Hi friends!
Welcome to The View from the Front podcast, a show about military and defense news, designed for serious people who love their country more than they love their political party. It’s a show for moderates, who are tired of their news being from the left or the right, or being over-the-top and scary. I fully understand how frustrated most Americans feel at how divided we are, and I am the very opposite of most news organizations, who often write articles that are too alarming.
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-plus years in the news business; initially as a reporter, but then going on to start a weekly newspaper. What can I say? Anyone crazy enough to start a weekly newspaper at the age of 27 is probably a dreamer and an optimist, and I confess that I’m both.
I owned that weekly newspaper for nine years, from 2004 to 2013, but once it was clear that owning a newspaper wasn’t the best path to financial security, I went on to become an author. To date, I’ve written eleven books, and while it’s true I’m still writing, I’m now here, as well, 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.
If you were to ask anyone who lived in Oak Ridge during the nine years that I owned that weekly newspaper, they would tell you that I sought to downplay controversy, I worked hard to understate headlines, and I did my absolute best to never create panic, which is a terrible way to sell newspapers (but a responsible way for a media outlet to act).
I plan to do these same things with my podcast. I love the news, and we need the news, but we need to have news that’s less over-the-top. News that folks don’t dread to hear, because it’s too scary. And news that isn’t so blown-out-of-proportion and fear-based, that it was clearly written to be shared and scare the devil out of people. The news shouldn’t be a game intended to grab eyeballs and monetize dollars.
It is an absolute fact that our democracy doesn’t work if we don’t have informed voters, and since we’re talking about the news and informed voters, let me say this: I’m convinced that foreign-policy decisions are the most important decisions that we face as a country.
They lead to greater consequences on the world stage, and they can lead to tragic deaths. Either because we shouldn’t have intervened somewhere. Or perhaps because we should have. America is the world’s leading power, and we mostly lead the world from a position of moral authority, showing other countries how they should behave in regards to ethics, restraint, and providing freedom for their citizens.
Foreign policy decisions can be tragic and heartbreaking, and it’s important that we get them right. 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. I will also not remain silent when we have media organizations doing great harm to our country by scaring people or creating panic.
We face great challenges as a country, but America has stood together for more than 240 years, and it’s only together that we can pass on a better future for our kids. So, let’s get a little better informed. And let’s work to get a little more united as a people.
Thank you for being patient and allowing me to share that monologue. I think it’s important people hear what I’m about before they listen for too long. And I think it’s also important my regular listeners hear this message enough that it sinks in. That it affects what they believe. That it affects how they act.
We need to hold and cherish the beliefs that got us here today. Beliefs such as patience. Kindness. And a strong belief that our best days lie before us. These are beliefs that got us to this point. And they’re also the beliefs that will get us to a brighter future.
Thanks again for your patience on this intro. I know it’s not the sort of fast-paced, really hip, Twitter-friendly, Tik-tok cool intro that fits most podcasts that go viral, but maybe we’ve got a few too many podcasts that are like that. Maybe we need to go back to something deeper. To something firmer and more solid. To something we can build a foundation from. And that’s what I’m offering.
And with, let’s get started.
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:
From the story, which quoted Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency:
The goal of his multiday inspection was to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the plant and assess the safety situation there. It is unclear how extensive his team’s access will be after his departure.
The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian engineers. Over the past few months, it has experienced a frightening array of artillery barrages, uncontrolled fires and power outages with a skeleton crew of workers sometimes held at gunpoint.
…
Grossi had been negotiating a visit to the plant since March, when Russian forces first seized the facility. A proposal to enter through Russian-occupied Crimea was rejected by Ukraine, which viewed that itinerary as an affront to its sovereignty.
Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that “the United States has routine military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. Generally speaking, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats they face and defend their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, the Ukrainians are making the final decisions for their operations.”
