Red Horse – Page 5 – The Faithful Watchman

‘A Stunning Breach Of Security’: China Turns To New Tactic To Boost Military Using Ex-British Pilots

Communist China has been using headhunters in South Africa to recruit ex-British military pilots to train pilots in China’s People’s Liberation Army, which has left Western officials scrambling to put an end to the practice.

Officials have said China has lured away dozens, potentially around 30 ex-military pilots, from the U.K. by paying them salaries of around $270,000 per year.

The New York Times reported that the U.K. is now working with allied nations to put an end to Beijing snatching away ex-military personnel due to the national security risks that it poses to the nations.

While none of the ex-military pilots appeared to be breaking criminal laws by helping the Chinese, British officials were determined to “tighten the controls on retired service members” to protect against them helping foreign adversaries in activities that could violate espionage laws, The Times said.

RETIRED U.S. GENERALS, ADMIRALS TAKE TOP JOBS WITH SAUDI CROWN PRINCE

Hundreds of veterans have taken lucrative foreign jobs that U.S. officials approved — but fought to keep secret

More than 500 retired U.S. military personnel — including scores of generals and admirals — have taken lucrative jobs since 2015 working for foreign governments, mostly in countries known for human rights abuses and political repression, according to a Washington Post investigation.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, 15 retired U.S. generals and admirals have worked as paid consultants for the Defense Ministry since 2016. The ministry is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, who U.S. intelligence agencies say approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Post contributing columnist, as part of a brutal crackdown on dissent.

Saudi Arabia’s paid advisers have included retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, a national security adviser to President Barack Obama, and retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Obama and President George W. Bush, according to documents obtained by The Post under Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.

Others who have worked as consultants for the Saudis since Khashoggi’s murder include a retired four-star Air Force general and a former commanding general of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

A Russian fighter jet fired a missile while shadowing a Royal Air Force recon plane on patrol over the Black Sea, UK says

A Russian fighter jet recently released a missile “in the vicinity” of a Royal Air Force reconnaissance plane conducting a patrol mission in Eastern Europe, UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday.

The unarmed RC-135W Rivet Joint was in the middle of a routine patrol over the Black Sea on September 29 when two armed Russian Su-27 fighter jets “interacted” with the surveillance aircraft, Wallace told lawmakers in London while delivering an update on the war in Ukraine.

“It is not unusual for aircraft to be shadowed, and this day was no different. During that interaction, however, it transpired that one of the Su-27 aircraft released a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range,” Wallace said, adding that the interaction lasted about 90 minutes.

The RAF Rivet Joint returned to its base once the patrol finished, Wallace said, and he’s since communicated his concerns with his Russian counterpart, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, “in light of this potentially dangerous engagement.”

Biden Announces Foreign Policy Strategy, Targets China And Russia

President Joe Bien’s administration is preparing to go head to head with China and Russia in its new foreign policy strategy.

“In the early years of this decisive decade, the terms of geopolitical competition will be set while the window of opportunity to deal with shared challenges will narrow. We cannot compete successfully to shape the international order unless we have an affirmative plan to tackle shared challenges, and we cannot do that unless we recognize how heightened competition affects cooperation and act accordingly,” the White House said on its website.

But it was the next section, where the administration vowed to go head to head with China and Russia that caught many eyes.

Reporter’s Notebook: The missiles of October

Biden recently came under fire for his Armageddon reference amid Russian nuclear threats

We have not necessarily been here before. But we’ve been close enough.

To wit: Washington and Moscow trading barbs in October of a midterm election year about nuclear weapons.

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” said President Biden. “[Russian leader Vladimir Putin] is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological and chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming.”

China’s secret police have invaded American shores: human rights advocate

China’s reported transnational policing will ‘escalate very quickly’ unless governments take action

China’s reported overseas police service stations and their operations to persuade citizens to return to the homeland mark a dangerous expansion of the regime’s international reach, according to a human rights advocate.

Safeguard Defenders, a pan-Asian human rights organization, published an investigation last month detailing a Chinese campaign to combat “fraud and telecom fraud” crimes committed by its citizens living abroad. The report indicated that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established at least 54 police stations across 30 different countries, including the U.S.

“I think it shows how brazen the CCP is getting and how little regard they have for other governments,” Laura Harth, Safeguard Defenders’ campaign manager, told Fox News. “It’s in violation of international law, it’s in violation of territorial sovereign.”

‘Not a bluff’: Putin threatens nuclear war, calls up thousands of reserve troops

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, holds a microphone

Micaela Burrow – September 21, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down on the credibility of his threats to use nuclear weapons for Russia’s self-defense in a speech Wednesday morning, in addition to calling up hundreds of thousands of additional troops for battle.

In the largest escalation since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February, Putin made good on a partial mobilization for 300,000 reserve and special operations personnel in an executive order signed Wednesday. He issued veiled threats of nuclear strikes in response to the “aggressive policy of Western elites” to continue provoking Russia on the 1000-km line of contact in Ukraine and providing the Ukrainian army with weapons and supplies.

