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Americans continue to join ISIS

The Homeland Security Committee Task Force Combatting Terrorist ad Foreign Fighter Travel has issued a chilling report detailing the failure of the Obama Administration to halt the flow of Americans joining the international jihadist movement—or to prevent those individuals from returning to the United States to engage in attacks on U.S. soil.

The bipartisan committee (consisting of Chairman Michael McCaul (Republican Lead), John Katko, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Rep. John Ratclife , Rep. Will Hurd, Rep. Martha McSally, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, Democratic Lead Loretta Sanchez, Rep. Filemon Vela, and Rep. Donald Payne) has found that the White House has not only failed to accomplish the goal of preventing Americans from joining extremist forces, it has not even developed a coordinated strategy to do so.

The Homeland Security Committee Task Force reports:

Today we are witnessing the largest global convergence of jihadists in history, as individuals from more than 100 countries have migrated to the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq since 2011.

Some initially flew to the region to join opposition groups seeking to oust Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but most are now joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), inspired to become a part of the group’s “caliphate” and to expand its repressive society. Over 25,000 foreign fighters have traveled to the battlefield to enlist with Islamist terrorist groups, including at least 4,500 Westerners. More than 250 individuals from the United States have also joined or attempted to fight with extremists in the conflict zone.

These fighters pose a serious threat to the United States and its allies. Armed with combat experience and extremist connections, many of them are only a plane-flight away from our shores. Even if they do not return home to plot attacks, foreign fighters have taken the lead in recruiting a new generation of terrorists and are seeking to radicalize Westerners online to spread terror back home….

The Task Force makes 32 key findings and provides accompanying recommendations… Among other conclusions reached, the Task Force finds that:

  • Despite concerted efforts to stem the flow, we have largely failed to stop Americans from traveling overseas to join jihadists. Of the hundreds of Americans who have sought to travel to the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq, authorities have only interdicted a fraction of them. Several dozen have also managed to make it back into America.
  • The U.S. government lacks a national strategy for combating terrorist travel and has not produced one in nearly a decade.
  • The unprecedented speed at which Americans are being radicalized by violent extremists is straining federal law enforcement’s ability to monitor and intercept suspects.
  • Jihadist recruiters are increasingly using secure websites and apps to communicate with Americans, making it harder for law enforcement to disrupt plots and terrorist travel. • There is currently no comprehensive global database of foreign fighter names. Instead, countries including the United States rely on a patchwork system for swapping extremist identities, increasing the odds foreign fighters will slip through the cracks.
  • “Broken travel” and other evasive transit tactics are making it harder to track foreign fighters. • Few initiatives exist nationwide to raise awareness about foreign-fighter recruitment and to assist communities with spotting warning signs.
  • The federal government has failed to develop clear early-intervention strategies—or “of-ramps” to radicalization—to prevent suspects already on law enforcement’s radar from leaving to fight with extremists.
  • Gaping security weaknesses overseas—especially in Europe—are putting the U.S. homeland in danger by making it easier for aspiring foreign fighters to migrate to terrorist hotspots and for jihadists to return to the West.
  • Despite improvements since 9/11, foreign partners are still sharing information about terrorist suspects in a manner which is ad hoc, intermittent, and often incomplete.
  • Ultimately, severing today’s foreign-fighter flows depends on eliminating the problem at the source in Syria and Iraq and, in the long run, preventing the emergence of additional terrorist sanctuaries.

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The Task Force makes 32 Key Findings and associated recommendations to improve America’s security posture—and to ensure foreign countries are doing the same. Below is an abbreviated summary

U.S. Government Strategy and Planning to Combat the Threat

KEY FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Key Finding 1: The U.S. lacks a comprehensive strategy for combating terrorist and foreign fighter travel.

Key Finding 2: Despite concerted efforts to stem the flow, we have largely failed to stop Americans from traveling overseas to join jihadists.

Key Finding 3: The growing complexity of the threat may be creating unseen gaps in our defenses, yet it has been years since any large-scale “stress test” has been conducted on U.S. defenses against terrorist travel.

Key Finding 4: ISIS operatives are urging followers to travel to the group’s other “provinces” in places like Libya, yet it is unclear whether agencies are keeping pace with changes in foreign-fighter destinations.

Key Finding 5: Ultimately, severing foreign fighter flows depends on eliminating the problem at the source.

Identifying Terrorists and Foreign Fighters—and Preventing Them from Traveling

Key Finding 6: Improvements have been made to the terrorist watchlisting process, yet no independent review has been done to assess them and whether more are needed in light of the evolving threat environment.

Key Finding 7: Individuals can now contest their status on the no-fly list; however, more should be done to ensure the new process will appropriately balance due process rights with national security concerns.

Key Finding 8: Despite improvements since 9/11, foreign partners are still sharing information about terrorist suspects in a manner which is ad hoc, intermittent, and often incomplete.

Key Finding 9: There is currently no comprehensive global database of foreign fighter names. Instead, countries including the U.S. rely on a weak, patchwork system for swapping individual extremist identities.

Key Finding 10: DHS should continue its efforts to quickly leverage unclassified data in classified environments to identify potential foreign fighters.

Key Finding 11: The DHS Counterterrorism Advisory Board has not been authorized by Congress nor does its charter reflect recent changes to the threat environment, including the rise of the foreign fighter threat.

