The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 9th, 2024: Cross Border Conflict & the Return of SMERSH

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: Tensions rise as IDF and Hezbollah exchange more cross-border strikes, with Blinken seeking to prevent escalation. Putin brings back Stalin’s “SMERSH” to combat espionage. 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

It's Tuesday, January 9th. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll begin this afternoon with the latest from northern Israel, with more cross-border strikes between Israeli defense forces and Hezbollah, as U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken,

meets with Israeli leaders to try and prevent any escalation. Also ahead, Vladimir Putin is resurrecting a feared Stalin-era counterintelligence group to hunt down spies in Russia and beyond. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Tensions continue to mount between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group, with another round of cross-border strikes being carried out over the past 24 hours. Now, Hezbollah initiated this escalation with a drone attack on a key Israeli command base in the city of Safed. the Iranian-backed group declared the strike was in retaliation for the assassination of one of Hamas's

leaders in Beirut last week and the recent killing of Ussam Tawil, a senior Hezbollah special operations commander. The attack marked the first time that Hezbollah targeted this particular Israeli base, escalating the confrontation. Despite the severity of the attack, the Israeli military reported there were no casualties. In a swift response, Israel launched an airstrike targeting Ali Hussein Barji in southern Lebanon. Barji, who commanded Hezbollah's drone operations, was reportedly behind numerous drone attacks on northern Israel, including this most recent one. The counterstrike occurred in the Lebanese village of Kervetsal, just as preparations were underway for the funeral of the slain Hezbollah commander, Toil. In a separate strike, the Israeli defense forces announced a successful

operation this morning against Hezbollah positions in the Lebanese border village of Khaferkila. The IDF said that a drone launching squad was hit before it could carry out an attack. To date, over 130 Hezbollah fighters have been lost to Israeli shelling, the most significant toll on the terrorist group, since the 2006 Lebanon War, when Hezbollah lost a reported 600 fighters. Meanwhile, Hezbollah's leadership is publicly saying that they're trying to avoid a wider war with Israel. In a televised speech, the group's deputy leader, Nain Kassem, said his group did not want to expand the war from Lebanon, but said, quote, if Israel expands it,

the response is inevitable to the maximum extent required to deter Israel, end quote. In the political arena, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Plinkin is currently in Tel Aviv, engaged in high-level talks aimed at attempting to de-escalate the situation. Back in Washington, there's speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu might see an expansion of military operations into Lebanon as politically advantageous. Now, it's not clear at this time exactly who's behind that speculation and why, but it's Washington, D.C., so rumors or rument, and a variety of agendas are typically always at play. The Biden administration has reportedly cautioned against any escalation following intelligence assessments, suggesting that Israel

could be challenged by conflicts on multiple fronts. Coming up after the break, an infamous Stalin-era counterintelligence group known as Smirsch is being resurrected in Putin's Russia to hunt down spies and enemies of Vladimir Putin. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the verge of entering its third year, the Russian state and President Vladimir Putin are grappling with increased concerns over foreign espionage and internal dissent. Now, the ongoing conflict has been marked by sabotage. operations inside Russia, disrupting the Russian war effort and creating turmoil within the Federation. According to a new report from the British Ministry of Defense, Putin is taking a very

bond-villin-esque step to combat these threats. He's reviving a feared counterintelligence entity established during the Stalin era known as Smersh, S-M-E-R-S-H, Smursch. The British ministry indicates that Russian officials have been vocal about re-establishing Smurish, since late 2023, but recent images have emerged of operatives donning uniform patches that signify that the agency has now officially then reactivated. So what is Smursch? The name Smursch was actually coined by Stalin himself. It's an acronym for the Russian phrase Smurtschprenonum, or Death to Spies. It was an umbrella organization for several counterintelligence agencies within the Red Army. Beyond its primary role of purging spies from the Red Army, Smursch also tackled internal anti-Stalin

elements contributing to the Soviet political security apparatus. Its historical brutality is well-documented, responsible for countless arrests, tortures, and executions, affecting not only servicemen within the military, but also civilians from occupied territories. Now, fans of Ian Fleming's James Bond might recognize his organization. A fictionalized version of the group appeared in a number of the Bond novels, including Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, and of course Goldfinger. The name of the organization was changed to Specter to avoid any political complications. Now, British intelligence remains uncertain if the resurgence of Smurish signals a substantial

enhancement of Russia's counterintelligence capabilities, or if it represents a symbolic nod to its historical past, or if Putin just thinks the name Smursh is cool, he can sit in his evil lair, petting his hairless cat and demanding to see his director of Smursch so they can devise evil plans. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 9 January. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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