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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 20th, 2024: US Eliminates ISIS Leader & Putin Taunts West With Proposed 'Missile Duel'
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- [00:01]
Mike Baker
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- [00:30]
Vladimir Putin
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Mike Baker
Foreign.
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Vladimir Putin
It's Friday, the 20th of December. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Okay, it's a little bit of a late afternoon bulletin. It's the travel schedule. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Just some breaking news, a sad story out of Germany where a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Christmas market located approximately two hours west of Berlin. Details are few at this stage, although there's at least one fatality and upwards of a reported 60 to 80 injuries, according to German authorities. The driver of the vehicle is in custody and some reports indicate that there were explosives in the vehicle. The German authorities have now described it as a terrorist attack and this unfortunately is reminiscent of a similar terrorist attack on a Berlin Christmas market back in December of 2016 that killed 12. We'll keep an eye on the investigation and report further as details emerge. First, though, coming up in today's afternoon bulletin, an update from Syria where the US has managed to take out the top leader of ISIS in a precision strike as US Diplomats travel to Damascus for their first in person meeting with Syria's rebel leaders. Then Vladimir Putin apparently has a senior moment, or perhaps he's just simply off his meds as he suggests that Russia and the west engage in an experimental missile duel over Ukraine. But first, our afternoon spotlight. I want to begin with an update on US Activity inside Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime as the American military steps up assaults on ISIS strongholds while top US Diplomats meet in person with Syria's new leaders for the first time. U.S. central Command, or CENTCOM, announced Friday that their forces had carried out an airstrike in eastern Syria that has killed ISIS Leader Abu Yousuf. Officials added that another unnamed ISIS operative was also taken out in the precision strike. That's according to a report from the Jerusalem Post. CENTCOM said the strike was carried out in an area formerly controlled by the Assad regime and and the Russians where ISIS fighters are now working to reconstitute their battered terror army ambitions, of course, that the US is intent on thwarting. Since Assad's ousting on December 8, the US has unleashed a number of strikes across Syria targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in an effort to disrupt and degrade the terror group. In a statement on Friday, CENTCOM said, quote, the United States working with allies and partners in the region will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute. We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria, end quote. Now, General Michael Eric Kurilla, the commander of centcom, noted that the threat from ISIS is more pressing than ever since Assad's downfall. He warned that the group is attempting to free some 8,000 ISIS operatives from, from detention centers across Syria where they're currently imprisoned. While the death of their leader is, well, certainly a blow to the terror group, significant concerns do remain about what will become of their army of imprisoned fighters. As we discussed earlier this week on the pdb, the prisons are overseen by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the sdf. And that's a US backed coalition primarily led by Kurdish groups. But Turkey, which is, as you might recall a NATO ally, views the Kurdish led SDF as a threat and has launched repeated attacks on them through Turkish backed militias, diverting the attention of SDF troops who are guarding the facilities. While there are hopes that Turkey and the SDF can reach a long term ceasefire if they continue attacking, US Officials have warned that a major jailbreak could occur. That is not what anyone needs. 8,000 ISIS prisoners back out on the streets. As the US works to contain the threat of an ISIS resurgence, the Biden administration has also begun holding discussions with Syria's new leaders. U.S. diplomats traveled to Damascus for the first time since Assad's downfall on Friday to meet directly with Syria's de facto rulers led by the militant group HTS and their chief, Abu Muhammad Al Jalani, a former Al Qaeda operative. A State Department spokesman said they discussed, quote, transition principles endorsed by the United States, particularly how the rebels plan to unite Syria's many minority religious and ethnic factions to avoid a future breakdown of sectarian violence. Sources familiar with the discussions also said that the US delegation spoke with HTS officials about removing their long standing terrorist designation. Hts, once an arm of Al Qaeda, has rebranded itself as a moderate liberation force in recent years. They're eager to be removed from the terror list as the designation and the sanctions that come with it could significantly impede the rebels plans to reform and rebuild Syria. While details of those discussions are not yet available, an unnamed US official called the meeting productive. Despite skepticism about HTS's ability to deradicalize after their sweeping victory over Assad, Western leaders have sought to directly engage with Syria's transitional government. On Monday and Tuesday, officials from France, Germany and the UK all traveled to Damascus for their own meetings with the country's new leaders. But reports suggest that Western powers are still reticent to lift sanctions, with most advocating a wait and see approach with regards to HTS and the leadership. Coming up, Vladimir Putin has proposed an experimental missile duel with the west in Ukraine, prompting Ukraine's President Zelensky to call the Russian leader a dumbass. Now we'll examine whether Putin is in fact a dumbass when we return.
