The President's Daily Brief - April 16th, 2024: Post-Attack Analysis, Russo-Ukrainian Reactions, & China’s Strategic Silence

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We take a look at the aftermath of the unprecedented strike on Israeli soil, examining the emerging details of the attack and what they reveal about Iran's military prowess. Later, we'll analyze the shifting political winds in Eastern Europe, evaluating the latest responses from Russian and Ukrainian leaders to recent events and their potential impact on the war in Ukraine. In today's Back of the Brief, we scrutinize China's muted response to global events and how it challenges their claim to global leadership. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Tuesday, 16 April. to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We're over 72 hours removed now from the historic attack on Israel by Iran and a handful of their proxies, let's not forget them. We're now getting a more complete picture of how the strike played out and what it all says about Iran's military capabilities. I'll bring you the latest details. Coming up later, we'll pivot to Eastern Europe for insights into the latest responses from Russian and Ukrainian leaders following this weekend's events and what these developments could mean for the conflict in Ukraine.

And in today's back of the brief, we'll turn to the Far East, where China's reaction, or lack thereof, is raising questions about the communist nation's claims to diplomatic leadership on the world's stage. But first, today's BDB spotlight. A few days after Iran launched its attack on Israel were getting better insight into the successes and failures of the Islamic Republic's efforts.

First, the successes. Now, contrary to earlier reports, Iran managed to strike two air bases during the attack with at least nine missiles that penetrated Israel's air defense network. Most significantly, five ballistic missiles hit the Nevitam air base, which Iranians claim was used to launch the sortie that killed General Mohammed Reza Zahidi in Damascus earlier this month. Now, that's a symbolic win for the Iranian regime, but the impact of the missiles was fairly limited.

According to officials, the strike managed to damage a single C-130 transport aircraft, an unused runway, and empty storage facilities. Four additional ballistic missiles hit the Negev Air Base in Israel's south, but there were no reports of significant damage. This all runs counter to official Iranian state media reports, which claimed the base had sustained heavy blows. All right. Then there's Iran's failures. Specifically, the success rate of the ballistic missiles the Iranians used during the attack, well, it doesn't speak highly of the quality control of the Iranian arms industry. According to U.S. officials speaking to the Wall Street Journal, roughly 50% of the ballistic missiles Iran launched at Israel failed to reach their intended targets, now either due to failing during launch or malfunctioning during flight.

U.S. officials said that Iran launched between 115 and 130 ballistic missiles that targeted Israel in total. So, based on my kung-foo-like grip on mathematics, that would mean around 60 missiles either failed to make it off the launch pad or veered off track and landed harmlessly in the desert. As one U.S. official put it, quote, so much for the vaunted ballistic missile capability. of Iran, end quote. Now, none of this is meant to minimize the threat that Iranian weapons represent. It's clear that what the regime lacks in quality, they more than make up for in quantity. While not a single drone managed to penetrate Israeli airspace, these cheap weapons have the ability to overwhelm the country's air defenses, and that appears to be precisely the strategy that

they intended to use this weekend. The Iranian regime has warned that if Israel retaliates now, the next attack will be at least tenfold greater. One other thing we've learned in the days following the attack is the extent of America's role in defending Israel. In opposed to X, U.S. Central Command revealed that U.S. forces, supported by European Command destroyers took out more than 80 drones and at least six ballistic missiles that were fired from both Iran and Yemen. CENTCOM said that included a ballistic missile on its launcher vehicle and seven UAVs destroyed

on the ground prior to their launch in areas controlled by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. All right, coming up after the break, we turn our attention to Eastern Europe, examining responses from Russian and Ukrainian leaders in the aftermath of this weekend's Iranian attack and the potential impact on the Ukrainian conflict. I'll be right back. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis, a once-monthly treatment for moderate-tissaphyr eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four and seven people taking

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Welcome back. It appears that, at least on the surface, the bromance between Vladimir Putin and the Iranian mullahs may be experiencing some relationship issues, at least when it comes to Russia's response to Iran's weekend bombardment of Israel with drones and missiles. If the mullahs in Iran were banking on the full-throated support of the Kremlin for their unprecedented retaliatory operation against Israel, they were likely somewhat disappointed. Russia's foreign ministry issued a statement on Sunday saying that they were alarmed at the escalation by Iran, adding that it is, quote, in no one's interests, end quote, according to a CNBC report.

Now, the foreign ministry added, quote, we prefer that the Iranian regime give us the drones and missiles for our war with Ukraine rather than wasting them on Israel. Okay, that was a made-up quote. I'm sorry about that. While the Kremlin called on all parties involved to exercise restraint, they stopped short of either voicing support for Iran or condemning the regime outright and reiterated their position that Iran has a right to self-defense. They also said the primary driver of the current violence is the Israel-Khamas conflict and criticized

the West for not doing more to ease tensions through the UN Security Council. The Kremlin failed to note that there is currently an Israel-Hamas conflict because, well, the Iranian-sponsored Hamas started the conflict with their slaughter of Israeli citizens in early October. Now, I'm sure that that was just an oversight. They forgot to put that in their official statement, and I'm sure they'll do better next time. The foreign ministry said, quote, we express our extreme concern at yet another dangerous escalation in the region. We call on all parties involved to exercise restraint.

