MONDAY PDB – In the latest example of why the Pentagon must STOP USING LEFT-LEANING OUTSIDE ‘INDEPENDENT' COMMISSIONS FOR ADVICE – The latest study by left-leaning ‘experts' proposes DISARMING OUR SOLDIERS TO PREVENT SUICIDES.
Keeping firearms out of easy reach key to preventing military suicides. Limiting easy access to guns is one of the top ways DOD could cut down on military deaths by suicide, according to an independent commission tasked with reviewing the Pentagon's suicide prevention programs. FORGET MENTAL HEALTH, GUNS ARE ALWAYS THE PROBLEM, EVEN IN THE MILITARY.
Meanwhile, Biden troubled that China did not take Pentagon call over balloon. Joe Biden said he was troubled that China declined to take a call from Pentagon officials over the alleged spy balloon that crossed the U.S. MAYBE HIS SON HUNTER SHOULD HAVE CALLED INSTEAD OF SECDEF – CHICOMS USUALLY ANSWER HUNTER'S CALLS.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's my daily roundup of other developing stories.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
WOOHOO – FREE VACATION FOR ABORTIONS – OR NOT ABORTIONS – OR WHATEVER –Troops don't have to disclose they're getting an abortion to use new leave, Pentagon says. Service members who want to use administrative leave or receive a travel allowance to get an abortion or fertility treatment will not have to disclose the specific reason they're using the benefits, the Pentagon confirmed.
Pentagon sets deadline for services to stop enforcing vaccine mandate. The military services have until March 17 to rescind their COVID-19 vaccination policies, according to a Pentagon memo.
CHINA THREAT
BECAUSE OUR INTEL OPS IN CHINA HAS BEEN DECIMATED – CIA director ‘can't say' what Chinese leadership knew about spy balloon. CIA Director William Burns said in an interview aired Sunday he could not be sure whether Chinese leader Xi Jinping and others in China's top leadership knew about an intelligence-gathering spy balloon that flew across the U.S.
BUT UKRAINE GETS OUR ARMS FAST! – Slow arms deliveries to Taiwan blamed on US production bottlenecks. The U.S. defense industry's limited production capacity is responsible for delays in U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which now stand at almost $19 billion in value, a senior U.S. State Department official said.
Anti-drone radars ready for ‘mass deployment' in Taiwan, says vendor. The CEO of Taiwan-based company Tron Future, whose counter-drone radars are already used by the Taiwanese Army, says the systems are ready for mass deployment, eying a production rate of 100 per month for 2023 based on increased demand.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
PODCAST: One year later, is Western aid helping Ukraine? We look back at the role Western aid has played over the last twelve months in the war in Ukraine.
Russia cannot ignore NATO nuclear capability, Putin says. Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks seek to justify Russia's recent suspension of its participation in the New START treaty.
Russian fleet's ‘aggressive attitude' in Mediterranean heightens risks, Italy's naval chief says. Russian navy ships are transiting the Mediterranean Sea in numbers not seen even in the Cold War, increasing the risk of an incident with NATO forces in the normally stable region, Italy's top naval officer said this week.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 369. Ukraine's armed forces said Russia is continuing to concentrate its main efforts on offensive actions along the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtar parts of the front line. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Eduard Moskalyov as commander of the joint forces of Ukraine, which are engaged in battles in the Donbas region.
SPACE THREAT
Space Force launch plan mirrors shift to smaller satellites. Space Force's acquisition plan for its next phase of National Security Space Launch contracts reflects a shift toward launching more small satellites in a more diverse range of orbits.
SpaceX, NASA astronaut launch to International Space Station called off at last minute. SpaceX and NASA have called off an astronaut launch to the International Space Station after an issue with the rocket's ground system was detected.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
‘WOLVERINES' IN BELARUS? – Russian plane destroyed near Minsk airfield: Belarus opposition. The attack on the Russian surveillance plane comes amid increased cooperation between Minsk and Moscow.
Coast Guard seizes $20 million in drugs in the Arabian Sea. It's bad news for those moving the product.
TRAGIC TOLL OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION – Italy shipwreck: Coast guard says dozens dead after migrant craft crashes off coast. At least 60 migrants dead, more than 80 survivors rescued, near Crotone, Italy.
BIDEN AFGHAN FIASCO
73% of vets have negative view of Afghanistan withdrawal, poll shows. In a national poll, 73 percent of veterans said that the Afghanistan withdrawal negatively impacted the way they perceive the Global War on Terror.
US MILITARY
WOW – A US Marine lost his dog tag in the Vietnam War. A tour group just found it. Marine Cpl. Larry Hughes lost his military dog tag in Vietnam nearly 60 years ago.
Unmanned supply drones, forward basing key to Marines' new logistics plan. The Marines have a plan for a fight spread out across wide swaths of the Pacific with small units moving from island to island. Now, the service is working through how it will get bullets, beans and bandages to units spread across thousands of miles.
American soldiers are jumping into freezing water to learn Arctic warfare. It's part of a large multinational training exercise taking place in Finland and Norway.
END of PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – The PDB
Wonderful, China and Russia would love for us to have a military that is totally unarmed and woke in the foxholes…. Yeah that would work, right?