Key Finding 12: More can be done to incorporate valuable “financial intelligence” into counterterrorism screening and vetting processes.

Key Finding 13: State and local fusion centers are underutilized by federal law enforcement nationwide when it comes to combating the immediate foreign fighter threat and terrorist travel generally.

Key Finding 14: State and local law enforcement personnel continue to express concern that they are not provided with the appropriate security clearances to assist with counterterrorism challenges.

Key Finding 15: The unprecedented speed at which Americans are being radicalized by violent extremists is straining federal law enforcement’s ability to monitor and intercept suspects before it’s too late.

Key Finding 16: Few initiatives exist nationwide to raise community awareness about foreign-fighter recruitment and to assist communities with spotting warning signs.

Key Finding 17: The federal government has failed to develop clear intervention strategies—or “of-ramps” to radicalization—to prevent suspects already on law enforcement’s radar from leaving to join extremists.

Key Finding 18: Jihadist recruiters are increasingly using secure websites and apps to communicate with Americans, making it harder for law enforcement to disrupt plots and terrorist travel.

Key Finding 19: The Administration has launched programs to counter-message terrorist propaganda abroad, but little is being done here at home.

Key Finding 20: The U.S. has not made adequate use of “jaded jihadists” to convince others not to join the fight.

Key Finding 21: Unlike many other governments, U.S. authorities have not relied heavily on passport revocation to stop extremists.

Key Finding 22: While substantial progress has been made since 9/11 to enhance visa security, there may be additional opportunities to expand screening to identify potential extremists earlier in the process.

Key Finding 23: The Administration has improved the security of the Visa Waiver Program, but continuous enhancements must be made in light of the changing threat.

Key Finding 24: U.S. authorities remain concerned about terrorists posing as refugees, yet it is unclear to what extent security improvements to the refugee screening process mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Key Finding 25: “Broken travel” and other evasive tactics are making it harder to track foreign fighters.

Key Finding 26: More could be done to give frontline operators at borders and ports better intelligence reachback capabilities so DHS can “connect the dots” and uncover previously unidentified terrorists and foreign fighters.

Key Finding 27: U.S. authorities continue to “push the border outward” by deploying homeland security initiatives overseas. Expanding these eforts might help detect threats sooner.

Key Finding 28: Only a fraction of U.S. states have access to INTERPOL databases; wider access could help spot wanted foreign fighters who have slipped past border security.

Detecting and Disrupting Terrorists and Foreign Fighters

When They Travel Overseas Security Gaps Key

Finding 29: Gaping security weaknesses overseas—especially in Europe—are putting the U.S. homeland in danger by making it easier for aspiring foreign fighters to migrate to terrorist hotspots and for jihadists to return to the West.

Key Finding 30: Extremists are using fraudulent passports to travel discretely. However, a third of the international community—including major source countries of foreign fighters—still do not issue fraud-resistant “e-passports,” and most countries are still unable to validate the authenticity of “e-passports.”

Key Finding 31: Many countries do not consistently add information to INTERPOL’s databases, and the majority do not screen against INTERPOL databases in real-time at their borders and airports.

Key Finding 32: U.S. departments and agencies have spent billions of dollars to help foreign partners improve their terror-travel defenses, but the lack of a coordinated strategy for such assistance results in greater risk of overlap, waste, and duplication between programs

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, it was clear America needed to take urgent steps to keep terrorists from entering its borders. The 9/11 Commission, for instance, found it was so easy for the hijackers to operate within the United States that they traveled “into, out of, and around the country and complacently [used] their real names with little fear of capture.”

Since then, the U.S. government has taken extraordinary steps to disrupt terrorists at all stages of travel— from fusing real-time intelligence into the border screening process to enhancing travel-document security. These measures have made it harder for extremists to cross our borders. But the threat environment has evolved, which is why the Task Force conducted its review.

While post-9/11 reforms focused largely on preventing terrorists from infiltrating our country to attack, today we need to be equally concerned about keeping Americans from exiting our country to join terrorist groups. The latter challenge demands a different set of tools. This is why it is important for the government to be able to adjust its strategies and plans.

We must adapt to new threats and get resources where they are needed. Unfortunately, our country has a surplus of programs for combating terrorist travel but a deficit of strategic guidance to keep them aligned with the threat. Agencies must be able to make sense of new trends, take stock of existing counterterrorism efforts, and pivot to fix weaknesses.

Yet the Task Force found there is no clear, whole-of-government system for cataloging the proliferation of terror-travel programs, nor a strategy to “stitch the seams” between them. The Administration has undoubtedly stepped up security to cut of foreign fighter flows, as documented throughout this report, but more must be done to identify and close potential gaps in our defenses against terrorist travel writ large.

Key Finding 1: The U.S. government lacks a comprehensive strategy for combating terrorists and foreign fighter travel and has failed to maintain a system for identifying and plugging related gaps in America’s defenses. It has been nearly a decade since the Executive Branch produced a whole-of-government plan to constrain terrorist movements. In its 2004 final report, the 9/11 Commission recommended the United States develop “a strategy to intercept terrorists, find terrorist travel facilitators, and constrain terrorist mobility.” That year, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevent Act, which mandated such a plan, required the Administration to explain how it would be implemented, and called for an assessment of vulnerabilities in U.S. and foreign travel systems that could be exploited by extremists.

