Month: January 2019

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The Kurds: The West’s Neglected Ally, Part 2

While the Trump Administration has pledged to protect Kurds in Syria, historically, the United States has, despite recognizing the vital role the Kurdish people play in opposing Islamic terrorism, never fully supported their ultimate goals, including an independent state. The main reason has been Washington’s sensitivity to the wishes of Turkey, a shaky NATO ally.

Former Secretary of State Tillerson, following a meeting with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Dohar in 2017, made it clear that the U.S. “did not support the Kurdish independence referendum. We did not believe it was time given that the battle to defeat ISIS is still underway. And while there have been significant victories and significant progress in Iraq, that task is not yet complete. And clearly, what we were concerned about is the referendum would lead to a distraction from the fight to defeat ISIS or Daesh…[Iraqi] Prime Minister Abadi has, I think, made it clear his commitment to follow through on those constitutional obligations, and we hope the Kurds will engage with Baghdad in a very productive way to see that the constitution is fully implemented. I think many of the Kurds’ concerns will be addressed through that process.”

Iraqi opposition to the potential independence of its Kurdish region has much to do with oil. The Kurdish Project  notes that “With a whopping 45 billion gallons of Kurdistan oil reserves, the Iraqi-Kurds hold almost a third of all of Iraq’s 150 billion gallons of untapped black gold. If the KRG autonomous region were a nation-state, it would rank 10th in the world for largest petrol reserves, coming in just after Libya. This makes Kurdish land a hot commodity in an already politically fiery region. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq has more autonomy over their own oil politics and economics than other Kurdish regions. This independence can be attributed to the weakness of the post-war Iraqi government. Many argue that the KRG holds a more functional economic climate than its host.”

Within Iraq, however, one non-Kurdish group does appear to be a source of support for independence.  Many Iraqi Christians believe they could benefit from the move.  An interview with  the Secretary-General of Iraq’s small  Assyrian Bet al-Nahrain Democratic Party, Romeo Hakkari and  the Kurdish news source Kurdistan24, was described by Mewan Dolmari: “Hakkari…stated that Christians are with an independent Kurdistan Region that protects the right of all ethnic and religious groups in the Region, a democratic Kurdistan that defends minorities before Kurds…Hakkari …acknowledged the vital role of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani in promoting harmony and coexistence in the Kurdistan Region. Importantly, he stated that Christians have always supported Kurdish independence, and Christians believe that they can attain more rights if and when the Kurdistan Region becomes an independent state, ‘When our Kurdish brothers achieve more rights [independence], the rights of other ethnic and religious groups will also increase…Christians are spread throughout the Kurdistan Region, mostly live in Ankawa area located in Erbil province. Assyrians and Chaldean Christians have five reserved seats in the Kurdistan Region Parliament. Christians are able to practice their religious beliefs without hindrance. During an official Christmas Day celebration broadcast on TV, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani stated, ‘Christians are not treated as minority in the region, and they are an indigenous people of the Kurdistan Region.’”

Syria also opposes Kurdish independence. Like Turkey, it fears Kurds within its own borders would follow suit, particularly since the nightmare regime of Bashar al-Assad, now strengthened thanks to Russian and Iranian assistance, is certainly an inducement to secession for any group that could muster the capability to do so.
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Michael Rubin, writing for the American Enterprise Institute outlines the Iranian position: “The Iranian government has long opposed any Kurdish independence in Iraq, largely because they fear how the precedent might impact the Kurdish population in Iran. While no Middle Eastern country besides Israel has allowed true censuses in decades because of the sensitivity of the data for their own internal security, most geographers and anthropologists estimate that perhaps eight percent of Iranians speak Kurdish as their first language. Iran has a Kordestan province, but it encompasses only about half of the areas inside Iran in which Kurds predominate. Therefore, the idea that the Iraqi Kurdish referendum will include not only the Iraqi Kurdistan Region itself but neighboring provinces worries Tehran even more.”

Kurdish independence does have one regional friend—Israel. Jonah Mandel, in a Times of Israel article  explains that “ Israel has become the only country to openly support an independent Kurdish state, a result of good ties between Kurds and Jews and expectations that it would be a front against Iran and extremism, experts say… Israel became the first, and so far only, country to openly voice support for ‘the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own,’ as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said… To Gideon Sa’ar, a former Israeli minister for the Likud Party, who recently returned to politics after taking time out, the Kurds are a minority group in the Middle East that, unlike the Jews, have yet to achieve statehood. ‘The Kurds have been and will continue to be reliable and long-term allies of Israel since they are, like us, a minority group in the region,” he said.’”

Despite U.S. reluctance to support independence, a free Kurdish state would be beneficial to Washington’s goals. A New York Post article by Jonathon Tobin notes: “Kurdish independence could create a state that would act as a firewall against Iran’s quest for regional hegemony… A policy switch that encourages the Kurds could throw a monkey wrench into Iran’s plans to use its clients in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Hamas state in Gaza to create a sphere of influence that endangers America’s Arab allies and threatens Israel with a three-front war at any time of Iran’s choosing.”

