Month: September 2018

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Quick Analysis

9/11/01: Not Forgotten

New York Analysis of Policy and Government editor-in-chief Frank Vernuccio was both in NYC on 9/11/01 & served, for years afterwards, as head of the Manhattan Workers’ Compensation Board that dealt with the attacks’ aftereffects. He presents these thoughts on that event. 

Seventeen years ago this month, the United States was subjected to the most devastating attack on its civilian population since the war of 1812.

There can be no question of who was responsible for the attack, or why. Islamic extremists successfully attempted to demonstrate to the world their ability to kill and destroy. They sought to highlight what they believed to be the inherent weakness and lack of resolve of the western world to defend itself. They looked confidently and with inappropriate pride back at their history, how their forbears successfully occupied and subjugated parts of Europe.

That’s a lesson, by the way, that’s not being taught.  We repeatedly hear the nonsensical propaganda that the current hatred borne by the extremists is based on a response to the Crusades. The widespread popularity of that view is a symptom of the growing lack of historical knowledge in America.  The crusades began in 1095 A.D..  Muslims invaded Europe in 711. A.D.  That wasn’t, of course, the first invasion of Europe from areas that eventually became Muslim. Persia, present day Iran, attacked Greece in the Fifth Century B.C.  In 632 A.D., Caliph Abu Bakr initiated over 1,400 years of ongoing conquests, subjugating areas of the world, including Europe, that had been home to Jews, Coptics, Christians and others.

Some have attempted to portray Americans as being anti-Muslim. Barack Obama, early in his administration, engaged in an “apology tour” throughout the Mideast. Apparently, he forgot the fact that Americans sided with Egypt against its own World War Two allies when France and Britain sought to gain control of the Suez Canal in the 1950’s.  In the 1980’s, President Reagan sided with the people of Afghanistan against Soviet invaders.  In the 1990’s, the U.S. rescued Muslims who were being attacked in Bosnia.  Otherwise, the U.S. did little more than make the region wealthy as it bought vast amounts of oil. Oddly enough, the first reaction of many, even in New York, was to worry about reprisals against Muslims.  Of course, this never occurred (I assume some can point to isolated incidents) and, of course, several years later, Americans elected a man who had some familial ties to Islam. So much for the charges of being a biased nation.
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Obama turned his uninformed opinion into policy.  He prematurely withdrew American troops from Iraq, allowing ISIS to rise to power, and Iran to gain extraordinary influence. He, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, failed to use force to save Americans, including Ambassador Stevens, from an Islamic extremist mob in Benghazi, then blatantly lied about the cause of the attack, blaming an American video the perpetrators knew nothing about but which the then-President called an incitement to attack.  He told the American public that the fight to roll back ISIS’s vast conquered territory would be a “generational” campaign; his successor accomplished that goal in little over a year.

I was in New York the day of the attack, and shortly after was as close to the World Trade Tower site as was allowed. The air smelled sharply of burnt flesh and ash. A few months later, as the head of the local Workers’ Compensation Board, I witnessed firsthand ,for years after, the tragic aftereffects, the lives and families destroyed. Many policemen, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and others who survived the initial attack contracted devastating medical disorders that have ruined their lives.

But the image that remains the most profound to me was that captured in a photograph, of firemen hoisting an American flag in the midst of the destruction.  Most anticipated that the heroic scene, a 21st Century version of the famous Iwo Jima event, would be the centerpiece of what eventually became the 9/11 Memorial.  Instead, it has all but been forgotten.  One assumes that the same mentality that, ignoring all of history, blames the West for the extremist’s hatred, felt the portrayal was too jingoistic.

Mr. Vernuccio’s article originally was published in the Washington Times.

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Pushing a Failed Philosophy

Throughout its existence, socialism has done little more than worsen poverty, create mass murder, and abolish freedom. The experiment has been tried—and failed– throughout the world, in every type of nation, for over a century. Even the president of the latest country destroyed by socialism, Venezuela, has admitted the reality that can no longer be hidden: his nation’s economy, despite the enormous advantage of vast deposits of oil, has collapsed.

The philosophy of the left has powerful and influential advocates within America in politics, the arts, the media, education, and especially among a certain class of billionaires who disdain the masses and seek to establish a top-down system, of course led by them. But how to sell an idea that produced only misery for over a century?  It can’t be done in open debate. It can’t be done through the normal discourse of public discussion. There are no tales of success to entice voters with.

And so, a very different course of action is followed. A relentless overpoliticization of the culture is undertaken, in which every flaw, every shortcoming, every lack of perfection is headlined and dwelled upon incessantly. Imagine a documentary about Babe Ruth that contains only descriptions of the times he struck out.  That is the intellectually dishonest tactic that Progressives adhere to.