The result was the 2006 National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel. It has not been updated since. The 2006 Strategy is woefully outdated. While it provided a thorough overview of U.S. efforts to keep extremists from crossing borders, some of those programs have changed or are now defunct, and new ones have been created. The evolving threat environment has also made the document obsolete.

For instance, the Strategy makes no mention of foreign fighters or the challenges associated with extremists’ social media recruiting. There appears to be no comprehensive accounting of terrorist-travel programs in the U.S. government or any systematic government-wide efforts to identify gaps between them.

The President’s 2011 National Strategy for Counterterrorism makes little mention of the subject aside from noting the United States will work with foreign partners to “identify terrorist operatives and prevent their travel…across national borders and within states.”

A full audit of America’s terror-travel preventative and protective measures should be produced, as the Administration has identified “disrupting the flow of foreign fighters” as one of its top priorities in the fight against ISIS.

We found that hundreds of programs, projects, and initiatives have sprouted up to combat terrorist travel since 9/11, but without an overarching strategy to coordinate them, the United States may be wasting taxpayer dollars and failing to allocate resources where they are needed most. Indeed, lack of a strategy not only increases the risk terrorists might exploit weaknesses in the U.S. travel system, but also raises the prospect of waste, overlap, and duplication between agencies.

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The best (and worst) state tax systems

 

The federal government’s budget has long been in the crisis stage. Can Washington learn anything from the 50 state governments?

Each state faces unique fiscal challenges. As we have reported previously, several organizations have reviewed the different approaches and philosophies. Wallethub has compiled a list of  2015’s Most & Least Fair State Tax Systems. The organization seeks to find which states have the most reasonable tax systems, and ranks them.

According to Wallethub’s research, the fairest tax systems exist (from first to 10th place) in Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, Delaware, Idaho, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, Colorado, and Maryland .The states with the “least fair” are (from worst to 10th worst) Arizona, Indiana, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Illinois, Arkansas, Hawaii, Georgia and Washington. The  middle class is most overtaxed in Arkansas, New York and Mississippi, while the poor are most overtaxed in Wyoming, Nevada, and Florida.

According to the Council of State Governments “State fiscal conditions in the 2014 fiscal year were somewhat of a mixed bag.

“On the one hand, states experienced much slower revenue growth than the prior year. State general fund revenues grew only 1.3 percent in the 2014 fiscal year, compared to 7.1 percent in 2013. The main reason for the strong revenue growth in the 2013 fiscal year and the slow growth in 2014 was due to the impact of the federal ‘fiscal cliff.’ In 2013, states experienced temporary gains in revenues as taxpayers took actions to avoid scheduled higher federal taxes; in the 2014 fiscal year, states did not experience the same one-time gains.

“While state general fund revenues experienced much slower growth in the 2014 fiscal year, total  state expenditures—or spending from all fund sources—grew much more sharply. In 2014, total state spending—general funds, other state funds, bonds and federal funds combined—grew 5.7 percent, compared to 2.2 percent in 2013. The accelerated growth in total state spending largely was due to increased federal expenditures, as federal funds to states grew 7.6 percent in the 2014 fiscal year mainly as a result of the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, in both 2013 and 2012 federal funds to states declined by 1.8 percent and 9.8 percent respectively due to the wind down of spending from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus.”

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)  hasn’t rated state tax systems.  It does analyze what role taxes should play, and what principles should guide the structure of a tax system.

According to ALEC’s research,

“The proper function of taxation is to raise money for core functions of government, not to direct the behavior of citizens or close budget gaps created by overspending. This is true regardless of whether government is big or small, and this is true for lawmakers at all levels of government.

“Taxation will always impose some level of burden on an economy’s performance, but that harm can be minimized if policymakers resist the temptation to use the tax code for social engineering, class warfare and other extraneous purposes. A principled tax system is an ideal way for advancing a state’s economic interests and promoting prosperity for its residents.

“The goal of American tax policy should be to raise revenue for functions of government in a way that minimizes distortions, so as to grow the overall economy and facilitate commerce.”

ALEC maintains that tax codes should be:

  • Simple enough for the average citizen to comprehend, and easy enough for governments to administer.
  • Transparent, accountable to public scrutiny. Changes should be made only after open debate.
  • Economically neutral, not designed to encourage or discourage any activity.
  • Fair and equitable, not designed to pick winners or losers.
  • Complementary with other tax codes, keeping a healthy relationship between cities and states.
  • Competitive with other jurisdictions, so businesses and individuals don’t leave because of them.
  • Reliable, so that people and enterprises feel confident about financial planning for the future.

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A world in crisis: Understanding Putin & Obama

The New York Analysis of Policy & Government examines why there has been no credible U.S. Its efficiency and performance in comparison to buy cialis australia is the best method as several online suppliers provide exclusive benefits of free shipping, money back guarantee, on-time delivery and attractive discounts. One third of all Americans over buy viagra without prescription age 18 had a back problem in the past five years severe enough for them to seek professional help. A person who levitra generic vs has a very hectic life. The best option buy levitra viagra to take control over your ejaculation. response to the aggressive actions of Russia, China, ISIS, and Iran.  Read the study, below.

