The President's Daily Brief - March 19th, 2024: Putin’s Threat, Pakistan vs. Taliban, & Social Media Censorship

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Russian President Vladimir Putin cautions NATO as Ukraine-supported Russian paramilitaries dangerously close to a key nuclear depot. Shifting to the Middle East, tensions rise on the long-standing friction between Pakistan and the Taliban, with a series of fatal cross-border skirmishes amplifying regional instability. We also examine the United States' maneuvers to block the flow of arms to Yemen's Houthi insurgents, a strategic move in a complex regional chess game. A landmark Supreme Court case unfolds with potential repercussions for free speech on social media platforms. 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 been a long time, hasn't it? Family-owned premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first purchase. It's Tuesday, 19 March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. In the wake of a decisive electoral win, and by decisive, I mean, of course he was going to win.

He's killed or jailed any relevant opposition. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stern warning to NATO, stating that any conflict could potentially escalate into a third world war. Seriously, this dude is on some sort of roared version. rage. Putin's warning comes amid reports that Ukraine-backed Russian paramilitary forces have advanced within just 10 miles of a critical nuclear storage facility. Oh, that's swell. So Putin appears to be off as meds, and meanwhile, we have anti-Putin Russian forces threatening a nuke storage facility. Later in the program, we'll turn our attention to the Middle East, where tensions between the Pakistan

and the Taliban are on the rise with both sides launching deadly cross-border attacks. Look, seriously, I'm not trying to create angst here. Our job at the PDB is just to tell you what's going on in the world. I can't help it if the world is a bit chaotic right now. And a little later, we'll take a look at efforts by the U.S. to prevent arms from falling into the hands of Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. In today's back of the brief, we'll turn our attention to politics in the U.S., which, frankly, are almost as dysfunctional as the other stories we're discussing today.

Oral arguments are underway in a landmark Supreme Court case that could set the stage for the federal government to regulate free speech on social media platforms. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Vladimir Putin is celebrating two major milestones this week. The first, of course, was his overwhelming, completely not a surprise, 87% victory in the presidential election, which earned him a fifth term as president of Russia. Honestly, he just should have claimed the other 13% and declared himself a 100% winner. I mean, it's like he thinks by saying, hey, look at that, I only won 87% that somehow folks around the world are going to imagine he really was in a Democratic election.

where anybody could have won. Shortly after the results were announced, Putin took the opportunity to issue a stark warning to the West, taking aim at those who he says are trying to intimidate Russia. Spoiler alert, Putin, nobody's trying to intimidate Russia. During a press conference later on Sunday, the president was asked about the looming possibility of a conflict between NATO and Russia,

responding to reporters that it's definitely in the country definitely in the cards. Putin said, quote, I have already said, and it is clear to everyone, that it will be one step away from a full-scale third world war. I think hardly anyone is interested in this, end quote. I don't know. I don't know. Putin and his useful puppet Dmitri Medvedev keeps shaking their nuclear sabres at the rest of the world, so it does appear that they, at least, are interested in it. The second milestone this week, is the 10th anniversary of Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which took place back in 2014.

Now, this is one of the actions that ultimately set the stage for Russia's full-scale invasion in February of 2022. In case you don't remember, Putin took over Crimea, and nobody at the time really cared. There were a handful of harshly worded memos issued by the US and the UN, but nobody planted Ukrainian flags in their yard. in their yards or displayed tiny Ukrainian flags on their Twitter sites.