Needless to say, the mass murders committed in the Soviet Union, China, and Cambodia, and by the National Socialist of Germany are largely ignored, as are comparisons between North and South Korea, or in the old East and West Europe. A recent survey by The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany  noted that two thirds of the millennials polled didn’t know about the Auschwitz concentration camp; many don’t even know that the full name of the Nazis was the National Socialist Party.   The stunning human rights violations committed by almost all socialist regimes are overlooked.

While, in the normal course, that strategy would appear paper thin, it succeeds when contrary and realistic evidence is wholly excluded. Moderate and conservative educators, speakers, and texts are diligently excluded from schools.  Courses in history and civics are essentially replaced by indoctrination and propaganda that excludes honest facts. The Communist Manifesto is a frequently prescribed text in university economics classes, and the “Peoples History of the United States” written by communist activist Howard Zinn is widely used in history courses. Those dissenting from these affronts are labelled with every pejorative available. Major newspapers and televised news shows warp the truth. Key social media sites and search engines censor, obscure or otherwise diminish non-leftist perspectives.

Whenever agonizing emotions happen they are usually buried as well as sickened, as well as have misery, deadness, generic levitra online as well as shivering as part of your midsection, fists, guitar neck, as well as mouth, avoid in addition to summon your expert right. Kenpo robertrobb.com sample viagra pills was actually introduced by Prof. This engorgement occurs when the blood vessels and pumps in more blood to the reproductive organs. viagra tablets 100mg try content now It contains active Kamagra citrate that belongs to buy levitra without rx the family of PDE-5 vasodilators that provide the cure of ED in men besides of various other physical factors. President Obama put into action leftist policies on a significant scale.  They did not produce beneficial results, as the economy stagnated, race relations deteriorated, seniors received the smallest social security cost of living increases in living memory, jobs fled overseas, and the middle class became an endangered species. Voters responded by tossing out left-leaning politicians throughout federal and state elections.

Faced with disaster at the ballot box, Progressives reacted with violence and mayhem.  When not rioting or inciting disharmony throughout the population, they sought to abuse the law to attack moderate and conservative lawmakers, think tanks, and individuals.  Obama used the IRS to attack the Tea Party. His attorney general threatened to criminally prosecute those that disagreed with him on climate change.

When the left lost the White House and access to the instruments of the federal government to harass opponents, they resorted to other tactics, some of which are only in the early stages but which will produce significant and worrisome results in the near future. Billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros have provided extraordinary donations to progressive candidates for what should be not particularly partisan positions such as attorney general.  The reason is clear. Just as the Obama Administration unlawfully used the federal government to beat down opponents, states attorneys general could—some already have– relentlessly entangle moderate and conservative voices in endless rounds of lawsuits.  Faced with the expense and time-consuming challenge of responding, those non-progressive institutions and individuals lose even when they eventually beat the nonsense lawsuits in court.

The inappropriate use of the machinery of government to intimidate and defeat alternative voices, and attempts to prevent dissemination of differing views, are tactics universally employed in left-wing regimes. The well-practiced playbook is now being employed within America.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Foreign Policy Update

NEW DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AIRCRAFT AVAILABILITY REPORT

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on September 10 released a new audit report confirming that the Air Force and Navy failed to meet aircraft availability goals between 2011 and 2015, with worsening numbers over time for almost 50% of the assessed models.

According to the GAO report: “The Air Force and Navy share a variety of sustainment challenges, including the age of their aircraft as well as maintenance and supply support issues. These challenges have led to half of the aircraft in our review experiencing decreasing availability [between 2011 and 2016] and to the aircraft in general not being able to meet aircraft availability goals.”

The report covered the F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18A Hornets, F/A 18E/F Super Hornets, F-22 Raptors and the AV-8B Harrier II’s. It also examined numbers for the B-52 Stratoforce bomber, and a number of early warning, electronic surveillance, cargo, and transport planes.

 

Only one of the aircraft models audited achieved its availability goal. And, five failed to achieve their goal in all five years covered in the report. The Defense Department concurred with report which stated: “The Air Force and Navy are operating many of their fixed-wing aircraft well beyond their original designed service lives and therefore are confronted with sustainment challenges.” This follows eight years in which the Obama Administration pushed for decreases in the Defense budget.

 

RUSSIAN-CHINESE SPACE RELATIONS

It appears the Russian space corporation Roscosmos is prepared to supply rocket engines to China in yet another sign of the strengthening, strategic relationship between the two countries.

The move goes beyond a single engine sale. Space Daily reports that Hu Bin, a counselor in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while attending a UN Conference on Space and Law Policy said he believes it is a good idea that “can be put into the framework of cooperation on space exploration.”

Russia and China will continue to work together for the foreseeable future to thwart efforts by the west to limit their influence throughout the world as they have no other alternative partners or other viable policy options. However, while China and Russia consistently make public relations statements affirming their close and friendly relationship, under the surface there remains a strong distrust and resentment of each other that historically dates back the Unequal Treaties period in the mid-1800’s. That distrust was further cemented when Moscow reneged on a promise to give China the bomb in the late 1950’s, in a move seen in Beijing as a great betrayal among communist brothers.

