Transcript
Mike Slater (0:00)
My name is Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. I was just talking to a friend of mine who said he hasn't been able to follow the news lately. It's been too much, it's too crazy. It's driving him crazy and he's just checked out. If you feel that way sometimes, too, I think you'll really like our podcast Politics by Faith. We take the main story of the day and we run it through the Bible. What does the Bible say about this? It's amazing, but it's all there. And then God tells us what to do. We don't even have to figure it out. The answers are right there. He gives us the answers. Politics by Faith. Please join us over there. You can listen to it wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. Politics by faith.
Mike Baker (0:50)
It's Friday, the 16th of May. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed up. First on today's bulletin, America's Space Chief, which honestly might be the coolest job title, has issued a grave warning about Russian and Chinese advances in space based warfare, including Beijing's kill Web satellite network, Moscow's intention to put a nuclear weapon into orbit, and their joint project between China and Russia to build a permanent moon base by mid-2030. We'll have the details later in the show. In a surprising development, we're learning that Israel is engaged in secret talks with a new Islamist regime in Syria on the possibility of joining the Abraham Accords in a potential bid to further erode Iran's strategic interests in the Middle East. Now that would be in the top 10 geopolitical developments of 2025. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll begin today with a look at the final frontier of warfare as the U.S. russia and China vie for military supremacy in space. America's space chief sounded the alarm on Thursday on the emerging threat posed by Russia and China in the vast beyond, warning that what's referred to as Beijing's satellite kill web poses the biggest risk to U.S. forces. Speaking at POLITICO's Security Summit on Thursday, Gen. Be Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said it's imperative for America to move swiftly to disrupt the efforts of America's top adversaries to weaponize space before they gain an edge over US Capabilities. China's growing satellite network is of particular concern to Saltzman, who said it can precisely target the location of US Forces, preemptively giving, of course, the Communist Regiment valuable intelligence about American troop positions and operations before military objectives can be met. This network reportedly puts forces in the Indo Pacific region at the greatest risk. Saltzman said, quote, the PRC has developed what we've kind of, you know, tongue in cheek, called a kill web. Doesn't sound tongue in cheek. And it's nothing more than a series of hundreds of satellites that are a sensor network that provide real time updates, targeting quality information of our force. He continued, quote, this is a huge problem. That's why we have to build our capabilities to try to disrupt that so that when we're trying to achieve military objectives, our soldiers, sailors and airmen are safe and not under this umbrella of a very accurate, very long range set of weapons. But it's not just China. America's space chief warned that Russia is demonstrating similar strength in this arena point pinpointing three major areas of concern in Moscow's space technology development. First, he points to what he described as their kinetic kill capability. Back in November 2021, Russia used a direct ascent anti satellite missile to intentionally destroy a defunct Soviet intelligence satellite, creating a massive debris field in low earth orbit that posed risks to the International Space Station and other satellites. Second, he noted that Russia launched a crippling cyber attack on American commercial satellite Internet company viasat just one hour before mounting their invasion of Ukraine, causing outages for several thousand Ukrainian customers and disrupting wind farms and Internet services throughout Central Europe. Finally, and most ominously, Saltzman warned of the Kremlin's intention to put a nuclear weapon into orbit. As you may recall, reports started circulating back in February of 2024 that the Putin regime was pursuing a space based anti satellite nuclear weapon that could shut down everything from military communications to civilian phone based services and apps. US intelligence officials said the weapon could trigger an electromagnetic pulse across low Earth orbit that would disable dozens of critical satellites and have a catastrophic effect on any ground based devices that rely on satellite connectivity. While Moscow vociferously, they're always vociferously denying things, aren't they? Denied the reports as a Western fear tactic. Intelligence suggests that the Kremlin is still serious about putting a nuke in space. Saltzman said, quote, the Russians are demonstrating reckless behavior with regards to how they intend to contest the space domain that will have far reaching impacts beyond any localized military effect. But the threat extends beyond Earth's orbit. Saltzman noted that Russia has partnered with China to launch a joint lunar exploration project called the International Lunar Research Station. China intends to put astronauts on the moon before 2030 and build a joint nuclear power plant on the moon with Russia to support the station. According to Politico, the ambitious project aims to create a permanent moon base by mid-2030 to compete with America's Artemis moon mission. We'd also be remiss if we didn't mention China's breakthrough in advanced energy weapon technology. Just last November, the South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese Communist Party had developed an advanced energy beam weapon dubbed a real life Death Star, capable of targeting and disrupting satellite systems. Now the weapon can reportedly be used to impair communications, navigation and even missile guidance systems, adding a potent new dimension to China's arsenal and underscoring their strategic emphasis on space based warfare. Luckily, though, their Death Star can be destroyed by simply firing a proton torpedo into its unsecured thermal exhaust port. And that is easily the nerdiest thing that I've ever said out loud. With the battle over the final frontier heating up, Saltzman says the US Must rapidly work to secure its own strategic foothold in space or risk being overtaken by adversaries. Alright, coming up next, Israel engages in secret talks with the new Islamist regime in Syria. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. I'd like to take just a few seconds of your time to talk about your security, specifically about your online security, and more specifically about a great company that can help you with online security called Delete Me. Now, delete Me makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online at a time, frankly, when surveillance and data breaches are are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. Look, you know this. It's easier than ever to find personal information about people online. 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