The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 28th, 2024: Farmer Revolts Force Poland's Hand & The Army's Recruitment Crisis

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  After months of widespread protests from the farming sector of Poland, leaders in Warsaw indicated on Tuesday that they are willing to consider a further crackdown on Ukrainian agricultural imports. The U.S. Army is undergoing a serious revamp to prepare for future crises against Russia and China as they continue to struggle to find enough fresh recruits to fill out their ranks. 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

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. It's Wednesday, 28 February. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed.

First, after months of widespread protests from the farming sector of Poland, leaders in Warsaw indicated on Tuesday that they are willing to consider a further crackdown on Ukrainian agricultural imports. Also, we'll look at reports that the U.S. Army is planning to cut 24,000 positions as they revamp operations amid a major recruiting shortfall. But first, our afternoon spotlight. The pressure campaign by Polish farmers protesting cheap Ukrainian agriculture imports, appears to be moving the needle with leaders in Warsaw. Following another round of widespread farmer protests this week that saw Polish and German agricultural workers unite to block a key highway at a border crossing with Germany on Monday,

Polish leaders are finally considering meeting at least some of the farmer's demands. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signaled Tuesday that he was considering expanding a national ban on imports of Ukrainian grain to other. agricultural products in order to protect their domestic industry if European leaders fail to take meaningful action to address the economic fallout in Poland. That's according to a report from Reuters. The remarks came as some 10,000 Polish farmers took to the streets of Warsaw on Tuesday in another escalation of their protests. Their grievances also involve the farmer's opposition to extreme environmental policies being pushed by EU leaders in Brussels. Tusk said,

quote, we are talking about it with the Ukrainian side that it will be necessary to expand the embargo to other products if the European Union does not find more effective ways to protect the European and Polish markets, end quote. Tusk will reportedly hold additional meetings with Ukrainian officials on Wednesday to discuss the various options under consideration. The Prime Minister also extended an olive branch to Polish farmers, inviting their unions to the Agricultural Ministry to participate in talks on third. Thursday. Now agricultural leaders in Poland welcomed the gesture, but said more demonstrations

would follow if meaningful progress is not made over the next few days. An organizer of the farmer protests said, quote, farmers are already organizing on the roads and border crossings will continue to be blocked. The farmers are desperate, the ball is in the government's court, and quote. Earlier in the day, Tusk had chided EU leaders in Brussels for sparking the discord with their decision to prioritize Ukrainian agricultural exports at the start of Russia's war against Kiev. While the policy may have been well-intentioned in the face of Putin's invasion, its impacts are now fueling economic turmoil across Europe. Tusc said that as the EU created this problem by opening Europe's gates to Ukrainian products, including waiving tariffs,

duties and quotas on Ukrainian goods, it was on them to provide a reasonable fix. Still, he said, absent EU intervention, Poland would have to do their best to protect their domestic sectors. Now, while the issue of Ukrainian imports is a chief concern for Polish farmers, they also share of the widespread anger felt across Europe's agricultural sector over the EU's radical environmental agenda. A Polish farmer who joined Tuesday's mass demonstrations in Warsaw told Reuters, quote, we want the Green Deal to be lifted, as it will lead our farms to bankruptcy with its costs. end quote. The EU is on a quest to become carbon neutral by 2050, which will of course necessarily

require massive sacrifices on the part of every industry in Europe. Leaders in Brussels seem far less concerned with navigating the economic devastation these policies will likely have than they are about foisting this agenda on the continent. And that might be because the Brussels-based EU bureaucrats while they live in a bubble and pass regulations regularly without consideration for those that live in the real world. The EU has recently made some concessions, most notably opting to omit the agricultural sector from strict stipulations on all industries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% before 2040. Still, farmers say they do not go far enough to address their concerns over the sector's long-term sustainability. All right, coming up after the break, we'll look at reports that the

U.S. Army is planning to eliminate thousands of empty positions amid a major recruitment. in shortfall. I'll be right back. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavatheater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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The U.S. Army is undergoing a serious research. to prepare for potential future conflicts with Russia and China as they continue to struggle to find enough fresh recruits to fill out their ranks. An Army document reviewed by the Associated Press on Tuesday reveals the Pentagon will cut 24,000 positions as they transition away from decades focused on terrorism and unrest in the Middle East. We should note, these positions are currently empty, so the nearly 5% reduction will not impact those currently serving. Part of the strategy is to better position the Army for future conflicts in the East, with many of the cuts focused on counterinsurgency positions that swell during U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some 3,000 positions will also be cut from the Army's Special Operations Forces, along with reductions in cavalry squadrons, striker brigade combat teams, infantry combat teams, and security force assistance brigades, which were heavily relied on for training foreign soldiers in the Middle East. Despite the documents focus on preparing the military for more pressing geopolitical concerns, the situation is also an acknowledgement of the Army's disastrous recruiting year in 2023. While the Army may be overstructured in its current form, they simply do not have enough active-duty soldiers to fill out the positions.

The U.S. military fell short of its recruitment goals by a significant 41,000 last year, and the recruitment crisis has spilled into 2024. According to the Army document, the cuts will, quote, allow the Army to narrow the gap between force structure, which was designed to accommodate 494,000 soldiers, and current active duty end strength, which is set by law at 445,000, end quote. The Army will now reportedly seek to bring the number of active duty service members

up to roughly 470,000 by the year 2029. Pentagon officials cite a number of factors for their recruitment woes, noting that the number of young Americans who both qualify and are interested in military service has dropped significantly. They also argue that the competitive job market has provided prospective candidates with other options. It also didn't help that during the COVID-19 pandemic, some 8,400 troops were forced out of the military for refusing to comply with a vaccine mandate. While the document mostly focused on cuts, the Army is planning to increase select positions focused on critical missions amid the current conflict in Gaza and the surrounding region.

The document outlines plans to add roughly 7,500 troops for air defense and counter-drone units, along with the creation of five new task forces focused on cyber intelligence and long-range strike capabilities. And finally, the wrap things up for this afternoon bulletin, a bit of breaking news, Senate leader Mitch McConnell, in fact, the longest serving Senate leader in U.S. history, has announced today that he will be stepping down from the Senate leadership for the Republican Party as of November of this year. We'll cover more on that in a future PDB episode. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, 28 February. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at the first TVB.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.