Politics Archives - Page 1280 of 1717

In the shadow of Joshua Chamberlain

August 22, 2017/in Culture War, Featured, Policy, Politics/by Kevin Schmersal

What are you mad at? What is it about these marble monuments that have you so worked up.

I live in Maine so I am a Northern Yankee. That is about as “Northern” as you can get, and trust me, it’s as Yankee as you can get. In fact, I live just a few miles from where the great Brigadier General, Joshua Chamberlain was born. Now, you do know who he was, don’t you? NO? Well, I’ll tell you….

Joshua Chamberlain was born in 1828 in Brewer, Maine, just across the river from where I live. He served four terms as the Governor of Maine and he was the President of the Prestigious Bowdon College in Brunswick, Maine. Before all that, however, he commanded a Regiment of Union soldiers at the battle of Gettysburg known as the 20th Maine. Chamberlain and the boys of the 20th Maine were positioned at a place called, “Little Round Top.” That position was the back side of the Union line. Should the Confederate soldiers break through Chamberlain’s line, they would be able to attack from the rear, winning the battle and then advancing to Washington with ease and winning the war.

Confederate Infantry repeatedly marched up the hill and advanced on the 20th Maine, killing many of those good Maine boys, and wounding much more. Those Confederate soldiers advanced so many times that Chamberlain’s forces began to run low on ammunition. It was at this point that Chamberlain ordered the left side of his line to join the right and his men to fix bayonets. He then ordered a “Right Wheel Forward” which was to swing down like a wheel, screaming bloody murder, charging at the enemy. His maneuver was a successful one, the Confederate soldiers were pushed back, and many killed. Many historians have credited Chamberlain for saving the Union with his stand at Little Round Top, but that’s for historians to debate.

So what does all this have to do with you? Let’s look at that now.

Just shy of two years later, on April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant met with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia to accept the unconditional surrender of the Southern Army. The war was over. The North had won. A new era was about to begin. With tensions still high, General Grant placed Joshua Chamberlain in charge of the Union Troops at Appomattox.

Now here’s the thing…..In spite of the terrible battle waged at Little Round Top and the Maine boys who lost their lives there, Brigadier Joshua Chamberlain ordered the Union Troops to form a column on both sides of the stairs of the Courthouse where Lee was surrendering and when Lee emerged, every Union soldier was at attention and saluting the General and affording him the respect and courtesy that his rank and position demanded. After Lee’s surrender, they also stood at attention as Lee’s conquered army passed by.

The average age of the Civil War soldier was 25 years old. More than 625,000 of them were laid in their graves before their lives ever began and still, a Brigadier General from Maine along with hundreds of of other young boys in blue who marched until their feet bled, froze in the cold winter night, and went hungry for days when rations were scarce, stood at attention and in solemn respect to their Confederate counterparts at wars end. So I ask you; What gives you the right of righteous indignation. What dues have you paid that usurped those who showed respect to these boys in grey.

What is this self aggrandizement that you would place yourselves above the likes of Joshua Chamberlain and his charitable gesture of respect to Robert E. Lee.

Finally, will it be your greatest moment in life when you someday sit with your grandchildren on your knee and point to a faded photo of a coward, their face covered with a handkerchief, and proudly exclaim, “That was me!” Which one of you will defiantly tear the mask from your face as you pull the statue of Robert E. Lee to the ground and proudly proclaim, “Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain, you now stand in my great shadow.”

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Union soldiers drawing up their weapons in salute as the surrendered Confederates march past. Image courtesy Don Troiani, Historical Art Prints.

Child Abuse in Indiana: Pray or Prey?

August 22, 2017/in Commentary, Courts & Law, Culture War, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Beverly Newman

It’s not a pretty picture, as they say. No, I retract that. It’s a hideous, odious picture of a Midwestern capital that shuts its eyes to child abuse and trafficking, shuts its eyes, closes its doors to victims, and slams its doors against mandatory reporters like teachers.

Years ago, CPS, in an Indianapolis suburb, would repeatedly receive reports of a prolific child molester, a prominent elected official, and routinely shred them, according to its staff. Long ago, the official left Indianapolis, but his trail of tears stayed.

Now, City headlines tout such good news as “Indianapolis man won’t go to prison for molesting daughter with cancer.” Even if you believe in climate change, the climate for kids in Indy is not changing, except for the worse.

If your heart breaks to know that this tiny victim of predation gets no justice, move. I am quite serious. Show your intolerance for hate against children with your feet and the seat of your pants. Do not let your children and grandchildren grow up in a climate of hate against the child, hate against the sanctity of the child.

Can we envisage a more vulnerable victim than a 6-year-old girl with brain cancer, spending several months in the hospital, a year in chemotherapy, and being abused nightly by her father? Marion Superior Court Magistrate Steven Rubick ruled that this Super Dad deserved a chance to financially support his wife and children, although he had failed to do so for the year after being prosecuted when he was living in the family home and they could not move back in until he left.

Twelve years of probation for crushing a deathly-ill child’s life … Indy should be proud of its continuing record of protecting predators like the Park Tudor hero basketball coach who preyed upon his student for months and two other students before her.

In exclusive Park Tudor school, where tuition exceeds $20,000 per child per year, a combination basketball coach and chemistry teacher was finally sentenced to 14 years in prison for his repeated crimes against one of his Park students, after the school’s attorney, Michael Blickman, partner in Ice Miller law firm, refused to provide law enforcement with child pornography evidence that he had obtained directly from the victim’s family until three weeks after receiving said graphic images and written messages between the predator and the victim … three weeks during which a predator was being effectively protected from prosecution by withholding of evidence.

Where is Blickman’s prosecution 1 ½ years after he illegally obtained child pornography, transferred it to his own thumb drive, took it to the Ice Miller offices, and withheld the evidence from law enforcement for three weeks? U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler, per reports in the Indianapolis Star, when asked about Park Tudor’s handling of the evidence, merely said, “We’ll save that for another day.” Does anyone believe that Michael Blickman would have been allowed to possess and transfer child pornography and to withhold the explicit evidence of crimes against a child if he were not in a protected class of people, as was the prominent Indianapolis public official who was a prolific child molester?

Looking at the facts of the Park Tudor case is a disgusting revelation of how precious children are sacrificed for political considerations. The timeline shows that Park’s coach not only repeatedly exchanged pornographic pictures and videos with his victim for months and Michael Blickman withheld the evidence of said crimes for three weeks from law enforcement, but it took the Indiana Department of Child Services multiple reports of the crimes and 20 days from the initial report to DCS for a DCS case manager to speak to the family for the first time. Thirty-seven days after the initial report, detectives interviewed the head of Park Tudor, who allegedly hanged himself in his garage at his home adjacent to the Park Tudor campus two days later on a Saturday morning, which suicide has been widely reported as being “unrelated to investigation” going on at his school. The proximity in time between the Headmaster’s interview and his reported suicide was certainly a mere coincidence.

In a case that involves the questionable death of a brilliant man, husband, father of two children, exceedingly handsome, Headmaster of one of Indiana’s most exclusive private schools, living in a home valued at over $800,000, who would possibly believe that his reported suicide, two days after being interviewed by law enforcement on a child pornography case in which the evidence was withheld from detectives for three weeks by the attorney advising him, was for reasons “unrelated to” the crimes being investigated?

Indianapolis attorney Jack Crawford, according to Indianapolis Star reports, is quoted, “That’s child pornography,” commenting on Blickman’s making of copies of explicit messages and images and keeping them at his office. Blickman also allowed the predator to take his school computer home with him to remove “personal” content after Blickman had control of the evidence of the coach’s crimes against the child; yet, Blickman remains unprosecuted.

In the Park Tudor Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the school, only the Headmaster, now dead, is subject “to prosecution for the offense of Misprision of a Felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 4,” meaning failure to promptly report a felony to appropriate authorities; although it is irrefutable that Blickman was actually the owner of the child pornography for three weeks and was the legal counsel for the Headmaster, advising him on handling the crimes at hand committed by Park Tudor’s coach. Nowhere in the Deferred Prosecution Agreement is the name of Michael Blickman ever printed or the offense of Misprision of a Felony attributed to Blickman, only to a dead Headmaster.

Taking a look at the predator and the evidence placed before Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch, it is astonishing to note that she ruled against the prosecutors’ recommendation that the coach remain jailed at a federal prison until his trial, commenting, “I am troubled by the gross immaturity,” referring to the coach’s communications with a minor Park Tudor student who knocked the victim to the ground after she had reported the coach’s crimes, saying, “It was fun knocking her to the ground.” The coach’s reply was, “It would have been pretty epic if you would have caused a concussion lol,” and “I would turn my head if you messed her up.”

