RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/interesting_things_are_happening_in_iran_following_soleimanis_death.html

When President Trump ordered the military to strike Qassem Soleimani, a legitimate military target responsible for the deaths of hundreds of troops, Democrats were up in arms. How dare Trump bait the Iranians by striking someone so close to Ayatollah Khamenei? They were certain that Trump had just ignited World War III.

Republicans were more confident that the strike would, at the very least, remove a dangerous character from the Iranians’ forty-year-long war against America and, at the best, topple the regime. This last belief was based upon the fact that the Iranian regime is fragile now that Trump walked away from Obama’s terrible Iran Plan and reinstated sanctions. The economy is collapsing and people all over Iran are coming out in protest. After forty years of a repressive theocracy, the Persian people, a people accustomed to beauty and life, have had their fill of Islam’s cruel puritanism.

Michael Ledeen, an experienced foreign policy observer, thinks that the Republicans may have been correct because there are strange doings in Iran – all good if one wants to see that abysmal regime collapse:

The elimination of Qassem Soleimani has produced surprising results. It turns out that the United States received intelligence on Soleimani’s movements from a variety of sources, some within his Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, others from Israel’s vaunted intelligence apparatus. 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15474/libya-erdogan-muslim-brotherhood

The concern now is that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will use the failure of international mediators to end the fighting to intensify his support for the GNA, thereby strengthening the position of the numerous Islamist militias that are backing the UN-backed body.

Mr Erdogan was an ardent supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood when it held power in Cairo, and there is mounting concern, especially in Europe, that the Turkish leader has now set his sights on establishing a similar regime in Libya.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to intervene militarily in the Libyan conflict not only raises the prospect of the conflict entering a new and more dangerous phase; it also promises to provide a significant boost for the Islamist militias that are vying to take control of the country and establish a Muslim Brotherhood-style government in Tripoli.

Mr Erdogan’s justification for sending Turkish troops to Libya, which has the backing of the Turkish parliament, is to provide support for Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, the head of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

The GNA is under enormous pressure as a result of the offensive being undertaken by General Khalifa Haftar, the rebel Libyan leader who, with the backing of Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates, has overrun large swathes of the country and is now attempting to seize control of the Libyan capital.

The strength of Gen. Haftar’s position was graphically demonstrated earlier this week when Haftar’s forces seized control of Libya’s vital oil production facilities on the outskirts of Tripoli, a move that has cut output to almost zero.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15467/eu-stance-iran-mullahs

It is worth noting that, the EU did announce a positive step. In light of the revelations concerning Iran’s assassinations plots, minor sanctions were imposed on sectors of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, as well as on Saeid Hashemi Moghadan, the deputy intelligence minister.

However, these do not go nearly far enough, particularly if the EU is inclined to continue its support for the JCPOA.

It is incumbent upon the EU to stop softening its tone toward the Islamic Republic, and instead join the Trump administration in imposing maximum pressure on the ruling mullahs of Iran. The more the EU appeases the Iranian government, the more it empowers it to pursue aggressive and terrorist activities.

The European Union really needs to do two things as soon as possible: stop criticizing the Trump administration for its Iran policy, and halt its appeasement policies toward the ruling mullahs of Iran who have committed some of the worst crimes against humanity, not only in Iran but abroad.

On January 19, 2020, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated their commitment to keep Iran nuclear deal alive. Europe has been working to implement a special purpose vehicle that will allow countries to continue trading with Iran, despite US sanctions, known as INSTEX.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15475/us-regime-change-iran

Aiding the Iranian people to oust the regime does not, however, require the US to launch a full-fledged war with the Islamic Republic.

On the contrary, a four-pronged strategy of maximum pressure — involving continued financial pressure on the mullahs; helping local forces expel Iranian proxy groups from Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen; supporting the Iranian protesters through a robust social-media campaign promising a future without repression and terror, and using appropriate military force to deter and protect our interests — would get the job done without troops on the ground.

The goal of US policy on Iran, really to exert “maximum pressure,” should be the change of the mullah-led regime in Tehran before it is armed with nuclear weapons, becomes the hegemon of the Persian Gulf and commands much of the world’s oil and gas. Iran is already seeking to take over Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest crude oil producer, with the fifth-largest oil reserves, in the world.

But helping to spur the end of the Iranian empire — or, at least, keeping its power in check — cannot be accomplished without a clear knowledge and understanding of the nature of the regime.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15448/france-jews-murder

“In France, perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks claim insanity to elude justice. The mental illness defense has become more prevalent when it comes to hate crimes in France. And it seems to be working.” — Shirli Sitbon, Haaretz.

Muslim anti-Semitism has long been ignored in France.

“The situation is not under control.” — Celine Pina, Le Figaro.

Paris, April 4, 2017. Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Jewish woman, is thrown from her third-floor balcony or window. Her body lands in the building’s courtyard. Her murderer first had tortured her. Neighbors had heard screams and called the police. Nine officers came, but when they heard through the door a man shouting “Allahu Akbar”, they ran downstairs to wait for reinforcements. When Kobili Traoré finally surrendered, he said, “I killed the sheitan” (Arabic for “Satan”). While torturing his victim, he said, he had recited verses from the Qur’an, and the Qur’an had “ordered him to kill a Jew”. He said he had spent the previous day in a nearby mosque. He was placed in a mental institution, where he told the psychiatrist who examined him that he smoked marijuana.

The murder was not mentioned in the newspapers. A French Jewish organizations spoke of a “distressing anti-Semitic crime” and organized a silent demonstration in front of Halimi’s building. It was only then that a few articles were written. The French presidential election was about to take place, and journalists from the mainstream media apparently did not want to speak about an anti-Semitic murder committed by a Muslim.

