Mindset

Posted on 22 May 2018 by eehines

Here’s the new US offer regarding the Iran nuclear weapons deal; we’ll soon see pretty clearly the mindsets of Germany, France, and the UK. And of Iran.

Iran must

end nuclear weapons development in perpetuity
stop all uranium enrichment
never preprocess plutonium
allow nuclear unqualified access to all sites throughout the country
withdraw all forces from Syria
end support for militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, youths militia and Taliban in Afghanistan, and the IRGC Quds Forces
stop sending arms to the Houthi militia in Yemen
release all US citizens

This is a preview of Mindset. Read the full post (259 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Selling Out Ukraine

Posted on 21 May 2018 by eehines

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Russian President Vladimir Putin a few days ago in the Russian city of Sochi, which is next door to Russia-partitioned Georgia and a short Black Sea hop from Russian-occupied Crimea and eastern Ukraine. While the two talked of many things: of cease fires—and peace keepers—and pipelines—of Iran—and deals—and things—and why the region is boiling hot (they didn’t get to flying pigs), one thing they discussed jumped out at me. Deutsche Welle cited Merkel as insisting that

…the Minsk accord was the “only basis” to achieve peace in eastern Ukraine….

This is a preview of Selling Out Ukraine. Read the full post (401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

“Iran deal: The European Union’s ugly options”

Posted on 17 May 2018 by eehines

That’s the headline of a Deutsche Welle piece regarding the impact on Europe of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the US from ex-President Barack Obama’s (D) Executive Agreement that sought to codify Iran’s “right” to obtain nuclear weapons, if Iran were to have only a little patience and wait until the Agreement’s blocks, such as they are, expire in a few years.

Then Ten Schultz, the author of the article, opened with this statement.

The United States’ withdrawal from the Iran deal, despite the personal pleadings of Europe’s most powerful politicians, has provided one more example that President Donald Trump has no hesitation in dismissing European interests and trans-Atlantic concerns.

This is a preview of “Iran deal: The European Union’s ugly options”. Read the full post (517 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

The Irrationality of the European Left

Posted on 15 May 2018 by eehines

It’s epitomized by a carefully unsigned piece in Spiegel Online, coming only from “Der Spiegel Staff.” After you’ve read it, you’ll see why the author(s) were too embarrassed to sign their names to it.

…Trump’s Tuesday announcement that the US was withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran, one of the core pieces of international diplomacy in recent years….

This is a preview of The Irrationality of the European Left. Read the full post (754 words, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

Dismantling?

Posted on 14 May 2018 by eehines

Northern Korea has announced that it will dismantle “its nuclear test site” sometime between 23 and 25 May. It’s one of several sites, though, not its only one.

Still, it’s a hopeful move, to be sure.

On the other hand, it also could be a disingenuous con job. Northern Korea has lied before about dismantling its nuclear facilities; it also has dismantled and then rebuilt nuclear facilities. In the present case, the facility Baby Kim is purporting to dismantle is the same site that People’s Republic of China researchers have indicated is already ruined by earthquakes and collapses from northern Korea’s latest nuclear bomb test. That test generated an explosion far greater than the mountain under which the test occurred could handle.

This is a preview of Dismantling?. Read the full post (158 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

The JCPOA, Trump, Europe, and Progressive-Democrats

Posted on 10 May 2018 by eehines

Most of you are aware that President Donald Trump has taken the steps required to withdraw from the Obama-Kerry-engineered arrangement whereby Iran would be delayed—maybe—from getting nuclear weapons instead of getting them sooner. Among those steps are a 90-day window within which several existing business arrangements can be wound down before a set of sanctions gets reinstated and a 180-day window within which the rest of the business arrangements can be wound down before another, more stringent, set of sanctions gets reinstated, or added.

This is a preview of The JCPOA, Trump, Europe, and Progressive-Democrats. Read the full post (493 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

National Sovereignty

Posted on 4 May 2018 by eehines

The European Court of Justice has decided it is the arbiter of a nation’s borders and of entry permissions, and not the nation itself.

The court heard the cases of two men, one Afghan and one with Croatian and Bosnian citizenship, and ruled the severity of their crimes or alleged crimes and how long ago they took place need to be taken into consideration before an entry ban is permitted.

This is a preview of National Sovereignty. Read the full post (425 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Selling Weapons to the Republic of China

Posted on 3 May 2018 by eehines

Especially in the face of an aggressively acquisitive People’s Republic of China that’s busily trying to cow the Republic of China, The Wall Street Journal favors our selling the RoC updated F-16s.

Such a sale would be a good start, but it’s only that.

There’s no need to wait on international consensus regarding an F-35B sale to the Republic of China (a concern of the WSJ); we should consider moving unilaterally. Or selling an F-35C that isn’t part of any consortium. The People’s Republic of China already has the F-35 secrets, anyway, courtesy of the Obama administration’s decision to eschew IT security. ‘Course, I think the F-35 is a wasteful pig, and uprated F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s would be better buys.

This is a preview of Selling Weapons to the Republic of China. Read the full post (221 words, estimated 53 secs reading time)

The Veterans Administration

Posted on 1 May 2018 by eehines

…won’t clean up after itself. In this instance, literally. This is the VA “hospital” room a veteran was placed in when he went to that…facility…for treatment that involved 18 injections. Injections to be done in a room as filthy as this.

Dr Karen Gribbin, the chief of staff at the George E Wahlen Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, on Saturday reportedly said that Wilson should not have been in the room. She said the rooms should be cleaned prior to each patient and called on an investigation.

Wahlen is the imitation hospital at which this failure occurred. The vetaran’s father, who posted the tweet, also tweeted

This is a preview of The Veterans Administration. Read the full post (398 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

German Defense Spending

Posted on 30 April 2018 by eehines

Recall that at the just-concluded summit between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump urged Merkel to increase Germany’s defense spending. Recall further Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s subsequent meeting with NATO bigwigs in which he urged NATO members generally to increase their defense spending.

This table illustrates why Germany really needs to plus up its defense spending.

And this:

In February, the newspaper Rheinische Post cited an internal Bundeswehr paper stating that the army lacked the necessary basic equipment for its deployment in a NATO rapid reaction force.

This is a preview of German Defense Spending. Read the full post (213 words, 1 image, estimated 51 secs reading time)

A Plebe's Site

Quam bene vivas referre, non quam diu.

Category Archives: foreign policy