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Obama internet transfer plan challenged

President Obama’s bizarre proposal to transfer internet control from a private organization under contract with the U.S. Commerce Department to a U.N.-controlled group that would have to consider the pro-censorship views of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other totalitarian state continues to be attacked by Congress, civil libertarians, and free speech advocates.

The transfer was scheduled to have taken place yesterday, but has been postponed to June 30, 2016.

Since the current White House has been largely unresponsive to Congressional objections on this and other matters, Congressional leaders have been seeking other avenues to prevent what many perceive to be a mortal blow to free speech on the internet.

A bicameral group of lawmakers is questioning the constitutionality of the Department of Commerce’s plans to transition critical Internet infrastructure systems away from U.S. government stewardship and oversight.  In a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Darrell Issa asked whether the plan would result in the transfer of government property, which could violate Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution.

According to Senator Grasseley (R-Iowa):

“At issue are key components of the Internet’s infrastructure, collectively known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, which enable the efficient operation of the Internet. Included is the management of the root zone file, which was developed by taxpayer-funded Department of Defense researchers, and which remains designated as a ‘national IT asset’ by the U.S. government. Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to transfer government property. If this file—or other government-developed components of the Internet—are determined to be the property of the government, then transferring their control to a nongovernmental entity without congressional consent, as the Department of Commerce has proposed, may violate the Constitution.

“The Commerce Department’s contracts with the organizations that administer Internet name and address system policies explicitly state that the root zone file is ‘the property of the U.S. government,’ and changes cannot be made to the file without government approval.  Congress has also passed legislation blocking federal funding for efforts to relinquish stewardship of the domain name system, including the root zone file.

“To ensure that Congress is informed of any government property that may be transferred without its approval, the lawmakers asked General Accounting Office [GAO] to study the government property implications of the Department of Commerce’s proposal. They also asked GAO to determine whether the agency has the legal authority to conduct such a transfer to a nongovernmental entity without congressional approval.”

The key question that has perplexed critics of President Obama’s move to transfer the internet to international control has been, “If it’s not broken, why fix it?”

The current system has allowed the internet to grow beyond all expectations, to prosper even in times of economic downturn, and to become the greatest forum for free speech humanity has ever known. Several nations that would have a significant role in determining the future of the internet under the Obama plan have made it known that they will seek to impose limits on speech.

TEXT OF THE LETTER

September 22, 2015

Mr. Gene Dodaro
Comptroller General
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20548
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
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On March 14, 2014, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) announced its intent to relinquish oversight of Internet domain name functions to the “global stakeholder community.”  This proposed transition raises questions about NTIA’s authority to transfer possession and control of critical components of the Internet’s infrastructure to a third party.

The Internet as we know it has evolved from a network infrastructure first created by Department of Defense researchers. One key component of that infrastructure is the root zone file, which the federal government currently designates as a “national IT asset.”[1] Creation of the root zone file was funded by the American taxpayer and coordinated by the Department of Defense, and the file has remained under United States control ever since.

Under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution, Congress has the exclusive power “to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States.”  One question arising from NTIA’s decision to transfer its Internet oversight functions to a third party is whether NTIA may relinquish possession and control of the root zone file—or any other similar component of the Internet that was financed and developed by the United States—without authorization from Congress.  This concern was raised in 2000 by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), which questioned whether NTIA could relinquish authority over the root zone file and concluded that it was “unclear whether such a transition would involve a transfer of government property to a private entity.”[2] The 2000 GAO report further detailed that the Department of Commerce advised the GAO at the time that “we have not devoted the possibly substantial staff resources that would be necessary to develop a legal opinion as to whether legislation would be necessary” to authorize transfer of the root zone file. Congress should be made aware of the legal status of the root zone file—or any other potential government property—before it makes any final decisions about whether to transfer the government’s Internet oversight functions to a third party.

Some observers and parties involved in the proposed transfer have asserted that the termination of NTIA’s contract with ICANN would not result in the transfer of United States Government property.[3] Others believe that termination of this contract would result in government property being transferred to ICANN and point to a number of factors that would indicate that the root zone file and other contractual deliverables are property of the United States.  Supporters of this position point to the fact that the United States acquired title to the root zone file because it was invented pursuant to Department of Defense contracts.[4]  In addition, the United States has long claimed ownership or control over the root zone file.  For example, President Clinton’s Internet “czar” Ira Magaziner asserted United States ownership of the entire Domain Name System because “[t]he United States paid for the Internet, the Net was created under its auspices, and most importantly everything [researchers] did was pursuant to government contracts.”[5] Additionally the Commerce Department’s contract with ICANN explicitly declares that “[a]ll deliverables provided under this contract,” including the “automated root zone,” are “the property of the U.S. government.”[6] And Verisign and ICANN contracts make clear that changes to the root zone file cannot be made without approval of the Department of Commerce.[7] Congress has also been actively engaged in managing the root zone file.  Recently, it enacted the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, which explicitly prohibited the Commerce Department from using federal funds to relinquish stewardship of the domain name system, “including responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file.”[8]

Given this history, we are concerned that NTIA might potentially relinquish ownership of some form of United States property. To inform the Congress so that it may take any necessary and appropriate steps regarding NTIA’s planned transition of the IANA functions, we would like the GAO to conduct a review to address a number of specific questions.

