Month: October 2019

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Trump vs. The Star Chamber

This article was exclusively provided to the New York analysis of Policy and Government by the distinguished retired judge, John H. Wilson

In Medieval England, the King established a court that was not required to follow the ordinary rules of evidence.  Known as the Court of the Star Chamber, the judges of this court did not use juries; could act on information it had received, regardless of the source; and could administer punishments including whippings, branding and mutilation.

Under Charles I, who attempted to rule England without a Parliament, the abuses of the Star Chamber became intolerable, and in 1641, the Court was abolished by the English Parliament.      But the term “Star Chamber” has become synonymous with an unfair proceeding, particularly one conducted in secret.

How else can one describe the procedure being used to investigate President Donald Trump in the US House of Representatives?

The latest effort to impeach President Trump began with a telephone call to the newly-elected President of the Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on July 25, 2019, in which the President stated “there’s been a lot of talk about (Joe) Biden’s son (Hunter Biden), that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that…Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you could look into it…It sounds horrible to me.” 

In fact, former Vice President Joe Biden did “brag” that he had been instrumental in getting that same prosecutor removed from office, by threatening to withhold a billion dollars in funding from the Ukraine if this prosecutor was not fired.    Further, that same prosecutor had been involved in investigating a Ukrainian Natural Gas company that had hired Hunter Biden, who had no experience in the natural gas business, but is the son of the then Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden. 

It is obviously improper for the Vice President to threaten to withhold funding from a foreign country unless and until they make an internal decision to halt an investigation that could affect that same Vice President’s son.  Yet, a “whistleblower” came forward shortly after President Trump’s call to the Ukrainian President and accused President Trump of “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election.”  h

Shortly thereafter, on September 24, 2019, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the “House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.” 

Under Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution, the House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach any federal official.  However, an impeachment is the equivalent of an So many vardenafil tablets men focus on sex, the woman’s sexual gratification can form the wide range. Old locks might develop mechanical snags sample generic viagra anytime hence they are not reliable. Its key ingredients are Kesar, Long, Jaypatri, Jaiphal, Khakhastil, Salabmisri, Dalchini, viagra generika 100mg Samudershosh, Sarpagandha, Gold Patra and Akarkara. To determine that a certain person is an alcohol addict, there are signs and symptoms that must be seen. overnight cheap viagra indictment, or any other charge brought by any prosecutor.  It is up to the Senate to hear the evidence upon which the impeachment is based, and to then vote to remove the official in question.

“The House of Representatives is responsible to commence the impeachment proceedings. A member of the House can start the procedure by listing the charges against the official under oath or by asking for a referral to the appropriate committee of the House…(d)epending on the type of impeachment, the referral will be presented to either the House Committee on the Judiciary or the House Committee on Rules.”

In the House, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) is the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee.  Schiff is best known for having steadfastly maintained that evidence exists establishing President Trump colluded with Russian Agents in their efforts to influence the 2016 elections, despite the findings of the Mueller Report.  Schiff was also famously pranked by Russian comedians pretending to have naked pictures of Donald Trump.   But as we just noted, the Judiciary Committee is tasked with investigating impeachment allegations, and the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is Gerald Nadler (D-NY).  Nonetheless, the House Impeach Inquiry is not being handled by Congressman Nadler and his Judiciary Committee alone – instead, the inquiry is being chaired by Congressman Schiff, as part of a joint committee.

In addition to this departure from the usual procedure, the joint committee investigation has been conducted in secret.  Witnesses are being questioned behind closed doors, in a room shielded from electronic usage, such as cell phones or laptops.  According to Congressman Schiff, the secrecy is necessary to protect the integrity of the proceedings and to prevent witnesses from coordinating their testimony.   Recently, however, approximately 30 Republican members of Congress staged a protest of these secret proceedings by bursting into the hearing room and interrupting the testimony of a witness.

Fox commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano compared the procedure to a Grand Jury presentation, which is always conducted in secret.  “(E)ventually” Judge Napolitano stated, “there will be a public presentation of (the evidence), at which lawyers for the president can cross-examine these people and challenge them.” But until then, Congressman Schiff and the Joint Committee can control what evidence is presented, and what is leaked to the press, and no one effectively contract their statements in the absence of any transcript of what the witnesses actually said.

While this procedure may be legal, for Americans used to transparency and public hearings, the closed door nature of these hearings is troubling.  In its time, the Star Chamber was also legal.  But the British Parliament didn’t close the Star Chamber for being illegal – it was closed for abusing its power.

House Democrats should expect similar treatment of and respect for their own version of the Court of the Star Chamber.

Illustration: Engraving of the Star Chamber, published in “Old and new London” in 1873, taken from a drawing made in 1836 (Wikipedia)

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Ebola Outbreak Hits Children Hardest

According to the United Nations, almost 600 children have now lost their lives to the Ebola outbreak in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) out of almost 850 who have caught the deadly virus since the epidemic started in August 2018. More children, proportionately, are being affected than in any previous Ebola outbreak.

The total number of deaths has now passed 2,000, out of more than 3,000 cases.

