Hosts Christine Dolan and L Todd Wood interview famous reporter Seymour Hersch about his research into the destruction of the Nordstream II pipeline and his conclusion the Biden administration was behind it. The agenda behind the war in Ukraine is also discussed.
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While the government's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. troops is no longer in effect, the Pentagon sent a letter to lawmakers recently saying that it could still remove as many as 16,000 unvaccinated troops from service.
According to the letter from the Under Secretary of Defense for Military personnel Gilbert Cisneros, military officials "continue to review cases on an individual basis to determine appropriate action" for personnel who did not get vaccinated and who also did not request an exemption.
The letter noted that there are 16,000 of those cases and approximately 69,000 unvaccinated troops, although 53,000 of those had requested either a religious, medical, or administrative exemption.
The 16,000 who remain unvaccinated and did not request a waiver are still subject to separation, according to the Pentagon, despite Republicans using the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to force the Biden administration to rescind the mandate last year.
Jim Banks (R-IN0), Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, criticized the Pentagon's decision to punish troops who did not file for an exemption, saying, "It's incredibly divisive and cruel to fire patriotic service members for refusing to comply with a partisan and harmful rule that no longer exists. To me, the only explanation is that the Biden administration wants to purge conservative service members from the military."
When questioned by Banks during a hearing as to why troops are being punished regarding a mandate that is no longer in effect, Cisneros said it was due to the mandate being a "lawful order" at the time it was issued and that troops who remained unvaccinated without seeking an exemption "disobeyed a lawful order."
"Those who refused the vaccine and did not put in a request for an accommodation refused a lawful order," Cisneros answered.
When asked what purpose enforcing a rescinded mandate served, Cisneros replied, "In order to maintain good order and discipline, it's very important that our service members follow orders when they are lawful."
Despite Cisneros' answers, the DOD has never publically answered questions regarding whether or not the Covid vaccine mandate was lawful.
The DOD will also not reveal whether or not Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requested or received an exemption from President Biden.
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As Russia pushes into a second year of war with Ukraine, the Biden administration has continuously committed to sending more and more financial and military aid to Kyiv. Biden has even gone so far as to say that the U.S. will support Ukraine indefinitely as the war continues with no end in sight. Meanwhile, at home, U.S. arms manufacturers are struggling to meet the heightened demand, and arms and ammunition for American forces are at dangerously low levels.
As top officials in the Biden administration seem to announce new aid packages for Ukraine weekly, Americans are beginning to wonder when Washington will realize that U.S. national security is at risk due to the administration’s blind aid agreements.
Not only is Biden sending arms and munitions to Ukraine faster than American manufacturers can produce them, but Ukrainian troops have been burning through the supply at such an alarming rate that the U.S. military has had to train Ukrainian forces on different fighting tactics that use less artillery.
To date, Biden has sent approximately one-third of U.S. stockpiles of both Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv. Meanwhile, U.S. arms manufacturers typically produce between 1,000 and 2,100 Javelins a year. Now, the Army is struggling to get the produces to manufacture up to 4,000 a year, and it’s unlikely to happen.
According to some estimates, the Ukrainians are using 6,000 to 7,000 155 mm artillery shells a day, a rate that could deplete the entirety of Britain’s stockpile of NATO-standard 155 mm shells in a mere 8 days. Ukrainian troops are also burning through ammo for U.S.-manufactured HIMARS (high-mobility artillery rocket system) and other types of munitions just as quickly.
The picture of the situation gets even bleaker if one factors in the possibility of the U.S. defending Taiwan should China attack the island. Should the U.S. defend Taiwan if China decides to attack, the U.S. could run out of ammunition, like missiles, artillery shells, etc., in one week.
The ammunition problems are compounded by supply chain issues. In many cases, manufacturers are having to wait months, in some cases over a year, to receive some of the necessary components.
Other concerns include being able to accurately estimate the amount of arms and munitions that are needed. With the war in Ukraine continuing with no sort of timeline to work off of and rising tensions between Beijing, Washington, and Taipei, it’s challenging for the military to accurately assess how many munitions need to be produced.
According to Secretary of the Army Douglas Bush, “The long-term challenge will be how much of that capacity can we sustain over time, post-conflict.”
“We don’t know how long the conflict will last. We don’t know how low our stocks will be,” Bush added.
Meanwhile, many Americans have expressed concern that the Biden administration is putting its support of Ukraine ahead of U.S. national security and is setting the U.S. up for catastrophe should the country get further involved with Ukraine due to Russian provocation, or come to the aid of Taiwan if China decides to attack.
