Hey guys!
Welcome to the show! In this episode, we’ll be discussing several topics, which you probably haven’t seen in the news. As I always say, our media does a terrible job covering our military and potential hotspots, so I’m hoping to fill this void.
But, in addition to ending the podcast with some awesome motivation and wisdom, we’ll cover:
Timestamp: 1:27. Since it’s the episode after Memorial Day, I wanted to honor two special people who gave their lives in service of our country.
Timestamp: 4:49. Erdogan wins new election in Turkey run-off race.
Timestamp: 6:34. Correction to last week’s reporting: new video emerges showing that three sea drones that attacked the Russian intelligence gathering ship, the Ivan Khurs, actually succeeded in hitting it. At least one of them did, that is.
Timestamp: 11:32 ‘It’s Time’: Ukraine’s Top Commander Says Counteroffensive Is Imminent.
Timestamp: 22:40. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s capital has been under relentless drone and missile attacks the past few days.
Timestamp: 24:02. But Ukraine — or some internal foe of Putin inside Russia — has hit back. Moscow grapples with drone strikes on residences, hours after another attack on Kyiv.
Timestamp: 25:46. Putin continues to seem unconcerned with it all. Barely noting war in public, Putin acts like time is on his side.
Timestamp: 27:33. The price of natural gas in the EU hits a two-year low.
Timestamp: 29:26. US says Chinese jet conducted ‘unnecessarily aggressive maneuver’ intercepting US spy plane over South China Sea.
Timestamp: 31:29. China rejects U.S. request for a meeting of the defense chiefs.
Timestamp: 33:01. Afghanistan sends additional troops to the border after fighting flares up with Iran.
Timestamp: 35:23. The best part of the show. The motivation and wisdom part.
Timestamp: 46:38. And if you want to learn more about me, my hope for the country (and for those listening), and about the 11 books I’ve written, jump to here on the podcast.
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:
Cover emerging hotspots and foreign policy news that you absolutely should know. (Why I focus on foreign policy...)
Work to unite our country and remind us of how lucky we are to live in America. (My thoughts on the division in this country...)
And finally, I always share plenty of motivation and wisdom at the end of each episode.
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!
The work I do each week is primarily a podcast. You can listen to it from the player above, or from whatever podcast you listen to it from.
And if you love what I’m doing here, please sign up for email notifications. It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. It’s $5 per month should you choose that option, and you can cancel at any time.
Subscribing also gets you The View from the Front Extended. This is a Monday update that comes out as a newsletter and is a way to provide value and thank my paying subscribers.
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But you don’t have to do any of these things. I’ve already had incredible support and feel called to do this. As long as I’m making enough to cover the time I invest each week, I’m not going anywhere. Why paid subscriptions help, and what they’d help me do more of...
Enough of the sales pitch, I hope you enjoy today’s edition. Again, you should listen to it from the player above.
Source notes:
Hey guys,
Since it’s the day after Memorial Day, I wanted to honor two special people who gave their lives in service of our country.
The first one was a big reason I ended up joining the Marine Corps.
Bobby Fisher, who retired as a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps, was a man I looked up to as a young boy. He was probably the only Marine I really knew before joining, and I recognized and respected how different he was. He was a quiet man, who always stood tall and pulled his share of the load, while never boasting or talking big.
Gunnery Sergeant Fisher served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and while he survived the combat, he’d struggle with and eventually succumb to a blood disease related to Gulf War Syndrome. (Some may quibble and say he didn’t die in service or combat, but this man left Grainger County a strong man and upon his return, soon found himself struggling with an undiagnosed disease, losing weight and strength and unable to work or do anything physical. He’d die at the young age of 47, and believe me when I say his last years were miserable. I don’t care what anyone says, this man was killed by the war no differently than someone who took a bullet over there.)
The second man I’d like to honor is Lance Corporal Andre Foster, who I served with in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Lance Corporal Foster died in a dangerous stream crossing we were doing as part of our training at the Jungle Warfare Training Center in Okinawa.
I’ll post a tribute one of his close friends wrote about him below. But just like with Gunnery Sergeant Fisher, I can say I knew Lance Corporal Foster and he was a great man.
Turkey news:
Erdogan wins new election in Turkey run-off race
After securing a strong new mandate in a runoff presidential election, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan could temper some positions that have irritated his NATO allies. But observers predicted that the country’s longtime strongman leader is unlikely to depart from his policy of engaging with both Russia and the West.
Erdogan won reelection Sunday with more than 52% of the vote, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. He must now confront skyrocketing inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis and rebuild in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people and leveled entire cities.
After failing to secure victory outright in the first round of voting on May 14, Erdogan defeated opposition challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who had promised to put Turkey on a more democratic path and improve relations with the West.
Russia and Ukraine news:
New video emerges of the damage to the Ivan Khurs ship
‘It’s Time’: Ukraine’s Top Commander Says Counteroffensive Is Imminent
Ukraine’s top military commander signaled on Saturday morning that the nation’s forces were ready to launch their long-anticipated counteroffensive following months of preparations, including recently stepped-up attacks on logistical targets as well as feints and disinformation intended to keep Russian forces on edge.
“It’s time to get back what’s ours,” Ukraine’s supreme military commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, wrote in a statement.
The blunt statement, accompanied by a slickly produced video of Ukrainian troops preparing for battle and released on social media, appeared intended to rally a nation weary from 15 months of war and to deepen anxiety within the Russian ranks. But General Zaluzhnyi offered no indication of where and when Ukrainian forces might try to break Russia’s hold on occupied territory.
