What’s up, guys?! Happy Tuesday!Hope everyone is doing well!What follows are the source notes for this podcast. (I’ll talk about the show below.)So, if you just happen to be stopping by on the internet, or you’ve arrived here from the Apple Podcast, you’ll find the source notes here on my substack.On the other hand, if you’re on Apple Podcast or one of the other podcast apps, you’ll need to click the “episode website” button at the bottom to reach those notes. Otherwise, not all of them will show up, as tweets don’t appear in the text-only summary of the podcast apps.About me: I am a prior infantry Marine, who earned the rank of Sergeant and a Combat Action Ribbon in 1997, and I love doing this podcast twice a week.For those who don’t know, every Tuesday and Friday, I discuss military and defense news, as well as some history, motivation, and wisdom. (And I do all of this from a moderate perspective.) Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber.That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content.But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort with a paid subscription. I’m doing this for several reasons.First, I believe in the mission of this. Of trying to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots. We want to avoid those places we should avoid. We also want to avoid unplanned mission creep, such as we did in Afghanistan or in Vietnam. These decisions mattered when they were made, and the decisions being made now matter as well. I am passionate about this topic because I’ve been the scared, young rifleman, who went into a foreign land and had the wits scared out of him, while dodging bullets for a few days in a foreign land. The bottom line is foreign policy really matters. (What are the details of your military career?)Second, I know that as our support grows, so, too, can the depth, quality, and reach of the show. This, given the mission I just mentioned above, is really important to me. Finally, I also know that this isn’t a broad topic that 80 percent of the country is excited to hear about. Foreign policy news is a tiny, very-small subject, and I’m not kidding myself into believing that I can somehow single-handedly make half the country care about it.So for all of these reasons, I need your support. If you’re a free subscriber, please tell others who might be interested. Or share some of the podcasts on facebook or Twitter. And for those who can, and who really believe in what we’re trying to do, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can throw a few bucks in the hat. It’s $5 a month to subscribe, and if you do so, you’ll get the Tuesday edition without the one-day delay. (Plus, any locked, paid-only special episodes that I drop from time-to-time.)So, if you believe in what we’re doing, and you want to be a part of this community, I’d be honored if you signed up. Either as a free or paid subscriber.So, that’s what I’m trying to do here. I don’t claim to know the answers, but I think we can ask the questions, seeks the answers, and make a difference.And this concept is why I do all of this from a moderate perspective. I believe with we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious dignity and weight to our politics.So, please, join what we’re trying to do. Sign up for free at a minimum. And chip in a few bucks if you can.Source notesChina:https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/05/pentagon-china-calls-taiwan-00050175 Morning Joe interview.  Russia:Motivation and inspiration:That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.We have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious gravity to our politics.So, please, try to be a better person yourself each and every day.And, please, if you haven’t already, sign up for free episodes at a minimum. We’d be proud to have you join us here.And if you love what you’re we’re doing, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you all.And also, if you have two seconds, drop a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. I think we only have a few ratings, so a little love there might help us grow the show a little better.Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

What is up, guys?! Happy Friday! Hope everyone is doing well!What follows are the source notes for this podcast. (I’ll talk about the show below.)So, if you just happen to be stopping by on the internet, or you’ve arrived here from the Apple Podcast, you’ll find the source notes here on my substack.On the other hand, if you’re on Apple Podcast or one of the other podcast apps, you’ll need to click the “episode website” button at the bottom to reach those notes. Otherwise, not all of them will show up.About me: I am a prior infantry Marine, who earned the rank of Sergeant and a Combat Action Ribbon in 1997, and I love doing this podcast twice a week.For those who don’t know, every Tuesday and Friday, I discuss military and defense news, as well as some history, motivation, and wisdom. (And I do all of this from a moderate perspective.) Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber.That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content.But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort with a paid subscription. I’m doing this for several reasons.First, I believe in the mission of this. Of trying to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots. We want to avoid those places we should avoid. We also want to avoid unplanned mission creep, such as we did in Afghanistan, where we went from removing the Taliban and pursuing Osama bin Laden, to then trying to create a thriving democracy in one of the poorest, least-educated parts of the world. I could also mention our invasion of Iraq. Or our intervention in Vietnam. These decisions mattered when they were made, and the decisions being made now matter as well. I am passionate about this topic because I’ve been the scared, young rifleman, who went into a foreign land and had the wits scared out of him, while dodging bullets for a few days in a foreign land. The bottom line is foreign policy really matters. (What are the details of your military career?)Second, I know that as our support grows, so, too, can the depth, length, and reach of the show. This, given the mission I just mentioned above, is important to me. And it’s also something that’s hard to achieve while continuing to work a full-time job, as I’m currently doing. Not to mention trying to be as awesome of a husband and step-dad as I can possibly be. Finally, I also know that this isn’t a broad topic that 80 percent of the country is excited to hear about. Foreign policy news is a very-small, niche subject, and I’m not kidding myself into believing that I can somehow single-handedly make half the country care about it.So for all of these reasons, I need your support. If you’re a free subscriber, I need you telling others who might be interested. Or sharing some of the podcasts from time-to-time. And for those who can, and who really believe in what we’re trying to do, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can throw a few bucks in the hat. It’s $5 a month to subscribe, and if you do so, you’ll get the Tuesday edition without the one-day delay.So, if you believe in what we’re doing, and you want to be a part of this community, I’d be honored if you signed up. Either as a free or paid subscriber.So, that’s what I’m trying to do here. I don’t claim to know the answers, but I think we can ask the questions, seeks the answers, and make a difference.And this concept is why I do all of this from a moderate perspective. I believe with we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious gravity to our politics.So, please, join what we’re trying to do. Sign up for free at a minimum. And chip in a few bucks if you can.Source notesChina:Pelosi, Congressional Delegation statement on visit to Taiwan press release.Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan. The real crisis may be just beginning. From The Economist.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/05/us-summons-china-ambassador/ China sends missiles flying over Taiwan https://www.economist.com/china/2022/08/04/china-sends-missiles-flying-over-taiwan  from @TheEconomistRussia:Russia’s faltering invasion. http://espresso.economist.com/44b8b1b5c2c259df31d9d9b0f53be68b  from @TheEconomistAfrica:Story link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/20/michael-langley-africom-marines-general/ In tech news, I wanted to cover: Previous news on unmanned ships in my newsletter: Motivation and wisdom:That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.We have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious gravity to our politics.So, please, try to be a better person yourself each and every day.And, please, if you haven’t already, sign up for free episodes at a minimum. We’d be proud to have you join us here.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you all.And also, if you have two seconds, drop a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. I think we only have a few ratings, so a little love there might help us grow the show a little better.Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best. The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Tuesday! What follows are the source notes for this podcast. So, if you just happen to be stopping by on the internet, or you’ve arrived here from the Apple Podcast, you’ll find these items below. On the other hand, if you’re on Apple Podcast or one of the other podcast apps, you’ll need to click the “episode website” button at the bottom. Otherwise, not all of the source notes (which are often tweets) will show up.If you enjoy the show, here’s how you can sign up and/or help support it. (Both free — and paid — subscriptions are very much appreciated.)The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.For those who don’t know, every Tuesday and Friday, I discuss military and defense news, as well as some history, motivation, and wisdom. (And I do all of this from a moderate perspective.) Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber.That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content.But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort with a paid subscription. I’m doing this for several reasons. First, I believe in the mission of this. Of trying to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots. We want to avoid those places we should avoid. We also want to avoid unplanned mission creep, such as we did in Afghanistan, where we went from removing the Taliban and pursuing Osama bin Laden, to then trying to create a thriving democracy in one of the poorest, least-educated parts of the world. I could also mention our invasion of Iraq. Or our intervention of Vietnam. Or a number of other things. These decisions mattered, and decisions being made now matter as well. I am passionate about this topic because I’ve been the scared, young rifleman, who went into a foreign land and had the wits scared out of him, while dodging bullets for a few days in a foreign land.Second, I know that as our support grows, so, too, can the depth, length, and reach of the show. This, given the mission I just mentioned above, is important to me. And it’s also something that’s hard to achieve while continuing to work a full-time job, as I’m currently doing. Not to mention trying to be as awesome of a husband and step-dad as I can possibly be. Finally, I also know that this isn’t a broad topic that 80 percent of the country is excited to hear about. Foreign policy news is a very-small, niche subject, and I’m not kidding myself into believing that I can somehow single-handedly make half the country care about it.So for all of these reasons, I need your support. If you’re a free subscriber, I need you telling others who might be interested. Or sharing some of the podcasts from time-to-time. And for those who can, and who really believe in what we’re trying to do, i’d greatly appreciate it if you can throw a few bucks in the hat. It’s $5 a month to subscribe, and if you do so, you’ll get the Tuesday edition without the one-day delay. And you’ll also eventually get some in-depth, single-topic podcasts that I’ve been wanting to do. These will only be for paid subscribers, but I’m not going to share too much about those. Honestly, I’m a big believer in under promise, over achieve. So, if you’re going to subscribe, do it because you support what we’re doing and you want ot be a part of this community.Source Notes follow (motivational tweets at bottom):China: Ukraine:Ukraine gets more U.S., German rocket launcher systems. With these three from Germany, that will increase the number that they have up to 19. (Since we’ve sent 16, as I reported in the July 22 episode.)Afghanistan:Saudia Arabia: How to deal with despots from The Economist. Motivation and wisdom:That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.I believe with every fiber of my being that we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.I’m not sure how we do this, but it certainly starts with each of us being nice to our fellow Americans. And understanding what the great Abraham Lincoln said.Lincoln, who is one of my absolute favorite people to look up to and study, said that a house divided cannot stand.It’s also worth remembering that Lincoln had approximately one year of schooling. He was self-educated, learning through books and reading that he did. And yet he proved to be one of the wisest leaders we ever had.I think his example is one we should all follow. So, stay engaged on the issues and be kind when you talk about them, especially online.And, please, sign up for free episodes at a minimum. We’d be proud to have you join us here.