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Ukraine's military intelligence service has released a photo of an American-made Black Hawk helicopter painted with a Ukrainian flag and has indicated that it has been used in military operations.
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence posted two photos of the helicopter on its Twitter account and website on Tuesday. According to a press release that was published at the time the photos were posted, the Black Hawk was recently used for military missions.
"Military intelligence aviation of Ukraine continues its work on the front line of the defense of our country. Reconnaissance pilots have just returned from another combat mission," the press release stated.
"Combat helicopters significantly increase the capabilities of the special units of the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the effectiveness of special operations," it added.
Also pictured in one of the photos is a Ukrainian Mi-24 Hind helicopter.
It is currently unclear how the Ukrainian military obtained the Black Hawk. The White House has approved sending Kyiv Soviet-era Mi-17 helicopters. Those aircraft were formerly owned by the Afghan government before it collapsed in 2021 following the catastrophic U.S. pullout of the country. If the U.S. sent the helicopter, the Biden administration has not publicly announced that it has provided Black Hawks to Kyiv.
To date, President Biden has not sent long-range weapons or fighter jets to Ukraine, despite Zelensky's pleas for such weapons and aircraft.
The Biden administration has, however, been steadily increasing the heavy arms shipments, which had included HIMARS, ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDB), and a Patriot missile batter along with other equipment. Last month the U.S. and Germany agreed to send M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks as well.
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In a recent interview with the CBS program "Face the Nation," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that he hoped U.S. President Joe Biden would confirm his conviction to see Russia defeated in Putin's war against Ukraine.
Morawiecki also made it known that he did not agree with French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who both believe that Russia "cannot win this war and Ukraine cannot be defeated."
According to Morawiecki, "We have to change that paradigm, and we have to say, Ukraine must win, and Russia must be defeated." The reason for Morawiecki's determination that Moscow has to be defeated is because "the very nature of Russia is to conquer other countries."
When asked about how he felt about attempting to negotiate with Putin remaining in power, Morawiecki noted that he had just come from the Munich Security Conference and pointed out that Munich had also been the site of another conference in 1938 when other European leaders had thought they had negotiated peace.
"This time around, there was no room for such naivety, and it was up to the Ukrainians to define what would be negotiated with Russia and when," Morawiecki added.
The Prime Minister was also asked if any movement had been made with the U.S. in an effort to increase the U.S. military presence in Poland. Morawiecki said that his country was in talks with the Biden administration to strengthen the U.S. military presence in Poland from the current 11,000 troops stationed there and to make it "more permanent."
Morawiecki warned that "if we fail to integrate Ukraine into NATO and the European Union, Ukraine will always be a buffer zone," meaning that the region will not be secured until Ukraine's ascension to the military alliance has been confirmed.
The Prime Minister deflected a bit when asked if Warsaw would send fighter jets to Kyiv and noted that a year ago, no one imagined that Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams tanks or Patriot systems would be offered to Ukraine.
He then added that fighter jets could only be given, "in combination with other NATO allies, and in particular, under the leadership of the United States."
Morawiecki appears to be taking the same approach that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took regarding sending tanks to Kyiv, saying that the U.S. must send tanks first.
Looking back -- The initial decision not to shoot down the spy balloon highlighted a continuation of Mr. Biden’s soft approach toward Beijing. Now that the balloon has been downed, let's look at ‘what should have occurred’.
Regardless of the purpose, mission, or capability of the Communist Chinese Balloon -- whether it was collecting intelligence, sampling air, surveilling property to buy from money grubbing woke realtors and politicians, dispersing chem/bio agents, was designed to deliver an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) package, or was conducting meteorological and weather experiments -- you take it down, before it enters U.S. Airspace and territory! Period!
Any unauthorized aerial system that cannot be authenticated and has not filed a flight plan and violates U.S. airspace has to be brought down before it ever enters U.S. territory. You don't sit there and do nothing, and just wait to see if the platform is hostile or not. Nor, do you wait days in an effort to try to second guess its intent by letting it continue to fly across U.S. continental territory.
In reality, the U.S. should have detected it before it started its voyage from Chinese airspace flying towards Alaska. Secondly, we should have used all of our intelligence capabilities to determine what China was up to beforehand. Third, we should have known that China has a large balloon program.
Perhaps the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has that information. Certainly we were aware of the presence of the balloon preparing to fly over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on January 27th, but said nothing. So, the IC should be tailoring certain aspects of that information for the U.S. public -- in order to explain what China was up to.
