Tag Archives: foreign policy

False Premises

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Here’s one.

The differences between China and the US over the South China Sea issue have become a matter of concern and even anxiety.  But some of the perceptions in the US and elsewhere about China’s policy and intentions in the area are misplaced.  A pressing task is to understand the facts and China’s intentions correctly so as to avoid real danger and consequences as a result of misinterpretation and miscalculation.

No, this is false.  The pressing task is to make clear to the People’s Republic of China, and to the nations rimming the South China Sea, the facts and intentions of the US.

One problem with false premises is that they contribute to timidity, in outcome if not directly.

The issues in the South China Sea revolve around territorial and maritime jurisdiction.  China believes it is doing nothing more than maintaining and defending legitimate territorial claims and maritime rights.

And they’re getting away with those illegitimate claims, their Nine-Dash Line-based seizure and occupation of the South China Sea, at the direct expense of those littoral nations, our friends and allies, potential friends and allies, and our credibility and very operational capability in that Sea.  That Sea that hosts shipping lanes that carry, annually, world trade worth trillions of dollars in goods and basic resources, including trillions of dollars that underlie the economies of Japan and the Philippines, as well as our own.

Lies of the Democrats

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Democratic Party Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Chairman John Podesta:

What she thought would be a convenient way to communicate with family, friends and colleagues—by using one email account for both her work related and personal emails….

Which we know to be a lie, and that was confirmed in testimony by Clinton’s senior aid Cheryl Mills was compelled to provide (compelled because she didn’t have the integrity to testify voluntarily, as Clinton’s “promise” of full disclosure and transparency pressed her to do) to Judicial Watch:

Mills also testified under oath that the server existed before Clinton became secretary of state in 2009.

“President Clinton had established a server for the purposes of his own staff office, and…her email was subsequently put on that,” Mills said….

Podesta also had this on behalf of Clinton:

She believed she was following the practices of other Secretaries and senior officials.

That was another lie:

The IG report released last week found Clinton did not seek permission to use her personal account for official business as secretary of state—and would not have been approved to do so had she asked.

And

[T]he report stated that Condoleezza Rice did not use personal email for government business.  It said Colin Powell used personal email to connect with people outside the department—but he did not have a private server.

And here’s another lie:

Had Secretary Clinton known of any concerns about her email setup at the time, she would have taken steps to address them[.]

However,

The IG report also found that repeated warnings about cybersecurity were ignored and that staffers who expressed their concerns were told “never to speak of the Secretary’s personal email system again.”

And this [emphasis added]:

Clinton consistently has claimed nothing she sent or received was marked classified at the time. While technically correct, this distinction also appears misleading.  A January 2009 non-disclosure agreement signed by Clinton confirms her understanding that “classified information is marked or unmarked.”

Rather, it is the content and source that determine classification.

Elections have consequences.

Cyber Threats

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The White House has been unable to detect a single cyber security threat more than six months after issuing a “national emergency” to deal with what the administration identified as growing and immediate danger, according to a new government report.

Democratic Party Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insists she has no evidence that anyone successfully penetrated her personal, private email server that she used for government business.

I wonder the basis of that claim.

A British Exit from the EU

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There’s an aspect of so what to the question: what would actually change if the Brits vote to go their own way in a few weeks?  One set of answers involves British influence on the continent or within the EU.

[I]f the British do vote for Brexit and then have to trade with the EU, the UK would in fact find itself isolated with very little influence over regulatory standards in the single market.

Great Britain already has very little influence over those regulatory standards: look, for instance, at the hue and cry from the rest of the EU over how the British comport themselves, and regulate others, in London’s financial markets.  Also, from outside, the British would be utterly free to set their own market regulatory standards without interference or “help” from their Continental betters.

It’s the same with welfare programs and immigration generally.  Although the British do fare quite a bit better here—as part of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s pre-British exit (Prexit?) negotiations with the EU, he won concessions (not enough, some would say) regarding the amount of British welfare payments would be paid to migrant (not immigrant) workers and their stay-at-home (country) families.  But the French already are up in arms over English impertinence at not letting immigrant/refugees to flow across the channel quickly enough to suit France.

Neither of those problems would be any worse with a British exit, and the British would be in absolute control over them were they to go their own way.

The upshot looks as though there is, indeed, a what to the so what—and it favors a British exit from the EU.  Which, in addition to giving Great Britain a great deal more flexibility and complete national sovereignty, would restore the British to their historical role of power broker among hegemon wannabes on the continent.

That last isn’t all bad for the British or for the continent.

Russia Threatens

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a US missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

Never mind that this is a blatantly bogus beef and a naked threat.  The defensive missile shield cannot, by its very nature, be a threat to any naiotn other than one that’s planning an offensive attack.  Sort of like Russia already has done to Georgia and Ukraine at gunpoint, and to the Baltic States—each of the three—with cyber attacks.

Putin is beginning to act on his threats, too, thereby confirming the need for a missile shield.

Russia conducted a successful flight test of a developmental anti-satellite missile on Wednesday that is capable of destroying satellites in orbit, American defense officials said.

And

The launch marks another major milestone for Moscow’s efforts to develop weapons capable of destroying US navigation, communications, and intelligence satellites, a key strategic advantage.

This was a direct ascent missile firing, too.  A direct ascent shot means the missile did not have to orbit and then close with the target satellite; it could go from launch straight to satellite attack and impact.  This sort of attack takes hours off the launch to destruct time.

But, of course, this represents no threat to us.  Mm, mm.