Photo: Erbil city, capital of Kurdistan Region Government (Kurdistan Tourist Board)

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The Kurds: The West’s Neglected Ally

While newly elected Democrat members of Congress, academic activists, and left-wing groups across the U.S. have been militant in their support of Palestinians, many of whom in leadership positions have been closely associated with terrorist activities, they have been largely silent about the fate of the Kurds. The Kurdish people have been pro-western, and scrupulous in their protection of human rights. They have treated females as equals, and provided religious freedom.

Concerns have been raised that Kurds could be caught between ISIS forces on one hand, and those of Turkey on the other. Both Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton have consistently given assurances that the Kurds will be protected in any U.S. action, including a pullout of forces in Syria, following a consistent Trump Administration policy. In remarks delivered in October, Secretary Pompeo noted “we’ve worked closely with the Syrian Kurds now for my entire time in service in this administration. They have been great partners. We are now driving to make sure that they have a seat at the table.”

A Gatestone  analysis expressed concern that a withdrawal of U.S. forces in Syria would lead to a Turkish slaughter of the Kurds.

The Kurds, who exist as minority entities in a variety of Middle Eastern nations but have some autonomy within Iraq, have been among the most invaluable fighters against ISIS. According to the Gatestone Institute  “Apparently, for the government of Turkey, ISIS, which engages in mass murder, ethnic cleansing, mass rape and sexual slavery, is preferable to the Kurds, who resist ISIS and demand rights and liberties that have been taken away from them by the repressive regimes that rule over them…With its limited military power aided only by NATO planes and Peshmerga forces, the YPG are fighting against the immolators and decapitators, and trying to protect innocent people who would otherwise be massacred by ISIS….The Kurdish militias, the YPG (A Kurdish “People’s Protection Unis” force in Syria) in Syrian Kurdistan and the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq , are the only Muslim forces truly resisting the ISIS on the ground. These Kurdish forces are mostly Muslim; at the same time, unlike the Arab regimes or radical Islamist armies in the region, they are secular and protective of minorities. On one side, there is Turkey, whose membership in NATO has not prevented it from turning a blind eye to — or even facilitating the traffic of — ISIS fighters…”

Of course, viagra 25 mg the WordPress development team are tireless in constantly working on the script for our benefit, but none of this is any use if we don’t actually get up off our backsides and do a bit of a quack. You need to generic cialis australia consult the expert for the treatment. Predominantly, hearing impairment is caused by the following (in no particular order): cialis for sale uk aging, middle ear infections, excessive noise exposure, head trauma, ear injury, congenital defects, genetic disorders, or pharmaceutical means (ototoxic medications or treatments). As soon as he was ordine cialis on line http://secretworldchronicle.com/2020/04/ep-9-45-running-on-the-rocks-part-2/ given the additional charge. According to the Council on Foreign Relations,“The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Middle East and the region’s fourth-largest ethnic group. They speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language, and are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Kurds have a distinct culture, traditional dress, and holiday… Kurdish nationalism emerged during the twentieth century following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of new nation-states across the Middle East. The estimated thirty million Kurds reside primarily in mountainous regions of present-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and remain one of the world’s largest peoples without a sovereign state… The Kurds are not monolithic[and]have a long history of marginalization and persecution, and, particularly in Iraq and Turkey, have repeatedly risen up to seek greater autonomy or complete independence.”

In 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on independence. According to Hndren Muhammad, the head of the Kurdistan Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, the pro-independence side won an overwhelming victory.  There were 4,581,255 eligible voters, of which 3,305,925  cast ballots,  a turnout of 72.16 percent. 2,861,471 people voted Yes, (92.73 percent)  of the voters, against  224,468 No votes, (or  7.27 percent of the voters.)

Although it has gained significantly less attention than Spain’s Catalonia independence movement, the quest of the Kurdish people to form an independent nation, seceding from Iraq, is a far more compelling story.  As noted by several analysts, in contrast to the Palestinians, who have received far broader international support, the Kurds have a language and culture distinct from their Arab neighbors.

The Report Concludes Tomorrow

Photo: Kurdish Flag (Kurdish tourism Board)

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China Prepares for War, Part 3

It would be a mistake to assume that any conflict with China would be restricted to Asia.

China’s Military Presence in Latin America

 A Foreign Policy study explains that: “The escalation of Chinese influence in Latin America is reflected in the number of nations that have swapped recognition from Taiwan to China, according to Ana Quintana, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation. This group now includes El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The goal is not just “sticking it to the Americans,” but also “amplifying their power,” Quintana said, noting the region’s wealth of oil reserves. Both China and Russia “want to be in a position to be a power broker in Latin America.”

A study by the Center for a Secure Free Society  entitled “The Dragon and the Condor: Beyond China’s Economic Interest in Latin America”  reveals that: China is known for its strategic patience and is expected to begin carrying out intelligence operations in the Americas that build upon its current strengths. This is consistent with the activity of a major world player projecting power abroad, and is likely a long-term, multi-stage process meant to build China’s intelligence capabilities in Latin America alongside its economic influence.” The report points out that “China’s presence in Latin America will continue to grow not only in the economic sphere, but also in political, security, and cultural aspects. China’s intelligence operations in Latin America will be carried out gradually and in stages, especially until Beijing can develop trusted human intelligence networks to support its activity. Nevertheless, China’s mastery of cyberwarfare and corporate espionage already poses a threat to many of the region’s countries, which lack adequate cybersecurity and protection of critical infrastructure. The new 2018 US National Security Strategy presents China as a ‘strategic competitor’ that wants to realign global power in their interests, potentially threating the United States. Attention must be paid to the PRC’s various initiatives in the Western Hemisphere beyond what are described as economic ventures. The nature of the PRC’s state-controlled industries and policy banks, its use of economic clout and power to achieve geopolitical objectives, its increase in cyber activity in lieu of human intelligence, and other critical issues suggest that a purely economic interpretation of China’s activities in the Americas is inadequate.”