  1.  Would the termination of the NTIA’s contract with ICANN cause Government property, of any kind, to be transferred to ICANN?
    2.    Is the authoritative root zone file, or other related or similar materials or information, United States government property?
    3.    If so, does the NTIA have the authority to transfer the root zone file or, other related materials or information to a non-federal entity?

Please include in this report a description and analysis of the relevant legal authorities and case law dealing with the transfer of United States Government property. We understand that to perform this work, GAO will need to conduct both significant audit work and complex legal analysis…

Charles E. Grassley,                                                                Ted Cruz
Chairman                                                                                United States Senator
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Bob Goodlatte                                                                         Darrell Issa
Chairman                                                                                Member of Congress
House Committee on the Judiciary

 

 

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America’s Middle Eastern Policy Collapse

The collapse of the Obama Administration’s policy towards the Islamic world is in abundant evidence. The extent of the Administration’s mistakes is staggering, and the ramifications are global.

Whatever opinion one may have had of the war that deposed Saddam Hussein, President Obama’s decision to prematurely withdraw American troops from Iraq, a nation that was struggling but nevertheless slowly moving towards stability and democracy has proven disastrous. The vacuum that was created allowed ISIS to rise to great power.

In turn, the White House’s subsequent failure to bring sufficient strength to bear against ISIS, either through American airpower or through providing the heavy weaponry needed by the Kurds to do the job, allowed Iran and Russia to extend their influence throughout the Middle East. For the first time, Russian forces, in alliance with the terrible regimes in Iran, the key supporter of global terrorism, and Syria, a nation whose government commits massive atrocities against its own people and has caused the worst refugee crisis since World War II, hold the balance of power in the region.

The belief that Russian, Iranian, and Syrian forces will at least counter ISIS may be mistaken as well. Iran’s key goal, which it has followed for decades, is to extend its influence. It is far more interested in establishing a dominating military influence in nearby nations than in combatting ISIS. Similarly, the major priority Syrian forces follow are is eliminating rebel forces opposing their regime.

And then, of course, there is Russia, which already has a naval base in the Syrian city of Tartus, and seeks to greatly expand its influence in one of the planet’s most strategic areas.  Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, (commander of U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander, Europe)  noted that Russia’s presence is being watched “with concern.”

This turn of events has been made even more complete by Obama’s alienation of Israel, his inexplicable support for the rise of Egyptian elements that are tied to the Moslem Brotherhood, (a turn of events later undone from within that nation) and his bizarre military adventure in Libya which replaced an anti-terrorist regime with a weak government that has allowed that country to become a growing stronghold for al Qaeda.

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In another part of the Islamic world, a similar scenario is taking place. The President, similar to his Iraq mistake, announced a departure date for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. As a consequence, the Taliban, which provided support for the 9/11/01 attack that devastated New York and the Pentagon, is returning to power. The most recent example: on September 28, Taliban forces overran the provincial capital of Kunduz in the northern part of the nation. This is the first loss of a provincial capital since American forces entered Afghanistan in 2001. Kunduz is a strategic transportation center for the entire region. (Airstrikes have been made in an attempt to retake the city.)

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following statement Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following statement

“News reports that the Taliban has retaken Kunduz are discouraging, but not unexpected.  President Obama’s failure to fully resource his strategy for Afghanistan forces our troops and their leaders to focus on meeting next year’s withdrawal deadline, rather than America’s security needs.  The fall of Kunduz to the Taliban is not unlike the fall of Iraqi provinces to ISIL—it is a reaffirmation that precipitous withdrawal leaves key allies and territory vulnerable to the very terrorists we’ve fought so long to defeat.”

In an interview  with The Hill, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, noted that President Obama’s Middle East foreign policy is “failing on every single measurement…Russian aggression in the region may eventually force the Obama administration to take military action.”

Despite the extensively negative results of his policies, there is little indication that the President is ready for a change in course.

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Boehner’s resignation: the real reason

The popularly accepted explanation for House Speaker John Boehner’s resignation is that hard-core Republicans pushed him out of office.  The actual explanation is far more complicated.

As the 61st Speaker of the House of Representatives, Boehner’s main challenge, in the mantra of the popular press, was the right wing of the GOP.  There is little doubt, of course, that conservatives were dissatisfied with his performance. But the rational for his lackluster performance rests less with the internal squabbles of his own political party than with the partisanship of the media, which finds a way to turn almost every discussion of a key issue into a vehicle to attack anyone who disagrees with left-wing orthodoxy.

For slightly over two weeks during October of 2013, sharp disagreements between the Republican House of Representatives and the White House over passage of the next year’s budget led to an impasse, causing the government to “shut down.”  Many across the nation were dismayed that Mr. Obama had, through his 2009 “stimulus”  package, spent almost $800 billion dollars without producing an economic recovery. His 2011 “I can’t wait for Congress” actions committed further funds in a constitutionally questionable manner.  The Budget Control act of 2011 resulted eventually in what is known as the “Sequester,” in which virtually automatic funding cuts take place across the board, including in vital areas such as defense.  In 2013, angered over years of questionable White House actions, Congress responded in the manner the Constitution envisioned, and refused to adopt the White House’s budget. The White House, in turn, refused to accept Congressional changes.

