Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Feb 8 19 tweets 9 min read
Follow along here for @VOANews's coverage of @POTUS' State of the Union address

And follow me here for coverage of national security issues as raised in #SOTU

voanews.com/t/60.html
"The story of America is a story of progress and resilience. Of always moving forward. Of never giving up" per @POTUS

"We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That's what we are doing again"
"2 years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken" per @POTUS
"Let’s also come together on #immigration & make it a bipartisan issue again" per @POTUS
"We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers, seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months" per @POTUS
"We've launched our new border plan last month. Unlawful migration from #Cuba, #Haiti, #Nicaragua & #Venezuela has come down 97%" per @POTUS

"But American border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts" on comprehensive immigration reform, he says
"Our strength is not just the example of our power, but the power of our example... remember the world's watching" per @POTUS
#Russia's invasion of #Ukraine "A murderous assault, evoking images of the death and destruction... a test for the ages. A test for America. A test for the world" per @POTUS
"Together, we did what America always does at our best" per @POTUS "We led"

"We united @NATO. We built a global coalition" he says "We stood against Putin’s aggression. We stood with the Ukrainian people"
To #Ukraine - "We're gonna stand with you as long as it takes" per @POTUS
On #China - "Before I came to office, the story was about how the People’s Republic of China was increasing its power and America was falling in the world" per @POTUS

"Not anymore"
"Today, we’re in the strongest position in decades to compete w/#China or anyone else in the world" per @POTUS
"Make no mistake about it: as we made clear last week, if #China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country" per @POTUS

re PRC's spy balloon
"In the past two years, democracies have become stronger, not weaker. Autocracies have grown weaker, not stronger" per @POTUS

"Name me a world leader who would change places w/Xi Jinping" he challenges "Name me one. Name me one"
"Those who bet against America are learning just how wrong they are" per @POTUS

"It’s never ever been good bet to bet against America. Never"
"For the last few years our democracy has been threatened, attacked, and put at risk" per @POTUS "Put to the test here, in this very room, on January 6th"
"We must all speak out. There is no place for political violence in America" per @POTUS

"We must give hate and extremism in any form no safe harbor"
"We have to see each other not as enemies, but as fellow Americans" per @POTUS

"We are a good people, the only nation in the world built on an idea"
"Because the soul of this nation is strong, bcs the backbone of this nation is strong, bcs the people of this nation are strong, the State of the Union is strong" per @POTUS

"I've never been more optimistic about our future...We just have to remember who we are"

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More from @jseldin

Feb 10
NEW: High altitude object shot down at 1:45pm EST Friday over northern #Alaska - @USNorthernCmd recovery operations getting under way now, per @PentagonPresSec BrigGen Patrick Ryder, with update details from @DeptofDefense

It was "about the size of a small car"
On the #China spy ballon shot down this past Saturday off the coast of #SouthCarolina - teams have "located a significant amount of debris" that will allow US to get a better sense of the balloon's capabilities, per @PentagonPresSec
High altitude object was shot down by a F-22 out of Joint Base Elmendorf in #Alaska using an AIM-9X sidewinder missile, per @PentagonPresSec
Read 9 tweets
Feb 10
BREAKING: US @DeptofDefense fighter aircraft shoots down object traveling at 40k feet over #Alaska - might have posed a threat to aircraft, per US National Security Council spox John Kirby, in response to q from @pwidakuswara
Pentagon was tracking the high-altitude object over the past 24 hours & concluded it "posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight" per Kirby

@POTUS ordered the object shot down "out of an abundance of caution" he said, over frozen US territorial waters
The shootdown of the high altitude object took place in the past hour, per Kirby
Read 13 tweets
Feb 10
NEW: US military launching relief mission to #Turkey

US has "positioned military capabilities, personnel & equipment to aid the government of #Türkiye [#Turkey] in its continued search & rescue efforts following the 7.8 earthquake" per @US_EUCOM
Per @US_EUCOM, a team from HQ arrived ay #Incirlik AB on Feb 9 "to determine how the US military can rapidly respond with critically needed capabilities & equipment to support assistance requested by the Turkish government through @USAID"
The George Herbert Walker Bush Carrier Strike Group also now in the eastern #Mediterranean on Feb. 7 "and stands ready to provide logistics, medical, and rotary airlift support" per @US_EUCOM
Read 5 tweets
Feb 10
Latest US assessment of #Russia|n losses in #Ukraine️

"Russia's conventional, especially ground capabilities, ground force capabilities, in #Europe have been significantly degraded" per @DeptofDefense Asst Sec. for Int'l Security Affairs Celeste Wallander tells #CNAS2023
#Russiaa's suffered "tens of thousands of casualties" in #Ukraine, per @DeptofDefense's Wallander

"It has probably lost half of its main battle tank stock in combat" to destruction or capture by Ukraine
"Something like 80 percent of #Russia's ground force capability is right now devoted to the fight in #Ukraine" per @DeptofDefense's Wallander
Read 11 tweets
Feb 9
NEW: #China's spy balloon "put on full display what we've long recognized - the PRC has become more repressive at home & more aggressive abroad" @DeputySecState Wendy Sherman tells lamwmakers

"It reinforced the need for us to double down on our strategy-invest, align, compete "
.@StateDept "modernizing our work...to mobilize our embassies and resources to take on this challenge" from #China, per @DeputySecState

Sherman says US working w/like-minded countries across the #IndoPacific & beyond, sharing intel showing threat posed by PRC
#Taiwan-"We remain committed to out long-standing One #China policy & oppose any unilateral changes to the cross strait status quo" per @DeputySecState
Read 14 tweets
Feb 9
NEW: #China surveillance balloons have flown over +40 countries & 5 continents - gathering " conducting signals intelligence collection operations" per @StateDept official

The equipment was "inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons"
US gathered intel on #China's spy balloons specs w/ high resolution imagery from U-2 flybys, per @StateDept official

Chinese balloon had "multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications"
#China's surveillance balloon "was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors" per @StateDept official
Read 5 tweets

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