A Business Standard analysis notes that:

“In its most recent assessment of its operations, focused on Latin American countries below Mexico and most of the Caribbean, the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) concedes that China’s activities in the Americas pose a threat to the United States. SOUTHCOM specifically noted Beijing’s decision to expand its ambitious multi-trillion-dollar “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative to Latin America as a menace to U.S. interests.

“The U.S. military has cautioned that the strategic challenge posed by China in this region requires a new approach to get effective results.The national security think-tank analysis also highlights China’s OBOR or the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as a threat to the United States.

Since, it is a solid pills one need to viagra in consume herbal pills for getting rid of weak erection. When faced with chronic stress and an over activated autonomic nervous system, he noted, a physical toll begins to appear. buy cialis pharmacy It should be noted that the uncontrolled taking cialis online order letrozole bodybuilders often leads to disruption of coordination and facilitates the dispersion of attention. So whether viagra online doctor you want to buy branded medicines that come at a high price. “The BRI raises serious inquiries about China’s long-term interests and objectives abroad. The U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), which covers American military activity in China, New Zealand, and all the countries in between, recently cautioned lawmakers the Chinese armed forces might soon challenge the United States’ military dominance in the Indo-Pacific region “across almost all domains.”

Conclusion

Beijing has a timeline to consider. It has spent vast sums on building an ultra- modern military capable of challenging the United States. However, its economy is slowing, and its historic practices of unfair trade and mass theft espionage of western military technology is meeting more resistance.   President Xi may consider that his nation’s armed forces are now at peak strength, particularly since western militaries, after years of reduced investment, are now beginning to rebuild.

It would not be in China’s own interest to directly attack the United States, although it now has the nuclear and naval capability of doing so.  It is far more likely that it will engage in an assault on Taiwan, leaving an American administration with an extreme dilemma: should the American homeland be placed at risk to protect one or more allies in the Pacific? The quandary is a familiar one to historians.

At the outset of the Second World War, Adolph Hitler demanded German control of the City of Danzig, a precursor to his full scale invasion of Poland. The French socialist Marcel Deat, arguing that it was better to appeaser Hitler than start a war with him, coined the phrase, “Why die for Danzig?”

Appeasement only encouraged Hitler, and it is likely that a similar tact would do the same for China.

Photo: President Xi orders China’s armed forces to prepare for combat. (Chinese Ministry of Defence photo)

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China Prepares for War, Part 2

There can be little dispute that China is preparing for a new, violent, and dangerous role in world affairs.

According to Beijing’s own official report issued on January 4 ,

“President Xi Jinping Friday ordered the Chinese armed forces to enhance their combat readiness from a new starting point and open new ground for developing a strong military. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the instruction at a CMC meeting held in Beijing…‘The world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development,’ he said, warning that various risks and challenges were on the rise.’The entire armed forces should have a correct understanding of China’s security and development trends, enhance their awareness of danger, crisis and war, and make solid efforts on combat preparations in order to accomplish the tasks assigned by the Party and the people’ Xi said.

“Regarding combat capability as the only and fundamental criterion, Xi ordered all work, forces and resources to focus on military preparedness and ensure a marked progress in this regard. Xi stressed the armed forces’ ability to respond quickly and effectively to contingencies, asking them to upgrade commanding capability of joint operations, foster new combat forces, and improve military training under combat conditions. Party and government departments and agencies at the central and local levels are required to support the defense and military development…”

Writing in The Hill Harry Kazianis, director of Defense Studies at the Center for National Interest reported that “China seems to be making various types of threatening comments with increasing frequency — along with increasingly bold claims backed up by actions that threaten the peace and stability of the region… ‘The likelihood of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) going to war with the United States over the next decade is increasing as the timeline for achieving the ‘China Dream’ of the restoration of China’s perceived sovereign territory compresses,’ explained retired U.S. Navy Capt. Jim Fanell, a former U.S. Pacific Fleet intelligence director… While I firmly believe the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) prefers to use non-kinetic means to achieve President Xi’s ‘great rejuvenation’ of the PRC, as was done at Scarborough Shoal in 2012, the pressure to use military force to achieve the restoration of all of China’s disputed territories by 2049 (the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic) will reach a critical decision point over the next 10 years. Ian Easton, a scholar with the Project 2049 Institute, reached a similar conclusion. ‘We can only speculate about the future, but the current trend lines are concerning.” Xi, he points out, has “purged senior leaders in the Chinese Communist Party and created a culture of fear in the ranks of the military and across the regime. It is unlikely that anyone is going to tell him anything he does not want to hear. That greatly increases the risk of him making tragic a mistake.’ It might seem inconceivable that China would launch any sort of military action against the United States. But Beijing’s leaders, thinking their national strength has peaked, could decide to make the ultimate gamble… If China sees its rise plateauing or starting to decline, it might strike rather than wait.’”