The advanced formula of sildenafil citrate 100mg along with Dapoxetine 60mg, provide it’s cost of viagra canada users with long lasting firm erections leading to much more improved and enjoyable sexual activity. However, it is useful to know what types of pregnancy pains you viagra vs cialis could encounter during your nine months of pregnancy. This herbal supplement helps purchase levitra http://robertrobb.com/sky-harbor-fees-are-really-a-liberal-tax/ to restore lost vitality and vigor. Now of course, we don’t cialis generic purchase mean to say that it’s THE popular ED medication in America. Celebration of anniversaries of major political events plays a significant role in communist societies. This November 2nd marks the 150th anniversary of the unratified Treaty of Aigun in which Russia seized 158,000 square miles of Chinese territory. Two years later, with the Convention of Peking in place, Russia seized an additional 130,000 plus square miles which included the Port of Vladivostok. This gave Russia its long-desired young-round, access to the Pacific Ocean.

To the West this is a bygone era; to China this is current news. The underlying message United States policy makers need to recognize, is that out of necessity these two communist giants are collaborating to stop American influence, but as history shows it is not a bond of deep trust. The opportunity remains for Washington to bring China into the fold of responsible world powers if The US plays its China card correctly in the coming years.

CHINA

 

State Department spokesperson  Heather Nauert announced that the United States is deeply troubled by China’s worsening treatment and crackdown of the Muslim Uighur minority in western China, Kazakhs, and other Muslim groups. Earlier this year the State Department invited a group of Uighur journalists, among others, to Washington to press for human rights at the Religious Freedom Ministerial conference.

 

“There are credible reports out there that many, many thousands have been detained in detention centers since April 2017, and the numbers are fairly significant from what we can tell so far. Some of those disproportionate controls on ethnic minorities – expressions of their cultural and also their religious entities – have the potential also to incite radicalization and the recruitment of violence,” she said.

 

China has long feared “luan,” or chaos in its domestic politics. The leadership in Beijing has a history of intolerance of any political dissent or protests over human rights that could be organized and turned against the government or Communist Party. China’s leaders remain wary of minority groups, such as the Uighurs, who they say could increase pressure on Beijing to relax regulations on religious expression and practices and undermine stability within the country.

 

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media, which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

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Russia Moves to Dominate Arctic, Part 2

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government concludes its report on Russian domination of the Arctic.

According to Pavel Devyatkin, writing for The Arctic Institute  “Russia has increased Arctic military drills, opened or reopened military bases, constructed icebreakers, and established advanced radar stations to enhance its control of the region…US Secretary of Defense James Mattis declared that Russia is taking ‘aggressive steps’ to increase its presence in the Arctic…the Basics of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Region declared that all activities in the Arctic should be tied to the interests of ‘defense and security to the maximum degree.’ “In February 2013, Russia’s official Arctic strategy was expanded when President Putin approved the Development Strategy of the Russian Arctic and the Provision of National Security for the Period Until 2020… [it notes that] National security in the Arctic requires an advanced naval, air force and army presence in the Arctic. Further aims include developing the Russian icebreaker fleet, modernizing the air service and airport network, and establishing modern information and telecommunication infrastructure. In August 2007, Russia resumed strategic bomber and Northern Fleet patrols in its Arctic waters for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Russia has also invested significantly in its naval capacity in the Arctic. The Northern Fleet is…the most powerful of the four Russian fleets with the greatest number of icebreakers and submarines. The Northern Fleet’s sea-based nuclear deterrence capability makes it a fundamental part of Russia’s military. Russia has expanded naval patrols near Norwegian and Danish territories, increased the operational radius of the Fleet’s submarines, and commenced below-ice training for submarines.

“The Ministry of Defense has announced that they aim to put more than 100 military facilities into operation in 2017. Since 2015, Russia has constructed six new bases that have included new airfields, ports and army bases.16) These actions show that Russian security policy in the Arctic is more than simply upgrading existing military infrastructure…In addition, traditional armed forces are becoming involved in the Arctic to learn military tactics for Arctic warfare. Although Russia’s military activities in the Arctic are mostly aerial and naval, there are garrisons of Russian ground troops and security services throughout the Russian Arctic.”

Beyond icebreakers and bases, 2018 has been an active year for Russia’s militarization of the Arctic. A Telegraph report filed by Alec Luhn in Moscow noted that the nation’s annual Victory Day Parade featured a new “fighting snowmobile” equipped with a machine gun. “With a speed of 40 miles per hour and a range of 300 miles, the snowmobile keeps its two-man crew warm in an enclosed cabin and… [has] a 7.62mm PKP machine gun mounted on the back.