The judge assigned to the case, Anne Ihuellou, at first refused to acknowledge that the murder had been a hate crime. It took the Halimi family’s lawyers more than six months to get her finally to concede, on February 27, 2018, that the motive for the murder had in fact been anti-Semitic.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15468/china-hegemonic-objectives

It [the deal] does not prevent China from its pursuing its aggressive designs on the South and East China Seas, where it is positioning itself to challenge the U.S.’s role as protector of the world’s sea lines of communication…

Cambodia’s concession to China includes a 99-year lease for 20% of its coastline. This arrangement provides China with the ability to keep Vietnam’s granting of access to the U.S. Navy in check.

Of equal, if not greater, significance is China’s purchase of territory overlooking the potential maritime chokepoint, the Panama Canal Zone.

The other [Chinese acquisition] is a 99-year lease of Australia’s Port Darwin, where U.S. Marines train for six months of each year. This means that China will be able to document American military exercises and collect ship signal emissions from U.S. combatants.

This pattern of China’s investments in some 20 ports around the globe should be of great concern to the Free World.

The recent signing of the first stage of a trade pact between the United States and China should not mask what appear to be Beijing’s ultimate hegemonic ambitions.

Phase 1 of the deal, which went into effect on January 19, includes a partial reduction of current — and cancellation of planned — tariffs; a Chinese pledge to increase American agricultural imports; and an agreement from Beijing to address Washington’s concerns about U.S. technology being transferred to China by American companies doing business there, and about intellectual property theft.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15413/china-tibet-dialogue

China has persisted in doing inestimable damage to Tibetan identity, language, culture and ecology. Communist China has destroyed more than 6,000 Tibetan monasteries on the Plateau, and Beijing’s destructive activities in Tibet continue unabated. Since 2009, at least 156 Tibetans have immolated themselves in protest against Chinese rule.

It is not only the Dalai Lama, however, who needs to push for complete Tibetan independence. All liberal democracies that uphold the value of freedom need to do so, as well.

The US Congress recently introduced the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019, which seeks to impose sanctions and a visa ban on any Chinese official who interferes in the selection of a successor to the current Dalai Lama, and which requires the establishment of an American consulate in Lhasa.

The next step for the US administration in its negotiations with Beijing should be to insist on total Tibetan independence.

Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, apparently hoping to ease the tension that has existed between Lhasa and Beijing since 1949, recently expressed interest in “explor[ing] the same channels of communication” with the Chinese government that he had established in the past.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/anti-christian-oppression-around-world-jack-kerwick/

Whether it is true that attacks against Jews are, as we’ve been hearing from certain Jewish leaders, activists, and commentators within some quarters of the media, actually on the rise may or may not be true.  The very same people—American blacks—who are overwhelmingly responsible now for preying upon Jews have been harassing, insulting, pummeling, and, in some instances, murdering Jews for many years.

Nevertheless, that this pattern of predatory conduct on the part of black thugs is a national outrage that should be resoundingly, unequivocally condemned by all decent people should be self-evident.

And it has indeed been so condemned, but not just by Jewish figures, but as well by no small number of non-Jews, specifically those of a Christian background.

At the same time, though, it’s easy to forget—if anyone in the United States (or elsewhere throughout the West) ever noticed it to begin with—that Christians throughout the world constitute by far and away the single largest persecuted religious group. 

In other words, it is “Christophobia,” not “anti-Semitism” and most assuredly not “Islamophobia,” that, globally speaking, is the most pervasive and cancerous form of anti-religious bigotry.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-aboard-the-crazy-train-11579554512?mod=opinion_featst_pos3

Davos, Switzerland

“As the millionaires, billionaires and Greta Thunberg assemble in Davos this week to debate the future of the world, they face a crisis of relevance. What if, with all of their competence, experience, cosmopolitan vision and, yes, goodwill, the Davoisie are merely passengers, comfortably ensconced in first-class seats, on a train whose route they do not know and cannot control?”

For half a century the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has brought a mix of business leaders, politicians, pundits, academics, activists, “social entrepreneurs” and celebrities to this small village high in the Swiss Alps. For the year-round inhabitants, the conference is a mixed blessing. Security barriers and heavy traffic turn the narrow streets into a nightmare. With well-situated one-bedroom apartments renting for as much as $5,000 a night, however, many a Davos-dweller can escape the madness and pocket a nice profit. The resort’s hotels also make out well; with corporations and governments competing to reserve ballrooms and salons for their events, local hoteliers can clear more in a week than they likely could make during the whole ski season in the old pre-WEF days.

There is something inescapably ridiculous about a gathering this self-important; certainly Marie Antoinette and her friends dressing up as shepherdesses to celebrate the simple life has nothing on the more than 100 billionaires descending, often by private jet, on an exclusive Swiss ski resort for four days of ostentatious hand-wringing about the problems of the poor and the dangers of climate change. This year an earnest young aide at registration told me that, to reduce the event’s carbon footprint, no paper maps of the town were being distributed; one could almost feel the waves of relief from the nearby Alpine glaciers at this sign of green progress.

Yet smirk as one may, and sometimes as one must, this year’s WEF arrived at a difficult time for the Davoisie—those who are at home in the thin air of this global gathering. Leaders the world over are now having to come to grips with a new age of populism, nationalism and protectionism.

For the Davoisie the rise of populism is a huge problem. A world increasingly separating into rival blocs as supply chains begin to decouple isn’t a hospitable environment for global governance, Third Way capitalist reform and their many other hopes and projects.