The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 29th, 2024: Iran In Crosshairs After US Troop Deaths & UN Workers Aided Hamas On 7 October

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     The latest updates regarding the deadly drone strike against U.S. forces in Iraq by Iranian-backed militants that left three soldiers dead and more than 30 injured We’ll discuss reports that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency directly participated in the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel. 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

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It's Monday, 29 January. 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 update regarding the deadly drone strike against U.S. forces in Iraq by Iranian-backed militants that left three U.S. soldiers dead and more than 30 injured. Also, we'll look at reports that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRah directly participated in the 7 October brutal attacks by Hamas against Israel.

But first, our afternoon spotlight. As we discussed earlier today on the PDB, three U.S. troops were killed and dozens were injured in an attack by an Iran-backed militia in Jordan on Sunday, marking the first U.S. military casualties by enemy fire since the Israel-Hamas conflict began. In the latest update on Monday, the number of suspected injuries rose to 34, eight of whom had to be medically evacuated to receive higher level care due to the seriousness of their injuries. Officials said the number of wounded is expected to rise as soldiers are coming forward with symptoms consistent with traumatic brain injury, and that's according to a report from CNN. Now, the attack on the Tower 22 base in Jordan reportedly came in the early morning hours on Sunday, while service members,

were still in their sleeping quarters. Officials said the drone came in, quote, very low and very slow, at the same time that a U.S. drone was supposed to be returning from a nearby mission, meaning that the auto-response features of the base's air defense system were turned off. This left troops with little to no warning of the impending strike. The attack marks a major escalation in regional fighting, and President Biden vowed Sunday to, quote, hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing, end quote.

Officially, the Islamic resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack on Sunday, and that's an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militants in the region. That includes Qatib Hezbollah, Nuzhaba, and Qatib Saeed al-Shuhada. This group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria in recent months, including the drone and missile assault last weekend on the Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq that injured four U.S. service members. Now, Iran has denied any role in the deadly attack, claiming that they do not provide support for the militant groups in question

or control their decision-making. They called U.S. accusations that Iran was behind the attack, a, quote, repetition of baseless accusations, and they said that Iran does not seek, quote, more tension or a new war. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said, and with a straight face, might I add, that, quote, the groups in the region do not take orders from Iran. War is not a solution. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza can lead to the return of peace. The spokesman then added, I don't even believe this crap I'm saying, but whatever. Okay, I took some liberties with that last

quote. American leaders, as you might imagine, are not buying these denials from the Iranian regime, mainly because, well, the denials are not worth buying. Republican congressional hawks responded to the attack Sunday with forceful condemnations of Iran and calls for action against the Islamic regime. Some Republicans are pressuring President Biden to target Iran directly over the attack, arguing that his policy of appeasement towards Iran, including on freezing billions and assets and his reserve response to attacks on U.S. troops in the region have emboldened the Iranian regime. Senator Lindsey Graham took to X on Sunday posting, quote, hit Iran now, hit them hard. This sentiment was echoed by Senator John Cornyn, who posted, quote,

target Tehran. Now, Senator Cornyn later explained he was referencing the Iranian regime, not the targeting of Tehran itself. Senator Tom Cotton said, quote, The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces both in Iran and across the Middle East. And Cotton added that anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief, end quote. John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Monday that President Biden was weighing a number of responses, and Kirby acknowledged that Iran is supporting these groups. Still, Kirby stressed that, quote,

we're not looking for a broader war in the region. We certainly aren't looking for conflict with Iran. Well, that's nice. But while the U.S. administration may not be looking for conflict with Iran, the Iranian regime is clearly already engaged in a thus far one-way conflict with the U.S. The Biden administration spent its first few years working to appease the Iranian regime, whether by staffing its Iran-focused senior positions with apologists for the Mullahs,

folks such as former Iran envoy Robert Mali, who, by the way, disappeared quietly from the Washington, D.C. scene after having a security clearance as revoked, or unfreezing billions in assets or easing sanctions, the White House somehow imagined that they could bring the world. the number one state sponsor of terrorism into the community of nations. It might be time for the White House Brain Trust to consider a new approach. Coming up after the break, we'll discuss reports alleging that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, participated in these seven October attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists.

I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Here on the PDB, we have, occasionally in the past, implied that the United Nations is a somewhat feckless organization. But this next story goes beyond the usual impotence we see from the UN. Documents have emerged alleging that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, directly participated in the brutal October 7th attack on southern Israel. Now, members of UNRWA are officially tasked with providing essential services to Palestinian,

Indian refugees, including education and health care. But at this point, at least 12 of its employees are accused of engaging in terrorist acts in support of the 7 October brutal slaughter in southern Israel. According to intelligence reports, one of the accused, an Arabic teacher, was allegedly a Hamas militant commander. This individual is implicated in the horrific attack on Kibbutz-Bahiri, resulting in 97 deaths, with approximately 26 individuals. kidnapped and taken hostage to Gaza. Another employee, identified as a social worker in UNRWA, reportedly played a crucial role in the theft of a deceased Israeli soldier's body, which was then transported to Gaza.

This individual, who has since been killed, was also involved in coordinating the distribution of trucks and munitions for Hamas. In addition, UNRWA employees reportedly assisted in the kidnapping of Israelis, participated in attacks that led to numerous Israeli civilian casualties and facilitated logistical support for these assaults, including weapons procurement. Of the 12 employees who have been implicated, there are seven primary or secondary school teachers,

including two math teachers and two Arabic language teachers. Now, according to Intel reporting, this terrorist infestation of UNRWA goes well beyond these dozen employees. Intelligence shared with the U.S. suggests that, approximately 1,200 of UNRWA's 12,000 employees in Gaza have ties to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Around 50% of the organization's employees have close relatives within these Islamist militant groups. In response to these allegations, the United Nations has taken some action. Oh, nine of the 12 accused workers have been dismissed, and the UN has condemned the reprehensible actions attributed to its staff,

Oh, so how's that work? I'm sorry, the HR department has determined that you were responsible for the killing and kidnapping of civilians. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go. But perhaps there's a UN severance package. Supposedly, the UN has pledged to hold accountable any employee found to be involved in terrorist activities, including through criminal prosecution. Now, if you're waiting for the UN to essentially police itself, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it won't.

happen. Remember, as an example, Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin has been accused of war crimes, and they still maintain a seat on the UN permanent security council. I mean, come on, it's the UN. They nominated Iran to chair a forum on human rights. Now, this will surprise you, but for many, the dismissal of the employees doesn't go far enough. Several countries, including the U.S., Germany, the UK, Japan, and at least five others have reacted by suspending their financial contributions to the relief organization. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin from Monday, 29 January. 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 tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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