Is this “gross immaturity,” or is it violent, dangerous, vicious rhetoric from a teacher and coach after he has been caught in his crimes against a child, encouraging another child to attack her, which attack did indeed occur at Park Tudor, further traumatizing the victim and her friend, who was also attacked by their fellow classmate.

Judge Lynch and the coach’s attorney in this abysmal case have served together in the Senior Counsel division of the Indy Bar Association.

Unbelievably, with all of the irrefutable evidence in hand of repeated crimes against a child, the coach was not arrested until seven weeks after his resignation from Park, with his protective father proclaiming, “I don’t believe my son is a criminal.” The predator’s attorney, James Voyles, who has repeatedly served as the President and Vice President of the Indy Bar, boasted that 47 people had written letters to the court on behalf of the predator, which letters described the predatory coach as “paint[ing] a picture of a wonderful young man.” This “wonderful young man,” after he had been exposed as a remorseless serial predator, repeatedly tried to persuade his victim to take the blame herself for the crimes he had committed and texted the male Park student, who had violently attacked the victim and her friend on the Park campus, “The nice thing is that I can get any job in the state.”

In the face of all of the written and visual evidence indisputably proving that a Park Tudor teacher had repeatedly committed crimes against a student and additionally against two other students beginning in 2010, prior to said series of crimes, U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney ordered a sentence of only 14 years, for which crimes the law permits life in prison.

At this point in time, Magistrate Judge Lynch had refused to incarcerate the predator before his trial; law enforcement did not arrest the predator until seven weeks after his forced resignation and confidentiality agreement with Park Tudor had been signed; DCS did not investigate the case until 20 days after the initial report had been received; detectives did not interview the headmaster of Park Tudor until 37 days after the initial report; Michael Blickman, law partner at Ice Miller, who possessed child pornography and brought it to his office for three weeks, has never been prosecuted; two Park Tudor girls, the victim and her friend, were assaulted at school because the coach had been exposed for his crimes against one of the girls; and children’s lives were needlessly and irreparably harmed either as victims of the crimes or potential victims who know of the crimes and were left unprotected by the entire system from top to bottom.

To be certain, the persons who did not commit Misprision of a Felony were the family members of the victim; yet, they have suffered and will continue to suffer immeasurably for blowing the whistle on the Park Tudor coach who had affairs with at least three students beginning in 2010, according to reports. What really happens to the reporter of child abuse? As we have learned through generations of children and families reporting child abuse in the Catholic Church, the children themselves commonly become the victims of betrayal and abandonment by society, namely their community, neighbors, clergy, educators, and others they should be able to trust implicitly for solace and support during their times of intense crisis, after reporting crimes committed against them.

Let me direct you to my case of reporting child abuse to the Boone County court involving a convicted predator who had committed three separate counts of Child Molesting Class B Felony when committed by an adult. When I served the mother of the convicted molester a subpoena for her to testify under oath about her son’s six-year close relationship with minor children whom I sought to protect, Boone Judge Steven David immediately quashed my subpoena and thereafter ordered me to pay the child molester’s family $60,000. The Indiana Supreme Court subsequently refused to hear my appeal, and later, Steven David was appointed to become Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.

In his order to me, issued just before Mother’s Day, Judge David described the predator as a young boy who tugged at the pants of a child (in addition to his first victim for whom he had been incarcerated). Because the second molestation was never prosecuted, the victim had no recourse to obtain justice. Judge David, now Justice David, fined me $60,000. for serving a subpoena on the predator’s family, despite the fact that the Marion Superior Court judge actually hearing the criminal case against the predator specifically acknowledged his danger to society, noting specifically “the seriousness/repetitiveness of the delinquent act … endangering the safety and welfare of the community ….”

Like the family that reported the crimes of the Park Tudor coach, my family suffered immeasurably for reporting the crimes of the grandson of a prominent developer in Indianapolis.

In his Affidavit for Probable Cause, the detective noted that the predator had molested a child much younger than he in multiple ways, and additionally had destroyed the little girl’s doll by cutting out the private area, stuffing the doll with things to make it look like his victim, and then setting fire to the victim’s dolls “to release his anger.” Later, while on probation, the predator was found with “eight drawings of people performing and receiving deviant sexual acts,” for which the probation department requested a revocation of probation. At the present time, the predator, now much older, spews dark foreboding poetry on the Internet about “blood blood blood” and brags that he does online videos and work in lingerie specializing in fetish.

At the time that Judge David described the predator’s molestation of a second victim as a young boy tugging at the pants of a child, he was President of the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and has been currently appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Conference Court Improvement Program Executive Committee, the Judicial Conference Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee, the Judicial Conference Strategic Planning Committee, and the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, amongst other programs and committees.

During the time that convicted child trafficker, Jared Fogel, was being investigated by the FBI for sexually abusing children in the United States and other countries of the world, I personally witnessed a serious child abuse incident by an afterschool counselor, weighing approximately 350 pounds, lying on top of a child, who was moaning and groaning while being pinned down by the counselor on a bare floor against a concrete wall, which abuse I immediately reported. A home base for Jared Fogel, the afterschool counselor, and the predator I reported to Steven David was the same facility, where all of these men frequented and where I was targeted as a whistleblower.

Enter my husband’s boss, Robert W. York, a hearing officer for the Indiana Supreme Court in attorney disciplinary cases, whose law firm had employed my husband for years prior to my reports of serious child abuse at the popular facility frequented by predators. York also served with the coach’s attorney and 13 other lawyers and judges in the Indy Bar Senior Counsel Division, including the supervising judge of the Marion County courts. Upon learning of my reports, York pulled my husband into his office with an ultimatum, that being, paraphrased, “either your wife does not further expose the popular facility [where predators frequent] through litigation, or you’re fired.” Indeed, my husband was fired by York, whose visceral hostility against our family has never abated in a dozen years.

Enter Robert W. York again, when a few years later, York represented one of my husband’s former clients, resulting in the suspension by the Indiana Supreme Court, where Judge Steven David serves, of my husband’s law license on minimal grounds, in order to further punish and silence our family for reporting crimes against children.

Enter Robert W. York again, ten years after he fired my husband, when York is appointed by a judge, who himself was appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court, to serve as the administrator of my Dad’s estate. As administrator, York took actions to ensure that my husband’s administrative expenses could not be collected from my Dad’s estate – over $50,000.00 in funds that my husband had advanced to pay the estate’s bills.

Enter York again, now seeking contempt of court citations for fines and imprisonment against both my husband and me by making allegations, documented as false, against us. The judge, the long-time colleague of York in close-knit Lawrence Township, was appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court to supervise the Estate of Holocaust Survivor Al Katz, my Dad. The day of our intended arrests is September 6, 2017, at 1:00 PM, in the courtroom of Judge James Joven on the 14th floor of the City-County Building in Indianapolis, and the media have been banned by the court from taking photographs or making any recordings of our arrests.

In this case, our efforts to report to the Marion County court, as required by the federal Misprision of Felony law, the documented crimes committed by Robert York were met swiftly by orders from Judge Joven that we are forbidden to disrespect York; and our motion for the court to refer Robert York to law enforcement under the Misprision of Felony statute was immediately denied.

What do all of these cases emanating from Indiana have in common? Abusers are protected in Indiana; reporters of abuse are marked; and victims are marred for life. Those who commit child abuse, even heinous serial molestations of young children, are given light sentences, only probation, or remain unprosecuted; but those who report such child abuse can face decades of retribution for their exposure of protected predators who end up in our children’s classrooms or on the Internet making on-line videos laced with fetish lingerie and pornography to lure children into a dark web world from which many will enter innocently and never escape.

Our goal is to get hundreds of letters/emails in support of us sent to:

Vice President Mike Pence, the former Gov. of Indiana
vice.president@whitehouse.gov

Richard Payne Attorney for Indiana Supreme Court
Richard.payne@courts.in.gov

Judge Timothy Oakes Presiding Judge of the Marion Superior Court
toakes@indy.gov

Surely, we should get hundreds of emails in support of us when the predator at Park Tudor school got 47 letters sent to the court in support of him. Please blind copy me with your letters/emails, and urge others to speak out against these grotesque injustices in Indiana to children and elders.

For your information, Robert York and the court are fully informed by expert medical opinions filed with the court that travelling to Indianapolis from Florida is dangerous to my health, medically impermissible, and possibly lethal; but both demand for me to risk my life and health to personally appear before Judge Joven on York’s fraudulent claims that I did not file a second accounting in Dad’s probate case (which second accounting was filed in 2015 and so appears on the court’s own docket) and that I interfered with the sale of Dad’s home by objecting to its sale without any court hearing on administrative expenses owed to my husband for over four years. For these fraudulent claims, I am to risk my life in violation of my religious convictions that I can never risk my life but in extreme emergencies. Since I cannot travel without risking my life, I am to be arrested and shipped to Indianapolis on September 6, 2017.

