Month: July 2024

Statement of the NATO-Ukraine Council issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Washington, D.C. 11th July 2024

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the NATO-Ukraine Council, met today during this historic NATO Summit. For more than two years of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and ten years since Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea and initial military intervention in the Donbas, the people of Ukraine have been heroically defending their nation, their land, and our shared values. We solemnly pay tribute to the lives lost, and we deplore the human suffering and destruction caused by Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression. Russia has failed in its efforts to undermine Ukraine’s statehood and break the resolve of the Ukrainian people. The men and women of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the people of Ukraine continue to inspire the world with their bravery and determination. Ukraine stands strong as a sovereign, independent, and democratic nation. 2. Russia bears full responsibility for this war, a blatant violation of international law including the UN Charter, for which it must be held fully accountable. We condemn all those who are facilitating Russia’s war and amplifying Russia’s disinformation campaigns. Russia’s war against Ukraine has shattered peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and has had a profound impact on the safety, security, and welfare of billions of people around the world. Russia has not shown any genuine openness to a just and lasting peace. Allies welcome and support President Zelenskyy’s continuous commitment to advance a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace through his Peace Formula and the Peace Summit process, including the important first Summit in Switzerland. 3. Russia is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.  We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s horrific attacks on the Ukrainian people, including on hospitals, on 8 July.We welcome the announced commitments to provide Ukraine with additional air defence systems and other military capabilities, as Allies increase their support to meet Ukraine’s needs and help protect its people, cities, and infrastructure from Russia’s appalling attacks. NATO will support and advise onthe design and implementation of an integrated air and missile defence architecture for Ukraine, to enable the most efficient use of Ukraine’s air and missile defence capabilities and support its transition to full interoperability with NATO. 4. A strong, independent, and democratic Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders is vital for the stability and security of the Euro-Atlantic area. Ukraine’s fight for its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity directly contributes to Euro-Atlantic security.Allies and partners continue to step up vital political, military, financial, economic, and humanitarian assistance as Ukraine exercises its inherent right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Allies also continue to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience by helping sustain its energy infrastructure, providing critical energy supplies, and enabling the transit of goods and grain. Allies remain as resolute as ever in supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to prevail. 5. We welcome the launch of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will coordinate the provision of military training and equipment for Ukraine by Allies and partners and will provide logistical support. It will ensure enhanced, predictable, and coherent security assistance to Ukraine for the long term, bolstering the support Allies and partners provide to Ukraine. NSATU, which will operate in Allied states, will strengthen our ongoing cooperation to transform Ukraine’s defence and security forces, so that Ukraine is more capable of defending itself now and deterring any further Russian aggression in the future. 6. Ukraine requires long-term support. Allies are determined to support Ukraine in building a force capable of defeating Russian aggression. We welcome Allies’ pledge of long-term security assistance for the provision of military equipment, assistance, and training for Ukraine. We also welcome that, to that end, Allies intend to provide a minimum baseline funding of €40 billion within the next year, and to provide sustainable levels of security assistance for Ukraine to prevail. 7. As we continue to intensify our cooperation and strengthen Ukraine’s political integration with NATO, the Alliance is reinforcing the NATO Representation to Ukraine (NRU), and the Secretary General has decided to appoint a NATO Senior Representative to head the NRU and to act as a focal point for NATO’s engagement with Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv. 8. We have made significant progress in our ongoing cooperation, including through the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine, to strengthen and rebuild the Ukrainian security and defence sector, support Ukraine’s deterrence and defence in the long term, and transition Ukraine to full interoperability with NATO. To that end: We have jointly developed initial NATO Interoperability Requirements, making full use of NATO-related defence planning processes and tools, to inform and support Ukraine’s security and defence sector reforms and enable the long-term interoperability of our forces. We are working together to bring Ukraine’s defence procurement in line with Euro-Atlantic best practices through the Strategic Defence Procurement Review. We will work together to identify and apply lessons from Russia’s war against Ukraine, including on resilience, in the newly established Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre (JATEC) in Poland. As a joint NATO-Ukraine structure, JATEC will serve as animportantpillar of practical cooperation and increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO.We are launching new joint activities to support Ukraine’s self-defence through the first NATO-Ukraine Innovation Cooperation Roadmap.NATO will continue to support Ukraine’s self-defence with urgently needed non-lethal equipment and supplies through the CAP, and we welcome partner contributions. 9. With these long-term commitments, we are building on the work we have done together in the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) to advance Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, including Ukraine’s strategic goal of NATO membership. Since establishing the NUC at the Vilnius Summit, we have been working and taking decisions together, as equals, on a broad range of issues, including interoperability, energy security and infrastructure, innovation, cyber defence, defence industry, countering disinformation, and resilience. The NUC has also proven to be an effective crisis consultation mechanism. 10. Allies fully support Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements and decide its own future, free from outside interference.  Ukraine’s future is in NATO.  Ukraine has become increasingly interoperable and politically integrated with the Alliance.  Allies welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Summit on its required democratic, economic, and security reforms.  As Ukraine continues this vital work, Allies will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.  Allies reaffirm that they will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.  The Summit decisions by NATO and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with Allies’ ongoing work, constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.  Allies will continue to support Ukraine’s progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms, which NATO Foreign Ministers will continue to assess through the adapted Annual National Programme. 11. We welcome the bilateral long-term security commitments Allies and partners have agreed with Ukraine based on the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine launched in Vilnius. They are mutually reinforcing and are a testament to the shared and unwavering commitment to a free, independent, democratic, and sovereign Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders, capable of defending itself and deterring future aggression. These commitments, together with the decisions taken at this Summit, provide for sustained, enduring support to Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