The recent breakthrough in finding a successful treatment for this disease, and the continued effectiveness of vaccination efforts to prevent transmission and infection, mean that, for the first time, there is an ability to both prevent and treat Ebola. The U.N. notes, however, that these breakthroughs “mean little if individuals are too scared to seek treatment, or too slow to spot symptoms.” The Mayo Clinic . notes that the Ebola virus disease is not transmitted through the air and does not spread through casual contact, such as being near an infected person. Unlike respiratory illnesses, which can spread by particles that remain in the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes, Ebola is spread by direct contact with body fluids of a person who is sick with Ebola.

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The Medicine Without Borders (MSF) (Médecins Sans Frontières, an independent international medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural or man-made disasters) found that “During the first eight months of the epidemic, until March 2019, more than 1,000 cases of Ebola were reported in the affected region. However, between April and June 2019, this number doubled, with a further 1,000 new cases reported in just those three months. Between early June and the beginning of August, the number of new cases notified per week was high, and averaged between 75 and 100 each week; since August, this rate has slowly declined, but the number of new cases are still averaging just under 50 per week.”

According to MSF, “There is considerable difficulty in identifying and following up contacts of people diagnosed with Ebola. Over the last three months, only a third of new Ebola cases were identified and monitored as contacts of previously confirmed cases; two-thirds of contacts were never followed-up with by the surveillance teams. People continue to die in their communities, undiagnosed, untreated.”

The problem has spread into another regional nation.  MSF noted that in June, Uganda announced that three people had been positively diagnosed with Ebola, the first cross-border cases since the outbreak began. After several weeks with no recorded cases, the Ugandan government announced a new case on 29 August. In July, the first case of Ebola was confirmed in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, and a city of one million people. Later that month, a second person in Goma was diagnosed with Ebola; they died the next day and two more cases were announced. No new cases have since been recorded in either Uganda or in Goma.

MSF states that “Unlike the 2014-2016 West Africa Outbreak, there now exists two vaccines against Ebola which are in clinical study phases and are not licenced. One, the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine produced by Merck, has been used in a ‘ring’ vaccination strategy since the start of this year. Using this strategy – where the contacts of people diagnosed with Ebola are vaccinated (first-degree contacts), and their contacts (second-degree contacts) in turn are vaccinated – over 230,000 people have been vaccinated up to the end of September 2019. In late September 2019, the Ministry of Health announced plans to introduce a second investigational vaccine, produced by Johnson and Johnson.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the current Ebola outbreak in DR Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern.

Chart: MSF

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Russia, China, Iran, Cuba Threats in Western Hemisphere

According to U.S. Navy Adm. Craig S. Faller, the commander of U.S. Southern Command In South and Central America, (“Southcom”) four foreign powers are operating with differing involvement across all elements of national power.

Admiral Faller said he’s seen Russia, China, Iran and Cuba operating in varying capacities in Southcom’s area of responsibility.

Russia

Russia, he said, is helping to prop up the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela with weapons sales and security assistance. They’re operating elsewhere, too, he added.

“They have traditional arms sales relationships with countries in the region, and that continues, particularly in Venezuela [and] Nicaragua,” Faller said. “Russia has deployed nuclear-capable bombers [and] Russia has deployed their most advanced warship that is capable of firing nuclear cruise missiles throughout the region, all within the last year. Russia has provided significant assistance to Venezuela.”

Hundreds of Russians — both forces and contractors — are in Venezuela “helping Maduro continue his reign of terror on the nation,” the admiral said. In Nicaragua, he told the defense writers, Russia runs a counternarcotics and counterterrorism training center that “has dubious dual purposes.”

Russian information operations are strong in South America as well, he said, with a large Spanish-language media presence. “It is Russia’s largest language operation outside of their native language, outside of Russia,” he said. “It’s pumping a lot of information out in those spaces, and then misinformation.”

Faller said at one point, he was in Washington meeting with lawmakers and Russian propaganda outlets reported he was on the Columbia-Venezuela border planning an invasion into Venezuela.

China

China has legitimate economic interests in the region, the admiral said, but it also is involved heavily in the information space, including in the information technology, cyber and space realms.

“Their arms sales have grown,” he said. “They have deployed some assets — that’s ticked up consistently in the last couple of years. They are also increasing their military engagement.”

He said the Chinese have created Spanish-language schools and training centers and in addition to military sales, have been giving hardware to various nations.

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There is significant evidence of investment in Chinese and Russian weapons systems in Southcom’s area of responsibility, Faller said. “Russian weapons systems sales [are] in the billions, and China’s [are] increasing. China is also gifting a lot of military hardware to … partners. The extent to which it undermines partnerships with the U.S. [and] contributes to instability … is a concern for the security of the U.S.”

Dozens of Chinese infrastructure projects in South America are contributing to instability, Faller said, noting that China is working on 56 port deals in the region. Some of those deals are locked up with onerous leasing agreements, he said, and some of those agreements have left host nations with little access to and little control over what the Chinese have built.

In one partner nation, he said, a Chinese-built road has a 99-year lease in which the Chinese have land rights on both sides. “Thousands of acres, and they have the ability to control the tolls on that road for 99 years,” the admiral said. “That’s the price you get for having the Chinese come in and build a road. We’ve been watching that closely, and it has our attention and has contributed to a sense of urgency I feel about the overall security.”

Cuba

While Russia has hundreds of people in Venezuela, Cuba has thousands, Faller said. In fact, he told the writers, 100% of the Venezuelan “palace guard” protecting Maduro are Cuban.

