Month: January 2024

The Roman Catholic Church has always been clear regarding its stance towards homosexuality.  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (Cf. Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10), tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered’…They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” 

However, despite this official disapproval, the Church believes that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”  At the same time, the Church teaches that  “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery…by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”

Regarding transgenderism, the Church’s belief is “one that is grounded in genuinely confirmed reality. One is born either male or female… In this light, the Church recognizes that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female (Gen. 1:26-27). And so we should help people discover their true identities as children of God, not support them in the disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological identity.” 

Pope Francis does not deny these teachings.  But the Holy Father seems to have his own point of emphasis regarding these fundamental issues.  In January of 2023, the Pope said, “It’s not a crime (to be gay) Yes, but it’s a sin…Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime…It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another.”  He also “criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as ‘unjust,’ saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. ‘Being homosexual isn’t a crime,’ Francis said during an exclusive interview…with The Associated Press.” 

Now the Catholic Church under the direction of Pope Francis has gone even further in expressing its support for homosexual and transgender Catholics.  Early in November of 2023, “(t)he Vatican announced…that transgender people can be baptized and become godparents under certain conditions, as well as serve as witnesses to church weddings… The Vatican’s document stated that transgender people, including those who have received hormone replacement therapy or sex reassignment surgery, can be baptized ‘under the same conditions as other believers’…Additionally, the statement allows for transgender ‘children and adolescents’ to be baptized as well, and added that there is no reason why transgender people cannot serve as witnesses at weddings. The document also specifies that a same-sex couple would be able to baptize a child who had been adopted or born via surrogate providing there is ‘a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.'” 

This statement did not come from Pope Francis himself, but was written by Argentinean Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who is head of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.  However, according to Reuters, Pope Franics approved of this statement on October 31, 2023.  

Most concerning to the Catholic faithful is the lack of clarity in Cardinal Fernandez’ pronouncements.  As described by CBS News, the baptism of a transsexual or any of the other rights of participation described in the statement can only be accomplished “if there is no ‘risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.’ But the document did not clarify what a public scandal would entail.”

Further, the document also fails to clarify whether a transgender person should be baptized under a name consistent with their birth sex, or with a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity. If the transgender is baptized under a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity, wouldn’t the Priest performing the baptism be tacitly endorsing transgenderism?

It is unclear how a same sex couple could be expected to provide a “well-founded hope” that their child would be “educated in the Catholic religion.”  Besides sending the child for religious education, would that same sex couple be expected to provide a “proper” Christian example, refrain from “sinful activity” and live together in chastity?  How could this unrealistic expectation not cause “disorientation among the faithful” by its very ambiguity?

Judge John Wilson (ret.) served on the bench in NYC

Photo: Pixabay

The Roman Catholic Church has always been clear regarding its stance towards homosexuality.  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (Cf. Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10), tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered’…They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” 

However, despite this official disapproval, the Church believes that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”  At the same time, the Church teaches that  “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery…by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” 

Regarding transgenderism, the Church’s belief is “one that is grounded in genuinely confirmed reality. One is born either male or female… In this light, the Church recognizes that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female (Gen. 1:26-27). And so we should help people discover their true identities as children of God, not support them in the disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological identity.”

Pope Francis does not deny these teachings.  But the Holy Father seems to have his own point of emphasis regarding these fundamental issues.  In January of 2023, the Pope said, “It’s not a crime (to be gay) Yes, but it’s a sin…Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime…It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another.”  He also “criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as ‘unjust,’ saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. ‘Being homosexual isn’t a crime,’ Francis said during an exclusive interview…with The Associated Press.” 

Now the Catholic Church under the direction of Pope Francis has gone even further in expressing its support for homosexual and transgender Catholics.  Early in November of 2023, “(t)he Vatican announced…that transgender people can be baptized and become godparents under certain conditions, as well as serve as witnesses to church weddings… The Vatican’s document stated that transgender people, including those who have received hormone replacement therapy or sex reassignment surgery, can be baptized ‘under the same conditions as other believers’…Additionally, the statement allows for transgender ‘children and adolescents’ to be baptized as well, and added that there is no reason why transgender people cannot serve as witnesses at weddings. The document also specifies that a same-sex couple would be able to baptize a child who had been adopted or born via surrogate providing there is ‘a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.'” 

