IRAQ
The State Department is intent on assuring the Iraqi people that the United States is a long-term, steady partner. It announced this week that Washington is pursuing a new US-Iraqi strategic dialogue to discuss the two countries’ financial, economic, security, and diplomatic partnership. The incentive behind restarting the framework now is that Iraq currently faces a number of challenges, including that of quickly forming a new, strong and independent government. As Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated recently, “…the Iraqi people are urging their government for change and reforms.” Before the pandemic, Iraqis were gathering by the thousands on a daily basis to demand an end to Iran’s influence in the country.
Currently, the US is aiding Iraq’s response to COVID-19 with funds to prepare laboratories, implement public health emergency plans for points of entry, and activate case finding and event-based surveillance for influenza-like illnesses. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Dave Schenker, said Friday that the US remains the “largest donor to demining, clearing over 86 million square meters of [Iraqi] land since 2015.” Since 2014 the United States has provided more than $2.6 billion in assistance, including food, water, medicine, and shelters and is Iraq’s largest humanitarian donor.
YEMEN
The State Department says it wants to do more in Yemen to assist with its COVID-19 response and other humanitarian assistance. The issue facing the US is that the “Houthis are obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance, interfering, preventing the monitoring and evaluation, and of course skimming to fund their war effort,” according to Assistant Secretary of State Schenker. He called for a ceasefire as well as a Houthi commitment to start following standard best international practices on the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
CONGO
Secretary Pompeo on Tuesday announced that the Democratic Republic of Congo will declare the Ebola outbreak over. “For almost two years now, the United States has led the global response to the latest outbreak of that horrible disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Within one month from the outbreak,” he said, “America deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team and other experts who supported vaccination campaigns, diagnostic processes, testing and tracing, and more. We’ve provided more than $569 million since the outbreak began to fight Ebola in the DRC and the neighboring countries.”
AFGHANISTAN
Progress has been made in recent weeks in Afghanistan, according to Secretary Pompeo. He said that while there still is back-and-forth movement, and the Taliban are posturing in the media, it does understand the US commitment to intra-Afghan negotiations. He pointed out that America will deliver on its commitment to reduce its forces in accordance with the agreement on the conditions that are set out in those agreements.
Pompeo pointed out that he doesn’t think there’s any “ambiguity with respect to how all of the parties understand what America’s continued role will be if they execute this peace and reconciliation process properly, appropriately, efficiently… It’s time for these folks to get on with building out a peaceful, reconciled Afghanistan with a real political leadership that can lead the country forward and take down the levels of violence. We’re monitoring that, we are still providing support for the Afghan National Security Forces, and we continue to work to get this process moving forward.”
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Since 2015 the world has seen a surge in white supremacist terrorism around the globe. Countering this threat is a top priority for the Trump administration. The State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Nathan Sales, briefed the media on recent developments related to the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM). He said “the State Department is designating the Russian Imperial Movement – also known as RIM – as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, or SDGT” along with several of its top leaders.
Last month was the first anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He said the US is not immune to this threat. This administration, according to Sales, “isn’t just talking the talk. We’re also walking the walk. We’re taking decisive actions to counter this threat.”
These designations are unprecedented. This is the first time the United States has ever designated foreign white supremacist terrorists. The Trump Administration is taking actions that no previous administration has taken to counter this threat.
RIM is a terrorist group that provides paramilitary-style training to neo-Nazis and white supremacists, according to the State Department. Ambassador Sales noted that these historic designations are just one part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to counter white supremacist terrorism abroad. “We’re bringing all of our counterterrorism tools to this fight – information sharing, counter messaging, combatting terrorist travel, engaging with tech companies, and building partner capacity to protect soft targets like synagogues and mosques.”
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.
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