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Today’s PDB includes a variety of critical national security issues.
READ TODAY’S PDB BELOW:
Pentagon Watch
NO, NOT REALLY – Pentagon says China and climate change ‘equally important’ national security threats. The Pentagon said Wednesday it considers China and climate change to be “equally important” national security threats facing the U.S. Department of Defense.
Homeland Security
BLM Rioting? ‘The governor has already prepared the Wisconsin National Guard for mobilization’ in Kenosha. Wisconsin National Guard troops are ready for mobilization to Kenosha ahead of the jury’s verdict in Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial if Gov. Tony Evers deems it necessary.
National Security
AMATEUR? – National security adviser Jake Sullivan stunned by slow pace of federal bureaucracy. President Joe Biden’s foreign policy team was hampered by the slow pace of the federal bureaucracy, according to one of his top White House advisers.
Biden’s Afghan Disaster
REALLY? Every US citizen who wants out of Afghanistan offered departure, State Department says. The State Department has arranged a means out of Afghanistan for the last remaining U.S. citizens who are seeking help departing, a senior State Department official told ABC News.
Poll: Veterans say US left Afghanistan without honor, and they want to talk about it. The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has left a majority of veterans with a lingering sense that America did not leave that war with honor, according to a new poll.
WHO says million Afghan children at risk of dying amid acute malnutrition. Around 3.2 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in Afghanistan by the end of this year, with 1 million of them at risk of dying, a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday.
China Threat
Decommissioned Navy cruisers could be the answer to Guam’s missile defense needs. The U.S. military continues to tackle the vexing question of how it can establish a much broader, layered missile-defense shield around the highly strategic island, and do so quickly, effectively, and affordably. One novel piece of this puzzle may be to repurpose Ticonderoga class cruisers that the U.S. Navy wants to decommission.
Russia Threat
Blinken says US is concerned Russia may be ‘attempting to rehash’ 2014 invasion of Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States is “concerned by reports of unusual Russian military activity” and the possibility that Russia may be “attempting to rehash” its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow won’t invade Ukraine — unless provoked says Russian envoy. Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador said Thursday that Moscow will never invade Ukraine unless it is first provoked by its neighbor or someone else, then cited what he called many threats from Ukraine and provocative actions by U.S. warships in the Black Sea.
Iran Threat
HISTORIC – US, Israel and Gulf Arab allies launch joint Red Sea drill. Naval forces from the United States, Israel and two Gulf Arab states are taking part in a joint security drill in the Red Sea, a vital shipping route that feeds into the Suez Canal.
Iran frees Vietnamese tanker seized after US navy confrontation. Iran has freed a Vietnamese oil tanker that it had seized for trying to “steal” its oil in late October following a confrontation with the United States Navy in the Sea of Oman.
Africa
IGNORING BIDEN – Sudan’s top general entrenches military coup, frustrating Western efforts. A little over two weeks after seizing power, Sudan’s top general created a new ruling body led by himself. The civilian prime minister remains under house arrest.
What’s happening in Ethiopia? Here’s what the rebel advance toward Addis Ababa could mean. Thousands of opposition forces last week pushed to within 200 miles of Addis Ababa, where the embattled government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called on residents to fight what it says is “an existential war.”
Military
USS Essex and HMS Queen Elizabeth conduct interoperability training. Carried out in the Gulf of Oman, the training also saw the participation of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211.
Marine-turned-kingpin pleads guilty in drug trafficking case. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr., a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a drug-trafficking conspiracy and a money-laundering conspiracy.
END of PDB
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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.