Iran

When it comes to terrorist activity, he said, Iran’s influence and presence are felt in South America.

“We have uncovered terrorist plots,” he said. “We know that there is a significant Lebanese Hezbollah presence through the region with connections back to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran. … Iran’s hand is in this. They are the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. And the long arm of Iranian malfeasance is alive and present around the world, not just in the Middle East. We are continuously keeping our eye on that ball, along with interagency partners.”

Key to Countering Threats

Faller said strengthening U.S. partnerships in the Southcom area of responsibility is the key to countering threats from Russia, China, Iran and Cuba.

Photo: Southcom Commander Admiral Faller (DoD)

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Pelosi, Partisanship, and ISIS

There should be concern about the partisan-tenor of the statements Speaker Pelosi issued in response to the triumph of American special forces in eliminating ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

President George Washington famously warned about the dangers of political parties.  He was deeply concerned that dedication to party would exceed loyalty to the nation as a whole. While both sides have their share of overenthusiastic zealots, it cannot be reasonably denied that the leadership of the Democratic Party, and its steadfast media friends have adopted a slash and burn mindset that places the fortunes of party above the national interest.

The raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a substantive victory in the War on Terror. While ISIS will continue to exist albeit in a weakened form, it has lost a crucial leadership element. Combined with the prior destruction of the ISIS caliphate by the Trump Administration, significant progress has been made.

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But that progress has apparently not been uppermost in the minds of Speaker Pelosi. After giving due praise to the military for its heroism, Pelosi complained: “The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region.  Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington.” (The White House noted that Turkish, Russian, and Kurdish forces needed to be partially informed since they had forces in the region.)

Pelosi’s comments were given prominence in major media outlets. The Associated Press reported: “ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is criticizing the White House for failing to notify congressional leaders before the U.S. raid in Syria that President Donald Trump says killed the leader of the Islamic State group… Pelosi says the Trump administration must brief Congress on the operation and on the administration’s overall strategy for the Mideast.”

Similarly, USA Today wrote: “President Donald Trump did not give House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or other key members of Congress advance notice of the Saturday night raid that ended in the death of terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump said he knew about plans for the top-secret mission for three days but kept most members of Congress in the dark because he feared the information would be leaked to the public and endanger the lives of American forces. ‘Washington leaks like I’ve never seen before,’ Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday. ‘There’s no country in the world that leaks like we do. And Washington is a leaking machine.’

Leaks have been a significant Washington news item lately. Earlier this month, WTOP reported that “A Defense Intelligence Agency official was arrested…and charged with leaking classified intelligence information to two journalists, including a reporter he was dating…He was charged with willfully disclosing national defense information. The official had a top secret government security clearance, and reportedly ‘accessed at least five classified intelligence reports and provided top secret information about another country’s weapons systems to the reporter with whom he was having a relationship’…The arrest is the latest in a series of prosecutions under the Trump administration of government workers accused of providing nonpublic information to journalists.”

The leadership of the Democratic Party have had a significant problem with leaks and internal security matters. Former Democratic Party National Committee Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida) protected her IT aide, Imram Awan, who hacked house servers. As National Review notes “Awan, who worked as an IT aide for roughly two-thirds of House Democrats, was found to have gained ‘unauthorized access’ to House servers in July 2016. …Wasserman Schultz became ‘frantic, not normal’ and began ‘making the rounds’ to pressure House officials to kill the probe, according to the Daily Caller‘s sources. She reportedly attacked House chief administrative officer Phil Kiko, calling him a “f***ing Islamophobe.’”

The partisanship-above-everything emphasis by the Democratic leadership is precisely what President Washington warned about.

Photo: Speaker Pelosi

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Foreign Policy Update

MIDDLE EAST

In a recent press conference Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed America’s leadership role in the role and how it has evolved under the Trump Administration.  He said Americans live in a “complicated world, dangerous world.” He pointed out that America is no longer leading from behind, but also recognized the United States can’t be everywhere and do all things. He added that “We’re doing it right; we’re doing it well.

The work that Vice President Pence did in Ankara trying to stop the Turkish incursion was “truly lifesaving,” he pointed out. Pompeo said the complexity of the Middle East is even greater. Although the caliphate is no longer, he said “We still have threats from terrorism all around the world, not just in the Middle East, in Asia too.”

The mission at the State Department is to “deliver against President Trump’s priorities, to make sure that we’re doing this right in the true American tradition of diplomacy, and to keep the American people safe and secure,” according to Pompeo. He added that if they do their jobs well, “we’ll have to put fewer young men and women in harm’s way in the military, and we reduce the risk to our people back home, and we can continue to do the things we love to do in places like here in Kansas and take care of our families, grow our economy, all the things that Americans value.”

UKRAINE

“This is a results-based administration. This is about realism. It’s about being practical. It’s about delivering on real outcomes to keep the American people safe. Our interest in Ukraine has consistently been aimed at the singular focus of what’s in America’s best interest – that is, how do we get the outcome that keeps the American people safe,” according to Pompeo. Washington views a strong Ukraine, that is less corrupt and less under the influence of Russia’s Putin will be more secure for the Ukrainian people. And that it will help Europe in that it pushes back against the threats that are from Russia.