We have repeatedly warned that the numerous unresolved crises in the Middle East, primarily in the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which are often fueled by irresponsible provocative actions, will exasperate tensions, end quote. And that's quite the run-on sentence from the Kremlin. That last line, referencing, quote, provocative actions, appeared to be a dig at Israel for the strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that preceded this weekend's attack by Iran. Despite Russia's not so veiled criticism of the U.S. and Israel, leaders in Iran are likely disgruntled with what they see as a lackluster response from their

supposed ally. As a reminder, Russia has been relying on Iran, among others, for drones and missiles and other munitions to resupply their shrinking stockpiles in Ukraine. Since the invasion, of Ukraine in February of 2022, Russia has significantly expanded their military cooperation with Iran, and Iranian drones in particular have been used to very damaging effect by the Putin regime. Now, the former head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee lashed out at the Putin regime on Monday over their refusal to defend Iran's attack on the global stage. He said, quote, the developments showed that Iran is alone in the region. The world's powers came to Israel's aid to reduce the aerial pressure on Israel, but other powers did not come to Iran's aid,

even in wartime conditions. Okay, no doubt, given their friend group of despot nations is pretty small, the two nations will kiss and make up soon. I wouldn't look for this spat to impact their long-term relationship. Speaking of the war in Ukraine, President Zelensky is warning that Iran's attack on Israel should serve as a wake-up call to the West to do more to support their beleaguered allies overseas. Zelensky and his top officials said the remarkable success of Israel and its allies in defending against Iran's attack shows what Ukraine could achieve against Russian forces if it only had greater support from its international partners. Leaders in Kiev used the moment to put the pressure on U.S. officials, particularly Republicans in Congress, to approve new financial and military aid for

Ukraine that's been languishing in a deadlocked Congress since the fall. Zolensky said, quote, It is critical that the United States Congress make the necessary decisions to strengthen America's allies at this critical time. Words do not stop drones and do not intercept missiles. Only tangible assistance does, end quote. The parallels between Iran's attack on Israel and the situation in Ukraine are striking, as Russia has subjected the people of Ukraine to a near constant barrage of drone attacks, targeting their energy infrastructure. These drones are often the very same Iranian-made shahed drones that the Islamic regime used to attack Israel on Saturday. Ukrainian officials reiterated their pleas for the country's Western allies to provide more

air defense systems, pointing to the effectiveness of the Israeli Iron Dome, which prevented serious damage or casualties during the Iranian bombardment. Zolensky said, quote, the whole world sees what real defense is. It sees that it is feasible, end quote. Now, allies of Zelensky were also mobilized in the wake of the Iranian. an attack, some speaking directly to Republicans and informer President Trump. Ukraine's former infrastructure minister was particularly direct, saying, quote, I hope that Iran's attack on Israel will send a powerful message to Republicans, namely to Mr. Trump.

You cannot wait aside anymore. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea persistently attack the West, end quote. It appears that U.S. leaders are feeling the pressure following the events of the weekend. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed Sunday that he will attempt to bring a roughly $95 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine and Israel to the floor for a vote this week. Within that package, roughly $60 billion is earmarked for Ukraine. Now, Johnson will have to find a way to sway the more conservative wing of the GLP, however, who have grown, let's call it, weary of sending continued aid to Keeve. As a reminder, U.S. aid to Ukraine up.

officially dried up in January, and the White House has been trying to get new assistance approved ever since. A previous attempt by Speaker Johnson to tie the 60 billion aid proposal to immigration reform ultimately failed in February. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, we'll examine China's muted response to this weekend's attacks, and what it reveals about their stance as a global leader. I'll be right back. In today's back of the brief, I want to shift our focus over to China to address their, well, we'll call it muted, shall we, reaction to this weekend's attack. In a statement posted to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website, they wrote, China calls on relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tensions.

They went on to call on the international community, especially what they termed influential countries, to play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability. Now, that's not exactly a hard-hitting statement, especially for a country that's been attempting to demonstrate a position of leadership on the world's stage. Moreover, it's worth noting that China failed to even condemn the Iranian attack, even though it did condemn the strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus earlier this month. This stance is obviously a stark contrast to other regional players, including Japan and South Korea, both of which condemned Iran.

China's weak statement didn't go unnoticed by Israel, which has publicly stated their disappointment with the response. The deputy chief of the Israeli mission in China said at a press briefing on Monday, we were hoping for stronger condemnation and clear acknowledgement of Israel's right to defend itself. Unfortunately, we did not see that, which is why we were unhappy with the statement, end quote. China's statement follows a pattern in recent months, as they failed to contribute anything helpful during the Gaza war or in the events that followed. Now, this isn't the first time that China has,

failed to show up. As a matter of fact, this is almost the same exact reaction Israel gave to China's initial response to the October 7th attacks when China failed to condemn Khamas. And that's something they still haven't mustered enough energy to do. In the event that the UN Security Council is actually pressed to condemn or sanction Iran for their attack, it will be interesting to see if China takes a stand one way or the other. While we know what cards Russia will play as a member of the Security Council when it comes to Iran, there is the slightest of chances that China will not fall completely in line with the Iran-Russia Evil League of Evil. And that, my friends, is the President's daily brief for Tuesday, 16 April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me

at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird.

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