In truth, of course, the key functions of government did not cease operations, but many activities ground to a halt.  Some of those functions were purely symbolic. For example, the President unnecessarily closed down popular monuments that were essentially street-side walk-throughs that required almost no ongoing funding.  In doing so, he was able to inconvenience many, and grabbed the opportunity to use the bully pulpit of the Oval Office to blame House Republicans, an unwarranted charge that the press nevertheless enthusiastically relayed to the public in a manner that indicated their agreement with the President’s position.

All things being equal, in an impasse, both sides are responsible for a lack of progress. Each side can claim extenuating circumstances, and certainly the Republicans, after several years of economic failure on the part of the Obama White House, had merit to the charge. Media outlets could have blamed both parties in the same measure. Instead, the issue turned into a debacle for the GOP.  The press relentlessly and wrongly placed sole responsibility on House Republicans.
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It was an incident that John Boehner, who had just become Speaker in 2010, never forgot, one which clearly scarred his psyche to an exceptional degree. It formed his perception that unless an overwhelming victory could be obtained, any dispute with the White House would entail significant criticism from the media, and the Republican Party would again be damaged.

Although dismayed by his perceived timidity, attempts to oppose Boehner were not successful. However, in 2014, the GOP captured the Senate, and an expectation arose that a more muscular and assertive stance by the full Congress, now in full Republican hands for the first time since 2006,  would occur.

House Conservatives were not cowed by the left-biased media, and pointed to the 2014 Senate takeover as evidence that the public was ready for right-of-center solutions to the many crises that had arisen or been made worse by the Obama Administration. Increased threats to U.S. national security, an economy that continues to falter, descending race relations, and other worrisome indicators led to a sense of urgency on the part of Boehner’s opposition. Finally, horrifying film of Planned Parenthood’s murder of viable fetuses—or babies, depending on your perspective—for the purpose of harvesting their organs gave rise to demands that the GOP should be prepared once again to refuse to accept a White House budget that provided funding for that organization. Concern that Boehner would not stand tough on that and other issues rose to a crescendo, and his departure was the only solution to avoid a Republican civil war.

While the GOP internal battle may have eased, the problems imposed both on the party and on the public by a media that is openly biased continues.

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Martland Incident illustrates White House contempt for U.S. military

A growing trend towards incredibly bad decision-making on the part of America’s leadership in foreign and military affairs has been well-illustrated in the strange case of Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland.

Sgt. Martland, a heroic Green Beret who has been awarded two Bronze Stars, faces both a reprimand and a dismissal from the Army because he defended a child from a rapist, and the child’s mother from a vicious beating from that rapist.

As described at military.com, Sgt. Martland, serving in Afghanistan with an elite Joint Base Lewis-McChord unit  “beat up an Afghan police commander he was supposed to be mentoring because he was fed up with the commander’s ‘brutal’ sexual abuse of a village boy… A one-star general reprimanded Martland after the September 2011 incident for a ‘flagrant departure from the integrity, professionalism and even-tempered leadership I expect from all soldiers of this command, but especially a Special Forces professional’….He likely will be discharged in November because the discipline handed to him for assaulting the Afghan made him a target for Army downsizing. Veteran soldiers with negative performance reviews in their service records are being culled from the ranks as part of the post-Iraq War drawdown.”

In its determined attempt to reduce the size of the U.S. military, excuses are being manufactured by the Obama Administration to eliminate as many service members as possible. Recently, experienced U.S. Army majors, some serving in the field in Afghanistan, and key Navy personnel, including chiefs, have been let go.  If this year’s expected cuts go into effect, the United States Army will be smaller than its North Korean counterpart. China’s Navy will be larger than America’s within five years. Russia, for the first time since the dawn of the atomicage, now has a larger and more modern nuclear force than the U.S.  The U.S. Air Force is at a historically low level.

The punishment levied against Sgt. Martland has incurred the anger of many, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-California) who has petitioned Defense Secretary Ashton Carter concerning the matter, and retired Lt. Gen. (US Army-Ret.) William “Jerry” Boykin, now serving as Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council. That organization is currently circulating a petition opposing the punishment being given to Martland.

According to the group, “While most of us would consider the act of trying to stop the sexual abuse of a child as a normal human response, Sgt. Martland was reprimanded for this action…Sgt. Martland’s case is unfortunately not unique. While the sexual abuse of children is widespread in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports, ‘Among American military personnel and civilians who served in Afghanistan, it was well known that many wealthy and prominent Afghans rape boys, often making them dress up as women and dance at gatherings during which they are assaulted — and that Western officials often turned a blind eye to the practice for fear of alienating allies.’ What does it mean to be an American soldier? If our brave men and women must turn away from such atrocities in the name of not alienating allies, do we stand for anything anymore?”
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While punishing Martland for doing the right thing is, in itself, a cause for concern and protest, what does the move to censure this American hero say about the mindset of U.S. leadership?

Clearly, the mindset of the Obama Administration is that America is almost always wrong in its relations with the world. This has been evident in the President’s “Apology Tour” of Islamic nations early in his administration.  It has been evident in the Obama-Clinton “Reset” with Russia, in which the Kremlin was essentially green-lighted to become the leading military power on the planet.  And it is most clearly seen in its energetic attempts to slash the U.S. military budget and demoralize America’s soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.