TURKEY

Asked if he was comfortable with the President lifting sanctions against Turkey a day after Erdogan met with Russian President Putin, Pompeo said “Yes. I recommended that to the President.”  

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Vice President Pence had led a delegation along with Pompeo to meet with President Erdogan and explain to the Turkish leader that the President was “very unhappy that he had conducted an incursion into Syria.” Pompeo added that “We wanted to stop that incursion to save lives. We did that. We set up a five-day pause so that we could extract SDF fighters safely, they wouldn’t be killed as they moved back. We were largely successful in doing that.”

The Turks did halt their Operation Peace Spring which has allowed for the initiation of a permanent ceasefire phase which Washington plans to monitor. US sanctions were put in place to convince the Turkish leadership that it was in their best interest to halt that operation, to stop the death, to stop the killing that would have taken place, according to Pompeo.

VENEZUELA

Venezuela recently was given a seat on the UH Human Rights Commission to the disbelief of many member countries. Secretary Pompeo commented that “this is untethered to anything, left, right, center, and America would understand as decent and right and protecting human dignity. If you observe what’s going on in Venezuela today, you can see that it’s the antithesis of the protection of individual liberty and freedom and the rights that we all know.” The Maduro regime has long abused the citizens of Venezuela and illegally attempted to retain power. The resulting economic decay in the country and abuse has led millions of Venezuela’s citizens to seek refuge in other nations.

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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Pompeo urges Unity on Fight for Freedom

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo addressed human dignity and religious freedom at a Vatican meeting on “Human Dignity and Faith in Free Societies.” The New York Analysis of Policy and Government presents key presents key excerpts.

Then-Pope – now Saint – John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan combined the moral authority of the Holy See with the prosperity and example of the United States, the freest nation on earth, to fight the evil empire. [the Soviet Union.]  Through patience and unity of purpose, they prevailed.

Their words and deeds helped save – helped leave the Soviet leviathan on that ash heap of history.

Think of the millions of believers who can live with dignity and purpose, who can now worship without fear, thanks to the joint efforts of a pope and a president.

What a blessing to the world.

Today each of us must gird ourselves for another battle in defense of human dignity and religious freedom.  The stakes today are arguably higher than they were even during the Cold War, because the threats to it are more diverse and more numerous.

More than 80 percent of mankind lives in places where religious freedom is threatened or entirely denied.  Approximately 71 million people around the world are displaced as refugees.  Roughly 25 million people are caught in human trafficking situations.

And it’s no coincidence that it has happened as unfree societies have proliferated.

Because when the state rules absolutely, God becomes an absolute threat to authority.  That’s why Cuba cancelled National Catholic Youth Day back in August.

When the state rules absolutely, human dignity is trampled, not cherished.  That’s why Assad kills his own people, and has no regard for the 11 million Syrians suffering today as displaced persons and refugees.

When the state rules absolutely, moral norms are crushed completely.  That’s why the Islamic Republic of Iran has jailed, tortured, and killed thousands of its own citizens for four decades.  It’s why China has put more than a million Uighur Muslims …in internment camps.  It’s why it throws Christian pastors in jail.

Freedom of religion can also be threatened when an intolerant majority rules.  That’s how the Burmese security forces have been able to drive hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims out of their homes, in the most violent and brutal ways.

We must recognize the roots of religious repression.  Authoritarian regimes and autocrats will never accept a power higher than their own.  And that causes all sorts of assaults on human dignity.

We must exercise our moral voice to confront them.

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The Holy See and the United States have had our differences over the years.  Good people can disagree.

But on the issues most fundamental, on the issues of human dignity and religious freedom, these issues that transcend everyday politics, on the enduring struggle of the individual’s right to believe and worship, we must – and I know we will – march together.

His Holiness leads a church that has carried on the mission of Christ for centuries.  Sister Gabriella Bottani – who is with us today – leads more than 2,000 nuns around the world who fight human trafficking.

Catholic Relief Services helps students in areas of Iraq devastated by ISIS get back in school and recover a normal life.  The voice of Catholics around the world, led by Pope Benedict, and Pope Francis, drew attention to the case of Asia Bibi in Pakistan, saving her – certainly saving her – from execution for her faith.

The United States came along just a little bit later than St. Peter, but protecting human dignity has long been essential to our foreign policy.

We led the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights back in 1948.

After World War II, Pope Pius the Twelfth said after the war, quote, “Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.”  We used our power after World War II to rescue a starving Europe.

Today, we deploy humanitarian missions all over the world, such as the rescue efforts after the 2004 tsunami, or after the – in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian just this past August.

And in the Trump administration, you have the strongest advocates of religious freedom in the history of our country.

The President and I have met with many victims of religious persecution.  We’ve prioritized life in our foreign aid.  We’ve devoted nearly $340 million to help Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities recover from the scourge of ISIS.

We’ve used relentless diplomacy to secure the release of hostages like Pastor Andrew Brunson, and three men held in North Korea who I was proud to bring home last year.

Last week, President Trump became the first American president ever to host a religious freedom event at the United Nations.

But perhaps most importantly, at our Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom this past July, we launched the International Religious Freedom Alliance, the first multilateral organization, multilateral body of its kind.  We aim to make it the premier body in the world for advancing the issues of religious freedom.

