March 6th, 2026: Iran War Already A Major Embarrassment For Xi Jinping & Lebanon’s IRGC Crackdown

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It's Friday, the 6th of March, welcome to the president's daily brief.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

And yes, thank you for noticing, I am wearing a rather snazzy cardigan and I am still on

the road.

Alright, let's get briefed.

The first up, a major embarrassment for Beijing, or at least not much of an advertisement,

as Chinese made air defense systems appear to have failed rather spectacularly during

the opening strikes of the war in Iran.

I'll have those details.

Later in the show, Israel continues its efforts against House Billah as Lebanon announces

members of the IRGC will now be arrested and deported.

That is a major shift.

Plus, the US and Middle Eastern nations are now turning to Ukraine to take advantage of

Kiev's harder-and-expertise, countering Iran's drones.

And then today's back of the brief, a major shake-up at the US Department of Homeland

Security as President Trump replaced a secretary of Christie Nome with Oklahoma Senator Mark

Wayne Mullin.

But first, today's PDB spotlight.

Today we're starting off by looking at one of the unexpected side effects of the war

in Iran.

That would be an embarrassment unfolding, not in Tehran, but in Beijing.

As a conflict, it's putting China's military technology under an uncomfortable spotlight.

For years, China has marketed its military hardware as a cheaper alternative to Western

systems, capable, modern, and battle-ready, so the brochures said.

One of the centerpieces of that sales pitch has been the HQ-9B Surface-to-Air Missile

System.

Beijing claims it's comparable to America's Patriot System or Russia's S-400.

It did battlefield, as a way of cutting through marketing brochures.

And right now, Iran is providing a very public test case.

As it turns out, when the US and Israel launched their coordinated strikes against Iran,

the country's air defense network, built in large part on Chinese and Russian equipment,

collapsed almost immediately.

Within the opening hours of the Operation Coalition forces had effectively achieved

air superiority.

Radars were blinded, command nodes were hit, and air defense batteries were either destroyed

or left unable to respond.

Hundreds, now more than 2,000, targets inside Iran have since been struck.

In fact, one of the most striking examples may have come at the very start of the campaign.

Reports suggest that the meeting of senior Iranian officials in Tehran, including Supreme

Leader Ali Hamani, was believed to be protected by newly deployed Chinese HQ-9B air defense

systems.

Many and leaders apparently felt confident enough in those defenses to gather, despite

the risk of attack.

But when the strike came, well, we know what happened.

And that raises an uncomfortable question for Beijing.

If China's systems are truly comparable to the Patriot as an example, why did they perform

so poorly?

Part of the answer lies in how modern warfare actually works.

Air defense today isn't just about firing missiles at incoming aircraft, it's about

networks, radars, sensors, communications links, and command systems all working together

in real time.

If you disrupt those connections, well, the entire defensive structure can start to unravel.

And that's exactly what the US and Israel appeared to have done.

Electronic warfare systems jammed radar signals, cyber and electronic attacks, degraded command

and control.

Anti-radiation missiles targeted air defense radars the moment they powered up.

And once those systems were blinded, strike aircraft and precision weapons were able

to move through the airspace with far less resistance.

Iran's problem was compounded by the structure of its defense network.

Instead of a single unified system, it relied on a patchwork of Russian-made S-300 batteries,

Chinese missile systems, and domestically developed platforms, many of which were reverse

engineered from older designs.

Seeing those systems operate together smoothly is difficult under the best of conditions.

Under the pressure of an actual attack, this seems become even more visible.

Now to be fair, any air defense system can be overwhelmed.

As we've seen happen with even American Patriot and Israel's layered system, including

the Iron Dome, volume, surprise, and electronic warfare can stress even the best defenses.

China has spent years presenting its own inventory of defense systems as a pure competitor

to Western technology, and that claim has now failed a number of real-world tests.

Iran isn't the first place these systems have struggled.

Chinese air defense equipment has faced criticism after conflicts in Pakistan and Venezuela,

where analysts say radar systems were vulnerable to jamming and disruption.

The China, and for Xi Jinping, that's more than a technical issue.

Beijing has been trying to position itself as a major global arms supplier, offering advanced

systems at lower cost to countries looking for alternatives to American or European equipment.

But arms sales rely heavily on reputation.

And reputation in the defense world is built on actual combat performance.

Right now, the war in Iran is raising serious questions about whether China's military

technology is as capable as advertised, or whether when faced with a sophisticated

modern strike campaign, some of those systems turn out to be cut-rate alternatives to the

more expensive but more effective Western alternatives.

Coming up next, Israel presses its campaign against Hezbollah, as Lebanon says IRGC members

will be arrested and deported, while the US and Middle Eastern partners turn to Ukraine

for expertise countering Iranian drones.