Rarely, some of the men may need special tests for checking the nerve function, blood vessels, and blood flow in the penile region. cheap sildenafil tablets This medicine is metabolized by enzymes found inside the testes and seminal buy cheapest cialis davidfraymusic.com ducts. If in any case you could not avoid from the impotence problem uk cialis is the fact that the medication is 100% natural and organic. Moreover, the pills of uk viagra prices femodene ED need to be taken at a specific time or location, as you would be with a local course. Don Lee and David Cloud of the Los Angeles Times, writing in American Military News,   explain  that “China is building a modern military, one that within a decade could be capable of challenging U.S. dominance in the western Pacific. Some scholars and military strategists see an inevitable clash as the two countries jockey to project power and influence… The new assertiveness posed a direct challenge to America’s postwar role promoting stability and free trade in the western Pacific. Starting with President Barack Obama, the U.S. response was a slow — and critics say still inadequate and inconsistent — ratcheting up of pressure.”

In his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee,   Richard D. Fisher, Jr, Senior Fellow International Assessment and Strategy Center, emphasized that “Historically, China’s Communist Party would hide military goals such as becoming the world’s dominant power in any or all domains. It would not announce such goals in press conferences or White Papers. Instead it would ritually deny such goals so as to discourage the United States and its Allies from preparing sufficiently to defend themselves. However, China recently has begun to acknowledge in its official statements that it plans to project military power beyond Asia. But the Chinese leadership continues to ritually deny that it seeks ‘hegemony’ or ‘world domination.’ …China’s denials are undermined by China’s actions…

“Chinese actions suggesting larger goals include: budding Chinese strategic cooperation with Russia; China’s building of alternate institutions that challenge U.S. leadership; China’s ongoing attempt to change the Latin American balance of power by encouraging a second war over the Falklands Islands; and indications China will militarize the Moon.

“Furthermore, China’s two decades average of near double-digit growth in defense spending, growing PLA power projection forces, and China’s drive to create or obtain greater overseas military access combine to suggest the trajectory of China’s development toward global military power. China’s creation of new military bases in the Spratly Island group — and its potential creation of nuclear, naval and air bases on Taiwan, should that island democracy be conquered — point to an early objective of isolating and coercing Asian democracies such as Japan and the Philippines, leading to great pressure to end their alliances with the United States. China will also seek greater military access in the Indian Ocean to further contain India, while political influence, military engagement, and debt default acquisitions will accelerate PLA access in Latin America and Africa It can be expected that the actions of a globally powerful China toward the world’s free societies will be informed by the CCP’s pervasive domestic suppression of democratic impulses, freedom of expression, religion, and domestic dissent. A Chinese conquest of Taiwan could provide a stark demonstration of the CCP’s organized and brutal suppression of democracy. Today, China’s loud criticism of democracy, and its potential to promote a rebranded Marxism, suggest that overarching anti-democratic and anti-American ideological campaigns could underscore China’s drive for global power projection.”

The Report Continues Tomorrow

Photo: Soldiers assigned to a unit under the PLA Rocket Force prepare DF-16 ballistic missile systems during training on January 3, 2019. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Feng)

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China Prepares for War

The Chinese government is engaging in all the actions relevant to the preparation of a significant military action. That’s not merely the opinion of western analysts; it is, indeed, Beijing’s stated policy.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission  notes that “Over a quarter century ago, Deng Xiaoping famously instructed his countrymen to ‘hide your capabilities and bide your time’ and to ‘absolutely not take lead’ in world affairs. The last hint of this formulation for a cautious and conservative Chinese role in the world faded into history this year. The China that emerged from last October’s 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could not be more opposite in tone or bearing. Having amassed all titles of authority and successfully removed term limits on himself, Xi Jinping announced a ‘new era’ that sees his China ‘moving closer to the world’s center stage’ and offering a ‘Chinese approach’ to solving problems. Although the CCP emphasizes China’s peaceful rise and the ‘shared prosperity’ it claims to bring the world, this rhetoric conceals a coordinated, long-term effort to transform China into a dominant global power …many aspects of China’s attempts to seize leadership have undoubtedly put at risk the national security and economic interests of the United States, its allies, and its partners.”