Federal agencies should not interfere with elections. But in 2020, some did just that by attempting to propagate false stories (“Russian collusion”) and by pressuring media outlets to suppress information embarrassing to the Biden campaign. The House Judiciary Committee probed this issue. “On July 17, 2023, the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government conducted a transcribed interview of Laura Dehmlow, the Section Chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF). During her transcribed interview, Dehmlow revealed that the same FBI personnel who were warning social media companies about a potential Russian “hack and leak” operation in the run-up to the 2020 election knew that the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was not Russian disinformation. After the New York Post broke a story based on the contents of the laptop about Biden family influence peddling, the FBI made the institutional decision to refuse to answer direct questions from social media companies about the laptop’s authenticity—despite months of constant information sharing up to that time. Put simply, after the FBI conditioned social media companies to believe that the laptop was the product of a hack-and-dump operation, the Bureau stopped its information sharing, allowing social media companies to conclude that the New York Post story was Russian disinformation…The FBI’s failure to alert social-media companies that the Hunter Biden laptop was real, and not mere Russian disinformation, is particularly troubling. The FBI had the laptop in their possession since December 2019 and had warned social-media companies to look for a “hack and dump” operation by the Russians prior to the 2020 election. Even after Facebook specifically asked whether the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation, Dehmlow of the FBI refused to comment, resulting in the social-media companies’ suppression of the story. As a result, millions of U.S. citizens did not hear the story prior to the November 3, 2020 election.”

National pollingreveals that “ A whopping 79 percent of Americans suggest President Donald Trump likely would have won reelection if voters had known the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop—that it was real and not ‘Russian disinformation,’ as intelligence officials aligned with Joe Biden falsely led the public to believe….”

It is clear that federal manipulation of the media altered the results of the 2020 election, and that Trump’s claim about an unfair election is supported by facts.

The final allegation is that Trump incited the use of violence at the Capitol on January 6.  The case remains pending. The Senate has already acquitted him of the charges. There is no specific language by the former president urging violence at the Capitol. But consider the argument that his words could be misinterpreted by some as urging illegal actions.  Under that questionable theory, many elected officials could also be charged, indeed, with far greater and more specific evidence, of inciting violence. Many encouraged and supported the Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots which burned buildings, looted stores, assaulted innocents, invaded police stations, and attacked federal court houses. Indeed, some connected to the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris provided financial support for the perpetrators. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer threatened Supreme Court Justices in the aftermath of the Dobbs case, and, indeed, there were instances of threatening actions taken against several members. Several members of Congress have supported the antisemitic, illegal actions taken on university campuses and city streets throughout the nation. There is neither a precedent nor a legal argument for convicting Trump of the January 6 matter.

A careful review of the claims that Trump is a “Threat to Democracy” Indicate that the charge is without legal or precedential merit.

