Month: September 2019

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Schiff May be Censured for False Statement

Following the election of 2016, there was a shocked reaction by the Washington establishment to the victory of an exceptionally unorthodox presidential candidate.  Even before Donald Trump was sworn in, moves to impeach him began, as government insiders circled their wagons against the will of the voters. 

While extreme political bickering, including the threat of impeachment, is neither new nor illegal, there are two troubling aspects of the various moves to investigate and now, impeach the 45th President.

First, the partisan involvement of the nation’s intelligence services is deeply disturbing.  Second, the manufacturing of charges that are false, exaggerated, or misleading.

Despite the extreme nature of the moves against the White House since President Trump took office, Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-California 28th District), Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, crossed a new line when he knowingly uttered blatantly false statements regarding the White House conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  When confronted, Schiff attempted to justify the false statements by calling them “a parody.”

On September 27, Rep.  Andy Biggs (R-Arizona 5th District) introduced a motion to condemn and censure Adam Schiff for his false retelling of the conversation between President Trump and Ukraine President Zelensky during a September 26 hearing on the “whistleblower complaint.” 

According to Biggs: “During the [September 26] hearing, Chairman Schiff’s opening statement included a blatantly false retelling of President Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president. Democrats previously initiated an impeachment inquiry, which leads to one of the most serious, constitutional duties of Members of Congress: removal of the President of the United States. Through this process, if the President has committed high crimes or misdemeanors, Congress may overturn the election of the President and the will of the American people. It is therefore inexcusable to toy with the process and mislead the American public with such a statement.”

The text of the resolution follows: 

H. Res. ___

Condemning and censuring Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 28th Congressional District

In the House of Representatives

Mr. Biggs submitted the following resolution 

RESOLUTION

Condemning and censuring Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 28th Congressional District

Whereas, President Trump released the transcript of a call between him and the President of Ukraine;

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Whereas, President Trump subsequently released the whistleblower complaint of August 12, 2019;

Whereas, in a September 26, 2019, hearing on the whistleblower complaint, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff purported to relay the content of the phone call to the American people;

Whereas, instead of quoting directly from the available transcript, Chairman Schiff manufactured a false retelling of the conversation between President Trump and President Zelensky;

Whereas, this egregiously false and fabricated retelling had no relationship to the call itself;

Whereas, these actions of Chairman Schiff misled the American people, bring disrepute upon the House of Representatives, and make a mockery of the impeachment process, one of this chamber’s most solemn constitutional duties;

Whereas, for more than two years, Chairman Schiff has spread false accusations that the Trump Campaign colluded with Russia;

Whereas on March 20, 2017, then Ranking Member Schiff read out false allegations from the Steele dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia;

Whereas, then-Ranking Member Schiff falsely claimed in a March 2017 interview to have “more than circumstantial evidence of collusion with Russia;

Whereas, then-Ranking Member Schiff negotiated with Russian comedians who he believed to be Ukrainian officials to obtain materials to damage the President of the United States politically;

Whereas, members of the Intelligence Committee have lost faith in his objectivity and capabilities as Chairman, with every Republican member on the Committee having signed a letter calling for his immediate resignation as Chairman;

Whereas, Chairman Schiff has gravely hindered the ability of the Intelligence Committee to fulfill its oversight responsibilities of the Intelligence Community, an indispensable pillar of our national security.

Resolved, That—

  1. The House of Representatives censures and condemns Representative Adam Schiff for conduct that misleads the American people in a way that is not befitting an elected Member of the House of Representatives;
  2. Representative Adam Schiff will forthwith present himself in the well of the House for the pronouncement of censure; and
  3. Representative Adam Schiff will be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.

Photo: Rep. Adam Schiff

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Foreign Policy Update

SYRIA

The United States was able to push Syria into accepting a constitutional committee under UN Resolution 2254, according to Jim Jeffrey, US Special Representative for Syria Engagement and for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. He said that it is to be launched in the “coming weeks” and that “there may be a glimmer of hope that this conflict can be ended the right way.”  ISIS is still around and “it contributes to the insecurity and the problems in Syria,” Jeffrey added.

The United States plans to provide an additional 4.5 million to support the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) mandate to investigate chemical weapons use in Syria. The funds will support two core functions: help OPCW determine if chemical weapons were used; and to identify who did it. Ambassador Jeffrey noted that the United States still fears that “the regime, which has very weak infantry forces, will try to use chemical weapons once again to make up for its inability to seize ground by combat power.”

