TUESDAY PDB – Corruption in China's military is no excuse for American complacency. New revelations of corruption in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) resulting in, among other things, “missiles filled with water instead of fuel” and missile silos “with lids that don't function,” has “led to an erosion of confidence in the [PLA's] overall capabilities.
“It has also made Xi Jinping “less likely to contemplate major military action.”
Xi responded by purging at least a dozen PLA leaders implicated in the scandal.
This report is a reminder that the PLA faces significant challenges — and that the United States should use every opportunity to exacerbate those difficulties. But the United States should not use this episode as an excuse to grow complacent.
The preponderance of evidence shows China's military is still modernizing rapidly, regardless of corruption. Moreover, even if Xi's confidence in the PLA took a hit last year, he is clearly committed to correcting deficiencies as quickly as possible, and there is a good chance he will succeed.
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
Pentagon weighs extending USS Bataan and Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment in Middle East amid turmoil. They have been operating in the region since the summer. This would mean a potentially lengthy extension amid questions over the readiness of Navy ships that could relieve them.
The military recruiting outlook is grim indeed. Loss of public confidence, political attacks and the economy are all taking a toll. Recruiting patterns in the military have increasingly come to reflect the nation's red state-blue state political divide, with recruiting strong in the South and Midwest but lagging on the coasts.
Mexico demands investigation into US military-grade weapons being used by drug cartels.
BORDER SECURITY
Border standoff peaks between Texas Guard and the federal government. A park on the Rio Grande is the new focus of a long battle over border enforcement that's seen the Supreme Court recently siding with Team Biden.
BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN THE FEDS AREN'T ENFORCING THE LAW? Supreme Court says Texas can't block federal agents from the border. The high court's order maintains long-running precedent that the feds — not individual states — has authority to enforce border security.
THEIR DEATHS ARE ON YOU, BIDEN – Biden mourns Navy SEALs presumed dead off Somalia. Joe Biden mourned the loss of two Navy SEALs declared dead after a covert mission near Somalia to seize Iranian missile parts bound for Yemen.
Tempers flare over Israel-Palestine in California Senate debate. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) pressed her fellow U.S. Senate candidates over Middle East policy, pushing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to back a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war — something he declined to do.
Ghost Army veterans set to receive Congressional Gold Medal. The surviving members of a secret World War II unit that deceived Germans troops on the battlefield will receive the award in a long-awaited ceremony at the Capitol in March.
ISRAEL-GAZA WAR
A war in all but name simmers at Israel-Lebanon border. Drizzle covered the forest. Dense mist rolled through the hills. Israeli 155mm artillery shells whistled close overhead, replying to the crunch of a mortar round fired by nearby Hezbollah.
24 Israeli soldiers killed in deadliest day for IDF in Gaza offensive. Hamas terrorists fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military group preparing to demolish a building, killing over two dozen troops.
IRAN THREAT
NO KIDDING! NOW TELL YOUR BOSS, BIDEN! – Iran is ‘very directly involved' in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, US Navy's Mideast commander says.
US, UK again bomb Iran-backed Houthi rebel sites in Yemen. This the second time the two allies have conducted coordinated retaliatory strikes on an array of the rebels' missile-launching capabilities.
HOW MANY MORE, BIDEN? – Troops treated for TBI following attack on Iraq base. At least two American service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the Saturday attack on al-Asad airbase in Iraq.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
In Ukraine's northeast, fears rise of second Russian occupation. For nearly a year after Ukraine liberated towns along the war-scarred road to Kupyansk in the northeast Kharkiv region, residents hardly whispered fears of a second Russian occupation. They are now speaking them aloud.
MAYBE THE EUROPEANS SHOULD TAKE UP THE SLACK? – The Pentagon has no more money for Ukraine as it hosts a meeting of 50 allies on support for Kyiv. For the first time since DoD established the international group in April 2022, the U.S. is unable to send the ammunition and missiles that Ukraine needs.
A new concern on the Ukrainian battlefield: North Korea's latest missiles. As the war approaches its second anniversary, the Russians are beginning to deploy North Korean arms, worsening Ukraine's troubles while it still awaits new air defenses from the U.S.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
South Korean official touts fledgling drone command as global model. Nations eager to bolster their military drone chops should look to South Korea, where officials recently centralized the discipline's various functions under a single command.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Turkish parliament approves Sweden's membership of NATO. Vote leaves Hungary as the only country still to ratify the application made in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary's Orbán says he invited Swedish leader to discuss NATO membership. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a letter to his Swedish counterpart inviting him to Budapest to discuss Sweden's accession into NATO.
First look at UK's Challenger 3 main battle tank prototype. “The Challenger 3 program will deliver the best tank in NATO … and deliver a network enabled, digital main battle tank, providing the soldier with a step changing capability.”
US POWER OVERSEAS
American Black Hawks fly nearly 2,000 pounds of aid to Japanese quake victims. The Army helicopters have delivered the supplies in support of relief efforts in central Japan.
Carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt now operating in US 7th Fleet. The Roosevelt (CVN-71) is now patrolling the western Pacific.
Two B-1 bombers deploy to Indo-Pacific, train with Singapore and Japan. The pair of Lancers from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas deployed to Singapore to lead aerial refueling exercises with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)'s A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport.
TRYING TO WIN THEM BACK FROM CHINA'S EMBRACE – US donates $500,000 in high-end surgical equipment to Solomon Islands. The Pentagon donated the surplus medical gear to the archipelagic nation of almost 1,000 islands in Oceania.
US MILITARY
Amid Red Sea clashes, Navy leaders ask: Where are our ship lasers? The head of U.S. Naval Surface Forces has praised the work of Navy destroyers operating in the Red Sea, where they have since October shot down scores of attack drones and missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
B-21 Raider stealth bomber in production. Following the first flight of the Air Force's newest stealth bomber, the Pentagon has approved the bomber for production.
END of PDB