We humbly ask the Holy See to join us.  We ask the representatives of all nations present here today to join us.  What could be more powerful than our voices all together, calling for the freedom to worship God?

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China Displays Massive New Military Power

Speaking at a Brookings Institution event earlier this month, Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific region Randall Schriver sounded an alarm about China, and warned that the U.S. military needed to prepare for the significant challenge.

Schriver noted that “We feel we are in competition because fundamentally we have different visions, different aspirations and different views of what regional security architecture should look like.”

He stressed that while the U.S. seeks respect for national sovereignty, fair and free trade, and a rule-based order, the Beijing government “has a different vision and aspirations and is increasingly developing the tools to pursue its vision and seems willing to accept more friction in pursuit of that vision,” he said. “Globally, China seeks to shape a world consistent with its authoritarian model and national goals. We see that domestic governance in China as a result of CCP rule is increasingly authoritarian and less respectful of human rights and dignity.” 

The Assistant Secretary outlined how the giant Communist nation has behaved in a worrisome manner, including launching influence operations to undermine free elections, using economic coercion on neighboring countries and encouraging  outright theft of other nations’ intellectual property. “We see them extending their military presence overseas and expanding the ‘One-belt, One-road’ initiative to include military ties with China,” Schriver said. “And we see [Beijing] deploying advanced weapons to militarizing disputed features despite pledges at the senior-most level that they would not do so.”

While many nations develop their military to provide for their own national security, China, which has increased its military spending at a faster percentage than either the U.S.A. or the U.S.S.R. at the height of the Cold War, has specific, belligerent goals. “The [Defense] department views military developments in China as seeking to erode U.S. military advantages,” Schriver said. “They are working to become the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific while simultaneously making plans to expand its presence and sustain its capabilities farther from Chinese shores.”

China is seeking to base troops and develop military capabilities in Africa, the Middle East and in the Western Pacific Ocean area.  Its armed forces have trampled on the rights of other regional nations, and has There is no pain and no discomforting feeling, while you are undergoing from the treatment of lowest priced cialis you could try here for best effects. cialis is basically considered to be the order generic cialis. In the ancient times this sexual disorder usually tackle trouble viagra genérico 25mg from the personal also professional face. Some of them develop of erectile dysfunction order levitra canada while it is also very effective against the problem of premature ejaculation. Unhappy with best price viagra your life? Feeling depressed? No worries, there are solutions for the same as well. been cited by the World Court for its invasion of the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone.  The Obama Administration failed to even lodge a diplomatic protest regarding that event, souring relations between Washington and Manila.

The extraordinary modernization leap of China’s world-class military was clearly on display at the recent Beijing parade marking the 70th anniversary of Communist rule. According to China’s Defense Ministry, “The parade reflected the military’s new structure, created through reforms starting in late 2015. The reforms were initiated by President Xi Jinping and represent the most thorough overhaul of the nation’s defense systems in the past several decades.” 

One of the new weapon systems featured was the Dongfeng-41 nuclear missile,  a solid-fuelled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US within 30 minutes. While the U.S. is tied to international nuclear arms treaties, China, not a signatory, is free to dramatically expand its offensive nuclear prowess.

Also displayed was the DF-17 hypersonic missile, perhaps the most advanced of its kind on the planet.

The focus was on more than hardware. Major Cai Zhijun, a senior official in the Central Military Commission and a key player in presenting the parade, noted that advanced operational tactics such as joint operations represented the increased sophistication of the nation’s armed forces.

Under the protection of first the British and then the American armed forces, international commerce and navigation increased dramatically as sea lanes were protected, and all nations were free to travel without fear.  China’s philosophy is quite different. It’s rise to power would signal the end of global prosperity, as well as presenting a military threat even exceeding that which occurred during the Second World War.

Photo: Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles (China Defense Ministry)

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The Media Encouragement of the Perpetually Outraged

This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by the distinguished retired judge, John Wilson.

Recently, in Virginia, a 12 year old African American girl accused three of her male white classmates of pinning her down, and cutting off her dreadlocks. Before the girl recanted, she received an “outpouring of support” from across the nation, including some kind words from Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.  

This is only the latest in a series of racial incidents that were either falsified or exaggerated by the victims themselves.  In December of 2016, an 18 year old Muslim girl in New York City  claimed that a group of men yelled President Trump’s name as they tried to remove the hijab from her head.  This girl admitted to making up the story. Just a month earlier, a college student in Lafayette, Louisiana also admitted to fabricating a story about two men ripping off her hijab during a robbery.

Though Jussie Smollett has not admitted to perpetrating a hoax when he claimed to be attacked by two men wearing MAGA hats on a Chicago street, all the evidence gathered to date would indicate that Smollet hired his alleged attackers in an effort to boost his salary.  

Of course, claiming falsely that someone of another race has assaulted you is not exclusive to African or Arab Americans.  In January of 2019, a woman in Columbia, SC admitted that her allegation of being assaulted by a black man in a Walmart parking lot was not true.   In April of 2019, a Quincy, Massachusetts woman admitted to falsely reporting that she lied to the police about being attacked by a black man in a park, and in 2015, a Texas woman also admitted to lying about being attacked by three African American men.  That “victim” had gone as far as to take photographs of her “black eyes,” which were obviously blackened with makeup. 

