RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/06/russia-no-one-knows-anything.php

Screenwriter William Goldman’s famous line about Hollywood—”No one knows anything”—applies fully to the confusing scene in Russia right now. And let’s not go further without also bringing up for the millionth time Churchill’s description of Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

There’s a sentence in one of the Wall Street Journal‘s many articles about the matter today that reminds of this: “The full story behind why Prigozhin launched—then stunningly halted—his revolt isn’t yet known.” One reason for this is the scarcity of western European or American reporters inside Russia who have developed good sources and understand the country. In this regard one must wonder whether it is a mere coincidence that the American reporter most fluent in Russian and with intimate knowledge of the country—Evan Gershkovich—was arrested and jailed several weeks ago. (If you have a long Cold War memory, re-run the Nick Danilov arrest in Moscow in 1986, just weeks before the climactic Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Iceland.) Joe Biden has been strangely quiet about the matter, and while there is one obvious explanation for that, it is also possible that our intelligence agencies didn’t have any hint it was going to happen, or did know it, and Biden’s team didn’t know just what, if anything, to do or say about it.

Lots of aspects of this “coup” or “insurrection” don’t make a lot of sense, unless . . . it was an exercise from the old Communist playbook going back to the Stalinist purges of the 1930s of setting up a “controlled opposition” as a means of smoking out dissidents and disloyal party members so they could be eliminated before a threat grew. And even legitimate protest groups, like Solidarity in Poland in the early 1980s or Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia, were always quickly infiltrated (kind of like the FBI and the Proud Boys, Weather Underground, etc), and divided, disrupted, or rolled up.

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/india/2023/06/an-indian-idol-well-worth-junking/

“Postcolonial history is chock-full of Third World dictators revered as great reformers: Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Fidel Castro — and in India there is Jawaharlal Nehru. The first and longest-serving prime minister, he was an enemy of free speech, a persecutor of political opponents and, in regard to legislative legerdemain, a masterclass practitioner. Yet knowing all this, India’s intellectual class continues to approach his memory on bended knee.”

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution famously guarantees Americans near-absolute freedom of speech. It was foisted on an unwilling political class by anti-federalists who were wary of despotic rule by the newly-created national government.

The First Amendment to the Indian Constitution, by contrast, limited Indians’ freedom of speech by explicitly granting the government the authority to impose “reasonable restrictions … in the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence”.

It was foisted on a mostly-illiterate population in 1951 by a political class that was wary of the growing power of the people in India’s newly-independent democracy.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first and longest-serving prime minister, was the chief architect of the first amendment, and he did not hesitate to say why he wanted it. In the formal statement of objectives for amendment, he personally wrote that “certain difficulties have been brought to light by judicial decisions and pronouncements specially in regard to the chapter on fundamental rights”.

What were those difficulties? The Supreme Court had ordered the release of political opponents who had been indefinitely detained by the government and invalidated the censorship of publications that had been critical of the government. In other words, Nehru did an end-run around the judiciary by changing the Constitution to suit his political needs.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19750/christian-in-muslim-pakistan

“[T]here was absolutely no case. There was no proof against Noman, and none of the witnesses produced by police could corroborate the blasphemy allegation against him…. This is murder of justice.” — Lazar Allah Rakha, lawyer for Norman Masih, a 22-year-old Christian man, sentenced to death for “blasphemy”, Morning Star News, May 31, 2023,

“Several people have been lynched over false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan. At least 57 cases of alleged blasphemy were reported in Pakistan between Jan. 1 and May 10 [2023], while four blasphemy suspects were lynched or extrajudicially killed during the same period…” — Morning Star News, May 22, 2023

“The blasphemy laws have been consistently misused to settle personal disputes, persecute minority groups, and incite mob violence and hatred. We demand prompt action and a collective effort by the government to address these human rights violations.” — Retired Justice Nasira Javaid Iqbal, Morning Star News, May 22, 2023.

[A] Muslim policeman, hired to protect a Catholic school run by the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, instead attacked the school and murdered two young girls. — British Asian Christian Association, May 16, 2023.

“[T]he incident [murder] has been officially blamed on the ‘mental health’ of the man, without investigating his possible relations with Muslim extremist groups.” — bitterwinter.org, June 1, 2023.

“[W]hy this horrific terrorist event occurred at the missionary school is due to a hatred of education for women, in radicalised Pakistan.” — British Asian Christian Association, May 16, 2023.

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.