RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18435/us-arm-taiwan

Whether or not China plans to invade Taiwan now, it is time for the United States to ditch decades of misguided policy. Among other things, Washington should, on an emergency basis, begin arming the island with the weapons it urgently needs.
Unfortunately, Xi Jinping, the extraordinarily ambitious and bold Chinese ruler, may feel encouraged by recent events in Eastern Europe. As Wang Dan, a Tiananmen Square-era student leader, wrote late last month, “We should not expect rational decision-making from dictators and totalitarian regimes.”
Moreover, the sanctions placed on Moscow after the invasion were not comprehensive, and they are, incredibly, still not comprehensive. Xi, therefore, could believe that no nation would dare impose meaningful costs on his magnificent state.
China’s leaders give the impression they have been emboldened by recent events… “It cannot win a war anymore.” — Global Times, Chinese newspaper, referring to America, August 16, 2021.
[N]owhere is deterrence now more important than in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan, after the fall of Afghanistan and invasion of Ukraine, is considered around the world as the test of American credibility.
To prevent a Chinese invasion, President Biden should publicly declare that America will defend Taiwan. In addition, the U.S. should work with allies Japan and Australia and offer a multilateral defense treaty to Taipei.
Moreover, as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo proposed last month while visiting Taipei, the U.S. should recognize Taiwan for what it is: a sovereign state.
To make sure the resolution of Taiwan’s status is peaceful, the Biden administration should start shipping weapons to Taiwan, especially long-range missiles that can hold China’s regime hostage.
Moreover, America and friends, to back up their words, should base forces on the island.
Deterrence is the best guarantee of peace.
The United States did not send sufficient weapons to Ukraine before the February 24 invasion, thereby failing to maintain deterrence in Eastern Europe.
By openly bolstering Taiwan’s defenses, Washington would be declaring that America was no longer afraid of offending Beijing. That is transmitting the “right signal” for Chinese leaders to ponder.

“Wrong signals.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/dozens-of-former-u-s-generals-and-admirals-warn-against-iran-nuclear-deal-letter/

Close to 50 retired military officers wrote that the new nuclear agreement the Biden administration is negotiating with Iran is likely to “instantly fuel explosive Iranian aggression,” in an open letter last week.

In the letter, coordinated with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, the group of generals and admirals said that the deal would help Iran’s nuclear program and support of terrorism, and linked the nuclear talks in Vienna to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. negotiators have worked through intermediary countries in the Austrian capital to hammer out an agreement to reverse President Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord.

Although the two sides have repeatedly said that they are close to inking a final agreement, the U.S. seems to have balked at Iranian demands that the White House remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization sanctions list. The talks have remained stalled for weeks, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he’s “not overly optimistic” that the U.S. and Iran can reach a final agreement.

Meanwhile, around 20 Democratic lawmakers have criticized the negotiations and the concessions which the administration is reportedly mulling, while Republicans have prepared a range of legislative options with which to torpedo the potential agreement.

While the administration has not ruled out the IRGC delisting, which would be an extraordinary capitulation to Tehran’s demands, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported that a senior administration official told him that “President Biden doesn’t intend to concede on the terrorist designation.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18426/iran-and-america-plans-to-fund-russia-war-in

Iran’s efforts to conclude a revised nuclear deal with the Biden administration could result in the Kremlin receiving a windfall of half-a-billion dollars to fund its war effort against Ukraine.

To boost its economy, Russia is now demanding that Iran pay in cash for the deals currently under discussion, as well as repaying outstanding debts believed to be worth more than half a billion dollars in cash owed for Russia’s work on the Bushehr facility.

“Iran has promised Russia that it will pay its debt once Iranian funds held in the US are no longer under sanctions and become available for use,” a senior Western security official told me this week. “Furthermore, Iran has made transferring down payments to Russia for the purpose of implementing the military agreements between the parties conditional on reaching an agreement in Vienna.”

Apart from offering to help the Kremlin evade sanctions, Iran is also believed to be working to engage China and enlist its assistance as well for the purpose of bypassing Western sanctions.

Despite denials by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA confirming that there has been coordination between the parties for the purpose of bypassing Western sanctions.

Western security officials are concerned that any funds Iran sends to Moscow will be used to help fund Mr Putin’s war effort in Ukraine. There have already been reports of Iran providing weapons to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, and Moscow is desperate to find new ways of supporting its economy so that it can maintain its military offensive.

The fact that Iran is actively seeking to provide Moscow with financial assistance which could be used to fund the war in Ukraine is deeply embarrassing for the Biden administration, which still shows no sign of ending its efforts to revive the nuclear deal.

