RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19748/china-cuba-nuclear-missiles

While Americans think of nukes as defensive instruments to deter attacks, Chinese war planners view them as offensive weapons, to compel submission. In other words, China thinks it can prevent others from coming to the aid of, say, Taiwan, by threatening nuclear destruction of their homelands.

With all the additional silos in China, why would the People’s Liberation Army need missiles in Cuba? Think shorter flight times — meaning less warning time.

All this means that, thanks to Cuba, a war in Asia will be fought on, near, and over the American homeland — perhaps with nukes.

China, according to “fragmentary” U.S. intelligence reports, is about to establish a “joint military training facility” with Cuba on that island.

Chinese military personnel are already listening in on American communications from the Lourdes base near Havana and three other Cuban locations. Two of those locations have been known for some time: Bejucal and Santiago de Cuba. These facilities, it appears, have been in operation for all or most of this century.

“What is missing is the strategic aim of China’s economic influence, which, in my opinion, goes beyond simply having a strong trade relationship with Latin America,” Joseph Humire of the Center for a Secure Free Society told Gatestone. “At its core, the People’s Republic of China is focused on gaining geopolitical leverage over countries in Central and South America to be used in an eventual conflict with the United States.”

China, with that leverage, is obtaining permission to build in this hemisphere military installations that can be used to attack the American homeland or the U.S. military, should China launch its invasion of Taiwan, Japan, or some other target. China, for instance, is developing what looks like a naval base at the tip of Argentina, at strategic Tierra del Fuego.

European nations, to their eternal shame, continue to ignore the Islamic religious dictates about ongoing rapes of infidel women. Consequently, women and young girls in Germany, France and Britain have paid a grievous price over the years. 

In Cologne, Germany in 2016 during a New Year’s celebration, migrants ended up molesting over 1,000 women.  In Britain, grooming gangs composed largely of Muslims maintain that rape of the infidel women is acceptable in their culture and part of the religious requirement. 

Christian girls in predominantly Islamic lands, i.e., Pakistan are also abused because “. . . , it is not even a crime as Muslims regard the girls as spoils of war.”

Yazidi women were told that their rapes “please God.” And there are other victims as well.

Hindu girls are not exempt either.

The depressing accounts of these Hindus showed . . .  how inhumanely religious minorities are treated in Islamic countries [.] While speaking with the media, many said that they had fled Pakistan after becoming victims of rape and kidnappings.

The Koran verses 4:3 and 4:24 permit Muslim men to have sexual relations with as many women as “their right hand possesses” — meaning as many women – all non-Muslim … as they are able to take captive during a jihad.

The incomparable Raymond Ibrahim continues to spotlight the reality of Muslim teachings.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19730/france-islamism-submission

Samuel Paty, a high school teacher [was] savagely beheaded on October 16, 2020 in… the suburbs of Paris where he taught…

The list of 14 people [indicted] does not include the murderer, Abdullakh Anzorov: he was shot dead by police.

[A]ll investigations show [that teachers] are afraid and practice self-censorship. For 10 years, teachers have not taught about the Holocaust. They have also given up on addressing the subjects that led to Paty’s murder: secularism, tolerance and the right to criticize religions.

Throughout France, Muslim students openly threaten teachers by telling them that they are “risking a Samuel Paty”. Many topics can no longer be addressed…. In biology class, discussing evolution or Charles Darwin is… unsafe.

Teachers have been resigning in increasing numbers, and recruiting new ones has become a problem.

Recently, anthropologist Florence Bergeaud-Backler in a book called Le frérisme et ses Réseaux, l’Enquête (“The Brotherhood and its Networks: The Survey”), explained in detail the way the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements in France use social media networks and mosques to incite Muslim children and adolescents to challenge the education provided in high schools to push the French educational system to submit to their vision of Islam.

The French authorities are aware of what is happening, but do nothing. Apparently, government officials are afraid, too, and do not want to take any risks. They know that more than 750 no-go zones exist in the country, and that riots frequently erupt… Most ended in violence by young people from no-go zones who burned cars and looted shops.

Macron’s proposed law, called the “Law confirming respect for the principles of the Republic”, has since been rewritten. All references to Islam and Islamism have been removed from the text. Passed on August 24, 2021, it does currently not contain any measure likely to combat the Islamist danger. A paragraph speaks of the need to “protect teachers”, but teachers are still not protected. The Islamist movements in French high schools continue to exist.