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Friday! Hope everyone has had a great week! And that you also have some great weekend plans! In the past couple of weeks, I’ve created both a written and audio edition. But I’ve got to face reality and admit that I don’t have to do both the written and audio edition. So from this point forward, you’ll see the audio edition above. And I’ll paste the source notes below. But it won’t be nearly as well-written. I apologize I can’t do both, but the reality is that I simply don’t have time to do both while working a full-time day job.One benefit of this is I think doing this will allow me to record longer podcast versions, which I’m hearing is what most of you want.So, if you just happen to be stopping by on the internet, or you’ve arrived here from the Apple Podcast, here is how you sign up.The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If you’re on Apple Podcast, click the “episode website” button at the bottom. Otherwise, not all of the source notes (which are often tweets) will show up.Source Notes follow (motivational tweets at bottom):On the topic of Russia, I cited, quoted from, etc, the following:Russia is ‘About to Run Out of Steam,’ MI6 Chief Says. (From Defense One.)On the topic of China, I cited, quoted from, etc, the following:Pentagon Official: Chinese Military Actions Against Foreign Ships, Aircraft Are No Accidents — They’re PolicyNow, let‘s move to some motivation and wisdom. That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans. I believe with every fiber of my being that we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.I’m not sure how we do this, but it certainly starts with each of us being nice to our fellow Americans. And understanding what the great Abraham Lincoln said.Lincoln, who is one of my absolute favorite people to look up to and study, said that a house divided cannot stand.It’s also worth remembering that Lincoln had approximately one year of schooling. He was self-educated, learning through books and reading that he did. And yet he proved to be one of the wisest leaders we ever had.I think his example is one we should all follow. So, stay engaged on the issues and be kind when you talk about them, especially online.And, please, sign up for free episodes at a minimum. We’d be proud to have you join us here.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friends!Sorry for the interruption! Just wanted to let you know that yesterday’s podcast has been unlocked, and below is the entire edition. (The email you received — unless you are a paid subscriber — had a paywall about halfway through it, and the audio wasn’t included.)This, however, is the entire episode, including audio.Thanks in advance for your continued support!Much love from Knoxville,StanP.S. And I think next week, I figured out a way to avoid having to email you twice about the Tuesday post. (Big-time learning curve happening over here. lol)Hi friend,Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a great weekend!I wanted to start this edition with a bit of an update on China, which is something we’ve discussed in the past, but also often gets pushed to the background because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.There are a couple of things that really bring China back into focus for this edition. (Okay, technically, I wanted to cover this in Friday’s edition, but that ended up getting rushed and cut short because I had to go catch a flight.)Nonetheless, the first item that brings China back into the news was the item below.NBC News reported that FBI Director Christopher Wray, standing alongside the director of Britain’s MI5, the U.K.’s domestic intelligence agency, argued that China was taking steps to protect its economy following an attack or invasion.“In our world, we call that kind of behavior a clue,” Wray said, adding that were an invasion to happen, “it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.”So, the first point is you’ve got the FBI Director saying he’s seeing intelligence that China is making some moves to protect its economy. And oh, by the way, he makes this comment on foreign soil next to one of America’s staunchest allies.To me, that’s no accident.At the same time, we need to re-visit the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be visiting Taiwan.I originally shared this in the July 19th edition. And as a reminder, Pelosi will be the first House speaker to visit Taiwan since Speaker Newt Gingrich did back in 1997.But in the week that has passed since the news broke, there’s been a lot of increasing pressure for Pelosi NOT to visit.This includes pressure from President Joe Biden and members of America’s highest military staff, which The Washington Post reported. (Hat tip to Derek Grossman for sharing it.)From The Post story:President Biden himself on Wednesday told reporters that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now” that Pelosi travels to Taiwan. Distrust between Washington and Beijing is at a heightened level, as China has acted with increased aggressiveness in recent encounters with the United States and allied military forces in the region.And then on the flip side, you can already see that Biden and Pelosi are already being boxed in from folks saying they shouldn’t back down from China. Such as the tweet below:And even this interview from the former Secretary of Defense under former President Donald Trump. Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense under Trump, said in an interview on CNN that China should not have any say over where American officials travel. (See video below.)And this minor debate over the Pelosi visit (or non-visit) brings up the bigger question.Will China eventually invade, as the FBI Director warns they’re potentially preparing to do? And if so, when?And on that impossible set of questions, I thought I’d shared a couple of things.The first being an excellent column by Derek Grossman, who I mentioned earlier.Grossman, who served over a decade in the Intelligence Community, and who is now a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation focused on national security and Indo-Pacific security issues, wrote a column in a Japanese newspaper that says Taiwan should be safe until 2027, unless one specific thing happens.The full column is free to read, and if you really dig China issues (and want to get in the weeds on this), you should totally go check it out.Grossman digs into the history of the issue by saying that Taiwan should have six years before it's invaded, if you believe the outgoing commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson.Davidson stated in March during open Congressional testimony that China might invade 2027, since that is apparently the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).But Grossman points out that despite the unprecedented number of warplanes flying near Taiwan, China has actually been less aggressive than it was in the 90s. He said as just one example that during the 1995-96 Taiwan Strait Crisis, China launched ballistic missiles near Taiwan; something that China hasn’t repeated since then.Grossman also goes into detail about how Taiwan isn’t being mentioned in enough speeches and propaganda, something he thinks would ramp up significantly to rally the country before a war would be launched.And while he acknowledges they could be keeping all this quiet as part of some surprise effort, Grossman reminds readers of all the serious challenges of amphibious landings. And also many of the short comings of China’s navy.But there is one huge caveat to his prediction. Grossman says that if Taiwan elects a seriously anti-China candidate to the presidency, then China might act.And apparently Taiwan has a current and tremendously popular vice president who could push China toward an attack, if he were to continue his rise to power.Like I said, this is a great column that I highly recommend if you have a moment.But there’s something else other than an all-out invasion that could soon happen.Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, who also serves as a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, writes that a clash or crisis is more than due for the United States and China.Brands wrote a fantastic Twitter thread on this, and was generous enough to say I could share it in its entirety, which you’ll see below.FULL THREAD: All the hubbub surrounding Pelosi's potential trip to Taiwan is making one thing very clear: We are, alas, probably overdue for a major political-military crisis in US-China relations.Not a crisis over trade, or COVID, or someone else's war (as in case of Ukraine), but crisis that brings two sides face to face in an area where both have highly important, perhaps vital, security interests.And whether that happens over Pelosi's visit or something else, Taiwan is likely focal point, because it is where the two sides' security interests most directly conflict. It is also where Beijing feels that its military leverage is increasing...But worries that its political leverage is decreasing, due to changes in Taiwanese public opinion and Taipei's tightening relations with Washington and other countries. That is a recipe for assertive behavior. If and when the crisis comes...It will reveal a lot about the competition: How the two sides perceive their relative strength or weakness, how willing they are to take risks, how capable they are of managing and de-escalating potentially dangerous tensions. Crises tend to be both terrifying and clarifying.Such a crisis will also reveal whether the US can manage more than one major global security crisis at a given time. In sum: We are entering what is likely to be a very fraught period in the U.S.-China relationship. I doubt, unfortunately, that it will end anytime soon.Okay, that was a lot on China. Let’s move to Africa. Or, more specifically, Somalia.Somalia is starting to make the news, such as this “An attack on a military base in Somalia shows al-Shabab’s deadly power.”From the story:The May 2 assault claimed more than 50 lives, according to local officials and Western security personnel in Somalia, making it the deadliest strike on the U.S.-backed peacekeeping mission here in six years. Its success underscored the resurgence of al-Shabab and the challenges that African and American troops will face in containing the group.This is going to be something to watch, as President Biden already approved sending 450 troops to Somalia back in May.And there’s also this pretty big fact:All right, enough news. Let’s share some motivation and wisdom.First, I’m always looking for the positive or good news out there. And with ugly fires, drought, etc, and with all the talk of global warming and how powerless we can often feel against it, I saw two news items that were at least a bit inspiring.First, this:And then also this:And with that out of the way, here are some other tweets worth sharing.That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.I believe with every fiber of my being that we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.I’m not sure how we do this (though I have some ideas), but it certainly starts with each of us being nice to our fellow Americans. And understanding what the great Abraham Lincoln said.Lincoln, who is one of my absolute favorite people to look up to and study, said that a house divided cannot stand.It’s also worth remembering that Lincoln had approximately one year of schooling. He was self-educated, learning through books and reading that he did. And yet he proved to be one of the wisest leaders we ever had.I think his example is one we should all follow. So, please, sign up for free at a minimum. And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a great weekend! I wanted to start this edition with a bit of an update on China, which is something we’ve discussed in the past, but also often gets pushed to the background because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.There are a couple of things that really bring China back into focus for this edition. (Okay, technically, I wanted to cover this in Friday’s edition, but that ended up getting rushed and cut short because I had to go catch a flight.)Nonetheless, the first item that brings China back into the news was the item below. NBC News reported that FBI Director Christopher Wray, standing alongside the director of Britain’s MI5, the U.K.’s domestic intelligence agency, argued that China was taking steps to protect its economy following an attack or invasion.“In our world, we call that kind of behavior a clue,” Wray said, adding that were an invasion to happen, “it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.”So, the first point is you’ve got the FBI Director saying he’s seeing intelligence that China is making some moves to protect its economy. And oh, by the way, he makes this comment on foreign soil next to one of America’s staunchest allies. To me, that’s no accident. At the same time, we need to re-visit the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be visiting Taiwan.I originally shared this in the July 19th edition. And as a reminder, Pelosi will be the first House speaker to visit Taiwan since Speaker Newt Gingrich did back in 1997. But in the week that has passed since the news broke, there’s been a lot of increasing pressure for Pelosi NOT to visit.This includes pressure from President Joe Biden and members of America’s highest military staff, which The Washington Post reported. (Hat tip to Derek Grossman for sharing it.)From The Post story:President Biden himself on Wednesday told reporters that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now” that Pelosi travels to Taiwan. Distrust between Washington and Beijing is at a heightened level, as China has acted with increased aggressiveness in recent encounters with the United States and allied military forces in the region.And then on the flip side, you can already see that Biden and Pelosi are already being boxed in from folks saying they shouldn’t back down from China. Such as the tweet below: And even this interview from the former Secretary of Defense under former President Donald Trump. Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense under Trump, said in an interview on CNN that China should not have any say over where American officials travel. (See video below.)And this minor debate over the Pelosi visit (or non-visit) brings up the bigger question. Will China eventually invade, as the FBI Director warns they’re potentially preparing to do? And if so, when?And on that impossible set of questions, I thought I’d shared a couple of things.The first being an excellent column by Derek Grossman, who I mentioned earlier. Grossman, who served over a decade in the Intelligence Community, and who is now a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation focused on national security and Indo-Pacific security issues, wrote a column in a Japanese newspaper that says Taiwan should be safe until 2027, unless one specific thing happens. The full column is free to read, and if you really dig China issues (and want to get in the weeds on this), you should totally go check it out.Grossman digs into the history of the issue by saying that Taiwan should have six years before it's invaded, if you believe the outgoing commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson.Davidson stated in March during open Congressional testimony that China might invade 2027, since that is apparently the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).But Grossman points out that despite the unprecedented number of warplanes flying near Taiwan, China has actually been less aggressive than it was in the 90s. He said as just one example that during the 1995-96 Taiwan Strait Crisis, China launched ballistic missiles near Taiwan; something that China hasn’t repeated since then.Grossman also goes into detail about how Taiwan isn’t being mentioned in enough speeches and propaganda, something he thinks would ramp up significantly to rally the country before a war would be launched.And while he acknowledges they could be keeping all this quiet as part of some surprise effort, Grossman reminds readers of all the serious challenges of amphibious landings. And also many of the short comings of China’s navy.But there is one huge caveat to his prediction. Grossman says that if Taiwan elects a seriously anti-China candidate to the presidency, then China might act.And apparently Taiwan has a current and tremendously popular vice president who could push China toward an attack, if he were to continue his rise to power.Like I said, this is a great column that I highly recommend if you have a moment.But there’s something else other than an all-out invasion that could soon happen.Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, who also serves as a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, writes that a clash or crisis is more than due for the United States and China.Brands wrote a fantastic Twitter thread on this, and was generous enough to say I could share it in its entirety, which you’ll see below. FULL THREAD: All the hubbub surrounding Pelosi's potential trip to Taiwan is making one thing very clear: We are, alas, probably overdue for a major political-military crisis in US-China relations.Not a crisis over trade, or COVID, or someone else's war (as in case of Ukraine), but crisis that brings two sides face to face in an area where both have highly important, perhaps vital, security interests.And whether that happens over Pelosi's visit or something else, Taiwan is likely focal point, because it is where the two sides' security interests most directly conflict. It is also where Beijing feels that its military leverage is increasing...But worries that its political leverage is decreasing, due to changes in Taiwanese public opinion and Taipei's tightening relations with Washington and other countries. That is a recipe for assertive behavior. If and when the crisis comes...It will reveal a lot about the competition: How the two sides perceive their relative strength or weakness, how willing they are to take risks, how capable they are of managing and de-escalating potentially dangerous tensions. Crises tend to be both terrifying and clarifying.Such a crisis will also reveal whether the US can manage more than one major global security crisis at a given time. In sum: We are entering what is likely to be a very fraught period in the U.S.-China relationship. I doubt, unfortunately, that it will end anytime soon.Okay, that was a lot on China. Let’s move to Africa. Or, more specifically, Somalia.Somalia is starting to make the news, such as this “An attack on a military base in Somalia shows al-Shabab’s deadly power.”From the story: The May 2 assault claimed more than 50 lives, according to local officials and Western security personnel in Somalia, making it the deadliest strike on the U.S.-backed peacekeeping mission here in six years. Its success underscored the resurgence of al-Shabab and the challenges that African and American troops will face in containing the group.This is going to be something to watch, as President Biden already approved sending 450 troops to Somalia back in May.And there’s also this pretty big fact:All right, enough news. Let’s share some motivation and wisdom.First, I’m always looking for the positive or good news out there. And with ugly fires, drought, etc, and with all the talk of global warming and how powerless we can often feel against it, I saw two news items that were at least a bit inspiring.First, this: And then also this:And with that out of the way, here are some other tweets worth sharing.That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Friday! Hope everyone has had a great week!I wanted to briefly discuss the response to the last podcast, which totally blew me away! We had several new free subscriptions, plus a new paid subscriber, and quite a few shares, which obviously helps us get the word out to others who have no idea what we’re doing here.So, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of that.And if this is your first time listening, here’s what we’re doing. Every Tuesday and Friday, I write about conflicts and military matters that are happening throughout the world, while also sharing some motivation and wisdom at the end (because who doesn’t need a couple of doses of that each week?!).Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber.That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content.But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort with a paid subscription. Partly, it’s because there’s so much more I want to be doing with this each week, but I need your help to get there.The reality is this is what I’d like to be doing full-time, along with my fiction writing, long-term. And right now I’m balancing this out with a full-time job, which is preventing me from making this as incredible (or in-depth) as I’d like.But also, I’ve seen that most advertising-only efforts can only succeed if you’re like Joe Rogan or some big name. And I’m most certainly not Joe Rogan or some big name. And also, foreign policy isn’t an in-demand, large-audience subject, unfortunately.So to sustain the time I’m putting into this, I’d really appreciate it if you threw a few bucks into the hat and signed up.All right, with that out of the way, let’s get started. We’ve got a ton to discuss.In big news, the United States has announced that it’s sending four more of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine. That will increase the number that we’ve sent from 12 to 16.While we’re on the subject of HIMARS, that leads us into the next topic I wanted to discuss. Ukraine is getting closer to launching an offensive in Kherson (pronounced kehr·saan).The Economist had a story about a week back that described Kherson as the gateway to Crimea, which as you recall, is the peninsula that Russia formally seized in 2014.Kherson is the only regional capital that Russia achieved success in conquering since this most recent invasion.And The Economist states that not only is the gateway to Crimea, it’s also “an agricultural powerhouse,” and thus Ukraine is prioritizing its efforts to retake it. (See story below.)But back to the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, Ukraine has been using these weapons to hit one of two bridges that are behind Kherson. And you can see this in the video that I’ve linked to below. Already, one of the bridges are down to one lane.And the Russians have nothing that can intercept the HIMARS rockets. None of their anti-air missiles seem to be able to hit them.Now, Dr. Mike Martin, an analyst and author, shared a thread on Twitter about the coming offensive. And he made two points that go along with what I’m getting to.Speaking of the bridges, he says this:And while we’re talking about the coming offensive in Kherson, The Kyiv Independent wrote a great article about the coming attack. (The article is free and the link is below.)But one of the things in the article that I think is key is that it mentions the Russians are holding a number of defensive positions, primarily at road junctions, small towns, etc. And the advantage the Ukrainians will have is that they can use what we used to call in the Marine Corps as “maneuver warfare.” And thus, the Ukrainians can pin down certain positions, but then mass larger forces to overpower individual positions. With luck, these attacks will lead to a spreading of the fear running through the Russian forces already, and it’s likely going to break their will and cause them to want to retreat. If not all-out flee. While we’re on the subject of Ukraine, let’s talk about three more quick things. First, the U.S. is starting to hint again about potentially arming Ukraine with fighter jets (possibly European models). Huge shoutout to Joshua Hughes, who first alerted me to this. And then shortly after pointing out the Defense One story on it, (see below), The Washington Post also reported on it. I want to be very, very clear that nothing is definite on this. The second quick thing I wanted to mention is that while I worried to no end about the brave defenders of the steel plant in Mariuopol (the Azovstal steel plant), it appears at least some of them are being released/traded for Russian prisoners. (See below.)I want to stress that this is not something that seems to be something that either Ukraine or Russia wants to talk about, and it’s probably not happening for all the defenders (especially the leaders), but at least some of them are being freed.The third thing I wanted to share was the item below, because it’s yet more proof of the horrors that Russia is propagating in Ukraine.Moving to the Middle East, Putin recently flew to Iran to meet with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The main thing I wanted to share with that Khamenei said the West and NATO was dangerous, and that if Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine, then Ukraine and NATO would have invaded Russia.One other thing real quick on this topic is that Turkish leader embarrassed Putin while he was there. This is probably only the second thing that I appreciate that Erdogan has done in years. (The other being selling Bayraktar drones to Ukraine.)All right, enough news. Let’s share some motivation and wisdom.I wanted to start by sharing just these incredible images below.And here’s the other pieces of motivation and wisdom that I wanted to share.That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Tuesday!Hope you had a great weekend. Wanted to say two quick things before we get to the news today. First, I’m amending a bit how the paid versus free subscriptions work. I’ve decided I don’t want to keep folks from getting the Tuesday edition, if they’re not paid subscribers. So, Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber. That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content. But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort. Partly, it’s because this is what I’d like to be doing full-time, along with my fiction writing, long-term. And right now I’m balancing this out with a full-time job, which is preventing me from making this as well (or in-depth) as I’d like.But also, I’ve seen that most advertising-only efforts can only succeed if you’re like Joe Rogan or some big name. And I’m most certainly not Joe Rogan or some big name. So to sustain the time I’m putting into this, I’d really appreciate it if you threw a few bucks into the hate and signed up. But if you can’t, or don’t want to, no sweat. And no pressure. I’m glad to have you listening/reading, because I really do believe keeping up with foreign policy is crucial.I know most Americans don’t care about foreign policy. It’s complicated, it’s happening over there (we say), and let’s face it, most Americans are terrible at geography. But foreign policy matters. It can be the difference between whether we foolishly invade Iraq (as we did in 2003), or whether we try the impossible task of making Afghanistan (one of the world’s poorest and least literate countries) a democracy.Having well-informed voters on both sides of the aisle is important, and this means a lot to me because I’ve been the tip of the spear. I’ve been the young man who carried a weapon into a scary foreign land. This stuff matters, and it’s not nearly as complicated as we think it is. I remember thinking how stupid it was we were going to invade Iraq in 2003, when we hadn’t even nabbed Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan or Pakistan yet. Why would we divide our efforts like that? And on such horrible intelligence?Just as large a question? Why, after toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan with the help of the Northern Alliance and not many troops on the ground, would we suddenly shift to trying to build a thriving democracy in one of the poorest and least literate countries? Especially when Pakistan, our so-called ally, is playing all kinds of cute games and essentially supporting the Taliban behind our backs?These questions came to me when I didn’t even follow foreign policy 1/10th as much as I do now. They are common sense questions, and it’s a shame more Americans didn’t ask them. Perhaps, we