The U.S.-China Commission’s latest report provides specifics:

  • U.S.-China security relations remain tense due to serious disagreements over issues such as China’s continued coercive actions in regional territorial disputes, espionage and cyber activities, and influence operations. The tenor of the relationship was reflected in President Xi’s public warning to visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis that China would not tolerate the loss of a “single inch” of its territorial claims.
  • The People’s Liberation Army continues to extend its presence outside of China’s immediate periphery by increasing air and maritime operations farther from its shores, expanding presence operations in disputed areas in the East and South China seas (maintaining troops and building a pier at China’s sole overseas military base in Djibouti, deploying more advanced combat units to UN peacekeeping operations, and conducting more complex bilateral and multilateral overseas exercises.)
  • Tensions and the potential for accidents, miscalculation, and escalation between China and Japan intensified in the East China Sea as China sailed a number of naval vessels close to the Senkaku Islands and increased its military presence in the area. Based on the terms of the U.S.-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty, China’s increasing military activity near the Senkakus constitutes a challenge to U.S. security guarantees to Japan.
  • China took new steps to consolidate its military posture and improve its ability to project power into the South China Sea, as President Xi proclaimed at the 19th Party Congress the success of China’s islandbuilding efforts. Chinese forces are now capable of overpowering any other South China Sea claimant, challenging U.S. presence operations in the region, and presenting a significant obstacle to the U.S. military during a conflict. China deployed advanced antiship and surface-to-air missiles to its Spratly Island outposts for the first time, demonstrating its ability to create a military buffer around the southern reaches of the South China Sea.
  • Following their land border dispute in 2017, strategic jockeying in 2018 between China and India expanded to include New Delhi’s maritime interests in the Indian Ocean.
  • China continued to deepen its partnerships with Russia, Iran, and Pakistan and leveraged the relationships to challenge U.S. security and economic interests. During a high-level visit to Russia, China’s defense minister stated that China’s visit was intended to demonstrate the depth of China-Russia strategic cooperation to the United States and to the world. China’s purchase of advanced weapons systems from Russia resulted in the United States applying sanctions against China’s Equipment Development Department, a key military body.
  • China’s arms exports continued to grow in volume and sophistication in 2018, although they remain limited to low- and middle-income countries and trail in value compared to U.S. and Russian sales.

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The Report Continues Tomorrow

Photo: China’s People’s Liberation Army drill (PLA ) 

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Foreign Policy Update

EGYPT

While in Cairo Secretary of State Michael Pompeo gave a very strong and well-received speech on American’s role in the region. In it he described how American is a force for good in the Middle East. He pointed out that America had been missing for too long in this part of the world and that Washington had misread politics there for an extended period of time. Pompeo lay blame on the previous American administration saying it claimed “radical Islamic terrorism does not stem from an ideology.” He added that we grossly underestimated the viciousness and tenacity of the radical Islamists. Pompeo correctly stated that the radicals practiced a “debauched strain of the faith” and admitted that America sat back while tens of thousands were raped and killed. He pointed out that American reluctance to wield our influence emboldened the terrorists.

In a reference to the Turkish-Syrian-Iranian conflict, the Secretary stated that “When Bashar Assad unleashed terror upon ordinary Syrians and barrel-bombed civilians with sarin gas, a true echo of Saddam Hussein’s gassing of the Kurdish people, we condemned his actions. But in our hesitation to wield power, we did nothing.

“Our eagerness to address only Muslims and not nations ignored the rich diversity of the Middle East and frayed old bonds. It undermined the concept of the nation-state, the building block of international stability. And our desire for peace at any cost led us to strike a deal with Iran, our common enemy.

“…what did we learn from all of this? We learned that when America retreats, chaos often follows. When we neglect our friends, resentment builds. And when we partner with enemies, they advance.”

The Secretary announced that the period of America leading from behind, in essence the American retreat from the world, is over. “The age of self-inflicted American shame is over, and so are the policies that produced so much needless suffering. Now comes the real new beginning,” he said.

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“In just 24 months,” he said, “actually less than two years, the United States under President Trump has reasserted its traditional role as a force for good in this region. We’ve learned from our mistakes. We’ve rediscovered our voice. We’ve rebuilt our relationships. We’ve rejected false overtures from our enemies.” In talking about other countries in the region he assured people the United States was there to help and would leave when the fight against terrorism is over.

IRAN

In an interview while traveling in Jordon, Secretary Pompeo talked about the situation in Iran, He said: “ The counter-Iran revolution is – our coalition is as effective today as it was yesterday, and I’m very hopeful it will continue to be effective and even more effective tomorrow. This is not just about a particular tactic that we take amongst the coalition. This is about a combined understanding that the most significant threat to the region is Daesh and the Islamist revolution, and their revolutionary efforts in the region… there is enormous agreement on the risk that that poses to Jordan and to other countries in the neighborhood, and that battle continues.”

According to the Secretary the President’s decision to withdraw folks from Syria in no way impacts America’s capacity to deliver on that. He added that the world will see in the coming days and weeks, that the US is “doubling not only our diplomatic but our commercial efforts to put real pressure on Iran to achieve what it is we set out for them back in May. And these are simple asks we ask of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to behave like a normal nation, and the coalition is just as committed to it today as it was yesterday.”

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 Inc., 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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Russia’s Next Target

Vladimir Putin has made it abundantly clear that he regrets the demise of the Soviet Union, and his actions indicate that he is taking all necessary steps to restore Moscow’s former empire, which enslaved numerous nations.

The Kremlin’s massive military buildup, only lightly reported in the western media, has been matched by significant armed ventures against several of its neighbors. Russia has invaded, within the 21st Century, both Georgia and Ukraine. It has taken threatening measures against Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. On March 6, 2018, the U.S. and the Baltic States  “agreed to deepen their cooperation to combat Russia’s disinformation efforts and malicious cyber activity. They discussed strategies to address the threat Russia poses to European security and Russia’s lack of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbors.”

