Author: Frank V. Vernuccio, Jr.

There is, belatedly, a recognition that the United States has committed a near-fatal error in allowing its once superior naval position to rapidly deteriorate.  China now has a distinct advantage in the Indo-Pacific, and Russia feels free to harass both America and its allies in other portions of the globe. Indeed, the Russian Navy recently engaged in threatening war games off the coast of Hawaii, and China has taken over the strategic island of Kiribati, midway between Pearl Harbor and Australia.  Despite this, there appears to be a worrisome lack of concern for the disaster that the loss of sea power is bringing to both American national security and global commerce.

Christopher Dougherty, writing for the authoritative War on the Rocks  publication, warns that “The U.S. Navy is on the verge of strategic bankruptcy. Its fleet isn’t large enough to meet global day-to-day demands for naval forces. Due to repeated deployments and maintenance backlogs, the fleet also isn’t ready enough to meet these demands safely, nor can it quickly surge in an emergency. Finally, the fleet isn’t capable enough to meet the challenges posed by China’s increasingly modern and aggressive People’s Liberation Army Navy. How did this happen to a force that, as recently as two decades ago, dominated the world’s oceans to a degree perhaps unequalled in human history? The answer is gradually and then suddenly. Myriad authors have responded to the Biden administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 defense budget request with a mix of confusion and consternation. Critics have directed their ire, in particular, at the budget’s treatment of the Navy…”

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday has testified  that “The competition at sea intensifying. China and Russia are rapidly mobilizing their militaries, attempting to undermine our alliances, integrating the free and the open order. The Chinese battle force is the largest in the world and it is growing. Backed by a robust industrial base and the biggest shipbuilding infrastructure in the world, they command a modern fleet of surface combatants, submarines, aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and next-generation fighters. Furthermore, they are strengthening their space capabilities and stockpiling an arsenal of long-range missiles to hold us and our partners — and our allies and partners at risk. China is deliberately modernizing for the 21st century and is building an all-domain capabilities to rival our own….The results of analysis over the past five years inside and outside the Pentagon have been consistent and they’ve been clear: America needs a larger, more capable fleet. …the Navy’s buying power is less than it was in 2010. Back then we had 288 ships, today we have 296. Given these factors, if the Navy’s top line remains flat or if it goes down, the size of our fleet will definitely shrink.”

A Congressional Research Service report discloses that “China’s navy, which [it] has been steadily modernizing for more than 25 years, since the early to mid-1990s, has become a formidable military force within China’s near-seas region, and it is conducting a growing number of operations in more-distant waters, including the broader waters of the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and waters around Europe.

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“China’s navy is viewed as posing a major challenge to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve and maintain wartime control of blue-water ocean areas in the Western Pacific—the first such challenge the U.S. Navy has faced since the end of the Cold War.

 “China’s navy forms a key element of a Chinese challenge to the long-standing status of the United States as the leading military power in the Western Pacific. Some U.S. observers are expressing concern or alarm regarding the pace of China’s naval shipbuilding effort and resulting trend lines regarding the relative sizes and capabilities of China’s navy and the U.S. Navy. China’s naval modernization effort encompasses a wide array of ship, aircraft, and weapon acquisition programs, as well as improvements in maintenance and logistics, doctrine, personnel quality, education and training, and exercises…. The issue for Congress is whether the U.S. Navy is responding appropriately to China’s naval modernization effort.”

Jerry Hendrix, in a National Review examination, urges the U.S. to make a “conscious decision to pivot back to being a sea power…The world we created in not the world that China and Russia wish to live in. Its very openness and expansive freedoms threaten the domestic stability of these authoritarian powers, which recognize that the free sea can no longer be defended by the [shrunken] U.S. Navy.”

Photo: The guided-missile destroyer Qiqihar (Hull 121) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command fires its close-in weapons system during a maritime live-fire test on June 7, 2021. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Hailong)

It is increasingly clear that the United States faces unprecedented threats from abroad. It is also evident that the threats are becoming coordinated.

In April, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov warned President Joe Biden against assisting Ukraine, the subject of Moscow’s expansionist activities. The same month, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian warned the White House about providing assistance to Taiwan.

The Office of Director of National Intelligence has sounded the alarm about the massive danger the U.S. currently faces:

Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang have demonstrated the capability and intent to advance their interests at the expense of the United States and its allies… China is…challenging the United States in multiple arenas—especially economically, militarily, and technologically—and is pushing to change global norms. Russia is pushing back against Washington where it can globally, employing techniques up to and including the use of force. Iran will remain a regional menace with broader malign influence activities, and North Korea will be a disruptive player on the regional and world stages. Major adversaries and competitors are enhancing and exercising their military, cyber, and other capabilities, raising the risks to US and allied forces, weakening our conventional deterrence, and worsening the longstanding threat from weapons of mass destruction.”

The stringent warnings are not being taken seriously by the Biden Administration, which is advocating a defense budget that doesn’t even keep up with inflation.

