ANALYSIS – Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) is a controversial conservative firebrand. I have found some of her past statements a bit wacky, but I also found some of them spot on. Now she says that the warnings about the threat Russia poses to Europe under Vladimir Putin are “lies.” Well, some may be. Others may be overblown. Some are part of a pro-Ukrainian narrative. But let’s be clear Russia did launch an unprovoked and massive military invasion of an independent country in Europe. It is a war of conquest and the most brutal and large-scale war in Europe…
Author: Paul Crespo
Paul Crespo
Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for office, taught political science, wrote for a major newspaper and had his own radio show. Paul has also been a defense contractor with the Pentagon. He brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty — at home and from abroad.
FRIDAY PDB – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – YES, CHINA IS SHIPPING ARMS TO RUSSIA – Hunting rifles — really? China ships assault weapons and body armor to Russia. Customs data obtained by POLITICO reveals direct shipments of Chinese assault rifles, as well as drone shipments and body armor routed via Turkey and the UAE. AND TENSIONS ARE INCREASING – US, Chinese commands in Pacific aren’t talking, says Indo-Pacific boss. The head of INDOPACCOM says he has not had contact with his Chinese counterparts, despite a previous agreement between the U.S. defense secretary and the Chinese defense minister. MEANWHILE – China’s Xi Jinping to visit Russia next…
ANALYSIS – The Army is getting new guns. Well, at least new rifles. As I’ve written before, Sig Sauer won the competition in 2022 to field the new XM7 Rifle and XM250 Automatic Rifle combination to replace the M4A1 Carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon within the next decade. Both new weapons use the highly touted, fresh new 6.8mm round. The Marine Corps and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) were also included in the years-long testing and development and will have the option to adopt the new-caliber weapons. The new guns, with the new ammo, should allow users to shoot farther,…
ALERT – Forward-leaning NATO member Poland has just become the first country to begin sending jet fighter aircraft to its besieged eastern neighbor, Ukraine. Thursday Warsaw pledged it would quickly begin sending up to twelve Russian-built MiG-29s to fight Vladimir Putin’s invading forces. Poland inherited from the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). Polish officials said the first of four fighters would be fully serviced and then handed over to Ukraine in the coming days. https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1636424786069864450 Poland is replacing its inventory of Soviet-era jets with U.S.-made F-35 stealth joint strike fighters and South Korean FA-50s. Warsaw sees the defense of Ukraine as…
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…
ANALYSIS – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a very smart and educated guy. He is also a former naval officer who served as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) legal advisor in Iraq with SEAL Team 1. For many, including me, DeSantis appears to be a very favorable GOP contender for the White House. But his recent remarks on the Ukraine war may either be super savvy or very dumb. If his idea was to get media attention, DeSantis hit a home run with his recent ‘territorial dispute’ comments regarding Ukraine and Russia. If his goal was to align himself more…
WEDNESDAY PDB – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – On January 13, 2018, Hawaii residents and visitors woke up to a terrifying emergency alert on their cell phones that sent a wave of panic across the state. The message warned of a ballistic missile heading for Hawaii. It read, “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” It took nearly 40 minutes for officials to admit it wasn’t a drill, but it wasn’t real either. It was a mistake. But concerns over Hawaii’s vulnerability to a missile attack remain. Sen. Mazie Hirono concerned about lack of missile defense for Hawaii. Sen. Mazie…
ANALYSIS – In the wake of Republican calls to take stronger U.S. action (including possibly using military force) against the violent drug cartels in Mexico, the country’s messianic socialist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is pushing back against U.S. critics of his abysmal security record. (RELATED: Will America Use Military Force Against Violent Drug Cartels in Mexico as Trump Has Warned?) Despite the recent kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros near the Texas border (and the murder of two of them), the increasingly autocratic AMLO recently asserted that his country is safer than the United States, which is a huge stretch. “Mexico is…
ANALYSIS – In what appears to be a major yet asymmetrical escalation by Moscow, Russian Su-27 fighter aircraft intercepted a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone in international airspace over the Black Sea not far from Ukraine. After numerous aggressive and reckless maneuvers, including dumping fuel on it, the Russian jets managed to clip the unmanned drone’s propeller, requiring the Air Force to take the drone down. The incident follows numerous instances of Russia making unsafe intercepts of U.S. aircraft above the Baltic and Black Seas and elsewhere. The Russians have long seen the Black Sea as their own national lake. While the…
TUESDAY PDB – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – The ongoing fight between the Pentagon/Navy and the Marines over its future amphibious warfighting capability is getting hotter. The Navy’s 2024 plan backs long-range weapons, shrinks amphibious fleet. The Navy and Marine Corps’ fiscal 2024 budget request would invest in long-range missiles and the platforms that shoot them — surface combatants, fighter jets and nimble Marine Corps units — while slashing the amphibious ship fleet. Unacceptable: Marines are ready to fight tonight — about the amphib budget. A Marine Corps spokesman forcefully pushed back against the new budget request’s failure to seek new amphibious warships. While the…