And if you want to see that video, you can watch it here:
Translated transcript of Ukrainian war video
Commander: 'Ukraine is my motherland. Lord our father who is in heaven. Bless me.'
Troops: 'Bless us.'
Commander: 'I am going to destroy.'
Troops: 'The enemies of my dear country, the murderers of my brothers, the rapists of my sisters.'
Commander: 'May my hand be firm.'
Troops: 'To slay our enemies.'
Commander: 'May my eyes be clear.'
Troops: 'To slay our enemies.'
Commander: 'Let my weapon be in good order.'
Troops: 'To slay our enemies.'
Commander: 'Let my will be of steel.'
Troops: 'To slay our enemies.'
Commander: 'Ukraine my native motherland.'
Troops: 'Lord our heavenly father, bless us. Our decisive offensive, our sacred vengeance, our holy victory.'
Text then says in Ukrainian: 'Join those who will raise the banner of our victory.'
Ukraine’s counteroffensive plan ‘impressive,’ Sen. Graham says
The Russians are “in for a rude awakening” when the Ukrainian counteroffensive begins, Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) told NatSec Daily following a weekend trip to Kyiv.
The lawmaker received a “deep dive” briefing on Ukraine’s military plans from President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY and his team, he said in a phone interview during his return home. “In the coming days, you’re going to see a pretty impressive display of power by the Ukrainians.”
Zelenskyy announced Monday that “decisions have been made” about when the troop movements will begin.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s capital has been under relentless drone and missile attacks the past few days.
Russia targets Kyiv with third wave of strikes in twenty-four hours
A month of relentless assaults on the capital has shaken a weary populace. Local officials said there had been 17 attacks in 30 days, rivaling some of the city’s worst moments since the invasion. Ukrainian officials have said the concentrated attacks were aimed at confusing and incapacitating its air defense systems, and at intimidating and exhausting civilians.
…
Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said the early morning attacks were the third wave aimed at the capital in 24 hours. A rare daytime barrage of ballistic missiles on Monday had sent residents, including schoolchildren carrying their backpacks, running for cover as the city’s air defense system shot down missiles.
The city was targeted with 11 ballistic missiles shortly after 11 a.m. on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials. There were no known deaths from the earlier attacks; one woman was injured, according to officials. Russia said Monday’s strikes had been aimed at air bases rather than civilians. Ukrainian officials said an airfield in western Ukraine was hit.
But Ukraine — or some internal foe of Putin inside Russia — has hit back.
Moscow grapples with drone strikes on residences, hours after another attack on Kyiv
In a rare attack deep inside Russian territory, at least two residential buildings in Moscow were hit by drones Tuesday morning, Moscow’s mayor said on Telegram. No one was seriously injured, the mayor said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine was behind the drone strikes, which it called a “terrorist attack.” Kyiv denied involvement. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify the claims.
The strikes came after Russia conducted its third aerial attack on Kyiv in 24 hours. Falling debris killed at least one person and wounded at least four people, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The air raid was the 17th this month, he said.
Putin continues to seem unconcerned with it all.
Barely Noting War in Public, Putin Acts Like Time Is on His Side
Pro-Ukrainian fighters stormed across the border into southwestern Russia this past week, prompting two days of the heaviest fighting on Russian territory in 15 months of war. Yet President Vladimir V. Putin, in public, ignored the matter entirely.
He handed out medals, met the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, hosted friendly foreign leaders and made televised small talk with a Russian judge about how Ukraine was not a real country.
In managing Russia’s biggest war in generations, Mr. Putin increasingly looks like a commander in chief in absentia: In public, he says next to nothing about the course of the war and betrays little concern about Russia’s setbacks. Instead, he is telegraphing more clearly than ever that his strategy is to wait out Ukraine and the West — and that he thinks he can win by exhausting his foes.
…
To mount a major new offensive, Western officials and analysts say that Mr. Putin would need to find new sources of ammunition — and impose a politically risky, second military draft to replenish his depleted troops. Still, the U.S. director of national intelligence, Avril D. Haines, told Congress this month that the chances that Mr. Putin would make any concessions in talks this year were “low,” unless he were to feel a domestic political threat.
China news:
A Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” during an intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last week, the US military said in a statement Tuesday.
The Chinese J-16 fighter cut directly in front of the nose of the US RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft on May 26, forcing the US plane to fly through the wake turbulence of the intercepting aircraft. In video of the incident released by the US military, the turbulence is evident as it disturbs the US aircraft along its flight path.
The RC-135 was conducting “safe and routine operations” in international airspace, US Indo-Pacific Command said.
…
China’s military said on Wednesday that a US spy plane “deliberately intruded” into China’s training area.
China rejects U.S. request for a meeting of the defense chiefs
Afghanistan news:
Motivation and Wisdom:
Let’s end this edition with plenty of motivation and wisdom.
Guys, you need to hear this. At least one of you out there needs to hear this.
Life is passing you by. You only get one shot at life, and you’re letting it slip through your fingers, day by day. Life has beaten you down, kicked you in the face, ignored you, punished you, rained on you, assailed you with illnesses and injuries, burdened you with debts and levels of despair that I know are breaking your spirit.
But you have to get up? Do you hear me? You have to get up.
You’re going to get up, get up now, and start fighting back. Do not let despair win. Get up and take a step to confront those things facing you now.
Do it now.
And let these following items lift your spirit and take you to a higher level. You can do this.
You’re meant to do this.
And you have to do this. For yourself. For your family. For your creator.
With all of that being said, I truly hope these help pick up your spirits, revive your hopes, and make you a better person.
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.
Love and peace,
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 6-1-23