So Putin has 10 years invested in Ukraine, and when asked about future plans for the war, he reiterated that he has no intention of relenting. He also raised the possibility of creating a permanent buffer zone inside Ukraine to help protect Russian territory against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids. And by Russian territory, I think he's referring to territory he's seized from Ukraine. Ukraine. Putin told the press, quote, we will be forced at some point when we consider it necessary to create a certain, quote, sanitary zone on the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government, end quote. A senior Ukrainian official said the idea of creating a buffer zone is a clear

indication that Moscow plans to escalate its war. However, it is important to understand the context in which Putin is making these new threats. As we've been reporting here, we've been reporting here on the PDB. Russia is facing near daily long-range drone strikes against its oil infrastructure, with the latest coming this past weekend as Russians went to the polls. But in addition to the long-range strikes against its refineries, Russia is also still dealing with an active incursion of Ukrainian-backed Russian paramilitary forces within its own borders. The incursion began last week and was initially dismissed by the Russian Ministry of Defense as a sense of the essentially a PR stunt by Kyiv. However, the forces involved in the cross-border raid

have proven to be more persistent than they were initially given credit for. On Monday, two of the groups, the so-called Siberian Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, announced that they had captured the village of Kusinka in the Belgarod region. This came a day after a group called the Russian Liberation Forces, alongside Chechen Nationalists, claimed to have taken control of the village of Gortkovsky just 16 miles away. Now, this latest news puts these groups within approximately 10 miles of the Bulgarod 22 facility, and that's an area used by Russia to store nuclear ammunition stockpiles. Despite the proximity, there is no indication that the paramilitary groups intend to move on the storage facility. And more to the point, there are indications that the Russians

relocated their nuclear stockpiles from this facility following a mid-20203 incursion by anti-Putin elements. But the current incursions into Russian territory are concerning. Putin has repeatedly stated that he believes the use of his nuclear arsenal is justified if the integrity or stability of Russia itself is in jeopardy. All right, coming up after the break, a surge in hostilities, between Pakistan and the Taliban, with escalating cross-border attacks claiming lives on both sides.

Plus, we'll examine U.S. strategies to keep weapons out of the grasp of Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. I'll be right back. Welcome back. I want to turn our focus to the Middle East, where tensions are rising along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan as militant groups step up deadly attacks in the region.

Officials in Islamabad said Monday, that they had launched a counter strike inside Afghanistan targeting Pakistani Taliban militants following a deadly attack at a Pakistani border outpost on Saturday. The attack, which involved a vehicle laden with explosives and several suicide bombers, killed seven Pakistani security force members, including a high-ranking officer. That's according to our Wall Street Journal report. Pakistan responded Monday with what they described as a, quote, intelligence-based anti-terrorist operation, launching more than a dozen air strikes that reportedly

struck seven militant hideouts inside Afghanistan. The move drew a swift rebuke from the Taliban, who took over governance in Afghanistan in 2021, with officials claiming that Pakistan's airstrikes killed five women and three children. Pakistani officials, however, denied that there were any civilian casualties. The Taliban retaliated by firing heavy weapons at Pakistan. forces along the border. It's just the latest back and forth between the ruling Taliban government in Afghanistan and their neighbors in Pakistan. The situation has rapidly deteriorated over the past year as Pakistan experienced a dramatic surge in violence from Islamic terrorists.

In particular, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tariqi Taliban Pakistan, or the TTP, have escalated their attacks within Pakistan over the last year. A statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday accused the Taliban of aiding and abetting the militants, saying, quote, certain elements among those in power in Afghanistan are actively patronizing TTP and using them as a proxy against Pakistan. End quote, I know. We're all shocked at the possibility of the Taliban aiding and abetting militants. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies found that in just the first half of 2023, terrorist attacks within Pakistan increased by 80%.

These attacks have included numerous suicide bombings, including one on a mosque in Peshawar in January of 2023 that killed more than 80 people. In December, militants carried out a suicide attack on a military base in northwest Pakistan, killing 23 people and injuring over 30. Observers say the resurgence of groups like the TTP is linked to the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2020,

really, though the Afghan Taliban strongly deny accusations that they have given the groups safe haven. And they said it with a straight face. Now, despite their denials, intelligence indicates that the majority of these attacks originated within Afghanistan's borders. The TTP has the stated intent of using armed Islamic jihad to overthrow the current government in Pakistan and replace it with an Islamic system based in Sharia law. Pakistan, is already mired in an economic crisis and struggling with intensifying political divisions. Analysts say Monday strike was intended to send a message to their neighbors in the region, including India, that Pakistan's national defense remains strong.

