Stan R. Mitchell's Blog, page 33

The 10/19/21 dispatch.

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Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone’s week is off to a great start!

Probably the biggest news since the last edition was the report regarding China’s hypersonic weapon and the passing of Colin Powell. Given that the Colin Powell passing made such huge headlines yesterday, I’ll only share a couple of small tidbits about him at the end of this edition, since I feel the mainstream media covered that fairly in depth.

So with that introduction out of the way, let’s talk about China’s hypersonic weapon news. Here’s the basic story in two tweets.

Item 1:

#China has stunned US intelligence and military officials by testing a #nuclear capable #hypersonic missile that traveled through low orbit in space, making a full circle around the globe before speeding towards its target. \n","username":"Dimi","name":"Demetri Sevastopulo","date":"Sat Oct 16 19:51:10 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":4327,"like_count":6268,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://on.ft.com/3vqpXx1",&quot... to read | Financial Times","description":"News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication","domain":"on.ft.com"},"video_url":null}">Demetri Sevastopulo @DimiSCOOP – #China has stunned US intelligence and military officials by testing a #nuclear capable #hypersonic missile that traveled through low orbit in space, making a full circle around the globe before speeding towards its target. Subscribe to read | Financial TimesNews, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publicationon.ft.com

October 16th 2021

4,327 Retweets6,268 Likes

Item 2.

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China denied it had launched a hypersonic weapon, saying it wasn’t a missile but instead was a space vehicle used in a "routine test." China claims it’s developing technology to lower the cost of future space travel.

Frankly, having perused several things on this, I’m not a hundred percent sure what to make of this. Some defense officials seem to think it's a huge deal. Others counter that current, tested weaponry (such as low-flying cruise missiles and ICBMs) can easily counter the threat.

The U.S. doesn’t seem too concerned publicly. (See below.)

@PressSec response to report China’s testing hypersonic nuclear missile that orbits the Earth:\n\n\"We welcome the competition.\" ","username":"tomselliott","name":"Tom Elliott","date":"Mon Oct 18 17:41:11 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...Tom Elliott @tomselliottBiden @PressSec response to report China’s testing hypersonic nuclear missile that orbits the Earth:"We welcome the competition."

October 18th 2021

588 Retweets1,464 Likes

To me, the reality is that it’s not like China is going to suddenly try to strike the U.S. with either ICBMs or hyper-sonic weapons. (That would lead to a catastrophic counter-response, and we currently have more nukes aimed in that direction.)

Rather, the real strategic fault line lies with Taiwan, and any possible attack or invasion of that island. (See below for your weekly geography reminder.)

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The U.S. remains committed to growing an allied force that will prevent China ever retaking the island. I’ve written on this at length. See three items below:

Stan R. Mitchell: foreign policy and military matters.The 10/8/21 dispatch.Hope everyone has had a great week! Since my last post on Tuesday, I’m sad to say that things have gotten even testier with China. News broke that the United States ALREADY has troops in Taiwan, who are operating as advisors. This was previously unknown and certainly top secret information…Read more11 days ago · 1 like · Stan R. MitchellStan R. Mitchell: foreign policy and military matters.The 10/5/21 dispatch.Hope everyone had a great weekend, and that you’re off to a strong start this week! Biggest news of late in the foreign policy world is China is upping its intimidation of Taiwan. (See stories below…Read more14 days ago · 1 like · Stan R. MitchellStan R. Mitchell: foreign policy and military matters.The 9/24/21 dispatch.Happy Friday to everyone! In this post, I wanted to share three quick China-related stories, and then share a few other neat things I’ve come across. First, China is still being China, trying to intimidate Taiwan (and probably other neighbors that we don’t know about). Nothing new here. See below…Read more25 days ago · Stan R. Mitchell

Moving on, over in Afghanistan, the Taliban is learning some painful lessons about what it’s like to be on defense instead of on offense, as the aggressor. Another bombing recently happened there, as Islamic State ramps up its efforts against the Taliban. (See below.)

Military.com @MilitarydotcomIslamic State Claims Mosque Bombing in South Afghanistan Islamic State Claims Mosque Bombing in South AfghanistanThe attack came a week after a bombing claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate killed 46 people at a Shiite mosque.military.com

October 16th 2021

5 Retweets7 Likes

In other matters, I came across this news on Twitter and I’ve got to say, Alex is dead on. For as much as we blast the military (and other government agencies) for wasting money, it’s often as not Congress that deserves the blame.

Alex Plitsas 🇺🇸 @alexplitsasFor all of the folks who complain that the defense budget is bloated👇🏼

Roxana Tiron @rtiron

BREAKING: Senate defense appropriations bill is out giving the Pentagon more than $10 billion than requested, $725.8 billion

October 18th 2021

13 Retweets47 Likes

Now for items that AREN’T in the news, but are still a big deal, let’s return to the old subject of Syria, where the Biden administration is attempting to overcome the reluctance of some nations to repatriate Islamic State fighters from Syria.

From the Washington Post:

Around 11,000 suspected fighters remain imprisoned in makeshift prisons run by Syrian Kurdish forces in northeast Syria. At least 60,000 women and children are confined to camps housing Islamic State families, where officials warn dire conditions and rampant extremism may yield a new generation of militants.

At least 70 people have been killed so far this year inside al-Hol, the sprawling camp that has come to symbolize the deadlock over the fighters and family members, hailing from across Europe, the Middle East and beyond, who now personify the unaddressed aftermath of the five-year battle against the Islamic State.

Many countries, including close U.S. allies in Europe, have been reluctant to bring home their nationals, citing security fears and the burden of monitoring or prosecuting those with extremist links.

“Just because it’s out of sight and out of mind, which it is for the vast majority of Americans, doesn’t mean it’s not a very serious problem,” said Nathan Sales, who oversaw efforts to repatriate those in the facilities as a top counterterrorism official during the Trump administration.

You can read the full story here:

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellBiden administration attempts to overcome reluctance of nations to repatriate Islamic State fighters from Syria Biden administration attempts to overcome reluctance of nations to repatriate Islamic State fighters from SyriaMany countries don’t want to take back their nationals who are linked to the Islamic State.washingtonpost.com

October 16th 2021

Now, back to the Colin Powell news. Here are just a couple of items I really wanted to share.

First, this heart-felt comment from our Secretary of Defense.

nyti.ms/3FX4Ves ","username":"nytimes","name":"The New York Times","date":"Mon Oct 18 15:35:06 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...The New York Times @nytimesSecretary of Defense Lloyd Austin credited Colin Powell as "a tremendous personal friend and mentor.""He always made time for me, and I could always go to him for tough issues. I feel as if I have a hole in my heart." nyti.ms/3FX4Ves

October 18th 2021

116 Retweets663 Likes

And finally, this great clip that I still remember like it was yesterday.

#ColinPowell has died. I wanted to share one of the best things I remember him ever saying. #ReaceInPeace ","username":"LiberalTed","name":"🌐 'Tariff Free' Ted 🌐","date":"Mon Oct 18 12:05:26 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...🌐 'Tariff Free' Ted 🌐 @LiberalTedI hear #ColinPowell has died. I wanted to share one of the best things I remember him ever saying. #ReaceInPeace

October 18th 2021

5,037 Retweets18,543 Likes

Okay, this post has been long.