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Vladimir Putin
Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is back to taunting Ukraine and its Western allies. And his latest provocation could be his most bizarre statement yet. During his end of year speech on Thursday, which lasted for four and a half hours but to be fair, only felt like a couple of days, Putin proposed that Russia and the US Engage in an experimental missile duel in the skies above Ukraine, mocking Western skepticism about the capabilities of Russia's new hypersonic missile which they fired for the first time on Ukraine in November. Putin suggested staging an exercise pitting his missile against Western made air defenses. That's according to a report from Reuters. It sounds like Putin is sensitive about the performance of his missile. Putin's remarks came after a reporter asked him if their Arashnik hypersonic missile was vulnerable to Western anti missile defenses being supplied to Ukraine. Putin responded, quote, if the experts in the west think so, well, we propose they conduct some kind of technological experiment, a high tech duel of the 21st century, end quote, elaborating. He said both sides could select a designated target In Kiev, where Ukraine could concentrate all of their air defense and anti missile defense to prove if they are up to the task of intercepting the Oreshnik missile. Now, it's worth remembering that that missile is capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Putin continued, quote, we will hit it with a reshnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment. Is the other side ready? End quote. He even suggested such a duel would be beneficial to both Russia and the US Allowing both sides to glean insights on their respective military capabilities. Now as a reminder, the Ereshnik is Russia's new intermediate range ballistic missile or IRBM. It can reportedly travel at up to 10 times the speed of sound, which of course would make it very difficult to intercept and is capable of reaching any target. In Europe. Putin fired it for the first time in November in response to Ukraine's use of U. S made long range ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Ukrainian President Zelensky reacted with shock, as you might imagine, to Putin's proposal, saying it would be crazy for two global superpowers to to directly test their weapons against each other over another country. Well, he's not wrong. At a news conference on Thursday, Zelensky asked a group of reporters, quote, do you think he is a sane person? End quote. He later registered his disapproval in a statement on X saying, quote, people are dying and Putin thinks it's interesting. Dumbass. End quote. Okay, ridiculous. Challenges to the west aside, Putin also reiterated threats against Ukraine and their leaders during his address address on Thursday, suggesting Kiev's decision making centers were viable military targets. Then on Friday, his forces unleashed a barrage of ballistic missiles on Kiev during rush hour, killing at least one person, injuring more than a dozen and damaging six embassies and other buildings across the Ukrainian capital. In a statement, officials with the European Union condemned the assault saying, quote, this is another barbaric attack by Russia on civilian targets that shows no willingness for peace, end quote. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday 20th December. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and now, as you may already be aware, well, it's Friday and of course every Friday evening at 10pm on the first TV, we launch a brand spanking new episode of our much loved weekend show, the PDB Situation Report. This week's guests include the most excellent Jonathan Schanzer, the executive director of the foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and the always knowledgeable and entertaining Ryan Macbeth. We're talking Gaza, ceasefire, Syria, a look back at the past year of conflict in Ukraine and all things drone related. It's frankly a barn burner of an episode. Sand as always, you can find this weekend's Situation Report as well as our past episodes on our YouTube channel. You can find that at President's Daily Brief and, of course, on all podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. An O'Reilly Auto Parts gift card is the perfect gift for that. Hard to buy for person. Give the gift of convenience from O'Reilly Auto Parts. Oh, oh, oh. O'Reilly Auto Parts.