While Putin’s open animosity towards the NATO alliances’ member nations is not unexpected given his goal of restoring USSR, an unusual target has become increasingly clear: Belarus.

A quick glance at a map reveals why Putin is so intent on having complete military control of Belarus. To the north, the nation borders both Lithuania and Latvia. To the west, Poland, and to the south, Ukraine, all of which are in the Kremlin’s cross-hairs.

A Carnegie endowment Study found that  “No country on the periphery of Russia has a more ambiguous relationship with it than Belarus. Long considered to be Moscow’s closest ally among all the former Soviet states, Minsk has, arguably, been the most frustrating for Russian leaders to deal with. It is likely to remain a difficult and unpredictable partner—one that cannot be counted on in times of crisis—yet it will likely continue to be indispensable to Russia in the post-2014 era.”

As this time man actually needs some kind sildenafil viagra de pfizer of decent treatment but instead he start staying away from his partner, he starts living under stress and depression. However, the incomplete elimination buy levitra cheap is the basic requirement of reproductive system to work and produce hard-on. Before you meet the Sexologist viagra overnight usa in South Delhi, make sure that the doctor is an MD. If a strong link levitra online cheap is established, it could help in implementing new treatments. A Forbes article by Valery Kavaleuski, director for Strategy and Public Affairs of the Belarusian American Association, states that “Belarus must be seen as a low-hanging fruit that can be grabbed by Moscow, one without too many implications for Russia… Russia sees Belarus through the same prism as Ukraine—a view of the world inherent only to Moscow: This is a former part of the empire that must be kept close and cannot bring forth surprises like domestic democracy, independent foreign policy and sound economic strategy. The contract that Russia insists on implies the reliance of Belarus and approval from Moscow of all meaningful political steps. In Belarus’ case this leash is very short. Lukashenko, deeply dependent on Russia’s subsidies and loans, has traded sovereignty for the longevity of his rule, even if that required surrendering immediate national interests and long-term prospects of Belarus. Nevertheless, since the annexation of Crimea, the Belarusian president has treaded carefully. He’s tried to gradually normalize relations with the West while desperately trying not to give Putin any grounds to doubt his loyalty.”

Vladislav Inozemtsev, a Russian economist, said that ‘…even though many in the West believe Russia will in the future seek to occupy part of one of the Baltic countries as it occupied part of Ukraine, the more likely scenario is it’ll seek to absorb Belarus rather than attack…Estonia…It seems to me,’ Inozemtsev says, ‘that [the Russian president, Vladimir Putin,] in order to stir up patriotic passions inside Russia could do so by occupying an entire country, preferably part of ‘the Russian world’ but still not included in Western alliances. And now there is only one candidate for that – Belarus.’…There are some obvious reasons for that conclusion, he notes. Belarus is already part of a union state, and Putin could easily promote the annexation of Belarus as simply about enhancing the union. Many Russians would be enthusiastic, and NATO wouldn’t respond forcefully, Inozemtsev asserts. Those who predict a Baltic scenario, Inozemtsev says, assume that Putin will try to take part of a [Baltic] country rather than a whole one and will seek to seize Narva because Estonia won’t be able to defend itself and ‘NATO will not risk coming to its help’, thus undermining the Western alliance.’

Siarhei Bohdan, in a 2017 Belarus Digest study,  reported that Belarus’ deputy foreign minister Aleh Krauchanka stressed the importance of his nation’s relations with the United States, and other Eastern European nations expressed concern about Moscow’s 2017 military exercises, which some believe were a “dry run” for a future Russian invasion.

Bohdan also raised the possibility that the Minsk government is also “playing its own game and trying to get the best of both worlds. It is using the exercise to extract benefits from Russia while attempting to assure Russia’s opponents of Belarus’s neutrality.”

Photo: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko with President of Russia Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on December 29. (Belarus Government)

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Media Ignores Socialism as Reason for Venezuelan Crisis, Part 2

The economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela caused by the governments’ socialist policies are too vast for the media to ignore.  But reports on the subject fail to identify those socialist policies as the reason the nation’s distress. Worse, many U.S. politicians advocate bringing those same policies to America. 

Paul Gregory, writing for the Hoover Institution, notes: “… the “socialist” states of North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela are in economic ruin.  Few now advocate “back to the USSR.” At the same time, many people still consider socialism an appealing economic system…”

Bradford Richardson, in a Washington Times article, explains: “You would think any political theory that resulted in the deaths of 100 million people would have been discredited by now, but socialism is back in style. The bicentennial of Karl Marx’s birth has coincided with a groundswell of support for the communist theorist’s ideas. Dozens of Democrats running for local office have embraced the socialist label, and national party leaders are advocating bigger government as they jockey for position on the left wing of the party. Marion Smith, executive director of the nonpartisan Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said both parties should be able to get behind opposition to Marxism. ‘It’s important that neither of America’s two major parties embrace the failed ideology of communism,’ Mr. Smith said. ‘We have 100 years of proof — Marxism doesn’t work.’ Millennials who prefer socialism to capitalism are helping shift the Democratic Party to the left on the economy.”

