Early Bird Brief: May 13, 2024

Welcome to the Early Bird Brief's LinkedIn Edition, a tightly edited round-up of today's most important military and defense stories. To get the full EBB, with dozens of stories, subscribe here.

Today's Top 5:

Pentagon announces $400 million in Ukraine arms transfers

(Defense News) The Pentagon on Friday announced a $400 million tranche of weapons for Ukraine, its second package since Congress passed a foreign aid bill last month with additional Defense Department funding to support Kyiv. Read More

Pentagon orders all US combat troops to withdraw from Niger

(Politico) The timeline could still shift and congressional negotiations are ongoing. Read More

Blinken delivers some of the strongest US public criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza

(The Associated Press) Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday delivered some of the Biden administration’s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians” but failed to neutralize Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency. Blinken also echoed, for the first time publicly by a U.S. official, the findings of a new Biden administration report to Congress on Friday that said Israel’s use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law. The report also said wartime conditions prevented American officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes. Read More

Marine shielded his student from grenade with his body — and survived

(Marine Corps Times) When then-Sgt. Brett Meil saw one of his students inadvertently activate a grenade during Marine infantry training in June 2023, he yelled at him to toss the grenade into the target area. Read More

On a DC sidewalk, a race to save a Marine general’s life

(Washington Post) Gen. Eric M. Smith collapsed in cardiac arrest while out for a run. This is the remarkable, previously untold story of how he survived. Read More

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