U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL), and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) Ranking Members of the House Armed Services Committee, have expressed deep concern: 

Rogers and Calvert stress that “China already has a larger Navy, more troops, more missiles, and more hypersonics than we do…Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed FY2022 defense budget sends the wrong message to our allies and our adversaries. By failing to keep pace with inflation, the President’s budget amounts to a cut of over $4 billion in defense spending. Meanwhile, his budget proposes to increase non-defense spending by a massive $104 billion or 16 percent.

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“The bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission was very clear: to fully implement the National Defense Strategy, overcome threats from China and other adversaries, and recover from austere budgets in the Obama years, we need to grow our defense spending by three to five percent above inflation from 2022-2025. This year’s defense budget should be above the rate of inflation and entirely focused on deterring the threats from near peer adversaries. Instead, this budget, should it pass in its current form, would cede our military superiority to China and return us to a hollow force, unable to respond to events around the world, whether it’s conflict or humanitarian missions.

“The Biden administration lacks a coherent and effective defense strategy. His budget falls short of meeting the requirements of the great power competition we face. Even worse, this budget is the product of the progressive left’s dream to “defund the Pentagon.”  While China and Russia plot the downfall of American and liberal democracies globally, President Biden’s progressive budget-driven strategy fails to meet the needs of the nation, shortchanges our military, endangers our allies, and invites chaos into the world.”

Rogers outlined the impact of the White House’s inadequate budget on one branch of the armed forces:

“The Army is facing cuts of 12 percent in procurement; 10 percent in research and development; and 18 percent in military construction.  The Army has nearly $5.5 billion in unfunded priorities. The budget cuts procurement of critical vertical lift and ground vehicle programs.  It buys fewer missiles and ammunition to replenish our arsenal.  And it delays the modernization of existing assets, such as the Abrams tank. These cuts worsen current capability gaps. And I’m concerned it leaves the Army ill-equipped for a near-term conflict.”

The Report concludes tomorrow

Photo: Russian tanks (Russian Defence Ministry photo)

AFGHANISTAN

The Biden Administration has been roundly criticized by both major political parties in the US and by world leaders overseas for its failed withdrawal from Afghanistan. This week Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the media that, despite earlier claims to the opposite, the US is continuing to facilitate the departure of Americans from the country. In a written statement on Friday Blinken said “…today we facilitated the departure from Afghanistan of 21 U.S. citizens and 11 Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). via an overland route.” A Qatar Airways charter flight also departed Kabul with 19 U.S. citizens aboard.  When asked to comment on reports of beatings and lashings of civilians by the Taliban, State Department Spokesman New Price responded “…as I said before, we are not going to make sweeping categorical judgments just yet.” He left open the question of “when” the Biden Administration intended to take a stand.

RUSSIA

Russia announced the recent completion of the Nordstream 2 pipeline. When asked by a reporter if the US still intended to prevent the pipeline from becoming operational, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said “We’ve said it before and we’ll continue to say it again: We believe that this is a bad deal, and we continue to oppose this pipeline as a Russian geopolitical project that’s a bad deal for Europe and, of course, that undercuts the energy security for a major part of the Euro-Atlantic community.” Price was unable to explain how the US would proceed to shut it down before it becomes operational. 

When a reporter this week asked if the US is getting closer to go back to Vienna to resume talks, Price said that after Special Envoy Malley’s trip to Russia “The special envoy did tweet. He said his conversations in Moscow were good, they were productive.” It now appears tweets form the substance of diplomatic communications.

ISRAEL

When Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Naftali Bennett met with settlers he told them that he will not stop or freeze West Bank settlement construction. When asked about the US position on his statement State Department Spokesperson Jalina Porter said, “We’ve said it before and we’ll – it’s worth repeating that we believe it’s critical for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to refrain from any unilateral steps that would exacerbate tensions and also undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.”  

“We have said it again and will continue to say it” appears to be the new mantra at the State Department.

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ETHIOPIA

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson, said the United States remains gravely concerned by ongoing conflict in multiple regions of Ethiopia.  He added that “reports of continued human rights abuses and atrocities by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Eritrean Defense Forces, Amhara regional and irregular forces, the TPLF and other armed groups, including the reported attack on civilians in one village in Amhara region this week, are deeply disturbing.” The Department condemned the abuses against civilians and called on all parties to the conflict to “respect human rights and comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.”

IRAN

When Price was asked about the status of the JCPOA, he pointed out that it is not up to the United States to characterize Iran’s timetable statements. He added “ It is up to us to say that we would like to see those negotiations restart as soon as possible so we can test the proposition as to whether the – a mutual return to compliance is still within the realm of possibility.” Top date the Iranians have not told the United States if, or when, they intend to restart the nuclear safeguard talks.