Keith, of course, has spent the past four years countering Iranian drones and drone technology

obtained and utilized by Moscow.

I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the PDB.

I want to bring you up to speed on the latest news coming out of Lebanon, as Israel's campaign

against Khazbullah is expanding.

Israeli military officials have ordered Lebanese residents near the Israel-Lebanon border

to evacuate after nearly a week of open hostilities.

Let me walk you through what the evacuation order looks like.

The IDF says the warning covers the area between the Israeli Lebanese frontier and the

Latani river, which is nearly 10% of Lebanese territory.

This comes as the IDF pushes into southern Lebanon to target Khazbullah strongholds.

Officials in Jerusalem also published a map of the evacuation zone, underscoring just

how wide the warning area actually is.

And that Latani river line matters.

It's long been central to ceasefire agreements meant to keep Khazbullah's forces away from

Israel's northern communities.

At the same time, Israeli forces appear to be widening their footprint along the frontier.

Israeli security officials say the IDF has moved into at least nine towns in southern

Lebanon after Israel's defense leadership authorized an advance on Khazbullah positions.

Israeli officials say the objective is as straightforward as can be.

Push Khazbullah farther from the border to thwart attacks on northern Israeli communities

and eliminate the Iran-backed group's weapon caches.

You may recall, since the 2024 tenuous ceasefire, Israel has maintained several military

positions inside Lebanese territory.

So this latest operation is unfolding on top of what was already a fragile standoff.

Now we're learning that the renewed fighting is quickly producing casualties.

Israeli officials say two soldiers were hit by anti-tank fire during the clashes in

one of the first reported Israeli military casualties since this escalation began.

The UN says nearly 60,000 Lebanese civilians have fled as Israel strikes Khazbullah in

southern Beirut and communities across southern Lebanon.

But while the battlefield pressure is intensifying, something else is shifting inside Lebanon's

political leadership and it's a fascinating development.

You may remember our coverage of Lebanon's cabinet, voting to outlaw Khazbullah military

activities in the country earlier this week in what was a major blow to the Iran-backed

group.

And the criticism from Beirut is getting more direct.

Lebanon's Prime Minister recently blamed Khazbullah for dragging the country into what

he called, quote, adventures with catastrophic consequences, all while serving Iran's interests

rather than Lebanon's own while I can't spot the lie in that statement.

And that backlash is now reaching the regime itself.

Lebanese officials say members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that's of course

the IRGC, operating inside the country, will be arrested and IRGC military activity will

be entirely banned.

Authorities in Beirut also indicated those IRGC members detained could be deported back

to the regime and that Iranians may no longer be granted visa-free entry into Lebanon.

Taken together, those moves point to something bigger.

Iran may be losing political ground and allies inside Lebanon in what was one of Tehran's

closest partners in the Arab world.

In other words, Iran's terror foothold, which was built for decades through Khazbullah,

is starting to look less secure.

Still, Khazbullah is showing no signs of backing down.

In his first televised address, since the latest hostilities began, Khazbullah later,

Naim Qasem accused Israel of launching what he called, quote, prepared aggression against

Lebanon.

Qasem vowed his terror group will keep fighting, and he demanded that Israel withdraw its forces

from southern Lebanon.

I want to shift now to an interesting development in the fight against Iran's drone arsenal,

as several Middle Eastern governments, along with Washington, turn to Ukraine for help countering

Tehran's Shahed drones.

To better understand why Ukraine suddenly finds itself at the center of this conversation,

you have to look at what the country has been dealing with in the past four years.

Over the course of four years since Putin's 2022 invasion, Ukrainian forces have faced

thousands of Iranian designs Shahed drones supplied by Tehran to Moscow.

By some counts, Ukraine is dealt with over 57,000 drones fired by Moscow.

As we've discussed, those drones have struck Ukrainian cities, power plants, and civilian

infrastructure, effectively turning Kiev into the world's most experienced testing ground

for figuring out how to stop them.

That hard-earned battlefield intelligence is exactly what the US and several countries

in the Middle East are now looking to tap into.

Ukrainian President Zelensky says he has spoken in recent days with leaders in the UAE,

Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, about possible cooperation to strengthen defenses

against the Iranian drones.

As an example of their hard-fought expertise, in one of Russia's largest aerial barrages

of the war, Ukrainian air defenses faced more than 800 drones in decoys, launched in a

single-night-time assault.

It was a staggering example of the kind of mass drone warfare that Iran helped introduce

to the battlefield through its partnership with Moscow.

Now those same Iranian design systems are the ones being utilized by the regime across

the Middle East.

Iran has launched Shahed drones toward countries that host American forces or maintain close

security ties with Washington.

The attacks are part of Iran's retaliation campaign, following joint US-Israeli strikes,

of course, and their forcing regional governments to confront the very same drone threat that

Ukraine confronts daily.