About 400,000 legal immigrants arrive in France from the Muslim world every year, according to the latest informati0on available. These do not include the thousands who arrive illegally.

A study in September 2020 showed that 74% of French Muslims under the age of 25 placed Sharia above the laws of the republic…. Another study published a year later showed that two-thirds of Muslim high school students also placed Sharia above the laws of the Republic. The same survey showed that 9% of young Muslims said they “share the motivations” of Paty’s murderer.

No teacher from the high school where Paty taught supported him: instead, they distanced themselves from him. Some accused him of putting them in danger. The Ministry of Education also blamed him, for having offended the sensibilities of Muslim students.

The police took note of the threats but offered Paty no protection. Even though Anzorov’s name was in a police database, and even though the police and Paty’s colleagues knew he was threatened, Anzorov was able to spend hours in front of the high school where Paty taught. Anzorov spoke with students and asked them to point out Paty when the school day was over and the teachers were going home. Anzorov chased Paty through the streets, stabbed him, slit his throat, beheaded him, photographed himself next to the severed head, and posted the photos on social media networks around the world.

“Sleepwalking leaders must wake up…. Otherwise, the French will have no choice but submission or civil war…” — Ivan Rioufol, columnist, Le Figaro, October22, 2020.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19726/china-russia-central-asia

Communist China’s People’s Liberation Army has established a military presence in Murghab, Tajikistan, close to the Chinese border with Afghanistan. There is also no doubt that Russia’s embarrassing military imbroglio in Ukraine has helped China supersede Moscow as guarantor of Central Asian state sovereignty.

[Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart] Tokayev has…. denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the Kazakh leader is doubtless aware, some notable Russian nationalists such as former Russian Prime Minister and President Dmitry Medvedev have mused that, after Ukraine is dealt with, Kazakhstan will follow.

China offers Central Asia four basic dimensions of assistance that Russia can no longer provide: financial investment, complementary commerce, development of transport infrastructure, and construction of industrial plants such as oil refineries.

China is building a Chinese-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which will ultimately span the expanse of Central Asia to the Middle East. Beijing appears determined to link China and Europe by fashioning thoroughfares that avoid crossing Russian territory that pass through a mid-level corridor of the Caucasus countries.

In exchange, China will be granted wide access to Central Asia’s considerable energy resources. Chinese companies, for example, appear eager to tap into Turkmenistan’s vast natural gas reserves. Chinese oil corporations would also likely dominate Kazakhstan’s petroleum export market to service China’s insatiable desire for more fuel.

It increasingly looks as if that there is some truth in French President Emmanuel Macron’s comment that Russia appears to have become China’s vassal state. It certainly seems as if the Chinese Communist Party has made considerable progress toward achieving its broad objectives of fostering China’s Global Development and Security Initiatives. Neither plan appears to have a principal role for Moscow.

China recently hosted a summit of the leaders of Central Asia’s former Soviet Republics in Xi’an, China, the site of the start of the ancient Silk Road. The symbolism attached to Xi’an as the site for the 18-20 May gathering underscores China’s intent to remind Central Asian leaders that Chinese civilization’s relationship with the region predates ties to Russia by centuries. It also might demonstrate China’s resolve to replace Russia as Eurasia’s hegemon. China, in fact, did not even invite Russia to the conference.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19723/kashmir-china-pakistan-turkey

The history of the Islamization of indigenous non-Muslim populations of Kashmir is similar to that of the Middle East and North Africa: native non-Muslim peoples were first conquered by Islamic armies and then subjected to discrimination and persecution, which led to either death, conversion to Islam or departure/flight.

Due to killings and forced conversions, there are no Hindus remaining in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, although it is still home to ancient Hindu sacred sites.

The anti-Hindu violence culminated in 1989-1990 when Pakistan-sponsored insurgents carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against the approximately 95% of the Hindus living in the Valley of Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Pakistan remains a major sponsor of global terrorism.

Jihad is a global threat targeting the entire international community. For the safety and stability of the region and beyond, it is crucial not to let jihad succeed. India’s sovereignty over Kashmir and the international community’s support for hosting international events, as well as tourism in Kashmir, are critical for the global fight against terrorism. It is also beneficial to the residents of Kashmir – particularly women, peaceful Muslims, indigenous Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities.

Those countries that oppose Kashmir as part of India and attempt to dissuade international events such as the G20 conference to promote tourism are hardly advocating the establishment of a secular, pluralistic democracy in Kashmir.

