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Ruth King

A Stronger Germany Could Save Europe Angela Merkel’s likely successor wants more defense spending and overseas deployments. By Walter Russell Mead

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-stronger-germany-could-save-europe-11580169200?mod=opinion_lead_pos9

Hamburg

It’s time for Berlin to take a more assertive stance in world affairs—that’s the opinion of German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer is the heir apparent to Chancellor Angela Merkel and replaced her in 2018 as party chairman for the Christian Democratic Union. This soft-spoken woman, known as AKK, told me her views on Germany’s position in world politics in an interview here last week and a follow-up exchange of emails.

Germany, and for that matter Europe, can no longer go on in the old way, she said. In a new international reality marked by the “return of great-power competition for spheres of influence and supremacy,” Germany “cannot just wait for others to act. . . . We must develop our own concepts, present our own options. . . . It is our duty as Germans, and it is very much in our own interest, to join in these international debates, to drive them forward, to play a part in protecting the international order.”

Since becoming defense minister last summer, AKK has been making waves, most notably when she delivered a speech in Munich last fall that called on Germany to raise military spending gradually to 2% of gross domestic product and urged Germans to consider deployments as far afield as the Sahel and the Indo-Pacific. Germany already has about 1,000 troops in Mali as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there.

In the cautious world of German foreign policy, these are radical ideas. After the terrible experiences of the 20th century, many Germans reject power politics. With the fall of the Soviet Union and German unification at the end of the Cold War, most Germans shared the American feeling that history had ended. Germany slashed military spending and focused on issues such as human rights and climate change. Many also believed that the European Union, with its massive consumer market and values-driven approach, would emerge as a major power in a peaceful and rule-driven world.

Classified Report Reveals 150 Islamist No-Go Zones in France The wall of silence is cracking. Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/classified-report-reveals-150-islamist-no-go-zones-daniel-greenfield/

Five years ago, Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the socialist boss of Paris, threatened to sue FOX News for reporting on the existence of no-go zones: territories in France under Islamist control.

“When we’re insulted, and when we’ve had an image, then I think we’ll have to sue, I think we’ll have to go to court, in order to have these words removed,” she told CNN.

There was no lawsuit, but FOX News issued repeated apologies, with hosts “correcting” experts like Steve Emerson and Jessie Jane Duff who actually knew what they were talking about.

Two years later, Pamela Geller came under attack from the media for discussing French no-go zones.

The media had mocked Emerson and Geller as Americans who didn’t know anything about France.

But the wall of silence on no-go zones has been coming down. And it is indeed a wall of silence. The existence of a classified report by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) identifying 150 areas in France under Islamist control has leaked. That leak comes just as the DGSI busted 7 Muslims for plotting a terrorist attack. The perpetrators were just another of the 400,000 on the Fiche S watch list.

These 150 neighborhoods that are held by Islamists not only overlap many of the territories that had been previously listed as no-go zones, but point to a problem that has is expanding across France. Beyond the suburbs of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the report identifies areas of concern in Maubeuge, Roubaix, Denain, Haute-Savoie, Annemasse, Bourg-en-Bresse, Bourgoin-Jallieu, and Nogent-le-Rotrou.

Why did a report listing the existence of 150 no-go zones have to be classified? The inciting incident behind the secret report was a mass stabbing by a Muslim terrorist in early January. While the media insisted, once again, that the terrorist, who had shouted, “Allahu Akbar”, was suffering from mental illness, behind the scenes the wheels had begun to turn leading to the creation of the secret report.

A Chilly Winter in Norway While the critics of Islam quit the government, a radical Muslim is named Culture Minister. Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/chilly-winter-norway-bruce-bawer/

Once upon a time, Norway’s Progress Party was anti-establishment. Founded in 1973, it stood for individual liberty, lower taxes, and fewer regulations in a country whose postwar welfare state had been built on collectivism, high taxes, and ubiquitous government intrusion into every aspect of life. In later decades, as the perils of mass Muslim immigration became more and more obvious, only the Progress Party opposed the nation’s self-destructive policies on this front. Some Progress Party politicians even said that if handed power, they’d seek to end the state monopoly on liquor sales and to privatize NRK, the taxpayer-funded government broadcaster and Labor Party propaganda organ.

For years, establishment parties and mainstream media dishonestly painted the Progress Party as a bunch of far-right Islamophobes; but for a growing number of Norwegians who were unimpressed with the twin faiths of statism and Islam, it stood for freedom and competition, law and order, and common sense about the Religion of Peace.