The second area of concern around the recent chemical weapons attack, according to Jeffrey, is that “Russia has its advisory teams throughout the entire command and staff of the Syrian army at all levels.  These are the best soldiers Russia has.  They are extremely experienced, we deal with them every day on deconfliction and other things. They are first-class – we see their first-class work, staff work, their first-class professionalism. It is very hard for me to think that professionals as good as that, the way they are spread out, would not have known something like this, which is a very unique event.  It’s the first time it’s happened in over a year.”

CHINA

On Thursday a senior State Department official said “the US is going to stand firm on our position [on China], especially where it regards things like human rights.”  He pointed out that Washington has raised Xinjiang before without a response from Beijing. The State Department plans to continue “elevating the level of visibility until not just the PRC but the world and others take notice.” But, the official warned, the US wants to give China time to respond.

On Hong Kong the official pointed out that as “the President has said before, as the Secretary has said, the Hong Kong people are just asking for what they already had.  They want the Basic Law to remain as agreed.”  In recent years there has been a distinct trend in China whereby the government says one thing and then takes an opposing action. In 2015 there was a Rose Garden statement about non-militarization of the South China Sea features by the Chinese. That quickly disappeared as China increasing its militarization of the region. Hong Kong currently is experiencing a similar squeeze, according to the State Department official. 

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REFUGEE ADMISSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES

The Department of State, along with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services, submitted the President’s annual Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020.  According to the State Department, the official Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions Numbers for FY 2020 will be issued following consultation with Congress.

The US anticipates receiving more than 368,000 new refugees and asylum claims in FY 2020.  Of them, 18,000 would be refugees that the government proposes to resettle under the new refugee ceiling. In addition, the government also anticipates processing more than 350,000 individuals in new asylum cases. As of 2019 it is estimated there are 71 million people displaced around the world. The US is concentrating its efforts on rebuilding communities and improving security so families can return to their homes in places such as Bangladesh, Colombia, and Turkey.

NORTH KOREA

The North Koreans have proposed working-level meetings by the end of September, according to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. But, he added, “We have not been able to make those happen, and we don’t have a date yet when we’ll be able to get together.” He said the United States is prepared to meet with North Korean officials and that engaging in conversations that can advance the agenda set out in Singapore about 18 months ago are important.

The Secretary said he looks forward to and hopes “the phone rings and that we get that call and we get that chance to find a place and a time that work for the North Koreans and that we can deliver on the commitments that Chairman Kim and President Trump made.  But I don’t have that in hand yet.” 

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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Can China Defeat America?

The United States Studies Center in Sydney, Australia has released a troubling but timely report on the changing balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region,  entitled Averting Crisis: American Strategy, Military Spending and Collective Defence in the Indo-Pacific. The analysis was written by Ashley Towshend, Brendan Thomas-Noone, and Matilda Steward. We present key excerpts.

America’s defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific is in the throes of an unprecedented crisis. It is, at its core, a crisis born of the misalignment between Washington’s strategic ends and its available means. Faced with an increasingly contested regional security landscape and with limited defence resources at its disposal, the United States military is no longer assured of its ability to single-handedly uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. China, by contrast, is growing ever more capable of challenging the regional order by force as a result of its large-scale investment in advanced military systems. Although the past 18 months have seen renewed efforts by the US Department of Defense to prioritise the requirements for great power competition with China — a key objective of America’s 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) — Washington has so far been unable or unwilling to sufficiently focus its armed forces on this task or deliver a defence spending plan that fits the scope of its global strategy. The result is an increasingly worrying mismatch between US strategy and resources that jeopardises the future stability of the Indo-Pacific region.

America no longer enjoys military primacy in the Indo-Pacific and its capacity to uphold a favourable balance of power is increasingly uncertain.

  • The combined effect of ongoing wars in the Middle East, budget austerity, underinvestment in advanced military capabilities and the scale of America’s liberal order-building agenda has left the US armed forces ill-prepared for great power competition in the Indo-Pacific.
  • America’s 2018 National Defense Strategy aims to address this crisis of strategic insolvency by tasking the Joint Force to prepare for one great power war, rather than multiple smaller conflicts, and urging the military to prioritise requirements for deterrence vis-à-vis China.
  • Chinese counter-intervention systems have undermined America’s ability to project power into the Indo-Pacific, raising the risk that China could use limited force to achieve a fait accompli victory before America can respond; and challenging US security guarantees in the process.
  • For America, denying this kind of aggression places a premium on advanced military assets, enhanced posture arrangements, new operational concepts and other costly changes.
  • While the Pentagon is trying to focus on these challenges, an outdated superpower mindset in the foreign policy establishment is likely to limit Washington’s ability to scale back other global commitments or make the strategic trade-offs required to succeed in the Indo-Pacific.
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Over the next decade, the US defence budget is unlikely to meet the needs of the National Defense Strategy owing to a combination of political, fiscal and internal pressures.