This statement did not come from Pope Francis himself, but was written by Argentinean Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who is head of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.  However, according to Reuters, Pope Francis approved of this statement on October 31, 2023.   

Most concerning to the Catholic faithful is the lack of clarity in Cardinal Fernandez’ pronouncements.  As described by CBS News, the baptism of a transsexual or any of the other rights of participation described in the statement can only be accomplished “if there is no ‘risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.’ But the document did not clarify what a public scandal would entail.”

Further, the document also fails to clarify whether a transgender person should be baptized under a name consistent with their birth sex, or with a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity. If the transgender is baptized under a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity, wouldn’t the Priest performing the baptism be tacitly endorsing transgenderism?

Judge John Wilson’s (ret.) article concludes tomorrow

Photo: Pixabay

China’s economic threats are both overt and covert.

The FBI warns that “The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States…At the same time, the Chinese government is seeking to become the world’s greatest superpower through predatory lending and business practices, systematic theft of intellectual property, and brazen cyber intrusions…China’s efforts target businesses, academic institutions, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public and will require a whole-of-society response. The government and the private sector must commit to working together to better understand and counter the threat.”

One of the most significant potential threats has been called out by a collection of senators.

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) announced the introduction of the Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act to prohibit money services businesses (MSBs) from engaging in any transaction that involves a central bank digital currency issued by the People’s Republic of China—for example the newly-announced Digital Yuan.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is money that a country’s central bank can issue. It’s called digital (or electronic) because it isn’t physical money like notes and coins. It is in the form of an amount on a computer or similar device.

The legislation would preempt potential attempts by MSBs to offer services that would increase usage of Communist China’s digital currency. Representative Luetkemeyer, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Once Communist China is in your wallet, they are in your wallet forever. As they search for any open avenue to exploit the United States, we should do everything in our power to ensure Americans are protected financially. This legislation is common sense: U.S. financial services should not engage in any transaction that involves the CCP’s Digital Yuan,” said Senator Marsha Blackburn. 

“The digital Yuan is just another tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on its people and all those who use it. It is an obvious power grab and an attempt to increase communist-state-control over people’s personal finances. Secretary Xi and his thugs have no business playing big brother to American citizens and how they spend their money. That is why I am fighting to prevent this problem from ever becoming someone’s reality. We must stand up against the CCP’s obvious spy tactics and pass the Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act today,” said Senator Rick Scott.

“The Chinese Communist Party intends to use a central bank digital currency to spy on Americans’ private financial transactions. We must eliminate the CCP’s underhanded attempts to gain access to American financial data, that threaten their privacy and undermines our national security. This bill prevents the CCP from monitoring American transactions and financial data,” said Senator Ted Cruz.  

“The Chinese Communist Party uses the digital yuan to track in real time every transaction made with the currency. It is one of the many ways the CCP maintains its stranglehold on the Chinese people. We must establish clear barriers to prevent the CCP from monitoring the transactions and collecting the financial data of American consumers and businesses. This bill is a necessary step in building those barriers,” said Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer.

 James Dorn, writing for CATO , calls China’s digital plans “A Threat to Freedom.”

“ Although the alleged purpose of supplying a digital yuan is to reduce transaction costs and make the payments system more efficient, the Chinese people themselves have good reasons for not sharing that sanguine opinion. The real intent of introducing a digital yuan is more likely to be to increase state control of the payments system and to closely monitor transactions and even personal behavior.”

Illustration: Pixabay

It is relatively easy to make up numbers to corroborate a tall story one wants to portray as real. Everyone has heard the fish tale where a dad caught a 30-pound brown trout on opening day of fishing season… that is the true story as told to others. Today China is attempting to convince the world that its economic expansion looks like that 30-pound trout. Could it be true? Seumas Petrie, after all, did catch the world’s heaviest brown trout in New Zealand in 2020, and it did weigh in officially at 44 pounds. The trick to creating a believable economic narrative is to make it close enough to reality to be believed possible. China recently tried and failed in its latest claims that the country’s economy grew 5.2% last year. It was a whopper of imagination on the part of the government in Beijing.