Apart from the normal health issues a man also levitra 10 mg on sale at drugshop tends to have some other unfavorable susceptibilities. The training is given by a certified and experienced driver instructor so that you learn in a faster viagra effects women and simpler way. Differentiate between a sham and real product: Some companies offer fake sildenafil 50mg tablets enhancement products to derive money from you. The jungle conditions add to the excavation difficulties. cheap viagra price Far more worrisome, reports Newsweek’s Damien Sharkov, for the first time since the USSR’s collapse, Russia sent military jets over the North Pole towards North America.

Deemer notes that “At present, NATO and the United States lack a well-developed strategy to address and counter Russian aggression in the Arctic. … NATO and the United States should instead pursue a renewed strategy of containment, constructing military installations in two specific regions: northern Norway and northwestern Alaska. Expanding on a January 2017 reshuffling of troops that led to 300 U.S. Marines being stationed at Vaernes Air Base, NATO should construct bases in the Norwegian states of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark. At the same time, military installations in the Northwest Arctic, North Slope, and Kotzebue Sound would provide a NATO presence at the mouth of the Northern Sea Route. An already-established Canadian and Danish military presence on the opposite side of the Arctic and in Greenland would complete this strategy of containment. Russia would find itself with NATO forces to the west in Norway, the east in Alaska, and to the north across the Arctic. Any Russian territorial claims could be legitimately disputed and Russia would largely be limited to resources found on the Russian mainland, maintaining the global power equilibrium and advancing U.S. interests abroad…[However] any diversion of NATO troops to pursue such a strategy would inevitably leave NATO less formidable elsewhere, namely in Western Europe.”

Photo: U.S. Navy

The submarine USS Connecticut and fast-attack submarine USS Hartford breakthrough the ice in support of Ice Exercise 2018 near Ice Camp Skate in the Arctic Circle

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Russia Moves to Dominate Arctic

A major power has taken extraordinary military steps to dominate a strategic region, but there has been barely any significant discussion of the fact in the media.

Russia has moved unprecedented amounts of armed forces into the Arctic region.  It has near total military supremacy on the top of the planet, and it is continuing to add to its domination. Russian sources quoted the Kremlin’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu boasting that during the spring, Russia’s Northern Fleet accepted the Ilya Muromets icebreaker,  the Elbrus supply ship, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Ivan Gren landing ship. State tests of the Academician Pashin fuel tanker are currently under way, all of which add to Moscow’s growing supremacy of the Arctic.

Shoigu stated that in addition “…before the end of the year the North Fleet would receive five combat ships, five supply ships, 15 aircraft and 62 radar stations and missile-radar complexes. As a result, 56.7 percent of all of the North Fleet’s weapons and equipment will be the most modern models.” RT added that “Russia has continued construction of military bases in Arctic regions and conducted exercises in extreme conditions to boost the combat readiness of military personnel.”

Jonathon Deemer, in a Lint Center analysis notes that “Since Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian Presidency, the Russian Federation has pursued an aggressive policy of militarization of the Arctic. Not only is Russia revamping Soviet-era bases near the Finnish border and in northern Siberia, it is also constructing new bases off the Russian mainland extending to Aleksandra Island (the northernmost island of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago) and Sredny Ostrov.”

In May, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller noted that “NATO must be more active in the area… there are real military challenges developing to which the NATO alliance has not paid sufficient attention for many, many years and we need to up our game…” The U.S. has only two icebreakers committed to the Arctic, while Russia has forty. The U.S. Naval Institute quotes Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zuknft’s statement in support of new icebreakers:“If you do not have presence to exert sovereignty, you’re a paper lion.”

As the New York Analysis of Policy and Government has noted, Russia is engaging in new and extremely worrisome activities in the Arctic. According to The NATO Association’s Aleksi Korpela “…the erection of military bases and deployment of forces rings ominous to contiguous states and those with Arctic possessions or interests. This issue has become especially controversial in the last few years, as Russia has expanded its military infrastructure following the creation of a new strategic district: The Arctic Joint Strategic Command (OSK) …”
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Mark Galeotti has written in the Moscow Times that “Russia is using extortion in the Arctic…  Russia’s icebreaker fleet is a particular ‘ice-power’ asset: It is the world’s largest and includes the massive nuclear-powered vessel 50 Years of Victory… This is all very impressive, but it begs the question of just what these forces are meant to do. Bombers cannot dig for oil, infantry cannot collect taxes from passing Chinese container ships. But they can board and occupy oil rigs, seize cargo ships and threaten any forces that seek to challenge Moscow’s right to do this. After all, it may be impossible to ‘occupy’ the Arctic, but Russia is developing assets that could deny it to anyone else.”