Let’s end with some motivation. I came across this story and was blown away. I hope it touches and inspires you, as well.

@SteveHartman that when his community was in need, he knew exactly how to step up. ","username":"CBSEveningNews","name":"CBS Evening News","date":"Fri Oct 15 22:57:20 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...CBS Evening News @CBSEveningNewsMike Mason is a retired top FBI official who is starting a new job, as a school bus driver. He may be the most overqualified bus driver in America, but he tells @SteveHartman that when his community was in need, he knew exactly how to step up.

October 15th 2021

139 Retweets453 Likes

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

Share

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 10/15/21 dispatch.

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Happy Friday! Hope everyone is doing well.

I thought I’d start this week’s edition with the news that Harvard is withdrawing a language program from China and moving it to Taiwan. And I literally said at the time, the following: “I think this is just the start of a trend for American companies and institutions. China is going to have to decide who it wants to be.”

And what I meant is that if China continues its current bullying, horrendous behaviors, then Western institutions (and capital) will flee.

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellI think this is just the start of a trend for American companies and institutions. China is going to have to decide who it wants to be. Amid U.S.-China Chill, Harvard Moves a Top Language Program to TaiwanA university spokesman said the move out of Beijing had long been planned. The program’s director cited a perceived lack of friendliness from the host institution.nytimes.com

October 14th 2021

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Sure enough, shortly afterward, LinkedIn announced it was starting to exit the country. (See below.)

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellMore. LinkedIn to Shut Down Service in China, Citing ‘Challenging’ EnvironmentThe Microsoft-owned service had censored posts in China, in compliance with the country’s laws, to operate there.nytimes.com

October 15th 2021

This is the kind of thing that can spiral. Once a country (or person) gets a reputation, it’s hard to change it.

What if most American companies fled? What if all Western tourism ended? What if American consumers seriously boycotted all products made in China.

It’s hard to fully grasp how big a deal this could be and I hope China will begin to chart a new course forward. One of peace and unity with the rest of the world. Because the alternative will not only be bad for a lot of the West, it will also eventually be horrific for China.

In other news, there was this, which certainly caught my eye:

CNN Politics @CNNPoliticsSecretary of State Antony Blinken says the US is prepared to turn to "other options" if nuclear diplomacy with Iran fails Blinken says US is prepared to turn to ‘other options’ if nuclear diplomacy with Iran failsUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that if diplomatic talks with Iran fail, the United States “is prepared to turn to other options” to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.cnn.it

October 14th 2021

15 Retweets61 Likes

From the story:

"We continue to believe that diplomacy is the most effective way to do that, but it takes two to engage in diplomacy, and we have not seen from Iran a willingness to do that at this point," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the State Department before their meetings.

Blinken emphasized that the window for diplomacy with Tehran is closing "because Iran has been using this time to advance its nuclear program in a variety of ways."

"I'm not going to put a specific date on it, but with every passing day and Iran's refusal to engage in good faith, the runway gets shortened," Blinken said.

With the window for a diplomatic opportunity growing more narrow, the Biden administration is holding discussions about contingency options to contain Iran's nuclear program with partners and allies.

This is the kind of thing that certainly bears watching.

I would hate to see strikes against Iran but we constantly seem to be edging up to that line with them. (Recall the strikes last year back and forth. And our history of small skirmishes with them goes back decades.)

Moving along, for those who have been following the outspoken Marine Lt Col drama, it seems to have mostly resolved itself. See story below.

Dan Lamothe @DanLamotheLt. Col. Stuart Scheller has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with videos he posted criticizing senior officials during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying he knew he was being disrespectful and wanted to call out "incompetence."Marine officer pleads guilty to disrespecting senior officials, says his life spiraled down after posting viral videosUnder an agreement between the Marine Corps and Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, the combat veteran will be sentenced to no more than a letter of reprimand and a loss of pay.washingtonpost.com

October 14th 2021

11 Retweets18 Likes

I’ll end this edition with two lighter notes.

In the good-hearted category, there’s this.

apne.ws/pbdkBtW #odd","username":"AP_Oddities","name":"AP Oddities","date":"Thu Oct 14 20:31:06 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":19,"like_count":82,"expanded_url":{"url":"http://apne.ws/pbdkBtW","im... teen hailed hero after finding, returning $50,000","description":"MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A teenager in Liberia has become a national hero after finding $50,000 on the road and returning it to its rightful owner in the northeastern Nimba County. Eighteen-year-old Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Thursday that he was driving his motorcycle taxi on a highw…","domain":"apne.ws"},"video_url":null}">AP Oddities @AP_OdditiesDoing the right thing: A teenager in Liberia has become a national hero after finding $50,000 on the road and returning it to its rightful owner. apne.ws/pbdkBtW #oddLiberian teen hailed hero after finding, returning $50,000MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A teenager in Liberia has become a national hero after finding $50,000 on the road and returning it to its rightful owner in the northeastern Nimba County. Eighteen-year-old Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Thursday that he was driving his motorcycle taxi on a highw…apne.ws

October 14th 2021

19 Retweets82 Likes

And in the motivation category, there’s this.

@AP) ","username":"pxwhittle","name":"Patrick Whittle","date":"Thu Sep 16 10:20:45 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":29,"like_count":132,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/61b5c7bd55... 101, she’s still hauling lobsters with no plans to stop","description":"ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — When Virginia Oliver started trapping lobster off Maine’s rocky coast, World War II was more than a decade in the future, the electronic traffic signal was a recent invention and few women were harvesting lobsters.","domain":"apnews.com"},"video_url":null}">Patrick Whittle @pxwhittleAt 101, she's still hauling lobsters with no plans to stop (from @AP) At 101, she’s still hauling lobsters with no plans to stopROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — When Virginia Oliver started trapping lobster off Maine’s rocky coast, World War II was more than a decade in the future, the electronic traffic signal was a recent invention and few women were harvesting lobsters.apnews.com

September 16th 2021

29 Retweets132 Likes

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

Share

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 10/13/21 dispatch.

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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.

#USSCole ","username":"stephenmengland","name":"Stephen England","date":"Tue Oct 12 21:27:58 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FBh2ge...Stephen England @stephenmenglandTwenty-one years ago today, in the harbor of Aden. . .seventeen Americans gave their lives.#USSCole

October 12th 2021

4 Likes

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.

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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.

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

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

@caitlinmkenney buff.ly/3oQXfEm ","username":"DefenseOne","name":"Defense One","date":"Wed Oct 13 00:15:04 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FBic6P...Defense One @DefenseOneGeneral Makes Case For Army’s Role In The Indo-Pacific | @caitlinmkenney buff.ly/3oQXfEm

October 13th 2021

2 Retweets9 Likes

Secondly, there was this warning.