NORTH KOREA

There has been extensive reporting recently from independent analysts about denuclearization at Yongbyon’s reactors. When asked about the reports, Price said that the US is aware of them and that the US believes “the best way to make progress towards that is with dialogue with the DPRK so that we can address the issues raised in this report but also the fuller set of issues related to denuclearization.” He added that the US is prepared to engage in diplomacy.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

China is aware of the power and size of the United States and the English language. US media and politicians are not particularly familiar with the Middle Kingdom. Few Americans speak Mandarin, China’s official language. Even before Covid hit, not many Americans attended Chinese universities. Bluntly stated, the US is not fully prepared to compete globally with the emerging Chinese threat. President Xi Jinping openly derides Washington at every opportunity. He deliberately points to “human rights,” “freedom,” and “democracy” as Western bourgeois values that communist China will never accept. Since few Americans read or understand spoken Mandarin they don’t know about his thoughts on these subjects. His domestic speeches and documents are rarely translated into English. Americans  might be shocked by ideological topics covering issues such as Xi’s  recent “Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era.”

On September 2, People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) newspaper published the 34^th of a series of articles in Mandarin and approved by Xi, that cover his domestic speeches and writings. The latest article explains why the communist giant needs to take a proactive and clear stand against the “universal values of the West.” When Xi writes of universal values he is referring to “the values of freedom,” “democracy,” and “human rights,” according to Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religions and founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions in Italy. 

It is important that American gain a realistic understanding of China today and where Xi intends to take his country in the future. He is a very orthodox Marxist who believes that bourgeois liberalism will be defeated by Marxist socialism, says Introvigne. The values and freedoms the United States holds in high esteem, according to Xi, “have increasingly become tools for maintaining the rule of capital” throughout the West. China is skilled in the use of propaganda. Xi praised the US this week by likening US support for universal values to a “clever” strategy by Washington to package and promote them globally.

Xi argues there are no “universal values” that are applicable throughout history. He says that in the past democracy, human rights, and freedom were useful, but today are no longer valid and must be liquidated by socialism. Did the leader of the largest communist country on earth just invalidate all that we stand for, our American way of life, the very essence of what is important to each individual in this country and yet no one in the US media covered it with outrage? 

President Xi’s words won’t be translated by the American media, reported on the front page of any Western newspaper, and certainly they won’t be heard on the evening network news shows. Promoting these universal values, according to Xi, should be exposed as “causing harm.” Why do the media and politicians overlook these accusations when the leader of a rising power antithetical to everything the US and the West believes in states them as fact? Xi Jinping is celebrated by other dictators at the United Nations when he declines to grant his own citizens human rights, freedom, and democracy. That also  won’t find its way into the mainstream media.  

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The 34^th article also reveals that the Chinese leader said it is no accident there are no human rights, freedom, or democracy in China because they are not embraced by the CCP and never will be part of the Party’s ideology, just as they were not claimed to be a part of the German Nazi tradition. Will the West, and the United States in particular, listen when the leader of over one billion people says he and his country will never respect the values treasured by the West? 

“Chinese media … are dominated by “Party History Study,” which is required homework for all Chinese in the year 2021, which marks the 100^th anniversary of the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party. The whole country is mobilized to learn the history of the CCP. Not only in schools, but in offices, factories, and pretty much everywhere there will be exams testing the proficiency citizens have achieved in learning CCP’s history,” according to Introvigne. It is time American politicians start listening and the media start reporting on Xi Jinping’s plan for remaking the West… before Mandarin becomes the primary business language of the world.

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 Friday, she presents key updates on China.

Photo: China Seaborne attack vehicle (China Defence Ministry)

The former Soviet republics in Central Asia matter to the Russian Heartland today and they also should be of concern to the United States. Afghanistan, a part of that Heartland, is only 300 miles from the Indian Ocean Rimland, according to Robert D. Kaplan, writing in The Spectator. He argues that the failed US withdrawal from Afghanistan significantly changes the geopolitical environment with the US now concentrating on the outlying areas in Asia rather than those closer to Russia. The two regions, he points out, will converge in the coming years into a Greater Central Asia connected by new transportation corridors, extensive pipelines, and other modernized infrastructure.

Russian military and security services and Russian-language speakers remain dominant in Central Asia over those from China, but the eastern communist giant is making major economic inroads in the region through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Although Russia is partnering with China in many areas, the balance slowly is changing in favor of Beijing, despite Moscow’s efforts to maintain a relationship with the Taliban. In the near future it may be left to the United States to maintain a fragile diplomatic balance between the two communist giants by denying them both their desired hegemonic status in the region. 

Over the last decade Russia has worked to repair its relationship with Pakistan, weakened by Islamabad’s courting of Washington after the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Their military leaders now hold high level visits and they have restarted arms sales. The Islamabad-Moscow security partnership has strengthened and expanded while at the same time US relations with Pakistan have worsened. Russia has benefited from the political vacuum in recent years, enabling it to renew military exchange  programs, training, and joint naval exercises. While Russia’s efforts are reaping results in Pakistan, it still faces risks in other parts of the region.