The lifting of pandemic restrictions did help bolster China’s Covid-era economy, increased domestic flights, and helped the revenue growth of consumer-focused companies expand, according to data outside of China’s National Bureau of Statistic, says Tom Hancock of Bloomberg. China also experienced a sharp drop in real estate construction, failing exports, and financially-strained local governments suffered. Rhodium Group, a leading independent economic data analytics firm, says the real economic growth number for China in 2023 is closer to 1.5%. 

It will take time and good policy to fully recover. “China may see a cyclical recovery to perhaps 3.0-3.5% growth in 2024 as property bottoms out, although structural slowdown will naturally remain the dominant story for years to come,” according to Daniel Rosen, Logan Wright, Charlie Vest, and Ragan Quinn of Rhodium. Who’s correct? An analysis of the property sector in China indicates it is far from bottoming out in 2024. The OECD, World Bank and IMF predicted in 2022 China would meet its target. Rodium was more accurate when it argued that Chinese growth for 2023 would remain below 3%.

Analysts studying the Chinese economy point out that if China’s 2023 growth numbers were correct, consumers would need to have spent as “heroic levels.” That didn’t occur by mid-2023. Government spending remained mired in local debt burdens, there was anemic income growth with high unemployment, and declining household debt-to-income ratios. Construction slowed to levels that made high household spending impossible. The shrinking property sector and defaults among private developers, according to Rodium analysts, left local government without the needed revenue stream to meet obligations. China’s trade surplus shrank. 

“By October, officials were alarmed enough to authorize one trillion yuan in special treasury bonds to boost local government investment, though most of that would not land until 2024,” says a Rodium analyst. During the turmoil China’s official statistics barely moved away from its predicted target numbers. Instead, officials “tweaked” data to reinforce a whopper of a fish tale until the economic numbers looked like what China wanted to present to the world. Now the world is asked by Beijing to believe predictions for 2024 when there is significant evidence of a manipulated 2023 baseline. The contraction of the property sector alone highlights some of the major problems Beijing is facing going into 2024. In the past it accounted for up to 25% of all economic activity in China. If reporting from China’s National Bureau of Statistics can be relied upon, then year-over-year from 2022 the country experienced a drop equivalent to 1.6% of China’s GDP. It may have been worse. To reverse that negative number other sectors of the domestic economy would have to have experienced tall, fish tale-sized growth. That didn’t occur as even officially, China’s private sector growth was negative.

“China saw net disinvestment in the foreign direct investment channel in the third quarter of 2023 for the first time on record (since the 1990s), reflecting firms moving more capital out of China than bringing new money in,” according to a Rodium report. For the first time in four years, net exports declined while net imports increased, further challenging the accuracy of China’s official numbers.

The official narrative remains, despite evidence to the contrary. What we can determine about China’s fish tale level of growth is that the country experienced a structural slowdown in 2023 that led to weaker than expected growth and it will take years to fully recover. In 2024 China faces trade policy activism in the West with potential countervailing duties intended to neutralize Chinese EV exports as well as European investigations into its alleged dumping of biofuels onto the EU market. Western analysts say these factors and a myriad of others support predictions for Chinese economic growth in the range of 3.0% to 3.5%. The bright spot may be that if Xi Jinping and the CCP continue to face a slowing economy, it may force the leadership to abandon extreme ideological control over the marketplace and consider embracing economic reform and a reopening to the West.

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.

Illustration: Pixabay

At a time when the global oceanic supply chain is facing challenges from Houthis attacking ships in the Red Sea, Russia has a new solution that benefits Moscow. The question for Putin is, will it work?

Shipping lines that once used the Suez Canal to shorten their trips are now diverting commercial traffic to longer routes around Africa. Sailors are demanding double pay and insurance companies are raising rates to travel a waterway that typically carried 12% of the world’s maritime commercial traffic. Moscow sees these conditions as a golden opportunity to enhance its geopolitical ties with Asia and promote economic growth in its Artic region.

Putin wants to develop a “hydrocarbon province” in the Arctic using its pipeline delivery method to avoid the Red Sea and Middle East oil states. According to Sergey Sukhankin, writing in the Daily Eurasian Monitor, the mega-project’s goal is to elevate the Northern Sea Route’s competitiveness with the Suez Canal and promote Russian economic growth with India, China, and Southeast Asia. In addition to increasing trade through those regions and the Northern Passage, the project could help jump-start the economic and scientific revitalization of Krasnoyarsk Krai and serve as a tool for economic growth (adding 2 percent per year), says Sukhankin.

