THURSDAY PDB – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – Things have escalated since Russia deliberately downed a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea. US, Russia ratchet up their rhetoric over downing of drone.
The Kremlin said the flight proved again that Washington is directly involved in the fighting in Ukraine and added that it would try to recover the drone wreckage from the Black Sea. The U.S. called it a reckless provocation.
Russia has dispatched ships to try to recover the wreckage, which is likely submerged 4,000 to 5,000 feet deep.
The U.S. has no vessels in the Black Sea because Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait to warships in 2022.
MEANWHILE, US, Russian military chiefs resume contact to discuss drone. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday about the destruction of a U.S. drone after it was downed by a Russian jet fighter.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of other developing stories.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
GOOD – MAKING KIDS ‘TRANS' IS CHILD ABUSE – PENTAGON SHOULD NOT BE HELPING –US military families in Europe with ‘transgender' children left with nowhere to turn for specialized therapy. It has cut off access to first-time transgender counseling and health care for children and teenagers, instead referring them to off-base doctors.
IT IS DELIBERATELY OVERBLOWN AND BECAME A POLITICIZED WITCH HUNT AGAINST CONSERVATIVES – Amid the rising tide of hate, what happened to countering extremism in the US military? While the American public was still ‘reeling' from the scenes of the Jan. 6 riot two years ago, a policy sea change kicked into gear to combat the rise of hate and extremism nationwide.
POLITICS & DEFENSE BUDGET
Pentagon ‘wargames' defense cuts to prepare for Congress budget battle. The Pentagon does “take seriously” House Republican plans to slash the federal budget for next year by at least $130 billion and is readying a report to detail the potential impacts on defense, the department's comptroller said.
CHINA THREAT
Wave of Stealthy China Cyberattacks Hits U.S., Private Networks, Google Says. Attacks represent a new level of ingenuity and sophistication from China, according to researchers.
US threatens ban if TikTok's Chinese owners don't sell stakes. TikTok says forced sale won't resolve national-security issues; CEO set to appear before Congress next week.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 386. The crash of a U.S. military surveillance drone into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian jet fighters continues to be “investigated”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Defense chief Austin said the U.S. will continue to fly wherever international law allows, after speaking with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
Ukraine's allies promise weapons for spring counteroffensive. Ukraine and Russia are both running low on ammunition, and both are scrambling to replenish their stocks and gain a competitive edge.
Bakhmut: Russian casualties mount but tactics evolve. Ukraine has drawn a line in the dirt, and that line is Bakhmut. It is a city that few say matters strategically, but that tens of thousands have died fighting over. It began more than seven months ago and is the longest battle of the war so far.
BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A DEFINED STRATEGY OR ENDGAME – Why won't the West let Ukraine win against Russia? Its defense would be more effective if it didn't have to fight with one hand behind its back.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
North Korea launches ICBM before South Korea-Japan summit. Thursday's launch was North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile test in a month and third weapons test this week.
South Korea clears multibillion-dollar buy of more F-35s, SM-6 missile. The government has approved its military to acquire more fifth-generation stealth fighters, while starting process to acquire the SM-6 ship-launched interceptor.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
YES, BIDEN – YOU ‘MONITOR' THAT – China, Russia and Iran hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman. The U.S. says the joint drills pose no new threat, but deepening ties between the rival states will be ‘monitored.'
US Army chief wants three multidomain task force units in the Pacific. “I can see three in the Pacific and then one other one. We have one in Europe and then one probably in a contingency-type place where it can go wherever it needs,” Gen. James McConville said.
US NAVY-MARINES – Makin Island, America ARGs wrap-up exercises with Thai, Japanese forces. The two amphibious ready groups wrapped up their participation in exercises in Thailand and Japan this week.
US military conducts first maritime drills with West African forces. The West African troops silently pulled their small boats up to a rust-stained ferry and swarmed up its sides on grappling hooks to disarm the mock kidnappers onboard.
MEXICO – When a military spies on citizens' phones. How the Mexican military is using private data against civilians — and what that reveals about the country's democracy.
BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER
FORGOTTEN ALLIES TREATED WORSE THAN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS CROSSING ALMOST FREELY INTO U.S. EVERY DAY – Afghan allies evacuated by US kept in miserable conditions in UAE, rights group says. A human rights group is calling on the U.S. to help more than 2,000 Afghan asylum seekers who fled during the withdrawal of American forces in 2021 and are being held in what it calls “prison-like conditions.”
SPACE THREAT
How do you train for a war in space? Commander says USSF is working on the details. The Space Force increasingly views space as a contested environment it might have to battle through due to China's increasing capabilities.
Project Blackjack: DARPA's test of satellite laser links delayed. A DARPA official couldn't confirm an exact launch date for the two Telesat birds, but explained in an email today that the agency is awaiting a launch slot as well as the availability of an integration facility.
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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It doesnt have the Tech to do so
Maybe dive to site But Recover NO
Unless get rogue aid from US “moles”
No US ships in Black sea, because Turkey closed the Bosporus to warships!! What horsecrap, they are NATO and they won’t let NATO ships in! Should be kicked out of NATO!