  • The US defence budget has been subjected to nearly a decade of delayed and unpredictable funding. Repeated failures by Congress to pass regular and sustained budgets has hindered the Pentagon’s ability to effectively allocate resources and plan over the long term.
  • Growing partisanship and ideological polarisation — within and between both major parties in Congress — will make consensus on federal spending priorities hard to achieve. Lawmakers are likely to continue reaching political compromises over America’s national defence at the expense of its strategic objectives.
  • America faces growing deficits and rising levels of public debt; and political action to rectify these challenges has so far been sluggish. If current trends persist, a shrinking portion of the federal budget will be available for defence, constraining budget top lines into the future.
  • Above-inflation growth in key accounts within the defence budget — such as operations and maintenance — will leave the Pentagon with fewer resources to grow the military and acquire new weapons systems. Every year it becomes more expensive to maintain the same sized military.

America has an atrophying force that is not sufficiently ready, equipped or postured for great power competition in the Indo-Pacific — a challenge it is working hard to address.

  • Twenty years of near-continuous combat and budget instability has eroded the readiness of key elements in the US Air Force, Navy, Army and Marine Corps. Military accidents have risen, aging equipment is being used beyond its lifespan and training has been cut.
  • Some readiness levels across the Joint Force are improving, but structural challenges remain. Military platforms built in the 1980s are becoming harder and more costly to maintain; while many systems designed for great power conflict were curtailed in the 2000s to make way for the force requirements of Middle Eastern wars — leading to stretched capacity and overuse.
  • The military is beginning to field and experiment with next-generation capabilities. But the deferment or cancellation of new weapons programs over the last few decades has created a backlog of simultaneous modernisation priorities that will likely outstrip budget capacity.
  • Many US and allied operating bases in the Indo-Pacific are exposed to possible Chinese missile attack and lack hardened infrastructure. Forward deployed munitions and supplies are not set to wartime requirements and, concerningly, America’s logistics capability has steeply declined.
  • New operational concepts and novel capabilities are being tested in the Indo-Pacific with an eye towards denying and blunting Chinese aggression. Some services, like the Marine Corps, plan extensive reforms away from counterinsurgency and towards sea control and denial.

A strategy of collective defence is fast becoming necessary as a way of offsetting shortfalls in America’s regional military power and holding the line against rising Chinese strength. To advance this approach, Australia should:

  1. Pursue capability aggregation and collective deterrence with capable regional allies and partners, including the United States and Japan.
  2. Reform US-Australia alliance coordination mechanisms to focus on strengthening regional deterrence objectives.
  3. Rebalance Australian defence resources from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific.
  4. Establish new, and expand existing, high-end military exercises with allies and partners to develop and demonstrate new operational concepts for Indo-Pacific contingencies.
  5. Acquire robust land-based strike and denial capabilities.
  6. Improve regional posture, infrastructure and networked logistics, including in northern Australia.
  7. Increase stockpiles and create sovereign capabilities in the storage and production of precision munitions, fuel and other materiel necessary for sustained high-end conflict.
  8. Establish an Indo-Pacific Security Workshop to drive US-allied joint operational concept development.
  9. Advance joint experimental research and development projects aimed at improving the cost-capability curve.

Photo: A guided-missile destroyer attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command fires its main gun against mock sea targets during a maritime training exercise in waters of the South China Sea on August 14, 2019. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Hongming and Qian Chunyan)

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Splitting America for Partisan Gain

The belief by many Democrat leaders that they are immune from the law has reached breathtaking proportions. The support of the media for that feeling of entitlement is deeply disturbing. 

The public has become familiar with unpunished scandals and blatant misdeeds such as the Obama Administration’s use of the IRS to assault the Tea Party, Hilary Clinton’s email abuse, and her approval of the sale of the basic ingredient of nuclear weapons to Russia in return for a massive donation to her organization.  It is becoming increasingly evident that during the 2016 election and its aftermath, the leadership of the Obama-era FBI, joined by former CIA Director John Brennan, abused their positions for partisan political purposes and initiated a massive probe based on nothing more than false charges procured by the Clinton campaign of first candidate then President Trump. The issue has caused massive disruption that caused extensive and unnecessary division within the nation.

But a dramatic new wrinkle has been added.

There is significant reason to believe that, while serving as Vice President, Joe Biden substantially abused his position to enrich his family, in particular, his son, Hunter Biden.  Hunter flew along with his father on Air Force two to China on an official mission, and returned with an over one billion dollar business deal in his pocket. Further, according to former NYC Mayor and presidential attorney Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden was making millions on the board of one of the most corrupt companies in Ukraine. Biden’s boss, Guliani disclosed, had stolen $5b from Ukraine and was a fugitive.