Russia needs a large capital investment to accomplish its goal and is turning to China to fund the Vostok Oil project. Other foreign investors have already withdrawn due to concerns over Rosneft’s incomplete data and a lack of Arctic-class ice tankers. Some Russian media sources are already labeling it a Russian-Chinese ventures. Without closing on Chinese financing, however, Putin’s strategy is likely to fail. Rosneft has an 85% stake in the project and is seeking foreign money from Hong Kong and United Arab Emirate companies. If successful, Putin plans to export up to 115 million tons of oil per year using the Northern Sea Route by 2033.

Last October, at the fifth Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum, Russia openly requested the investment funds claiming it is the only nation-state that is a safe, sustainable, and responsible major oil-exporting county due to the ongoing destabilization and war in the Middle East. China recognizes that a pipeline delivery system is advantageous over ships using the Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz. Russia, notes Sukhankin, has abundant natural resources, is committed to exploring for new carbon resources, and developing deposits. A Russian-Chinese deal could provide China with a new investment opportunity with China as the primary beneficiary.

According to the Russian publication RU.com, the Northern Sea Route, would not only shorten the trade route between Asia and Europe, but would also be more secure and provide additional opportunities beyond oil and gas. There are a number of challenges that could stop Putin. South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, which had cooperated with Russia to build the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex, has discontinued its relationship due to the war in Ukraine. This complex is critical to Moscow’s plan to assist in expanding its carriers of liquid natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic to end users in Asia, according to the Russian publication Neftegaz.

“Mikhail Krutikhin, co-founder and leading analyst of the Moscow-based RusEnergy independent consulting agency, has argued that Russia’s struggles with attracting foreign investors are primarily based on three aspects,” says Sukhankin.

Without investors, Moscow will not be able to deliver the 30 million tons per year to end users through the Northern Sea Route anytime soon. Russia does not have enough ships. In addition, a critical Northern Bay oil terminal does not exist and there are no new pipelines to carry that amount of oil. “Russia may have exaggerated the estimated capacity of the Vostok Oil project” according to one energy analyst who called it “extremely questionable,” says Sukhankin.

As the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East drag on, Putin is left with fewer options for funding. Partners, under the current geopolitical conditions, are unlikely to accept the high risk entailed in dealing with Russia. As Putin’s window of opportunity shrinks over time, some analysts suggest he will become more desperate to fund the war in Ukraine and that will make him a more dangerous adversary.

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Department

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government provides key excerpts from the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2022.

In Afghanistan, al-Qa’ida elements, ISIS, and regionally focused terrorist groups remained active in the country.  ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) continued to conduct terrorist attacks against Afghan civilians, particularly members of the Shia community, and the Taliban.  In 2022, ISIS-K conducted cross-border attacks in Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and maintained ambitions to attack the West.  Al-Qa’ida and its affiliates, particularly al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent, also remained intent — but lacked the capability — to directly attack the United States from Afghanistan.  While the Taliban committed to preventing terrorist groups from using Afghanistan to conduct attacks against the United States and its allies, its ability to prevent al-Qa’ida elements, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and ISIS-K from mounting external operations remained unclear.  The Taliban hosted and sheltered al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul before his death in a U.S. airstrike on July 30, 2022.

Iran continued to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism, facilitating a wide range of terrorist and other illicit activities around the world.  In 2022, Iran increasingly encouraged and plotted attacks against the United States, including against former U.S. officials, in retaliation for the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Qasem Soleimani.  In August an Iran-based IRGC member was charged with attempting to arrange the murder of a former U.S. National Security Advisor.  Regionally, Iran supported acts of terrorism in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen through proxies and partner groups such as Hizballah and al-Ashtar Brigades.  Globally, the IRGC-QF and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security remained Iran’s primary actors involved in supporting terrorist recruitment, financing, and plotting across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America.