Their goal, rather, is to create an Islamist state in Kashmir where women, religious minorities, and moderate Muslims would be persecuted – just as in anyplace else taken over by Islamic theocracy.

Such a state would also be a center of terrorism and instability in the wider region. The civilized world needs to support India’s sovereignty in Kashmir against foreign interference from oppressive states — such as China, Turkey and Pakistan.

When India hosted a key G20 conference in Srinagar, the capital of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory of India, on May 22 and 23, even though the conference was reportedly attended by around 122 delegates, including 60 foreigners, it was boycotted by Pakistan as well as its longtime allies, China and Turkey.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/silvio-berlusconi-media-magnate-who-dominated-italian-politics-for-years-dies-at-86-98c096be?mod=hp_lead_pos3

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving postwar prime minister, a conservative who swept into power on a popular antigraft platform and stayed there for two decades with the help of his big personality, vast wealth and a powerful media empire before falling to a raft of scandals, has died. He was 86.

An extraordinarily divisive figure in Italy and often a target of ridicule abroad for his ribald jokes, sex scandals and overlapping political and business interests, Berlusconi conditioned Italian politics and embodied its conservative movement during and after his tenure as Italy’s leader.

His death was confirmed by an official from his political party. Berlusconi was in the hospital for more than a month in April and May with a chronic form of leukemia. His state funeral in Milan’s cathedral will take place on Wednesday.

Early on in his political career, Berlusconi brought a breath of fresh air to corruption-plagued politics. The persona he cultivated of a self-made man struck a chord with millions of Italians fed up with a political class tainted by corruption, patronage and infighting.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19713/iraq-iran-illusions

In the past two decades, that is to say since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Baghdad, a new discourse has developed in which post-Saddam Iraq is depicted as part of an empire being built by the Khomeinist regime in Tehran.

[T]he Khomeinist empire-building scheme in Iraq has failed. To be sure, Iraq is now slated as Iran’s principal trading partner. But this is largely due to exports of Iranian gas and electricity to Iraq, exports for which Iraq has failed to pay so far. Iraqi debts to Iran are estimated at between $17 and $22 billion.

[Iraq’s] Shiite community, assuming that such a label is accurate, is also divided with those remaining loyal to Tehran providing a dwindling minority.

Iraq had signed oil exploration and production deals with more than 60 countries while the Islamic Republic is excluded. Last week, Baghdad signed a deal with Ankara for a gas pipeline to the Turkish port of Yumurtalik to supply Europe.

Iraq may still be uncertain about what kind of future it wants. But one thing is certain: it doesn’t want to be a fiefdom for the mullahs of Tehran.

In the past two decades, that is to say since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Baghdad, a new discourse has developed in which post-Saddam Iraq is depicted as part of an empire being built by the Khomeinist regime in Tehran. Tehran’s surrogates in Beirut refer to this supposed empire as the “Resistance Front,” while Iran’s opponents label it a “Shiite Crescent” that also includes parts of Syria still under Bashar al-Assad’s control.

https://quillette.com/2023/06/10/genders-truth-distortion/

Imagine you’re a policymaker considering the rules that govern the care of gender non-conforming children. You’ve heard slogans to the effect that “gender-affirming care”—which is to say, expressing reflexive support for the announced gender identity of trans-presenting children—is the right thing to do. It has to be, you’ve come to believe. It’s got the word “affirming” in it. And it’s backed by many (though, as we shall see, not all) reputable-sounding bodies such as WPATH, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Your own staff tell you that you will be hailed as progressive and enlightened for heeding such advice, but denounced as phobic and regressive if you express scepticism. Some darkly warn that your failure to fall into line on this issue may literally put the lives of trans children at risk.

But by now, you’ve also heard of the various scandals surrounding those who’ve promoted gender-affirming care with excessive zeal, and even recklessness, in other jurisdictions. And you’re looking to get ahead of such controversies in your own jurisdiction.

Perhaps you’ve been following the situation in England and Wales, where the country’s only gender-identity clinic for people under 18 has been shut down following a report that showed children were being rushed into irreversible transition therapies without adequate safeguards.

You might also have taken note of the fate of venerable LGBT-charity Stonewall, whose reputation has suffered in some circles due to its “Diversity Champions programme,” by which employers can pay to display a special logo; and its “Workplace Equality Index,” which boosts the profiles of employers that follow Stonewall’s lead on seemingly questionable policies, such as giving multiple email accounts to “gender fluid” workers.