could have saved thousands of lives if we had. And it’s for these reasons above that I’m beyond passionate about foreign policy matters. And I think historically, if you look at the Vietnam War, or the invasion of Iraq or mission creep in Afghanistan, you’ll see that making a mistake early on in regards to foreign policy leads to disastrous consequences for our country.So, that’s what I’m trying to do here. I don’t claim to know the answers, but I think we can ask the questions, seeks the answers, and make a difference. And this concept is why I do all of this from a moderate perspective. I believe with every fiber of my being that we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.I’m not sure how we do this (though I have some ideas), but it certainly starts with each of us being nice to our fellow Americans. And understanding what the great Abraham Lincoln said. Lincoln, who is one of my absolute favorite people to look up to and study, said that a house divided cannot stand. It’s also worth remembering that Lincoln had approximately one year of schooling. He was self-educated, learning through books and reading that he did. And yet he proved to be one of the wisest leaders we ever had. I think his example is one we should all follow. So, please, sign up for free at a minimum. And chip in a few bucks if you can.We start this edition by mentioning the heat wave in Europe. You’ve probably heard this by now, because it seems to be all over the news, but it’s so hot that runways are melting in the United Kingdom. (See below.)It’s also leading to melted tires, as you can also see. So just how hot is it?In France, it’s a 109 degrees, according to The Washington Post. Britain was supposed to hit 106 degrees, also according to The Washington Post. Few homes have air conditioning in Europe, because they don’t typically see this kind of heat. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I could manage long with 100-degree heat with no air conditioning. I’ve done it, in the Mojave Desert training, but it wasn’t fun. And I for sure didn’t sleep much.I also was much younger, and Axios is reporting that to date, 1,100 people have died in Spain and Portugal alone. So, the heat wave is a pretty serious event happening in Europe right now.Moving to Ukraine, news broke that Russia is going to buy hundreds of drones from Iran for use in Ukraine.On the one hand, this is quite worrying. But on the other, I think Ukrainian air defenses are much better than they were even a few months ago, so I think the impact of these drones will be mitigated to some degree. Moving away from Ukraine, we haven’t talked about China in a bit, but they’re not too happy with the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be visiting Taiwan. You can never tell how upset China really is, since they regularly get upset over things the United States is doing, but this does seem like a pretty big deal.The Washington Post is reporting that Pelosi will be the first House speaker to visit Taiwan since Speaker Newt Gingrich did back in 1997.As a reminder, Taiwan is a roughly 14,000-square-mile island that has nearly 24 million people, according to the CIA World Factbook. China claims Taiwan, while the people of Taiwan seem to not want to be any part of China. One thing I looked up is what exactly we’ve said we’d do as a country.We’re currently operating under the US Taiwan Relations Act of April 1979. This states that the US “shall provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character and shall maintain the capacity of the US to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan (2022).”But, as a reminder, President Joe Biden has three different times made the wrong comment regarding whether America would defend Taiwan.My personal view on the topic is the following:I think Biden making the same mistake three times is not an accident. I think our government is telling allies that he absolutely means it. That this is the stubborn, cranky Biden that means it. The one with the backbone that left Afghanistan no matter what how bad that destroyed his poll numbers.But while they’re saying this to allies to re-assure them of American commitment to Asia, I think these same administration folks are telling China and the media that the statements are nothing. That Biden is just a gaffe machine and we shouldn’t sweat what he’s saying. That he “mis-spoke.”Doing this accomplishes a couple of things. First, it keeps China from being pushed over the edge in the short term into attacking Taiwan pre-maturely. At the same time, it buys our country some runway, so that America can continue its pivot and re-alignment to counter the great dragon in the East.What do you all think? Am I crazy? (Or am I dead on the mark like the time I got lucky predicting a possible solution to breaking up the Russian blockade?)I welcome any comments below or by email or social media.Moving away from Asia to the Middle East, I wanted to discuss a column I came across. Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and former U.S. ambassador to Austria, wrote a great column on Israel in The Washington Post that discussed an issue I had read about probably five or ten years ago, but frankly, it had kind of slipped my mind.I’ll mention the problem that slipped my mind in just a moment, but let me set up the situation first. Lauder said that despite a strong economy and signed peace treaties with six Arab League nations, that Israel faces a couple of big threats in the years to come.The first is the potential that Iran could build a nuclear weapon. This is obviously something that a lot of people have been discussing. But the second thing, which had slipped my mind, is that a growing Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip could cause long-term problems for Israel. Lauder says that if nothing changes, and if Israel continues to rule over the West Bank, it will soon face a serious challenge from the Palestinian population.His fear, and I quote here, is that, “If it gives Palestinians full citizenship — and therefore full rights — it will no longer be Jewish. If it doesn’t do so, it will no longer be democratic. Either way, Israel, as a Jewish democratic state, will cease to exist.”So, this will definitely be something to keep an eye on, as well.All right, enough news. Let’s share some motivation and wisdom. The first comes from my wife, so I have no idea who to credit for it. But it’s a photo someone had shared on facebook. That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friend,Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a great week!One quick administrative note: the last newsletter is unlocked and no longer paywalled, for those who missed it. You can read it here: The view from the front for 7/12/22.Also, up above the header, you’ll an audio upload, so you can now listen to the edition instead of just reading it.We’re going to begin today’s edition with Ukraine.As you may recall, in the Tuesday edition, I shared quite a bit of video