In 2015, the military newspaper  Stars and Stripes reported that a new Russian Arctic command was under development, including four new Arctic brigades, 50 airfields by 2020, increased long-range air patrols by Russian bombers and a total of 40 conventional and nuclear icebreakers, with 11 more planned. That same year, the BBC  reported that Russia was developing a new naval infrastructure in the region. In addition to a new air defense base on Sredniy Island, five island bases were being built by 1,500 workers – at Alexandra Land, Rogachevo, Cape Schmidt, Wrangel and Kotelny. During that year’s summer months, according to Defense News, Russia launched military exercises in the region that included over 1,000 soldiers, 14 aircraft and 34 special military units.

Moscow’s military aircraft have flown provocatively close to Arctic-area territories belonging to NATO members. The Kremlin’s Arctic military buildup occurred even as the United States reduced its military spending under the Obama Administration.

The Report Concludes Tomorrow

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

Russia has 42 icebreakers, the U.S., only 1 in the region.

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Substituting Censorship and Lies for Debate

Eight years of Progressive control of both the White House and the national agenda resulted in economic stagnation, a sharply reduced defense environment, a doubling of debt, and deteriorated race relations.  Despite those poor results, hard-core leftists have managed to increase their influence.

Campaigning on the issues is not a winning tactic for an increasingly Progressive-dominated party. Instead, they and their supporters have, with disturbing frequency, adopted a strategy that combines suppression of alternative ideas, along with personal and inaccurate attacks on both rival politicians and anyone else who opposes their perspectives. Character assassination targets extend far beyond President Trump.

Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and Red Sox baseball star J.D. Martinez provide telling examples.  DeSantis, emphasizing the importance of the issues in his state, urged voters not to “monkey it up.”  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the similar phrase “monkey around” is defined as “to do things that are not useful or serious: to waste time.”

But DeSantis’s opponents decided that the well-known and oft-use phrase was a racial slur. (His opponent is black.) It was a great way to avoid a discussion of the reality that the radical views expressed by hard-left candidate Andrew Gillum can be readily compared to those which have recently wrecked Venezuela and previously destroyed other nations both politically and economically, and have repeatedly been demonstrated to be a disaster wherever implemented.

An even more startling falsehood was seen in the thoroughly false characterization of the remarks about gun control uttered by Red Sox player J.D. Martinez, an advocate of Second Amendment rights.

Martinez noted, correctly, that the nightmare regime of Adolf Hitler moved to disarm the German population to eliminate the potential of resistance to his unprecedented assault on human rights. The Second Amendment is a target of the Left, but rather than engage in an honest dialogue, they chose to falsely portray Martinez as quoting Hitler in an admiring manner.

Beyond character assassination, suppression of alternative views has become a key tactic.

The moves by Facebook and Google to censor out non-leftist perspectives has increasingly enraged critics, including President Trump.  Google has recently demonstrated its intense progressive leanings by refusing to work with the U.S. Government on defense-related issues, while at the same time cooperating with the Beijing regime in its suppression of dissident views.
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Even some Facebook staff have rebelled against this. According to a Daily Mail report Facebook engineer Brian Amerige has described the company’s “political intolerance” and the threats against employees who don’t go along with leftist ideology.

Robert Epstein, writing in U.S. News, states that “Google, Inc., isn’t just the world’s biggest purveyor of information; it is also the world’s biggest censor.  The company maintains at least nine different blacklists that impact our lives, generally without input or authority from any outside advisory group, industry association or government agency. Google is not the only company suppressing content on the internet. Reddit has frequently been accused of banning postings on specific topics, and a recent report suggests that Facebook has been deleting conservative news stories from its newsfeed, a practice that might have a significant effect on public opinion – even on voting. Google, though, is currently the biggest bully on the block.”

A study by PJ media’s Paula Bolyard found that, when searching the term “Trump” on Google, “Not a single right-leaning site appeared on the first page of search results. But it got much, much worse when I analyzed the first 100 items that Google returned in a search for news on ‘Trump.’ CNN, by a wide margin, appeared most frequently, with nearly twice as many results returned as the second-place finisher, The Washington Post. Other left-leaning outlets also fared well, including NBC, CNBC, The Atlantic, and Politico.”

Opportunities for debate on substantive issues have been intentionally sabotaged by Progressives. A National Review article noted that “global-warming public intellectuals have warned the media that if they allow skeptics to have a voice in stories, they will boycott giving comment…no one is obliged to provide them with a platform, much less to appear alongside them to give the misleading impression that there is something substantive to debate.”  This, of course, is comparatively mild compared to the move by Loretta Lynch, while serving as U.S. Attorney General, to refer to the FBI for criminal prosecution consideration those who disagreed with Barack Obama’s views on climate change.

The direction is turning into even more worrisome areas. Despite the overwhelmingly favorable image of leftist candidates portrayed by the media, the mere threat of objective reporting is considered unacceptable by Progressives. New York City’s Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the “Democrat-Socialist” candidate for Congress, moved to ban reporters from her townhall meetings.