The main thrust of the Biden re-election campaign has been that there is a “Threat to Democracy” emanating from Donald Trump.  There are five main threads to that charge.

The first charge is that he agrees with U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states have the right to set their own laws on abortion. The second is that his party favors voter ID and up-to-date voter registration rolls. The third is Trump’s insistence that federal agencies should not use their authority or influence to pressure media outlets, whether in print, over the airwaves, or on the internet, to restrict stories unfavorable to Democratic candidates or causes. The fourth is that he states that the 2020 election was not fair. The fifth is that he incited the January 6 incident at the Capitol.

Abiding with the U.S. Supreme Court should not be considered a political stance, even if one disagrees with it. It is the foundation of a government ruled by laws, not men. A secondary but related issue is that pundits have attempted to paint Trump as being wholly against all abortion. He has stated in a Truth Social post that ““Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights…My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.” The former president has also declined to endorse a national abortion ban. Therefore, the charge that his position on abortion is a “Threat to Democracy” is without merit.

Ensuring that only voters registered in the correct district is a vital part of providing fair elections.  The non-partisan National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL) points out the importance of this practice: “Voter registration lists-lists of eligible voters-form the foundation for nearly everything in election administration, and they are always changing as new registrants are added and existing registrants move or otherwise become ineligible…Accurate registration…Protects against fraud by ensuring only eligible electors can cast a ballot, Informs Election Day planning by helping accurately budget for ballots, voting machines, polling places and poll workers, Minimizes wait times at the polls, Simplifies postelection procedures by reducing the number of provisional ballots cast…Keeping voter registration rolls accurate and current is an important part of holding efficient and secure elections. The benefits of having accurate registration lists include: Protecting against fraud by ensuring only eligible electors can cast a ballot, Informing Election Day planning by helping accurately budget for ballots, voting machines, polling places and poll workers, Minimizing wait times at the polls, Simplifying postelection procedures by reducing the number of provisional ballots cast.’

The charge that requiring voter ID suppresses or discourages voting has been repeatedly disproven.  This was outlined in 2021 when then-ranking member Rep. Bryan Steil of the House Committee on House Administration Election Subcommittee addressed the issue: “It is absolutely critical we work to find ways to ensure our elections are free, fair, and secure. Photo ID is one simple, commonsense way that we can assure that every legal vote is counted and only legal votes are counted. Thirty-six states currently require some form of ID to vote. In 2020, we saw more people cast their vote than in any other presidential election in history. In fact, voter turnout increased in every state, including some of the sharpest increases occurring in states that require an ID to vote. And further dispelling this myth that voter ID laws deter voting, voter turnout increased among all race groups in 2020…it’s clear voter ID does not deter people from legally voting. The data just doesn’t support it. Common sense doesn’t support it.”

The article concludes tomorrow

Photo: Pixabay

The largest economic engine in Europe is sick. Is the German barometer for global economic stability in trouble?  The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is reporting that economic growth in Europe is projected to hit 3.1 percent this year. Germany, with the largest economy in Europe, is falling behind other states and expected to end the year with only a 0.2 percent growth rate. In May the German Council of Economic Experts cut its forecasts. At the same time commercial bankruptcies in Germany hit a 10 year high. These factors could cement Germany’s position as the state with the lowest level of growth of all the OECD countries, according to Dr. Rainer Zitelmann, a German economist and author of more than 25 books, including “The Power of Capitalism.” Only 16 months ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave an interview in which he compared the German economy to that of the Post-WWII economic miracle. Today, that vision is challenged by many who view Berlin’s problems as continuing into 2025, with the European Commission now projecting a GDP increase in Germany of only 1.0%.

This week Scholz repeated his optimistic prediction to parliament despite the experts’ predictions for 2024 and 2025. “Because of big investments in climate protection, Germany will achieve growth rates for some time which we last saw in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Scholz. Although German stocks are doing well, denying its real economic position, compared to other European states, does not change the facts.

Germany is in the worst position for business since the end of the 1990’s. Previously, “Under the leadership of Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, significant market economy reforms were implemented, the labor market was liberalized, and the top tax rate was reduced from 53 to 42 percent. These changes were the foundation for Germany’s economic success story in the last 20 years and Angela Merkel benefited from Schröder’s reforms,” according to a recent Associated Press story. That is not the case today.