There are co-ethnic communities on both sides of Afghanistan’s border. Russia and the other Central Asian nations fear Afghan refugees would engender unrest inside their borders and have, thus far, refused to resettle them in the local communities. Russian political analysts also have raised concerns in Moscow that the Taliban victory may inspire Islamic extremist groups inside Russia itself. Paul Goble, of the Jamestown Foundation, points out that Russian “officials worry that Taliban or Taliban-influenced activists are likely to work to promote drug trafficking throughout Russia to fill the depleted government coffers in Kabul.” Moscow, like China, has been slow to recognize the new Taliban-led government. What at first glance may appear to be an indirect victory for Russia comes with many risks and potentially destabilizing factors. 

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C. Raja Mohan, writing in Foreign Policy this week, says that the Taliban victory has pushed India closer to the United States and may deepen its rift with Russia. Closer to Moscow, Tiblisi, Georgia has opened its airport to become a major transit point for Afghan refugees, according to Goble. Yet the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Georgia responded to the accusations saying that “Russian news agencies are spreading disinformation that Tbilisi and Georgia allegedly gave shelter to Afghan refugees and that we allegedly turned Tbilisi into a refuge for those fleeing Afghanistan.”  He highlighted that reference, in reality, “is to only tens of employees of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, International Republican Institute, Asian Development Bank and other international organizations functioning in Afghanistan, whose evacuation to Georgia is carried out in close coordination with international partners. Those persons will remain in Georgia for a few hours and then they will travel to the countries of their destination.” Armenian officials inside Azerbaijan in “Artsakh Republic” (Karabakh) says refugees were sent there to give Moscow trouble. Rumors are rampant and stoking the flames of fear among Russians in the borderlands. Goble notes that David Babayan, the “foreign minister” of that entity, which is currently protected by Russian peacekeepers, has alleged that “Azerbaijan has transferred militants from Afghanistan to the portions of Karabakh it controls” to destabilize the area and threaten violence and that this process has been assisted by Turkey.

The Russian propaganda machine may be celebrating the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as a complete breakdown of US foreign policy and a win for Moscow,  but Putin knows conflict in the region is far from over.

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 Thursday, she presents key updates on Russia.

Illustration: Pixabay

“The Thing to do is to get a man at first to value social justice…and then work him on to the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice…Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop…” CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Chapter XXIII

The Papacy of Francis has not been without controversy.  “In October 2020, while being interviewed for the documentary ‘Francesco’ about his life, Francis made a full-throated endorsement of same-sex civil unions…setting off global shock waves.  ‘Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,’ the pontiff said…’What we have to have is a civil union law; that way, they are legally covered.'”    Shortly thereafter, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described by USA Today as “the Vatican’s Orthodoxy office,” stated that “(t)he Catholic Church and its priests cannot bless same-sex unions because God ‘cannot bless sin…(t)he blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit…there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.'” 

Francis’ statements on homosexual unions is an outgrowth of his long history of leftist social activism.  “Pope Francis has made his social and economic tendencies clear since the early days of his pontificate… (f)or the Holy Father, inequality is the ‘root of social ills,’ though he fails to explain precisely why a society of unequal wealth but a relatively high standard of living would somehow be less reflective of Gospel values than a society that shares equally in poverty…(in) his message to the Popular Movements in Bolivia (in 2015), Pope Francis demanded rights to land, labor and lodging—one can only imagine how expansive a State’s apparatus would have to be to guarantee all of these, certainly one that would leave precious little space to individual initiative; criticized corporations, banks, free trade agreements and austerity measures as part of an ‘anonymous influence of mammon’; and rushed to the defense of ‘Mother Earth’…which he saw as ‘being pillaged, laid waste and harmed with impunity.’” 

The social activism of the Pope has not been well received by more traditional Catholics.  As described by Victor Codina, SJ, writing in America,  “At present, there is a strong group opposing Francis’ church: laypeople, theologians, bishops and cardinals who would like him to resign or promptly disappear from the scene while they wait for a new conclave to change the current direction of the church…(t)he criticisms of Francis have two dimensions, one theological and the other more socio-political, although (as we will see later) there are instances where these dimensions converge…(overall) opposition to Francis is opposition to the Second Vatican Council and to the evangelical reform of the church that Pope John XXIII wanted to promote.” 

This last point is crucial to understanding the current controversy involving The Socialist Pope.

On July 16, 2021, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter entitled Motu Proprio.  “In order to promote the concord and unity of the Church, (the Pope writes, “with paternal solicitude towards those who in any region adhere to liturgical forms antecedent to the reform willed by the Vatican Council II, my Venerable Predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, granted and regulated the faculty to use the Roman Missal edited by John XXIII in 1962.  In this way they intended ‘to facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier liturgical forms’ and not to others.”  