ABC News reports that “Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declined to answer questions on the campaign trail…about his son’s overseas business dealings in countries where the then-vice president was conducting diplomatic work.”

But the scandal gets far deeper.  President Trump urged Suffering from erectile dysfunction? Here comes the solution for erectile dysfunction from pharmacies customers needed to have a good sexual life it becomes quite important for them to face a good supply of blood towards the penis results an issue of male impotence. viagra super active There are many women who suffer generic india levitra from problems in their sex lives. wholesale generic cialis These factors include conditions affecting blood flow to the genitals, whether you are male or female. Psychological buy cheap cialis counseling helps tackle issues related to marital relationship. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to probe the matter, an appropriate action for the nation’s chief executive to undertake in the wake of a significant foreign policy issue affecting the highest levels of the U.S. government. An individual described as a “partisan whistleblower,” complained about President Trump’s action.

The response from key Democrats and their media allies was stunning. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has called for investigating, not Vice President Biden for his alleged misdeeds in China and Ukraine, but President Trump, for attempting to get further information about Biden’s actions. Schiff states that President Trump threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless that nation cooperated in the investigation.  

According to an article in the Independent Journalism Review “Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro — a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful … blasted Trump as a ‘criminal’ and said the president ‘must be impeached immediately.’… The whistleblower complaint has resulted in three House committees, who will look into whether the president tried to have Ukraine aid in his reelection campaign and attack Biden — a frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary race — as well as it being a national security threat.”

A review of major media sites reveals that the comments of Schiff, who has been a key anti-Trump player in the false Russian-collusion charges, have received far more print and air time than the actual and deeply substantial corrupt actions of the former Vice President. The extreme partisanship of both the Democrat leadership and their allies in the media, the willingness to tear the nation apart in return for partisan gain, should disturb every American regardless of ideology or party. 

We have seen this before, and the comparison is frightening. Democrats, in their bid to protect the practice and spread of slavery, willingly split America asunder and initiated the Civil War. 

Image: Ukraine (Pixabay)

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U.S. Emphasizes Religious Freedom at U.N. Opening

Yesterday,the United States co-sponsored with Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom a panel discussion on “The Human Rights Crisis in Xinjiang” on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.  U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect Karen Smith, and others delivered remarks.  Speakers expressed alarm about China’s ongoing repression campaign against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.  They called attention to the mass detention of more than one million individuals in internment camps since April 2017, and recognized the credible reports of deaths, forced labor, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment taking place in these camps.

U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel D. Brownback moderated the panel, which featured victims of China’s repression campaign, including a survivor of the camps and individuals who are fighting to learn the fate of missing or detained family members. They shared heartbreaking and deeply personal stories of their experiences and the abuses those in Xinjiang endure on a daily basis.

Speakers called on members of the international community to speak up and urge China to change course, release all those in the camps, and demonstrate respect for the human rights of all its people.  They also encouraged the United Nations to demonstrate leadership on this issue and to closely monitor China’s human rights abuses, including the repression of freedom of religion or belief.

The U.S. emphasis was not limited to China.  In conjunction with the opening of the U.N.’s latest session, the White House noted that “President Donald J. Trump is putting religious freedom on center stage at the United Nations.”

Interestingly, the Trump Administration included issues involving domestic American religious freedom disputes in its statement:

  • President Trump is hosting the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event, calling on the international community and business leaders to work to protect religious freedom.
  • The President is calling on all nations to act to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
  • The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, during which more than 100 governments and religious leaders committed to fight religious persecution.
    • The Administration is spearheading the International Religious Freedom Alliance, an alliance of nations dedicated to confronting religious persecution around the world.
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  • The Administration has taken steps to protect victims of all faiths from religious violence.
    • The Administration will dedicate an additional $25 million to protect religious freedom and religious sites and relics.
    • The Department of Justice hosted its Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism in July.
    • The United States has provided humanitarian aid to help Christians and Yazidis who suffered at the hands of ISIS and to help Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing persecution.

SAFEGUARDING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AT HOME: President Trump has made it a priority to support every American’s fundamental right to religious freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

  • In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to advance religious freedom, restoring the ideals that have undergirded our Nation since its founding.
  • The President took action to ensure Americans and organizations are not forced to violate their religious or moral beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established a new Conscience and Religious Freedom division to help direct the agency’s efforts to protect religious freedom.
  • HHS took action to protect the right of healthcare entities to act according to their conscience.
  • This year, the Administration finalized a rule providing more flexibility for Federal employees whose religious beliefs require them to abstain from work on certain days.
  • The Administration has unequivocally stood for religious freedom in the courts.