During the tenure of the Obama Administration, the U.S. has been reduced from being the world’s only superpower to being an impotent non-player on the world stage. Russian forces have invaded Ukraine, threaten Eastern Europe, and have become a major force in the Middle East. Moscow’s military has become a force in Latin America. China has invaded and stolen off-shore possessions belonging to the Philippines, and Beijing is constructing naval bases on disputed islets which will soon give it a stranglehold over an area through which 70% of the world’s commerce flows.

The lack of appreciation for the services of Americans serving abroad extends beyond the military. It could be seen in the White House’s failure to even attempt to rescue Ambassador Stevens and his staff when they were attacked in Benghazi, and the lack of any substantial follow-up in the aftermath of that assault.

The miscarriage of justice being administered to Sgt. Martland is a symbol of the utter contempt the Obama Administration has both for America’s service members and America’s role in the world.

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Communism and starvation in early America

A guest article by  author Alex Bugaeff

On June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate, President Reagan demanded that Mikhail Gorbachev “tear down this wall!”  And, Reagan proceeded to disable the Soviet Union when he forced Soviet Communism to fall of its own weight.  Few realize, however, that Reagan was beaten to the punch by our first colonial settlements some 380 years earlier.

After landing on a Virginia beach in 1607, the first Jamestown settlers made plans for organizing themselves for self-preservation.  Among their plans was a communist system of production and distribution.

Each settler was to put his tools and whatever he produced (there were no women at first) into a central warehouse.  Then, each was free to take from the warehouse whatever he needed to live.  In went fruit, game, lumber, pelts, axes, saws, hammers, cloth, and out went…everything.  Even their Powhatan Indian neighbors walked in and took things, once they discovered that they wouldn’t be stopped.

The settlers had chosen Thomas Studley to run the warehouse.  He proved able to talk his way out of blame, but not prevent the outflow.  And, he could do nothing about the settlers who stopped working once they learned that they didn’t have to.  Then, the starving began.

It wasn’t until Studley died in 1608 (probably of malnutrition), that the settlement came to its senses.  Capt. John Smith (yes, that Capt. John Smith) was appointed to replace him and what he found when he entered the warehouse shocked him.  The supplies were gone, the tools had been traded by the indolent to the Powhatans for food and the warehouse was in total disarray.  What was left had become infested with rats.

Capt. Smith wasted no time in setting things right.  In the short run, he made rules for taking things from the warehouse and enforced them with armed guards, but he knew that that system alone would not last.  After his election as Jamestown’s Governor, he did away with the communist system altogether.

Smith issued a proclamation:  “…he that will not worke shall not eate (except by sicknesse he be disabled), for the labours of thirtie or fortie honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to maintaine an hundred and fiftie idle loyterers…There are now no more counsellors to protect you…”

It worked.  Those who had not worked either started voluntarily or responded to necessity.  In less than six months, twenty houses were built, a freshwater well was constructed and forty acres of fields were put under cultivation. The settlement no longer starved, as each settler fended for himself.  In addition, they created a simple free market in which each bought and sold or bartered what he couldn’t or hadn’t provided for himself.

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The following spring, the survivors were shown by Squanto, their Indian interpreter, how to plant and grow corn and how to fish and hunt game.  In the words of their Governor, William Bradford, “All the summer there was no want;” as they “took good store, of which every family had their portion…Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England…”

But, as the year before, it was not to last.  By winter, the settlers had taken freely from the supplies until the storehouse was empty…and they starved for a second time.

In the spring of 1622, Governor Bradford returned to the village from a trip only to see a group of able-bodied young men playing a game in the square when they should have been working in the fields.  He had seen enough.  He chased them off and called for a meeting with the other leaders.

Their solution was to abandon communism and to make each family responsible for themselves.  Again, in the Governor’s words, “…and so assigned to every family a parcel of land, …that they should set corn every man for his own particular…This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted.”

He concluded, “The experience … may well evince the vanity… that taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God.  For this community was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.”

It has been said that socialism or communism only works until the money runs out.  Our earliest settlers proved that even that isn’t true.  The productive people will resent the unproductive takers long before the money runs out.  That resentment will build until their incentive to produce is weakened and production goes down, while the unearned taking runs amok.  It happened in our earliest settlements, it happened to the Soviet Union and it happens every time such a scheme is resurrected.

Must every such scheme run until it falls of its own weight, or might we learn to reject it in the first place?  Governor Bradford thought it was part of the human condition: “Let none object this is men’s corruption, and…seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them.”  Let us take heed and follow the course fitter for us, before we, too, as a nation fall of our own weight.

Alex Bugaeff is the author of the award-winning books on early American history: Pilgrims To Patriots, A Grandfather Tells The Story and American Amazons: Colonial Women Who Changed History. Both are available through Amazon Books in print and ebook formats at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1478266848 and http://www.amazon.com/dp/1502821222 .

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The Pope’s Mistake

During World War II, Winston Churchill urged Stalin to consider the opinions of the Pope. Displaying classic arrogance, the dictator replied, “How many divisions does the Pope have?”

Over 70 years later, the Vatican remains a powerful influence in the world, while Russian Communism is dead.

Catholicism has survived across two millennia. It endured attempts at eradication by Roman emperors. It outlived a regrettable period when the Vatican functioned as secular state.

The Papacy has arguably emerged as the world’s most respected religious institution because modern Popes understand that the Vatican’s role is to lead in moral matters, not temporal ones.  In that respect, they are directly following the example of Jesus himself.