“At this time,” the Holy Father continues, “I have considered it appropriate to establish the following…It belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to him, to regulate the liturgical celebrations of his diocese. Therefore, it is his exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See….(t)he bishop of the diocese in which until now there exist one or more groups that celebrate according to the Missal antecedent to the reform of 1970…is to determine that these groups do not deny the validity and the legitimacy of the liturgical reform, dictated by Vatican Council II”  

In discussing Motu Proprio, David Gibson, the Director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, writes that “the outcry from Catholic conservatives and self-styled ‘Traditionalists’ over Pope Francis’s decision to restore restrictions on the unreformed, pre-1970 Latin version of the Mass has been so angry and anguished that it has obscured several important realities about this controversy.  Those realities are critical to understanding this drama of near-schismatic proportions… the pope has not prohibited priests from saying Mass in Latin… What Pope Francis has restricted is the rite that was codified after the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and promulgated by Pope Pius V in 1570. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) called for the liturgy to be updated and renewed, and in 1970 – four hundred years after the Tridentine missal – Pope Paul VI promulgated a new missal, the one nearly all Catholics around the world follow at Mass in their own language. Priests can still celebrate ‘the Latin Mass,’ just with the new format and formulas which express a different ecclesiology and theology than the older version.” 

Gibson also denies that in outlawing the Pre-Vatican II version of the mass, “Pope Francis is throttling some burgeoning traditionalist revival of a superior form of Catholicism that will reinvigorate (the) church…(t)he idea that Catholics are pining for the Tridentine Rite is the trend story that never dies. It is the line that (traditionalists) have been feeding everyone for decades, and it was amplified by church leaders like Pope Benedict XVI, who in broadening the use of the old rite in 2007 said that his move was prompted by ongoing requests from around the world and that ‘even young people’ were drawn to it.”

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Yet, contrary to Gibson’s words are the words of Pope Francis himself.  “Pope Francis explained his reasoning for the motu proprio in a letter to the world’s bishops, saying that the expansion of the Latin Mass after Summorum Pontificum did not result in a unified Church. Summorum Pontificum was Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter which recognized the rights of priests to say the Traditional Latin Mass, and stated they did not need the permission of their local ordinary to offer it.  That 2007 document, Pope Francis said, ‘was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.'” 

In other words, the Pope is throttling a traditionalist revival by prohibiting the use of a mass form that predates Vatican II.

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Steven P Millies describes the situation with precision.  ” To 

non Catholics — and many Catholics — the decision may seem on first glance to be a technical, even obscure action not worth very much attention. But it sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic Church. As a scholar who studies the Catholic Church’s relationship to the 

world, I believe the move may be the most important action Francis has taken in an eventful papacy… (t)he Mass is the central act of Roman Catholic worship. During the earliest centuries of Christianity, there was widespread variation in the Mass. Local irregularities thrived at a time before printed books…(b)ut after the Reformation of the 16th century split the Western Church in two, the Roman Catholic Church regularized the form and the language of the Mass. At the Council of Trent, a gathering of Catholic bishops in northern Italy between 1545 and 1563 prompted by the rise of Protestantism, the Mass was codified…(f)rom that time, the ordinary celebration of the Mass followed a precise format…and was always celebrated in Latin. This Mass held firm in Catholic life for 400 years…until the Second Vatican Council of 1962 to 1965. Also known as Vatican II, the council was convened to address the position of the Catholic Church in the modern world…(a)mong other changes…the Mass was to be translated into local languages.

“(B)efore long, some Catholics began to express misgivings about the new rules regarding Mass, fearing that it changed too much by upending centuries of tradition. One of them was French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who refused to conduct the Mass in anything other than Latin, saying, ‘I prefer to walk in the truth without the Pope than to walk a false path with him.’ On another occasion he commented: ‘Our future is the past.’

 “Many people prefer the Latin Mass purely for its beauty, and not all of those people are uncomfortable with Pope Francis’ leadership. But many traditionalists are, and their views are not confined to prayer and Mass. The worldview that many in the traditionalist movement share with someone like Archbishop Lefebvre…is very uncomfortable with the modern world. It does not fit with Francis’ vision of a Catholic Church aligned with open societies and on the side of the oppressed. Traditionalists opposed to Pope Francis have found a refuge inside communities that celebrate the Latin Mass. It has insulated them from the direction in which Francis has been trying to take the church. Restricting the traditional Latin Mass as he has, it seems that that Pope Francis is challenging traditionalists to be part of the same church as he is.” 

Returning to Fr Cordina’s views, the convergence of the two strands of opposition to Francis, the theological and the socio-political, have united in the prohibition of the Pre-Vatican II Latin Mass.  As described by Steven Millies, traditionalist Catholics tend to be politically conservative.  From his endorsement of gay civil unions, to his calls for socialist economic reforms, the Pope has alienated these socially and politically conservative Catholics for years.  Now Francis has found a way to alienate these Catholics theologically as well.

Photo: The Vatican

Democrats want the new National Defense Authorization Act being debated in Congress to demand that armed services personnel and recruits do not participate in “extremist activities.”

Sounds logical, until you realize what the left defines as “extremist.” Some, like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have defined traditional Catholics as “extremists.” Others have labelled those who question man-made climate change as “terrorists.”

