FOR YOUR EYES ONLYย โ American Liberty News (ALN) โ in collaboration with respected national security expertย Paul Crespoย and theย Center for American Defense Studies (CADS)ย โ provides our readers theย PDB:
Not theย President's Daily Brief, but almost as good โย 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
Trump seeks White House again amid GOP losses, legal probes. President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched his third campaign for the White House just one week after a disappointing midterm showing for Republicans, forcing the party to again decide whether to embrace a candidate whose refusal to accept defeat in 2020 sparked an โinsurrection' and pushed American democracy to the brink.
Congress could have almost 100 veterans in office by January in most significant increase in decades.ย Close to 100 candidates with military service won or are winning their midterm elections and the results of these races could yield the largest influx of veterans voted into office on Capitol Hill in decades, according to some veterans advocates.ย
Top Republican on House defense appropriations panel wins re-election.ย The top Republican on the House defense spending panel narrowly won re-election on Monday, ending nearly a week of speculation as to whether he would return to Congress.
McCarthy overwhelmingly wins Republican nomination for House speaker.ย The vote, which took place as Republicans were inching toward what was likely to be a slim House majority, was a successful first showing for Kevin McCarthy.ย
NATIONAL SECURITY
US has intelligence Russia may have factored midterms into timing of Kherson announcement: report.ย New intelligence indicates Russia may have factored the U.S. midterm elections into its recent withdrawal of troops from occupied Kherson in Ukraine.
The US's new tool for deterrence isn't ready.ย The โSOF, space, and cyber triadโ is meant to serve as an integrated deterrent, much like the nuclear triad.
Is war too important to be left to robots?ย We know that the Russians have been experimenting with the weaponization of artificial intelligence (AI), but we have seen no decisive evidence that they have used it in any meaningful way in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
HOMELAND SECURITY
FBI chief Christopher Wray says TikTok is a โnational security concern.'ย FBI Director Christopher Wray warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States could pose a threat to national security.
3 charged for sending military data to China, defrauding DoD.ย Three people and a magnetics company were federally charged for an alleged scheme to send military data to China and for illegally providing the Department of Defense with Chinese-made parts for military equipment.
Official Army app had Russian code, might have harvested user data.ย The Army has confirmed that an officially approved app was built using code from a tech company with Russian roots that provides popular tools for app developers to send customized notifications to their users.
CHINA THREAT
Japan scrambles fighters for Chinese aircraft near Okinawa.ย Japanese fighter jets scrambled to intercept three Chinese aircraft, including a drone, near Okinawa on Monday, according to Japan's Joint Staff.
Exclusive: Kamala Harris to visit Philippine islands at edge of South China Sea dispute.ย U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Philippine islands of Palawan on the edge of the disputed South China Sea, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, in a move that may be interpreted by Beijing as a rebuke.
China's defence minister tipped to lead talks with US military, but sanctions on likely successor may pose early challenge.ย Wei Fenghe is expected to lead the resumption of dialogue with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin before Li Shangfu takes over in March.
RUSSIA THREAT โ UKRAINE WAR
Pentagon looking into reports of Russian missile strike in Poland. Defense Department leadership is aware of press reports that Russian missiles targeting Ukrainian energy facilities crossed into Poland on Tuesday, killing two, but is not ready to confirm any details, according to a spokesman.
After Moscow blamed for explosions in Poland, all eyes on NATO. Explosions in Poland that appear to have killed two Polish civilians sent shock waves through Western capitals today, with some reports pointing the finger at Russian weapons โ a potential major escalation of a war that has, so far, not drawn NATO nations directly into the conflict.
โUnlikely' missile that hit Poland fired from Russia, Biden says. President Joe Biden says it was โunlikelyโ that a missile that killed two in NATO-ally Poland was fired from Russia.ย
White House requests $38 billion more in Ukraine aid.ย The White House on Tuesday asked Congress for another $38 billion in Ukraine aid. If lawmakers fund the supplemental request, it would bring the total amount Congress has appropriated for Ukraine to more than $100 billion in less than a year.
