Hey guys,
Welcome to the View from the Front podcast. If you just happened to stumble by, let me say a quick word about what we’re doing here.
For those who don’t know, my name is Stan R. Mitchell, and I’m a prior Marine and journalist.
Every week, I primarily do three things with my podcast:
Work to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots and foreign policy news you absolutely should know. (Why I focus on foreign policy...)
Attempt to unite our country and remind us of how lucky we are to live in America. Our division and animosity toward each other is dangerous, and I want to do my small part to remind us that more unites us than divides us, and that most Americans are good and not screaming, crazy extremists like you see on the news all the time. (My thoughts on the division in this country...)
Finally, I always share plenty of motivation and wisdom at the end of the episode, because I want to do my small part to help encourage you and lift you up. Life is certainly hard, and I think it’s fair to say all of us need all the motivation and encouragement that we can possibly get.
In this episode, we’ll be discussing several topics, that I think will really interest you, and that I almost guarantee you haven’t seen in the news! T
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Enough of the sales pitch, I hope you enjoy today’s edition. Again, you should listen to it from the player above.
Source notes:
U.S. news:
US launches airstrikes in Syria after drone kills US worker
A strike Thursday by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded five American troops and another contractor in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said. American forces said they retaliated soon after with “precision airstrikes” in Syria targeting facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, with activist groups saying they killed at least four people.
The attack and the U.S. response threaten to upend recent efforts to deescalate tensions across the wider Middle East, whose rival powers have made steps toward détente in recent days after years of turmoil.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the American intelligence community had determined the drone was of Iranian origin, but offered no other immediate evidence to support the claim.
Things continue to remain tense with U.S. forces in the region of Syria and Iraq.
There was some reporting and video showing additional attacks by Iranian forces against the U.S. base on Friday. (See below.)
But I couldn’t find wider corroboration of that attack, and by Saturday, all I could find was this:
Nothing seems to have happened since then, but I’ll keep you posted.
I will add one other thing. In some of the discussions that happened with readers, one asked:
The answer to that is that this a continuation of the fight against ISIS.
He then asked a great follow-up question:
The reality is that this goes back to Trump, then Obama before Trump, and then probably on back to Bush before that.
This is one of those classic missions that just kind of keeps on going. If we had a Congress that did its job, there’d be discussion about our larger goals, why we’re there, who we’re fighting, etc, but you’re not seriously expecting Congress to do its job are you?!
Still, on a serious note, this is deadly dangerous. The risks of wider escalation are real.
Iran’s govt has a desire to escalate tensions and fighting following the protests inside its country, to rally public support against the “evil West and America.”
At the same time, Biden’s going to be looking to show strength following the Afghan withdrawal.
So, both sides will not be afraid to strike back to look strong, and this wouldn’t be the first time where something like that escalated into a conflict larger than either side initially intended.
Senate votes to repeal Iraq War power authorizations, 20 years after US invasion
The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal authorizations for the use of military force against Iraq, a significant moment as lawmakers aim to reassert authority in military intervention abroad.
The legislation now goes to the US House of Representatives for a vote. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has signaled support for it and said it would likely be brought to the floor. With bipartisan support for the repeal, the measure appears to have a good chance of passing the chambers, though it’s still unclear if lawmakers will try to amend it.
The vote comes on the heels of the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
The White House said it supports the measure to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of force in Iraq. If it passes both chambers, it would mark a formal conclusion to the conflicts and a symbolic reassertion of Congress’ ability to declare war.
In other news, it appears America is pulling back a bit from flying too close to Russian forces in the southern part of Ukraine, even though it is international air space.
Pentagon Chief Won’t Deny Ceding Airspace to Russia After Drone Confrontation
America’s top military official would not deny that the U.S. is now limiting its intelligence-gathering operations in international airspace over the Black Sea following a confrontation this month in which two Russian fighter jets downed a U.S. drone.
