After a few cat and mouse days of Defense Secretary Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin’s denials, the Pentagon finally yesterday affirmed that there was evidence of a North Korean military presence in Russia. Asked what they were doing in Russia, Austin replied, “What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out.”
Previously:
U.S. shipments of ammunition to Ukraine were delayed for at least two months last year because of problems with a U.S. military contract with Germany’s Deutsche Bahn railways, according to a Defense Department Inspector General report.
Problems with a German railroad contract slowed US munitions to Ukraine, IG says
THAAD transfer to ‘Israel’ points to crisis in defense systems: Report
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 on Friday reported that “Israel” has requested the US to deploy a second THAAD battery to bolster its defenses against a potential Iranian retaliation to its planned upcoming attack.
Related:
U.S. Missile Defense Is Under Strain
Read More »As Russia Advances, NATO Considers Sending Trainers Into Ukraine
So far the United States has said no, but Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared inevitable. “We’ll get there eventually, over time,” he said.
For now, he said, an effort inside Ukraine would put “a bunch of NATO trainers at risk” and would most likely mean deciding whether to use precious air defenses to protect the trainers instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield. General Brown briefed reporters on his plane en route to a NATO meeting in Brussels.
As a part of NATO, the United States would be obligated under the alliance’s treaty to aid in the defense of any attack on the trainers, potentially dragging America into the war.
…
But in February, President Emmanuel Macron of France said that “nothing should be ruled out” when it comes to sending Western troops to Ukraine. Mr. Macron has doubled down on his comment since, including after senior American diplomats asked him to stop.
Meanwhile, someone is delusional:
General Says West’s Defense Industrial Base Will Outpace Russia’s
US General Says Russia’s Military Is Bigger Than Before Ukraine Invasion
“In sum, Russia is on track to command the largest military on the continent,” he said. “Regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia will be larger, more lethal, and angrier with the West than when it invaded.”
…
Back in April 2022, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declared one goal of the proxy war was to “weaken” Russia. More recently, hawks in Congress have been claiming that the damage being done to the Russian military is a good enough reason to continue fueling the conflict.
Related:
Ukraine’s Top General Says Situation on the Battlefield Has ‘Significantly Worsened’
Update on Israeli military operations in Gaza for November 15, 2023…
– Israeli forces have stormed Gaza’s largest hospital, claiming Hamas fighters are hiding in/beneath the facility;
– Israeli tactics appear to deliberately maximize regional and international outrage;
– The violence is aimed at pressuring regional governments to take action and trigger a series of conflicts that allow the US to reassert a previous conflict-based “security architecture” on the region;
Read More »
Defense Department identifies U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter crash
Killed were:
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California.
Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire.
Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona.
Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
Previously:
Five U.S. Army Special Operations forces have died in a helicopter crash in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, American officials said on Sunday.
5 U.S. Special Operations Forces Killed In Helicopter Crash In The Eastern Mediterranean Sea
US officials gave Ukraine public green light to bomb Kerch bridge
Completely excluded from any account in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal was the fact that senior US officials not only publicly authorized, but a former US official publicly encouraged, the attack to take place.
“Bomb Russia’s bridge to Crimea, Ukraine urged,” read the headline in the Times of London on July 7, reporting the statements of US General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
…
The next day, July 8, clearly referencing Breedlove’s comments, a reporter identified only as “Howard” asked at a Pentagon background briefing, “can you talk about any preclusions? Would the — would the Kerch Bridge be not precluded as a potential target?”*
The defense official replied, “As I said, there aren’t any preclusions that I’m aware of about the Ukrainians fighting on their sovereign territory against Russia.”
Related:
* [07-08-2022] U.S. Says Russia’s Prized Kerch Bridge Is A Fair Target For Ukrainian Forces
At a press briefing held this morning, The War Zone asked a senior U.S. official whether or not there were any preclusions about the use of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, in Ukraine against certain targets. Speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, the official responded by saying that they couldn’t reveal any further information about specific targets, but that “Russian forces’ capabilities and logistics nodes within Ukraine are absolutely fantastic” targets. The War Zone followed up, asking if there were any hesitations about using the HIMARs against the Kerch Bridge. The official responded as follows.
“As I said, there aren’t any preclusions that I’m aware of on Ukrainians fighting on their sovereign territory against Russia.”
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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