COMBATING A GLOBAL CRISIS: The Trump Administration’s efforts to advance religious freedom are vital to combating rising levels of violence around the globe.  

  • Eighty-three percent of the world’s population lives in nations where religious freedom is threatened or banned.
  • The Trump Administration is deeply concerned for the more than 1 million Uighurs interned in Chinese internment camps.
  • Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world.
  • Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Baha’is, humanists, and non-believers alike—almost every group has been increasingly persecuted over the past decade.

Photo: Pixabay

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America May Lag in New War Tech Part 2

Over the past several decades, America has enjoyed technological superiority over its military adversaries. That may not be the case moving forward.

According to the DIA, “within a decade, China and Russia’s militaries will be using data visualization, artificial intelligence, machine learning and possibly quantum encryption and communications. These tools are used to collect, analyze and secure data accurately and at high speeds. Both China and Russia realize that whoever can leverage the data and understands that can dominate.  China already is moving rapidly ahead with digital advances.”

General Ashley cited the Chinese company Huawei’s Smart City Intelligent Operation Center, which is using big data, 5G, machine learning and AI to collect, monitor and analyze security, transportation and emergencies, and to track people.

In response, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency is attempting to improve American capabilities, noting that “The agency needs to ensure that its intelligence-sharing tool, the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, has adequate resourcing to ensure it remains secure, reliable and resilient.”

General Ashley described how the Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System, which is still in development, will become DIA’s database of the future, using cloud computing, AI and machine learning, automating many of the tasks currently done manually by operators.

The DIA believes that open-source intelligence will be used to a much greater extent. Open-source intelligence is data collected from publicly available sources. When combined with other intelligence data, it can provide a much more accurate intelligence picture that will further DIA’s mission of “providing intelligence on foreign militaries to prevent and decisively win wars.

In addition to systems, Ashley said, people are the agency’s foundational strength.

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People work best when they are on teams to use one another’s strengths, he said. DIA has organized analytic data teams composed of data scientists, tool developers, methodologists and all-source analysts to look at information and refine algorithms to get a more accurate intelligence picture.

Ashley emphasized that the DIA also needs to strengthen its teaming with allies and partners, Ashley said, notably data sharing. Currently, a brigade is pretty good at speed in sharing intelligence within the brigade, he said.

However, when it comes to sharing intelligence between brigades and between each of the military services, it slows down, he said. And, it’s even slower between allies and partners.

The DIA chief noted that “It took World War II to compel better information sharing between allies.” As an example, he used the example of how The U.S. cracked Japan’s Purple Encryption Machine early in the war. and the United Kingdom cracked the Enigma Machine used by the Germans. A decision was made at the very top for the two nations to share their work, and it probably shortened the war by two years. “It shouldn’t take another war like that to enable intelligence sharing,” Ashley said.

In 2017, the United Nations conducted a conference https://undocs.org/CCW/GGE.1/2017/3 aimed at establishing “an open-ended Group of Governmental Experts related to emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems.” One conclusion reached was that “Responsibility for the deployment of any weapons system in armed conflict remains with States. States must ensure accountability for lethal action by any weapon system used by the State’s forces in armed conflict in accordance with applicable international law, in particular international humanitarian law. The human element in the use of lethal force should be further considered.”

If the past is any precedence, the introduction of this next phase of warfighting technology is inevitable. Considering the belligerence of its global adversaries, The United States needs to both take the lead in this technology, while insuring that appropriate human control and adequate safeguards are in place.

Photo:  Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley Jr., the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

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America May Lag in New War technology

Just as industrialization and the advent of flight and nuclear power dramatically changed warfare in the past, today’s cutting-edge technologies are altering how the world will fight in the future. America’s adversaries are making significant headway in this, much to the nation’s peril.

Science fiction readers may recognize some of the dangers from movies such as the famous “Terminator” series.

Army Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley Jr., the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), is clearly concerned. At a recent conference, he noted that “Within a decade, China and Russia’s militaries will be using data visualization, artificial intelligence, machine learning and possibly quantum encryption and communications. These tools are used to collect, analyze and secure data accurately and at high speeds. Both China and Russia realize that ‘whoever can leverage the data and understands that can dominate.’  China already is moving rapidly ahead with digital advances.”