Essentially, anyone who dissents from Progressive orthodoxy is in danger of being labelled an “extremist.”

Some liberal politicians and thinktanks are in favor of politicizing the Pentagon. The Brookings Institute seems to approve of the concept, noting that  “Claiming that the military is, or should be, apolitical is both confusing and counterproductive. The military itself is, of course, an intensely political institution. Military leaders need to be able to engage on political issues with their troops and with the public, and they shouldn’t shy away from a topic simply for fear of being labeled “’political’.”

Historically, politicalization of the armed services by socialists has proven disastrous. Germany’s National Socialists played a key role in the rise of the Nazi’s, most particularly in January 1933 in persuading President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor. In the Soviet Union, “Commissars” insured the primacy of Communist Party control over the military.

On May 12, an Open Letter from Retired Generals and Admirals  noted: “Using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol Building, patrolling fences guarding against a non-existent threat, along with forcing Politically Correct policies like the divisive critical race theory into the military at the expense of the War Fighting Mission, seriously degrades readiness to fight and win our Nation’s wars, creating a major national security issue. We must support our Military and Vets; focus on war fighting, eliminate the corrosive infusion of Political Correctness into our military which damages morale and war fighting cohesion.”

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That organization has also blasted the current Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs (CJCS) General Mark Miley for putting political loyalty to President Biden above their obligation to the men and women they lead. “What should have happened upon learning of the Commander in Chief’s (President Biden’s) plan to quickly withdraw our forces and close the important power projection base Bagram, without adequate plans and forces in place to conduct the entire operation in an orderly fashion? As principal military advisors to the CINC/President, the SECDEF and CJCS should have recommended against this dangerous withdrawal in the strongest possible terms. If they did not do everything within their authority to stop the hasty withdrawal, they should resign. Conversely, if they did do everything within their ability to persuade the CINC/President to not hastily exit the country without ensuring the safety of our citizens and Afghans loyal to America, then they should have resigned in protest as a matter of conscience and public statement.”

The problem began in earnest during the Obama-Biden years. James Hasson, a former U.S. Army Captain, warns about the growing crisis in his book, Stand Down. 

He writes that during that eight-year Administration, their politicalization of the military “Invert[ed] the traditional military ethos…shift[ing] the military’s resources and focus away from the central task of preparing for and winning wars.” During that time period, the White House damaged military readiness, replacing that priority with Progressive political goals. This was accomplished by appointing left-wing ideologues to the most influential national security positions.

No one should be surprised by the way U.S. civilians and our allies were abandoned in Afghanistan by Biden.  A very similar cast of characters engaged in this behavior in the refusal to come to the aid of American personnel in Benghazi.

Picture: Pixabay

The retired Flag Officers signing this letter are calling for the resignation and retirement of the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) based on negligence in performing their duties primarily involving events surrounding the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The hasty retreat has left initial estimates at ~15,000 Americans stranded in dangerous areas controlled by a brutal enemy along with ~25,000 Afghan citizens who supported American forces.

What should have happened upon learning of the Commander in Chief’s (President Biden’s) plan to quickly withdraw our forces and close the important power projection base Bagram, without adequate plans and forces in place to conduct the entire operation in an orderly fashion?

As principal military advisors to the CINC/President, the SECDEF and CJCS should have recommended against this dangerous withdrawal in the strongest possible terms. If they did not do everything within their authority to stop the hasty withdrawal, they should resign. Conversely, if they did do everything within their ability to persuade the CINC/President to not hastily exit the country without ensuring the safety of our citizens and Afghans loyal to America, then they should have resigned in protest as a matter of conscience and public statement.

The consequences of this disaster are enormous and will reverberate for decades beginning with the safety of Americans and Afghans who are unable to move safely to evacuation points; therefore, being de facto hostages of the Taliban at this time. The death and torture of Afghans has already begun and will result in a human tragedy of major proportions. The loss of billions of dollars in advanced military equipment and supplies falling into the hands of our enemies is catastrophic. The damage to the reputation of the United States is indescribable. We are now seen, and will be seen for many years, as an unreliable partner in any multinational agreement or operation. Trust in the United States is irreparably damaged.

Moreover, now our adversaries are emboldened to move against America due to the weakness displayed in Afghanistan. China benefits the most followed by Russia, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and others. Terrorists around the world are emboldened and able to pass freely into our country through our open border with Mexico.

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Besides these military operational reasons for resignations, there are leadership, training, and morale reasons for resignations. In interviews, congressional testimony, and public statements it has become clear that top leaders in our military are placing mandatory emphasis on PC “wokeness” related training which is extremely divisive and harmful to unit cohesion, readiness, and war fighting capability. Our military exists to fight and win our Nation’s wars and that must be the sole focus of our top military leaders.

For these reasons we call on the SECDEF Austin and the CJCS General Milley to resign. A fundamental principle in the military is holding those in charge responsible and accountable for their actions or inactions. There must be accountability at all levels for this tragic and avoidable debacle.

