Hi everyone!
Thank you for being here.
Each week, I cover our military, defense news, and foreign policy in a calm and rational manner, with an over-arching goal to unify our country.
Besides covering the news in a calm manner, I end each show with some words of encouragement.
Also, huge shout out to those of you whose paid subscriptions make it possible for me to devote time and resources to researching and compiling the news each week.
If you’d like to support the show:
You can subscribe with Substack: https://stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe
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You can listen here, or you can find the podcast on your favorite channel below by searching for The View from the Front:
Timestamps:
Timestamp: 1:23. The Ronda Rousey apology, and what it teaches about apologies, going down rabbit holes on the internet, and carrying guilt.
Timestamp: 12:27. Days after Hezbollah and Israel exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire in years, there is hope a larger conflict between the two sides may be held at bay, though eyes are still on Iran to see whether it strikes Israeli targets.
Timestamp: 15:36. On the three-year anniversary of the Afghan withdrawal, let’s re-visit that entire catastrophe and fairly distribute the blame to many different people involved.
Timestamp: 48:06. An Army private who fled to North Korea just over a year ago will plead guilty to desertion and four other charges and take responsibility for his conduct, his lawyer said Monday.
Timestamp: 52:56. The head of Telegram was arrested. How big a deal is that for Russia?
Timestamp: 58:18. Fuel supplies to Russian troops, Crimea strangled by destruction of ship.
Timestamp: 1:04:06. Has Ukraine invaded Russia again by another direction?
Timestamp: 1:08:45. Ukrainians flee Pokrovsk as Russians advance
Timestamp: 1:11:24. Russia launches one of its largest combined missile and drone attacks of the war.
Timestamp: 1:19:33. Ukraine hits more fuel storage sites in Russia.
Timestamp: 1:24:01. Ukraine gets more than a 100 prisoners released back in prisoner exchange.
Timestamp: 1:26:02. Motivation and encouragement, to help life you up.
Timestamp: 1:31:58. A few words for those who are dealign with depression, PTSD, or thoughts of suicide.
Timestamp: 1:38:10. Some final words of unity, as well as more information about me and my books.
Selected source notes for podcast and transcript above.
Woah. This apology is good. And honest. And from the heart.
And it helps teach you a lesson about going down rabbit holes, which I think is really good.
It also teaches a heck of a lesson about carrying guilt.
U.S. news:
I go into a very long discussion of the complicated topic below. Please listen to my words in my podcast, not the images or links below. I fairly (and equally) place the blame all around in my podcast.
A) I think the below is true of Trump (hat tip Blue Virginia), but I also think that:
B) Biden mangled the exit plan and could have extended its timeline.
C) Biden didn’t have to exit at all, and could have maintained a small U.S. presence in at least the capital (and part of the country), which would have been vastly better for the Afghan people and women, plus the deterrence factor to Russia (before it invaded Ukraine), and even for the U.S. troops who invested so much over 20 yrs, only to see it thrown away.
Ukraine news:
‘Russians do everything via Telegram.’ Pavel Durov’s arrest upends Kremlin military comms.
French authorities detained Pavel Durov on allegations that his Telegram social media platform was being used for child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime — but the immediate freakout came from Russia.
That's because Telegram is widely used by the Russian military for battlefield communications thanks to problems with rolling out its own secure comms system. It's also the primary vehicle for pro-war military bloggers and media — as well as millions of ordinary Russians.
“They practically detained the head of communication of the Russian army,” Russian military blogger channel Povernutie na Z Voine said in a Telegram statement.
Fuel Supplies To Russian Troops, Crimea Strangled By Destruction Of Ship
The destruction of the ship full of fuel tank train cars at a port in the Kerch Strait yesterday will hamper Russia’s ability to supply troops and the Crimean peninsula with fuel and lubricants, according to the Ukrainian Navy and the popular Crimean Wind Telegram channel. As we reported yesterday, the Conro Trader, a Russian Roll On Roll Off (RORO) vessel with a reported 30 fuel tank cars aboard, erupted in a ball of flames at the Port of Kavkaz.
