The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 19th, 2024: Iran Downplays Israel's Retaliation & North Korea Pursues Bioweapons For Germ Warfare

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    We’ll bring you the latest updates regarding Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Iran as leaders in Tehran attempt to downplay the incident. We’ll discuss a U.S. State Department report that reveals North Korea is producing biological weapons, including weaponized viruses and bacteria, as part of the regime’s secretive germ warfare program. 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 PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Friday, 19 April. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, we'll bring you the latest updates regarding Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran, as leaders in Tehran attempt to play down the incident. Also, we'll discuss a U.S. State Department report that reveals North Korea is producing biological weapons, including weaponized viruses and bacteria. as part of the regime's secretive germ warfare program. Of course, that's what we needed to add to the world's current instability, a North Korean germ warfare program. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Returning to our earlier coverage of Israel's retaliation against Iran,

it appears, at least at the moment, that both sides are looking to de-escalate the situation and prevent a wider conflict. As we discussed on the morning PDB, Israel conducted what appears to be a limited strike inside Iranian territory in the early morning hours of Friday, hitting unknown targets in the northwest part of the city of Isfahan. Iranian state media reported at least three explosions in the city, which is home to Iran's largest atomic research facility, though it appears Israel was not targeting the clandestine nuclear program,

unless according to a Reuters report. As the dust settled Friday morning, Iran appeared to be, heavily downplaying the strikes, refusing to even officially acknowledge that Israel was involved. Iranian officials and state media claimed the explosions were due to their air defenses shooting down three drones, which they said were launched inside Iran by, quote, infiltrators. Analysts say the Islamic regime is eager to minimize Israel strikes in order to avoid the need for ongoing retaliations that could escalate into a full-scale war. A senior Iranian official also exclusively told Reuters that Iran has no plans to respond against Israel over the incident.

The unnamed officials said, quote, the foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack, end quote. Officials in Israel and the U.S. have not publicly commented on the operation. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday that while the U.S. is committed, to Israel's security, the U.S. is not involved in any offensive military operations. Israeli media cited foreign reports from Israeli sources confirming the attack, but avoided quoting Israeli officials directly. Now, some analysts have said that it appears the intent of the limited strikes was to send a clear message of Israel's capabilities without causing

direct harm inside Iran that, again, could trigger wider conflict. However, not everyone in Inside Israel's halls of power appears pleased with the limited scope of the Israeli response. Israel's national security minister came under fire from his colleagues when he appeared to confirm the airstrikes by posting on X one word, quote, lame. It was a moment that underscored the growing divide within Prime Minister Netanyahu's government as hardliners demand stronger military actions against Israel's many adversaries. It also served as a propaganda gift for the Iranian regime. Tasneem, an Iranian state news agency, said, quote,

the Israeli authorities are mocking themselves. Some in the Israeli opposition party called the national security ministers tweet, Unforgivable. No other member of the government has spoken publicly about the operation. Israel had vowed a response after Iran bombarded their airspace with a wave of attack drones and missiles last Saturday. That strike, which proved largely ineffective, was itself a retaliatory strike. by Iran, following a suspected Israeli airstrike that leveled part of an Iranian consulate in Syria and killed senior IRGC commanders that were directly involved in supporting, resourcing, and guiding

Iranian proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah. Now, there's no official word yet from Israel, whether any further action is planned against the Iranian regime. But for now, it appears any further escalation has been avoided. However, it's the Middle East. So, So stay tuned. Coming up after the break, we'll take a look at a State Department report that reveals North Korea is pursuing weaponized viruses and bacteria as part of the regime's germ warfare program. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. I want to shift gears and revisit the North Korean regime. Reports indicate that they're pursuing an array of biological weapons as part of a clandestine germ warfare program, an assessment released by the U.S. State

Department this week found that Kim Jong-un has been pouring significant resources into producing biological agents for military purposes, as well as technologies to covertly disperse such weapons of mass destruction. Like something out of an old James Bond movie, of course the Sean Connery movies were the best James Bond movies. The regime has reportedly developed poison pen injection devices and sprayers, among other unconventional technologies. Well, with a population that's admired in poverty and lacks basics such as a, I don't know, healthy diet for their children, why wouldn't you use your country's limited resources to develop biological weapons? More disturbing, however, is the relatively new approach the North Korean regime is taking

with regards to bio-warfare. Analysts say the regime appears to have been at least partially inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, the Kim regime is creating weaponized bacteria, viruses, and toxins to use as biological agents. They also reportedly have the capability to use gene editing technologies like CRISPR to manipulate existing pathogens and engineer something even deadlier. While experts have long warned that North Korea could employ the controversial technology

to enhance their weapons program, the report marked the first official acknowledgment from the U.S. government that the regime has this capability. Well, this will come as little surprise. The North Korean regime has long denied being in possession of biological weapons, and yes, that is not surprising. In theory, there are signatories to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which prohibits the stockpiling or use of biological agents. But as listeners to the PDB know, the North has never let prohibitions stand in the way of

their military pursuits. Intelligence on specifics regarding any North Korean weapons program, obviously remain hard to come by, and analysts have warned that without knowing what specific biological agents the North Koreans are pursuing, it's next to impossible to prepare an adequate defense. An expert on bioweapons at South Korea's Asan Institute for Policy Studies told NK News, quote, it's really hard to deal with biological attacks. If we don't know what kind of germ they're preparing, then we don't know what kind of vaccine we need, end quote. And congratulations to the Asan Institute for claiming today's PDB statement of the Obvious Award.

The report comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the north pivots to an antagonistic, almost wartime footing. As we've covered extensively on the PDB, since November, North Korea has been conducting frequent ballistic and cruise missile tests, regularly threatening South Korea with nuclear annihilation, and earlier this year, Kim moved to cut off all diplomatic ties with South Korea, officially ending their decades-long commitment to reunification. The moves have sparked alarm, obviously, within the international community, particularly as the regime moves closer, both diplomatically and militarily, to Russia.

And one final thought. Now, North Korea isn't known for the rigor of its academic institutions, so you'd have to suspect that they could be getting scientific and tech support and insight from allies. And well, and here I'm about to state the obvious, North Korea has a limited friendship circle, not a lot of allies, certainly not with advanced scientific capabilities and weapons technology. So would it be cynical of me to think that perhaps, if Kim has a germ warfare program, that he may be turning to Russia and or China for input? And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday, 19 April.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at Pdb at thefirsttv.com. And be sure to check out our premium membership at Pdbpremium.com. It's all the news and analysis, none of the ads. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back on Monday. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.