Certainly, if the deal does go ahead, enabling Iran to pay off its debts to Moscow, then the Biden administration could find itself accused of having the blood of innocent Ukrainian civilians on its hands for allowing Iran to fund the Kremlin’s war effort.

Iran’s efforts to conclude a revised nuclear deal with the Biden administration could result in the Kremlin receiving a windfall of half-a-billion dollars to fund its war effort against Ukraine.

That is the conclusion reached by Western security officials who are becoming increasingly concerned about the discussions taking place between Moscow and Tehran about deepening their cooperation once the nuclear deal has been signed.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/bidens-integrated-deterrence-military-strategy-daniel-greenfield/

Last year, Secretary of Defense Austin claimed that a new strategy called “integrated deterrence” would be at the heart of Biden’s new defense strategy. Last month, he was talking up a new National Defense Strategy driven by integrated deterrence while claiming that it would prove effective against Russia in the war in Ukraine. Instead the war showed “ID” doesn’t work.

What is “integrated deterrence”? It sounds better than leading from behind, which was Obama’s version of it, but it’s not too different from the failed approach of the Obama administration.

Like a lot of organizational jargon, “integrated deterrence” is a collection of meaningless buzzwords that no one understands concealing the same old thing that dresses up failure as success because under the exciting new approach, no one was even trying to succeed.

Integrated deterrence, if you listen to Austin, is everything and therefore nothing. ID is going to perfectly integrate together all military capabilities without regard for service rivalries, combined with all elements of the federal government, and be ready to go anywhere at home or across the globe without any friction or limitations, while also seamlessly integrating with our allies.

Or, as Austin put it during a visit to Poland, integrated deterrence uses “the capability and capacity that’s resident in our partners and allies.” Or, you know, leading from behind.

ID means being “integrated across our allies and partners, which are the real asymmetric advantage that the United States has over any other competitor or potential adversary,” Colin Kalh, Biden’s undersecretary of policy, had claimed. “Our adversaries know that they’re not just taking on the United States, they’re taking on a coalition of countries who are committed to upholding a rules-based international order.”

America has plenty of asymmetric advantages. Being tied to the Germans and the French, not to mention the awesome might of a variety of small countries that have marginal militaries and no desire to fight is not making China, Russia, or anyone else tremble in their leather boots.

A rules-based international order has not stopped a single war or deterred any aggressor.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18404/biden-administration-eu-iran-mullahs

The Biden administration and the EU do not need to go too far back to see the outcome of those appeasement policies and the nuclear deal with Iran. Its theocratic regime became more determined than ever, as an oblation, an offering to God, to annihilate Israel.

Right after the nuclear deal, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who enjoys the final say in Iran’s domestic and foreign policy, published a 416-page book, titled “Palestine,” with a cover featuring a map of the Middle East with no Israel in it.

In the book, Khamenei details his plan of destroying Israel and characterized himself as “the flag bearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem.”

The more the Islamic Republic became empowered due to the appeasement it received, the more it boasted that it could destroy Israel “in less than eight minutes.”

“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it,” Winston Churchill said. This is exactly what is happening as the Biden administration and the European Union continue relentlessly to appease the ruling mullahs of Iran and attempting to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Biden administration and the European Union appear to believe that rewarding the Iranian regime will make it act as a constructive and modern nation-state. This idea first surfaced and was acted upon during the administration of then US President Barack Obama, who, on concluding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, pointed out that he was “confident” it would “meet the national security needs of the United States and our allies”.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/barack-obama-rewrites-his-russia-history-vladimir-putin-ukraine-11649450309?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine has sparked an Olympic sprint of sorts as politicians run away from their abysmal records regarding Vladimir Putin. Few are running faster than former President Barack Obama, who this week tried to rewrite the history of his own Russia policies.

“As somebody who grappled with the incursion into Crimea and the eastern portions of Ukraine, I have been encouraged by the European reaction [this time],” Mr. Obama said at an event in Chicago. “Because in 2014, I often had to drag them kicking and screaming to respond in ways that we would have wanted to see from those of us who describe ourselves as Western democracies.”

As for Mr. Putin, the former U.S. President purports to be surprised by the Russian leader’s brutality. “I don’t know that the person I knew is the same as the person who is now leading this charge. He was always ruthless. You witnessed what he did in Chechnya, he had no qualms about crushing those whom he considered a threat. That’s not new. For him to bet the farm in this way—I would not have necessarily predicted from him five years ago.”