and analysis from Twitter about the way our HIMARS rocket system.HIMARS stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and these have been absolutely wrecking Russian forces now that they’ve arrived in Ukraine.I collected lots of data and shared it in the Tuesday post, which supports this analysis. But low and behold, The Economist published an impressive piece on this same topic.Am I saying that because I live on Twitter, searching for scraps of the tiniest imaginable data, that I covered something before The Economist? Yes, I am.Yes, I am.Am I also saying that The Economist covered that same issue with better clarity and authority than I did? Oh, I’m absolutely saying that.But a subscription to The Economist will cost you four times as much as my newsletter, so there’s that. lolNonetheless, The Economist notes that the HIMARS are popping ammunition depots like some adult pops balloons at the county fair.Nineteen ammunition depots have been hit to date, and they’ve also taken out several command posts, killing several Russian colonels and generals in the process.And if Russia moves the new ammunition depots further back, it’s going to further strain the logistical nightmare for its army. Russia’s trucks will have to drive farther, and these trucks will increasingly become targeted as the linchpin that is holding the Russian Army together.Moving away from the frontline of Russia to its larger picture, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius notes the following:Ignatius also added the following:The best evidence that sanctions are working, albeit slowly, comes from Russian officials themselves. “The situation is not easy,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged last month. Herman Gref, the head of Sberbank, Russia’s largest, warned: “We may need around a decade to return [the] economy to the 2021 levels.” He told journalists recently that cargo shipments to Russia had fallen sixfold because of Western sanctions.This is going to eventually affect Russia’s military and oh-so-much more. As Ignatius writes:“We’re playing the long game, too,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told me on Thursday. The United States assembled a coalition of three dozen countries to support the sanctions, she noted, with this satisfying result: Exports of semiconductors to Russia have fallen 74 percent compared with a year ago. “You can’t sustain a modern military without semiconductors,” Raimondo observed.Speaking for myself, I don’t know if the citizens of Russia are quite as spoiled as we are here in America, but once you can’t buy a new iPhone or other electronic device that you’re craving, I think that’s when Putin is really going to feel the internal pressure.But the internal pressure might actually already be building.Russian expert Fiona Hill recently spoke about this in the below video.Hill, who’s a former official at the U.S. National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs, and who’s also a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, made the following points in the interview.Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to be up for re-election in 2024, but he signed an executive order in 2020 that changed the Russian Constitution to allow him to run for two additional six-year terms.That means he’s now there until 2036.Hill says in the interview that President Putin is less popular than most know, and that as his unpopularity grows, there's more incentive for those around him to maneuver against him.As such, Hill made a couple of other points. She speculates that Putin wants to seem popular, and that he wants to end the conflict in Ukraine.She ends by saying that locking up Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is not a sign of someone who’s confident.My take on what Hill says is that barring some kind of overthrow at home for Putin, it leaves the Ukraine situation in a complete and total mess.Because even if Putin wants peace, he would need to negotiate to hang onto what Russia has captured.But numerous Ukrainian officials have said that they won’t stop fighting until they’ve taken back every inch of Ukrainian soil. And that includes the peninsula of Crimea, which Russia formally seized that in 2014.So for now, the war will grind on unfortunately.Moving to the Middle East, President Joe Biden has traveled there and is meeting with Saudi Arabia today.He started the trip in Israel, and the AP had a wonderful summary of the situation that he entered.During a visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, President Joe Biden offered compassion and financial assistance for hope-starved Palestinians but also delivered a blunt acknowledgment that the “ground is not ripe” for new attempts to reach an elusive peace.Political uncertainty in Israel, which is holding another round of elections in November, and the weakness of Palestinian Authority leadership has dimmed any chance of restarting negotiations that broke down more than a decade ago.According to the White House fact sheet following the visit, Biden pledged “new contributions totaling $316 million to support the Palestinian people. This is on top of the more than half a billion dollars the United States has provided to the Palestinian people since the Biden Administration restored much-needed funding to the Palestinians,” according to the fact sheet.Israel has also committed to upgrading wireless networks in the West Bank and Gaza.Biden left Israel and the West Bank and visits with Saudi Arabia today.CNN reports that “while oil production is not expected to be the main topic of the meeting, US officials do expect the topic to arise.”The United States hopes that Saudia Arabia will boost production.But Biden says he’s traveling to Saudi Arabia as part of a "much broader" agenda to promote US interests.He also plans to meet with leaders from Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan.CNN quoted Biden as saying “he has an opportunity to fix the "mistake" of "walking away from our influence in the Middle East," a reference to the Trump administration.From the story, which quoted Biden:"There are so many issues at stake that I want to make clear that we can continue to lead in the region and not create a vacuum -- a vacuum that is filled by China and or Russia, against the interest of both Israel and the United States and many other countries," Biden said.I’m definitely glad that Biden is staying engaged in the Middle East, and I’m most certainly hoping Saudia Arabia turns on the gas pump.Let’s end with some motivation and wisdom.That’s it for this edition.As a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.Semper Fidelis,Stan R. MitchellP.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a leadership/biography book, and two realistic war novels: one about World War IIand one about Afghanistan.P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter. Get full access to The view from the front by Stan R. Mitchell at stanrmitchell.substack.com/subscribe