But there is a difference between the false reports of Jussie Smollett and the young Arab women, and the claims made by the three white women described above.  In the case of Smollett and the Arab girls, there is a decidedly political angle to their allegations.  Smollett claimed that the men who attacked him were wearing MAGA hats, while each of the Arab girls claimed that either her attacker had worn a similar hat, or referenced the President during the faux assault.  

The motivation for perpetrating a hoax of this nature is complicated, and usually involves an effort to gather sympathy for oneself as the victim of a crime.  But many of those reporting false incidents have a political agenda.  As reported by Wilfred Reilly in USA Today, “in college campus hate hoax cases…the individuals responsible almost invariably say that they staged incidents to call attention to real incidents of racist violence on campus.”    

While researching a book on the topic, Reilly documented approximately 409 “confirmed hate hoaxes.”  In fact, there are so many “hate crime” allegations that have been proven to be false, a website called Fake Hate Crimes exists, and at last count, has documented 371 faked crimes since 2012, including “dreadlock girl.”

More than anything, this political underpinning of a hoax of this nature drives the majority of the press coverage for the incident.  In the case of “dreadlock girl,” much of the initial media coverage for the story emphasized that the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, Karen Pence, was a teacher at the school, even though she had nothing to do with the reported allegations.  

The “shoot at the MAGA hat first, and ask questions later” style of reporting was most in evidence in January of 2019, when a group of white students from Covington High School in Kentucky were filmed wearing red MAGA hats while being confronted by a Native American activist in Washington, DC.  The video of one young man in particular, smiling while Native activist Nathan Phillips beat a drum uncomfortably close to the young man’s face, went viral, and sparked a firestorm of criticism for these students. 

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In this instance, however, the wrongfully accused is fighting back.  Nick Sandmann, the Covington student featured in the video, has sued the Washington Post, as well as other media outlets, claiming that these news services “wrongfully plac(ed their) anti-Trump, anti-Catholic, and pro-choice agenda over the harm its False and Defamatory Accusations caused to Nicholas” and of ignoring “contrary information in favor of its pre-conceived false narrative against President Trump and his supporters.”  (Covington High is a Catholic school, and its students were in Washington to attend a Right to Life rally.)

More often than not, there isn’t any real “victim” of the false allegations – the faux attacker and his MAGA hat don’t exist in anything but the hoaxers’ imagination.  Occasionally, the person who made the fake allegation is arrested, and prosecuted for making a false complaint to the police.  But many of the faux “victims” continue to have their defenders.  For instance, in defending Jussie Smollett, Susan X Jane incoherently writes that “no matter how many times Trump lies, white men stay mansplaining and they certainly believe themselves. But the accusation is that Smollett staged an assault — that’s a little more than trying to get your neighbor kicked out of the pool, right?” 

The real story here isn’t that people will seek attention for themselves by claiming to be the victim of a crime.  It’s the speed with which the media picks up on these allegations, and publishes them without any effort to verify the facts.  As former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark states in The Hill, “the media love stories of race so much that they sprint to unfurl the ‘breaking news’ banner before knowing the facts. It seems facts don’t matter, or more precisely, facts are inconvenient if they can use the story as a political bludgeon to smear all conservatives and Republicans as racists.” 

Besides the obvious “click-bait” such stories provide for the media, publicizing an uninvestigated hoax gives certain media outlets the opportunity to whip up a frenzy among the “perpetually outraged.”  In a vicious circle of support, the false story is shared across the internet, providing more readership for the news outlet that publishes the untrue allegations.

When more responsible investigators and news outlets finally get to the bottom of the story, and reveal the story to be false, no apologies are made by the people who supported the false narrative.  Instead, these media outlets and the “on-line mob” move on to the next outrage that supports their view – that Trump supporters are all racists, and anyone wearing a MAGA hat is violent. 

Meanwhile, the opposite is demonstrably true – there have been an increase in attacks on people wearing hats that support President Trump. (For a detailed series of incidents, including an attack on an 81 year old. Yet, when a New Jersey man was attacked in Manhattan in August of 2019 while wearing a MAGA hat, the headlines all proclaimed that he “claimed” to be assaulted for his support of the President.  To date, there has been no evidence to indicate that the victim’s story is anything but the truth.

There is no controlling or stopping the media and its support for the “perpetually outraged.”  But to be forewarned is to be forearmed.  The next time you hear about an alleged racial incident, particularly if it involves someone in a MAGA hat, take a deep breath, and wait a few days before sharing the story on line – you may find yourself sharing the truth instead of spreading the lie.

Photo: Pixabay

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Pentagon Preparations for Catastrophes

There are times that government statements reveal more in what they do not say than in what they do discuss.

Though the United States has yet to experience a complex catastrophe in which millions of people are displaced, killed or injured, the Defense Department and other agencies have to be ready to respond should a catastrophic event occur.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for homeland defense Robert G. Salesses laid out some possible catastrophic scenarios, while addressing a United States Army panel on Preparedness for a Complex Catastrophe. He noted several scenarios:  

  •  The New Madrid Fault along the Mississippi River in Missouri and Arkansas could produce a massive earthquake, as it did in the early 19th century, when very few people lived in the area. 
  • The Cascadia Subduction Zone on the West Coast could experience a massive earthquake, as it did in the early 18th century.
  • A weapons-of-mass destruction attack.
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Noticeably missing from the list was the threat of an electromagnetic pulse, or “EMP.”  Whether from natural causes, such as solar activity, or from an enemy attack, (Russia, China, and North Korea are known to have EMP capabilities) an EMP event could destroy all electronics within  the United States.