@DavidMSacks1 in @ForeignAffairs. ","username":"CFR_org","name":"Council on Foreign Relations","date":"Tue Oct 12 19:09:57 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":6,"like_count":7,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://on.cfr.org/3mHpOBo",&quo... to Prevent an Accidental War Over Taiwan","description":"Beijing and Taipei are one blunder away from open conflict.","domain":"on.cfr.org"},"video_url":null}">Council on Foreign Relations @CFR_orgChina 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. How to Prevent an Accidental War Over TaiwanBeijing and Taipei are one blunder away from open conflict.on.cfr.org

October 12th 2021

6 Retweets7 Likes

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

MSNBC @MSNBCPresident Biden to meet with Chinese President Xi amid escalating tensions between Taiwan and China. Biden 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.on.msnbc.com

October 12th 2021

29 Retweets104 Likes

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 @NPRThe 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. A 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.n.pr

October 11th 2021

164 Retweets495 Likes

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

@npwcnn⁩ ","username":"MasoudPopalzai","name":"Masoud Popalzai","date":"Sun Oct 10 20:24:29 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":0,"like_count":2,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/07/asia/u... of billions were spent by the US in Afghanistan. Here are 10 of the starkest examples of ‘waste, fraud and abuse’","description":"A tractor eradicates opium poppies in Nangarhar province in January 2007.","domain":"cnn.com"},"video_url":null}">Masoud Popalzai @MasoudPopalzaiHalf 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 Hundreds 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.cnn.com

October 10th 2021

2 Likes

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 @CNNA 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. US 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.cnn.it

October 9th 2021

49 Retweets148 Likes

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.)

#tanks #History ","username":"Tank_Archives","name":"Tank Archives","date":"Sat Oct 09 20:37:21 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FBSOHO...Tank Archives @Tank_ArchivesSoviet 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

October 9th 2021

20 Retweets189 Likes

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

#Quotes ","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Sat Oct 09 20:00:06 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FBSFw7...Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_VideosBe grateful for those individuals who have helped you on the pathway to your goals.#Quotes

October 9th 2021

104 Retweets284 Likes

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

🩸🗡Kristi🪓YamagucciMane🔪🩸 @wapplehouseAm I high right now what is happening

September 26th 2021

146,554 Retweets737,122 Likes

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

Share

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 10/8/21 dispatch.

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Hope everyone has had a great week!

Since my last post on Tuesday, I’m sad to say that things have gotten even testier with China. News broke that the United States ALREADY has troops in Taiwan, who are operating as advisors. This was previously unknown and certainly top secret information.

The Washington Post @washingtonpostChina warns U.S. over reports that American forces are stationed in TaiwanChina warns U.S. over reports that American forces are stationed in TaiwanThe revelation threatens to set off a spiral of military tension as the United States and its allies counter Beijing’s efforts to gain a military advantage in the region.wapo.st

October 8th 2021

37 Retweets96 Likes

There are reportedly roughly two dozen U.S. troops, including a Special Operations unit and a contingent of Marines, training military forces in Taiwan. Even crazier, they’ve been there for more than a year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A couple of interesting things about the story, which I’m sure many of you have already seen:

First, the Washington Post story says that “Taiwan’s Foreign and Defense ministries declined to comment on the report,” which the Post took for confirmation.

Secondly, the Post says the Pentagon denied last year that Marine special operatives were training in Taiwan, but now there don’t seem to be any denials. In fact, it’s the opposite. The Pentagon said the following in a Reuters story:

"I don't have any comments on specific operations, engagements, or training, but I would like to highlight that our support for and defense relationship with Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China," said Pentagon spokesman John Supple.

Those are pretty strong words.

Remember, China believes that the island of Taiwan is a part of China. And even though 24 million people live in Taiwan, and even though Taiwan is staunchly democratic, China has for years threatened to retake the island if Taiwan formally states its independence. (The two countries have a long history, marked by war and decades of threats.)

It’s my belief that this news breaking that the U.S. has troops in Taiwan is NOT an accident. I think China’s recent moves of so many aircraft threatening the island has unnerved the U.S. to some extent (see below about tensions behind the worst in 40 years), and the U.S. decided to leak the information of U.S. troops there. Just as a not-so-subtle signal/reminder that not only will we defend Taiwan, but we literally already have troops there.

According to the BBC, Taiwan’s defense minister believes a full-scale invasion of the island could happen by 2025. I personally think China could have been looking at a mild form of escalation as a way to scare Taiwan back into its arms, and America back into its own hemisphere. China knows that in the long game, more countries are turning to face their frightening and fearsome growing power.

But clearly the U.S. is saying that a short-term escalation won’t work. The U.S. is signaling, “We’re here, we’re staying, don’t mis-read a single thing.”

BBC News (World) @BBCWorldChina-Taiwan military tensions 'worst in 40 years' China-Taiwan military tensions ‘worst in 40 years’Taiwan’s defence minister warns of the risk of an accidental strike amid more Chinese aerial incursions.bbc.in

October 6th 2021

138 Retweets324 Likes

Staying on the China situation for a moment longer, I found this story of a submarine collision just so, so interesting. (Mainly because any time I see a sub story like this, I immediately think up crazy plots like the Hunt for Red October. Except in this scenario, I imagine an American commander either ramming — or getting rammed — by some undersea Chinese sub. Okay, apologies for the crazy theories, but I am — after all — a fiction writer.)

CNN Politics @CNNPoliticsA nuclear-powered submarine struck an object underwater in the South China Sea US submarine hits underwater object in South China SeaIn this December 15, 2016, file photo, the USS Connecticut departs Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.cnn.it

October 7th 2021

36 Retweets85 Likes

In other matters, I was sad to read the below article. I can’t imagine how scared these women in Afghanistan must be.

BBC News (World) @BBCWorldAfghanistan's female lawyers are on the run from men they prosecuted Afghanistan’s female lawyers are on the run from men they prosecutedAs the Taliban swept through Afghanistan they opened the jails. Women lawyers are paying the price.bbc.in

October 5th 2021

153 Retweets268 Likes

The only good news out of Afghanistan (I kid, clearly) is that the Taliban is NOT messing around with drug addictions. If you want to see how a crazy, intolerant government uses religion to fix things, take a gander at this article.

@felipedana⁩ and gripping video by ⁦⁦⁦@AP⁩ Mstyslav Chernov⁩, as they, along with ⁦@samya_kullab⁩ tell a powerful story of how now in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworld (from @AP) ","username":"Kathygannon","name":"Kathy Gannon","date":"Thu Oct 07 18:08:34 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":24,"like_count":49,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/312374ad26... in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworld","description":"KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Now the uncontested rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban have set their sights on stamping out the scourge of narcotics addiction, even if by force. At nightfall, the battle-hardened fighters-turned-policemen scour the capital’s drug-ravaged underworld.","domain":"apnews.com"},"video_url":null}">Kathy Gannon @KathygannonTruly brilliant images by ⁦⁦@felipedana⁩ and gripping video by ⁦⁦⁦@AP⁩ Mstyslav Chernov⁩, as they, along with ⁦@samya_kullab⁩ tell a powerful story of how now in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworld (from @AP) Now in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworldKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Now the uncontested rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban have set their sights on stamping out the scourge of narcotics addiction, even if by force. At nightfall, the battle-hardened fighters-turned-policemen scour the capital’s drug-ravaged underworld.apnews.com

October 7th 2021

24 Retweets49 Likes

Back to U.S. matters, seems the F-35 is still getting a little more operational. It’s had all kinds of pitfalls for years and it’s been a LONG journey for the jet, but maybe (just maybe), it’s getting there.