Dawood Nazirizadeh, author of “Mastering the Art of German Business,” says there are four areas of particular challenge for Germany this year: the energy crisis and its ripple effects, digitalization and technological innovation, demographic shifts and the skilled labor market, and finally, the global economic climate and export dependencies. 

With more than a decade and a half of rule without reform under former Chancellor Merkel, Germany’s energy industry moved closer to a planned economy under the pretext of fighting climate change. It shuttered its nuclear plant, banned fracking, and increased its importation of liquid natural gas (LNG) from the United States. German dependence on Russian gas increased as did energy prices. By 2025 projections for its “energy transition” are expected to exceed 1.2 trillion Euros (USD$1.3 trillion).

“For the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, it is clear that the EU economy needs more room to breathe. Otherwise, any further discussion of increasing the global competitiveness of the European Union will be reduced to absurdity,” says Matthias Kock, a senior policy advisor at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. 

A report by the European Commission recently said that “the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East represent significant risk factors for the global economy [including Germany]. In addition to the danger of energy prices rising again, the future direction of monetary and fiscal policy could be uncertain.” 

“The energy shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the biggest collapse in German living standards since the second world war and a downturn in economic output comparable to the 2008 financial crisis” a stark assessment has found, according to Patrick Wintour writing in The Guardian. Two former economic advisers to the German government reinforced the report adding that wages in the country slumped further in 2022 than in any year since 1950.

Today the German populace is so worried about their economic future that only 20% think the government should do more to help Ukraine’s war effort. A RAND report analyzing the economic impact of the Russian invasion says that “In some ways, rebuilding Ukraine may be more financially difficult than conducting the war itself. The country has already suffered levels of damage not seen in Europe since World War II, and it took 20 to 30 years for Germany and the United Kingdom to rebuild after the war.” 

German industrial policy counted on its large purchases of Russian energy to curb Moscow’s bad behavior. It appears to have failed and now Germany is paying the price for its “deindustrialization” policy. The rest of the world will also be impacted by German economic planning in the coming years. 

The geopolitical risks to the energy and climate security of Germany have markedly increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A recent Friedrich Naumann Foundation report argues that “German businesses were one of the most vocal prophets of an impending geoeconomic Armageddon for Europe, disorienting and delaying EU and Germany’s strategic policy response. The decade-long delay in responding to Russia’s aggressive authoritarianism led to a painful tradeoff for Germany.” Today, that tradeoff has global implications for the world.
Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.

The Republican Party has released its 2024 Platform.  We reproduce the GOP’s press release and summary, below.  We will also publish the Democratic Party’s 2024 Platform when it is provided.

On July 8, the Republican National Committee (RNC) Platform Committee adopted President Donald J. Trump’s 2024 Republican Party Platform with overwhelming support– a pro-American agenda that stands in stark contrast to the record of weakness, failure, and dishonesty created by Joe Biden. President Trump’s platform serves as a contract with the American voter that makes clear what we can and will deliver under a President Trump administration with the Republican Party leading the country for the next four years.

“President Trump’s 2024 Republican Party Platform articulates his vision to Make America Great Again in a way that is concise and digestible for every voter,” said Trump Campaign Senior Advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. “While Joe Biden and Democrats argue about who will be at the top of their ticket and have implemented policies that have raised prices on everyday families, opened the floodgates to migrant crime via wide-open borders, shackled American energy with red tape forced by Washington bureaucrats, and sewn chaos across the world through weak foreign policy, President Trump will Make America Great Again through these America First principles.” 
 
“Only President Trump can restore our economy, restore our Southern Border, and restore America’s standing in the world,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump. “His 2024 Republican Party Platform is a bold roadmap that will undo the devastating damage that Joe Biden’s far-left policies have done to this country, power President Trump to a historic victory in November, and Make America Great Again.  
 
Read the 2024 Platform, as passed by Committee, below:
 
Our Nation’s History is filled with the stories of brave men and women who gave everything they had to build America into the Greatest Nation in the History of the World. Generations of American Patriots have summoned the American Spirit of Strength, Determination, and Love of Country to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. The American People have proven time and again that we can overcome any obstacle and any force pitted against us. 

