U.S., Netherlands to Give Ukraine Refurbished Soviet-Era Tanks

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The U.S. is teaming up with the Netherlands to upgrade 90 Soviet-era tanks that will be shipped to Ukraine with new armor, optics and communications gear. Dutch defense officials told reporters some of the tanks could arrive in the country as early as next month.

U.S. officials confirmed the deal for the Czech T-72 tanks Friday at the Pentagon. It’s part of a new $400 million security assistance package for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance initiative. Unlike the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) program, which draws military supplies from U.S. stocks, the USAI works with the defense industry to provide the firepower. (Read more from “U.S., Netherlands to Give Ukraine Refurbished Soviet-Era Tanks” HERE)

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Former Japanese Navy Commander Calls on Canada and West to Prepare for Chinese Invasion of Taiwan

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China is likely to invade Taiwan within five years unless Canada and other Western allies band together to send tough economic and military warnings to Beijing, says the former naval commander of Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force.

Retired vice-admiral Toshiyuki Ito told The Globe and Mail that he believes President Xi Jinping is determined to gain control of self-governing Taiwan, and he will use the full might of China’s military to do so.

“Within five years, he will do something. He will use force,” Mr. Ito said in an interview Wednesday that was arranged by the Japanese embassy in Ottawa.

He said the democratic world needs to prepare for a Chinese invasion and to use the threat of economic sanctions and military readiness to ward off Beijing, saying he doesn’t want to see Taiwan turn into another Hong Kong. In 2020, China imposed a national-security law on Hong Kong that has effectively criminalized dissent or free speech.

Mr. Ito said he would like to see the Royal Canadian Navy continue military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region and even join an informal four-country defense and security alliance involving the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. (Read more from “Former Japanese Navy Commander Calls on Canada and West to Prepare for Chinese Invasion of Taiwan” HERE)

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Austin, South Korean Defense Chief Issue Stark Warning After Fresh North Korean Missile Barrage

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed Thursday that any nuclear attack from North Korea against the United States or South Korea would mean the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. The statement came hours after Pyongyang launched a fresh missile barrage that included a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that has sent tensions soaring across the region.

Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup was in Washington on Thursday for previously scheduled high-level talks. Topping the agenda was the record number of launches by Pyongyang this week, including nearly two dozen missiles on Wednesday alone, the most in a single day. The North has said its latest display — which some see as a prelude to a nuclear weapons test — is in protest of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it considers a threat to its security.

Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a statement that it was Washington and Seoul that were “shoving” the situation out of control with the decision to extend substantial military drills that kicked off Monday.

“The United States and South Korea will find that they have made a terrible mistake that cannot be reversed,” Mr. Pak said.

The joint U.S.-South Korean statement is “a strong warning” to North Korea, Mr. Lee told reporters during a joint press conference at the Pentagon. The two allies announced that the training exercises would not only continue but be extended beyond their scheduled closing date. (Read more from “Austin, South Korean Defense Chief Issue Stark Warning After Fresh North Korean Missile Barrage” HERE)

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Russian Official Lists Reasons Why Putin Had ‘No Other Choice’ but War

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Magomedsalam Magomedov, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, listed four reasons justifying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“The open support and promotion of the neo-Nazi ideology, a speedy militarization of Ukraine, constant calls for the annexation of Russian territories, an increasing threat to our national security and stability left our country’s President Vladimir Putin no other choice but to launch the special military operation,” Magomedov said on Thursday, according to Russian news agency Tass. . .

“This was not an easy decision but an extremely necessary one, first of all, for the sake of the future of our country, our children and grandchildren,” he explained. “This decision is supported by a prevailing majority of the Russian people.” (Read more from “Russian Official Lists Reasons Why Putin Had ‘No Other Choice’ but War” HERE)

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U.S. Forces Now on the Ground in Ukraine; Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says

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By American Military News. U.S. military personnel are now on the ground in Ukraine, keeping track of and inspecting weapons the U.S. has shipped to Ukrainian forces, a senior defense official announced during a Pentagon background briefing on Monday. These U.S. personnel are some of the first the Pentagon has acknowledged have entered Ukraine since Russia launched its large scale invasion of the country in February.