Please act now, urge others to speak now, and contact the media to cover this story. For further information and documentation, you can reach me at helpelders@hotmail.com.

The Benedict Option: Relative versus Revelatory Truth

August 22, 2017/in Culture War, Opinion, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Dr. Rich Swier

“God moves in a mysterious way.” – Isaiah 55:8-9.

I am a member of a weekly men’s prayer fellowship. Each member is required to give a Biblical lesson for a month. It turns out that I will be giving the lesson next month.

I began thinking what should I speak about that hasn’t already been covered? I thought about discussing the Book of Revelations because many Christians are seeing signs of the end of times and the second coming of Jesus. While thinking about my topic God revealed to me a book titled “The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation by Rod Dreher.” After reading Dreher’s book I asked members of the prayer fellowship to read the book and discuss the ideas contained in it during our weekly Friday meetings during the month of September.

Why did God, who moves in a mysterious way, reveal this book to me?

Because I and many others, Christian and non-Christian alike, feel something is wrong, very wrong, in America and it’s getting worse.

Dreher in his book bears his soul and his concerns for the future of his family, community and the nation. Dreher writes in the preface to his book:

In my 2006 book Crunchy Cons, which explored a countercultural, traditionalist conservative sensibility, I brought up the work of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who declared that Western civilization has lost its moorings. The time was coming, said MacIntyre, when men and women of virtue would understand that continued full participation in mainstream society was not possible for those who wanted to live a life of traditional virtue. These people would find new ways to live in community, he said, just as Saint Benedict, the sixth-century father of Western monasticism, responded to the collapse of Roman civilization by founding a monastic order.

Dreher explains how, over the past 7 centuries, Western civilization has come to embrace relative truth and abandon revelatory truth.

Relative truth is the doctrine that there are no absolute truths. Revelatory truth is the knowledge that there are absolute truths. Truths that transcend culture, civilization and mankind itself. These absolute truths have been revealed to us thus the term I use in the title “Revelatory Truth.”

William “Bill” Hild, Pastor of First Sarasota Baptist Church, gave a sermon on “Revelatory Truth.” You may wish to listen to what Pastor Bill has to say by clicking here.

Lindy Keffer in her column “Absolute Truth” wrote:

In a society where ultimate truth is treated like a fairy tale, an outdated idea or even an insult to human intelligence, the motto of the day becomes, “WHATEVER!” Believe whatever you want. Do whatever seems best to you. Live for whatever brings you pleasure, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. And of course, be tolerant. Don’t try to tell anyone that their whatever is wrong.

But where does that leave us? If we have ultimate truth, it gives us both a way to explain the world around us and a basis for making decisions. Without it, we’re alone.

Dreher notes:

Unprecedented numbers of young adult Americans say they have no religious affiliation at all. According to the Pew Research Center, one in three 18-to-29-year-olds have put religion aside, if they ever picked it up in the first place.

[ … ]

In 2005, sociologist Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton examined a wide variety of backgrounds. What they found was that in most cases, teenagers adhered to a mush pseudoreligion the researchers deemed Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).

MTD has five basic tenets:

A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.

God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible, and by most world religions.

The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.

Good people go to heaven when they die.

This creed, they found, is especially prominent among Catholic and Mainline Protestant teenagers.

MTD reeks of relative truth, not Revelatory or Absolute Truth.

Dreher writes:

MTD, in both its progressive and its conservative versions, is that it’s mostly about improving one’s self-esteem and subjective happiness and getting along well with others. It has little to do with the Christianity of Scripture and tradition, which teaches repentance, self-sacrificial love, and purity of heart, and commends suffering-the Way of the Cross- as the pathway to God. Though superficially Christian, MTD is the natural religion of a culture that worships the Self and material comfort.

Dreher warns, “Nobody but the most deluded of the old-school Religious Right believes that this cultural revolution can be turned back. The wave cannot be stopped, only ridden.”

What Dreher presents is another way forward for those who embrace revelatory/absolute truth.

He asks,

“Could it be that the best way to fight the flood is to . . . stop fighting the flood?”

That is to quit piling up sandbags [to fight the flood] and to build an ark in which to shelter until the water recedes and we can put our feet on dry land again? Rather than wasting energy and resources fighting unwinnable political battles, we should instead work of building communities, institutions, and networks of resistance that can outwit, outlast, and eventually overcome the occupation.

Dreher unequivocally states, “We have been in a place like this before. In the first centuries of Christianity, the early church survived and grew under Roman persecution and later after the collapse of the empire in the West. We latter-day Christians must learn from their example-and particularly from the example of Saint Benedict.”

Dreher is on to something. Christians must go back in time, and back to the basics, in order to regain a virtuous Christian future.

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It’s the Ideology Stupid!

August 22, 2017/in Commentary, National Security, Policy, Politics/by Dr. Rich Swier

Frank Thiboutot sent this as a letter-to-the-editor to the Portland Press Herald in Maine. Needless to say, it went unpublished.

We are publishing it here for all to reflect upon.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR BY FRANK THIBOUTOT

To: The smartest people in the room who believe that tolerance at the expense of the truth isn’t total stupidity.

What ideology turned beautiful, innocent German newborns into Nazis who were responsible for up to 85 million deaths during WWII?

What ideology turned beautiful, innocent Russian or Chinese newborns into communists which lead to 94 million deaths in the 20th century?

What ideology turned beautiful, innocent Middle Eastern, No. African or Arabian newborns into Islamic jihadists responsible for 270 million deaths for 1400 years? (Hint: It wasn’t Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism or even wiccanism)

*Combating these attacks from a counter-terrorism or counter insurgency position is helping but not working.

*Candlelight vigils, turning out the lights on the Eiffel Tower and teddy bears are not working.

*Telling us that Islam is a religion of peace is not working.

*Qualifying Islam as radical, extremist, hijacked, militant or fundamentalist is not working.

*Appealing to “moderate” Muslims is not working.

*Insisting mosques are places of worship just like churches & synagogues rather than seditious jihadist factories is not working.

*Insisting that “No-Go Zones” or Sharia courts do not exist is not working

*Allowing CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front group access to the highest levels in our institutions is not working.

*Talking tough AFTER a jihadist attack is not working.

*Blaming the only democratic country in the Middle East and legitimizing the Palestinian cause is not working.

*Throwing out the welcome mat by Europe and the U.S. to Muslim refugees is not working.

*Using the excuse that all religions have had violence in their history is not working.

*Claiming that there is a moral equivalence among all the major religions is not working.

*Not wanting to offend the perpetually offended Ummah (Muslim community) is not working.

*Believing the ACLU that FGM is not taking place in the U.S. is not working.

*Continuing to purchase OPEC oil to finance the purchase of weapons is not working.

*Regurgitating the “Lone Wolf” mantra that terrorists are being radicalized on the internet as a deflection is not working.

*Vilifying those who are trying to warn the West from committing cultural suicide is not working.

*Destroying ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas, al-Shabab, Hezbollah, Boko Haram and so on will not work in the long term to solve this problem.

So, what is the answer?

It’s simple. Drilling down to the root causes and motivations behind Islamic jihad are what’s necessary. 2500+ years ago, Sun Tzu believed in knowing the enemy which means understanding in detail his political philosophy.

Why aren’t there nationally televised public forums on Sharia law vs. our U.S. Constitution? Why do politicians, academicians and the media continue to apologize and enable Islamic jihad? What are they hiding? Are they being bought off?

We must unravel Islamic doctrine (the Koran, the Sira and the Hadith), expose it and it would implode on itself if our pathetic “leaders” actually had the backbone to do it. If you think that we’re going to accept these attacks as the new normal or that “terrorism is part and parcel of living in a big city”, then you’re totally misjudging the American people. Peeling back the onion on this threat is long overdue.

Frank Thiboutot
Portland, ME Chapter Leader
Act for America

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The Four Corners of Life

August 22, 2017/in Culture War, Policy, Politics, Religion/by The Catholic Thing

Anthony Esolen reflects on what happens when we tear down the solid foundations of Christian life. We need builders now. We must have slow, patient building, the building up of human souls.

One day when I was a boy I was riding in the car with my father, in the countryside north of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, when we came to an open crossroads at the top of a high hill.

They call this intersection The Four Corners of Life,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye. “Can you guess why?”

I looked out of the windows left and right and back, and saw a church and a cemetery on two of the corners, and a couple of buildings which I couldn’t identify on the others.

Well, I can guess, but you’d better tell me.”

That building over here,” he said, “used to be a small hospital, and this over here is a beer garden.” That’s what we called bars in that part of the world. “So you’re born in the hospital, you get married in church, and you get buried in the cemetery.”

What about the beer garden?”

