PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 9th, 2024: Cross Border Conflict & the Return of SMERSH
00:11It'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,
00:32meets with Israeli leaders to try and prevent any escalation.Also ahead, Vladimir Putin is resurrecting a fearedStalin-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
01:15leaders in Beirut last week and the recent killing of Ussam Tawil, a senior Hezbollah special operationscommander. 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 reportedthere were no casualties. In a swift response, Israel launched an airstrike targeting Ali HusseinBarji in southern Lebanon. Barji, who commanded Hezbollah's drone operations, was reportedlybehind numerous drone attacks on northern Israel, including this most recent one. The counterstrikeoccurred in the Lebanese village of Kervetsal, just as preparations were underway for the funeral of theslain Hezbollah commander, Toil. In a separate strike, the Israeli defense forces announced a successful
02:03operation 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 significanttoll 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 warwith Israel.In a televised speech, the group's deputy leader, Nain Kassem, said hisgroup did not want to expand the war from Lebanon, but said, quote, if Israel expands it,
02:45the 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 expansionof military operations into Lebanon as politically advantageous. Now, it's not clear at this timeexactly 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 reportedlycautioned against any escalation following intelligence assessments, suggesting that Israel
03:33could be challenged by conflicts on multiple fronts. Coming up after the break, an infamousStalin-era counterintelligence group known as Smirsch is being resurrected in Putin's Russiato hunt down spies and enemies of Vladimir Putin. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoonbulletin. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the verge of entering its third year, the Russian stateand President Vladimir Putin are grappling with increased concerns over foreign espionage andinternal dissent. Now, the ongoing conflict has been marked by sabotage.operations inside Russia, disrupting the Russian war effort and creating turmoil within theFederation. According to a new report from the British Ministry of Defense, Putin is taking a very
04:21bond-villin-esque step to combat these threats. He's reviving a feared counterintelligence entityestablished during the Stalin era known as Smersh, S-M-E-R-S-H, Smursch. The British ministryindicates 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 thatthe agency has now officially then reactivated. So what is Smursch? The name Smursch was actuallycoined 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 itsprimary role of purging spies from the Red Army, Smursch also tackled internal anti-Stalin
05:15elements contributing to the Soviet political security apparatus. Its historical brutality is well-documented,responsible for countless arrests, tortures, and executions, affecting not only servicemenwithin the military, but also civilians from occupied territories. Now, fans of Ian Fleming's James Bondmight recognize his organization.A fictionalized version of the group appeared in a number of the Bond novels, includingCasino 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
05:59enhancement of Russia's counterintelligence capabilities, or if it represents a symbolic nod to its historicalpast, or if Putin just thinks the name Smursh is cool, he can sit in his evil lair, petting hishairless 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.
06:35How many discounts does USAA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here.Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount. New vehicle discount. Storage discount. LegacyHow many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply.
There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click any sentence in the transcript to leave one.