In September 2013, the day of which Progress Party voters had dreamed finally arrived: a general election swept the Progress Party into the government for the first time, as the junior partner in a coalition with the Conservatives. While Conservative leader Erna Solberg became Prime Minister, Siv Jensen, head of the Progress Party, was named Minister of Justice. Writing at this website shortly thereafter, I discussed a recently published anthology about Norwegian society and politics that contained essays by both women. Solberg’s “toothless” essay, I wrote, painted an absurd, PC picture of “innocent Muslims being denied social acceptance by bigoted Norwegians”; Jensen’s, by contrast, was “a call to arms” in which she “tackle[d] head-on the Muslim leaders in Norway who spread conspiracies about Jews and who refuse to reject the death penalty for gays.” I called Jensen Norway’s “Iron Lady.”

The John Bolton Report The former NSC adviser should tell the public what he knows.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-john-bolton-report-11580170841?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

EXCERPTS

The report that John Bolton’s book draft implicates President Trump more closely to ordering a delay in military aid to Ukraine is hardly a surprise and won’t—and shouldn’t—change the impeachment result. It does, however, complicate the trial task for Republican Senators, and our advice is for Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser to tell the public now what he says in his book.

The New York Times’s story contains no “bombshells,” notwithstanding the media hype. Anyone paying attention, or who has read Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s Nov. 18 letter to House Members, knows that Mr. Trump mistrusted Ukraine and considered cutting off aid. Anyone who read the rough transcript of Mr. Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s President knows he wanted an investigation of Hunter and Joe Biden. All Mr. Bolton reportedly adds is news of a conversation in which Mr. Trump made a direct connection between the two that nearly everyone already assumed.

This still isn’t close to a high crime or misdemeanor. Mr. Trump’s reckless judgment was resisted by his staff and Senators like Mr. Johnson, and the President eventually changed his mind. Ukraine never opened an investigation, the U.S. aid was delivered on time, and Mr. Trump met with Ukraine’s President in New York. There was no crime, and Mr. Trump’s military support for Ukraine continues to be far more robust than Barack Obama’s.

Bolton Blows Up Trump Team’s Foolhardy Quid Pro Quo Defense By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/bolton-blows-up-trump-teams-foolhardy-quid-pro-quo-defense/

They advanced an argument they didn’t need to make, and now it will cost them.

Don’t build your fortress on quicksand.

That’s been my unsolicited advice for President Trump and his legal team. You always want the foundation of your defense to be something that is true, that you are sure you can prove, and that will not change.

Instead, the president and his team decided to make a stand on ground that could not be defended, on facts that were unfolding and bound to change. Last night, that ground predictably shifted. In a soon-to-be-published memoir, former White House national-security adviser John Bolton asserts that the president withheld $391 million in defense aid in order to pressure Ukraine into investigating Trump’s potential 2020 election opponent, former vice president Joe Biden.

For months, I’ve been arguing that the president’s team should stop claiming there was no quid pro quo conditioning the defense aid Congress had authorized for Ukraine on Kyiv’s conducting of investigations the president wanted. Trials and impeachment itself are unpredictable. You don’t know what previously undisclosed facts might emerge during the trial that could turn the momentum against you. So you want to mount your best defense, the one that can withstand any damaging new revelations.

Bolton Denies Leaking Quid Pro Quo Book Excerpt To NYT: ‘There Was Absolutely No Coordination’ By Mairead McArdle

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/bolton-denies-leaking-quid-pro-quo-book-excerpt-to-nyt-there-was-absolutely-no-coordination/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium

Former national security adviser John Bolton has denied providing the New York Times with an excerpt of his upcoming book that revealed President Trump told him the provision of military aid to Ukraine was contingent on the opening of an investigation into Joe Biden.

Bolton released a statement Monday afternoon pushing back against accusations from Republicans, who questioned the timing of the Sunday Times report, which dropped just before Bolton’s yet unpublished book became available for pre-order. Bolton said neither he nor his publisher nor literary agent coordinated with the newspaper to increase the hype surrounding the book in order to drive sales.

“Ambassador John Bolton, Simon & Schuster, and Javelin Literary categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with the New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, at online booksellers. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation,” Bolton said in a statement.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney suggested Monday that Bolton’s new allegations have “more to do with publicity than the truth.”

Trump’s legal team also downplayed the report of Bolton’s claims regarding aid to Ukraine, calling them “speculation.”

Iran’s Lobbyists and Agents in the West by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15496/iran-lobbyists

Recently, three Republican senators, Ted Cruz (TX), Tom Cotton (AK) and Mike Braun (IN) have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
According to the Iranian American Forum: “Some of these documents are posted here and reveal NIAC’s relation and collaboration with Iranian officials and business interests inside Iran. They show that NIAC coordinated its lobby with the Iranian ambassador to the UN to influence the US policy with Iran.”
Why do those who may lobby for the mullahs attempt to fly under the radar, act less conspicuously and fail to register?
Now is the time for the US and other Western governments to investigate and closely watch those who beat the drum for the anti-American and anti-Israeli Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran’s leaders have freely admitted that they have lobby groups and operatives in the West, including the US, working hard to advance Tehran’s anti-Western, anti-American, fundamentalist ideas. Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi even boasted that Tehran runs a lobby group in Washington that promotes the hardline agenda of his country’s ruling mullahs. According to the Washington Examiner:

“A ‘lobby group for the Islamic Republic of Iran’ is actively bolstering Tehran’s status in the international stage and helping to sell and legitimize its nuclear ambitions as just causes to the globe, Alavi claimed.”

