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Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
White House marks 83rd anniversary of Midway victory in WWII
June 4 (UPI) -- Wednesday is the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway, which turned the tide against the Japanese during World War II, the White House announced. The attack by the Japanese Navy on Midway Island marked its last in the Pacific Theater of operations and occurred 1.5 years after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. "After the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Imperial Japan surged across the Pacific -- dealing Allied forces a series of defeats, from the fall of the Philippines to the capture of Hong Kong and Singapore to devastating air raids over Australia," the White House announced in an unattributed online statement. "With the U.S. Navy still reeling from the surprise attack, Japan's ruthless push for regional dominance seemed unstoppable," the statement said. A surprise attack led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle that dropped bombs on Japan on April 16, 1942, prompted the Japanese to expand their territorial gains in the Pacific Theater of Operations, including targeting Midway Island for occupation. Occupying Midway would have given Japan a military base that was within striking distance of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet by land-based bombers. U.S. codebreakers, though, had broken Japan's Purple Code, and the Navy sent an uncoded message saying Midway Island's desalination facilities were down. It was a ruse that prompted the Japanese to say that its next target had problems with its fresh water, which the U.S. codebreakers intercepted. "The Japanese plan was clear: lure what remained of the battered U.S. Pacific Fleet out of Pearl Harbor, destroy it and capture Midway, from where they would launch further offensives across the Pacific," the White House announcement says. Knowing Midway was the intended target, newly appointed Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Chester Nimitz dispatched the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet and the USS Yorktown aircraft carriers and supporting vessels to lay a trap for the Japanese Navy. Admirals Chester Spruance and Jack Fletcher commanded the tactical fleet during the Midway operations. Japan sent four of its best fleet aircraft carriers to draw out the U.S. Pacific Fleet and destroy it in a decisive battle. Instead, the Japanese fleet was surprised by U.S. attack aircraft on the morning of June 4, 1942. "In the course of 24 hours, they sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, destroyed a heavy cruiser and crushed Japanese hopes of advancing deeper into the eastern Pacific," the White House said. The U.S. lost the Yorktown during the battle, but the United States was able to replace its losses and grow its fleet. The Japanese Navy continued to decline in size and effectiveness while trying and failing to defend its prior gains in the Pacific Theater. "Today, former enemies stand united as allies," the White House said. "The United States and Japan have forged an enduring partnership built on the shared values of freedom, sovereignty and an abiding commitment to peace across the Indo-Pacific." The White House statement says the United States and Japan "are advancing the causes of safety, security, prosperity and liberty ... while confronting threats from China and North Korea." The Battle of Midway serves as a "glorious reminder" that "no challenge is too great for the strength of the American spirit," the White House said.
UPI
5 days ago
- General
- UPI
White House marks 83rd anniversary of Midway victory in WWII
June 4 (UPI) -- Wednesday is the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway, which turned the tide against the Japanese during World War II, the White House announced. The attack by the Japanese Navy on Midway Island marked its last in the Pacific Theater of operations and occurred 1.5 years after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. "After the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Imperial Japan surged across the Pacific -- dealing Allied forces a series of defeats, from the fall of the Philippines to the capture of Hong Kong and Singapore to devastating air raids over Australia," the White House announced in an unattributed online statement. "With the U.S. Navy still reeling from the surprise attack, Japan's ruthless push for regional dominance seemed unstoppable," the statement said. A surprise attack led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle that dropped bombs on Japan on April 16, 1942, prompted the Japanese to expand their territorial gains in the Pacific Theater of Operations, including targeting Midway Island for occupation. Occupying Midway would have given Japan a military base that was within striking distance of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet by land-based bombers. U.S. codebreakers, though, had broken Japan's Purple Code, and the Navy sent an uncoded message saying Midway Island's desalination facilities were down. It was a ruse that prompted the Japanese to say that its next target had problems with its fresh water, which the U.S. codebreakers intercepted. "The Japanese plan was clear: lure what remained of the battered U.S. Pacific Fleet out of Pearl Harbor, destroy it and capture Midway, from where they would launch further offensives across the Pacific," the White House announcement says. Knowing Midway was the intended target, newly appointed Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Chester Nimitz dispatched the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet and the USS Yorktown aircraft carriers and supporting vessels to lay a trap for the Japanese Navy. Admirals Chester Spruance and Jack Fletcher commanded the tactical fleet during the Midway operations. Japan sent four of its best fleet aircraft carriers to draw out the U.S. Pacific Fleet and destroy it in a decisive battle. Instead, the Japanese fleet was surprised by U.S. attack aircraft on the morning of June 4, 1942. "In the course of 24 hours, they sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, destroyed a heavy cruiser and crushed Japanese hopes of advancing deeper into the eastern Pacific," the White House said. The U.S. lost the Yorktown during the battle, but the United States was able to replace its losses and grow its fleet. The Japanese Navy continued to decline in size and effectiveness while trying and failing to defend its prior gains in the Pacific Theater. "Today, former enemies stand united as allies," the White House said. "The United States and Japan have forged an enduring partnership built on the shared values of freedom, sovereignty and an abiding commitment to peace across the Indo-Pacific." The White House statement says the United States and Japan "are advancing the causes of safety, security, prosperity and liberty ... while confronting threats from China and North Korea." The Battle of Midway serves as a "glorious reminder" that "no challenge is too great for the strength of the American spirit," the White House said.