Military.com @MilitarydotcomThe Stealthy F-35 Fighter Jet Is One Step Closer to Carrying Nuclear Weapons The Stealthy F-35 Fighter Jet Is One Step Closer to Carrying Nuclear WeaponsWhen the F-35A receives its full nuclear certification, the Air Force will have a second stealth aircraft in its fleet that can carry nukes.military.com

October 5th 2021

13 Retweets37 Likes

Moving along, I thought I’d share something pretty deep that I came across. (It’s sort of about Facebook, but it’s about so much more. It’s about getting older, being isolated, how cruel we are as a society, etc. It’s absolutely worth the read if you get a moment. Warning: it does have some harsh language in it.)

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellWoah. This is like deep. And worth the read if you get a moment.

Stonekettle @Stonekettle

Stonekettle Station, Recap: October 5, 2021, a summary of the last 24 hours.https://t.co/NcIoqvFsm2

October 6th 2021

1 Like

If that link above doesn’t work, you can go directly here to read the post: https://www.stonekettle.com/2021/10/recap-october-4-2021.html

I’ll end this edition with some good news from science. Given how dry things are getting in the West, technology such as this could prove pivotal (as it becomes less expensive).

The Associated Press @APIn drought-parched California, some residents are turning to pricey machines that developers say can produce hundreds of gallons of water a day, literally out of thin air. In dry California, some buy units that make water from airBENICIA, Calif. (AP) — The machine Ted Bowman helped design can make water out of the air, and in parched California, some homeowners are already buying the pricey devices. The air-to-water systems work like air conditioners by using coils to chill air, then collect water drops in a basin.apne.ws

October 6th 2021

84 Retweets237 Likes

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

Share

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. 

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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.

The 10/5/21 dispatch.

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Hope everyone had a great weekend, and that you’re off to a strong start this week!

Biggest news of late in the foreign policy world is China is upping its intimidation of Taiwan. (See stories below.)

Robert Costa @costareports"Taiwan has reported a record number of incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) for the second day in a row... " China sends 77 warplanes into Taiwan defense zone over two days, Taipei saysThe Taiwan Ministry of Defense released this undated file photo of a Chinese J-16 fighter jet when they announced that PLA aircrafts entered their air defense identification zone.cnn.com

October 3rd 2021

42 Retweets75 LikesCNN @CNNChina sent 38 warplanes into the skies around Taiwan on Friday, the highest number of Chinese military aircraft to breach the island's ADIZ in a single day since Taipei began publicly reporting such activities last year, Tawain's Defense Ministry said. China warplanes stage largest incursion yet into skies near TaiwanTaiwan has been the chief source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades and is widely seen as the most likely trigger for a potentially catastrophic US-China war. The worry about Taiwan comes as China wields new strength from years of military buildup. CNN’s David Culver reports.cnn.it

October 2nd 2021

168 Retweets345 Likes

So far, it seems these are just harassing moves by China, but any time a country is doing this, you always fear they are just trying to get the other side to lower their guard. And then during one of the runs of fighters and bombers, it’s the real deal. A real attack with real missiles and bombs.

As of now, U.S. intelligence doesn’t seem overly concerned of an immediate Chinese attack, so that’s good. But I do think that if you’re China, even though your own forces are growing and becoming more modern and lethal by the day, you do have to worry that the West is growing better prepared and aligned to prevent/repel an invasion. And thus, an attack in the shorter term is the potentially more strategically wise move (if you’re going to risk such an incredibly risky move).

I don’t know that an invasion is possible in the short term. (You may remember previous newsletters mentioning the limited number of landing craft that China currently has.) But the U.S. certainly seems politically divided right now, and the alignment of countries against China grows by the month, so who knows. Perhaps some air strikes and missile strikes might get Taiwan to bow down, China might think.

But the risk of any kind of attack is absolutely so huge for China. It’s economy could literally be destroyed almost overnight by world-wide boycotts, tariffs, etc. So, the safe bet is more intimidation, playing the 25- to 50-year game that China seems set on. (They’re assuming, of course, that by then America will be weaker and less of a barrier.)

Before we move on from this topic, if you REALLY want to get into the weeds about the airspace around Taiwan, just give this thread of comments a read after you click the link:

Decker Eveleth @dex_eveExtremely quick and dirty job on this but it's just supposed to make the point: in red is Taiwan's sovereign airspace. In white is the ADIZ. Whipped this up because to my surprise no one had made this before (at least that I've seen)

October 4th 2021

320 Retweets1,132 Likes

Moving to other matters, there was a good piece about the world we find ourselves in now, given our post-Afghanistan withdrawal. It’s a good reminder that we are more aligned in our country through our police/intelligence/military communities to prevent future 9/11s. A good read if you have a few mins.

@LukeHartig buff.ly/2WpApYI ","username":"DefenseOne","name":"Defense One","date":"Thu Sep 30 02:07:03 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAf53z...Defense One @DefenseOnePlaying Defense Against Terrorism Is Totally Fine | Commentary by @LukeHartig buff.ly/2WpApYI

September 30th 2021

3 Retweets9 Likes

In other news, for those who need their tech hit for this week, there’s this:

trib.al/w2cltFH || Sponsored by @DefenseSoucy ","username":"defense_news","name":"Defense News","date":"Tue Oct 05 13:51:14 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FA8K_i...Defense News @defense_newsLearn about the resurgence of armored vehicles and how the Army uses lessons learned to develop the next-gen vehicles: trib.al/w2cltFH || Sponsored by @DefenseSoucy

October 5th 2021

4 Retweets11 Likes

Finally, there’s been a fair amount of news about the Pandora Papers. I haven’t really been super into these stories because it seems beyond obvious to me. The rich and powerful have ALWAYS been finding ways to hide their wealth and avoid paying taxes. But if you want some more info on it, see below.

Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoorToday's WorldView: The Pandora Papers’ political fallout grows Analysis | The Pandora Papers’ political fallout growsAmong the political elites implicated in the documents are leaders who rose to power vowing to curb corruption and boost transparency.washingtonpost.com

October 5th 2021

3 Retweets4 Likes

In other matters, for your hit of motivation of the week, there’s this:

#Motivation ","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Tue Sep 28 15:00:10 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAYXoF...Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_VideosDon't let excuses and self-doubts hold you back from achieving your goals.#Motivation

September 28th 2021

104 Retweets282 Likes

And lastly, here’s a heart-warming story to end the post with:

The Washington Post @washingtonpostSchool staff saw a custodian was walking to work. They pitched in and bought him a car. School staff saw a custodian was walking to work. They pitched in and bought him a car.“Chris is very personable, but he’s also very private...” said the school principal. “But once we knew, everyone wanted to help.”wapo.st

September 28th 2021

51 Retweets555 Likes

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

Share

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 10/1/21 dispatch.

a.image2.image-link.image2-485-1456 { padding-bottom: 33.31043956043956%; padding-bottom: min(33.31043956043956%, 485px); width: 100%; height: 0; } a.image2.image-link.image2-485-1456 img { max-width: 1456px; max-height: 485px; }

Hope everyone has had a great week!

