Trump Was Right About Anemic European Defense Spending and Reliance on Russian Energy

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NATIONAL SECURITY AND NUKES

Senators urge Pentagon to send advanced Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is pushing the Biden administration to transfer advanced MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can carry Hellfire missiles to Ukraine.

Canada, France should join AUKUS style tech agreement with US, senator says. A senior Republican senator suggested Washington craft a military technology agreement with Canada and France to strengthen alliances with the U.S. and to deter Russia and China. 

DIDN'T TRUMP WARN OF ANEMIC EUROPEAN DEFENSE SPENDING AND DANGEROUS RELIANCE ON RUSSIAN ENERGY? – Why defense budgets will stay high after the Ukraine war. The war is exposing how European nations were underinvesting in defense, and the critical role that renewable energy will play in transatlantic security.

HOMELAND SECURITY 

POLITICIZED AND WEAPONIZED BY DEMS – Feds' domestic terrorism work is inadequate, Senate report says, citing several veteran extremism cases. The chief Senate oversight committee released a report last week that urges federal law enforcement agencies to “do more” to combat domestic terrorism, saying that the agencies need to do a better job collecting data on the issue. 

OVER ZEALOUS POLITICAL PROSECUTION FOR MINOR INFRACTION – West Virginia Guardsman still serving long after pleading guilty to Jan. 6 riot charge. A Guardsman who pleaded guilty to a charge tied to participating in the mob that ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is still serving in the West Virginia Air National Guard.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

AND THIS IS GREAT, CAUSE? – All-mom flight of Air Force F-15 fighter pilots takes to the skies. “When I joined the Air Force, I didn't know any fighter pilot moms.”

NO TAXPAYER-FUNDED TRANS – ITIONS! – Vet sues over coverage denial for daughter gender transition. The veteran and daughter filed their lawsuit anonymously on Monday against the government via a Boston-based advocacy group.

NO TAXPAYER-FUNDED ABORTIONS – VA stands by abortion policy after legal threats from state leaders. Veterans Affairs leaders aren't planning any changes in their abortion access rules in the wake of warnings from 15 Republican attorneys general that they plan to fight those policies in court. 

CHINA THREAT

US and Chinese defense chiefs meet in Cambodia. It was the second face-to-face meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe in six months.

Chipping away at China's semiconductor threats to US military. US military can't rely on Chinese semiconductors because of unreliable supply chain.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Ukraine battles for control of key Black Sea peninsula. After retaking Kherson City, Ukrainians are now trying to push the Russians out of a strategically vital peninsula at the mouth of Dnipro River. 

Ukraine monastery raid as SBU targets Russian agents. Ukraine's security service has raided a historic monastery in Kyiv in an operation it says was aimed at stopping Russian agents using the site for sabotage, intelligence or weapons. 

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 273. Battles rage in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has sent some of the forces it moved following its withdrawal from around the city of Kherson in the south.

Videos suggest captive Russian soldiers were killed at close range. Videos circulating online and reported on by Russian state media have raised questions about whether Ukrainian soldiers committed a war crime.

Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers fight mental fatigue as the war drags on. Lt. Anton Pendukh says the trauma he experiences on the front lines of the war against Russia is much different than how he pictured military life before joining the Ukrainian forces.

Preemptively help Ukraine counter Iranian-made ballistic missiles. Iran could soon provide the Russian military with even deadlier weapons than the Iranian drones it has been using to target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure: ballistic missiles.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

‘Upped the ante': North Korean ICBM launch prompts fears of escalation. Missile launches are a familiar North Korean response to joint US-South Korean military exercises, but this latest series, including the supposed launch of the long-range Hwasong-17 ICBM appears to mark an escalation.

IRAN THREAT

Iranian drone struck Israeli-linked tanker, US Navy says. Investigators have concluded that an Iranian drone was used to bomb an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire last week.

US and Israel discuss military drill to simulate conflict with Iran, proxies. Israel's chief of staff held several meetings with U.S. officials on Monday.

Taiwan firm halts business with Iran amid US scrutiny of drone program. A Taiwanese technology company has halted its business in Iran while it investigates whether it violated international sanctions, as the US ramps up scrutiny of Iran's military and weapons production amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY – NATO, MIDDLE EAST

US and Russia ‘can't stop' Turkey's new Syria incursion. Turkey is threatening to kill more U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria — and the United States and Russia might not try very hard to stop it.

WHAT ABOUT GERMANY AND THE REST? – Sweden boosts defense spending, NATO goal in mind. Sweden's newly elected center-right government has prioritized spending on defense-strengthening measures in its draft budget bill for 2023, eying to edge the country closer to NATO's target quota.

Czech army leader calls for ‘biggest rearmament of the army in the country's history.' The Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Republic Army, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has showed the criticality of urgent modernization, starting with five key priorities. 

US soldiers praise Poland's ‘Badger' as allies bolster their ground defense. The U.S.-led NATO battlegroup on the outskirts of Poland's border with the Russian military exclave of Kaliningrad just got more support in the form of the Badger, a new allied fighting vehicle.

Japanese destroyers intercept ballistic missiles in tests with US Navy. Japan successfully carried out ballistic intercepts near Hawaii using missiles launched from destroyers, validating the ships' defense capabilities in the process.

SPACE

Space Force moves Guardians to the Pacific amid rising threats from China. The Space Force is placing Guardians in the Pacific to offer support in outer space for both allies and the other service branches as tensions between the U.S. and China grow.

US MILITARY

The Pentagon is moving ahead with new military jetpack prototypes. DARPA wants to make the DoD's decades-old jetpack dream a reality.

PARTISAN MISINFORMATION FROM MILITARY.COM – After pushing conspiracies, Tulsi Gabbard lectures Special Ops students on avoiding disinformation. Former Democratic congresswoman and conservative-media pundit Tulsi Gabbard gave a guest lecture to students at the Army's psychological warfare school last week on several topics, including disinformation.

Marine 3-star ‘myth-busts' notions about Force Design 2030. Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney came to the Army Navy Country Club with a mission: bust some Force Design 2030 myths.

F-15 Eagles line up beside new F-22 Raptors during Okinawa airpower exercise. The 18th Wing mobilized and launched more than three dozen aircraft Tuesday, its first large-scale show of force since rotational F-22 Raptors arrived to replace the base's aging fleet of F-15s. 

Fake Facebook and Instagram accounts promoting US interests had ties to US military, Meta says. People “associated with the US military” were likely behind a network of phony Facebook and Instagram accounts that promoted US interests abroad by targeting audiences in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

KINDA COOL – Midshipmen unveil NASA-themed uniforms for 123rd meeting with Black Knights. Navy's uniforms for the rivalry game against Army will feature an out-of-this-world flare.

Navy SEAL wins appeal of sentence in soldier's hazing death. A military appeals court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for a U.S. Navy SEAL who got 10 years in prison for his role in the hazing death. 

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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