The Russian military is disoriented because of the pounding they’ve received, U.S. officials believe. Analysts estimate that Russia has lost thousands of officers, including hundreds of colonels and dozens of generals. The relentless attacks have forced Russian commanders to keep moving headquarters posts, adding to their command and logistical problems.
Ukraine’s other big advantage in this new phase of the war is the “partisan” campaign behind the lines against the Russian occupiers. U.S. military commanders warned their Russian counterparts to expect this brutal irregular warfare, based on the U.S. experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russian officials didn’t listen, and now they’re facing attacks they don’t see coming and can’t root out, despite all their firepower. Every Ukrainian with a cellphone is an artillery spotter or intelligence collector.
The chairman of Russian oil and gas giant Lukoil — which spoke out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine — has died after falling out of a hospital window, state news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported Thursday.
Ravil Maganov died at the Central Clinical Hospital west of Moscow, according to the reports, which cite the hospital and law enforcement sources.
"The incident occurred around 07:00 am Moscow time in the Central Clinical Hospital ... The man fell out of the sixth-floor window and died as a result of his injuries," a source told TASS.
Lukoil confirmed Maganov’s death in a statement published on its website, saying only that the executive died "following a severe illness" and making no mention of a fall.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks Provides Virtual Keynote Remarks to the DARPA Forward Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KATHLEEN HICKS:
As you've probably gathered over the last day and a half, in the Department of Defense, there's no shortage of big challenges that we're thinking about every day. We face a pacing challenge in the People's Republic of China, which is today the most consequential strategic competitor to the United States on the global stage. We face in Russia an acute threat to the international system, as illustrated by its ongoing, brutal war of choice against Ukraine. We face persistent regional threats, like those emanating from North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations. And we face threats that transcend national and regional borders, including pandemics like COVID-19 and climate change.
…
To be clear, the United States faces these many challenges with many strategic advantages, and you're one of them. All over America, we have an incredibly vibrant innovation ecosystem that is the envy of the world. DARPA's part of it and so are all of you.
Because of this innovation ecosystem, which also draws strength from our partnerships with like-minded friends and allies around the world, we're able to figure out some really wicked problems, like how to resupply and reinforce Army and Marine Corps units spread out on islands across half a hemisphere with capabilities like distributed additive manufacturing and proliferated low signature delivery systems so they can operate and be sustained no matter what an enemy does or how contested the logistics environment gets, or how we integrate sensors and fuse data across every domain while leveraging cutting edge decision support tools to enable high tempo operations, a Joint All-Domain Command and Control approach that will make us even better than we already are at joint operations and combat integration.
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DR. HICKS: First of all, AUKUS is right at the top of that, and for those who may not be aware, AUKUS is the U.S., Australia and Great Britain coming together in an intentional way to focus on how we can achieve mutual advantage by sharing on the research and development, and ultimately, production side on technology. There are a couple of different aspects of that. The -- the -- the one big -- pillar one, it's called -- one big area is undersea warfare capability and making sure we can mutually strengthen our undersea capabilities. Again, that's an area of advantage for the United States and its Western allies. So making sure we can keep that as an enduring advantage will require us to continue staying at the cutting edge of that technology.
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But we don't stop there. We have many other bilateral, trilateral, and even in the case of Asia, a quad approach where we're constantly working with others on the operational challenges they face. I'll say again, some of our Asia-Pacific partners are focused more than anything on climate change. So sometimes it's something like that where their defense communities are very focused on the existential risk, if they're island nations, for instance. And sometimes it's all the way up at the higher end of potential warfare, making sure that they can protect themselves against anything from hypersonic missile systems to nuclear capabilities that could be put forward, and everything in between. We need allies and partners where they are on the things they want to work on together. There's a lot of opportunity in that. And we also, by taking that approach, by focusing on ensuring stability in the region rather than trying to increase tensions, we become the partner of choice for many in the region. That protects us economically and it protects us in our security realm.
Motivation and wisdom:
Final three, and then we’re done:
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 9-2-22.