Russia’s Invasion Could Spark New Global ‘Race for Nukes’

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NATIONAL SECURITY AND NUKES

‘Tyranny and turmoil’ in Russian invasion, US defense secretary says. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Saturday Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a preview of a world where nuclear armed countries could threaten other nations.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could start a race for nukes, Austin says. The Defense secretary painted a bleak picture for the world, alluding to a scenario in which autocrats will race to acquire the bomb if Russia isn’t repelled.

Finland refutes nuclear weapons ‘siting’ and reinforces border. Finland has refuted any possibility that the currently unaligned Nordic state will consider hosting nuclear weapons on its territory once a member nation of NATO.

The solution to climate change isn’t demilitarization. A new book argues that the Pentagon drives carbon emissions worldwide but ignores inconvenient realities.

SMALL SACRIFICE FOR GREATER NATIONAL SECURITY GOOD – ‘Made in China’ exclusion policy at exchanges would hurt families. The House Armed Services Committee’s adopted an amendment to the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that would prohibit in the military commissaries and exchanges the sale of products that were produced, assembled, or imported from China.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

FINALLY, THE ANTI-WOKE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE BEGINS! – House GOP vs the Pentagon: Get ready for the ‘woke’ wars. Empowered Republicans plan to rough up the brass over vaccine mandates, diversity initiatives and more.

GOOD – 15 Republican attorneys general warn of legal challenge to VA abortion policy. Fifteen Republican state attorneys general are warning the Department of Veterans Affairs they will “act decisively” if department doctors perform abortions that violate state law.

HOMELAND SECURITY

NONSENSE – THESE ARE SAME VEHICLES SWAT AND COPS USE – Texas Guard to send tank-like military vehicles to the border. Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a legally dubious invocation of the “invasion clause” of the U.S. and Texas constitutions over the high number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border, his border mission is set to include armored personnel carriers designed to carry troops into battle.

Retired officer guilty for entering Senate in military gear on Jan 6. A Texas Air Force veteran was convicted in federal court this week after he entered the Senate chamber wearing military gear during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to DOJ.

CHINA THREAT

Hardened shelters and UCAVs: Understanding the Chinese threat facing Taiwan. John Baum chats with China expert Daniel Rice about a set of capabilities the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) may bring to bear in a possible future cross-strait conflict.

China fired a new missile after Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, PacFleet says. The weapon was part of a barrage of missiles and live-fire exercises meant to signal disapproval of the U.S. visit to the self-governing island.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 271. Russian forces pounded Ukrainian positions with artillery fire and in the eastern region alone launched almost 400 strikes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Polish military chief says Russia is escalating on NATO’s border. After missile debris kills Poles, Ukrainian officials say “air shield” talks with allies are underway.

Zelensky advisor: ‘Important’ to wait for results of Poland missile explosion investigation. A top advisor of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was too early to conclusively say whether a missile that exploded in Poland, killing two civilians, was fired by Russia or Ukraine.

Ukraine is getting nervous about Elon Musk. Kyiv is looking for alternatives to Musk’s Starlink internet terminals and worrying about rising misinformation on Twitter.

Ukraine’s Kherson win reshapes entire front with Russia. Kyiv’s recent recapture of the southern city enables it to target Russian supply lines running to the Crimean Peninsula, while Moscow strives to redeploy withdrawn troops to Donbas.

Could Ukraine retake Crimea? Not easily. Difficult approaches and dug-in Russian forces would likely mean a long and difficult effort, experts said.

Russia is once again hyping a brand new ‘Iron Man’ suit of armor. The Russian military-industrial complex wants to make your powered armor dreams a reality — again.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

North Korea’s Kim boasts new ICBM as US flies bombers. U.S. B-1B bombers took part in separate joint exercises Saturday with South Korean and Japanese warplanes in response to a North Korean ICBM launch.

IRAN THREAT

Iran will help Russia build drones for Ukraine war, Western officials say. Moscow and Tehran have agreed on a plan to assemble Iranian-designed weapons on Russian soil.

INDEED, HALLELUJAH – Scrap the Iran nuclear deal once and for all. Rapper Toomaj Salehi, actress Nazanin Boniadi, and the daily witness of thousands of like-minded Iranians rising up for freedom and dignity have made it clear that now is not the time to revive a nuclear deal that would entrench and legitimize Iran’s current regime.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST, ASIA

Kahl to Gulf states: Why work with Russia when it is funding Iran? Speaking in the Gulf, Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said that Russia’s decision to buy military drones from Iran for the ongoing war in Ukraine will have blowback in the region.

MAKE IT CLEAR – Top Pentagon official warns Middle East partners to limit China ties. The Pentagon’s top policy official warned America’s partners in the Middle East on Friday that cooperating too closely with Beijing on security issues could damage their cooperation with Washington.

5 NATO and US aircraft carriers set to operate together in Europe for exercise. U.S. aircraft carriers USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) and USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will exercise with aircraft carriers from France, Italy and the United Kingdom as part of a joint operation across Europe meant to show NATO interoperability.

Germany to offer Poland Patriot system after stray missile crash. Germany has offered Warsaw the Patriot missile defense system to help it to secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed in Poland last week.

US seeks expansion of military presence in Philippines. The United States is seeking an expansion of its military presence in the Philippines under a 2014 defense pact, U.S. and Philippine officials said, one of the initiatives that will be discussed during Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit that focuses on the defense of its treaty ally in the face of China’s sweeping territorial claims.

Naval version of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system completes testing. Israel completed the final stage of tests to operationalize the naval “C-Dome” missile defense system for the country’s Sa’ar 6 class of corvettes.

Turkey strikes Kurdish targets in Iraq, Syria after Istanbul bombing. The attacks come a week after a lethal bombing in Istanbul, which Turkey has blamed on Kurdish militias.

US approves arms sales to Switzerland, Lithuania and Belgium. The U.S. State Department cleared $700 million in a possible foreign military sale to Switzerland, along with other sales to Lithuania and Belgium, as the neutral European country works to modernize its Air Force by 2030.

Biden pressure on Israel over defense minister choice puts Netanyahu in a bind. Israeli sources say the Biden administration has made it clear to Benjamin Netanyahu, currently working to build a new coalition government following this month’s electoral victory, that it does not want to see Bezalael Smotrich, a right-wing politician, be given the job.

US MILITARY

Special Operators lack ‘seat at the table’ in post-counterterror Pentagon, SOF leaders say. Even as U.S.-trained Ukrainians show their mettle, SOF is getting lost in the transition to great power competition, says the assistant defense secretary for special ops.

Marine Reserve eyes small boats for nimble littoral operations. The boats the Reserve is looking at are in the rigid inflatable boat family.

DARPA developing offensive and defensive hypersonics. HAWC and Glide Breaker are DARPA’s offensive and defensive hypersonic programs, respectively, and their program managers discuss what’s been done and what’s next.

Four ways to begin fixing the Army recruiting crisis. Calling the Army recruiting shortfall a crisis is like saying that the Titanic had a “small” problem in its crossing of the Atlantic. The Army’s shortfalls, at least six years in the making, are an existential threat to the Army and, by extension, a major threat to our national security.

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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