Miami Herald
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
What ‘Russia's Pearl Harbor' Says About Trump's Golden Dome
Almost like it was a premonition, military analyst Max Boot warned in a Saturday Washington Post op-ed that the future of warfare wouldn't be fought with massive space-based missile shields, but with swarms of cheap, expendable drones. Less than 24 hours later, Ukraine delivered the proof. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukraine's intelligence service launched Operation Spiderweb-a coordinated drone strike on five Russian air bases, including two located deep in Siberia, thousands of miles from the Ukrainian border. The drones, smuggled inside wooden cabins on tractor-trailers and deployed remotely, reportedly disabled or destroyed up to a third of Russia's long-range bomber fleet. Some military commentators compared it to another infamous Sunday surprise-Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Russian officials rejected the analogy, insisting the damage was far less severe than Ukraine claimed. Also unlike the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Ukraine was already in a defensive war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky oversaw the operation perdsonally and said it cost only tens of thousands of dollars, but may have caused at least $7 billion in damage. Reports said and videos confirmed the drones flew toward their targets, hitting Russia's nuclear-capable bombers and at least one A-50 spy plane. It also served as a prime example-a stark demonstration of how asymmetrical warfare can upend traditional power dynamics. Ukraine's display of drone warfare came just days after President Donald Trump championed his "Golden Dome"-a $175 billion proposed space-based missile defense system his administration says will shield the U.S. from hypersonic and intercontinental threats by 2029. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the project could cost as much as $830 billion over 20 years to complete, assuming it is even physically possible. Standing alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House, Trump declared, "An architecture has officially been selected... It will be the most advanced missile defense system ever devised." The plan envisions a web of satellites equipped with sensors and interceptors, including space-based lasers. Modeled partly on Ronald Reagan's failed Strategic Defense Initiative - known then as "Star Wars" - the Golden Dome echoes Cold War-era visions of layered missile defense from orbit. But critics argue it's no more realistic today than it was four decades ago. Chatham House, a London-based independent policy institute, warned that the Golden Dome "risks exacerbating global instability and accelerating strategic competition." Julia Cournoyer, a research associate with Chatham's International Security Programme, wrote that "a system that aspires to make the U.S. invulnerable to missile attack would almost certainly be seen by its adversaries as an attempt to undermine the logic of nuclear deterrence." With drone swarms now capable of crippling billion-dollar military infrastructure for a fraction of the cost, military analysts who spoke to Newsweek say the United States must reevaluate whether its missile defense priorities are geared for the future-or stuck defending a past that no longer exists. Defense experts also say the Golden Dome fails the most basic test: relevance. "Forget Trump's hugely expensive, impractical Golden Dome shield. Drones are the future of warfare," Boot wrote in a separate Washington Post opinion piece. He pointed to Ukraine's goal of producing 4.5 million drones this year at an average cost of $580 each-a scale that dwarfs the Pentagon's current output. For the same $25 billion earmarked for the Golden Dome's first phase, the U.S. could theoretically build more than 43 million drones. "If the Ukrainians could sneak drones so close to major air bases in a police state such as Russia, what is to prevent the Chinese from doing the same with U.S. air bases?" Boot asked. Zachary Kallenborn, a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] warfare specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek the Ukrainian attack is "definitely plausible" in other theaters. "They used small drones, probably capable of only carrying a few pounds of explosive," he said. "A similar Chinese drone attack is worth worrying about." National security analysts Benjamin Giltner and Justin Logan of the Cato Institute warned that the program is "costly and unlikely to pull off." Writing in The Spectator, the pair argued and that "modeling U.S. missile defense on Israel's Iron Dome is a mistake." They argue the plan's scale is unworkable and technologically mismatched to the advanced threats it's meant to counter-such as ICBMs flying at five times the speed of sound, armed with multiple warheads and decoys. Trump has also explicitly said the Golden Dome will be modeled on Israel's Iron Dome, though Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey and its missile shield mostly protects against slow moving, unguided rockets and other projectiles. Some in the president's orbit see the Golden Dome as a necessary evolution in national defense. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik called the program a vital step forward. "President Trump's announcement of the Golden Dome represents decisive action and fearless vision to ensure America's defense future," she said in a May 20 press release. "The Golden Dome, incorporating new technologies across land, sea, and space, is critical for countering evolving threats from rogue nations and adversaries." Yet even supporters face questions about practicality and risk. Cournoyer warned that adversaries could respond by escalating their own arsenals, pushing the U.S. and its rivals into a destabilizing arms race. "This arms race could also incentivize the deployment of space-based weapons at a time when space remains dangerously under-regulated," she wrote. "Beijing and Moscow could respond with a range of countermeasures, including expanding their offensive arsenals or developing new delivery systems." The announcement has already made headlines overseas, with rivals like China and Russia reacting sharply. "The United States, in pursuing a 'U.S.-first' policy, is obsessed with seeking absolute security for itself," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning during a May press briefing. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, urged Washington to abandon the deployment of weapons in space and said the Golden Dome would undermine strategic stability. As global threats evolve in line with rapid advancements in technology, the debate continues over whether high-cost missile shields like the Golden Dome can keep pace with the low-cost, high-impact tactics reshaping modern warfare. On Sunday, Ukraine showed the world what the future of warfare might very well look like. And it's not a future that can be easily countered with traditional defense practices. Related Articles Map Shows China's Arms Sales Footprint Around the WorldOperation Spiderweb: How Ukraine's Daring Top Secret Drone Assault UnfoldedRussian Aviation's Darkest Hour Since WWII Gets 40-Second TV News SlotSatellite Images Show Aftermath of 'Pearl Harbor' Strike on Russia 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
The 1600: Age of Asymmetry
Opinion | Tap here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox. The Insider's Track Good morning, We talked on Friday about the rapidly advancing AI technology that threatens to upend the white-collar workforce. But after this weekend, I think we only hit on part of the bigger story. It's less about the actual AI, and more about the asymmetry. AI is but one tool that is making asymmetry easier to manifest in all facets of life. Drones are another. The images out of Russia yesterday were remarkable. The Ukrainians appear to have destroyed a third of Russia's strategic aviation capabilities using dozens of cheap, basically off-the-shelf drones. Ukraine smuggled the drones deep into Russia inside the backs of trucks, which opened remotely at the point of attack. The drones then swarmed these strategic bombers sitting on airfields thousands of miles from the frontlines, near Mongolia, where they surely were assumed safe from Ukraine's air capabilities. These are the planes that have been bombing Ukraine's civilian infrastructure incessantly, and are a big part of Putin's nuclear deterrence. If he were going to launch a tactical nuke, it would likely be on one of these bombers that have been reduced to fiery wreckage. We don't yet know the full scale of the damage—some reports say 40 of these bombers have been taken out—but this will almost certainly end up being one of the most asymmetrical events of modern warfare, at least on par with Pearl Harbor, in terms of cost versus outcome. Drones that cost a few hundred bucks—and are available to civilians—taking out billions of dollars in military infrastructure is the contemporary equivalent of the Japanese surprise attack on our Pacific Fleet in 1941. The massively successful surprise drone attack (the White House says it wasn't given a heads up), comes as Ukrainian and Russian delegations are meeting for a new round of talks in Istanbul. Putin is surely livid, and humiliated, and will respond as such. This war is very far from being over. Terrorism has long been the classic example of our age of asymmetry. Al Qaeda brought the US to its knees, and into a 20-year morass in the Middle East, with 19 hijackers using box cutters you can buy at the hardware store. Hamas provoked the Israelis into a quagmire in Gaza by brutally raping and murdering young concertgoers and kidnapping families from their kibbutzes. It's that asymmetry that makes terrorism, as a tactic of war, so efficient. We even see it in these smaller-scale attacks on Jews here in the US. An Egyptian national wielding a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails attacked a march of mostly elderly Jews marching for the return of the hostages in Gaza yesterday in Boulder, Colorado. One of the victims