The Ukrainian Navy on Friday took credit for that attack, which was suspected to have been carried out by a converted Neptune missile.
“We can confirm the information that this target was destroyed by the [Ukrainian] Navy,” spokesman Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk said Friday, according to Ukrainian Pravda. “This ferry is one of the most important chains of Russian military logistics for supplying the occupation forces, primarily with fuel and lubricants, but it also transported weapons, of course. Therefore, this is a legitimate target. And, accordingly, this should reduce the potential of our enemy’s capabilities in those locations where they are actively engaged in hostilities.”
…
“Fuel is not being delivered to Crimea via the Kerch Bridge by rail, as the structures are weakened after the explosion on the bridge and the burning freight train. There are also concerns that the train carrying fuel could be hit by a missile.
Incredible map. The changing numbers represent troops in theater.
Ukraine Attempting Incursion In Belgorod, Russian Regional Governor Says
Gift link from the Post: Last chance to escape: Ukrainians flee Pokrovsk as Russians advance
Those staying and those leaving wept in the thick August heat — stunned by how quickly Russian forces are advancing on Pokrovsk, a key supply hub in eastern Ukraine that until now was seen as a relatively safe fallback city, far enough from the front line to stay. Russian troops are now just eight miles from the city center, putting much of the area within range of attacks by artillery and first-person view drones.
As of this week, more than 45,000 people remained in Pokrovsk, including more than 3,000 children, according to police data shared with The Washington Post. Civilians have been ordered to evacuate and many have fled in recent days or said they are making plans to leave.
Russia launches one of its largest combined missile and drone attacks of the war.
The dam holds 3.7 billion tons of water and sits upstream from the capital city of Kyiv. A breach would endanger thousands of civilians in the city and nearby towns.
At least five systems pledged at last month's NATO Summit in Washington D.C. have failed to materialize so far, the outlet said.
Though it does not mention the specific countries behind the air defense pledges, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 18 singled out the U.S., U.K., and France during his evening address in which he called on allies to speed up deliveries of promised weapons systems.
"There are no vacations in war," he said, adding: "Decisions are needed, as is timely logistics for the announced aid packages."
Words of encouragement:
Let’s end the show with some words of encouragement, because I know that life is hard and sometimes, you just need to hear something that will lift you up.
I always like to share some verses from the Bible, or quotes that touch on the Bible/Jesus, because my Christian faith has become such a source of strength and wisdom and calm for me during the past couple of years, since losing my Mom and now worrying an awful lot about my Dad and his serious memory problems.
I’m betting you have something really challenging going on in your life, as well. (And if you don’t, I can guarantee it’s coming. That’s how life goes.) So, I hope by sharing some of these, it might encourage you to get into the Bible yourself. Because I think it’ll change your life, if you let it.
And, I always like to end each week’s notes with this one:
And with that, thanks for joining us this week on The View from the Front.
If you can, consider at some point becoming a paid subscriber.
Here are those links again if you’d like to support the show:
You can subscribe with Substack: https://stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe
You can also now sign up at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stanrmitchell
Or send a tip through Venmo (@authorstanrmitchell): https://account.venmo.com/u/authorstanrmitchell
And there’s even a PayPal link you can use: https://paypal.me/StanRMitchell.
Finally, I’m still trying to grow the show. Please rate and leave comments on SPOTIFY, APPLE, or wherever you listen.
Also, all posts are free, so feel free to share. (And in that line of thinking, it seems like all the social media sites I’m on throttle down my posts when they have a link to Substack, so if you could forward this to a person or two that might be interested, and ask them to consider signing up for free, it’d sure help me a lot!)
That’s it for this edition.
Love my moderate, optimistic view of politics and want to know more about how I see things?
Go here:
Dealing with PTSD? Emotionally or mentally at rock bottom? Here’s the link to my faith newsletter: Be like Ozzie; go near your master. (The power of prayer. Part 1.)
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.
Love and peace,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget that I've also written twelve fast, exciting books.
Finally, I also write a faith blog about God and the Bible. (As a child, I was wounded badly by the church and left it to study other religions, before returning to the faith of my roots.)
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The 8-29-24 edition of The View from the Front podcast.