The Miami Herald reports that a Democrat candidate for State Senate, Daphne Campbell, “ a politician beset by scandals over the years,” called 911 when a reporter sought to question her. According to the Herald, “It wasn’t the first time Campbell called the cops on a reporter. In May, she also called police on the publisher of RISE NEWS outside a Miami Shores Village Council meeting.”

Illustration: Pixabay

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A Greater Threat than 9/11

As Americans pause today in remembrance of the 9/11/01 attacks, a far greater threat is rapidly maturing.

Russia and China have extensively ramped up their military development in recent years. Moscow now has, for the first time, a lead in strategic nuclear weaponry. Beijing’s navy can now challenge Washington’s. Both have closed the gap in technology. The two superpowers have united in their opposition to America, sharing weapons, strategies and training exercises.

As this article goes to print, Russia is conducting its largest training exercise, entitled “Vostok,” since the 1980’s.  It even exceeds that event in size and scope. As notable as the size of the endeavor is the deep cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. (Mongolia is also participating, and disturbingly, NATO member Turkey considered participating as well.) According to Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, the vast maneuvers will include 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, 80 warships and 1,000 planes. Included will be Iskander nuclear missiles, which have been deployed in a manner that violates prior arms treaties, the latest and most advanced tanks and fighter jets.

In addition, Russian military sources note that 0ver 80 fuel and ammo dumps, and 100 meal stations.  General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov said that the Vostok 2018 will also involve units of federal executive authorities, industry enterprises, Rosrezerv factories, and transport and other agencies.

Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer termed the games a “preparation for a future world war. The army’s General Staff believes this will take place after 2020 in the form of either a global war or a series of conflicts with magnitude…The enemy is the United States and its allies.”

A National Interest look points out that “…while many commentators have focused on the massive scale of Vostok 2018…arguably a more notable aspect is the invitation of a contingent of 3,200 Chinese troops. If Vostok isn’t meant to defend against China, Moscow and Beijing alike will have everyone know it is because of the ‘very aggressive and unfriendly’ international environment they blame upon the United States.
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According to South China Morning Post “A contingent from China’s People’s Liberation Army is expected to take part in the main display at the Tsugou training ground in the Eastern Military District, showing some of the results of Beijing’s unprecedented military overhaul of the past few years. China’s Ministry of National Defence announced it was sending nearly 3,200 troops, 900 weapons, and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the exercise – amplifying the West’s concerns over the two countries’ closer military cooperation.”

A Global Security analysis  queries whether there is an internal reason for the maneuvers, in addition to threatening the West.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “The fate of more than 1,000 people who were detained during nationwide antigovernment protests was still unclear on Monday, a day after Russians went to the polls in regional elections. According to OVD-Info, a group that monitors police detentions, some 1,018 were detained across 19 cities on Sunday, with the majority being held in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. A total of 452 people were detained there, while in Moscow, 43 people were held after authorities had denied an application to hold a rally, the group said. Its website crashed for a time on Monday. Reports in the local press and social media described police using clubs against the demonstrators, which included senior citizens and children.”

Russia’s civilian cost-cutting activities are significant in light of the extensive additional resources Putin has devoted to the military. They raise the question of why, not facing any actual threat on its borders from former enemy-turned-ally China, a Europe that has underfunded its military for decades, and a United States that underwent significant weakening of its armed forces under the Obama presidency, Putin feels it necessary to devote scarce resources to his armed forces, unless he intends to use them either on a battlefield or as a threat.

Photo: Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov (Russian Ministry of Defence photo.}

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Journalism’s Disgrace

The move coordinated by the Boston Globe in which up to 350 newspapers across the nation published anti-Trump editorials on August 16 is a cause for grave concern.

The action was reportedly in response to the President’s statements condemning the media for their bias.  The White House criticism was essentially just that.  There was no threat of censorship, and no move to attack individual reporters or organizations.

That is in direct contrast to the actions of the Obama White House. Patrick Maines, writing in The Hill during the prior Administration noted: “No administration in memory has more thoroughly undermined freedom of speech and of the press than that of President Obama. From the White House itself, as well as the independent and executive branch agencies, have come a steady stream of policies, initiatives, and pronunciamentos that have threatened or compromised both of these constitutional rights.”

Examples are numerous. The transformation of the IRS into a partisan attack dog against the Tea Party—for which no one has seen the inside of a jail cell– may be the most prominent, but it is just one of many. Consider also Loretta Lynch’s “referral to the FBI” of the concept of criminally prosecuting those who simply disagreed with Obama on climate change.

Media voices not subservient to the Obama White House had their hands full contending with the Federal Communications Commission’s moves to control the internet, and its attempt to place federal monitors in newsrooms across the nation. As Real Clear Politics reported, “Obama and his senior staff singled out for condemnation Fox News, the lone television network that did not serve up the fawning coverage the president and his team had come to expect.”

