the Philippines coming in 2024. In 2023, the two allies announced a historic pact that would open up several bases on the island archipelago nation to U.S forces for the first time in decades.
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:
ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST HAMAS TERROR
Israel is expanding its ground offensive into Palestinian refugee camps in central Gaza, as it warns the war with Hamas will last for months. Heavy fighting is also continuing to the south, in the city of Khan Younis. The Palestinian president has described the Gaza fighting as “beyond a war of annihilation.” LESSON – DON'T START WARS YOU CAN'T FINISH.
POLITICS
We will make his life miserable: GOP promises bruising confirmation for Pentagon policy pick. The White House plans to renominate three top civilians in the new year after the Senate failed to take action. (RELATED: Senior Pentagon Official Who Oversaw US Military School System Arrested In Human Trafficking Sting)
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
Where did the military go wrong With Gen Z? Military families observe a defense establishment that appears to be absorbed by DEI and woke ideology.
WHY? – New in 2024: Marine Corps to even out gender balance at boot camps. The Marine Corps' West Coast boot camp is on track to have a gender distribution equal to that at the East Coast boot camp. (RELATED: Leaked Border Patrol Memo Orders Agents Not To Misgender Illegal Immigrants)
HOMELAND SECURITY
FAIL – Police didn't confront Army reservist before Maine shooting. Videos show police had safety concerns about confronting an Army reservist in the weeks before the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Maine.
The military's federal border mission set to continue into 2024. The Pentagon has been activating troops to assist Customs and Border Protection on the U.S.-Mexico border since 2018. Looking ahead to 2024, that mission is slated to continue — with up to 2,500 troops deployed to the region.
CHINA THREAT
Without elections of its own to bother with, China picks its favored candidates in the US and Taiwan. The West's adversaries — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — share the common goal of undermining America's leadership in the international order.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine will finally get its F-16s. Any day now, the Ukrainian air force could take delivery of its first secondhand Lockheed Martin fighters.
Ukraine proposes lowering age for military conscription from 27 to 25. Draft bill proposed as military looks for hundreds of thousands of new recruits.
Ukraine's top commander calls for mobilizing more soldiers. The general's comments at a rare news conference represented an acknowledgment of heavy Ukrainian losses.
How ‘blood gold' from Africa is funding Russia's war on Ukraine. A new report details how the Wagner mercenary group uses gold mining in Africa to funnel money to the Kremlin. (RELATED: Military Coup In Niger Rocks Key US Ally In West Africa)
NORTH KOREA THREAT
North Korea appears to be looking to make more bomb fuels at its main nuclear facility. It appears to have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex.
South Korea inks $2.9b fighter purchase with US. It agreed this month to purchase 20 additional F-35A Lightning II fighters to respond to “power imbalances” stemming from North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
IRAN THREAT
GO TO THE SOURCE! – US Navy shoots down more than a dozen drones, missiles in Red Sea. A destroyer and other U.S. assets shot down more than a dozen drones and missiles in the Red Sea on Tuesday — just days after the ship took down four unmanned aerial vehicles in the same waters.
India vows vengeance after merchant vessel attacks. New Delhi's defense officials vowed to bring those responsible for the recent attacks on two predominantly Indian-crewed merchant vessels to justice amid the ongoing Houthi and Iranian missile and drone strikes in the Red Sea and beyond. (RELATED: Video: Iranian Speedboats And Drones Swarm US Helicopter Carrier In Hormuz Strait)
SPACE THREAT
To win the new space race, NASA and the DoD need to shift their collaboration into high gear. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy called to put a man on the Moon by decade's end, and to “shift our efforts in space from low to high gear.” The U.S. met his challenge; however, he was addressing a very different world. As he also said: “There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet.”
US POWER OVERSEAS
Thousands of troops remain deployed in response to Ukraine war. Deployed personnel include those from brigade combat teams in Romania and Poland.
Maintenance issue discovered in multiple Marine helicopters in Japan. The aircraft involved were the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and the UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Belarus leader says Russian nuclear weapons shipments are completed, raising concern in the region. He said Monday that Russia has completed its shipments of tactical nuclear weapons to his country. (RELATED: Will Iran's Hezbollah Terrorists Attack Israel With 150,000 Missiles?)
Venezuela on alert as the U.K. sends a warship to Guyana, seeing it as ‘provocations.' Declaring it a threat to regional stability, the Venezuelan government said it will keep an eye on a British warship sent to Guyana to participate in a joint exercise as tensions continue to linger over a border dispute.
Mexico's army-run airline takes to the skies, with first flight to Tulum. It launched its army-run airline Tuesday, when the first Mexicana airlines flight took off from Mexico City bound for the Caribbean resort.
US MILITARY
Directed-energy zappers for US Air Force, Navy. The two services have tapped Raytheon to design, build and test systems that fry electronic components with blasts of energy.
Air Force Academy moves to monitor social media for potential cadet misconduct. A solicitation details a need “to combat cadet conduct in digital mediums.”
Eric Smith plans a return to the job of top Marine leader in 2024. At various points in 2023, four different generals were in charge of the Marine Corps.
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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