Staying with our coverage of the Middle East, the Biden administration is reportedly expanding efforts to impede the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. Despite six weeks of ongoing strikes by U.S. forces and coalition allies on Houthi facilities and weapons stores in Yemen, the Iranian-backed militants have continued their relentless attacks on international shipping vessels in the Red Sea, disrupting a channel that accounts for roughly 15 percent of global shipping. As we've previously discussed, Iran serves as the group's primary financial backer and routinely smuggles military equipment into Yemen, despite the expected denials from leaders in Tehran. With the current U.S. strategy doing apparently little to deter further attacks,

U.S. officials say they're turning their focus to surveilling and intercepting Iranian weapons shipments before they can reach the Houthi militants, and that's according to an exclusive report from the Washington Post. Officials, with knowledge of the new effort, said it will involve mapping seafaring routes used by Tehran to better understand how the regime moves weapons to their proxies. With U.S. military equipment in the region in short supply, officials are also actively working to leverage the resources of partner nations to further disrupt Iranian arms smuggling operations. An anonymous official told the Washington Post,

quote, it's definitely a challenge in an area as large as the one we are describing to identify all of these craft. But we are devoting significant resources to identifying, tracking, and where we have the ability, interdicting, and what we are finding is significant, end quote. Since 2013, the U.S. and coalition forces have conducted 18 maritime interdictions linked to Iranian weapons smuggling, seizing a variety of munitions. A report from the Defense Intelligence Agency released in February concluded that a review of those weapons, along with photos of weapons used by Houthi militants,

show that most of the Houthi arsenal is undoubtedly Iranian in origin. And apparently the Defense Intelligence Agency report on the subject was titled, Here's Something You Already New, but we thought we produced a report to state the obvious. Officials have said that they have no real idea how many weapons shipments have passed from Iran to Yemen undetected, making it difficult for the U.S. to determine how effective their strike campaign is inside Yemen, and how effective it's been at degrading the Houthi's military capabilities. Given the uncertainties, officials indicated that it's more important than ever that the U.S. refocuses military resources on disrupting this smuggling network.

The renewed focus on Iranian weapon smuggling comes as reports emerged that the Biden administration used diplomatic back channels in January of this year to implore the Iranian regime to rein in Houthi attack. Now, while officials with the Biden administration describe the indirect talks as encouraging, it doesn't appear that they've had any impact on Houthi activities. Perhaps, and I'm just spitballing here, perhaps the only way to influence the Iranian regime, is to inflict pain directly on the Iranian regime. The Houthis have conducted an estimated 105 attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea

since the Israel-Khamas conflict broke out in October, with an estimated 40 of those attacks, 40, occurring in just the past week or so. Coming up in the back of the brief, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a landmark case that could have major implications for the future of free speech on social media. I'll be right back.

USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle restrictions apply in today's back of the brief the u.s supreme court began hearing oral arguments on monday in a case that will likely have major implications on the federal government's ability to censor content on social media now the case stems from the biden white house's direct communication with social media platforms including facebook and ex formerly known of course as twitter to persuade them to remove content related to COVID-19 and also the U.S. elections that they deemed misinformation. The case will decide whether the administration crossed the line from mere persuasion to strong-arming or coercion. The case was initiated by two Republican-led states, Missouri and

Louisiana, and individual social media users as well who accused the Biden administration of violating the First Amendment by operating a sprawling federal quote censorship enterprise to influence platforms to modify or take down posts. The Justice Department argues that while the government may not use coercive measures or threats to suppress speech, it may alert social media companies to dangerous content or content that violates the platform's own policies, or just stuff the government in power doesn't like. I mean, it's a slippery slope here. According to reports, things are actually not looking so good for First Amendment advocates,

with justices on both sides of the ideological divide appearing deeply skeptical of arguments by the two conservative states. In one telling exchange, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, part of the court's conservative wing, noted that it's not uncommon for government officials to protest newspaper stories that could reveal intelligence gathering methods or pose danger to American troops. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday, 19 March. 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.