At the same time, they should be putting out NOTAMS, warnings to pilots of possible danger to flying aircraft. Even though it's unlikely for the balloon to be a direct danger at 60,000 feet, a problem or mishap could occur where the balloon potentially descends to 30k feet, where it now is a danger to all. Tragically, this has been handled extremely poorly. We now have not only have our sovereign southern border wide open, but equally concerning is that of our northern borders, both in Alaska and our northern continental border with Canada. Those areas are wide-open not only on the ground, but up to and over and above 60,000 feet.
My take, and certainly this is obvious is that Biden and company are hiding something, either negligently or deliberately. And the U.S. Air Force, as well as the Pentagon and the Intelligence Community, has as of February 3rd stated they’ve dealt with this before type of situation in the past, implying Chinese military balloons. Obviously, this now raises the question, really? When, where, and how? The Pentagon and the Intelligence Community need to provide details.
This was and is an extremely serious national security situation. It’s not about the sensors and equipment on this spy platform – it's about the U.S. response and our resolve to an egregious and deliberate international violation of U.S airspace and U.S. sovereignty by an adversarial and hostile foreign government.
There should be a hundred senior officers throwing their ‘Stars and Eagles’ on the table in anger and in protest as we speak. This is akin to Obama administrations failed response and lack of any action during the attack on the U.S. Consulate and Americans in Benghazi in 2012.
President Trump was correct on Friday, February 3rd when he slammed Joe Biden for “deliberately allowing” a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon to fly in U.S. airspace. Mr. Trump accused Mr. Biden of being “weak on China” and pledged to crack down on Chinese espionage if he is elected to the White House in 2024.
President Trump in his letter this week was absolutely correct stating, “Joe Biden has surrendered America’s borders to illegal aliens, and now he has surrendered American airspace to Communist China,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “Biden is deliberately allowing a Chinese spy balloon to soar freely over the continental United States.” President Trump said the decision not to shoot down the balloon was a continuation of Mr. Biden’s soft approach toward Beijing.
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It's a story that reads more like the latest Bond movie than a current headline, but it is true that a 2,000-pound, 200-foot-tall Chinese high-altitude spy balloon drifted across much of the continental U.S. before being shot down by a single Sidewinder missile fired from an Air Force F-22 a full 6 days after first being detected in U.S. airspace. Now that the balloon has been downed, questions are arising about why it wasn't shot down sooner, what its purpose was, what may have been onboard, and what will happen to the debris being recovered off the coast of Myrtle Beach.
The balloon, which was first detected on January 28 when it drifted into U.S. airspace over the Aleutian Islands, was determined not to pose a physical or military threat but did violate U.S. sovereignty. However, the Pentagon had concerns that falling debris from the balloon, which was floating at 60,000 feet could cause harm to civilians on the ground if it were immediately shot down.
At a press briefing on Monday, a senior defense official confirmed that President Biden gave the order to have the balloon shot down on Wednesday, but that no action was taken until Saturday when the balloon floated over open water. According to the official, "President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon's path."
"Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overhead," the official added.
With respect as to why the balloon was floating in U.S. airspace, the senior defense official said during Monday's press conference, "The PRC has claimed publicly that the high-altitude balloon operating above the United States is a weather balloon that was blown off course. This is false."
"This was a PRC surveillance balloon. This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites," the official concluded.
In response to the U.S. destroying the balloon, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement Sunday saying, "China will resolutely uphold the relevant company's legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response." The Chinese government has also criticized the U.S. for having "an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice."
While Chinese officials react to the downed balloon in Beijing, some members of Congress in Washington have begun blasting the Biden administration over its lack of action in response to a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty. Roger Wicker (R-MS) who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee said, "Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House."
Meanwhile, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) tweeted, "Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden Administration on the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to violate American sovereignty unimpeded for days. We mus the better prepared for future provocations and incursions by the CCP."
Now that the balloon has been shot down, the U.S. military is undergoing recovery efforts to collect the debris and reverse engineer as much of the balloon as possible in order to further understand what its purpose was.
Debris from the balloon fell roughly 6 miles after it was shot down and has come to rest in 47 feet of water off the coast of South Carolina. The Navy and Coast Guard have both deployed vessels to the debris field to begin setting up a perimeter.
