FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – American Liberty News (ALN) – in collaboration with respected national security expert Paul Crespo and the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – provides our readers the PDB:
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.
POLITICS
Ex-Trump defense chief: ‘He's unfit for office,' shouldn't run. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that former President Trump is unfit for office, and he does not want him to run for president in 2024.
GOOD – BUDGET NEEDS GOP ‘WOKE' REVIEW – McCarthy threatens to hold up key defense bill until next year. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is threatening to delay passage of the fiscal 2023 defense-authorization bill until January when Republicans take control of the House – and likely make him speaker.
NONSENSE – You are damaging the United States military': Smith rips McCarthy call to delay defense bill. The GOP leader has said the bill should be put on hold so Republicans can address “woke” policies.
Democrats refuse to examine ‘unacceptable' veteran health care delays. House Democrats on Wednesday voted against a Republican demand for information related to how long veterans are waiting for care at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as complaints about lengthy delays at VA continue to pile up.
NATIONAL SECURITY
BIDEN'S ‘DEFENSE ON THE CHEAP' STRATEGY – Integrated deterrence: An excuse to spend less on defense? Pentagon defense strategies come along about every four years, under various names and guises, and do not always make headline news. But the Biden administration's new plan, known as the 2022 National Defense Strategy and released last month after the White House published its broader National Security Strategy, just might.
JUST FIX IT! – DoD fails audit, sees Ukraine as ‘teachable moment' in accountability. As the Pentagon racked up its fifth comprehensive audit failure, its chief financial officer on Tuesday said Ukraine's fight against Russia offers a “teachable moment” for the U.S. military to accurately tally its weapons and property.
Milley tried to speak with Russian counterpart on Tuesday but was ‘unsuccessful.' Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley attempted to speak with his Russian counterpart on Tuesday following a missile-caused explosion in Poland but was unable to get through, the top military official revealed Wednesday.
HOMELAND SECURITY
GOOD – BUT THREAT CONTINUES – Chinese intelligence officer who oversaw spy ring that included a US soldier sentenced. The Justice Department announced Thursday that a Chinese intelligence officer, convicted last year of running a spy ring that included a U.S. Army reservist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
OVERZEALOUS OFFICER – Retired Air Force officer who wielded zip ties on floor of Congress found guilty for Jan 6 breach. A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel was found guilty Wednesday on six charges — including one felony for obstructing an official proceeding — related to breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and attempting to interrupt the electoral certification of President Joe Biden.
CHINA THREAT
US, Japan, others hold joint naval drills amid China concerns. The U.S. Navy says U.S., Japanese, Australian and Canadian warships are staging extensive joint drills in Japanese and international waters.
Taiwan shows off military drones amid tensions with China. Taiwan displayed its self-developed drone technology Tuesday, amid rising concerns over China's threats to use force to assert its claim to the self-governing island republic.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Pentagon says Poland blast likely caused by Ukrainian missile. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin became the latest U.S. official to back Poland's preliminary conclusion that a fatal missile strike in Poland did not appear to be intentional and was probably launched by air defenses in neighboring Ukraine.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 267. Poland and NATO say a missile that crashed in Poland was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defenses and not a Russian attack, easing international fears that the war could spill across the border.
CIA director met Zelensky in Kyiv as Russian missiles targeted capital. CIA Director William J. Burns was in the U.S. Embassy and was not hurt in the assault, which occurred a day after he met with his Russian counterpart in Turkey.
US, allies pledge more air defense weapons for Ukraine after Russia launches largest missile assault of war. Russia's barrage of dozens of missiles into Ukrainian territory Tuesday marked its largest air assault on Ukraine since launching its unprovoked invasion of the country in February, the top U.S. general said Wednesday.
Ukraine has the edge against Russia as winter descends, US defense secretary says. As winter comes to eastern Europe, Ukrainian forces backed by the U.S. and its allies — and replete with winter gear poured into the country as national security aid — have the upper hand on Russia and its invasion force, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.
Top US general plays down probability of near-term Ukraine military victory. The top U.S. general on Wednesday said Ukraine's chances of any near-term, outright military victory were not high, cautioning that Russia still had significant combat power inside Ukraine despite suffering battlefield setbacks since its invasion in February.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
North Korea fires another ballistic missile toward sea. North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Thursday, South Korea's military said.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
THE ISLAND'S UNDERSEA LOCS ARE VULNERABLE – UK military ups investments in undersea surveillance. Britain plans to boost its undersea capabilities in the face of growing threats from Russia, with the Ministry of Defense preparing to release tender documents in the next few weeks aimed at purchasing a deep-water remotely operated vehicle.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
OUR ‘NANNY' MILITARY – Why Fort Jackson became home to the Army's only around-the-clock, child care center. When Staff Sgt. Marquis Foster learned he and his wife, Staff Sgt. Lionor Foster, would move to Fort Jackson, S.C., to become drill sergeants for the Army, they worried about who would help them care for their two sons.
UGHH – WHERE ARE THE WARRIORS? ‘A place to begin to heal': Fort Meade opens a resiliency center for those who bear the weight of secret, stressful missions. On one side of the Fort Meade gate, they are part of the nation's secret-finding and -keeping apparatus. They're on the front lines, however remotely, of global conflicts and nefarious threats.
WE NEED MORE WARRIOR TRAINING – NOT LESS – Air Force ends BEAST week mock deployment at Boot Camp. The Air Force announced Wednesday that it is getting rid of BEAST week during Basic Military Training, the four-day-long deployed war exercise that has been a staple of the service's boot camp for the last 16 years.
IT'S ‘THANKSGIVING' FOR F's SAKE – Bidens to serve up ‘Friendsgiving' dinner for military families. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will help serve part of a Thanksgiving meal to service members and families at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.
SPACE THREAT
Destined for the moon, NASA's Artemis rocket blasts into space. Early this morning NASA successfully launched its Artemis 1 rocket, blasting the U.S. onto a path to reach the moon's lunar surface for the first time in 50 years.
US MILITARY
US Air Force's ‘divest to invest' plan is too risky. To recapitalize its aging aircraft with new replacements, the U.S. Air Force has embarked on a strategy of retiring legacy aircraft now and “investing” the budget savings for new aircraft in future years.
Here's all the military planes that keep falling short on readiness. A new federal watchdog report has flagged a troubling trend among U.S. military aircraft: More than two dozen fleets haven't met their annual combat-readiness goals in at least a decade.
US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star departs Seattle for Antarctica. Operation Deep Freeze kicks off at 2 p.m. as the Cutter Polar Star leaves the US Coast Guard Base Seattle on Alaskan Way South.
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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Mark Esper was not a good appointment. He was never a team player. He rallied against President Trump from the first day of his appointment. A RINO for sure.A bad appointment for sure.
There were a lot of these “Never Trumpers”. President Trump and Most all of us had no idea how bad things really were. If he does Run and wins, he will be very different the second time. These people need to dealt with severely as this is the only way we will get our country back.
How much were you paid to spout your rhetoric Esper???
President was ill prepared to drain the swamp because he didn’t know who they were and hired too many of them. He’ll do better, with Steve Bannon’s help, in 2025.