Mr. Obama managed to say all this with a straight face while speaking at an event about “disinformation” in politics.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18402/arabs-biden-mistakes

“The UAE has allocated the bulk of the investments of its huge sovereign funds in the American markets, even excluding Asian and European markets, and has been keen to increase the volume of trade exchange with Washington. The UAE wanted to become America’s No 1 trading partner.” — Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, close associate of Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates, Mufakiru Al Emarat, March 29, 2022.

“This prompted the UAE and other countries not to rely on the US as a sole strategic partner. The UAE’s relationship with the US partner is at stake…. the Biden administration… may be on the verge of losing a regional partner.” — Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, Mufakiru Al Emarat, March 29, 2022

“He [Biden] has not learned the lessons from [former US President Barack] Obama’s mistakes and disasters…. Biden is continuing to make more mistakes, particularly in his dealings with Russia and the Gulf countries.” — Muhammed Al Mahmeed, Bahraini writer, Akhbar Al-Khaleej, April 3, 2022.

Veteran Lebanese journalist and political analyst Kheirallah Kheirallah said that there is no real difference between Biden and Obama. “Nothing has changed in Washington, from Barack Obama to Joe Biden. If anything has changed, it is for the worse.” — Elaph, March 30, 2022.

“How can a US administration … [refuse] to take note that northern Yemen has become an Iranian base for missiles and drones? These missiles and drones are…. now threatening navigation in the Red Sea as well.” — Kheirallah Kheirallah, Elaph, March 30, 2022.

“[This US policy] has encouraged Iran to go far in threatening the countries of the region and their security with the help of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. To put it more clearly, there is no sane person in the region willing to take seriously any reassuring words issued by [US Special Envoy for Iran] Rob Malley and other officials in the US administration dealing with the Iranian portfolio. Every child knows that these American officials have nothing but appeasement for Iran….” — Kheirallah Kheirallah, Elaph, March 30, 2022.

“Worse than all of the above would be if Washington responds to the Iranian condition by removing the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations, as it did with the terrorist Houthi militia.” — Khorshid Delli, Kurdish researcher, Al-Ain, April 1, 2022.

“Biden’s policy toward the Iranian nuclear is not acceptable to the allies in the Middle East and the Arab Gulf….” — Khorshid Delli, Al-Ain, April 1, 2022.

“We see what Iran’s proxies are doing in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Kuwait.” — Mashari Al-Thaydi, Saudi journalist Al-Ain, March 30, 2022.

Although many in the Arab world diplomatically refer to Biden’s action as “mistakes,” they appear to recognize that they are deliberate, and lacking in any consideration for the wellbeing of people who will have to continue living in the region — which the Americans making these decisions for them will not.

The Biden administration’s courtship of Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, seems a replay of the same heartless, coldblooded lack of concern as the Americans showed for the people they were leaving behind when they pulled out of Afghanistan; and now, when the US is seen dragging its feet to avoid giving the Ukrainians enough weapons fast enough to defend themselves adequately from a Russian slaughtering army.

Many seem confused why the Biden administration would want this as their legacy.

Many Arabs are continuing to express disappointment and frustration with the administration of US President Joe Biden, particularly its perceived appeasement of Iran’s mullahs, failure to classify the Iran-backed Houthi militia as a terrorist organization and turning its back on America’s erstwhile allies and friends in the Arab world.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/republicans-and-democrats-see-the-iran-deal-for-what-it-is/

“But perhaps the greatest sign of the deal’s weakness is that its own authors have walked away.”

Though President Biden promised a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal that currently sits on the table is weaker and more dangerous.

Republicans, who fought against Obama’s JCPOA, are predictably calling for an end to negotiations.

Earlier today, Republicans from the House Foreign Affairs Committee hosted a press conference to denounce Biden’s Iran deal. Congressman Andy Barr (R., Ky.) said Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy was working, and Biden’s current attempt amounts to a “flawed deal” that cannot go forward. To Barr and his colleagues, the JCPOA-minus is “flawed in process, flawed in substance, and flawed in verification protocols,” according to Barr.

As I wrote yesterday, Obama’s (already weak) Iran deal has always been a partisan issue — that is, until Biden botched it even further. Now even Democrats are speaking out.

Earlier today, Democratic Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Elaine Luria of Virginia led a press conference representing a group of 18 House Democrats in opposing the deal. Luria started off saying, “As a group, we have a variety of concerns; everywhere from concern about the negotiations all the way to . . . outright opposition.”

Congressman Juan Vargas (D., Calif.) criticized Biden for keeping Congress “in the dark” despite “fatal flaws.”