In order to recover the debris, the Navy has deployed the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, and the USS Carter Hall, which is an amphibious landing ship to assist with the recovery efforts.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command (NORTHCOM) confirmed on Monday that an explosive ordnance disposal team is on site and has been combing through the debris field. According to VanHerck, the explosive ordnance team is searching for, "glass off solar panels, potentially hazardous material, such as material that is required for batteries to operate in such an environment as this, and even the potential for explosives to detonate and destroy the balloon that - that could have been present."
Despite the surveillance balloon floating over nuclear missile silos and other sensitive sites, the senior defense official on Monday suggested that the military was able to gather sensitive information about the Chinese balloon while it attempted to gather sensitive information about the U.S. Military.
"I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," the official said.
"I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable," the official added.
"We don't know exactly all the benefits that will derive, but we have learned technical things about this balloon and its surveillance capabilities. And I suspect if we are successful in recovering aspects of the debris, we will learn even more," the official concluded.
Any debris from the downed balloon that is collected will be sent to an FBI processing lab in Quantico, Virginia for further analysis.
The Pentagon has also acknowledged reports of a second Chinese surveillance balloon that has been detected flying over Latin America. Both the balloon that transversed the U.S. and the second balloon are part of a fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons that have been released to gather sensitive information and they can be maneuvered remotely using small motors and propellers.
While the military works to recover any remains of the balloon, VanHerck has been working to explain why NORAD reportedly did not detect other Chinese spy balloons that entered U.S. airspace under former President Trump's administration. When questioned about the glaring ineptitude, VanHerck answered vaguely saying, "So those balloons, so every day as a NORAD commander it's my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that's a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out. But I don't want to go into further detail."
While the spy balloon saga is sure to continue inching us closer to a potential cold war with China, it's a story of many shortcomings and disappointments. As they pile up, it's difficult to determine which is worse, NORAD's utter inability to do its job, President Biden's complete apathy and ineffectual leadership regarding the situation, or the fact that the PRC can seemingly infiltrate a sovereign nation's airspace with no repercussions.
By now most people know that my home state of Montana was all over the news as Chinese surveillance balloons moved overhead. As a good Montanan my first response, along with many of my fellow Big Sky country friends, was to ask if it could be ranged by high-caliber hunting rifles. If our government was not going to defend our nation, then we would take it upon ourselves.
Alas, at an estimated 60,000 feet of altitude, we could not reach it.
As the nation became increasingly aware of this balloon’s existence, more questions were asked, and Americans had the right to answers. Instead, they were told many things, except good answers. First, our nation must thank Larry Mayer, a Billings, Montana based private pilot and sharpshooter with a lens, and no doubt a rifle too. He is the reason why a nation became aware of this balloon. He is the reason why more Americans are now aware of how our federal government refuses to take decisive action when needed.
Here are some critical concerns our government needs to address concerning this incident.
There is a bigger message because of this incident though. One is a message of weakness. The second is a message of trust, or the lack thereof.
MESSAGE 1. A nation ruthlessly defends its borders from clear and present dangers. This administration is showing that it will not defend America. Not only are we invaded from the south on land, but we have also now been invaded from the air as China replicates tactics used by Japan going back to World War II. Not in eighty years has America dealt with a threat like this.
Instead, consider Gary Powers getting shot down over the Soviet Union in May of 1960 in his U-2 spy plane, or China’s knocking an American Navy EP-3 plane out of the sky in 2001. Those were times of high tensions, and these nations did what they thought was required to defend their nations. It is not a matter of whether we agree or disagree with their actions, but that they were taken and that we failed to take similar action when we needed to.
When a clear and present danger was upon us as a nation, our government watched. The only war that was started was in the meme wars as this incident created days of material on social media. Here are only a few examples. They are humorous but rest assured a nation watched and received a message as clear to them as it was to China.
America surrendered and ran from Afghanistan.
America allows for a human invasion across its Southern border.
America severely degrades its readiness by sending critical supplies and systems to Ukraine.
America attacks its own military through woke agendas and vax mandates.
America is willing to adopt Chinese and global entity social credit scoring systems via other means.
America pursues its patriots with more energy than it does its true enemies.
MESSAGE 2. The people do not trust the government to tell them the truth, and often wonder when we became so bad at telling a lie. The meme wars and many other comments on the news and social media make it clear that people will not trust this administration or government in general. They assume that if any agency of government is updating the American people, what is shared is likely a lie. Even if the government suddenly started telling Americans the truth, it will take a long time for trust to rebuild, if ever.
There are plenty of actions the government needs to take that are specific to the “trial balloon” incident. They can start by proving to Americans they care about our borders be they land, sea, or air. They can also start telling us the truth, We the People can handle it. What we cannot stand are bad lies.