is a Holocaust survivor. Another is 88. The attacker shouted "Free Palestine" as he was being taken into custody, much like the guy who executed those two young Israeli diplomats in DC last month. Fox is reporting the suspect overstayed his visa but was given a work permit under the Biden administration. If you're wondering why the backlash to the Trump admin's most heavy-handed deportation policies is not as severe as you were hoping it would be, it's because of stories like this. Most normie Americans do not believe that the US should be hosting immigrants who appear to be hostile to America and our way of life. It's not that crazy, and it doesn't make them racists or fascists to believe people like this guy in Boulder should simply not be here to begin with. Dems would do well to try to understand this very basic, human concept if they plan on winning any elections again. If it sounds like I'm trying to make some grand point between this terror attack in Colorado and the Ukrainian's surprise assault on Russia's nuclear triad, I guess I am? I don't know. I just know that we're living in history right now. What comes next will not look like what came before. The Rundown Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wanted to be king. For a moment—a real, electric flash between the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023—it looked like he might be. He was the governor of the third most populous state in the country, a combat-tested Navy veteran, a Harvard- and Yale-educated culture warrior who had turned Florida into a hard-right policy lab in the wake of his handling of the pandemic. Then he ran against Donald Trump. Read the story. Also happening: Trump's tax bill: Sen. Rand Paul said that he's confident there are enough members of his party to vote against President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" spending bill amid concerns that it does not make enough cuts to spending. Paul has spoken out against the spending bill and said he will not vote to pass it due to the inclusion of a mechanism that would allow Congress to increase the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion. Read more. Sen. Rand Paul said that he's confident there are enough members of his party to vote against President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" spending bill amid concerns that it does not make enough cuts to spending. Paul has spoken out against the spending bill and said he will not vote to pass it due to the inclusion of a mechanism that would allow Congress to increase the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion. Read more. US-China: Beijing has hit back at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after he described the country as a threat to the U.S., amid growing tensions. "Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation," the Chinese foreign ministry said. Read more. This is a preview of The 1600—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
Perth Now
01-06-2025
- General
- Perth Now
Celebrations as Rottnest church reaches golden milestone
A church on Rottnest Island created by a priest who thought he was heading to Garden Island and enlisted the US Navy's help in its construction is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The golden jubilee of Rottnest's Holy Trinity Catholic Church will be held on Sunday, June 15, with a Thanksgiving Mass at 10am led by Archdiocese of Perth Vicar General, the Very Rev. Monsignor Vincent Glynn. It will include the blessing of a newly commissioned golden memorial plaque, followed by a high tea in the church courtyard. Your local paper, whenever you want it. Holy Trinity Church stands as a tribute to its founder, the late Monsignor Sean 'Mons' O'Shea. He first arrived on the island in 1961 — mistakenly believing he was heading to Garden Island — and held Mass in makeshift venues such as the island's picture theatre. By 1975, his dream of a dedicated place of worship became reality, thanks to the support of then Archbishop Lancelot Goody, local board member Des Sullivan, and architect C.J. Gabriels. The church's structure, including a distinctive ochre facade, movable side doors and adjoining priest's quarters, remains almost entirely unchanged today. Perhaps most memorable is the church's carillon of bells, installed in 1985. Without a crane on the island, Monsignor O'Shea arranged for the US Navy's Pacific Fleet to airlift the bells by helicopter. Mons O'Shea because just as famous for his hospitality as his homilies, becoming known for welcoming guests with pikelets and fig jam. Even after suffering two strokes, he continued his ministry until his retirement in 2012. He died later that year and is buried in the church courtyard. Current chaplain Fr Joseph Rathnaraj encouraged Catholics as well as visitors and admirers of Rottnest Island to the jubilee celebrations. 'This is a time to honour Monsignor O'Shea's legacy and give thanks for 50 years of ministry, prayer, and peace shared here on the island,' Fr Joseph said. Ferry services will be available from Fremantle and Hillarys.