Speaking before Congress on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would say only that the U.S. “will fly the paths we feel necessary to collect intelligence information” in response to questions about recent reports – based on anonymous officials – that say the U.S. is only conducting surveillance operations in the southern half of the strategically critical seaway directly south of Ukraine.
And Russia continues to play silly games.
This is remarkably dangerous and stupid.
In other news, I came across this by chance this weekend and thought it really was a great statement for what the United States stands for.
Russia and Ukraine news:
The AP had a great story about Zelenskyy, which involved a series of interviews they had with him as he toured various parts of the country — including the frontline — by train.
Obviously, the trip was secret and the interviews weren’t published until after the trip ended.
But the story is remarkable and absolutely worth the read.
Here are just a few nuggets from it:
On why Bakhmut had to be defended…
If Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, their president, Vladimir Putin, would “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran,” Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
“If he will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push,” Zelenskyy said in English, which he used for virtually all of the interview.
On what might happen in the spring and in the future of the war…
The president makes few predictions about the biggest question hanging over the war: how it will end. He expressed confidence, however, that his nation will prevail through a series of “small victories” and “small steps” against a “very big country, big enemy, big army” — but an army, he said, with “small hearts.”
On what has happened to Ukraine as a country since it was invaded more than a year ago…
While Zelenskyy acknowledged that the war has “changed us,” he said that in the end, it has made his society stronger.
“It could’ve gone one way, to divide the country, or another way — to unite us,” he said. “I’m so thankful. I’m thankful to everybody — every single partner, our people, thank God, everybody — that we found this way in this critical moment for the nation. Finding this way was the thing that saved our nation, and we saved our land. We are together.”
There’s also more proof that the fighting around Bakhmut has turned against the Russians. Here’s the head of the Wagner fighters — who have been doing the bulk of the fighting — saying things aren’t going so well…
Russia definitely appears to be on its back foot, anticipating a brutal Ukrainian attack in the coming weeks and months.
Here’s an example of the defensive positions being dug in Crimea, the southern part of Ukraine.
And here’s how that peninsula might be attacked, since this is the current reality of the place:
The answer:
In other news, we’ve been talking about this for a bit, but the first MIGs from Slovakia have arrived!!
The rest may have to be transported by rail. But a team of Ukrainian support staff and pilots went to evaluate and fly four of them back.
The others will need to be repaired and probably worked on inside Ukraine where there are still trained MIG repair folks who can fix them. (As a reminder, once the Russian technical folks left Slovakia, Slovakia no longer had the ability to repair and maintain them. Thus, Slovakia is now waiting on F-16s from NATO.)
I’ve got a feeling tanks are soon going to worsen Putin’s nightmares…
Moving along, Putin continues to do a great job of uniting Europe against him.
Nordic countries move toward linking their air forces: 250 planes.
From the story:
The first of its kind between the Nordic states, the declaration was signed March 16 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany by the commanders of the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish air forces.
The concept of a joint Nordic air force, comprising about 250 modern front-line combat aircraft, has been the subject of periodic discussions between the regional governments since the mid-1990s.
Sweden’s and Finland’s unaligned status remained an impediment to advancing talks and joint initiatives. But with the two countries primed to join NATO, Nordic governments find themselves on more solid ground to discuss a common action plan to create a so-called mini-NATO that would deliver a formidable and unified air force capability.
And even before the ink is dry on the above story, there’s talk about this:
Also, Putin tried to threaten the world again: Putin says Russia will station tactical nukes in Belarus.
But that was knocked down pretty fast by new friend and ally China.
China news:
China Threatens Consequences over US Warship's Actions
China threatened “serious consequences” Friday after the United States Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its sovereignty and security.
The warning comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States in the region, as Washington pushes back at Beijing's growingly assertive posture in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway it claims virtually in its entirety.
These islands — occupied by China — are also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
The U.S. Navy called the ship’s movement a “freedom of navigation operation."
The U.S. position is summed up in this statement from the story:
“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations,” U.S. 7th Fleet spokesperson Lt. j.g. Luka Bakic said in an emailed statement.