G20 leaders declaration denounces โRussian aggression' in Ukraine. International law must be upheld, the communique says, adding the threat of the use of nuclear weapons was inadmissible.
Russia sees its role on the global stage diminished by Ukraine war.ย At the G20 in Bali and COP27 in Egypt, Russia has found itself in an unusual position โ a leading topic of discussion rather than a leading player.
EU launches military training mission for Ukraine's armed forces. Up to 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in different European member states as a part of the assistance mission.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
Biden warns North Korea on nuclear test. But he needs to act โ now.ย The U.S. president issues a vague threat in talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Imposing tough sanctions are what's needed.
IRAN THREAT
Navy, Coast Guard stop smugglers carrying tons of explosive material.ย Elements from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard intercepted a vessel last week carrying a โmassiveโ Iranian shipment of explosive materials bound for Yemen, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
Oil tanker hit by armed drone off coast of Oman: Official.ย No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the details of which are unclear, but suspicion has fallen on Iran.ย
Israel accelerating Arrow-4, sensor development due to Iranian hypersonic threat.ย While Israeli intelligence is trying to confirm Iran's recent declaration that it has successfully developed a hypersonic ballistic missile, the Israeli Defense Forces have already been anticipating such an announcement โ and in the last two months have begun accelerating efforts to develop measures to counter the potential new threat.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
UK orders five more counter-submarine frigates for $5 billion.ย The Royal Navy is to receive five anti-submarine warfare frigates in a ยฃ4.2 billion ($5 billion) deal between the Ministry of Defence and warship builder BAE Systems announced on Tuesday.
Britain to join EU push for easing the flow of forces in Europe.ย The United Kingdom will join a European Union initiative to help military troops and equipment move swiftly across the continent, with alliance officials citing Russia's war against Ukraine as a critical factor in bringing the former EU member on board.
Ivory Coast to withdraw from Mali peacekeeping force -letter.ย Ivory Coast will gradually withdraw its troops and police from a United Nations peacekeeping force in neighbouring Mali, a letter seen by Reuters shows, dealing the latest blow to a mission that several Western nations have pulled out of this year.ย
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
AND THE BS CONTINUES โ Indigenous airman celebrates religious approval to have long hair in uniform.ย An Indigenous airman, who had to cut his braids when first joining the Air Force two years ago, is now one of the first in the service to receive a religious waiver allowing him to grow longer hair in accordance with his heritage.
SPACE THREAT
NASA's Artemis Moon rocket lifts off Earth.ย The American space agency Nasa has launched its most powerful ever rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.ย
US Space Command creates new task force to coordinate space operations.ย U.S. Space Command announced Nov. 15 it is adding a new component to its organization to help coordinate operations and speed up the delivery of satellite-based services to military forces in the field.
US MILITARY
JUST WHAT WE NEEDED: NOT โ โInspection' director calls new Marine film the โBlack, gay Rocky.'ย Elegance Bratton is an expert in fiction. Throughout his career in the U.S. Marine Corps, he learned how to pretend to be things he wasn't.ย
Marines' elite Silent Drill Platoon gets its first female commander.ย The Marine Corps' prestigious Silent Drill Platoon will be commanded by a woman for the first time starting Monday.
It's time to reset America's long-range strike deficit.ย The Air Force has grown far too old, small and fragile when it comes to its combat aircraft inventories.ย
Are US military aircraft really as broken as a government watchdog says they are?ย A new report from Congress paints a dire picture of the state of U.S. military aviation, revealing that the services have not been able to meet their mission readiness goals for most fighters, transports, bombers, helicopters and other aircraft over the past 10 years.
BUY MORE OSPREYS โ Accelerating capability for the fleet: The case of the CMV-22B.ย To deal with the logistics challengers of the modern carrier, the Navy should increase its buy of Ospreys, argues analyst Robbin Laird.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.
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