That,” said my father, with his humorous understatement, “is where some guys go after they get married and before they get put in the ground. The Four Corners of Life!”

Eclipse in America, 08/21/17

My father was a good man and a devout Catholic, not above visiting the Pine Cafe on a Sunday afternoon, owned and operated by his old friend Joe with the Italian accent. He took me with him sometimes, as you could do then without fear of anything indecent, and I’d play shuffleboard or skee-ball, snacking on red-dyed pistachio nuts which Joe provided free of charge.

My father has been gone these twenty-six years, the Pine Cafe is no more, and the Four Corners of Life might be remembered by a few old-timers; I think I can still find the intersection. But that place came to my mind this evening when I went to Mass in a rural village in Nova Scotia.

I like the people in that old place of fishing boats and lobster traps; they’re a lot like the coal miners of my youth. They bear no resentment against the Church, and have little use for modern ideologies.

But they have been ravaged by modernity all the same. The church was filled with people who really wanted to be there; almost all of them older than I am, and I’m not young. The priest is newly ordained: his hair is white and he breathes heavily and he clearly has seen the other side of seventy.

He preached a fine sermon, and before Mass he addressed the people directly, telling them that the diocese of Antigonish has no ordinands this year, and not one young man in the seminary. It will be at least seven years before a man from the diocese will minister as priest to his people.

No children, no priests. No healthy habits of manhood, no priests; no vocations to the married life, no priests. But my mind returned to the jest my father told.

Click here to read the rest of Tony Esolen’s column . . .

Anthony Esolen

Anthony Esolen is a lecturer, translator, and writer. His latest books are Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child and Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture. He directs the Center for the Restoration of Catholic Culture at Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts.

President Trump Addresses The Nation 8/21/17 [FULL SPEECH]

August 22, 2017/in National Security, Policy, Politics, Video/by Dr. Rich Swier

Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, he directed Secretary of Defense Mattis and his national security team to undertake a comprehensive review of all strategic options in Afghanistan and South Asia. Last night, the President outlined his strategy for the region.

Watch President Donald Trump addresses the nation on U.S. Policy in Afghanistan.

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image of President Trump is an official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead.

FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP SPEECH ON AFGHANISTAN AND SOUTH EAST ASIA POLICY

Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Tillerson, members of the Cabinet, General Dunford, Deputy Secretary Shanahan, and Colonel Duggin. Most especially, thank you to the men and women of Fort Myer, and every member of the United States military at home and abroad. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who were injured and lost after a tragic collision at sea, as well as to those conducting the search-and-recovery efforts.I am here tonight to lay out our path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia. But before I provide the details of our new strategy, I want to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts, and to all Americans listening at home.Since the founding of our republic, our country has produced a special class of heroes whose selflessness, courage, and resolve is unmatched in human history. American patriots from every generation have given their last breath on the battlefield for our nation and for our freedom. Through their lives, and though their lives were cut short, in their deeds they achieved total immortality. By following the heroic example of those who fought to preserve our republic, we can find the inspiration our country needs to unify, to heal, and to remain one nation, under God. The men and women of our military operate as one team, with one shared mission and one shared sense of purpose. They transcend every line of race, ethnicity, creed, and color to serve together and sacrifice together in absolutely perfect cohesion.

That is because all service members are brothers and sisters. They’re all part of the same family. It’s called the American family. They take the same oath, fight for the same flag, and live according to the same law. They’re bound together by common purpose, mutual trust, and selfless devotion to our nation and to each other. The soldier understands what we as a nation too often forget: that a wound inflicted upon a single member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one citizen suffers an injustice, we all suffer together. Loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. Love for America requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry, and no tolerance for hate. The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home. We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other.As we send our bravest to defeat our enemies overseas—and we will always win—let us find the courage to heal our divisions within. Let us make a simple promise to the men and women we ask to fight in our name: that when they return home from battle, they will find a country that has renewed the sacred bonds of love and loyalty that unite us together as one.Thanks to the vigilance and skill of the American military, and of our many allies throughout the world, horrors on the scale of September 11th—nobody can ever forget that—have not been repeated on our shores. But we must acknowledge the reality I’m here to talk about tonight: that nearly 16 years after the September 11th attacks, after the extraordinary sacrifice of blood and treasure, the American people are weary of war without victory. Nowhere is this more evident than with the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, 17 years. I share the American people’s frustration. I also share their frustration over a foreign policy that has spent too much time, energy, money, and most importantly lives, trying to rebuild countries in our own image instead of pursuing our security interests above all other considerations.

That is why shortly after my inauguration, I directed Secretary of Defense Mattis, and my national-security team, to undertake a comprehensive review of all strategic options in Afghanistan and South Asia. My original instinct was to pull out, and historically, I like following my instincts. But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. In other words, when you’re president of the United States. So I studied Afghanistan in great detail, and from every conceivable angle. After many meetings, over many months, we held our final meeting last Friday at Camp David with my Cabinet and generals to complete our strategy. I arrived at three fundamental conclusions about America’s core interests in Afghanistan.First, our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made, especially the sacrifices of lives. The men and women who serve our nation in combat deserve a plan for victory. They deserve the tools they need and the trust they have earned to fight and win.Second, the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from Afghanistan, because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda, would instantly fill just as happened before September 11th. And as we know, in 2011, America hastily and mistakenly withdrew from Iraq. As a result, our hard-won gains slipped back into the hands of terrorist enemies. Our soldiers watched as cities they had fought for, and bled to liberate, and won, were occupied by a terrorist group called ISIS. The vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for ISIS to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks.

We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq. Third and finally, I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan, and the broader region, are immense. Today 20 U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The highest concentration in any region, anywhere in the world. For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror. The threat is worse because Pakistan and India are two nuclear-armed states whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict. And that could happen. No one denies that we have inherited a challenging and troubling situation in Afghanistan, and South Asia. But we do not have the luxury of going back in time and making different or better decisions. When I became president, I was given a bad and very complex hand. But I fully knew what I was getting into: big and intricate problems. But one way or another, these problems will be solved. I’m a problem solver, and in the end, we will win.We must address the reality of the world as it exists right now, the threats we face, and the confronting of all of the problems of today, and extremely predictable consequences of a hasty withdrawal. We need look no further than last week’s vile, vicious attack in Barcelona to understand that terror groups will stop at nothing to commit the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children. You saw it for yourself, horrible. As I outlined in my speech in Saudi Arabia, three months ago, America and our partners are committed to stripping terrorists of their territory, cutting off their funding, and exposing the false allure of their evil ideology. Terrorists who slaughter innocent people will find no glory in this life or the next. They are nothing but thugs and criminals and predators, and that’s right—losers. Working alongside our allies, we will break their will, dry up their recruitment, keep them from crossing our borders, and yes, we will defeat them, and we will defeat them handily. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, America’s interests are clear. We must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten America. And we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists, and being used against us, or anywhere in the world for that matter. But to prosecute this war, we will learn from history.

As a result of our comprehensive review, American strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia will change dramatically in the following ways. A core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. I’ve said it many times how counterproductive it is for the United States to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military options. We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on. America’s enemies must never know our plans, or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will.

Another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of American power—diplomatic, economic, and military—toward a successful outcome. Some day, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan, but nobody knows if or when that will ever happen. America will continue its support for the Afghan government and the Afghan military as they confront the Taliban in the field. Ultimately, it is up to the people of Afghanistan to take ownership of their future, to govern their society, and to achieve an ever-lasting peace. We are a partner and a friend, but we will not dictate to the Afghan people how to live or how to govern their own complex society. We are not nation building again. We are killing terrorists.

The next pillar of our new strategy is to change the approach in how to deal with Pakistan. We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe-havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.

Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists. In the past, Pakistan has been a valued partner. Our militaries have worked to together against common enemies. The Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism. We recognize those contributions and those sacrifices. But Pakistan has also sheltered the same organizations that try every single day to kill our people. We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars. At the same time, they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change. And that will change immediately. No partnership can survive a country’s harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials. It is time for Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order, and to peace. Another critical part of the South-Asia strategy for America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India; the world’s largest democracy, and a key security and economic partner of the United States. We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States—and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development.

We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region. Finally, my administration will ensure that you, the brave defenders of the American people will have the necessary tools and rules of engagement to make this strategy work, and work effectively, and work quickly.

I’ve already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our warfighters that prevented the secretary of Defense and our commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy. Micromangement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles. They’re won in the field, drawing upon the judgment and expertise of war-time commanders and front-line soldiers acting in real time with real authority and with a clear mission to defeat the enemy. That’s why we will also expand authority for American armed forces to target the terrorists and criminal networks that sow violence and chaos through Afghanistan. These killers need to know they have nowhere to hide, that no place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms. Retribution will be fast and powerful as we lift restrictions and expand authorities.

