FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – With the many national security and intelligence topics that American Defense News (ADN) cannot adequately cover every day – in collaboration with the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – we are providing our readers a PDB:

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – Paul’s Daily Briefing.

Today’s PDB Includes a variety of critical issues such as – US reducing staff at embassy in Kabul as military withdrawal looms, and U.S. envoy says he doesn’t see an ‘imminent’ collapse. The argument for maintaining and modernizing U.S. land-based ICBM force. Plus…

U.S. Navy destroyer tailing China’s aircraft carrier ‘Liaoning.’

America’s naval and maritime strategy needs a major reboot.

How will U.S. Navy defeat China in a war?

Russian warships be protecting Iranian arms shipments to Syria and Lebanon.

And why the U.S. should  remove the specter of sanctions on India over its purchase of Russian S-400 surface to air missile system.

TODAY’S PDB HIGHLIGHTS:

National Security

America needs a maritime-focused defense strategy. United States is a maritime nation, straddling two huge oceans. In addition, the Arctic has now become another ocean of great importance. It needs an updated naval strategy.

America’s Naval Strategy Is at Sea. Pentagon hasn’t spelled out how it would win a maritime war against China.

Afghanistan

State Department orders drawdown at Kabul embassy as US troops leave Afghanistan. The State Department on Tuesday ordered a significant number of its remaining staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to leave Afghanistan as the military steps up the pullout of American troops from the country.

US envoy doesn’t foresee ‘imminent collapse’ of Afghan government after withdrawal. Top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan peace talks expressed some optimism Tuesday about the ability of Afghan forces to fight the Taliban after all U.S. troops leave, sounding a more upbeat tone than U.S. military officials have since President Biden announced withdrawal.

China Threat – India

Remove Sanctions Cloud from US-Indian Relations. It is long overdue for the U.S. government to remove the specter of sanctions by determining, in the case of the S-400, that India meets the conditions for a waiver. The two countries should then focus their attention on the long-term operational challenges posed by Indian purchases of Russian equipment.

A U.S. navy destroyer has been following the Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning since Sunday, as Beijing’s military aircraft continue incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

Russia Threat

Russian Fleet Protects Iranian Ships Smuggling Arms, Israelis Say. Iran appears to have moved its weapons shipments to Syria and Lebanon from the land — where Israel has regularly tracked and destroyed them — to ships that may be receiving protection from Russian vessels in the Mediterranean.

Iran Threat

US fires warning shots at Iranian fast-attack boats harassing Navy, Coast Guard ships. U.S. Navy fired warning shots Monday at three fast-attack craft of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which were harassing the coastal patrol boat Firebolt and U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat Baranoff — the latest in a series of such confrontations.

Military

No ICBMs? Big Problems. We must dispel the unfounded fears of false alarms, place the cost in context, and seriously consider the unpleasant consequences of eliminating ICBMs from the U.S. nuclear force.

END of PDB

Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Defense News. A defense and national security expert, he served as a Marine Corps officer and as a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at US embassies worldwide. Paul holds degrees from Georgetown, London, and Cambridge Universities. He is also CEO of SPECTRE Global Risk, a security advisory firm, and President of the Center for American Defense Studies, a national security think tank.