I thought I’d start this post off with my almost obsession with drones and robots, and how they will change the future of warfare.

Take a look at this baby below.

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The Army calls it an autonomous weapons system known as “Origin.” And even with someone so knew and so quickly thrown together in a test environment, you can see that this is a serious threat to any enemy.

Medium machine gun. Anti-tank weapon. Fairly maneuverable platform that would go through (and over) most terrain.

You can read about it below, but clearly no lightly-armed force would do well against a bunch of these. (There’s even a good chance that no heavily-armed tank force would do well, either.)

I’m assuming some support members would have to be nearby to reload the antitank weapons, but I’d still rather this thing crest a hill and fire than have to do so myself. And that’s what these systems will help do: reduce casualties. (Especially when you add in supporting drones from above, artillery and mortar support, etc.) Read more below:

@usarmy_devcom is part of a team of teams working together to plan #ProjectConvergence 2022.\n\n➡️ go.usa.gov/xM5Tz\n\n#Modernization | #ArmyFutures ","username":"USArmy","name":"U.S. Army","date":"Wed Sep 29 01:03:02 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAahoG...U.S. Army @USArmyPlanning a large-scale Army exercise requires teamwork and collaboration.The @usarmy_devcom is part of a team of teams working together to plan #ProjectConvergence 2022.➡️ go.usa.gov/xM5Tz#Modernization | #ArmyFutures

September 29th 2021

106 Retweets437 Likes

In other matters, moving back to Afghanistan, David Ignatius writes this:

David Ignatius @IgnatiusPostThe CIA got more than 20,000 of it Afghan agents and families out of the country. It wasn’t a triumph—nothing in Afghanistan is—but it kept faith with people who had helped America. Opinion | Inside the CIA’s desperate effort to rescue its Afghan alliesThe agency’s officers and local partners were among the last out of Kabul, working undercover to evacuate as many Americans and Afghans as possible.washingtonpost.com

October 1st 2021

118 Retweets373 Likes

From the column:

“The Afghanistan war was a painful failure for the United States, as our military commanders told Congress this week. The CIA’s role bookended that drama, at the dawn and sunset: The agency was first into Afghanistan after 9/11, working with tribal allies to topple the Taliban. And its officers and Afghan agents were among the last out, working undercover to evacuate as many Americans and Afghans as possible.

“The CIA made its own terrible mistakes in the war on terror. The worst was torturing al-Qaeda prisoners, but two decades of drone attacks and other counterterrorism operations were corrosive and shocked consciences, at home and abroad. But among former officers, the rescue of so many Afghan allies has generated a quiet buzz of satisfaction. Two former officers who served in Afghanistan told me the agency had rescued more than 20,000 Afghan partners and their families. The agency refused to comment on numbers.”

Ignatius wrote in his column that the CIA helped defend Kabul airport and worked outside the airport on covert missions, “sometimes posing as taxi drivers, to rescue Americans who were stranded or too frightened to make their way to the airport.”

Moving along, in the bad news department, there’s this:

CNN @CNNThe suicide rate among active duty service members in the US military increased by 41.4% in the five years from 2015 to 2020, according to data provided in an annual report from the Department of Defense on suicide in the military Suicide rate among active duty service members increased by 41% between 2015 and 2020The suicide rate among active duty service members in the US military increased by 41.4% in the five years from 2015 to 2020, according to data provided in the annual report from the Department of Defense on suicide in the military.cnn.it

September 30th 2021

265 Retweets546 Likes

This is beyond horrific, obviously, but I have no idea what to do about it. In a bit of a coincidence, I recently listened to a podcast about a daughter whose father had taken his own life. In this case, the man was a long-time cop.

I’m not sure why the suicide rate is so high among military, first responders, etc, but if you know any, reach out to them, show them as much love as you can.

Moving to lighter matters, in the crazy department, I had to share this (for those who haven’t seen it):

KP @kerethpThis Florida Man has won the internet for the Month of September

September 29th 2021

65,374 Retweets311,016 Likes

Two final quick things.

First, something funny. The Marine Corps posted the following tweet somewhat innocently a couple of days back:

@2dMarDiv, and a Washington, D.C. native, leads a series of stretching exercises with Afghan children on @MCB_Quantico, Virginia. #OperationAlliesWelcome @USMC ","username":"iimefmarines","name":"II MEF","date":"Thu Sep 30 00:00:01 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAc7d9...II MEF @iimefmarinesU.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Donald Walkerparks, a transmissions system operator with 1st Battalion, 10th Marines Regiment, @2dMarDiv, and a Washington, D.C. native, leads a series of stretching exercises with Afghan children on @MCB_Quantico, Virginia. #OperationAlliesWelcome @USMC

September 30th 2021

15 Retweets109 Likes

And it was immediately followed by this amazing comment!

Matthew Sampson @AllegedKurd>Marines get sent to take care of refugee kids>Immediately begin PTing them

II MEF @iimefmarines

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Donald Walkerparks, a transmissions system operator with 1st Battalion, 10th Marines Regiment, @2dMarDiv, and a Washington, D.C. native, leads a series of stretching exercises with Afghan children on @MCB_Quantico, Virginia. #OperationAlliesWelcome @USMC https://t.co/QP3CM0bfZE

September 30th 2021

121 Retweets788 Likes

Okay, that should’ve made you laugh.

a.image2.image-link.image2-282-440 { padding-bottom: 64.0909090909091%; padding-bottom: min(64.0909090909091%, 282px); width: 100%; height: 0; } a.image2.image-link.image2-282-440 img { max-width: 440px; max-height: 282px; }

Moving on to the second thing, let’s end with some motivation:

#Motivation ","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Tue Sep 28 15:00:10 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAYXoF...Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_VideosDon't let excuses and self-doubts hold you back from achieving your goals.#Motivation

September 28th 2021

102 Retweets279 Likes

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

Share

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. You can 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.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 9/28/21 dispatch.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, testified to Congress today, and it’s safe to say that he made all kinds of news. He also gave both sides some ammo to use, while also probably disappointing both sides.

We’ll begin with the big explanation by General Milley on whether he undermined President Trump (or committed treason, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., alleged).

Milley explained that he had made no secret calls on his own to any Chinese generals. That instead, he made these calls with lots of other public officials in the same room. And that he did so because U.S. intelligence indicated that China believed we were about to attack. But as Milley explained, he was certain Trump did NOT plan to attack. And thus, Milley was de-escalating the situation. (See below.)

c-span.org/video/?514537-… ","username":"cspan","name":"CSPAN","date":"Tue Sep 28 14:40:23 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...CSPAN @cspanGen. Milley: "My loyalty is absolute...with respect to the Chinese calls, I routinely communicated with my counterpart General Lee with the knowledge and coordination of civilian oversight."Full video here: c-span.org/video/?514537-…

September 28th 2021

36 Retweets113 Likes

But not everything was rosey for the Democrats and President Biden. They also took some punishment during the hearing. Biden had said in an interview during the chaotic Afghan withdrawal that no military advisors had told him to keep 2,500 troops in the country.