Lt Col (ret), US Army, Darin Gaub is a Co-founder of Restore Liberty, an international military strategist and foreign policy analyst, an executive leadership coach, and serves on the boards of multiple volunteer national and state level organizations. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or its components.
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During a press conference Monday to discuss an upcoming trip to Poland, President Biden announced that the U.S. will not be sending F-16 jets to Ukraine, despite growing pressure from some European countries and reportedly from some Pentagon officials. When asked by reporters if he would provide Ukraine with F-16 jets, he answered with a simple “no.”
However, Biden also said that he would not send tanks to Ukraine in March 2022, and yet last week he approved a shipment of not only M1 Abrams tanks, but also Bradley Fighting Vehicles. It is likely that this “no” is tentative.
When asked about sending tanks to Ukraine last March, Biden said, “The idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews – just understand, don’t kid yourself, no matter what y’all say, that’s called World War III.”
While Biden claims the U.S. will not send jets to Kyiv, the Ukrainian president’s office is saying that it is already working on expedited negotiations with Washington regarding possibly being supplied with long-range missiles and jets by the U.S. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that sending jets is not an option, although he was instrumental last week in the decision of both Washington and Berlin to send tanks to Ukraine.
On Saturday, a Zelensky advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press that “fast-track” discussions are taking place that focus on Ukraine obtaining both jets and long-range missiles “to drastically curtail the key tool of the Russian army” by giving Ukraine the ability to strike weapons warehouses that are far from the frontlines.
Meanwhile, reports emerged from U.S. media over the weekend that there is a growing movement within the Pentagon to pressure the Biden administration into approving sending jets to Kyiv.
According to Politico, “A contingent of military officials is quietly pushing the Pentagon to approve sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from Russian missile drone attacks, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.”
“As Ukraine prepares to launch a new offensive to retake territory in the spring, the campaign inside the Defense Department for fighter jets is gaining momentum, according to a DoD official and two other people involved in the discussions,” the report continued. It went on to quote a defense official who said, “I don’t think we are opposed” with regard to sending F-16s to Ukraine. The senior DoD official spoke on a condition of anonymity and emphasized that there has not been a final decision made.
The White House has only commented thus far to say that the U.S. would be discussing fighter jets “very carefully” with Ukraine and its allies. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said on Thursday, “We have not ruled in or out any specific systems.”
While Germany could stand in the way, it should be noted that the Germans gave in fairly quickly to pressure from its NATO allies regarding the tank issues last week. In a recent interview, Scholz said, “I can only advise against entering into a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems.”
“The question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz added.
While both the U.S. and Germany currently do not support sending F-16s to Kyiv, talks are allegedly in the works with Ukraine, and as we have seen, both Biden and Scholz can change always change their minds.
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In yet another blow to military service members, those who did not meet the full term of their contract due to being kicked out of the military for not complying with the Covid vaccine mandate are now being forced to pay back their recruitment bonuses, in addition to losing their jobs and careers.
After years of dedication to the military and their country, many service members see the signing bonus pay back as a "kick in the face."
One soldier had signed a contract with the Army for 6 years of service and, in return, received a $7,000 signing bonus. After he was fired for refusing to get the Covid vaccine last May, the military informed him that he would have to pay back the $4,000 prorated amount of his bonus upon his termination from the Army because he did not complete the commitment outlined in his contract.
The soldier had to "sell" 60 unused vacation days to cover the bill, and many service members didn't have that option and are struggling to make the required payment. The Army soldier said that his mental health has suffered as a result of his poor treatment by the military and described it as a "final kick in the face."
The soldier was not the only one to express extreme dissatisfaction with the military and its treatment of those who have sacrificed so much to protect their country. Another service member said, "The Department of Defense continues to fall short on reestablishing trust for wrongdoings, and this is yet another example of that." He went on to describe the forced pay back scheme as the "icing on the cake" of the DOD's mistreatment of military service members.
Another Army soldier expressed his disgust in a statement, saying, "The appalling treatment these individuals endured broke the trust that is owed to our citizens and our volunteers. America's sons and daughters."
"Until true efforts are made to establish trust, the recruiting and retention shortfalls will only continue. The individuals who make public statements that they are unsure what has contributed to the current recruiting and retention shortfalls need to take a look in the mirror, and perhaps they should resign for the betterment of our nation," the solder concluded.
The further fallout with former military service members comes as the military faces critically short lows in recruitment numbers across all branches. The lack of new recruits has become so dire that the military has been forced to increase the maximum age for enlistment and has announced in recent weeks that it will now accept people with behavioral problems in order to meet its recruitment figures.