We’re already seeing dramatic results in the campaign to defeat ISIS, including the liberation of Mosul in Iraq. Since my inauguration we have achieved record-breaking success in that regard. We will also maximize sanctions and other financial and law-enforcement actions against these networks to eliminate their ability to export terror. When America commits its warriors to battle, we must ensure they have every weapon to apply swift, decisive, and overwhelming force. Our troops will fight to win. We will fight to win. From now on victory will have a clear definition: Attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing Al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terrorist attacks against America before they emerge.

We will ask our NATO allies and global partners to support our new strategy with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own. We are confident they will. Since taking office I have made clear that our allies and partners must contribute much more money to our collective defense. And they have done so. In this struggle, the heaviest burden will continue to be borne by the good people of Afghanistan and their courageous armed forces. As the prime minister of Afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us. Afghanistan is fighting to defend and secure their country against the same enemies who threaten us. The stronger the Afghan security forces become, the less we will have to do.

Afghans will secure and build their own nation and define their own future. We want them to succeed, but we will no longer use American military might to construct democracies in faraway lands, or try to rebuild other countries in our own image. Those days are now over. Instead we will work with allies and partners to protect our shared interest. We are not asking others to change their way of life, but to pursue common goals that allow our children to live better and safer lives. This principled realism will guide our decisions moving forward. Military power alone will not bring peace to Afghanistan or stop the terrorist threat arising in that country, but strategically applied force aims to create the conditions for a political process to achieve a lasting peace. America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress. However, our commitment is not unlimited and our support is not a blank check. The government of Afghanistan must carry their share of the military, political, and economic burden. The American people expect to see real reforms, real progress, and real results. Our patience is not unlimited. We will keep our eyes wide open in abiding by the oath I took on January 20. I will remain steadfast in protecting American lives and American interests. In this effort, we will make common cause with any nation that chooses to stand and fight alongside us against this global threat. Terrorists, take heed: America will never let up until you are dealt a lasting defeat. Under my administration, many billions of dollars more is being spent on our military and this includes vast amounts being spent on our nuclear arsenal and missile defense. In every generation, we have faced down evil and we have always prevailed. We have prevailed because we know who we are and what we are fighting for.

Not far from where we are gathered tonight, hundreds of thousands of America’s greatest patriots lay in eternal rest at Arlington National Cemetery. There is more courage, sacrifice, and love in those hallowed grounds than in any other spot on the face of the Earth. Many of those who have fought and died in Afghanistan enlisted in the months after Sept. 11, 2001. They volunteered for a simple reason: They loved America and they were determined to protect her. Now we must secure the cause for which they gave their lives.

We must unite to defend America from its enemies abroad. We must restore the bonds of loyalty among our citizens at home. And we must achieve an honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the enormous price that so many have paid. Our actions, and in months to come, all of them will honor the sacrifice of every fallen hero, every family who lost a loved one, and every wounded warrior who shed their blood in defense of our great nation. With our resolve, we will ensure that your service, and that your families, will bring about the defeat of our enemies, and the arrival of peace. We will push onward to victory with power in our hearts, courage in our souls, and everlasting pride in each and every one of you. Thank you. May God bless our military, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

U.S. Pays $50 Mil for Luxury Cars, Weapons, Booze to Mentor Afghan Intel Officers

August 21, 2017/in Featured, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Judicial Watch

A foreign company hired by the U.S. government to mentor and train Afghan intelligence officers billed Uncle Sam for more than $50 million in luxury cars — including Porsches, an Aston Martin, and a Bentley — and the lucrative salaries of executives and their spouses (who didn’t do any work). The firm also spent $1,500 on alcohol and $42,000 on automatic weapons prohibited under the terms of the contract, according to figures provided by a U.S. Senator from a federal audit that has not been released to the public. It marks the latest of many scandals involving the free-flow of American dollars to controversial causes in Afghanistan, where fraud and corruption are rampant in all sectors.

In this latest case, the Department of Defense (DOD) hired a British firm called New Century Consulting (NCC) to operate a program called “Legacy East” that was supposed to provide counterinsurgency intelligence experts to mentor and train Afghan National Security Forces. Instead, NCC billed the Pentagon millions of dollars in questionable or unallowable expenses, including seven luxury cars and exorbitant $400,000 average salaries for the “significant others” of corporate officers to serve as “executive assistants.” Other prohibited expenses include severance payments, rent, unnecessary licensing fees, extensive austerity pay, and the cost of personal air travel. The outrageous figures became public when the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Claire McCaskill, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis demanding answers. As a federal lawmaker McCaskill had access to the information after viewing a report from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), which provides financial oversight of government contracts for the Pentagon and operates under the Secretary of Defense.

McCaskill discloses that the British firm continued receiving lucrative DOD contracts despite having “many previous problems,” involving billing and performance practices. The senator also questions why the Pentagon kept pouring money into a “troubled” program that a separate federal audit had determined was likely ineffective. That assessment, made by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), came after investigators found that a lack of performance metrics makes it nearly impossible to assess whether the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the mentoring and training programs for Afghan intel personnel are effective. “Despite all of the listed issues with NCC’s performance and billing practices, the Army continued to engage in contracting with NCC for sensitive work in Afghanistan,” McCaskill states in her letter to Mattis.

Afghanistan reconstruction has been a huge debacle that continues fleecing American taxpayers to the tune of billions and Judicial Watch has reported extensively on it over the years. Many of the details are regularly disclosed in provoking reports published on the SIGAR website. Highlights include the mysterious disappearance of nearly half a billion dollars in oil destined for the Afghan National Army, a $335 million Afghan power plant that’s seldom used and an $18.5 million renovation for a prison that remains unfinished and unused years after the U.S.-funded work began. Among the more outrageous expenditures are U.S. Army contracts with dozens of companies tied to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The reconstruction watchdog recommended that the Army immediately cut business ties to the terrorists but the deals continued. Another big waste reported by Judicial Watch a few years ago, involves a $65 million initiative to help Afghan women escape repression. The government admits that, because there’s no accountability, record-keeping or follow-up, it has no clue if the program was effective.

Back in 2013 Judicial Watch reported that, despite multiple warnings of fraud and corruption inside the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, the U.S. keeps sending hundreds of millions of dollars to support the Islamic republic’s scandal-plagued healthcare system. In that infuriating case, the money—$236 million over nine years—flowed through the scandal-plagued U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is charged with providing economic, development and humanitarian assistance worldwide. It was supposed to fund prenatal care for women, hospitals, physicians’ salaries and other medical costs. Instead, a federal audit found pervasive, waste, fraud and abuse that warranted an immediate cutoff of U.S. assistance. In a scathing report SIGAR called it a reckless disregard toward the management of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Judicial Watch Sues for Anti-Israel ‘BDS’ Lobbying Records

August 21, 2017/in Courts & Law, Culture War, Must Read, National Security, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Judicial Watch

Washington, D.C. – Judicial Watch today announced that it filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State for records of communications regarding anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’ (BDS) groups’ efforts to lobby the Obama administration to ignore trade laws that protect Israel.

Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to two June 20 FOIA requests, one to the Department itself and one to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau (CBP), a component of DHS (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:17-cv-1650)). Judicial Watch is seeking:

All emails which mention West Bank country-of-origin marking requirements, and were sent between [DHS or CBP] and any of the following groups: Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, Al-Awda, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Friends of Sabeel-North America, If Americans Knew, the International Solidarity Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Muslim American Society, Students for Justice in Palestine, or the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (the “BDS Groups”).

All emails internal to [DHS and/or CBP] discussing the efforts of the BDS Groups to strengthen enforcement of the West Bank country-of-origin marking requirements.

Judicial Watch also filed a FOIA lawsuit against the State Department after it failed to respond to a June 20 request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:17-cv-01651)). Judicial Watch is seeking:

All emails which mention protections for Israel in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, and were sent between [State Department] and any of the following groups: Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, Al-Awda, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Friends of Sabeel-North America, If Americans Knew, the International Solidarity Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Muslim American Society, Students for Justice in Palestine, or the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (the “BDS Groups”).

All internal [State Department] emails discussing the efforts of the BDS Groups to limit protections for Israel in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.

In February 2016 President Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 into law, which forces U.S. trade partners to cut ties to the BDS movement and protects Israel territories. But Obama announced:

Certain provisions of this Act, by conflating Israel and “Israeli-controlled territories,” are contrary to longstanding bipartisan United States policy, including with regard to the treatment of settlements. Moreover, consistent with longstanding constitutional practice, my Administration will interpret and implement the provisions in the Act that purport to direct the Executive to seek to negotiate and enter into particular international agreements (section 414(a)(1)) or to take certain positions in international negotiations with respect to international agreements with foreign countries not qualifying for trade authorities procedures (sections 108(b), 414(a)(2), 415, and 909(c)) in a manner that does not interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy.

