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Today's PDB includes a variety of critical, global national security issues.
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READ TODAY'S PDB BELOW:
NATIONAL SECURITY
Retired general resigns from Brookings amid FBI probe. Retired Gen. John Allen resigned Sunday amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.
CHINA THREAT
China ‘will fight to the very end' over Taiwan: Chinese defense minister. In a much-anticipated keynote at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Chinese defense minister Gen. Wei Fenghe warned that China “will fight to the very end” if “anyone dares to secede” from China, a not-so-veiled shot at Taiwan.
Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, Taipei says, in rebuff to China. The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.
China, New Zealand foreign ministers discuss Pacific involvement. China's growing influence in the region and the potential of militarization has concerned New Zealand along with its allies. Their concerns increased after China and the Solomon Islands signed a security pact earlier in the year.
Russian fuel and supply challenges in Ukraine cause Pentagon to consider at-sea delivery needs in potential US conflict with China. Russia's struggles to supply its forces with fuel as it wages a war in Ukraine have caused the U.S. to reflect on the importance of ensuring it can deliver essential goods to its fleet should conflict erupt in the Indo-Pacific region, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said Monday.
Latest B-1 Bomber Task Force deployed to Guam hones coordination with allies. U.S. and Japanese pilots exchanged silent high fives from their respective cockpits during the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron's bomber task force mission to Guam.
RUSSIA THREAT
The battle of Donbas could prove decisive in Ukraine war. If Russia prevails in the battle of Donbas, it will mean that Ukraine loses not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 111. All of the bridges in Severodonetsk have been destroyed, making it impossible to bring in humanitarian supplies or evacuate citizens, the governor said. Satellite images show destroyed bridges around Severodonetsk. The price for the battle for the Donbas is “very high” for Ukraine and “just scary” and will be remembered in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Russia likely to seize control of eastern Ukrainian region within weeks, US official says. Volodymyr Zelensky said it was “too late” to persuade Moscow to end its invasion. China said it never gave Russia weapons in its war on Ukraine.
Russia is hammering Ukraine with up to 60,000 artillery shells and rockets every day. The Russians are using indiscriminate and overwhelming artillery strikes to grind Ukrainian defenders down, underscoring how the Russian military's approach to firepower prizes volume over accuracy.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
Blinken says US is prepared to make adjustments to military posture in response to North Korea. The Biden administration is “prepared to make both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture” to respond to provocations from North Korea, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
War in Ukraine is destabilizing the Middle East and North Africa. The war in Ukraine is already setting the Middle East on fire. In Iran, the government announced it would cut wheat subsidies amid rising global prices triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The announcement ignited a wave of protests that quickly turned political, as demonstrators called for the overthrow of Tehran's clerical regime. But they aren't alone. In 2020, Russia and Ukraine provided 43 percent of the wheat imported by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), compared to just 19 percent in 2008.
M23 rebels seize key DRC town, Congolese military blames Rwanda. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's military has accused Rwanda of “no less than an invasion” after M23 rebels captured a key border town, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions between the two Central African neighbors.
US MILITARY AND SPACE
US Navy plan to ditch cruisers excludes it from small, well-armed club. With the retirement of the last battleship two decades ago, cruisers are the US Navy's largest and best-armed surface combatants.
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.