If the DOD, Pentagon, and Biden administration wanted to honestly support the military, then they would focus on acknowledging wrongdoings, rebuilding trust, and extending long overdue apologies for their deplorable treatment of military members rather than lowering their standards and kicking service members in the face on their way out the door.
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While the U.S. Treasury is taking extreme measures to avert a crisis as the June debt ceiling deadline approaches, the Biden administration has promised another $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine. On Thursday, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced the aid package and vowed that the U.S. “will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
The current aid package comes after Congress passed a massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that granted $45 billion to Ukraine. The spending bill brought the total amount of U.S. aid provided to Ukraine to over a staggering $110 billion.
Congress added to the omnibus bill an additional $8 billion to the $37 billion in aid that the Biden administration had requested.
In a press release, Blinken said, “Pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, I am authorizing our 30th drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine since August 2021.”
Blinken added:
This assistance package will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional armored vehicles, including Stryker armored personnel carriers, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled vehicles. The package also includes critical additional air defense support for Ukraine, including more Avenger air defense systems, and surface to air missiles, as well as additioanl munitions for NASAMS that the United States has previously provided. The package also contains night vision devices, small arms ammunition, and other items to support Ukraine as it bravely defends its people, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity.
Blinken went on to say that the U.S. “continues to rally the world to support Ukraine” and commended the “incredible solidarity from our allies and partners” in assisting Ukraine.
“Russia alone could end this war today. Until it does so, we will stand United with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Blinken added.
In a letter expressing concerns about the continuously increasing aid packages for Ukraine, Republican Congressmen Sen J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) wrote, “Taken together, the four Ukraine supplemental spending bills passed since the escalation of the Ukraine/Russia conflict in February of 2022 amount to arguably the fourth-largest discretionary appropriations bill. Further, multiple DOD Inspectors General advisories have raised questions about DOD’s budget execution practices in regards to these funds.”
The lawmakers also demanded a “full crosscutting report” of all the “U.S. government-wide expenditures for Ukraine and ‘countries impacted by the situation in Ukraine’ since February 24, 2022.”
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After the Republicans used the passage of defense legislation last month as a means to force Democrats to drop the mandatory Covid-19 vaccine for all military personnel, the Pentagon released a memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Tuesday evening that formally repealed the mandate.
Austin’s memo rescinds the mandate for active duty, the National Guard, and the Reserves.
The repeal comes after an order from Austin on August 24, 2021, in which he mandated that all military personnel be full-vaccinated or be discharged from military duty.
Prior to the lifting of the mandate, some 8,400 troops were discharged, with tens of thousands applying for accommodation requests, including for medical, administrative, or religious reasons. Tens of thousands of reservists, allegedly up to 60,000, remained unvaccinated and were set to be discharged as well. The mass discharges came as the military has faced a serious recruiting crisis in recent years.
In an escalation of the battle between the military and leadership, forces successfully sued to temporarily enjoin the Navy, Air Force, and Marines from taking action against individuals who had applied for religious accommodations. The inspector general for the Pentagon also sent a memo to Austin indicating that blanket denials of religious accommodation requests flirted with breaking the law.
Some troops took a different tactic and fought the mandate on the basis that the DOD can only mandate FDA-approved vaccines, which some of the Covid vaccines at the time were not. The claim argued that the military was using a form of the vaccine that was under the Emergency Use Authorization provision and not FDA pre-approved. Then-DOD official, Terri Adirim, replied in another memo the two vaccines were interchangeable.
Despite the repeated challenges from troops and the massive loss of forces, the Biden administration refused to back down and reverse the mandate until House and Senate Republicans used the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes defense spending, to strong-arm the administration into repealing the mandate. In a statement released in conjunction with Austin’s memo, the Pentagon said, “This recession requirement was established by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.”
The Pentagon’s statement continued, “The health and readiness of the Force are crucial to the Department’s ability to defend our nation. Secretary Austin continues to encourage all Service members, civilian employees, and contractor personnel to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 to ensure Total Force readiness.”
Austin’s memo stated, “No individuals currently serving in the Armed Forces shall be separated solely on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds.”
The memo went on to clarify that the military would also remove adverse actions that were solely associated with denials of accommodation requests for troops, including any letters of reprimand, which could be career-ending.
The memo also noted that the military would stop any current reviews of accommodation requests for service members.