Shortly after Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, the Customs and Border Protection Bureau restated the West Bank Country of Origin Marking Requirement rules requiring labeling of goods from the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post later reported the restated rules were a result of several complaints filed by activists seeking the U.S. follow policy guidelines distinguishing goods produced from Israel and the West Bank.

The West Bank country-of-origin marking requirements is said to stem from “longstanding bipartisan U.S. policy” toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First put in place in 1995 under the Clinton administration, the rule is to preserve the distinction between the goods produced in State of Israel and the good produced in the territories it controls over the Green Line.

The BDS movement was started by the PLO and other anti-Israel groups to encourage an economic and cultural boycott of Israel. It has gained the support of radical leftwing groups here in the United States, especially on college campuses.

“President Obama advanced the agenda of anti-Israel radicals in subverting U.S. law that rejects the malicious anti-Israel boycott movement,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “And it is no surprise the Deep State ignores our FOIA requests that could expose the Obama-BDS connections. It is well past time for the Trump administration to stop this obstruction and follow the FOIA law.”

The Humanitarian Hoax of Victimhood: Killing America With Kindness

August 21, 2017/in Commentary, Elections, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Linda Goudsmit

The Humanitarian Hoax is a deliberate and deceitful tactic of presenting a destructive policy as altruistic. The humanitarian huckster presents himself as a compassionate advocate when in fact he is the disguised enemy.

Obama, the humanitarian huckster-in-chief, weakened the United States for eight years presenting his deceitful policies featuring victimhood as altruistic when in fact they were designed for destruction. His legacy, the Leftist Democrat Party with its “resistance” movement, is the party of the Humanitarian Hoax attempting to destroy American democracy and replace it with socialism.

The three basic tenets of left-wing liberal progressivism are political correctness, moral relativism, and historical revisionism. Leftist progressivism is an extremely regressive political structure that emphasizes victimhood and encourages childlike dependence on the government in its march toward socialism. Progressivism is an Orwellian doublespeak word designed to dupe the participant into believing he is moving society forward when in fact progressivism and progressive policies support regression backwards toward childhood dependence.

Historical records presents the humanitarian huckster with a conundrum. The history of our American democracy is one of immense growth, development, and achievement. American history contradicts the negative message of the humanitarian huckster attempting to transform America into socialism. Destroying historical records, historical facts, and historical icons does not erase history – it simply leaves history open to historical revisionism. Obama’s revisionist anti-American pro-Muslim Common Core re-education curriculum was a start, smashing historical statues is an escalation, violent anarchy is the ultimate Leftist strategy to destroy American democracy.

Progressivism posits that objective reality does not exist – this in itself is an invitation for historical revisionism. For progressives there are only matters of opinion and all opinions are equal. This means that opinions of out of control screaming protesters at Evergreen college have the same status as the opinion of their professors. Progressives support subjective reality and deny objective reality in their self-serving need to preserve the fiction of their narrative. Here is the problem – saying something does not make it true. Objective reality exists whether the Left accepts it or not. Watching the Left is like watching a child insist he can fly. He is certain of it – but that does not make it true or a fact in objective reality.

George Orwell understood these dynamics seventy years ago when he created the dystopian society in his cautionary tale “1984.” American society under Obama has devolved into an Orwellian nightmare of Leftist political correctness, groupthink, and moral relativism designed to destroy the moral fabric of American society. The Left is convinced of its moral superiority because its narrative of moral relativism and politically correctness insists it is superior and its groupthink mentality validates itself.

A civil society requires consensus. Normative behavior is a matter of consensus that is codified into laws that govern society. Multiculturalism challenges consensus. If one individual thinks “honor” killing is acceptable and society considers it murder then there is a problem – whose norms will prevail if everyone’s opinions are equal? When Leftists insist that opposing points of view are intolerable hate speech they hypocritically deny freedom of speech and a free society. When everything is a matter of opinion and all opinions are equal there can be no consensus. Without consensus there are no accepted laws to abide – there is only anarchy and social chaos. But that is exactly the point – the Left wants anarchy and social chaos. Their leaders are fomenting racial violence and violent anarchy because social chaos is the prerequisite for seismic social change. Obama’s “resistance” movement is trying to destroy American democracy and replace it with socialism. The Leftist/Islamist axis is attacking Judeo-Christian norms and destabilizing society with the collaborating mainstream media. For the Left to embrace the barbaric tenets of Islamist sharia law requires political correctness, moral relativism, historical revisionism and the dreamscape of subjective reality where the stunning hypocrisy of their alliance is ignored and considered irrelevant by the media.

The Leftist demand for the destruction of American historical statues is an angry expression of victimhood. American democracy has made enormous strides since the Civil Rights Act in the 60s. Americans voted their growth and elected a black president to lead the country but the Left deliberately ignores that reality and chooses to promote a victim mentality instead of an achievement mentality. The Left prefers to look backwards instead of looking forward. Why? Because looking backward solidifies their base as victims of white exploitation and foments more racist violence. It is ironic that the Left calls themselves “progressive” when everything they do is regressive. The leaders of the Left understand that identity politics is tribal in nature. Leftist identity politics invites anyone who self-identifies as a victim to join the group and express their angry victimhood. The identification with the group promotes groupthink that concentrates on the WHO of behavior rather than the WHAT of behavior. If a member of the group does something it is accepted, if a non-member of the group does the same thing it is rejected. Groupthink explains the stunning hypocrisy of the Left. Groupthink is only possible when people surrender their rational critical thinking skills and embrace the emotional soundbites repeated incessantly by other members of the group and the media.

Here is the problem. A victim identity may be a unifying force but victimhood is the position of powerlessness. Victimhood is the powerless position of childhood dependence that is promoted by the leaders on the Left. Why do the Leftist leaders insist on a regressive dependent victim identity instead of an independent achievement mentality? Why is the victim mentality that produces angry violence advanced by the colluding mainstream media? Voices of divisiveness, voices of exploitation, voices of victimhood, voices of dependence, voices of angry powerlessness fomenting social chaos to destabilize and overthrow the democratic government of President Donald Trump are the voices we hear on the Left. This is extremely important to consider – the Left is deliberately inciting race wars and violent anarchy in the streets of America by selling victimhood.

Socialism suits the childish Left – like children they expect all the benefits of society without the work. Their Leftist leaders have promised them free tuition, free food, free housing, free health care – complete cradle to grave dependence upon the government mommy and daddy who will provide unconditional love and care for them forever. Like angry adolescents when their demands are opposed they go out of control – their temper tantrums become violent – they smash statues, shatter store windows, burn police cars, and physically assault the opposition. The violence in the streets of America is deliberately fomented by the Left to create the social chaos necessary for social transformation. But here is the problem – socialism is not the endgame.

Socialism with its complete government control is the prerequisite social structure for the globalist elite to internationalize the socialist countries, internationalize the police force and enforce an imposed one-world government. One-world government is the endgame and new world order that the globalist elite intend to rule themselves. It is unapologetically described in chilling detail by Lord Bertrand Russell in his 1952 book “The Impact of Science on Society.” One-world government is a binary socio-political system of masters and slaves. There is no social justice in one-world government, there is no income equality in one-world government, there are no Leftists, Islamists, or political agitators of any kind in one-world government – only a docile, compliant Orwellian population of slaves ruled by the globalist elite.

One-world government is the goal and the underlying motive of the campaign to destroy America from within. American democracy is the single greatest existential threat to one-world government and President Donald Trump is America’s pro-democracy leader. The globalist elite are desperate to stop Trump because if Obama is exposed as a con man it leaves them without their primetime huckster to continue marching America toward anarchy and social chaos with his “resistance” movement. The globalist elites like George Soros who fund the leftist humanitarian hucksters are using them as useful idiots to facilitate the great Humanitarian Hoax of Victimhood to create the overwhelming social chaos necessary to internationalize the police force and impose their own special brand of a new world order.

Obama and his left-wing liberal lemmings are too arrogant to understand that they are being used as puppets by the globalist elite who have an endgame of their own. If the globalist elite are successful in their efforts to weaken America by promoting their deceitful campaign of ongoing dependence and victimhood, overthrow the US government of President Donald Trump, and transform America into socialism the next step is globalist conquest and the imposition of one-world government.

After 241 years of American freedom the world will be returned to the dystopian existence of masters and slaves because a willfully blind American public was seduced by the Humanitarian Hoax of Victimhood advanced by leftist humanitarian hucksters promising protection and safety for their fragile dependent victimized selves.

The Humanitarian Hoax will have succeeded in killing America with “kindness.”