Signed

RADM Philip Anselmo, USN, (ret) MG Joe Arbuckle, USA (ret) BG John C. Arick, USMC (ret) BG Billy A. Barrett, USAF (ret) RADM Jon Bayless, USN, (ret) BG Charles Bishop, USAF (ret) BG Don Bolduc, USA (ret) MG William Bowdon, USMC (ret) LTG William Boykin, USA (ret) MG Edward Bracken, USAF (ret) VADM Toney Michael Bucchi, USN (ret) MG Bobby Butcher, USMC (ret) BG Jim L. Cash, USAF (ret) LTG James E. Chambers USAF (ret) MG Carroll D. Childers, USA (ret) RADm Arthur Clark, USN (ret) VADM Ed Clexton, USN, (ret) MG John J. Closner III, USAF, (ret) BG Peter b. Collins, USMC (ret) MG David L Commons USAF (ret) MG James l. Dozier, USA (ret) BG Keith B. Connolly USAF (ret) BG Bob Floyd, USA (ret) MG Larry Fortmer, USAF (ret) BG Jerome V. Foust, USA (ret) BG Jimmy E. Fowler, USA (ret) BG Jerome V. Foust, USA (ret) RADM J. Fraser, USN (ret) MG John T. Furlow, USA (ret) MG Francis C. Gideon, USAF (ret) MG Lee V. Greer, USAF (ret) BG John H. Grueser, USAF (ret) MG Ken Hageman, USAF (ret) Gen Alfred Hansen, USAF (ret) MG Bryan G. Hawley, USAF (ret) MG John W. Hawley, USAF (ret) BG Norman Ham, USAF (ret) RADM Donald Hickman, USN (ret) MG William B. Hobgood, USA (ret) MG Bob Hollingworth, USMC (ret) MG Jerry D. Holmes, USAF (ret) ADM. Jerome L. Johnson USN (ret) RADM John King, USN (ret) BG Douglas E. Lee, USA (ret) MG J.S. Lynch, USMC (ret) RADM(L) Grady L. Jackson USN (ret) RADM Ronny Jackson USN (ret) MG Anthony Kropp USA (ret) RADM Chuck Kubic, CEC, USN (ret). MG James E. Livingston, USMC, MOH (ret) MG John D. Logeman, USAF (ret) MG Jarvis D. Lynch, USMC (ret) LTG Fred McCorkle, USMC (ret) LTG Thomas McInerney, USAF (ret) BG Michael P. McRaney, USAF (ret) BG James M. Mead, USMC (ret) BG Joe Mensching, USAF (ret) MG John F. Miller, USAF (ret) RADM John A. Moriarty, USN (ret) RADM David R. Morris, USN (ret) BG Ben Nelson, USAF (ret) BG Joe Oder, USA, (ret) MG Ray O’Mara, USAF (ret) MG Joe S. Owens, USA (ret) BG John a. Paterson, USAF (ret) RADM Russ Penniman, USN (ret) MG Richard Perraut, USAF (ret) VADM John Poindexter, USN (ret) RADM J.J. Quinn, USN (ret) LTG Clifford H. Rees, USAF (ret) BG Teddy E. Rinebarger, USAF (ret) RADM Norman Saunders, USCG (ret) LTG Hubert G. Smith, USA (ret) MG James Stewart, USAF (ret) RADM Jeremy D. Taylor, USN (ret) LTG William Thurman, USAF (ret) BG Robert Titus, USAF, (ret) LTG Lansford E. Trapp Jr, USAF (ret) BG Richard J. Valente, USA (ret) MG Paul Vallely, USA (ret) BG William L. Welch, USAF (ret) MG Kenneth W. Weir, USMCR (ret) MG Mike Wiedemer, USAF (ret) MG Richard O. Wightman, Jr. USA (ret) BG Robert E. Windham, USA (ret) RADM Denny Wisely, USN. (ret) BG Robert V. Woods, USAF (ret.)

AFGHANISTAN

What is the State Department thinking?

There is no other way to begin this summary. When asked by a reporter what happens to Afghans who worked for America before the evacuation, but were unable to produce the documentation required to get into the US, the State Department spokesperson New Price, said “…we are confident that we have solutions….”  When asked why Turkey is now the only place in the world, apparently, where an Afghan evacuee has been able to submit a P-2 application now that the Afghanistan embassy is closed, Price responded: “Now we are in a different position… When it comes to the capabilities, when it comes to the role of any particular country, we would need to refer you to that country.”  When he was asked to name one country today that could process the visas the State Department Spokesperson could not name a single country in the entire world, even when specifically asked if Turkey still could process the visas. 

Incredibly, when asked if after the Taliban takeover US foreign aid will continue to Afghanistan, Price said: “What we will be looking to when it comes to the issues that you’ve raised, including the potential for any forms of assistance, will be the actions, the actions of any new Afghan government.” He did not address the fact that there already are reports of Taliban killings, beatings, intimidation, women forced back into their homes, etc. 