The senior defense official who spoke on background during an official Pentagon event, said, “U.S. personnel have recently resumed on-site inspections to assess weapon stocks in country whenever and wherever the security conditions allow.” The official said “the return of our defense attaché and Office of Defense Cooperation personnel in country has allowed us to resume this critical function.”

The U.S. Defense attaché for Ukraine is U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Garrick Harmon.

The Biden administration ordered U.S. troops out of Ukraine in February just days before Russia launched its invasion. The Associated Press reported the administration did return some troops to provide security at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv earlier this year. (Read more from “U.S. Forces Now on the Ground in Ukraine” HERE)

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Most Troops Deployed for Ukraine Response Still in Europe

By Military Times. Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops were mobilized throughout central and eastern Europe in the early months of this year, first in anticipation of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and then in response to it.

Most of those troops are still posted in partner nations, training with local troops and otherwise assuring NATO countries that the U.S. will respond if Russia takes the fight beyond Ukraine.

“So right now, the intent is to keep troop levels at the same level as they’ve been,” a senior military official told Military Times on Monday during a background briefing. “We have no announcements to make in terms of any changes to that in the near term.”

A small number of those originally mobilized have since redeployed, according to the latest numbers.

The remaining members of the 300-soldier XVIII Airborne Corps headquarters deployment returned from Germany over the weekend, the unit announced Monday. (Read more from “Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says” HERE)

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Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says

By Washington Examiner. Russia has deployed some of its feared hypersonic ballistic missiles to Belarus, according to U.K. intelligence.

The AS-24 Killjoy, or “Kinzhal,” is seen by many as the pride of the Russian military, being one area in which Russia possibly surpasses the capabilities of the United States. The missile, launched from a MiG-31K fighter, is nearly impossible to intercept due to its hypersonic speed, can carry either a conventional or nuclear payload, and has a range of around 1,240 miles, according to an analysis from the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

The purpose of the alleged deployment of the advanced missiles to Belarus is debated, with the most prominent theories portraying it as a warning to the West, a way to further bring Belarus into the war in Ukraine, or as a sign that it could further increase its missile strikes into Ukraine, which has battered its infrastructure in recent weeks.

“Russia has fielded KILLJOY since 2018, but it has not previously been deployed in Belarus. Russia has occasionally launched these weapons during the Ukraine war, but stocks are likely very limited,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense claimed in an intelligence update on the war in Ukraine. (Read more from “Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says” HERE)

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Netanyahu Poised for Comeback in Israel Election, Exit Polls Show

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Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared well placed to return to power after exit polls following Tuesday’s election showed his right-wing bloc heading for a narrow majority lifted by a strong showing from his far-right allies.

Israel’s longest-serving premier, on trial over corruption charges which he denies, was poised to take 61-62 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, according to Israeli television exit polls.

The early exit polls may differ from the final result of the election, which is not expected until later in the week but the results pointed to a stronger-than-expected showing by the right.

Israel’s fifth election in less than four years exasperated many Israeli voters. (Read more from “Netanyahu Poised for Comeback in Israel Election, Exit Polls Show” HERE)

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Cryptic Messages Could Prove Wuhan Lab Leak After Scientists Refer to ‘Opening Pandora’s Box’ Weeks Before Outbreak

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. . .An expert on language used by China’s officials believes he has found clues in phrases such as scientists talking about opening a “Pandora’s box”.

Toy Reid was part of a team of researchers who worked on a US Senate investigation into the idea that Covid leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). . .

He was able find a way to access messages archived on the website of the WIV and began decoding the language. . .

But then he came across one message lamented a lack of “equipment and technology standards, no design and construction teams, and no experience operating or maintaining” such a lab. . .