Christ was born into a particularly troubling time.  According to the New Testament, he was on occasion urged to take a stand on the political issues of the day, particularly the Roman occupation of the Jewish homeland. Jesus refused, and set an example of moral leadership that an extraordinary percentage of the world’s population considers to be the guiding light of all mankind.

It appears that Pope Francis has taken a different course than Jesus did. He has espoused views on matters of science, economics, and international affairs. In doing so, his opinions must be judged not as those of a religious figure, but as a political one.

While the Pontiff has been a breath of fresh air in his attempts to reform the administration of the Catholic Religion, his political views are tired, old, and frankly discredited. His immediate predecessors rejected the “Liberation Theology” which describes Pope Francis’s perspective.

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In his address to Congress, he spoke of the need for compassion to immigrants. Has he not reflected on the reality that no nation is currently taking in more immigrants, nor treating them better, than the United States?  Shouldn’t he spend more time lecturing the governments that immigrants are freeing from, rather than the governments they are fleeing to?

The Pope has displayed great and justifiable concern for the poor. It appears that he singles out capitalism for criticism. But here his lack of adequate research is manifest. Capitalism has been the most successful system to reduce the number of people in poverty, while redistributionist regimes have failed to do so.  Need examples? Compare the former nations of East and West Germany. Compare North Korea with South Korea. It wasn’t the economy of capitalist America that collapsed, it was the Soviet Union’s.

The Pope is clearly worried about the health of the environment.  There are key areas, deforestation in his home continent of South America being a prime example, that are undeniably vital to the health of the planet.  Rather than concentrate on that, however, he places his trust on increasingly suspect studies about man-made global warming. He has failed to mention that the “solutions” to this unproven issue would devastate the poor that he properly displays so much care for.

Pope Francis is correctly concerned about the dignity of each human life.  What, then, compelled him to visit with the harsh totalitarian leadership of Cuba, but not with the heroic dissidents of that oppressed island nation?  Why did he consent to speak in the shadow of a memorial to Che Guevara, a vicious murderer?

Indeed, in an era when stunning acts of aggression, repression and atrocity are increasing with frightening intensity as a result of the acts of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist forces, the Pontiff seems to inexplicably concentrate far more on his preconceived notions of the shortcomings of largely peaceful and open democratic western nations.

There are numerous international figures that, with greater knowledge and expertise, provide intellectual guidance on issues such as immigration, economics, and the environment.  There is, however, only one Pope to remind all mankind of its obligation to treat each human with dignity, and in recognition of the divine spark that exists within each soul.

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America’s crisis in space

America’s return to human space flight capability has been pushed yet again into the future.

The Orion spacecraft, already in the relatively distant future of 2021, has been pushed back again to 2023. That date would mean that NASA manned spacecraft would be absent from space for a stunning 12 years, since the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission of July 2011.

The gap was to be filled by the Constellation spaceflight system, which President Obama cancelled, leaving the United States with no domestic human spaceflight capability.  Constellation was to be used for both earth orbital missions and a return to the moon.

According to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas)  “Once again, the Obama administration is choosing to delay deep space exploration priorities such as Orion and the Space Launch System that will take U.S. astronauts to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  While this administration has consistently cut funding for these programs and delayed their development, Congress has consistently restored funding as part of our commitment to maintaining American leadership in space. We must chart a compelling course for our nation’s space program so that we can continue to inspire future generations of scientists, engineers and explorers.  I urge this administration to follow the lead of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s NASA Authorization Act to fully fund NASA’s exploration programs.”

The administration’s FY16 budget request proposed cuts of more than $440 million for the programs while earth science accounts have increased by 63 percent during the past eight years. Thirteen agencies do climate research, but only one conducts space exploration.

According to NASA,  the “Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.”

Many have expressed deep concern that NASA has been politicized by the Obama Administration. It has been charged that the space agency has been mainly used to further the White House’s environmental agenda. They point to the diversion of funds from traditional efforts such as manned space flight and towards climate change.

In 2010, several former APOLLO program astronauts wrote to the White House to oppose the Administration’s controversial new direction for NASA, noting that “Without the skill and experience that actual spacecraft operation provides, the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity.  America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space.  If it does, we should institute a program which will give us the very best chance of achieving that goal.”
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Critics of the White House also point to bizarre comments made by Charles Bolden, whom the President appointed to run the space agency. Shortly after his appointment, Bolden, speaking in Cairo, stated

“…before I became the NASA administrator [President Obama] charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science.”

In other comments, Bolden stated that his most important task as head of NASA was to reach out to Muslims.

Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) has introduced legislation to de-politicize the space agency.

“I authored the Space Leadership Preservation Act which would make NASA more professional and less political by establishing a long-term NASA Administrator who overlaps presidential administrations, creating a board to drive the vision for NASA exploration, and allowing NASA to develop spacecraft using long term contracts. This legislation would provide NASA with stability and authority to pursue our universe’s most pressing questions.”

Rep. Steven Palazzo, (R-Mississippi) the House of Representatives Space subcommittee chair, applauded a budget bill earlier this year that rebalanced the space agency’s budget towards NASA’s traditional activities.

By putting off the lion’s share of funding to long after it has left office, the Obama Administration may have eluded the harsh criticism it may otherwise have faced if it had simply stated that it was defunding NASA’s human spaceflight program.