ABC accurately noted that due to its extreme condition and the ideological leanings of its government, the country has allowed itself to become a base for Russian nuclear bombers aimed at the United States. It failed, however, to go deeper. In an el-Nacional newspaper article first reported by Fox News, Vladimir Medrano Regifo, former director general of the Office of Identification, Migration and Immigration of Venezuela, revealed that the Venezuelan government may have distributed about 10,000 passports to Syrians, Iranians, and nationals of other Middle Eastern nations. “Nowadays, they do not know where these people are or what they are doing. They can be anywhere in the world, traveling with Venezuelan documentation… Around 173 individuals from the Middle East have been detected with Venezuelan passports. Likewise, the majority of Iraqis who tried to enter Canada first arrived in Caracas, detailed a study by the Center for a Free and Secure Society (SFS) of 2014.”

Antonio Mora, writing for The Hill  reports that Russia has an “insidious, increasing influence in Venezuela… Chavez turned to Russia for investment in the country’s energy and mining sectors and as a supplier of weaponry, with Venezuela becoming a major purchaser of Russian military hardware, including fighter jets.
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The U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission reports that Venezuela maintains strong ties to the Chinese military “through a high number of official visits, military officer exchanges, port calls, and limited arms sales.”  Venezuela has purchased Chinese arms and military equipment, including radar and aircraft.

Despite the disaster wrought upon the people of Venezuela, and the resulting danger to the entire Western Hemisphere, neither ABC nor most other major media outlets have identified Socialism, the same economic concept espoused by Bernie Sanders and far too many others, as the root cause.

Some blame America’s progressive-controlled educational establishment. An Investors Business Daily study notes: “Americans’ heavy flirtation with socialism continues, and nowhere is that more evident than in America’s youth. For many millennials, socialism appears to be both a viable and desirable replacement for capitalism. It isn’t, on any level. America’s older generations have no one to blame but themselves. They delivered their children and grandchildren into the hands of unionized public schools run by leftist administrators, with their dumbed-down, biased curricula. They sat them in front of TVs and computer screens, without paying attention to the nonstop message of civilizational self-loathing they imibed from the mainstream media. Is it any surprise that the millennial generation sees socialism as an answer to all of the world’s shortcomings? After all, its utopian ideals of total equality and an end to human want are appealing to young people.”

Photo: Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela (official Government photo)

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Media Ignores Socialism as Reason for Venezuelan Crisis

On December 28, ABC ‘s evening world news ran a lengthy (by network news standards) description of the horrendous conditions in Venezuela that are causing near-starvation and extraordinary levels of poverty.  The story included heart-wrenching scenes of children dying from lack of nutrition, once-proud and accomplished adults fleeing their homeland to find the basic necessities of life, and harsh attacks on the population by government forces.

There was one essential, underlying issue the report, like many other similar media examinations, failed to include: why Venezuela, a nation of good, intelligent, and hard-working people, a land blessed with vast natural wealth including a veritable ocean of oil, has been reduced to this condition.  In 2017, Michael Shifter reported that “Just a decade ago, Venezuela was perhaps the most influential Latin American country in the Organization of American States (OAS), the world’s oldest regional cooperation group…On April 26, after a majority of OAS states called a special meeting to discuss Venezuela’s crisis, Caracas declared that it would leave the organization.”

Despite the extreme depths the Caracas government has already fallen to under socialist rule, the crisis continues to deepen. Nathaniel Parish Flannery, writing in Forbes reported earlier this year: “In 2018 Venezuela is struggling though the hemisphere’s worst economic problems. Inflation is rapidly spiraling towards crisis levels and everyday economic activity continues to be severely encumbered by a nonsensical system of currency controls. In 2018 Venezuela’s GDP is expected to contract by double digits for the third straight consecutive year. Economic output in Venezuela fell by 16% in 2016, 14% in 2017, and is expected to drop by 15% this year. Meanwhile, after jumping from 112% in 2015 to 2,400% last year, inflation in Venezuela is expected to hit five-digit levels in 2018. Venezuela’s slow-burning economic collapse is quickly becoming a regional humanitarian crisis as Venezuelans flee in ever larger numbers, looking for refuge in neighboring and nearby countries. More than 600,000 Venezuelans have already fled their country and sought asylum in Colombia.”

Patrick Gillespie, writing for Money last January, reported: “Venezuela has lost half of its economy since 2013… It’s getting worse. Unemployment will reach 30% and prices on all types of goods in the country will rise 13,000% this year, according to new figures published Thursday by the International Monetary Fund. This year will mark the third consecutive year of double-digit contractions in Venezuela’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity. The nation’s GDP declined 16% in 2016, 14% last year and it’s projected to fall 15% this year, according to the IMF. Venezuela is deep into an economic, political and humanitarian crisis, largely inflicted by the government’s own policies, economists say. Food and medical shortages are widespread. People are scavenging for food in dumpsters. Citizens are fleeing by the thousands.”

There are only lab tests to help with this determination, typically through conversation the doctor canadian levitra can determine the problem. She believes in collaborative approach of therapy where she helps you to discover the best solution to the cialis on line regencygrandenursing.com issue of baldness. Although Erectile Dysfunction is a problem for a long order levitra online time now. This magical YES mantra is one of the best ways to assess cialis without prescriptions mastercard https://regencygrandenursing.com/long-term-care/rehabilitation your glucose status. The reason, plain and straightforward, is that Venezuela has adopted socialism, the very same brand of socialism advocated by America’s Democratic Party and others on the left.

