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Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING.
Get Your Best Daily Defense and Foreign Affairs Intelligence Here in One Brief. Read the summaries or dive deeper via the linked articles.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
Service members who refused COVID-19 vaccine say they face obstacles despite policy reversal. Some active-duty service members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine and faced expulsion from the military say a recent Defense Department announcement rescinding the mandatory inoculation order is a hollow victory.
POLITICS
Fears of the next government shutdown loom months ahead of deadline. Federal funding isn’t set to run out until the end of September, but lawmakers and advocates on Capitol Hill are already bracing for the possibility of a budget lapse and partial government shutdown amid renewed partisan fighting over spending priorities.
Anti-war group crashes event with Democratic Rep. Adam Smith. Anti-war group Code Pink crashed a DC event on Wednesday featuring Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wa.), pressing the former Armed Services Committee chairman on surging defense spending and the need for diplomacy to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
DEFENSE BUDGET
Republicans eye Pentagon savings after McCarthy spending agreement. House Republican leaders say they won’t cut tens of billions of dollars from future defense budgets as part of plans to constrain government spending. But that doesn’t mean all military budget trims are off the table.
The wrong time to weaken a wobbly US military. We are challenged by China, Russia, Iran and others at a very high level.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Garland appoints special counsel to investigate Biden classified docs debacle. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of highly classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home car garage in Wilmington, Delaware, and in a closet at an office in Washington.
Pentagon receives additional UFO reports, no sign of aliens. The U.S. has now collected 510 reports of unidentified flying objects, many of which are flying in sensitive military airspace.
US BAD AT OPEN-SOURCE INTEL (OSINT) – US spies lag rivals in seizing on data hiding in plain sight. As alarms began to go off globally about a novel coronavirus spreading in China, officials in Washington turned to the intelligence agencies for insights about the threat the virus posed to America.
Russia releases US Navy veteran who crossed border. Russia has released a U.S. Navy veteran who apparently illegally crossed the border from Poland into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad last year.
HOMELAND SECURITY
More can be done to ban US government use of Chinese drones. The recent outage of a Federal Aviation Administration flight system reminds us of the imperative of having a safe and secure airspace over the United States.
GOOD – North Carolina, Wisconsin are latest states to ban TikTok on government devices. North Carolina and Wisconsin are barring state employees and contractors from using TikTok on government-issued devices.
INVADING FLORIDA – Coast Guard intercepts suspected migrants coming ashore at Virginia Key. As many as 70 Haitian migrants were rescued off the coast of Virginia Key Thursday.
CHINA THREAT
US to welcome Japan’s Kishida and historic military reforms at White House. U.S. President Joe Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Friday and is expected to hail what Washington sees as historic plans by Tokyo for a major military buildup in the face of shared concerns about China.
BEWARE – REP SMITH IS EITHER A STOOGE OR A CCP ASSET – China committee, NDS commission signals new Congress will focus on Beijing. “I’m surprised at times, some of the people who just fall into full-scale China bashing and talk about how terrible China is, which it isn’t. We can’t let them do this,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.
GOOD ANALYSIS – The PLA’s people problem. Too much Western analysis and debate about China’s impressive military buildup focuses on its equipment and weapons, and too little on its people. Yet personnel recruiting, training, and retention issues might be exactly what holds China back in the “marathon” it is racing against the United States.
Taiwan’s air force shows off fighters charged with defending airspace threatened by China. Mirage fighter jets soared over this air base near the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, a routine day for aircraft that answer threats to their nation’s airspace.
BEGUN BY TRUMP – How US microchip ban is curbing China’s AI weapons efforts. President Joe Biden’s motorcade pulled up to a 40-acre construction site dotted with some two dozen red, blue and gold cranes. An American flag hung from one of the site’s buildings alongside a banner that read “A Future made in America: Phoenix, Arizona.”
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
PODCAST: New weapons for Ukraine, new military leader for Russia. Ukraine will receive new tanks from the United Kingdom, while Russia brings in a new commander to oversee the invasion.
Ukraine’s battlefields are freezing. Here’s what that means for the war. Temperatures in eastern Ukraine have been well below freezing in recent days, hardening the ground and opening a window for potential winter offensives by both sides.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 324. Russia said its forces were edging closer to capturing Soledar, a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine. A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said “pockets of resistance” remain in Soledar.
Britain to give Ukraine heavy tanks, as German ‘Leos’ are on hold. The British government is to provide Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, according to UK officials.
What is a ‘main battle tank,’ and how will Ukraine use them? European nations are poised to send Ukraine main battle tanks. But Western MBTs will require different training, tactics, and logistical support than the smaller Soviet-derived designs Ukrainian troops are used to.
Russia’s new commander reflects Putin’s plan to push for victory in Ukraine. The Russian president is turning to a trusted confidant who will carry out his orders without question, analysts said.
Russia soldier jailed for refusing to join Ukraine war. A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the ‘special military operation’.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
JAPAN SHOULD TOO – South Korean president says country could develop nuclear weapons. Yoon Suk-yeol is the first leader of the country to explicitly raise the prospect in decades, following new threats from North Korea.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AFRICA
Former Australian Navy chief under fire for ‘love sub’ proposal. Love boat, exciting and new. Come aboard. We’re expecting you.
RESCUE OFF HORN OF AFRICA – The Air Force’s newest rescue helicopter just pulled off its first life-or-death save during a deployment. The Air Force’s newest rescue helicopter performed its first save on a deployment late last month when it rescued two people in the area of operations overseen by the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, which includes several east African countries such as Djibouti, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
Navy wants Independence LCS in Bahrain for mine countermeasure mission. The Navy could deploy the aluminum hull, Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship to the Middle East as part of a future mine-countermeasures force in U.S. Central Command, service officials said.
SABOTAGE SOUTH OF THE BORDER – Mexico deploys National Guard to city subway amid sabotage fears. The mayor of Mexico’s capital has announced that 6,060 National Guard officers will be posted in the city’s subway system after a series of mechanical problems and accidents that officials suggested could be due to sabotage.
Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict: TPLF forces hand over weapons in peace move. Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia have started handing over heavy weapons in line with a peace deal to end a brutal civil war.
Fourteen Malian soldiers killed in two armed group attacks: Army. The reinforcements in response to the latest attacks led to the killing of 31 rebels, the army said in a statement.
SPACE
BEATING CHINA IN SPACE – New report, leaders detail how the US can stay ahead of China in space race. Accelerating commercial cooperation and leveraging resources are crucial to competing with China in a new space race, according to Air Force Maj. Gen. John M. Olson, mobilization assistant to the chief of Space Operations at U.S. Space Force.
Though ‘born digital,’ Space Force needs 7 years to fully mature, deputy CTIO says. “We are not where we need to be as a digital service by any means,” Col. Roy Rockwell told a DoD Digital Modernization Forum today, adding that a “Spaceverse” could be a couple years away.
US MILITARY
Fleet forces studying ‘plug and play’ destroyers in new carrier strike group concept. U.S. Fleet Forces is rethinking how to deploy carrier strike groups by changing how it would train and maintain its guided-missile destroyers, commander Adm. Daryl Caudle said.
US Navy more certain of role for medium surface drones following tests. The U.S. Navy is firming up plans for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel, after previously questioning the need or utility of the system.
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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Our allies are in the crossfire of our enemies and should have the capability to respond in kind if attacked with nuclear weapons!
Yes esp Japan since 1945