Under the Defense Support of Civil Authorities authorization, the Defense Department would contribute in a massive way to rescue, relief and recovery efforts in a complex catastrophe, he said.

Although all of the service branches could be involved, some of the commands and agencies spearheading the effort would be the Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Transportation Command and the Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, the U.S. Northern Command would synchronize efforts in North America, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would do the same for Hawaii and U.S. territories in the Pacific, Salesses said.

Installations themselves could also be huge providers of transportation, logistics and personnel, he added.

The response, however, would not be DOD’s alone, he emphasized. DOD would need to be part of a unified effort within the government.

One of the most important agencies that the department has worked with is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Salesses said. FEMA has taken the lead in past emergencies, with DOD taking a supporting role.

The departments of Energy, Transportation and Health and Human Services would also be involved, he said. DHHS would activate its Public Health Service doctors and providers, but in a complex catastrophe, DOD’s medical personnel and assets would be deployed along with them.

Salesses said state and local governments would contribute assets along with the National Guard and the private sector.

A unified effort, he said, would include a coordinated assessment of the impacts of the disaster and competing priorities. Command and control would need to be established, and capabilities and requirements would need to be identified and allocated.

To prepare for such a complex undertaking, DOD has been building and sustaining partnerships and relationships with federal, state and local agencies, Salesses  said, and exercises are periodically held to test the coordination and response.

Operations in response to hurricanes, wildfires and flooding also provide a test of that effort, but the effort would need to be scaled way up in a complex catastrophe, Salesses said.

But EMP preparation was missing fron  Salesses discussion. As the New York Analysis of Policy and Government previously reported, In 2017 testimony to Congress about the imminent threat of an EMP attack on the United States by Dr. William R. Graham, Chairman, and Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, chief of staff, of the Commission to Assess the Threat to America from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), the two experts noted:

“In the event of a nuclear EMP attack on the United States, a widespread protracted blackout is inevitable.” According to their report, “The damage level could be sufficient to be catastrophic to the Nation, and our current vulnerability invites attack…

“We highly commend President Trump’s new Executive Order “Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure” signed on May 11, 2017. We strongly recommend that implementation of cybersecurity for the electric grid and other critical infrastructures include EMP protection, since all-out cyber warfare as planned by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran includes nuclear EMP attack. However, current institutional arrangements for protecting and improving the reliability of the electric grids and other critical infrastructures through the U.S. FERC and the NERC are not designed to address major national security threats to the electric power grids and other national critical infrastructures. Using FERC and NERC to achieve this level of national security is beyond the purpose for which those organizations were created and has proven to be fundamentally unworkable. New institutional arrangements are needed to advance preparedness to survive EMP and related threats to our critical national infrastructures.”

It’s unknown whether Salesses intentionally ignored EMP threats to not highlight an issue that could cause deep public concern, whether he simply assumes that an EMP attack comes under a “Weapons of Mass Destruction” category, or whether the Pentagon prefers to keep the preparations, as urged by the Trump White House, out of the public’s view.  As of this writing, there is no indication that substantial EMP precautions have yet been implemented.

Photo: Preparing for catastrophe (U.S. Army)

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Venezuela Elected to U.N. Human Rights Council

Any doubt that the United Nations has failed to live up to its supposed commitment to human rights has been authoritatively dissolved this month, as Venezuela has won a seat on its Human rights Council.  Nations such as Cuba and China, blatant and severe violators of human rights, have also served time on the body.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was outraged.  In a statement, he stated:
“The UN High Commissioner report on Human Rights issued this past July documented egregious human rights abuses of the former Maduro regime in Venezuela.  It is sadly no surprise that Maduro shamelessly sought a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in an effort to block any limit to his repressive control of the Venezuelan people.  What is truly tragic, however, is that other nations voted to give Maduro’s representative for Venezuela a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.  This is a harsh blow not just against the victims of the Venezuelan regime, but also against the cause of human rights around the world. The Human Rights Council ought to be a protector and defender of human rights of people the world over.  It should be speaking out about the daily abuses of the former Maduro regime, and others like it.  Instead, the Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy – with some of the world’s most serious offenders sitting on the Council itself.  Its membership includes authoritarian governments with unambiguous and abhorrent human rights records, such as China, Cuba, and Venezuela.  These are among the reasons why the United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council in 2018.”

According to the European journal DW “…the United States and Israel, as well as over 50 organizations that oppose Nicolas Maduro’s government, slammed the decision. Philippe Bolopion, a deputy director Human Rights Watch (HRW), said Venezuela’s nomination to the council was ‘undeserved’ and called it a ‘slap in the face to the country’s countless victims who’ve been tortured and murdered by government forces…”

There can be little doubt that the Maduro regime, which remains illegally in power, openly and significantly violates human rights on a massive scale.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that No independent government institutions remain today in Venezuela to act as a check on executive power. A series of measures by the Maduro and Chávez governments stacked the courts with judges who make no pretense of independence. The government has been repressing dissent through often-violent crackdowns on street protests, jailing opponents, and prosecuting civilians in military courts. It has also stripped power from the opposition-led legislature. Severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and food leave many Venezuelans unable to feed their families adequately or access essential healthcare. The massive exodus of Venezuelans fleeing repression and shortages represents the largest migration crisis of its kind in recent Latin American history. Other persistent concerns include poor prison conditions, impunity for human rights violations, and harassment by government officials of human rights defenders and independent media outlets.