…

But now we are a Nation in SERIOUS DECLINE. Our future, our identity, and our very way of life are under threat like never before. Today we must once again call upon the same American Spirit that led us to prevail through every challenge of the past if we are going to lead our Nation to a brighter future.
 
For decades, our politicians sold our jobs and livelihoods to the highest bidders overseas with unfair Trade Deals and a blind faith in the siren song of globalism. They insulated themselves from criticism and the consequences of their own bad actions, allowing our Borders to be overrun, our cities to be overtaken by crime, our System of Justice to be weaponized, and our young people to develop a sense of hopelessness and despair. They rejected our History and our Values. Quite simply, they did everything in their power to destroy our Country. 
 
In 2016, President Donald J. Trump was elected as an unapologetic Champion of the American People. He reignited the American Spirit and called on us to renew our National Pride. His Policies spurred Historic Economic Growth, Job Creation, and a Resurgence of American Manufacturing. President Trump and the Republican Party led America out of the pessimism induced by decades of failed leadership, showing us that the American People want Greatness for our Country again. 
 
Yet after nearly four years of the Biden administration, America is now rocked by Raging Inflation, Open Borders, Rampant Crime, Attacks on our Children, and Global Conflict, Chaos, and Instability. 
 
Like the Heroes who built and defended this Nation before us, we will never give up. We will restore our Nation of, by, and for the People.  We will Make America Great Again. 

 …

America needs determined Republican Leadership at every level of Government to address the core threats to our very survival: Our disastrously Open Border, our weakened Economy, crippling restrictions on American Energy Production, our depleted Military, attacks on the American System of Justice, and much more.
 
To make clear our commitment, we offer to the American people the 2024 GOP Platform to Make America Great Again!  It is a forward-looking Agenda that begins with the following twenty promises that we will accomplish very quickly when we win the White House and Republican Majorities in the House and Senate.

1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY 
3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN
4. MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER 
6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN AMERICA
9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 
10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS 
11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD
13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS 
16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS 

The threat to America’s orbital infrastructure from both China and Russia is growing at an alarming pace.

According to  Department of Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Russia launched a weapon designed to attack U.S. satellite on May 16.  It was placed in the same orbit as an American government spacecraft.

“Russia launched a satellite into low-earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low-earth orbit,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said today during a press conference.

Similar threatening weapons were launched by Moscow in 2029 and 2022,

In testimony before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee, John D. Hill, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense, stated that “We are clearly in a time of rapid change in the space strategic environment.

He discussed the efforts by China and Russia to rapidly field space and counterspace capabilities aimed at the United States. “The scale and scope of the threats in space present significant risks to the American people, to our national interests, allies and partners.” Hill said.  

Hill was joined by Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, and Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, in testifying before the subcommittee. They further underscored the need for urgent action to maintain U.S. leadership in space. 

“Space has never been more critical to the security of our nation, and the success or failure of the joint force depends heavily upon the capabilities that we present,” Guetlein said. “Repeated actions by both the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China underscore the urgency for action. 

“Although we still maintain control of space over our competitors, they are still working hard to close the gap and assert their dominance in space,” he added. “We cannot let this happen.”

DR. John F. Plumb Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy recently testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. He warned “We are clearly in a time of rapid change in the space strategic environment, one which does not favor the slow or those resistant to change. As we evaluate our current security environment, both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia are focused on rapidly fielding space and counterspace capabilities to hold the Joint Force at risk and deny us the space-based services on which our Joint Force relies.

“China will probably have achieved ‘world-class’ status in all but a few space technology areas” by 2030. The PRC views the space domain, and the ability to deny space to PRC adversaries, as a critical component of modern warfare. The PRC has made significant investments in space capabilities to rapidly expand its ability to monitor forces across the globe and improve its long-range precision strike capabilities against U.S. or allied forces to deter or deny outside regional intervention. To advance its concept of “informatized” warfare, the PRC continues to develop and modernize space capabilities to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and to enhance communication, data relays, and positioning, navigation, and timing for its forces. The PRC also continues to rapidly develop counter-space capabilities to hold our on-orbit assets at risk. These capabilities include electronic warfare, direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles, directed-energy systems such as ground-based lasers, potential space-based kinetic weapons, and orbiting space robots. To support its increased investment in space, the PRC is modernizing its launch capabilities and capacity to reconstitute its space capabilities if needed.