One message read “once you have opened the stored test tubes, it is just as if having opened Pandora’s Box” adding “these viruses come without a shadow and leave without a trace”. (Read more from “Cryptic Messages Could Prove Wuhan Lab Leak After Scientists Refer to ‘Opening Pandora’s Box’ Weeks Before Outbreak” HERE)

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Terror Wave in Judea and Samaria Continues as Israel Heads to Elections

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A Hamas-affiliated terrorist opened fire with an M-16 rifle in the Givat Ha’avot neighborhood of Kiryat Arba near Hebron on Saturday night, killing one and wounding five. This is yet another terror incident in a wave of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria as Israel heads to elections to decide the 25th Knesset.

While initial reports claimed that the shooting targeted the home of MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, an outspoken member of Israel’s right-wing bloc and chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party, the IDF later clarified that the terror attack did not target the lawmaker, despite being carried out near his home.

The victim was identified as Ronen Hanania, a 49-year-old resident of the area. Hanania’s son Daniel, who was in the car with his father at the time of the attack and one of the wounded, told Channel 12 News: “We were shot at; my father was hit in the head and I watched him die. I knew there was no chance he’d survive.” After escaping the car, the younger Hanania was helped by several Arabs in a shop, who bandaged his hand and applied a homemade tourniquet to his wound before he was eventually evacuated to a nearby hospital.

Ofer Ohana, a Kiryat Arba community activist and paramedic, was shot and seriously injured as he responded to the scene. The Rescuers Without Borders organization issued a statement, saying, “We are all praying for the recovery of Ofer Ohana, a Rescuers Without Borders Judea and Samaria volunteer who was wounded in the attack near Kiryat Arba when he rushed to the scene to save a life.” Two Israelis and an Arab were also among the other victims, all of whom sustained minor injuries. (Read more from “Terror Wave in Judea and Samaria Continues as Israel Heads to Elections” HERE)

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Russia Is Right: The West Lied About Ukraine

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This is from the memoir of current head of CIA William Burns. In 1989 he served under Secretary of State James Baker in a strategic planning role as communism fell. Here he outlines negotiations re German reunification – take note of highlighted part in context of Ukraine now.

More on the negotiations – the Russians aren’t lying about NATO:

More from Burns. Here he is discussing how the Russian foreign policy establishment felt about NATO expansion in 1995 under Yeltsin, long before Putin was on the scene. No one listened then either:

Clinton went ahead with NATO expansion despite warnings from US embassy in Moscow that it was a bad idea. Here is Burns noting that George Kennan, who developed original containment policy toward USSR, viewed it as huge error:

And here is Burns summing up his view of NATO expansion – keep in mind he published this in 2019, before this current war.

(For more from the author of “Russia Is Right: The West Lied About Ukraine” please click HERE)

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Putin: ‘New World Order’ Will Compensate for Russia’s Losses in Ukraine War

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will “accelerate” the inauguration of a “new world order based on law and justice” in which economic and political gains will justify the losses sustained thus far, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We’re facing a historic milestone,” Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club in a Thursday address. “Ahead of us is possibly the most dangerous, unpredictable, and, at the same time, crucial decade since the end of the Second World War.”

Putin took the stage against a backdrop of international anxiety about the risk of nuclear escalation in Ukraine and domestic Russian anger that a series of Ukrainian successes forced the Kremlin to send unprepared conscripts to the front lines. Putin insisted that “a flare-up” of some sort “would have happened regardless of how Russia could have acted in Ukraine” due to a purported decline in Western power and maintained that his policies would “accelerate” that process.

“Yes, there are some issues — I refer to the losses incurred due to the special military operation — and I always say that, yes, there are economic losses, but there are also enormous acquisitions,” Putin said through an interpreter. “What is happening, indubitably, in the end — I emphasize that — in the end, will benefit Russia and its future. Why is that? Because it’ll help reinforce our sovereignty in all domains, and in particular, in the economic field.” . . .

Yet Putin countered that Russia has proven more resilient than Western officials would have expected and pivoted to an argument that a “new world order should be based on law and justice” — a prospect, he insisted, that would require the formation of a new international financial system impervious to U.S. sanctions. (Read more from “Putin: ‘New World Order’ Will Compensate for Russia’s Losses in Ukraine War” HERE)

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