The numbers, as reported by HRW, present a devastating picture:

“More than 3 million of an estimated 32 million Venezuelans had fled their country since 2014. Many more not registered by authorities have also left. The Venezuelan government has jailed political opponents and disqualified them from running for office. At time of writing, Venezuelan prisons and intelligence services offices held more than 230 political prisoners, according to the Penal Forum, a Venezuelan network of pro-bono criminal defense lawyers. In two crackdowns in 2014 and 2017, Venezuelan security forces and armed pro-government groups called ‘colectivos’ attacked demonstrations—some attended by tens of thousands of protesters. Security force personnel shot demonstrators at point-blank range with riot-control munitions, brutally beat people who offered no resistance, and staged violent raids on apartment buildings. More than 12,500 people have been arrested since 2014 in connection with protests, according to the Penal Forum. These include not only demonstrators but bystanders, and people taken from their homes without warrants. Around 7,300 had been conditionally released at time of writing, but they remained subject to criminal prosecution. In 2017, military courts prosecuted more than 750 civilians, in violation of international human rights law. The practice continued with less frequency in 2018. Security forces have committed serious abuses against detainees that in some cases amount to torture—including severe beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, and sexual abuse.

“Venezuelans are facing severe shortages of medicine, medical supplies, and food, seriously undermining their rights to health and food. In 2017, the Venezuelan health minister released official data for 2016, indicating that, during that year, maternal mortality had increased 65 percent, infant mortality 30 percent, and cases of malaria 76 percent. Days later, the health minister was fired. The government has not since published epidemiological bulletins.

“The Pan American Health Organization has reported increasing numbers of patients with such diseases as malaria, tuberculosis, measles, and diphtheria. Until 2016, measles and diphtheria, which are preventable through vaccination, had been eliminated in Venezuela.

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“The estimated percentage of children under five suffering moderate or severe malnutrition increased from 10 in February 2017 to 17 in March 2018, according to Cáritas Venezuela, in Caracas and several states. Cáritas reported the average dipped to 13.5 in July, but figures were significantly higher in Caracas (16.7) and Vargas state (19.7). A 2018 nationwide study by three prestigious Venezuelan universities found that 80 percent of Venezuelan households were food insecure, and interviewees each had lost an average of 11 kilograms in 2017.

“Since former President Hugo Chávez and his supporters in the National Assembly conducted a political takeover of the Supreme Court in 2004, the judiciary has ceased to function as an independent branch of government. Members of the Supreme Court have openly rejected the principle of separation of powers and publicly pledged their commitment to advancing the government’s political agenda. The court has consistently upheld abusive policies and practices.

“In 2017, President Maduro convened a ‘Constituent Assembly’ by presidential decree, despite a constitutional requirement that a public referendum be held before any effort to rewrite the Constitution. The assembly is made up exclusively of government supporters chosen through an election that Smartmatic, a British company hired by the government to verify the results, called fraudulent. The Constituent Assembly has, in practice, replaced the opposition-led National Assembly as the country’s legislative branch.

“For more than a decade, the government has expanded and abused its power to regulate media and has worked aggressively to reduce the number of dissenting media outlets. The government can suspend or revoke concessions to private media if ‘convenient for the interests of the nation,’ arbitrarily suspend websites for the vaguely defined offense of ‘incitement,’ and criminalize expression of ‘disrespect’ for high government officials. While a few newspapers, websites, and radio stations criticize the government, fear of reprisals has made self-censorship a serious problem.

“In May, members of the Bolivarian Service of National Intelligence (SEBIN) detained Pedro Jaimes Criollo for mentioning the presidential plane’s route, which was public information, on Twitter. Criollo has been charged with crimes including espionage and revealing political secrets. Neither his family nor lawyers from the Venezuelan group Espacio Público who are working on the case were allowed to see or talk to him for more than a month. He has told his family that security agents have brutally beaten him. At time of writing, he remained in an overcrowded cell, without access to medical treatment.

“In November 2017, the Constituent Assembly adopted a Law Against Hatred that includes vague language undermining free speech. It forbids political parties that ‘promote fascism, hatred, and intolerance,’ and imposes prison sentences of up to 20 years on those who publish ‘messages of intolerance and hatred’ in media or social media. In 2018, prosecutors charged several people with these crimes, including three children detained after voicing opposition to the government on social media.

“Government measures to restrict international funding of nongovernmental organizations—combined with unsubstantiated accusations by government officials and supporters that human rights defenders are seeking to undermine Venezuelan democracy—create a hostile environment that limits the ability of civil society groups to promote human rights. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals or organizations receiving foreign funding can be prosecuted for treason. That year, the National Assembly enacted legislation blocking organizations that ‘defend political rights’ or ‘monitor the performance of public bodies’ from receiving international assistance.”

Photo: U.N. Headquarters in New York