“In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff,” he said.

Putin’s speech aired less than 24 hours after the Russian-installed leaders in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine’s south, as well as the two sympathetic presidents in the eastern Donbas region, announced plans to hold referendums on acceding to the Russian Federation later in September.

Russia at present does not exercise full control over the territories. Russia’s deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, said Tuesday that annexation of the regions would expand the list of possible military options amid Ukraine’s burgeoning counteroffensive in the east and south, Reuters reported.

Putin added that North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were conducting reconnaissance operations over Russian territory and had openly discussed launching nuclear weapons against the federation, despite lack of evidence for the latter, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In the speech, Putin also accused the West of committing “nuclear blackmail” over the Zaporizhzhia power plant, after Zelenskyy said Putin was engaged in “nuclear terrorism” for its dangerous shelling in the area.

https://www.wnd.com

Russia Says Security Guarantees For Ukraine Are A “Prologue To Third World War”

Mac Slavo – September 14, 2022

There has been a lot of chatter about a third world war. In fact, Pope Francis has said twice now that the world is already in WW3 and Russia is now saying that security guarantees from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) are a “prologue to a third world war.”

The Kremlin made the comments in response to requests from Ukraine to supply it with a “NATO-esque” bloc that can be called upon to immediately defend borders with Russia. This was proposed by a working group established by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s demand has been swift and fierce, with Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev warning that it is “really a prologue to the Third World War” if it gets enacted. He described a nuclear holocaust that would be the end result, according to the Odessa Journal.

“Everything will flare up around them. Their people will seize grief to the fullest. Their earth will literally burn, and concrete will melt. We will also get a lot. It will be very bad for everyone,” Medvedev added.

Medvedev also warned the West against continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons. “If the pumping of the Kyiv regime with the most dangerous types of weapons continues, the military campaign will move to another level sooner or later. Visible boundaries and potential predictability of the parties’ actions to the conflict will disappear. It will follow its own military scenario, attracting new participants to it,” writes Medvedev.

Russia continues to punish the West, more specifically the European Union for the sanctions placed on it over the Ukraine “invasion.” Almost everything right now can be seen as instigation and ramping up of rhetoric. If it continues, it will explode in the third world war the ruling classes seem intent upon igniting.

https://www.shtfplan.com

North Korea clarifies nuclear doctrine

RT – September 9, 2022

North Korea has issued a document outlining its approach to nuclear warfare, warning it will not hesitate to use the bomb if it perceives threats to its senior leadership or “important strategic targets,” state media has reported.

A statement on the “nuclear force policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” was carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday, noting that while the government considers nuclear weapons a “last resort,” it would deploy them to prevent “aggression that seriously threatens the security of the state and people.”

The policy document went on to note that Pyongyang would launch a preemptive strike “automatically and immediately” if officials believe “the command and control system for the national nuclear force is in danger due to an attack by hostile forces.”

While the statement stressed that North Korea “does not threaten or use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries,” it warned it would forcefully respond to aggression, or to nations threatening the DPRK by “colluding with other nuclear-armed states.” It named five scenarios under which the military might launch a nuclear strike, including when the country is threatened with weapons of mass destruction, when leaders or “important strategic targets” come under attack, in the case of “an unavoidable operational necessity to prevent the expansion and prolongation of war,” or in response to any other “catastrophic crisis” that endangers the nation or its people.

https://www.rt.com

China simulates attacks on US warships – Taiwan

RT – September 2, 2022

China is taking steps to dominate the waters around Taiwan, drilling with simulated attacks on US Navy warships and updating its invasion plans to reflect lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry has reportedly warned lawmakers in Taipei.

China has been “using combat drills to carry out simulated attacks on US ships that enter the first island chain,” Reuters cited the Taiwanese Defense Ministry as saying on Thursday in a report to the self-governing island’s parliament. The “first island chain” refers to a stretch of islands running from the outskirts of Japan to Borneo – a region where Beijing aims to gain strategic control by 2035, the ministry said.

According to the report, China is taking steps to prevent other countries from coming to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack. China’s military has ramped up intimidation tactics this year to undermine Taipei’s morale and force reunification negotiations, the defense ministry said. China has “substantially threatened our nation’s defense security and endangered peace, security and stability in the areas near the Taiwan Strait.”

Beijing cut off military and climate ties with the US and conducted war games in the Taiwan Strait last month, after US House Speaker Nancy Pelolsi defied Beijing’s warnings against visiting Taiwan. China considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory and has vowed to reunify with the breakaway province, by force if necessary.

The Taiwanese defense report suggested that China could use special forces to “decapitate” Taiwan’s command systems. Beijing also is capable of using cyberwarfare to disrupt communications and could blockade Taiwan, cut off energy supplies and seek to wreck the island’s economy, the ministry said.

https://www.rt.com