Despite all of those affronts to the First Amendment, the media was comparatively silent.

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The existence of an uncontrolled and objective press is a vital, indeed indispensable, element of a free nation. Tyrants instinctively understand this, and take every step to control media within, and if possible beyond, their borders.

It is, therefore, a direct threat to freedom when the press unabashedly allies itself with one political party or philosophy, and tailors its reporting to suit their preferences, rather than engage in objective reporting. That is happening in the U.S. today. This exercise has become more blatant and substantial, and there are few signs of it receding. That reality is made even more worrisome when, in addition to replacing the truth with partisanship, press leaders move to censor opposing views.

The Boston Globe’s actions cannot be viewed in isolation. This was not a “one-off” effort. Combined with the direct acts of censorship on the part of many social media sites, and, even more troublesome, the provision of numerous biased search results by a major internet search engine before providing objective responses, it furthers the growing metamorphosis of media from journalism into leftist advocacy.

This coordinated effort on behalf of the left-wing establishment is a direct threat to the essential role of the free press, and should be universally condemned.

Photo: Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who considered criminally prosecuting those who disagreed with Barack Obama. (Wikipedia Commons)

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Foreign Policy Update

India

The United States has inked two new agreements with Indi this week. Secretary of State Pompeo met with Indian Minister of External Affairs Swaraj and Minister of Defense Sitharaman for the first-ever U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. Secretary of Defense Mattis and Secretary Pompeo also met with Prime Minister Modi to discuss how to advance the US-Indian relationship. Of particular significance, was the discussion surrounding how the US and India can ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The trip to India included meetings to examine ways the two countries can elevate security cooperation.

The US and India agreed to “enhance our military cooperation with India” as a major defense partner and the two countries signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) which will boost our defense collaboration and coordination and the leaders agreed, according to Secretary Pompeo, “on the scope and scale of military cooperation with India as our major defense partner – a unique status that the United States has granted to India.”

In addition to the Agreements talks included pressing global issues such as Afghanistan and North Korea, free trade and investment, and counterterrorism operations. This follows the US Secretary of Commerce recent announcement of  Strategic Trade Authorization Tier-1 status for India in August that further facilitate high-technology exports from the United States to India.

Saudi Arabia

The State Department announced: “The United States regards the Saudi-led Coalition’s ‎announcement that it will review their rules of engagement, hold those at fault accountable, and compensate victims following the Joint Incident Assessment Team’s finding that last month’s Sa’ada air strikes lacked justification as an important first step toward full transparency and accountability.” The United States has called on all sides to abide by the Law of Armed Conflict, to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, and thoroughly investigate and ensure accountability for any violations surrounding attacks on the Yemeni people.

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Secretary of State Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. were in Islamabad, Pakistan on September 5 to conduct talks with new Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Qureshi, and Chief of Army Staff Bajwa regarding the U.S.-Pakistan bilateral relations and potential areas for cooperation.  They discussed strengthening civilian institutions and the expansion of two-way trade and commercial ties, in addition to deeper counterterrorism efforts. According to the State Department: “In all of his meetings, Secretary Pompeo emphasized the important role Pakistan could play in bringing about a negotiated peace in Afghanistan and conveyed the need for Pakistan to take sustained and decisive measures against terrorists and militants threatening regional peace and stability.”

Asian Energy

An estimated $82 billion annually will be needed in power infrastructure until 2030 to ensure current growth levels, tackle poverty, and address climate change in developing areas in Asia, according to Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The largest developing nation in Asia is China. It already is experiencing rising labor costs, an aging population without adequate social programs, environmental problems and corruption. President Xi Jinping will be challenged to find ways to maintain growth and keep social unrest quiet.

The Asian Development Bank estimates that between 2016 and 2030, Asia will need $26 trillion of infrastructure investment to reduce poverty and expand growth. According to Matthew Goodman, the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy at CSIS, Japanese banks lead the world in infrastructure financing, but recent Chinese efforts—the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank—are expanding trade connections and raising China’s profile in developing countries. Already cracks are becoming visible in the Initiative as some African countries are beginning to resent foreign workers from China receiving jobs and repatriating funds.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media, which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Campaign Regulation Debate Renewed, Part 2

The charges against Michael Cohen have renewed public interest in campaign finance regulation. The essential questions: Do campaign regulations accomplish their stated goals? Do they violate the First Amendment? 

The expertise required to comply with reporting requirements and other campaign regulatory measures gives political professionals and party bosses an advantage over novices running for office. In some ways, the gauntlet of regulatory compliance and restrictions on fund raising makes American politics resemble that of ancient Rome, where leadership was restricted to a small field of “great men” with the personal resources to run.