The correspondence did include a section indicating that the DOD would still take action against unvaccinated troops saying, “Other standing Departmental policies, procedures, and processes regarding immunization remain in effect. These include the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions, including when vaccination is required for travel to, or entry into, a foreign nation.”
Austin concluded his memo by noting that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness would be issuing additional guidance to “ensure uniform implementation” of the memo. Recently, the Coast Guard and Army have both issued guidance only to have it retracted hours later. It just goes to show that the military leadership has never considered any alternatives to the vaccine mandate.
Meanwhile, Republicans have vowed to fight for the reinstatement of discharged troops with backpay in 2023. The question remains though, how many discharged service members will return to a military that denied their civil liberties, attempted to silence their voices, and turned its back on them? Unfortunately, the answer is probably, too few. Austin’s memo is like Biden’s border visit – too little, too late.
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While Russian President Vladimir Putin made a questionable visit to neighboring Belarus, the Kremlin began calling on the U.S. to avoid further escalation of the war in Ukraine over Washington’s support for the war-torn country. The warning from the Kremlin comes as concerns mount that Belarusian forces could join the fighting in Ukraine and only days after the Pentagon announced that it would be providing long-range Patriot defense systems, with long-range missiles, to Ukraine.
According to Russian state media reports, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced Monday that the “dangerous and short-sighted policy” of the U.S. has put it “on the brink of a direct clash” with Russia.
Zakharova continued, “It is the US’ desire to maintain American hegemony at all costs… as well as its arrogant unwillingness to engage in a serious dialogue on security guarantees” that led to the current war in Ukraine.
The statements come as a reaction to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price recently blaming Russia for the deterioration of US-Russia relations calling them “unstable nd unpredictable.”
Zakharova’s Monday remarks continued with her saying, “After teh high-profile fiasco in Afghanistan, America is increasingly drawn into a new conflict, not only supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev financially and with weapons, but also increasing its military presence on the ground.” It was unclear what “presence on the ground” Zakharova was referring to, but there have been multiple reports that US intelligence has been assisting Ukrainians more with different aspects of the war including targeting.
The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson concluded Monday’s statement saying, “This is a dangerous and short-sighted policy that puts the US and Russia on the brink of a direct clash. For its part, Moscow urges the Joe Biden administration to soberly assess the situation and not to unleash a spiral of dangerous escalation. We hope that they will hear us in Washington, though there is no reason for optimism so far.”
The warning comes after the US agreed to give in to persistent Ukrainian requests for Patriot missile systems and also after it was revealed last week that US intelligence had helped Ukrainian forces identify, locate, and target multiple Russian generals during the beginning of the war.
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On Tuesday, a senior Biden administration official and multiple U.S. defense officials confirmed that President Biden is finalizing a deal to send Patriot defense missiles to Ukraine in what is being seen as a potential tipping point in the war. CNN reported, “The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine that could be announced as soon as this week, according to two US officials and a senior administration official.”
Given that the Patriot missile system would be the longest-range missile provided to Ukraine thus far if approved, concerns are mounting that it could lead to direct confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.
The move comes after months of pleas from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for the missile system to help the war-torn country “close the sky.”
The U.S. and its allies, including Britain, have been reluctant to send the missiles, given that with a range of up to 300km, the Patriot missile system would give Ukraine the power to strike well within Russian territory.
While neighboring Poland has had Patriot missile systems, Ukrainian leaders have been requesting them from Western leaders due to increased missile and drone strikes from Russia targeting Ukrainian infrastructure. The deal comes after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging Western countries to supply the missile systems along with additional anti-air systems and aircraft.
According to the defense officials, Ukrainian forces will be trained to operate the Patriot systems at a U.S. Army base in Germany which will delay the delivery of the Patriots.
While the White House is expected to claim that the systems are being deployed due to their air-defense capabilities, Ukraine is anticipating an escalation in airstrikes from Moscow in response to the announcement of the deal.
What has now been identified as a Russian-made, but Ukrainian-launched S-300 air defense missile, landed in the village of Przewodow in eastern Poland on Tuesday, 15 miles from the Ukrainian border. The errant missile landed on a grain silo and the explosion killed 2 people.
Immediately following the incident, Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki called an urgent meeting with the government committee for national security and defense affairs while Poland’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that a “Russia-made” missile had landed on the border with Ukraine and summoned the Russian ambassador for a meeting.