Moroccan Muslim asylum seeker was targeting women, slashing their throats

August 21, 2017/in Courts & Law, Culture War, Immigration, National Security, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Ann Corcoran

“Then a person ran towards us shouting ‘He has a knife’, and everybody from the terrace ran inside. Next, a woman came in to the cafe. She was crying hysterically, down on her knees, saying someone’s neck has been slashed open.” – A witness

Surely you know what happened in Finland on the heals of Barcelona, but here from Reuters we get more facts on the killer and the poor innocent women who were sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Over the years we have written a few posts on Finland, but it isn’t as easily accessible (or slovenly welcoming) as other Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway.

This Reuters story is surprisingly unrestrained and relatively free of whitewash (or is that because those quoted weren’t pulling punches and speaking in politically correct terms?):

HELSINKI/TURKU, Finland (Reuters) – Finnish police said on Saturday that an 18-year-old Moroccan man, arrested after a knife rampage that killed two people and wounded eight, appeared to have targeted women and that the spree was being treated as the country’s first terrorism-related attack.

Finland’s loss of innocence. Photo: Inquirer.

The suspect arrested following the attack on Friday after being shot in the leg by police in the city of Turku had arrived in Finland last year, police said. They said they later arrested four other Moroccan men over possible links to him and had issued an international arrest warrant for a sixth Moroccan national.

Finnish broadcaster MTV, citing an unnamed source, said the main suspect had been denied asylum in Finland. The police said only that he had been “part of the asylum process”.

The case marks the first suspected terror attack in Finland, where violent crime is relatively rare.

“The suspect’s profile is similar to that of several other recent radical Islamist terror attacks that have taken place in Europe,” Director Antti Pelttari from the Finnish Security Intelligence Service told a news conference.

[….]

Both of those killed in the Turku attack, and six of the eight who were wounded, were women, the police said. The two who died were Finns, and an Italian and two Swedish citizens were among the injured.

Ville Tavio (Finns party): Asylum system is primary means of entry for terrorists.

“It seems that the suspect chose women as his targets, because the men who were wounded were injured when they tried to help, or prevent the attacks,” said Crista Granroth from the National Bureau of Investigation.

“The act was cowardly … we have been afraid of this and we have prepared for this. We are not an island anymore, the whole of Europe is affected,” Prime Minister Juha Sipila said. [Well, maybe not Poland and Hungary that have closed their borders to Muslim migration!—ed]

[….]

Some members of the nationalist Finns party, which was kicked out of the government in June for their new hard-line anti-immigration leadership, blamed the government for what they said was too loose an immigration policy.

“The asylum system is the primary road for illegal immigration, used also by the terrorists. Harmful immigration can be controlled only by reducing Finland’s attractiveness, or by border controls,” said Finns party lawmaker Ville Tavio.

Much, much more here.

What is asylum? (As opposed to refugee resettlement)

In the refugee resettlement process, wannabe refugees must prove they are persecuted, the UN screens them (supposedly!) and a country accepts them and flies them in.

For asylum, the wannabe refugee makes his or her way to a ‘safe’ country and then applies for asylum (or often called political asylum). They are supposed to make a case that they would be persecuted if returned home. Europe is dealing with mostly asylum seekers (many are phony and are really economic migrants) who are basically loose in the country until their cases can be processed.

And, are often loose because they have been rejected and no one has made them leave!

So, it is a misnomer when you hear the Left and political leaders refer to asylum seekers as refugees. They are not legitimate refugees until their cases have been processed and the governmental body responsible has granted them asylum.

See my Finland files here. Invasion of Europe archive is here.

Repeal and Replace Congress 2018

August 20, 2017/in Elections, Must Read, Policy, Politics/by J.B. Williams

In the 2018 mid-term elections, all 435 U.S. House members are up for reelection and in the U.S. Senate, 25 democrats and 9 republicans are running for reelection. Not one of them has kept their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, “so help me God.”

The 2016 election was a landmark shift away from liberal concepts to American concepts, as demonstrated by voters crossing party lines to support long-shot outsider Donald J. Trump for President with a common concern in mind.

The TOP 4 2016 election issues with voters from both parties

Terrorism and National Security – 87% across party lines
The economy – 87% across party lines
Employment, Jobs – 84% across party lines
Health Care – 79% across party lines, although not in agreement on the solution

In the end, voters across party lines shared the same four primary concerns in 2016 by wide margins and they trusted Donald J. Trump more than Hillary Clinton to deal with these four primary issues.

On other matters of interest, the political divisions become more visible.

Other TOP issues for Republican Voters 2016

National Debt and ongoing deficit spending
Foreign Threats
Ineffective Government
Illegal Immigration
Rising taxation without representation

Other TOP issues for Democrat Voters 2016

Free Government funded education K through College
Government redistribution of private wealth

Issues of less interest to voters from either party

Gun Laws
Wall Street and Bank Regulations
Social issues, gay marriage, abortion, transgender
Climate Change

(All data taken from broad-based Gallup polls HERE)

The result of the 2016 election cycle was Republican Party control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The demise of democrat political power that had cost the party over 1000 political seats between 2008-2016, continued in 2016, leaving democrats essentially completely powerless under normal circumstances.

But the circumstances present as the new administration took power in January 2017 were anything but normal. The global “never-Trump” operation was about to hit overdrive. Establishment career politicians on both sides of the aisle were sent a loud and clear message… Represent OUR will or we will repeal and replace YOU! They had to double down and fast…

The Next Seven Months

Immediately following the 2016 upset of “sure thing” Hillary Clinton, the “never-Trump” operation launched into overdrive. Every possible tool and tactic was on the table. The only rule of engagement was – destroy Trump by any means necessary.

Trump had stepped between Making America Great Again and the Global Governance Agenda launched by Bill and Hillary Clinton in the early 90s, labeled Global Governance 2030, later labeled UN Agenda 21 by the United Nations.

Trump stepped into much worse than any “swamp.” He stepped squarely between the global power structure hell-bent on reducing the United States to a 3^rd world level partner in a global commune -and- American voters from all party affiliations who want no part of it.

The “never-Trump” operation involves foreign governments, the United Nations, the Democratic Party, many members of the Republican Party in congress and state governments, 97% of all Federal Employees, the “fake news” media, Hollywood, DOJ Officials, the FBI, CIA, NSA, the DNI, George Soros and his more than 200 NGOs, the Communist Party USA, Socialist Party USA and Democratic Socialists of America, Islamists, illegal alien invaders, ANTIFA and BLM, giant international corporations, the education system and K-College kids…. On and on and on….

It’s not just a “swamp.” Trump stepped into the middle of a velvet global war to destroy America and took a stand with the dying breed of Americans who still believe our foundations can make America great again. Trump and his voters are at war… and the sooner they realize it, the better.

Beyond Executive Orders, some of which are also blocked by judicial tyranny, the 2016 election agenda is entirely blocked by congress. Congressional republicans even took measures to prevent any recess appointments by Trump. The agenda is being blocked by republicans in charge, working with democrats to remove Trump from the Oval Office and keep America on track to global governance.

Repeal and Replace Congress 2018

The national agenda of more than 63 million Trump voters has been stalled for the first seven months of the Trump Administration. Trump and his original team have been under constant daily assault by the “never-Trump” operation since the day Trump announced his bid for the White House.

But it isn’t just democrat global Marxists working to subvert and undermine Trump and his supporters. Republicans like Jeff Flake (AZ) and Bob Corker (TN) have been working with known enemies like John McCain (AZ) and Lindsey Graham (SC) to force the demise of the Trump presidency in short order. As a result, democrats are still running Washington DC despite republican majorities. Should politicians who fail to keep their oath even be allowed to run for reelection?

If the people who supported Trump in 2016 remain committed to their pro-American agenda, they will have to repeal and replace congress in 2018. Trump cannot MAGA alone and under constant assault.

Republican members running for reelection must be replaced in the primaries by challengers who will keep their oaths. Democrats must be defeated in the general election by viable conservative challengers. The same way 63 million voters TRUMPED the 2016 elections, they will have to TRUMP congress in 2018.

Assuming Trump can successfully defend against those at war with him long enough to see the mid-term elections, the people of this country must eliminate as many career turncoats as possible in 2018, or their agenda will remain beyond their grasp.

The people must start right now, unite for the fight, organize in coordinated strategic plans district by district, state by state with senators, and they must not fail. Voters hold the future in their hands. Evil will prevail if good people do nothing!

VIDEO: Students call for an ‘End to Prayer Shaming’

August 20, 2017/in News, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Dr. Rich Swier

East Catholic High School produced a short video calling for an end to “prayer shaming.” The description of the video featuring students from East Catholic High School states:

Enough is enough. It’s time to take a stand. Today, students at East Catholic High School rise up and declare that we’re more concerned with God than we are with being politically correct.
We encourage you to do the same. Please watch our video…then SHARE it with your friends and encourage THEM to SHARE it as well. TAG a friend, a community leader, or even the media. Let’s get this powerful message out there.