Jayshree Pandya, writing for Forbes, believes that “In the competition to lead the emerging technology race and the futuristic warfare battleground, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming the center of the global power play. As seen across many nations, the development in autonomous weapons system (AWS) is progressing rapidly, and this increase in the weaponization of artificial intelligence seems to have become a highly destabilizing development. It brings complex security challenges for not only each nation’s decision makers but also for the future of humanity… artificial intelligence is leading us toward a new algorithmic warfare battlefield that has no boundaries or borders, may or may not have humans involved, and will be impossible to understand and perhaps control across the human ecosystem in cyberspace, geospace, and space (CGS). As a result, the very idea of the weaponization of artificial intelligence, where a weapon system that, once activated across CGS, can select and engage human and non-human targets without further intervention by a human designer or operator, is causing great fear.” 

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General Ashley cited the Chinese company Huawei’s Smart City Intelligent Operation Center, which is using big data, 5G, machine learning and AI to collect, monitor and analyze security, transportation and emergencies, and to track people.

 Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., writing for Breaking Defense, outlined how the Army War College is concerned about “What happens when Artificial Intelligence produces a war strategy too complex for human brains to understand? Do you trust the computer to guide your moves, like a traveler blindly following GPS? Or do you reject the plan and, with it, the potential for a strategy so smart it’s literally superhuman?…’ I’m not talking about killer robots,’ said Prof. Andrew Hill, the War College’s first-ever chair of strategic leadership, ‘The issue is what happens once humans start taking military advice — or even orders — from machines.’

“’I’m not talking about killer robots,’ said Prof. Andrew Hill, the War College’s first-ever chair of strategic leadership and one of the conference’s lead organizers, at the opening session. The Pentagon wants AI to assist human combatants, not replace them. The issue is what happens once humans start taking military advice — or even orders — from machines. The reality is this happens already, to some extent. Every time someone looks at a radar or sonar display, for example, they’ve counting on complicated software to correctly interpret a host of signals no human can see. The Aegis air and missile defense system on dozens of Navy warships recommends which targets to shoot down with which weapons, and if the human operators are overwhelmed, they can put Aegis on automatic and let it fire the interceptors itself. This mode is meant to stop massive salvos of incoming missiles but it could also shoot down manned aircraft. Now, Aegis isn’t artificial intelligence. It rigidly executes pre-written algorithms, without machine learning’s ability to improve itself. But it is a long-standing example of the kind of complex automation that is going to become more common as technology improves. While the US military won’t let a computer pull the trigger, it is developing target-recognition AI to go on everything from recon drones to tank gunsights to infantry goggles.”

The Report concludes tomorrow.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Quick Analysis

Foreign Policy Update

SAUDI ARABIA

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on September 18, according to State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.

The Secretary and the Crown Prince discussed the recent attacks by Iran against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and declared it an “unacceptable and unprecedented attack” that not only threatened Saudi Arabian national security, but also endangered the lives of all the American citizens living and working in Saudi Arabia, as well as the world’s energy supply in general.  

“This was an Iranian attack” according to Secretary Pompeo. He called it “an act of war.” “It’s not the case that you can subcontract out the devastation of five percent of the world’s global energy supply and think that you can absolve yourself of responsibilities,” he added.

It is believed by the intelligence community that the equipment used in the attack was not in the Houthi arsenal but transferred from Iranian sources. Analysts in Washington believe these transfers have been ongoing for over a half-dozen years. Additionally, analysts examining the missile flight patterns say that they didn’t come from the south where Yemen is located.   

VENEZUELA

The United States is joining the Interim Government of Venezuela and ten other countries in invoking the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR).  According to the State Department, this Venezuelan-led request is “proof of the region’s support for the Venezuelan people and recognition of the increasingly destabilizing influence that the former regime of Nicolas Maduro is having on the region.”

More than four million Venezuelans have fled their homeland, finding refuge in countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean which has placed a huge economic and social burden on their host countries.  

Recent bellicose moves by the Venezuelan military to deploy along the border with Colombia as well as the presence of illegal armed groups and terrorist organizations in Venezuelan territory demonstrate that Nicolas Maduro not only poses a threat to the Venezuelan people according to State Department reports. Catastrophic economic policies and political repression by Maduro continue to drive this unprecedented refugee crisis, straining the ability of regional governments to respond.

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AFGHANISTAN

In a recent announcement, the Department of State reported ongoing corruption and financial mismanagement by Afghan government institution. “Leaders must be transparent and accountable to the Afghan people.” The Administration in Washington is standing up against those who exploit their positions of power and influence to deprive the Afghan people of the benefits of foreign assistance and a more prosperous future.

“We expect the assistance funds we provide to Afghanistan to serve the interests of all Afghan citizens.  Due to identified Afghan Government corruption and financial mismanagement, the US Government is returning approximately $100 million to the Treasury Department that was intended for a large energy infrastructure project,” according to the announcement.