The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying that the country had not engaged in “strikes against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” as Polish sources had claimed. The Russian statement went on to accuse Poland of attempting to escalate the situation. While the Pentagon said that it could not corroborate the reports at the time, a senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters that Russian missiles crossed into Poland, killing two people and a Pentagon spokesperson said that the U.S. was ready to “defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President, Joe Biden, offered his condolences to Polish President, Andrzej Duda...
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Democrats and NeoCons are rushing toward nuclear war with Russia, and even President Biden seems resigned to that possibility. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis has the nuclear clock ticked closer to midnight. The federal government is so concerned they have purchased $290 million in drugs to combat radiation sickness. New York city has run public service ads for what to do in the event of a nuclear war. And former and current military leaders talk openly about winning such a war. They seem to believe that a nuclear exchange would be limited to the Ukraine, therefore acceptable. What they do not know is the mind of Putin and his generals.
From the first days of the war, it was clear that on paper, Russia should easily have beaten the Ukrainian army, but Western intervention has evened the odds. Russians have lost territory over the past few months due to their own military weaknesses in combination with NATO weapons deliveries. The US has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions in aid, irrespective of the disposition of those arms and money. Reports have been that much of the equipment is not reaching frontline units, rather sold.
During Russia-Ukraine negotiations for a ceasefire in March 2022, where Russian’s main demand was permanent Ukrainian neutrality, failed when Western nations pushed for a military victory for Ukraine, along with regime change in Russia. As a result, the war continued, and thousands more were killed, wounded or made homeless.
Now, more than seven months later, Western intervention has convinced the Ukrainians and NATO nations that the war is winnable. Media and the political class continue to fan the flames of war. Worse, they provide an endless parade of former generals to explain how Putin’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons, while possible, would only lead to a NATO response that would destroy the Russian army. Foreign affairs experts explain to us how Putin is a desperate, isolated madman who needs to be removed. How can they not see that cornering the proverbial wounded animal is not a good idea. This is the same madman whose army we threaten to destroy should he use tactical nuclear weapons, without mentioning that might possibly result in his use of thermonuclear weapons on the US and Western Europe. They forget that Saddam Hussein expected the Gulf War to be limited to Kuwait, only to find the US strategy was to eliminate “centers of gravity”. It is a core principle of US military strategy.
Gen. Sergey Surovikin has now been named the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin is a veteran of brutal wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, and most recently Syria, where he earned the nickname “General Armageddon”, for his indiscriminate destruction of Aleppo. In Syria, Surovikin bombed civilian targets, using everything from conventional to chemical weapons. It is clear with his appointment that Putin is willing to do anything to avoid defeat, including tactical nuclear weapons. In his first week as commander, Suroviken authorized the launching of missile and drone attacks on Kiev. It seems Western leaders did not contemplate his actions based on months of reporting an imminent Ukrainian victory.
Western leaders have forgotten the shocking information we gathered in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. For five decades, NATO operated under the assumption that neither side in a European war would resort to first use of nuclear weapons. The treasure trove of documents we obtained after the collapse indicated that not only were the use of nuclear weapons possible, but they were integral to Soviet war plans to defeat the airpower advantage NATO had over the Warsaw Pact. Their day one plans were to strike our airfields with chemical and nuclear weapons to disable our air forces, and deny the use of those bases by reinforcements.
If the generation now leading the Russian Federation, both politically and militarily, were trained in a system that used nuclear and chemical weapons as just one tool in their arsenal, it is also reasonable to assume the war in Ukraine could result in a tactical nuclear war, then escalate to nuclear Armageddon. Western leaders possess two of the most dangerous attributes -- naïveté and overconfidence. The American political leadership was 'selected' not for their experience, but their gender pronoun and ethnicity. Our military leadership has been promoted despite military failures in Afghanistan and Iraq for similar qualities as their civilian counterparts. We stand on the precipice of a nuclear war, with ideologs at the helm. Only time will tell, but our best hope may lie with the man they have declared a madman, and his willingness to exercise restraint.
A USAFA grad, Brent flew F-15 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. After completing his service, Brent immigrated to Israel, where he was drafted into IAF active service.
The Biden administration is preparing to sell $1.1 billion in missiles and radar support to Taiwan, according to an official familiar with the matter.
The package would include as much as $650 million in continued support for a surveillance radar sold earlier, about $90 million for roughly 100 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles as well as about 60 additional anti-ship Harpoon missiles, the official said. Both weapons have been sold to Taiwan previously.
The State Department informally notified Congress of the sale late Monday. Even though it offers Taiwan no new military capability, the move will anger China, which has become more aggressive in its military posture against the island...
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