As noted by the CATO study,

“Limitations on contributions and spending, by definition, require significant regulation of the campaign process, including significant reporting requirements as to amounts spent and sources of funds. Such regulation creates opportunities to gain an advantage over an opponent through use of the regulatory process, and litigation has now become a major campaign tactic. Typically, regulation favors insiders already familiar with the regulatory machinery and those with the money and sophistication to hire the lawyers, accountants, and lobbyists needed to comply with complex filing requirements. Indeed, there is some evidence that campaign enforcement actions are disproportionately directed at challengers, who are less likely to have staff familiar with the intricacies of campaign finance regulation.

Perhaps those most likely to run afoul of campaign finance laws are unaffiliated individuals engaged in true grassroots activities. For example, in 1991 the Los Angeles Times reviewed Federal Election Commission (FEC) files and found that 62 individuals had violated FECA contribution limits by making total contributions of more than $25,000 to candidates in the 1990 elections. As the Times noted, though many of these 62 were “successful business people” who ‘usually have the benefit of expert legal advice on the intricacies of federal election laws,’ the next largest group of violators consisted of ‘elderly persons . . . with little grasp of the federal campaign laws.’ Political involvement should not be limited to those with “the benefit of expert legal advice on the intricacies of federal election laws.”

Supporters of campaign restrictions allege that they are seeking to reduce the influence of money in politics.  In reality, their goals fall into two categories:

First, incumbent protection.  By establishing complicated and arcane rules concerning filing reports, with significant penalties for any less than perfect compliance, rather than simple requirements that the names of donors and the amounts provided (filed following the end of a campaign) be provided, they impose significant financial and legal burdens on challengers. Absent the access to professional assistance incumbents possess, citizens seeking to run must spend scarce resources and even more scarce time running a legally hazardous maze of requirements established by and for incumbents.

Second, partisan advantage. The Citizens United  decision held, as summarized by ScotusBlog,  that  “ Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections. While corporations or unions may not give money directly to campaigns, they may seek to persuade the voting public through other means, including ads, especially where these ads were not broadcast.” Many on the left of the political spectrum believe that this upset advantages they long held, and have sought to enact legislation and regulation to restore that advantage.

There have been measures, some of which have passed and others blocked, that have sought to reduce the effectiveness of the First Amendment in an attempt to regain that advantage.

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A radical legislative item has been approved by the New York State Legislature. The measure openly headlines its goal as “Enacting the nation’s strongest protections to combat Citizens United.” Among other mandates, it imposes a requirement of across the board disclosure of donors and staff, and provides a first-ever disclosure requirement for “political consultants.” At first glance, that appears comparatively innocuous. However, the devil is in the details. According to the legislation’s language, almost anyone who has ever had any relation or association with anyone even remotely connected to a campaign would have to be disclosed. In essence, it criminalizes anyone with an active interest in politics. Further, it substantially intimidates anyone seeking to provide summaries of their perspectives on the issues or advice on how to present those views from speaking with a candidate in any substantive manner. Independent advocacy groups promoting anything from environmental protection to benefits for veterans would be handicapped.

The details of the law provide a chilling attack on First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and association, in a manner that clearly helps incumbents and handcuffs challengers. Even nonpartisan organizations that openly disagree with particular policies of elected officials would be subjected to onerous reporting requirements merely for stating their beliefs, while incumbents could continue to speak their views unencumbered.

It gets even worse.  Assume you are a motorist who has become tired of replacing tires destroyed by potholes not repaired by the state, and you are angered that your elected official has done nothing to address the problem. You, acting entirely on your own, decide to air your grievance on social media, and perhaps write a few letters to newspapers.  Under the law’s definition, you should have registered as an independent committee, subject to all the red tape and legal requirements that implies. Clearly, that prevents private citizens not wishing to be subjected to penalties from criticizing their errant local official, or even seeking to organize friends and neighbors to protest.

The anti-First Amendment drive involves regulation as well as legislation. Previously, The Democrat members of the Federal Election Commission attempted to impose a penalty on one news station that had been uniformly critical of the Obama Administration, based on a complaint from an obscure candidate that he wasn’t invited to a televised debate. Of course, those same commissioners never considered imposing similar sanctions against the Democrat National Committee, which had inappropriately tilted towards Hillary Clinton in her primary effort against Bernie Sanders. The attempt was blocked by Republican Commissioners.

The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held, even long before the Citizens United case, that campaign contributions and expenditures are protected by the First Amendment. Legalities aside, common sense in a free nation dictates that public statements made by citizens or organizations disagreeing (or agreeing) with their elected officials is a vital activity.

The numerous attempts to use campaign regulation, which should reasonably only consist of open disclosure of all contributions, as a vehicle to immunize incumbents and “establishment” favorites from criticism, and to tilt the balance of power in a partisan manner, is an affront to the entire concept of a free people.

Illustration: Pixabay