(Editor’s note: We believe portions of this paragraph are more involved with domestic politics than counter-terrorism) Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism constituted a growing, transnational threat to the United States and U.S. allies.  Violent white supremacists and anti-government, accelerationist, and like-minded individuals continued to promote violent extremist narratives, recruit new adherents, raise funds, and conduct terrorist activities in the United States and worldwide.  The October 12 shooting at an LGBTQI+ bar in Slovakia, which left two persons dead and one injured, demonstrated how individuals can be inspired by U.S.-based REMVE attacks and the broader REMVE movement.  The perpetrator posted an online so-called manifesto that pointed to previous REMVE attacks worldwide, including the recent U.S.-based attacks in Buffalo, New York, and El Paso, Texas, and the 2019 attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Poway,

As terrorist threats morphed and metastasized, the United States adapted its counterterrorism approach and marshalled international efforts to counter global terrorism.  The United States prioritized multilateral engagements to advance U.S. counterterrorism priorities, bolster partner capacity to implement international obligations and commitments, and promote greater burden sharing.  

In 2022 the Department of State provided more than $16 million in FY 2021 foreign assistance funding to support an array of United Nations counterterrorism capacity building efforts implemented by members of the UN’s Global Counterterrorism Compact.  To maintain international momentum on the use of battlefield evidence to investigate and prosecute terrorism cases, the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) — supported through U.S. funding in 2022 — trained more than 450 criminal justice practitioners on critical issues such as REMVE, battlefield evidence, counterterrorism prosecutions, mutual legal assistance, and juvenile justice.  In September, our Counterterrorism (CT) Bureau partnered with the IIJ to convene a dialogue regarding battlefield evidence from Afghanistan.  The event brought together 50 military, law enforcement, and criminal justice practitioners and policy-makers from the United States, the European Union, and select countries to discuss practical steps for successfully sharing and using battlefield evidence to enhance broader security and support criminal justice proceedings and international accountability efforts.

The Department of State co-led the U.S. delegation to the first in-person meeting of the Heads of Delegation G-7 Roma-Lyon Group on Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime since 2019.  The group’s dialogue focused on addressing issues such as REMVE and the situation in Afghanistan, and emerging threats such as voluntary foreign fighters, the use of unmanned aerial systems for terrorist purposes, and the trafficking of small arms and light weapons in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.  The United States also leveraged other multilateral organizations, such as NATO, INTERPOL, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Council of Europe, and Hedayah to advance these issues.

Additionally, the United States continued to bolster partner capabilities to detect, disrupt, and dismantle terrorist networks.  The CT Bureau and the Terrorist Screening Center continued to explore new and expanded information sharing arrangements under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6) with foreign partners that allow the United States and these HSPD-6 partners to exchange terrorist screening information to identify known and suspected terrorists.  These efforts also improve compliance with UN Security Council resolution 2396, which includes international obligations for countries to screen for and collect information to prevent terrorist travel and strengthen border security.  As of the end of 2022, the Department of State’s comprehensive border system, PISCES, was deployed in 23 countries, providing real-time border security for partners across the globe.  In 2022, the CT Bureau completed 21 visits to foreign partners to conduct system updates, reduced the support backlog resulting from COVID-19 travel restrictions, and continued to reconstitute the PISCES program at ports of entry in Yemen.  Two new countries — Colombia and Eswatini — signed a Memorandum of Intent in 2022 to establish PISCES programs in their countries.

Another major effort in 2022 was facilitating the repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration, and, where appropriate, prosecution of ISIS foreign terrorist fighters and family members.  To ensure that ISIS fighters and family members captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) never return to the battlefield, the United States continued to lead by example in bringing back its citizens and prosecuting them when applicable.  As of 2022 the United States has repatriated a total of 39 U.S. citizens from Syria and Iraq.  In 2022 the CT Coordinator also served as the Defeat-ISIS Detainee Coordinator and established the al-Hol Working Group to coordinate the United States’ effort to address the security and humanitarian crisis in al-Hol displaced persons camp and detention facilities in northeast Syria.  Additionally, in 2022, more than 3,000 fighters and family members were repatriated to 14 different countries of origin — more than 2020 and 2021 combined.  The CT Bureau worked closely with the SDF and partner governments, as well as with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense and the intelligence community, on these engagements.

