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| On Monday, President Biden signed the massive $777.7 billion 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The bill authorizes $740.3 billion for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion for "Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction." Many media outlets are reporting the NDAA as a $768 billion bill, ignoring the additional $9.9 billion. Biden initially requested $753 billion for the NDAA, but Congress decided to add another $25 billion. The push to increase the NDAA was led by hawkish Republicans who argued that more spending was needed to confront China, but the effort ultimately received bipartisan support. With China being the Pentagon's main focus, a good portion of the spending bill will go towards the research, development, testing, and evaluation for new weapons technology, known as RDT&E. The NDAA authorizes over $117 billion for RDT&E, which will be used to develop hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, space and cyber capabilities, and other advanced weaponry. |
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| After the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989 and the death of the Soviet Union was confirmed two years later when Boris Yeltsin courageously stood down the Red Army tanks in front of Moscows White House, a dark era in human history came to an end. The world had descended into a 77-Year War, incepting with the mobilization of the armies of old Europe in August 1914. If you want to count bodies, 150 million were killed by all the depredations that germinated in the Great War, its foolish aftermath at Versailles, and the march of history into World War II and the Cold War that followed inexorably thereupon. Upwards of 8% of the human race was wiped out during that span. The toll encompassed the madness of trench warfare during 1914-1918; the murderous regimes of Soviet and Nazi totalitarianism that rose from the ashes of the Great War and the follies of Versailles; and then the carnage of WWII and all the lesser (unnecessary) wars and invasions of the Cold War including Korea and Vietnam. |
| I hope you know this by now, but on Christmas morning the Russian military announced a sizable troop withdrawal from Russian territory near Ukraine. The New York Post's Eileen AJ Connelly jumped on the story. At noon Saturday her piece, "Over 10,000 Russian troops leaving Ukraine border region after month of drills", was posted. While the drawdown was announced without fanfare, it might represent the first quid for the quo's that President Vladimir Putin expects from U.S. negotiators next month in talks originally proposed by President Joe Biden. How to explain the silence of the corporate media on the troop pullout? One can imagine the reaction of the eggnog-ed elite running our foreign-policy/media strategy upon hearing the news. "Another Russian dirty trick, announcing this on Christmas day! Who is in good shape enough to prepare our customary press guidance? You know, our Daily Memo for the Media? We also need to focus on what subtle treachery lies behind this ostensibly conciliatory move by Russia." |
| | On Wednesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned time is running out on the Vienna Iran nuclear deal talks and said the deadline will come "within weeks" if an agreement isnt reached. Sullivan said there is "still room for a diplomatic effort," but warned the timeframe to reach a deal is not long. He made the comments from Israel, where he met with Israeli officials and reportedly assured them the US was willing to take a harder line on Iran if necessary. The Vienna talks are currently on pause and are set to resume on Monday, December 27th. Since the negotiations restarted, the US and its European allies have been accusing Iran of not taking the talks seriously. Meanwhile, the US has ramped up the pressure on Tehran with new sanctions and close coordination with Israel. |
| More than 10,000 Russian troops are returning to their permanent bases after drills in the region near Ukraine, Russia's Interfax news agency reported Saturday. "A stage of combat coordination of divisions, combat crews, squads at motorized units has been completed. More than 10,000 military servicemen will march to their permanent deployment from the territory of the combined arms' area of drills," Interfax said, quoting the Russian army. The Interfax report said the drills were held in Crimea and the southern Russian regions of Rostov and Kuban. Since November, the US has been warning that Russia is planning an invasion of Ukraine based on a troop buildup in the region. But Moscow has strongly denied the charge and points to the increase in US and NATO activity in the region as the source of tensions. |
| For the second time this month, Israel has attacked the Syrian port of Latakia. This was a much larger attack, with massive damage reported across the city, and huge explosions causing fires in several areas.
Warplanes attacked from the Mediterranean, and exactly what was damaged or targeted remains uncertain. Israel has again refused to comment on the strike.
Early reports are that residential areas were damaged, and one of the city's hospitals. Strikes around the port area also hit an area with shipping containers, damaging them. |
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