Zelensky says Ukraine is willing to provide that expertise, but only under one condition

that the assistance does not weaken Kiev's own defenses against Russia.

Zelensky said, quote, we help to defend from war those who help us, confirming that

Kiev has received a request from Washington for support encountering the drones.

When it comes to development, Ukraine has a range of counter-drone tactics and technologies

that are now drawing global attention.

One of the most notable developments is the creation of relatively inexpensive interceptor

drones designed to specifically hunt and destroy Shahed aircraft.

Ukrainian engineers and defense firms have developed systems that can cost as little as $1,000,

as dramatically cheaper than the missile-based air defense systems traditionally used to intercept

aerial threats.

I want to point out that the price point matters because of the nature of the Shahed drone

itself.

The Iranian-made delta-winged attack drone costs roughly $50,000 to produce, and is designed

to fly low and slow, making them difficult for conventional radar systems to detect

an intercept.

Those characteristics are precisely what makes them such a challenge for American and Allied

forces, now confronting those drones in the Middle East.

Zelensky says Ukrainian experts are already preparing to deploy to the region.

He's instructed Ukraine's foreign ministry, defense ministry and intelligence agencies

and National Security Council to present options for assisting partner nations while ensuring

defense's back home remain intact.

Coming up next in the back of the brief, Kristi Nome is out at the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security and will likely be replaced by Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullin.

Or on that, when we come back.

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In today's back of the brief, there's a major shake-up unfolding at the U.S. Department

of Homeland Security, D.A.J.S. President Trump announced Thursday that he's removing

Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security and nominating Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne

Mullen to take over the job, marking the first cabinet to level reshuffle of his second term.

Trump framed the move as a reassignment rather than a dismissal, okay?

In a statement, he praised Noem's work at the department, but said she would instead

take on a new role, as special envoy for the, quote, shield of the Americas, huh?

A new initiative the administration says will focus on coordinating security efforts across

the Western Hemisphere.

It's a position that, until now, hasn't existed.

But the change follows a turbulent week for Noem on Capitol Hill.

According to reporting from Fox News, the president was furious with Noem's performance

during a contentious congressional hearing earlier this week, where she faced sharp criticism

from lawmakers over DHS spending, border enforcement strategy, and the department's handling

of migrant processing operations.

Several exchanges during the hearing went viral and Fox reports that Trump privately complained

about the spectacle.

The president was said to be particularly upset when she suggested he personally approved

a taxpayer-funded, oh, get this, $200 million advertising campaign for DHS that was subcontracted

to a firm connected with Noem's inner circle.

Oddly known was the star of the ads at $200 million advertising campaign.

Really, a White House official later told Fox News the president had no knowledge of

the ad contract, despite Noem's assertions during the hearing.

One source told Fox News, quote, it was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership

failures from Minnesota to the ad campaign to the allegations of an affair.

End quote.

That would be the reported affair with Corey Lewandowski.

Now Trump is turning to a political ally with a very different profile.

Senator Mark Wayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a former House member, long time Trump supporter

and the only Native American currently serving in the Senate, well, if you don't count

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Mullin spent tapped to lead the department.

In announcing the nomination on Truth Social, Trump called Mullin a MAGA warrior who quote,

knows the wisdom and courage required to advance our America first agenda.

The president also highlighted a rather unique credential for a cabinet nominee, noting

Mullin's career as a quote, former undefeated professional MMA fighter.

End quote.

Hmm, there you go.

Mullin himself appeared a bit caught off guard by the announcement.

After being asked if he was heading to the White House on Thursday to meet with Trump,

he said quote, I think I need to talk to my wife first.

End quote.

I'm glad that he was excited to get started in the role.

If confirmed, Mullin would take over one of the most sprawling agencies in the federal

government, overseeing everything from immigration enforcement and border security to disaster

response and cyber security.

But that transition won't happen immediately.

Mullin will first need to be confirmed by the Senate.

That's a process that could take several weeks.

In the meantime, the department is expected to be led on an acting basis by Deputy Secretary

Edgar, the former mayor of Los Alamedos, California, who's been serving as known second

in command.

The nomination also raises a separate political question back on Capitol Hill.

If Mullin is confirmed, he'll have to resign as Senate seat, triggering a replacement

process in Oklahoma.

And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Friday, the 6th of March.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com.

And now, lest we forget, today is Friday.

And as 9 out of 10 podcast lovers will tell you, Fridays always bring a new episode of

our much anticipated extended weekend show, the pdb situation report.

You can catch it tonight at 10 p.m. on the first TV and as always on our YouTube channel

at President's Daily Brief, as well as on podcast platforms wherever you get your podcast

stuff.

According to the International Association of Weekend Podcasts shows, the pdb situation

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I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the pdb afternoon bulletin.

Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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