The United States continued to promote a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to prevent and counter violent extremism (CVE) by engaging with governments, local religious leaders, and tech companies.  In October the Global Community Engagement Resilience Fund (GCERF) launched its replenishment campaign.  Through this campaign, GCERF raised more than $75 million to provide alternatives for millions of people directly at risk of radicalization and recruitment to violence, and to build a safety net among 10 million other people in their communities.  Since its inception, GCERF has expanded its work to more than 20 countries and has raised more than $160 million from 18 government partners.  With CT Bureau funding support, GCERF will look to expand programming to countries in Central Asia, Mozambique, and Coastal West Africa with a concentration on rehabilitation and reintegration, digital literacy programming, and countering terrorist radicalization.

The Strong Cities Network (SCN) grew to more than 160 cities around the world, with 10 new members in 2022.  These included the Slovak cities of Bratislava and Žilina in April, which became the first SCN members from Central and Eastern Europe.  In November the network also launched a Western Balkans Regional Hub, which aims to engage more municipalities in the region on CVE efforts within their respective communities.

Finally, the United States continued to support the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online (CCTA), an international partnership involving governments, private sector technology companies, and civil society organizations to address terrorism and violent extremist content online.  In October, CT Bureau supported U.S. participation in the 2022 CCTA Leaders’ Summit, closely coordinating with the White House and interagency partners to engage with governments, tech companies, and civil society in the forum’s workstreams to better ensure that online platforms are not exploited for terrorist or violent extremist purposes, while respecting our commitments to human rights such as freedom of expression and an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable internet.

This constitutes a brief overview of the United States’ ongoing work to protect our people and our allies from the threat of terrorism.  The Country Reports on Terrorism 2022 provides a detailed review of last year’s successes and the ongoing challenges facing our country and our partners — challenges that will require a continued commitment to and investment in global counterterrorism efforts going forward.

Illustration: Pixabay

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government provides key excerpts from the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism .

Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States established a strong and sophisticated counterterrorism enterprise to reduce the threat of large-scale terrorist attacks on the homeland.  More than 20 years later, the terrorist threats we currently face are more ideologically and geographically diffuse.  At the same time, the United States is confronting a diverse and dynamic range of other national security challenges, including strategic competition, cybersecurity threats, and climate change.  To tackle evolving and emerging terrorist threats within the context of broader national security priorities, the United States inaugurated a new counterterrorism policy, shifting from a U.S.-led, military-centric approach to one that prioritizes diplomacy, partner capacity building, and prevention.  Striking a new balance between military and civilian counterterrorism efforts recognizes the need to deploy the full range of counterterrorism (CT) tools and ensures a more sustainable whole-of-government and whole-of-society CT approach with allies and partners around the world.

In 2022, under this new framework, the United States and its partners continued to succeed against terrorist organizations, bolstering diplomatic and multilateral engagements and partner capacity building efforts.  Through U.S. leadership, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Defeat-ISIS) raised more than $440 million in stabilization pledges – including a U.S. pledge of $107 million – to support infrastructure and other critical projects in Iraq and northeastern Syria.  In November the United States and the United Kingdom co-hosted a donors’ conference with 14 governments, and with numerous UN and humanitarian organizations, to discuss steps to improve the security and humanitarian conditions at the al-Hol displaced persons camp in northeast Syria.  

The Department of State led Defeat-ISIS’s renewed focus on countering ISIS branches across Africa.  In 2022 the Coalition welcomed Benin as its 85th member and 13th member from sub-Saharan Africa.  In March, Defeat-ISIS’s Africa Focus Group (AFFG), established in 2021 to address the growing ISIS threat in sub-Saharan Africa, convened its first working-level meeting in Rome and met again in May on the margins of the Defeat-ISIS ministerial.  In October the AFFG co-chairs of Morocco, Niger, Italy, and the United States met in Niamey to identify programmatic gaps and deconflict existing partner efforts in the region.  The AFFG will continue to utilize existing coordination mechanisms and enhance African members’ counterterrorism capacities.

In May the Department of State, in partnership with the Department of Justice, launched the first-ever Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum (CTLEF) to improve information sharing and international coordination to counter racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism (REMVE).  The CTLEF, which was co-hosted by the United States and the Government of Germany, brought more than 100 criminal justice practitioners, financial regulators, and security professionals from over 30 countries and multilateral organizations to Berlin.  The inaugural meeting increased the United States and our partners’ collective understanding of REMVE networks, groups, and individuals, including transnational links between and among REMVE actors.