No more prayer shaming. Let’s bring God and prayer back into our lives.

EDITORS NOTE: For more information lease visit us: http://www.echs.com/

VIDEO: Man gets 6 months in jail for Facebook post showing Nazi/Muslim collaboration

August 20, 2017/in National Security, Policy, Politics, Video/by Jihad Watch

Yes, it’s a historical fact, but it’s politically inconvenient nowadays. And so it’s six months in jail for Michael Stürzenberger.

Video thanks to Vlad Tepes.

RELATED PHOTOGRAPH:

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, reviewing the Bosnian Muslim Nazi SS Division Handzar in November, 1943 in Neuhammer, Germany with SS Brigadefuehrer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig, right, the commander of the division.

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ProPublica, working with Google to “document hate,” threatens counter-jihad bloggers

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ProPublica working with Google to ‘document hate’ direct threat to counter-terrorism bloggers

August 20, 2017/in Courts & Law, Must Read, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Jihad Watch

More on how the Left is moving in for the kill and trying to destroy the freedom of speech completely.

“ProPublica, Working with Google to ‘Document Hate,’ Threatens Conservative Bloggers,” by Paula Bolyard, PJ Media, August 19, 2017:

Google revealed in a blog post that it is now using machine learning to document “hate crimes and events” in America. They’ve partnered with liberal groups like ProPublica, BuzzFeed News, and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to make information about “hate events” easily accessible to journalists. And now, there are troubling signs that this tool could be used to ferret out writers and websites that run afoul of the progressive orthodoxy.
In the announcement, Simon Rogers, data editor of Google News Labs, wrote:

Now, with ProPublica, we are launching a new machine learning tool to help journalists covering hate news leverage this data in their reporting.
The Documenting Hate News Index — built by the Google News Lab, data visualization studio Pitch Interactive and ProPublica — takes a raw feed of Google News articles from the past six months and uses the Google Cloud Natural Language API to create a visual tool to help reporters find news happening across the country. It’s a constantly-updating snapshot of data from this year, one which is valuable as a starting point to reporting on this area of news.

The Documenting Hate project launched in response to the lack of national data on hate crimes. While the FBI is required by law to collect data about hate crimes, the data is incomplete because local jurisdictions aren’t required to report incidents up to the federal government.

All of which underlines the value of the Documenting Hate Project, which is powered by a number of different news organisations and journalists who collect and verify reports of hate crimes and events. Documenting Hate is informed by both reports from members of the public and raw Google News data of stories from across the nation.

On the surface, this looks rather innocuous. It’s presented by Google as an attempt to create a database of hate crimes — information that should be available with a quick Google search, it should be noted. But a quick glance at the list of partners for this project should raise some red flags:

The ProPublica-led coalition includes The Google News Lab, Univision News, the New York Times, WNYC, BuzzFeed News, First Draft, Meedan, New America Media, The Root, Latino USA, The Advocate, 100 Days in Appalachia and Ushahidi. The coalition is also working with civil-rights groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, and schools such as the University of Miami School of Communications.

ProPublica poses as a middle-of-the-road non-profit journalistic operation, but in reality, it’s funded by a stable of uber-liberal donors, including George Soros’s Open Society Foundation and Herb and Marion Sandler, billionaire former mortgage bankers whose Golden West Financial Corp. allegedly targeted subprime borrowers with “pick-a-pay” mortgages that led to toxic assets that were blamed for the collapse of Wachovia. The Southern Poverty Law Center, of course, is infamous for targeting legitimate conservatives groups, branding them as “hate groups” because they refuse to walk in lockstep with the progressive agenda. And it goes with out saying that The New York Times and BuzzFeed News lean left.

A perusal of the raw data that’s been compiled thus far on hate stories shows articles from a wide array of center-right sites, including The Daily Caller, Breitbart News, The Washington Times, National Review, and the Washington Examiner. It also includes many articles from liberal sites like BuzzFeed News and The New York Times. One story from PJ Media’s Bridget Johnson is included in the list. It’s a report about a Sikh ad campaign aimed at reducing hate crimes against members of their faith community. Many of the articles are simply reports about alleged hate crimes from sources running the gamut of the political spectrum.

ProPublica vows to diligently track “hate incidents” in the coming months….

Note that Google, which recently fired an employee for expressing his counter-progressive opinions, thinks this information could be used to “help journalists covering hate news leverage this data in their reporting.” What do they mean by “leverage this data”? They don’t say, but an email sent to several conservative writers by a ProPublica reporter may give us some indication. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer along with some others received this from ProPublica “reporter” Lauren Kirchner:

I am a reporter at ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative newsroom in New York. I am contacting you to let you know that we are including your website in a list of sites that have been designated as hate or extremist by the American Defamation League or the Southern Poverty Law Center. We have identified all the tech platforms that are supporting websites on the ADL and SPLC lists.

We would like to ask you a few questions:

1) Do you disagree with the designation of your website as hate or extremist? Why?
2) We identified several tech companies on your website: PayPal, Amazon, Newsmax, and Revcontent. Can you confirm that you receive funds from your relationship with those tech companies? How would the loss of those funds affect your operations, and how would you be able to replace them?
3) Have you been shut down by other tech companies for being an alleged hate or extremist web site? Which companies?
4) Many people opposed to sites like yours are currently pressuring tech companies to cease their relationships with them – what is your view of this campaign? Why?

In other words, nice website you’ve got there. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.

To summarize: Liberal ProPublica, working with the smear merchants at SPLC — powered by Google — sent a reporter out to issue not so veiled threats against conservative websites. It’s blatantly obvious that the goal here is to tank websites they disagree with by mounting a campaign to pressure their advertisers and tech providers to drop them as clients. This comes on the heels of Google, GoDaddy, CloudFlare, Apple, and others singling out alt-right sites for destruction in the wake of the Charlottesville riots.

Robert Spencer (who also writes for PJ Media) responded to the threat on his Jihad Watch blog:

The intent of your questions, and no doubt of your forthcoming article, will be to try to compel these sites to cut off any connection with us based on our opposition to jihad terror. Are you comfortable with what you’re enabling? Not only are you inhibiting honest analysis of the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat, but you’re aiding the attempt to deny people a platform based on their political views. This could come back to bite you if your own views ever fall out of favor. Have you ever lived in a totalitarian state, where the powerful determine the parameters of the public discourse and cut off all voice from the powerless? Do you really want to live in one now? You might find, once you get there, that it isn’t as wonderful as you thought it would be.

Spencer has recently criticized Google and the SPLC here at PJ Media for their attempts to squelch dissent, so it’s not surprising that they’ve decided to target him. Only instead of fighting Spencer’s words with words of their own, they’re lashing out with actions designed to silence him….

Robert Spencer wrote, “Authoritarianism in service of any cause leads to a slave society despite the best intentions of those who helped usher it in.”…

Read the full article here.

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President Trump to ‘cut all military aid to Pakistan’, thinks U.S. is being ‘ripped off’

August 20, 2017/in National Security, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Jihad Watch

I had just about given up on Trump, and then he says this. We can only hope that he will follow through, and not be persuaded by McMaster that all Pakistan needs is a few more U.S. billions to turn it into a reliable ally.

“Trump to ‘cut all military aid to Pakistan’, thinks Washington is being ‘ripped off’ by Islamabad: report,” Reuters, August 19, 2017:

US President Donald Trump is mulling cutting off all military aid to Pakistan because ‘Washington is being ripped off by Islamabad’, claims a Foreign Policy report….

The FP report quoted a White House official as saying that “the President thinks we’re being ripped off by Pakistan. The president wants to cut off all military aid to Pakistan. That’s part of the strategy”….

During the discussions at Camp David, there were differences of opinion over taking a harder line on Pakistan for failing to close Afghan Taliban sanctuaries and arrest Afghan extremist leaders. US officials say the Afghan Taliban are supported by elements of Pakistan’s military and top intelligence agency, a charge Islamabad denies.

Pentagon has already frozen support to Islamabad under the coalition support fund, which provides Pakistan with payments to finance counter-terrorism operations. Mattis claims he could not find evidence that Pakistan had taken enough action against the Haqqani network.

Amid relentless criticism of Pakistan from the Trump administration, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has told a top US military commander that Pakistan doesn’t need aid, all it wants is acknowledgement of its efforts in the fight against terrorism.

“More than financial or material assistance, we seek acknowledgement of our decades-long contributions towards regional peace and stability, understanding of our challenges and most importantly the sacrifices the Pakistani nation and its security forces have rendered in [the] fight against terrorism and militancy,” he told Centcom chief General Joseph L Votel during a meeting at the GHQ on Friday….

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