Hi friends! Welcome to The View from the Front podcast, a show about military and defense news, designed for people who are serious about their love for this country, and who love their country more than they love their political party. It’s a show for moderates, who are sick of their news being from the left or the right, or being over-the-top and scary. I am the very opposite of most click-bait news, and I fully understand how frustrated most Americans feel at how divided we are. I feel the same way.
My name is Stan R. Mitchell and I’m a prior infantry Marine, who dropped the sword and picked up the pen. After joining the Marine Corps at the age of 17 to serve four years in the infantry, I exited military service, earned a degree, and spent ten years as a journalist and newspaper publisher, learning about how our government truly works. After nine years of owning a weekly newspaper, I went on to become an author and have written eleven books to date, and now I’m here, a twice-a-week podcaster, who’s still in love with both this country and the news. And I see this podcast as a small way to continue serving our country, doing my best to inform and unite us in a time that we’re as divided as we’ve probably been in a hundred years.
It is an absolute fact that our democracy doesn’t work if we don’t have informed voters, and I’m convinced that foreign-policy decisions are the most important decisions that we face as a country.
It’s crucial that we get our foreign-policy decisions right, and that we avoid our isolationist tendencies as a country. It’s also crucial that when we get them wrong, such as when we did in the Vietnam War, then the faster we can course correct, the faster we can reduce how many lives we lose.
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do think much can be gained from discussing these issues, and creating a community where we intelligently discuss the troubles confronting us, and where we work to come closer together and respect each other’s views with more patience and kindness.
A house divided cannot stand, and I strongly believe that more unites us than divides us. I will not remain silent while politicians seeking their own personal gain try to throw gas on a dangerous fire, doing their best to tear apart this country so that they can advance to a higher office. Our country has stood together for more than 240 years and it’s only together that we can pass on a better future for our kids.
With that small opening out of the way, let’s get to today’s edition.
What follows are the source notes for this podcast. I apologize that I don’t have time to type up well-written, full episodes as I used to do. I’m still working a full-time job and squeezing in my research and recording the episodes as best I can. Maybe in the future I’ll be able to do full write-ups, as well.
Source notes follow below, with subject heading in bold. (I again apologize for not being able to do full write-ups at this time.):
Ukraine:
International inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors are expected to visit the nuclear power plant in Ukraine where fighting is happening; occupied by Russians, but being operated by Ukrainian workers. CNN: IAEA to visit Zaporizhia nuclear plant 'in next few days,' as Ukraine officials hand out iodine pills
A senior Chinese official told the UN on Friday that just one incident might cause a serious nuclear accident “with irreversible consequences for the ecosystem and public health of Ukraine and its neighbouring countries”.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative at the UN, pointedly called on all parties involved “to exercise maximum restraint strictly abide by international law and minimise the risk of accidents”, adding: ”We must not allow the tragedies of the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents to be repeated.”
When Putin launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine in February, the Crimea-based fleet was at the center of the action, launching Kalibr cruise missiles at military and civilian targets deep into the country, blocking access to the country’s ports, and threatening an amphibious landing on Odesa.
Since those early days, however, Kyiv has seized the initiative as missile strikes and mysterious explosions have wreaked havoc on the Russian fleet, sinking several vessels — including its flagship cruiser the Moskva — and devastating its Crimea-based air wing in a dramatic attack this month.
…
Not only is the cruiser Moskva sitting at the bottom of the Black Sea, but days of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on the Russian-occupied Snake Island in May and June damaged or destroyed several smaller landing and transport ships the Russians had docked on the strategic island 22 miles off Ukraine’s southwest coast. The strikes also took out several modern air defense and radar systems, essentially ending Russia’s dominance of the sea and air and returning a key piece of land to Kyiv’s control.
After a few weeks in the field, the decoys drew at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles, an initial success that led Ukraine to expand the production of the replicas for broader use, said the senior Ukrainian official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
The use of rocket system decoys, which has not been reported previously, is one of many asymmetrical tactics Ukraine’s armed forces have adopted to fight back against a bigger and better-equipped invading enemy. In recent weeks, Kyiv’s operatives have blown up rail and electricity lines in occupied Russian territory, detonated explosives inside Russian arms depots and assassinated suspected collaborators.
…
U.S. defense officials say Russia’s stockpile of precision-guided missiles has been running low, and U.S. export controls on microchips are making it “a lot harder” for Russia to replenish those munitions, Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said earlier this month.
Eric K., who served 22 yrs in the Army, pointed out the following story to me.
China:
Tech news:
Web link: AFSOC to finally mount a laser weapon on an AC-130 gunship
Motivation and wisdom:
From the story:
TID states that the project will also serve as a "proof of concept" to further study "solar over canal design." The agency cites a 2021 University of California, Merced study, which showed that covering all of the approximately 4,000 miles of public water delivery system infrastructure in the state with solar panels could save an estimated 63 billion gns of water annually, as well as result in significant energy and cost savings.
"According to the study, the 13 gigawatts of solar power the panels would generate each year would equal about one-sixth of the state's current installed capacity," TID wrote on its website.
And then I always like to end with this one:
And with that, thanks for joining us this week on The View from the Front.
The View from the Front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!
Make sure to visit our website, stanrmitchell.substack.com, again, that’s stanrmitchell.substack.com. From there, you can subscribe to the show by email, so you’ll never miss a show.
As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.
Let’s all work together to unite this country.
So, 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.
Also, if you have a dream kicking around in the back of your mind? Go after it. If you have that friend or family member that you know you should reach out to? Reach out to them.
Finally, and this especially goes to all my awesome military folks listening out there, if you need help, reach out to someone. Please. Call that friend or family member. Do it for us all. We’ve already lost too many of the greatest folks that this country has produced to suicide. So I’m asking you to be brave once more, and show some vulnerability. Take a deep breath, breathe, and call a friend or family member or someone who can help.
I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you all.
Please join me again in our next episode, and please stay safe until then.
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best. As always, don’t forget to check out my books. You can find all 11 of them on Amazon.
And with that, I’m out.
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/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter.
Stan R. Mitchell: The view from the front podcast for 8-30-22.