Despite key counterterrorism successes, terrorist groups remained resilient and determined to attack.  ISIS maintained an enduring global enterprise, promoting a large-scale terrorism campaign across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.  While the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in February marked an important milestone against the terrorist group, ISIS remained capable of conducting large-scale attacks.  In 2022, ISIS maintained a significant underground operational structure and conducted terrorist operations throughout Iraq and Syria.  An estimated 10,000 ISIS fighters, including 1,800 Iraqis and 2,000 ISIS fighters from outside Syria and Iraq, also remained in detention facilities controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.  Additionally, 18,000 Syrians, 26,000 Iraqis, and roughly 10,000 third-country nationals from more than 60 countries remain in al-Hol and Roj displaced persons camps in northeast Syria.  In West Africa, ISIS affiliates increasingly expanded across borders and coordinated asymmetric attacks, including a July prison break near the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.  ISIS expanded its recruitment and operations across key locales, growing its global network to approximately 20 branches and affiliates.

In 2022, al-Qa’ida and its affiliates remained resilient and determined, even following the death of leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in July.  Senior al-Qa’ida leaders continued to oversee a global network to target the United States and U.S. interests, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.  In East Africa, al-Shabaab (AS) sustained de facto control over significant portions of south-central Somalia.  AS also maintained its capability to conduct high-profile attacks in the region, including against U.S. citizens and infrastructure, and aspired to coordinate attacks against the U.S. homeland and Europe.  In West Africa, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) intensified attacks in the Sahel, increasingly threatening capital cities and U.S. embassies in the region, and expanded operations in the northern border regions of Coastal West Africa.

The Report concludes tomorrow

Illustration: Pixabay

In a bizarre way, the repulsive antisemitic “Gaza” protests have had one good result. They have exposed the actual character and malevolent goals of those responsible for the variety of disruptions that have plagued the nation across recent years.

Over the past decade or so, the same hard-left activists who are now in the streets purportedly for Gaza have terrorized cities and college campuses with threatening events that were miscast by biased media outlets as “peaceful.” They all had at least one thing in common, whether they were portrayed as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Climate Change, or supporting Gaza (actually Hamas.)

The stated purpose of these gatherings was not and is not the true motivation for the organizers. Rather, the ultimate goal is an assault on Western Civilization, free markets, and individual rights.

Despite the reality that the greatest era of prosperity and human freedom is a direct and specific result of the rise of Western Civilization over the past several hundred years, there is a subset of people who insist that it was a turn for the worse. They dislike the fact that, despite the general hike in standards of living, some have prospered more than others, and that repulses them. In their perspective, it would be better for everyone to be equally poor. Capitalism, the engine of that rise, is their target. They ignore the utter failures of rival concepts such as socialism and communism over the past century because at least everyone was equally miserable. Hence, occupy Wall Street and its numerous spinoffs.

But not everyone should be equal, as history shows..  A tiny percentage of elites, whether called Communist commissars or National Socialist fascists, carved out a privileged life for themselves. That role is now taken by powerful politicians, the Davos crowd, and shadowy Soros-style billionaires.

The United States in the 21^st century is the most successful heterogenous society that has ever existed, with equal rights and opportunities for all. That fact infuriates those who seek to produce ethnic and racial division as a means to dissemble the melting pot that produced American society, for the purpose of disrupting and attacking the country from within.

The hard left’s most successful and widespread strategy has been the rise of environmental extremism. Progressives seek to use highly exaggerated or utterly falsified studies to insist that America’s milieu of a free market and individual rights must be overthrown to “save the planet.” Once again, facts are ignored. The centralized planning societies they want to institute have a far worse record of conservation and good stewardship than their capitalist counterparts. Governments that have followed their advice have succumbed to food shortages and economic pain, with no commensurate environmental improvement. In order to dismantle free societies across the world, they seek to eliminate property rights and constitutional safeguards to allow elitists to dictate how goods and foods are produced and distributed. The end result, of course is that those elites are free to travel the globe in private jets and dine on champagne and steak while insisting that you eat bugs and take the bus. 

So, what does all have to do with the Gaza protests?  Hamas is a socialist-oriented terrorist group that cares nothing for individual rights. They have committed some of the worst human rights violations since the Nazis ruled Germany. Their immediate enemy is Israel, a nation which allows personal freedom and has a free market, the twin enemies of the protestors. But every nation that allows personal freedom and each society that produces prosperity through free markets is in their long-range crosshairs.