The State Department said the US still is fulfilling its commitment to complete the project, which consists of five substations and other transmission infrastructure between Ghazni and Kandahar and Kajaki and Kandahar. A decision was made to use a US Government “off-budget” mechanism given the Afghan government’s inability to transparently manage US Government resources.

Lack of transparency surrounding procurement decisions by the National Procurement Authority remains a cause for concern for Washington. As a result, the US will be withholding $60 million in planned assistance due to the Afghan government’s failure to meet benchmarks for transparency and accountability in public financial management.

The State Department concluded that the Afghan government’s Monitoring and Evaluation Committee is incapable of being a partner in the international effort to build a better future for the Afghan people.  The announcement said that the US “will cease funding to this entity at the end of this calendar year.”  Washington has consistently called for the Afghan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to fight corruption, to serve the Afghan people, and to maintain their trust.    

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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Quick Analysis

All Spending is Not Equal

Attempts to corral spending often hit the wrong targets entirely. Recently, Senators Lee (R-Utah) and Paul (R-Kentucky) objected to some provisions of legislation designed to provide continuing funding designed to cover the medical costs of First Responders who developed terrible illnesses from exposure to dangerous substances in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. This is an absurd attack on a comparatively minor budget item designed to provide appropriate support for heroes who abundantly deserve it. 

As every family knows, all spending is not equal. Repairing a busted roof, for example, has priority over taking a luxury vacation.  They also understand that timely budgeting and planning are the most efficient ways to use income. It’s a vital practice. The federal government has yet to understand that logic. 

Both Democrats and Republicans, trying not to offend any potential constituency and apparently incapable of coming to an agreement on what the national priorities should be, have engaged in ludicrous procedures that treat vital necessities, such as national defense, on the same par as the latest pork barrel project. 

The most well-known manifestation of that nonsense is Budget Sequestration,  a law and a concept that purportedly seeks to limit the federal budget, but in substance shields Congress from its responsibility to make hard decisions and spend wisely.  It sets a hard cap on spending. The idea is that if Congress enacts annual appropriations that exceed the limit, an across-the-board spending cut is automatically imposed on general categories, affecting all departments and programs equally. The current incarnation of this ridiculous idea came into effect (it has antecedents going back to 1985) is the Budget Control Act of 2011 which came about during the Obama Administration, a period which doubled the national debt with nothing to show for all that spending. Indeed, despite slashing defense spending, and doing little to stabilize key programs such as Social Security and infrastructure repair, and despite excessively high taxes on individuals and businesses, it didn’t stop the doubling of the national debt, from about $10 trillion to approximately $20 trillion.

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The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that “Unless Congress and the President reach a new budget agreement, both non-defense and defense discretionary program areas will face deep cuts in 2020 and 2021, forced by tight funding limits and additional cuts… Since 2013 lawmakers of both parties have broadly agreed that the BCA-mandated caps are too low to meet national priorities in both defense and non-defense areas. To address this shortfall, Congress has enacted a series of temporary budget deals, generally lasting two years, that have increased funding above the sequestration levels. Each deal increased both the defense and non-defense discretionary caps by roughly equal amounts, recognizing that the BCA’s sequestration provision cut defense and non-defense programs by equal amounts. The most recent deal covered fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Unlike prior agreements, it fully reversed the harmful discretionary sequestration cuts and provided additional resources for new investments…”

The irrationality and political cowardice of Congress’s approach to the budget hurts the nation across the board. The inability to timely come to a broad budget agreement in compliance with sequestration results in “continuing resolutions” which, due to uncertainty and a lack of program continuity, results in higher expenses.  The General Accounting Office (GAO) describes the problem: “In all but 4 of the last 40 years, Congress has passed continuing resolutions (CR) to keep agencies running between budgets. Without appropriations or a CR, the government may partially shut down. We testified that CRs, possible shutdowns, or both create uncertainty and inefficiency for agencies. For example, our past work found that agencies have reported delays and rework in contracts, grants, and hiring.”

A Heritage study of this process provides one example: “Continuing resolutions impose a considerable cost on the military’s readiness levels through loss of training time, delayed maintenance, and delayed availability of new ships.”

