War Looms, China Fumes: US And Allied Forces Conduct Major Drills In Philippines

THURSDAY PDB – The seas around the Philippines could be the flashpoint that sparks a major war with China. American forces dust off spartan Philippine airport during Balikatan exercise. This dusty provincial airport near the Luzon Strait has seen few improvements since it was added to a list of sites where U.S. forces are authorized to operate in the Philippines.

MEANWHILE – US and Philippine forces sink a ship during largescale drills in the disputed South China Sea. The forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes Wednesday and sank a mock enemy ship as part of large scale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:

NATIONAL SECURITY

Pentagon not adjusting force posture as Russia announces nuclear strike drills. This, following the Kremlin's saber-rattling that it will carry out strike drills in “the immediate future.”

SOCOM chief sees ‘renaissance' for special forces amid great power competition, evolving warfare. “We haven't seen … that many different… capabilities, going that fast together in quite some time,” he said of new technologies changing the nature of warfare.

Houses passes chain-of-command bill prompted by Austin's undisclosed hospitalization. A bill to amend a federal vacancy law and avoid the lack of transparency and leadership confusion that accompanied the Defense Secretary's hospitalization in January has passed the House and is headed to the Senate.

TikTok sues to block prospective US app ban. This, following through on legal threats the company issued after Joe Biden signed the legislation last month.

POLITICS

GREAT! – Judge indefinitely delays Trump's classified documents criminal trial. The trial had been scheduled to start later this month, but that had long seemed unlikely based on pretrial discussions.

JUST TRASH THIS REPORT! – US report on Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza delayed. Team Biden's report on whether Israel has violated U.S. and international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza has been delayed and will no longer be released Wednesday as planned.

OUTRAGEOUS – US pauses shipment of bombs Israel could use in Rafah. Team Biden has paused a shipment of bombs that could be used in Rafah over concerns that Israel is poised to invade the southern Gaza city.

EMPTY WORDS – Biden says antisemitism has no place in America in somber speech connecting the Holocaust to Hamas' attack on Israel. Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a call to fight a “ferocious surge” of antisemitism.

DEMOCRAT CHEST-THUMPING (AMID GOP CHAOS) – Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the Israel-Hamas war, Republicans in Congress, and the stakes of the 2024 election. The current session of Congress will likely be the least productive Congress since the Civil War. Meanwhile, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries could potentially become the first Black speaker of the House in 2024, though to hear him tell it, the Democrats are already in charge.

Colorado officials continue push against proposal to shift National Guard authority from governors. Members of Colorado's congressional delegation led a bipartisan letter opposing the Air Force proposal that would shift authority over space units of the Air National Guard from the governor to the federal government.

US POWER OVERSEAS

US military finishes Gaza pier but plans to move it into place onshore paused due to weather and other logistics. The temporary pier and causeway will be used to deliver aid to Gaza through a maritime system.

ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST TERRORISTS

Israel seizes Gaza's vital Rafah crossing, but the US says it isn't the full invasion many (IDIOTS) fear. The White House described this as a limited operation, as fears mount of a full-scale invasion of the southern city and talks with Hamas over a cease-fire and hostage release remain on a knife's edge.

CHINA THREAT

WRONG! – IT'S FAR MORE DANGEROUS – No, this is not a Cold War-yet. Why are China hawks exaggerating the threat from Beijing?

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

New NATO trick: Finland stores equipment in Norway, spurred by Russia's range. Helsinki had considered the “wise” move of storing some equipment out of Moscow's reach for years, but NATO membership cut through red tape.

Ukraine's strained military tries a new style of recruitment. As leaders in Kyiv resort to boosting ranks more forcefully, one volunteer unit of highly motivated recruits has had to turn down applicants.

Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy. The Russian's also planned to assassinate other top Ukrainian military and political figures.

Kyiv says Russian operatives are dominating TikTok in Ukraine. Ukraine warned that the Kremlin is expanding its use of TikTok to question the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's presidency and undermine the nation's morale as Russia presses its advantage in cyberspace as well as on the battlefield.

US solider detained in Russia will be held until at least July. An American soldier being held in Vladivostok will remain in jail for at least two more months while authorities review the theft charges against him.

SPACE THREAT

NOT ENCOURAGING – ‘Lost' Air Force satellite orbited Earth undetected for 25 years — until now. An experimental spy satellite that was deemed “lost” after eluding detection for decades has finally been found.

Stingy intel-sharing a ‘recipe for losing,' Space Force's Miller says. Overly restrictive handling of U.S. intelligence and battlefield insights that boxes out allied forces is a failing move, according to the leader of Space Operations Command.

NRO should concentrate on bigger, badder ‘tripwire' ISR birds. A new report says the Space Force should be in charge of pursuing large networks of small satellites under the Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — differentiating its “tactical ISR” job from the “strategic” mission of NRO.

DAMN – Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch because of valve issue on rocket. The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing's Starliner capsule for a flight to the International Space Station when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

IF WE CAN'T, OR WON'T STOP IRAN, WHY STOP THE SAUDIS? Will Saudi Arabia get the bomb? How to Rein in Riyadh's Nuclear Ambitions.

Pakistan's military says recent suicide attack that killed 5 Chinese engineers was planned in Afghanistan. And the bomber was an Afghan citizen.

US MILITARY

Secretive Army group's recruiting video is chock-full of hidden meanings. The “Masters of Influence” has emerged from the shadows of Fort Liberty with a recruitment video that is strange, a little chilling — and crammed with subliminal messages.

Marine Corps tightens rules on personal cellphone use in training. Cellphones and other devices have been banned during training exercises, armed duty, high-risk training and aviation operations.

Teledyne FLIR Defense plans to provide more than 100 of its Rogue 1 attack drones capable of targeting infantry and armored vehicles, to the U.S. Marine Corps this year.

New Air Force policy allows pilots to continue flying while seeking mental health treatment. The change will allow pilots to receive 60 days of therapy without being taken out of flight status, a notable policy update as the service works to destigmatize airmen seeking care.

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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