RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20621/elon-musk-china

A year ago, Tesla held the No. 1 ranking in China’s new-energy vehicle retail segment. In the first quarter of this year, the company had fallen to third place….. It is not clear that Tesla can compete in China, where the regime does just about everything it can to favor Chinese competitors.

Musk has made Tesla reliant on China, and China’s rulers know that.

“What is there to stop them [Chinese officials] from going to Musk directly and saying, ‘We’ll call your line of credit early, unless you give us X, Y, or Z?'” — Congressional Republican aide, Washington Examiner, August 26, 2020.

“Musk should expect China to make demands for technology and data transfers to include Starlink and SpaceX heavy-lift rockets.” — Blaine Holt, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier general and technology entrepreneur, to Gatestone Institute, May 3, 2024.

“Will Congress now look the other way while the often-used CCP playbook of corporate blackmail plays out, compromising our security?” — Blaine Holt to Gatestone Institute, May 3, 2024.

“You have me, and I have you.” — Chinese Premier Li Qiang to Elon Musk, CNN, April 28, 2024.

The words, ostensibly meant to show U.S.-China friendship, are in reality a warning. It is now clear that one person so beholden to China should not be so central to America’s effort to stay in space.

At the end of April, Elon Musk at the last moment cancelled a trip to India, instead showed up in Beijing, and snagged a deal to rescue Tesla. The results were immediate: The shares of the electric-vehicle maker, which had been out-of-favor on Wall Street, soared on the news.

Now Washington has to be worried that China will control Musk’s other company, SpaceX, which is critical to America’s ambitions in space.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20619/iran-proxy-sudan

“What makes the future in this case darker is Sudan’s history of hosting extremists and jihadists from the far right and far left. During the previous regime, Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Carlos the Jackal. This warm embrace of violent extremists earned Sudan a spot on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.”— Areej Elhag, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, January 31, 2024.
The bottom line for America and Europe is that the strategy of engaging and appeasing Iran has failed miserably.
The U.S. and Europe must step up now to counter Iran’s efforts in the Middle East and Sudan.
We cannot allow new “proxies of terror” for Iran.

While the Biden administration is preoccupied trying to win re-election this November, as well as putting out a series of fires it helped start in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, a new area of urgent concern, largely flying under the public’s radar, has been brewing: Iran’s increasing penetration of Sudan.

Pocketing Sudan would provide Iran with more oil, gold and rare minerals, as well as another port on Red Sea from which to continue blocking maritime commercial passage. Sudan would also provide Iran with proximity to Israel, and serve as an additional launching pad from which to swarm Israel with more lethal drone attacks – at least until its nuclear weapons program is complete.

Iran could also add Sudan to the list of the four other countries it already effectively controls in the region: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Sudan, with Iran’s backing, would then be well on its way to being another Hamas, al-Qaeda or Taliban, and spreading its inclinations to the rest of the African continent.

Areej Elhag recently wrote for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy:

“What makes the future in this case darker is Sudan’s history of hosting extremists and jihadists from the far right and far left. During the previous regime, Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Carlos the Jackal. This warm embrace of violent extremists earned Sudan a spot on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.”