That was contradicted by another general in today’s hearings. (See below.)

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollinsStephanopoulos: “Your military advisers did not tell you, ‘No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that’?”Biden: “No. No one said that to me that I can recall.”

Josh Rogin @joshrogin

Gen. McKenzie: "I recommended we keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan." Also says he predicted withdrawing them would cause the Afghan army to collapse and the Taliban taking over. Gen. Milley agrees.

September 28th 2021

395 Retweets843 Likes

Milley added further fuel to the fire against Biden by saying that our withdrawal hurt our trust and credibility as a country.

"I think that our credibility with allies and partners around the world and with adversaries is being intensely reviewed by them to see which way this is going to go. And I think that 'damage' is one word that could be used, yes," Milley told senators.

Republicans pounced on this, with the following question (and the best part about this video clip is you can see Milley trying to figure out what to say in real time; this was most certainly not rehearsed and there’s some real emotion in it):

@SenTomCotton: \"Why haven't you resigned?\"\n\nGen. Milley: \"It would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken.\" He also says, \"My dad didn't get a choice to resign at Iwo Jima.\" ","username":"cspan","name":"CSPAN","date":"Tue Sep 28 15:14:06 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...CSPAN @cspan.@SenTomCotton: "Why haven't you resigned?"Gen. Milley: "It would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken." He also says, "My dad didn't get a choice to resign at Iwo Jima."

September 28th 2021

10 Retweets39 Likes

A couple of other things of note. Former President Trump was partly blamed for the Afghan collapse because of the peace deal he pushed.

The head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said, “The primary accelerant to lowering morale and general efficiency of the Afghan military" was the peace agreement that the Trump administration struck with the Taliban in February 2020, which the Afghans believed was "forced on them."

Republicans will probably counter that McKenzie is blaming Trump since he now technically reports to Biden. But the peace deal under Trump was controversial; and it forced the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, many of whom returned to the fight.

One other noteworthy thing that came up was that the U.S. is continuing to attempt to evacuate folks from the danger in Afghanistan. (See below.)

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollinsBefore Congress, Defense Secretary Austin says they are still working on getting Americans out of Afghanistan.

September 28th 2021

49 Retweets319 Likes

I’m confident that these efforts include the CIA, and as I’ve said before, it wouldn’t surprise me if we aren’t working with (or paying) the Taliban to help us get these folks out.

Moving to the end here, I’ll wrap up this post with two pieces of motivation for your week.

#Motivation ","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Sun Sep 26 15:00:23 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FAOEgK...Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_VideosIt's only a failure if you give up.#Motivation

September 26th 2021

91 Retweets214 Likes

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellNothing is ever decided. Be fierce and counter your fears with courage. You never know how things might just work out. Mountain goat ‘turned the tables,’ killed grizzly bear in Yoho National Park | CBC NewsParks Canada says a mountain goat in Yoho National park took on a grizzly bear — and won.cbc.ca

September 27th 2021

1 Like

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

Share

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. You can 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.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 9/24/21 dispatch.

Happy Friday to everyone!

In this post, I wanted to share three quick China-related stories, and then share a few other neat things I’ve come across.

First, China is still being China, trying to intimidate Taiwan (and probably other neighbors that we don’t know about). Nothing new here. See below.

trib.al/8auOM5S ","username":"defense_news","name":"Defense News","date":"Thu Sep 23 15:07:56 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/E_-peU...Defense News @defense_newsChina sends 19 fighter jets toward Taiwan in show of force trib.al/8auOM5S

September 23rd 2021

11 Retweets25 Likes

But despite these threats, America continues to focus its effort on countering China.

Example 1:

@AFSpecOpsCmd released several photos of its concept for an MC-130J that could take off and land on water in future conflicts where airstrip access is lost #China #avgeek defenseone.com/technology/202… via @DefenseOne ","username":"TaraCopp","name":"Tara Copp","date":"Mon Sep 20 17:48:41 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/E_vxR3...Tara Copp @TaraCopp@AFSpecOpsCmd released several photos of its concept for an MC-130J that could take off and land on water in future conflicts where airstrip access is lost #China #avgeek defenseone.com/technology/202… via @DefenseOne

September 20th 2021

20 Retweets63 Likes

Example 2:

trib.al/uY8XH7W ","username":"defense_news","name":"Defense News","date":"Mon Sep 20 19:24:48 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/E_wHfw...Defense News @defense_newsKaman unveils medium-lift UAV to resupply distributed Marine Corps forces trib.al/uY8XH7W

September 20th 2021

19 Retweets75 Likes

The drone resupply story is especially cool. These things would be able to fly up to 500 nautical miles and carry up to 1,000 pounds of cargo.

Moving along, President Joe Biden made a bit of a boo-boo this week. Speaking at the United Nations, he said that this is 'the first time in 20 years' that the U.S. is not at war.

Many, many observers were quite surprised by this remark.

As stated below…

Missy Ryan @missy_ryanEven as Biden told the UN this week that the US is no longer at war, +3K troops remain arrayed across Iraq & Syria; small SOF forces operate in Somalia & Yemen; and military prepares for an ongoing air campaign in Afghanistan. As Biden touts an end to America’s ‘forever’ wars, conflicts drag on out of sightThe U.S. military remains locked in low-level insurgent conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.washingtonpost.com

September 22nd 2021

70 Retweets114 Likes

In other matters, the U.S. is clearly STILL at a loss for what’s happening to our diplomats and State Department workers (and clandestine officers, in some cases.) But they’re getting more serious about trying to figure that out, as evidenced below.

The Washington Post @washingtonpostCIA station chief in Vienna recalled amid criticisms of management and handling of “Havana Syndrome” cases CIA station chief in Vienna recalled amid criticism of management and handling of mysterious ‘Havana Syndrome’ casesThe Austrian capital has become a hotbed of mysterious illnesses plaguing American personnel and their families.wapo.st

September 24th 2021

39 Retweets83 Likes

Moving along, I found this CNN story VERY fascinating. If you want to see some very eye-opening footage of both a base and prison in Afghanistan, give this a few mins of your time.

@NicRobertsonCNN goes inside an abandoned US air base now under Taliban control and the notorious prison that once held thousands of detainees. cnn.it/3u1NbsG ","username":"CNN","name":"CNN","date":"Wed Sep 22 09:20:00 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...CNN @CNN.@NicRobertsonCNN goes inside an abandoned US air base now under Taliban control and the notorious prison that once held thousands of detainees. cnn.it/3u1NbsG

September 22nd 2021

123 Retweets365 Likes

Finally, I really enjoyed this profile and review of Secretary Austin, the new Secretary of Defense. I know he’s been saddled with implementing some defense moves that he didn’t agree with (big hint: Afghanistan), but he truly has been a steady hand.

And the former Army General just brings such a calming manner to everything that he does. A gentle giant, if you will.

David Ignatius @IgnatiusPostA no-drama defense secretary in a soap opera country Opinion | A no-drama defense secretary in a soap opera countryRunning the Pentagon is the toughest management job in the government, and Lloyd Austin has had a head-spinning first year.washingtonpost.com

September 24th 2021

8 Retweets22 Likes

Finally, before we wrap things up, here is my cool story for the week, check this out!