“Russia is seeking to mitigate U.S. space capabilities by developing a range of offensive counterspace capabilities, including electronic warfare, directed energy weapons, direct-ascent anti-satellite systems, and orbital systems with counterspace applications. Russia’s investments in counterspace systems are designed to exploit what it views as a U.S. overreliance on space for conducting military operations and to offset perceived U.S. military advantages… Russia will be more reliant on counterspace capabilities as it rebuilds its ground force from extensive losses in its war against Ukraine. Russian military doctrine embraces multi-domain attacks, using both reversible and irreversible capabilities, to target adversary satellites. Russia has conducted cyber intrusions against commercial satellite communication networks, and Russia has demonstrated through both public statements and actions that it views commercial satellites providing space-based services to Russia’s adversaries as potential targets. Russia is also developing a concerning anti-satellite capability related to a new satellite carrying a nuclear device that Russia is developing. This capability could pose a threat to all satellites operated by countries and companies around the globe, as well as to the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend upon.”

Photo: U.S. and partner nations work together to solve challenging space scenarios during Global Sentinel 2024, an annual exercise focused on combined space operations, at Vandenberg Space Force Base (DoD photo)

It’s time for the Democratic Party to stop lying. It’s not just about their presidential candidate. It’s a seriously bad habit that its leaders have fallen into in the 21st century.

Millions of Americans who normally restrict their news information gathering to Democrat-friendly media such as MSNBC, the Washington Post, and the New York Times were utterly shocked at the obvious incapacity of Joe Biden. For a considerable period of time, these outlets cooperated with party leadership in hiding the now undeniable diminished capacity of the President.

For quite some time, party leaders have assured voters that Joe Biden was capable of governing. He proved during the recent presidential debate that the assertion was nonsense.  It’s another example of the Party’s habitual inability to tell the truth, both in elections and in governing.

Throughout Biden’s term, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas assured the nation that the U.S. southern border was secured.  In April, he told Congress that “the border is as secure as it can be” The claim is ludicrous. As noted by the Washington Post, “Illegal border crossings soared in the months after Biden took office and immediately rolled back many Trump-era restrictions…The Biden administration has released more than 2.3 million border crossers into the United States since 2021. The gap between the number of migrants taken into CBP custody versus the number of people who are sent back or deported has widened each of the last three years…On Biden’s first day in office his administration ordered a pause on most arrests and deportations from the interior of the United States.”

Biden openly and repeatedly lies about inflation, alleging that it was 9% when he took office. Clear, authoritative and widely agreed upon statistics reveal that the actual rate was 1.4%. The claim is neither a misinterpretation or an exaggeration.  it’s an absolute falsehood.

Democrats have used completely false claims about voter ID, inciting racial antagonism, as a means to gain support from minority voters. The reality is, voter id does not “suppress,” “limit,” or “discourage” any voters.  A National Bureau of Economic Research study, among others, found that “the laws have no negative effect on registration or turnout, overall or for any group defined by race, gender, age, or party affiliation. A similar Heritage examination revealed that “Among a variety of minority groups and political affiliations, no significant change in turnout occurred after voter ID laws went into effect. It should be noted, though, that Hispanic voter turnout actually increased in states with ID requirements, when compared to states without them. Clearly, the decrease erroneously claimed by critics has not happened.” 

Contrary to the commonly heralded assumption that voter ID laws mobilize political backlash, this research shows the laws have no significant impact on four different measurements of political mobilization: campaign contact, frequency of campaign signs, volunteering for campaigns, and levels of campaign contributions. These activities appear to occur at nearly identical rates in states with and without voter ID laws. 

Among the most serious hoaxes was the allegation that Donald Trump “colluded” with Russians. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) repeatedly stated that “there was “ample evidence of collusion in plain sight.” An intensive, 306 page Special Counsel  report concluded in 2013 that “based on the evidence gathered in the multiple exhaustive and costly federal investigations of these matters, including the instant investigation, neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”

Politicians and political parties on both sides of the aisle have, with unfortunate frequency, engaged in statements which mislead, exaggerate, or obscure the truth. However, the seriousness and extent of the Democratic Party’s actions in the 21st century are in a league all their own. They have substantially and needlessly divided the nation, exacerbated racial tensions, and left in charge a Commander-in-Chief clearly incapable of governing or protecting the nation.  

