The 10/13/21 dispatch.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! And as I’m sure you guessed, I’m putting out the “Tuesday” newsletter a day late because I was lucky enough to have Monday off. And I was mostly busy on Monday, with the wife and I attending a Braves game (or driving three hours — one way — just to make it). But we had a blast and helped cheer them on as they beat the Brewers. (They clinched the series last night; sorry Midwest readers.)

So, I thought I’d start this week’s edition with the following tweet.

Stephen England @stephenmengland

Twenty-one years ago today, in the harbor of Aden. . .seventeen Americans gave their lives. #USSCole

And I’m sharing this because it helps define why I love researching and discussing foreign policy. Because the attack listed above happened on October 12, 2000 — nearly a year before 9/11.

Similarly, a couple of years before that (on August 7, 1998), al-Qaeda bombed the US embassies in East Africa, killing 224 people, 12 of whom were Americans.

You get where I’m going with this. Had enough people in America been paying attention, we might have prevented the 9/11 attacks.

Three thousand Americans might still be alive had we paid attention to the small clues.

And that’s what I try to do — in part — with the newsletter. Help you find the small clues that are often not on the nightly news or front pages of our newspapers. Those small nuggets that might tell you what will happen in the future.

With that in mind, let’s get to the latest happenings.

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In China news, there’s a couple of things that have happened.

First, the Army wants in on the potential action, so to speak.

Defense One @DefenseOne

General Makes Case For Army’s Role In The Indo-Pacific | @caitlinmkenney buff.ly/3oQXfEm

Secondly, there was this warning.

Council on Foreign Relations @CFR_org

China is getting more aggressive, but "the risk of a crisis stems less from the possibility of an immediate Chinese invasion than from an accident or a miscalculation that turns deadly," argue Bonny Lin and @DavidMSacks1 in @ForeignAffairs.

on.cfr.orgHow to Prevent an Accidental War Over TaiwanBeijing and Taipei are one blunder away from open conflict.

To help potentially resolve any short-term issues, President Biden has a planned meeting coming up on the matter.

MSNBC @MSNBC

President Biden to meet with Chinese President Xi amid escalating tensions between Taiwan and China.

on.msnbc.comBiden to meet with Xi Jinping amid escalating tensions between Taiwan and ChinaGZERO Media President Ian Bremmer discusses President Biden’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the escalating tensions between China and Taiwan.

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Moving along, there was a huge story about military secrets that broke last week. And this was not a good thing, if true. (See below.)

NPR @NPR

The couple allegedly attempted to sell military secrets about submarines to a foreign entity. Some sensitive data was found hidden in a peanut butter sandwich, authorities said.

n.prA former Navy nuclear engineer and his wife have been arrested on espionage chargesThe Department of Justice says Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, allegedly sought to sell sensitive military secrets about submarines to a foreign entity.

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In Afghanistan matters, the amount of waste is constantly being detailed and cataloged, better and better.

Masoud Popalzai @MasoudPopalzai

Half a billion dollars of aircraft that flew for about a year. A huge $85 million hotel that never opened, and sits in disrepair. Camouflage uniforms for the Afghan army whose fancy pattern would cost an extra $28 million…. ⁦@npwcnn⁩

cnn.comHundreds of billions were spent by the US in Afghanistan. Here are 10 of the starkest examples of ‘waste, fraud and abuse’A tractor eradicates opium poppies in Nangarhar province in January 2007.

Also, the U.S. continues to try to decipher what — if any — role our two countries will play in the future. (This is all still pretty rocky for the moment.)

CNN @CNN

A US delegation will travel to meet with "senior Taliban representatives from Kabul" in Doha, Qatar, this weekend, a State Department official said — the first such meeting since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August.

cnn.itUS delegation meets with Taliban representatives in DohaCNN’s Clarissa Ward reports on the different everyday small acts of defiance some women are taking in Kabul as the Taliban continues to push women out of civic life.

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Finally, let’s end with a few light notes.

First, how about this for a cool historic photo and memory? (This was about a decade before World War II kicked off officially.)

Tank Archives @Tank_Archives

Soviet tanks of the early 1930s: BT-2 tanks armed with 37 mm guns and 7.62 mm machine guns in the turret and T-26 tanks with two turrets that each carried a 7.62 mm machine gun. Both were based on foreign vehicles, although seriously modified for Soviet needs. #tanks #History

Second, a reminder to be humble. Can anyone disagree with this?

Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_Videos

Be grateful for those individuals who have helped you on the pathway to your goals. #Quotes

And finally, I’m sharing this tweet just because.

🩸🗡Kristi🪓YamagucciMane🔪🩸 @wapplehouse

Am I high right now what is happening

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That’s it for this post. Stay safe and be kind. As always, please share this post if you enjoyed it.

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless would like to support what I’m doing by contributing $5 a month; cancel at any time.) 

Every Tuesday and Friday, I write about conflicts and military matters that are happening throughout the world. Such as what’s happening in Afghanistan or Iraq. How we’re aligning ourselves to counter China’s growing influence. Updates on new military technology that we’re fielding.

As long-time readers know, I do all of this from a moderate perspective that focuses on unity in our country. I also don’t believe in clickbait, over-the-top headlines, or other tactics created to increase fear or panic, all in the hope of adding to web traffic. You will always get the sober, mature view, with a slight bit of my optimism peering through. 

Feel free to leave a comment below. I love having conversations on here! You can also simply reply to the email you received and I will receive that communication, as well. I always appreciate each and every email that I receive. 

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I write really fast-paced military and mystery thrillers. No, I mean blistering fast. With great suspense & twists. I’ve had thousands of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and all of my books average 4+ stars on Amazon. You can find all ten books here: amazon.com.