The point is hammered home by an American Enterprise study: 

“Continuing resolutions negatively impact the military in three main ways. First, because CRs freeze individual appropriations accounts at last year’s levels, tens of billions of dollars will be misaligned. For instance, though the difference between the 2020 requested level of $750 billion and the 2019 spending level of $716 billion is only $34 billion, the actual effect of the CR is greater because the additional funding is misaligned compared to the budget request—and often at a lower level. This misalignment negatively affects all accounts, but particularly creates problems for troop training and maintenance of equipment and facilities—the core of military readiness. Near-term readiness is perishable and must be constantly maintained for the “fight tonight” or it is lost. It takes longer to rebuild readiness than to maintain it. Second, continuing resolutions do not allow the military to start new weapons programs or increase the production of existing weapons. This year, that means hundreds of new programs necessary for regaining the military’s edge against Russia and China will not be able to move forward until the CR is lifted. Third, by injecting uncertainty into every process, these spending freezes create significant sums of financial and personnel waste through duplication of work, higher prices, and contracting delays.”

Illustration: Pixabay

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Quick Analysis

State Courts Help Illegal Aliens Avoid ICE Arrest Despite Increase in Crimes They Commit

This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by Judge (ret.) John H. Wilson.

The news is truly stunning.  According to a report recently released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2018, 64% of persons arrested for federal crimes were non-US citizens.  Even more shocking, this represents a complete reversal from 1998, when 63% of federal arrests were made of US citizens.  72% of the illegal aliens arrested by the federal authorities are being prosecuted for illegal reentry (meaning they were removed previously, and are now back again), but the next biggest category of prosecution was for drug offenses, at 13%.

Mexican citizens account for 40% of those arrested by the federal authorities in 2018, up from 28% in 1998.  But the arrest of citizens of Central American countries has risen drastically; from 1% in 1998, these persons now represent 20% of those arrested on federal charges.

In all, while illegal aliens account for approximately 7% of the population of the United States, they also account for 15% of all federal arrests, 24% of all federal drug arrests, and 28% of all federal fraud arrests. 

As described by radio personality Brian Mudd, when it comes to either Fraud, Smuggling, Property Crime, Drug or Weapon Trafficking,  “in each of those instances an illegal immigrant is at least 300% more likely to commit one of those crimes than the average legal citizen.”  

Yet, despite this hard evidence of the violence and social destruction brought to the United States by illegal immigration, there are State Courts which continue to block ICE agents from taking criminal defendants into custody.

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In April of 2018, Judge Shelley Joseph, sitting in the State District Court of Newton, Massachusetts, was informed that a defendant who appeared before her on a drug charge and with a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania, was going to be arrested by ICE Agents were he to be released.

Obviously, someone who is reportedly a fugitive from another state is unlikely to return to the Massachusetts court to answer his new charge.  But rather then hold the defendant until Pennsylvania could send officers to pick him up, Judge Joseph allowed the man to be released from the back door of the courthouse. 

One year later, in April of 2019, Judge Joseph, and the Court Officer who actually released the defendant, were charged in Federal Court with Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice, Obstruction of Justice, and Obstruction of a Federal Proceeding.

The case has lead to a division within the state government of Massachusetts.  Governor Charlie Baker, who is a Republican, stated that “no one should obstruct federal law enforcement officials trying to do their jobs.”  However, the Attorney General for Massachusetts, Maura Healey, a Democrat, called this a political prosecution, and stated that “This prosecution is nothing less than an assault on justice in Massachusetts courts, and it will further undermine community trust and safety.”  

Currently, Judge Joseph is under suspension.  However, the initial suspension had been without pay.  Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Court reinstated the Judge’s pay, but left the suspension in place.  

In January of 2017, a similar matter was handled differently by another US Attorney.  Judge Monica Herranz of Multnomah County Court in Oregon, allowed a defendant appearing before her to answer a DWI charge to leave the courtroom by her own doorway, rather than through the public entrance.  Apparently, ICE Agents were waiting outside the courtroom to take the defendant into custody. 

The US Attorney in Oregon, Billy Williams, declined to bring charges against Judge Herranz.  Further, the Judge was cleared of all discipline charges in June of 2017.  The Report of the Investigating Court Administrator states that “Herranz didn’t know Pacheco-Salazar’s immigration status and also didn’t know why ICE was in the courthouse hallway.”  But at the same time, the Reviewing Administrator found that “Judge Herranz understood that the parties, both defense and prosecution, had agreed on the request to allow the defendant to avoid contact with ICE agents, and granted that request,” two statements that clearly conflict with each other.  

Is Judge Joseph being unfairly prosecuted, while Judge Herranz benefited from a whitewash of her actions?  Is the US Attorney in Massachusetts being more aggressive in his handling of this matter than was the US Attorney in Oregon?  The answer to each of these questions is a definite maybe.  But given the rampant criminal activities of illegal aliens, which action will send a message to state court judges more effectively – prosecution of those who obstruct ICE Agents, or excusing this behavior with a wink and a nod?

Illustration: Pixabay