Picture: Pixabay

“The war in Ukraine is leading both Moscow and Kyiv to engage in increased cyberattacks that are destructive to both infrastructure and civilian lives from meddling with energy networks to manipulating people into committing violent acts,” according to Luke Rodeheffer of the Jamestown Foundation. Both sides are engaging in activities that will leave their mark on the world for years to come as the war has increasingly blurred the lines of official state actions and those of non-state cyber actors. Criminal hacking groups and official intelligence organizations are developing working relationships that offer attractive opportunities to collaborate with good pay. 

As the kinetic war drifts into the cyberspace domain, some members of government agencies are moonlighting as hackers and coordinating their activities over the Internet. Early on in the war Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, announced that the country needed a volunteer Information Technology (IT) Army capable of coordinating activities against Russian targets using Telegram. 

Today that IT Army distributes free hacking tools to its volunteers for conducting cyberattacks on the Russian infrastructure and companies. Using tens of thousands of network devices, Ukraine’s volunteers have had success in performing distributed-denial-of-service attacks. “Ukraine has conducted a large-scale call center fraud operation targeting Russia, particularly older and more gullible Russian citizens, which is forcing the Russian state to increase surveillance on communication networks,” says Rodeheffer.

In late June the IT Army overwhelmed Russian target Internet infrastructure with “connection requests” that ultimately led to interruptions in Mir, Russia’s national payment card system, according to Lizzie Simpson writing for Habr. She quotes a Forbes interlocutor in the Russian information security industry as saying: “The attack is 100%, and this is the work of the IT army of Ukraine.” Confirmed attacks such as the Mir incident are changing the character of warfare and are challenging for international security networks to control. The intensity and breadth of the attacks continues to increase on both sides of the conflict, however, it started long before the invasion. 

As early as 2010, there are indications Russia engaged in destructive cyberattacks against Ukraine. One of the most egregious strikes occurred in the winter of 2015 against the country’s power grid. Years before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia used hacks to shut down the computer infrastructure of TV channels in the country, according to an expert involved in the investigation of one of the episodes. Russia carried it out in a “multi-stage secret infection of information networks,” says Vsevolod Nekrasov of Epravda. 

Russia often employs these weapons against Ukraine in its current war effort against the civilian infrastructure. Using malware capable of permanently erasing data, Russia is seen as the likely sponsor of last December’s attack on Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications company. It resulted in extensive interruptions in telephone and Internet services that disabled the country for weeks. Kyivstar called it “catastrophic” at the time. In April, a response by a Ukrainian security services linked group called “Ukrainian Blackjack,” responded in kind by targeting a Russian data center utilized by several Large Russian companies and defense-related conglomerates. NV.ua reports that the group destroyed 300 terabytes (TB) of data. A DVD-R holds 4.7 GB. One would need 63,830 DVD’s to hold 300 TB of data!

Ukraine has also targeted public figures in Russia linked to the war including high-ranking Duma members and policymakers focusing on the Middle East and Central Asia. Two of those, Alexander Babakov and Semyon Bagdasarov were close confidants of Putin. Their emails exposed sensitive detailed plans on how Russia planned to work with Iran to avoid sanctions. 

Simultaneously with the increase in cyberattacks, is a corresponding rise in cybercrime aimed at the Russian citizenry. Many of these incidents were in the form of fraud calls tricking Russians into transferring money out of the country or revealing personal information, according to RIA Novosti. “The scale of Ukrainian cybercrime has provided Moscow with additional justification to bolster its internal communications surveillance systems, under the auspices of detecting fraudulent phone calls,” says Rodeheffer. Radio Svoboda is reporting that it is also being used as an excuse to rush the integration of the occupied regions of Ukraine into Russia’s telecommunications systems and SORM, the communications surveillance system.

What is most problematic is that the criminal elements involved may make it difficult to dismantle this “underground” after the war ends, says Rodeheffer. What is tolerated during a war, including the need for questionable characters with technical expertise, may lead to a new type of 21-century warfare that extends beyond the current geography of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It could end up as a battle for the survival of both Western military and civilian infrastructures.