Supporting a group so loathsome opened the eyes of those who were so willing to blind themselves to the lies and evil intentions of the hard left, and to the reality that the causes they allegedly support are nothing but camouflage for their ultimate, wicked goals.

Photo: Pixabay

Finding Waldo is easy compared to uncovering all the locations where China is operating covertly in the world. With so many “hot spots” ready to erupt into armed conflict and others already experiencing kinetic warfare, China’s misdirected misadventures often receive little attention from overworked military analysts, and far less from the mainstream media… especially Chinese efforts inside our borders.

In a filth-ridden building filled with blood samples, Environmental Protection Agency hazmat contractors collected 800 containers of genetically altered mice and potentially lethal infectious agents. The California biolab, called Universal Meditech, appears connected to the Chinese military. Some of the reputed deadly agents and parasites there included Ebola, HIV, Malaria, Dengue fever, and hepatitis. Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese national using several names and labeled a flight risk by US officials, is now sitting in a US prison after lying to federal agents and selling fraudulent COVID-19 and pregnancy tests. Although Jia received significant payments from China, simply possessing these deadly agents may not be prosecutable under US law. 

How is the US responding to this ongoing threat? According to one source in Washington, the Biden Administration determined that the biolab and its deadly contents did not constitute an apparent “activated” threat. Fox News reported that it had not received an official response from the Department of Homeland Security when it inquired recently if its BioWatch Program, National Biosurveillance Integration Center or the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center were activated. 

Last November the House Select Committee on China issued a 40-page report on the Reedley, California biolab calling the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) response “inadequate.” The report says CDC failed to actually test the vial to make their determinations and that “Despite the probability that the unlabeled or coded vials contained additional unknown and dangerous pathogens, CDC official refused to take any further investigative steps,” and failed to take any “meaningful actions” when provided classified evidence that Ebola was present. No one appears to be investigating the lab or why everyone from federal to California EPA, to local health agencies did not want to get involved. 

Worse yet, the lab was able to move last October although officials knew of the plan ahead of time. When a Fresno official, according to Fox News, reached out to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for emergency assistance, the state agency said it would not get involved. In an email to other DTSC colleagues, Fox News reports that the senior environmental scientist wrote that he was “Glad it won’t be added to our workload… but not so sure what will happen to it.” One local Reedley, California official said the investigation could take years.

The suspected Chinese biolab in California is only one known case of the Chinese government operating inside US borders. American intelligence officials, who asked to remain anonymous, stated this week that they know the Wuhan lab that produced the COVID-19 virus had military connections and was working on other deadly pathogens. That same analyst also says that US Government tests indicate the virus was manipulated into its deadly form by humans, not nature. Perhaps worse, is that there are indications the Chinese lab was working on a deadly agent that could be spread through aerosol delivery systems onto crops. Some government analysts suggest that the Chinese weather balloons may have been a test case for China to determine a US response. Others in the Biden Administration this week say that there is no need for concern and that it is simply a conspiracy theory. That does not explain the 800 containers collected by the hazmat team in Reedley, a town often referred to locally as America’s “bread basket.”  

Last fall Scripps News reporters investigated the case and found the address where the lab had moved.  “When we arrived, we found a modern building in stark contrast to the run-down warehouse in Reedley. It was surrounded by security cameras made by a Chinese surveillance technology firm called Hikvision, which is now banned from selling its products in the US for national security reasons,” notes Sasha Ingber.

We know about high-flying balloons and some of the illegal biolabs, what else is China hiding in plain sight inside our borders? Give the country’s open attitude under the Biden Administration, it is easy for China to operate in small American towns. Anna Puglisi, a former U. national counterintelligence officer for East Asia, told Scripps News that China goes way beyond traditional espionage and [activities] are deliberately carried out in more remote parts of this country… China looks beyond the national and they do look to the state and local. It’s easier to operate,” she said. “We’re not used to dealing with issues like this at the state and local level. And so, it really requires a raising of awareness of how China is targeting different parts of our society.” Finding Waldo needs to become “finding Chinese espionage programs” inside the United States before we become the world’s newest “hot spot.”

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.