Two Venezuelans, Rafael Acevedo and Luis Cirocco, in an article for the Mises Institute  explained: “…ultimately, the lesson we learned is that socialism never, ever works… It was very common during the years we suffered under Hugo Chávez to hear these pundits and economists on TV saying that this time, socialism is being done right. This time, the Venezuelans figured it out. They were, and are wrong.”

Despite the utter catastrophe wrought by socialism in nations as diverse as the old Soviet Union and today’s North Korea, despite over a century of complete failure in every type of country, devotees of this failed philosophy continue their devotion to it. Even the largest Communist nation of all, China, has adopted a capitalist-type system, meshing it within a totalitarian government.

The Report Concludes Tomorrow

Illustration:  Karl Marx (Pixabay)

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Illegal Immigration Spreads Infectious Disease in U.S.

The recent deaths of two children brought into the United States illegally highlights the issue of contagious diseases entering the nation as a result of unchecked border crossings.

The topic has been considered for some time.  In 2017, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) noted: “Communicable diseases do not stop at international borders. They could be one of the most dangerous – yet rarely considered – consequence of inadequate immigration controls. Nevertheless, the mainstream media, and most policy makers, avoid any discussion of the public health challenges presented by illegal immigration…the possibility of an epidemic traceable to migrants is a reality that cannot be ignored… Many of the people traveling to the United States, both legally and illegally, come from places with limited access to medical services and poor sanitation infrastructure. As a result, many migrants may have been exposed to a disease with public health ramifications. And it’s entirely possible that they aren’t aware they are at risk for infection… the Latin American children who arrived on the U.S. border came from countries with similar public health issues, lack of basic sanitation, limited access to healthcare services and an absence of preventative medicine programs…Their arrival was accompanied by significant increases in tuberculosis, dengue fever and swine flu infections. Unaccompanied alien children also appear to have been the source of the deadly outbreak of the EV-D68 enterovirus that spread throughout the American West in 2014.”

A 2003 report by The National Center for Biotechnology Information noted that “The U.S.-Mexico border is a unique region where the geopolitical boundary does not inhibit social and economic interactions nor the transmission of infectious diseases among residents on each side of the border…The large population movement, limited public health infrastructure, and poor environmental conditions contribute to increased incidence of certain infectious diseases. Analysis of data from the U.S. National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System for 1990 through 1998 showed increased risks for certain foodborne, waterborne, and vaccine-preventable diseases in U.S. counties within 100 kilometers of the border, compared with nonborder states. These data show a two- to fourfold greater incidence of hepatitis A, measles, rubella, shigellosis, and rabies and an eightfold greater incidence of brucellosis in border counties than in nonborder states. Studies have identified the importance of cross-border movement in the transmission of various diseases, including hepatitis A, tuberculosis, shigellosis, syphilis, Mycobacterium bovis infection, and brucellosis.

No formal agreements to address the health problem between the U.S. government and those of Latin American nations can adequately address the problem of contagious diseases entering via the flow of northbound illegal immigrants.

Judicial Watch Reports that “illegal immigrant minors entering the U.S. are bringing serious diseases—including swine flu, dengue fever, possibly Ebola virus and tuberculosis—that present a danger to the American public as well as the Border Patrol agents forced to care for the kids, according to a U.S. Congressman who is also medical doctor. This has created a ‘severe and dangerous’ crisis, says the Georgia lawmaker, Phil Gingrey. Most of the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) are coming from Central America and they’re importing infectious diseases considered to be largely eradicated in this country. Additionally, many of the migrants lack basic vaccinations such as those to prevent chicken pox or measles, leaving America’s young children and the elderly particularly susceptible…Specifically, tuberculosis has become a dangerous issue at both the border and the camps, according to several sources cited in the story. One source confirms that ‘the amount of tuberculosis is astonishing.”
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The Immigration and Nationality Act, Sec. 232 [8 U.S.C. 1252] mandates the detention of those from regions, such as significant portions of Latin America, to determine that the new arrivals do not pose any medical threat “for a sufficient time to enable the immigration officers and medical officers to subject such aliens to observation and an examination sufficient to determine whether or not they belong to inadmissible classes.”

An example of the problem can be seen in The Centers for Disease Control discussion on chronic viral hepatitis. “Globally, more than 240 million people are chronically infected, leading to more than 786,000 deaths per year. The overwhelming majority of these deaths occur in resource-limited countries. Approximately 45% of the world’s population lives in areas of high endemicity… Most refugees arriving in the United States come from countries of intermediate and high HBV endemnicity… Although usually asymptomatic, persons (including refugees) with chronic HBV infection are a potential source for transmitting infection to others…. Highly endemic regions include… areas of Latin America…”

Arizona Central reports that on at least eight instances between August and October in 2018,  groups of more than 100 undocumented immigrants, mainly from Guatemala, usually including families with small children, were found in areas of southwest Arizona. When discovered, a number required hospitalization for various ailments, including skin infections.

Photo: Customs and Border Patrol (CBP photo)