The chairman of “Oil Contracts Restructuring Committee” in Iran, Mehdi Hosseini, when asked whether there are Western entities that pressure their governments on behalf of the Islamic Republic, stated: “Yes. They have done this in the past.” These efforts, he added, “will help us and we should exploit these opportunities.”

Germany’s Selective Fight against Anti-Semitism by Judith Bergman

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15291/germany-antisemitism-selective-fight

“[T]here is no reason to give the all-clear. The threat situation in Germany remains tense; it has stabilized on a high level…Germany continues to be a target of jihadist organizations such as ISIL or al-Qaeda. Consequently, Germany as well as German interests in various regions in the world are facing a constantly serious threat, which may any time manifest itself in terrorist attacks motivated by jihadism.” — 2018 Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution, Germany.

The new governmental initiative, however, appears to be directed only against anti-Semitism committed by right-wing extremists.

The question, then, is why jihadi anti-Semitism does not appear to have been included in the German government’s package of initiatives to combat anti-Semitism?

Given the official threat scenario, the German government owes all its citizens an explanation as to why it is so “selective” in its response to anti-Semitism.

The German government recently announced that it would be cracking down on free speech, with Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht claiming that the German government “is confronting right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism by all means enabled by the rule of law.” The government presented a package of measures, including some that will limit free speech. According to German news outlet Deutsche Welle:

“[O]nline service providers, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will be obliged to report hate speech to German authorities, and also pass on the IP address of the conspicuous user. Until now, such social media giants have only been required to delete hate speech within a certain time period.”

Germany’s controversial censorship law, known as NetzDG, which came into effect on October 1, 2017, requires social media platforms to delete or block any online “criminal offenses” such as libel, slander, defamation or incitement, within 24 hours of receipt of a user complaint. Social media companies receive seven days for more complicated cases. If they fail to do so, the German government can fine them up to 50 million euros for failing to comply.

CORONAVIRUS IN THE U.S. FIVE CONFIRMED CASES

http://click1.srnemail.com/ViewMessage.do;jsessionid=60866FAC807674FA7EDBB338DE9

The story notes they are “all among people who traveled to the city at the center of the outbreak” (Washington Times).  Some are urging Trump to declare a formal public health emergency (ABC News).  China’s death toll is at 80 and the disease is spreading to other parts of the country (NY Times).  From Hugh Hewitt: “According to the CDC, it’s likely that there will be more cases reported in the U.S. in the coming days and weeks, likely including person-to-person spread.” So don’t tell people on what flights/airports through infected patients traveled and times? (Twitter).  Orange County, California has a confirmed case (OC Health Info).  From former Senator Jim Talent: It’s been apparent for years that a global biological pandemic is the biggest single threat, other than a strategic nuclear war, to the health and economy of the United States. The pandemic could occur naturally, or it could be the product of a terrorist attack or even a laboratory accident. One of the worst-case scenarios involves a virus that is contagious through the air, which has a potentially deadly effect, and for which no vaccine or therapeutic can quickly be developed (National Review).  Why hospitals aren’t ready for this (WSJ). 

Palestinian Elections: How Abbas and Europe Are Trying to Blame Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15482/palestinian-elections-abbas

The last time there were Palestinian elections, Hamas won in a landslide. Even if Israel does agree to allow Arab residents of Jerusalem to take part in the Palestinian elections, Abbas will undoubtedly find another excuse to continue his policy of foot-dragging.

Abbas and his senior officials in Ramallah have, in fact, turned the PA into a private fiefdom. They have no functioning parliament, no free media, and no open debate. The only people Abbas consults with are his “yes-men” who appear to agree with every word he says. This is how Abbas likes matters, and he obviously sees no reason why Palestinians should waste money and energies on new elections as long as they have him as president for life.

As long as Abbas can use the issue of the elections to denounce Israel, why not do so? His friends in the European Union would be more than happy to join him in skewering Israel for not allowing Palestinian elections (if that turned out to be the case). Many EU representatives are Abbas’s useful idiots, gladly parroting his every anti-Israel pronouncement.

This month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas entered the 16th year of his four-year-term in office. Abbas, who was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat in January 2005, has since avoided holding a Palestinian presidential election, each time using a different excuse. While in the past he used to blame his rivals in Hamas for the failure to hold a new election, Abbas is now trying to hold Israel responsible. His attempt seems to be supported by some Europeans.

Abbas’s four-year tenure ended in January 2009. Two years earlier, Hamas had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip, by ousting Abbas’s Palestinian Authority (PA) regime and throwing some of his loyalists from the top floors of tall buildings.