When a reporter mentioned that most of the foreign aid workers have left Afghanistan, Price said “We’re not going to speak to them, of course, for security reasons, but we are confident that there remain partners on the ground who are in a position to make good use of such aid for the benefit of the Afghan people.”

TURKEY-AFGHANISTAN

The Turkish government suggested to the US that private companies take care of security for the Karzai Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to one reporter. Price responded that the US and “It seems to be the case that the Taliban also want to see a functioning commercial airport in Kabul” so the US can begin sending humanitarian aid again and allow others to leave the country.

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The operational environment changed markedly at the end of August, according to Price. “It stood in the way of our ability to bring these individuals to safety before August 31^st. But I am telling you, we have told them that we have a commitment to these individuals. They have served the American people with their journalism, with their work. We absolutely do have a commitment to them. That is a broad statement of fact,” he stated. Price still was unable to explain how the US would rescue them.

CHINA

China has been operating in Afghanistan seeking its natural resources for over 10 years in an attempt to deny the US and other countries the rare earth elements (REE’s) needed in a modern economy. China, which controls over 95% of the world’s supply of processed REE’s, has its own global agenda in Afghanistan. When the State Department was asked about China’s role there, Price said: “So the PRC is an important regional stakeholder. There are certainly areas where our interests are aligned with the PRC when it comes to Afghanistan.” The main reason China seeks stability in the country is to avoid drug trafficker across the border into China. Price did not explain to reporters how our interests are aligned.

When asked about former Secretary of State John Kerry’s travel for meetings in China, Price said that “We are committed to working with the international community and with the PRC on climate as an urgent issue, and we certainly hope that Beijing will engage with us on the same basis on this issue… We have said that we will engage the PRC when it is in our interest to do so. Climate is manifestly one of those areas where it is in our interest to do so.”  

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

While the world’s attention is focused on events unfolding in Afghanistan, China is not only simultaneously courting the various Taliban factions throughout Central Asia, it also is busy behind-the-scenes curtailing US influence inside the Organization of American States (OAS). Over 73 years ago the OAS was founded to create solidarity, defend sovereignty, uphold territorial integrity, and develop cooperation among the independent states in the Americas. The United States hosts its headquarters in Washington, DC and has held enormous influence within the organization since its founding. China wants to use the OAS to take control away from Washington and emerge as a new center of influence in left-leaning Latin American governments. 

The United States historically considers the vast majority of Latin America to be within its sphere of influence. Over the last decade China has made large inroads in the socialist, anti-American, and anti-democratic “left belt” regimes — Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua – with the goal of reducing US geopolitical power in the region. It also is clear that China uses its Confucius Institutes as a tool to push out its propaganda message. 

On the military hardware side, Venezuela has acquired a large inventory of Chinese weaponry including infantry fighting vehicles, Y-8 transport aircraft, multiple launch rocket systems and guided missiles, as well as expanded inter-army exchanges. In addition to the left belt, other countries are showing some support for China. According to the Lansing Institute, China has a strategic satellite tracking base operational with dual use potential in Neuquen province south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recently a radar system linked to China’s interests was discovered at the former Russian Lourdes SIGINT facility in Cuba, just 90 miles off the US shoreline. The list is long, but the projects often are incomplete. 

Latin American political leaders operate, more or less, within systems that follow democratic procedures, unlike those in Africa where China has hegemonic influence. But there are Latin American leaders China can count on for support. Argentina’s new Defense Minister Jorge Taiana, was a guerrilla combatant convicted of murder in the 1970’s. He is a Chinese regime protectionist, according to an August 2021 Robert Lansing Institute report. Taiana has called for the resignation of the head of the OAS, Luis Amalgro, because he strongly condemned the “left belt” states for their human rights violations. Taiana’s ties to Beijing go back at least 11 years. In past he has stated that Argentina’s connection with China is deeper than just a commercial one. He defines it as a “comprehensive strategic relationship.” Earlier this year Taiana said “The achievements of the Communist Party of China, which turns 100, with the reconstruction, rebirth and progress of Chinese society in general, are inseparable.” 

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President Xi Jinping wants to gain market access and secure contracts for additional natural resources from the region, too. China uses the “raw materials for aid scheme” to pursue its interests, which currently include minerals and agricultural products, oil, iron, copper, and soybeans. Last year a full 65% of Venezuela’s oil went to China to secure its growing manufacturing sector. In return Beijing provided Venezuela $62 billion in loans. The US can’t compete with the Chinese style lending programs. Lansing Institute notes that $21 billion in Chinese investments in 790 joint projects also needs to be added to the equation. In Chile, 95% of its copper exports go to China and Peru also is dependent on copper and gold exports to China. 

Although China may not be achieving all of its goals yet, its moves in Latin America bear careful scrutiny given Beijing’s track record in Africa and other areas of the world. Afghanistan is in chaos, but it is not the only place that could witness trouble this year. Washington needs to learn that China doesn’t play by the Western rulebook.

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 Friday, she presents key updates on China.