Military.com @MilitarydotcomA Colonial Sailing Ship Was Uncovered in the Foundation of the World Trade Center A Colonial Sailing Ship Was Uncovered in the Foundation of the World Trade CenterThe US doesn’t go around burying its warships. That’s what merchantmen are for.military.com

September 23rd 2021

6 Retweets16 Likes

One final bit of personal news.

I'm going to mail out some free copies of Hill 406. If you’d like a copy (or know a vet/friend/family member who would), please email me. You can reach me at stan@stanrmitchell.com.

I'll send out up to ten copies. (U.S. residents only.)

a.image2.image-link.image2-295-200 { padding-bottom: 147.16981132075472%; padding-bottom: min(147.16981132075472%, 294.33962264150944px); width: 100%; height: 0; } a.image2.image-link.image2-295-200 img { max-width: 200px; max-height: 294.33962264150944px; }

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

Share

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. You can 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.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 9/21/21 dispatch.

French officials erupted in anger over the nuclear sub deal that I discussed last week. The agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States led to France recalling its ambassadors from Australia and America. The French didn’t quite go so far as recalling their ambassador from the UK.

@PostOpinions. ","username":"MaxBoot","name":"Max Boot","date":"Mon Sep 20 15:33:45 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":261,"like_count":1253,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://wapo.st/2Xx8u9g","i... | Biden’s Australian submarine deal is a big win in the strategic competition with China","description":"Xi Jinping has no one but himself to blame.","domain":"wapo.st"},"video_url":null}">Max Boot @MaxBootBiden should have handled France better, but he deserves credit for a major win in the U.S. competition with China--the most significant strategic struggle of the 21st century.  My latest in @PostOpinions. Opinion | Biden’s Australian submarine deal is a big win in the strategic competition with ChinaXi Jinping has no one but himself to blame.wapo.st

September 20th 2021

261 Retweets1,253 Likes

Max Boot writes of the deal:

AUKUS is the kind of “tremendously big deal” that former president Donald Trump always bragged about but seldom delivered. It turns the “Pacific pivot” that former president Barack Obama advertised into more than an empty slogan.

Ten years ago, Obama dispatched 2,500 U.S. Marines to Australia. The impact of that deployment is trivial compared with having eight Australian nuclear submarines patrolling the silent depths of the Pacific. China is building cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to target surface ships, including U.S. aircraft carriers. But the Pentagon reports that “it continues to lack a robust deep-water anti-submarine warfare capability.”

That is a weakness the Royal Australian Navy will be able to exploit in conjunction with the U.S. and British fleets. (The United States already operates 68 nuclear submarines, Britain 11.) Once Australia’s nuclear submarines are ready, China’s ability to dominate sea lanes and invade or blockade Taiwan will be reduced. (The naval balance of power would tilt even further against China if Japan, which already has 20 diesel submarines, were to build its own nuclear subs.) But the first submarine is not due to be built Down Under until 2040. The program needs to be accelerated to reduce Australia’s window of vulnerability — and reduce the incentives for China to commit aggression while it still can.

President Biden is expected to soon talk to French President Emmanuel Macron about the deal, in an effort to reduce tensions. One interesting thing that Boot mentioned that I wasn’t aware of is that France has been bucking the U.S. of late, as well.

“France’s enraged response is over the top,” he writes. “Macron should remember that he supported a now-suspended European Union investment agreement with China that was signed in December 2020 — i.e., right before Biden took office — over U.S. objections. Back in February, Macron rejected the idea of a U.S.-E.U. common front against China. Now he complains when the United States pursues its own strategy against China. What’s French for chutzpah?”

Something that didn’t make the news, but that sickened me late last week, was the news coming out of Russia.

Alexei Navalny, the jailed opposition figure, who also survived an attack by a nerve agent that he was poisoned with, has continued his efforts to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia had an election set for last week and Navalny, even from prison, planned to weaken Putin’s grip on the country.

Part of his plan was to make a list of good candidates that voters could select in the election. This is because Putin and his party are cunning and run tons of names, so that you cannot know who best to vote for. This splits the vote, and of course, on top of that, Russia controls the media.

Navalny had a good plan. His group would make a list on a website of candidates that voters should support. This might’ve worked, but Russia took down the website.

But Navalny is no fool. He also had created an app for both Google and the Apple store, which also had the list of candidates. This posed such a risk to Putin that he went to extreme lengths to stop the effort.

The government’s campaign to stop this “escalated bit by bit from ludicrous trademark complaint to threats to arrest the firms’ employees,” The Washington Post reported. And when even that wasn’t enough, Russia sent armed me to the offices of Apple and Google.

You can catch a lot of the background on this story at this video link, which Rachel Maddow pulled togehter. I know not everyone is an MSNBC fan, so you can also google this and read about how it went down on your own. (Having said this, Maddow pulled together an 8-min segment that is more in-depth than anything else I’ve seen out there.)

Moving along, it turns out as I right in my last post when I said that it was likely the U.S. had made a targeting error in Afghanistan. Since the post, the U.S. military has addmited that it made a mistake in their final drone strike in Afghanistan. (See below.)

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollinsGen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, says, “It is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces.” U.S. military admits errors in drone strike that killed 10 Afghanswashingtonpost.com

September 17th 2021

5 Retweets16 Likes

As is now being confirmed, the driver was a longtime aid worker for a U.S.-based group and was hauling water cans for his family, according to video obtained by The Washington Post and others after the incident.

In lighter news, there’s this:

CNN @CNNA glass bottle containing a message from 1984 has washed up in Hawaii and been discovered by a 9-year-old girl -- 37 years after high school students in Japan dropped it into the ocean as part of an experiment. Japanese school students sent a message in a bottle. 37 years later, it washed up in HawaiiA glass bottle containing a message from 1984 has washed up in Hawaii and been discovered by a 9-year-old girl -- 37 years after high school students in Japan dropped it into the ocean as part of an experiment.cnn.it

September 17th 2021

115 Retweets661 Likes

I thought that was pretty cool news. I mean, wow. Thirty-seven years later. How crazy is that?!

Finally, we’ll end with some motivation.

#Quotes ","username":"IMQuotes_Videos","name":"Inspired Motivation Quotes","date":"Mon Sep 20 20:00:18 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/E_wPnA...Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_VideosSuccess is not an accident, and is something we can all work toward achieving on a daily basis.#Quotes

September 20th 2021

61 Retweets149 Likes

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

Share

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. You can 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.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

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. 

Subscribe now

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.

The 9/17/21 dispatch.

There’s been almost too much news this week to share it all (Regular readers know I prefer short posts).

I won’t even post any additional news about the General Milley and Trump/China situation. It went mainstream as I predicted in my last post. I figure you’ve read enough about it by now and that everyone has made their minds up regarding whether General Milley is a hero or something far worse.