And we just talked about this last week on the podcast…
US F-22s land in Philippines for first time, furthering defense ties
Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors landed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines last week in a move signaling increased defense efforts between the two countries.
During the exercise, U.S. pilots from the Alaska-based 525th Fighter Squadron joined aviators from the Philippine Air Force’s 5th Fighter Wing for low-altitude flyovers, air combat maneuvering, formation training, and, with help from a KC-135 Stratotanker, air-to-air refueling over the heavily contested South China Sea.
“This was the first time that F-22s, or any fifth-generation aircraft, have landed on and operated out of the Philippines,” Capt. Karl Schroeder, one of the Raptor pilots, said in a release. “This milestone with a regional ally aids in providing stability and security to the Indo-Pacific.”
U.S. wants allies to line up against China. Europe is starting to listen.
In Biden’s alliance of democracies, Europe has been at best ambivalent on China. Some of the most important countries, such as France and Germany, have worried that decoupling from China would cause too much economic pain.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Europeans are starting to pay more attention to Biden’s message about the dangers of dependence on dictatorships. With urgency like never before, they are restricting exports of chip-making equipment to China, banning TikTok on government devices and pushing protectionist trade policy. Even long-time holdout Germany, the European Union’s biggest economy and a heavy investor in China, is starting to question its business-first ethos.
Something that Pentagon planners are probably looking at (and maybe increasingly Congress, too):
Middle East news:
In other news, in case you haven’t heard, things are getting pretty ugly in Israel as massive protests against the current government under Benjamin Netanyahu continue.
This was earlier this week:
These numbers were massive, as indicated below.
More context.
The protests are against a plan for judicial reform, which critics say would make Netanyahu too powerful and protected from prosecution.
As the political crisis escalated, Netanyahu fired his defense minister.
That set off even larger protests, with some military reservists pledging to pull out of their service in opposition to the plans.
The unrest continues, but it looks as though the protests have worked.
This should relieve some tension in Israel.
Although foreign policy expert Richard Haass says this is about oh-so-much more than simply the judicial plans.
Here’s more reporting on the whole commotion.
Opposition to Netanyahu plan mounts as unions launch a broad strike across Israel
Tech news:
For big fans of the A-10 Warthog — note, I am one of them lol — this could be some great news.
It looks like the A-10 may have found another potential mission, other than ripping anti-tank missiles at armored columns or shredding troops and vehicles with its 30 mm cannon.
From the story:
The saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ apparently does not apply to the A-10 Warthog, because an A-10 squadron proved last month that the vaunted close air support platform can also be used to confuse enemy air defenses so friendly bombers can attack targets without as high a risk of being shot down.
The new tactic revolves around the ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD), a 300-pound aircraft that can be launched mid-air and duplicate the signature and flight profile of other aircraft. Since they mimic actual aircraft on a radar screen, MALDs make it more difficult for enemy air defense operators to decide which blips on their radar are actual threats. This has the effect of “inducing confusion and noise into the enemy air defense picture and complicating their tactical decision-making,” Maj. Maurice “SPAWN” Grosso, an A-10 pilot, wrote in an essay for Task & Purpose in May.
Note: an A-10 can carry up to 16 MALDs below its wings.
This might be something that could extend the life of A-10s, which have already nearly been decommissioned and phased out dozens of times.
Motivation and Wisdom:
As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love
That’s it for this edition.
As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.
So many men and women have sacrificed, fought, and died to keep this country together the past 240-plus years. Please work daily to unite our country again. The vast majority of Americans are decent, loving, great people.
Also, please try to be a better person each and every day. Try to be kinder on social media and how you interact with others with whom you disagree.
Please join me again in our next episode, and please stay safe until then.
And with that, I’m out.
Subscribed
Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational self-help book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan. You can find all of these books on Amazon.
P.P.S. Want to know more about me? Click here: About me. You can also learn more about my journey here: Writers are crazy, and I’m crazier than most.
Podcast Episode 3-30-23