The Washington Post @washingtonpostMilley says calls to his Chinese military counterpart were “perfectly within the duties and responsibilities” of his job Milley says calls to his Chinese military counterpart were ‘perfectly within the duties and responsibilities’ of his jobThe chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been under fire for private conversations in the closing months of the Trump administration.wapo.st

September 17th 2021

91 Retweets616 Likes

The biggest news other than the Milley mess (hey, that’s not bad alliteration right there; I should be a writer!), involves the US, the UK, and Australia.

David Ignatius @IgnatiusPostA new U.S. alliance responds to Chinese aggression — and U.S. military complacency Opinion | A new U.S. alliance responding to the Chinese threat reignites ages-old tensions with FranceThe centerpiece of the “AUKUS” agreement was a plan to jointly develop nuclear submarines for Australia. That scuttled a 2016 French deal to build less-advanced conventional subs, and Paris was furious.washingtonpost.com

September 15th 2021

26 Retweets67 Likes

David Ignatius, a foreign policy expert for decades, perfectly described the news:

The short-term goal of the Indo-Pacific alliance is to help Australia over the next 18 months prepare to build a nuclear attack submarine, which will be a stealthy, undersea weapons-launching platform at a time when surface vessels are increasingly vulnerable to Chinese anti-ship missiles. An administration official said Australia may build up to a dozen such subs over the next two decades.

…

The AUKUS initiative should be an antidote to what sometimes seems an American addiction to legacy weapons systems, such as aircraft carriers and fighter jets, that will have diminishing effectiveness against China’s high-tech military. Last week, Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, complained in a session at the Brookings Institution that the Pentagon has been “unbelievably slow” with military modernization.

The UK prime minister gave a good summary of it below, if you a minute or so to hear him.

bbc.in/3ltboUL ","username":"BBCPolitics","name":"BBC Politics","date":"Thu Sep 16 09:39:16 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...BBC Politics @BBCPolitics"Australia, the UK, and the US will become inseparable partners in a project that will last for decades"PM Boris Johnson announces historic security pact in the Asia-Pacific, which will see Australia build nuclear-powered submarines, using US technologybbc.in/3ltboUL

September 16th 2021

255 Retweets900 Likes

As a reminder, besides this AUKUS alliance, the U.S. also has the group it calls the “the Quad,” which includes India and Japan, (plus Australia and the United States).

When you combine the countries already mentioned, then throw in other countries such as the Philipines, Thailand, etc, then you see that China truly finds itself facing a quite large alliance, which can stand up to the mammoth Asian bully that it is. (← This is my editorializing, but you know it’s completely true. China is a barbaric regime and we should never forget that.)

Moving to other matters, an interesting story dropped regarding the Taliban. It turns out they used some drone attacks to kill off important leaders of the Afghan resistance that they faced.

You can read the full story below, but it does seem they took out some crucial resistance leaders with these suicide drones when it mattered the most. (And the fear of these attacks had the ground forces quite worried.)

newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-…"... Bendett","date":"Thu Sep 16 14:25:36 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":17,"like_count":32,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the... Drone Unit that Helped the Taliban Win the War - Newlines Magazine","description":"Newlines Magazine interviews the engineers-turned-assassins working the drone unit that enabled the Taliban to win the war in Afghanistan.","domain":"newlinesmag.com"},"video_url":null}">Samuel Bendett @SamBendettFascinating article that points ot the real issue of drone proliferation 👇👇 newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-…The Drone Unit that Helped the Taliban Win the War - Newlines MagazineNewlines Magazine interviews the engineers-turned-assassins working the drone unit that enabled the Taliban to win the war in Afghanistan.newlinesmag.com

September 16th 2021

17 Retweets32 Likes

Staying on the topic of Afghanistan for a moment later, there have been a number of increasingly disturbing reports (and evidence) that the last drone strike in Afghanistan hit a target that had nothing to do with terrorists. I tried to mostly ignore these stories for some time, but so many outlets have run this down, that the evidence is pretty overwhelming.

I try to be as pro-military as I can, but this strike appears to have been a terrible mistake. One that is certainly understandable after the death of 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans just days earlier, and with justified fears of a follow-up suicide attack.

At the link, you can see that The Washington Post had some incredibly detailed reporting on the strike and who all were killed:

Stan R. Mitchell, USMC @StanRMitchellExamining a ‘righteous’ strike Analysis of the U.S. drone strike’s aftermath in Kabul suggests no evidence the car contained explosives, experts sayThe Washington Post provided imagery of the damage caused by the strike and U.S. military assessments of the operation to experts, including a physicist and former bomb technicians. Taken together, their assessments suggest there is no evidence the car contained explosives.washingtonpost.com

September 17th 2021

If you don’t have a Washington Post subscription, CNN was all over the story, as well:

@amcoren reports\n","username":"TheLeadCNN","name":"The Lead CNN","date":"Tue Sep 14 23:05:03 +0000 2021","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":36,"like_count":95,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2... Pentagon claims it hit a legitimate terrorist target with its final drone strike in Afghanistan. CNN investigated what happened - and the findings challenge the Pentagon’s claim - CNN Video","description":"CNN’s Anna Coren reports.","domain":"cnn.com"},"video_url":null}">The Lead CNN @TheLeadCNNThe Pentagon claims it hit a legitimate terrorist target with its final drone strike in Afghanistan. CNN investigated what happened - and the findings challenge the Pentagon's claim @amcoren reportsThe Pentagon claims it hit a legitimate terrorist target with its final drone strike in Afghanistan. CNN investigated what happened - and t…CNN’s Anna Coren reports.cnn.com

September 14th 2021

36 Retweets95 Likes

In other news, on the technology front, drones and robots continue to become more prominent. See more evidence below:

Military.com @MilitarydotcomRussia Claims Battlefield Breakthrough with Robot Tanks Russia Claims Battlefield Breakthrough with Robot TanksRussia has been working to improve its robot combat vehicle capability, and previously tested a prototype of the Uran-9 in Syria.military.com

September 15th 2021

2 Retweets9 Likes

Finally, I wanted to share this video from the Secretary of Defense. Suicides continue to be a serious problem for veterans. (And depression and negative thinking is even up significantly among civilians, following two years of COVID precautions and political vitriol amped up to 100+.)

I thought this short talk by Secretary Austin provided some of the best ideas I’ve seen for preventing self-harm and reducing depression, sadness, and loneliness. Please watch it if you have a moment. And please share the ideas, if you can, with any struggling vets that you know. We’ve already lost too many of them.

At a minimum, reach out to them and say hello. Check in with them, ask them how it’s going, and try to get them to talk some.

#SuicidePreventionMonth: \n\n1. Use our 24/7 confidential support resources, [militaryonesource.mil]\n2. Safely store your firearms and medications,\n3. Stay connected with one another. ","username":"SecDef","name":"Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III","date":"Mon Sep 13 18:44:36 +0000 2021","photos":[{"img_url":"https://cdn.substack.com/image/upload...Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III @SecDefThree things everyone can do to stay healthy and help their fellow service members during #SuicidePreventionMonth: 1. Use our 24/7 confidential support resources, [militaryonesource.mil]2. Safely store your firearms and medications,3. Stay connected with one another.

September 13th 2021

219 Retweets581 Likes

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

Share

And if you haven’t already, please sign up for email notifications. (It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. You can 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.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

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. 

Subscribe now

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.