Foreign Policy Today

The title sounds like a PBS Special for a Sunday Night….

As an analyst of foreign policy I am always interested in what candidates have to offer….and these days I am not too thrilled with our current leader…..his foreign policy seems a bit amateurish and infantile…..

In the last 60+ years our foreign policy can be labelled a “liberal” foreign policy…..and in that time the hypocrisy of our policies have come to light….

Former US vice-president Joe Biden asserted at the 2019 Munich Security Conference that ‘this too shall pass’, referring to the Trump administration’s challenges to the transatlantic alliance structure and US commitment to multilateralism. Unfortunately, any assumption that America’s commitment to global engagement will revert to the status quo ante in 2021 if President Donald Trump is not re-elected belies the growing polarization in US public opinion about America’s role in the world.

This partisan divide in Americans’ sentiment pre-dated Trump’s election and is likely to continue whatever the outcome of the next US presidential election. Americans have long held ambivalent feelings about their relationship with the rest of the world. Many are descendants of people who turned their backs on their homelands to seek a better life in the New World. Thomas Jefferson’s admonition against ‘entangling alliances’ was a mantra taken up by isolationists in the first half of the 20th century who argued against early US entry into both world wars.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/us-foreign-policy-will-continue-divide-americans-beyond-2020#

If anyone else were president, the “liberals” would be celebrating. After all, pulling American soldiers out of a couple of failing, endless wars seems like a “win” for progressives. Heck, if Obama did it there might be a ticker-tape parade down Broadway. And there should be. The intervention in Syria is increasingly aimless, dangerous and lacks an end state. Afghanistan is an unwinnable war – America’s longest – and about to end in outright military defeat. Getting out now and salvaging so much national blood and treasure ought to be a progressive dream. There’s only one problem: Donald Trump. Specifically, that it was Trump who gave the order to begin the troop withdrawals.

Lost in the haze of their pathological hatred of President Trump, the majority of mainstream liberal pundits and politicians can’t, for the life of them, see the good sense in extracting the troops from a couple Mideast quagmires. That or they can see the positives, but, in their obsessive compulsion to smear the president, choose politics over country. It’s probably a bit of both. That’s how tribally partisan American political discourse has become. And, how reflexively hawkish and interventionist today’s mainstream Democrats now are. Whither the left-wing antiwar movement? Well, except for a few diehards out there, the movement seems to have been buried long ago with George McGovern.

https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2019/01/07/hypocrisy-without-bounds-the-tragedy-of-liberal-foreign-policy/

Then we elected Trump and in the beginning I was with him on some of his foreign policy issues but that quickly went down the toilet after he was elected and his true self came to light……

Those anticipating that President Donald Trump would spend a considerable part of his State of the Union address on foreign policy likely came away disappointed. With the exceptions of his bragging about the U.S. military being stronger and better than ever before, killing one of the al-Qaeda operatives who planned the USS Cole attack over 18 years ago, and condemning Nicolás Maduro-style socialism, Trump was noticeably subdued on events beyond America’s shores.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Trump administration’s favorite target, was portrayed as led by depraved fanatics intent on committing murder and mayhem throughout the Middle East. Russia—a country that has caused Trump all sorts of political trouble in Washington—was called out for violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Chinese President Xi Jinping was described as a friend while his government was excoriated as a predatory economic behemoth that has sapped America of its wealth, killed its manufacturing sector, stolen its intellectual capital, and decimated its blue-collar workforce. And Trump minced no words when briefly talking about Venezuela’s Maduro, who has plundered a once wealthy Latin American nation.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trumps-new-era-on-foreign-policy/

Keep in mind the above link is a conserv link and in as such can be a bit neocon in content…..

I then read an article that says that Americans want a less aggressive foreign policy….really?

For decades, American foreign policy has rested on a consensus view about the United States’ role in the world. In an international order where there is one unrivaled superpower, foreign policy experts agree that U.S. soldiers and taxpayer dollars are essential for preserving global stability. But that is an assumption that is not necessarily shared by the American public, based on the findings of a new study Worlds Apart: U.S. Foreign Policy and American Public Opinion, conducted by the Eurasia Group Foundation (EGF), an organization I serve as Board President.

No matter what party they claim allegiance to, Americans favor a foreign policy that resists entanglements abroad, the survey found—and it’s not limited to conservative libertarians on the right and liberal pacifists on the left. In every age group polled, respondents exhibited a waning appetite for the obligations and impositions of imperial governance.

http://time.com/5532307/worlds-apart-foreign-policy-public-opinion-poll-eurasia/

I am NOT sure I agree with that conclusion. Why? I do not believe that most Americans have a grip on foreign policy beyond their favorite news channel…..

Another look at this survey…….https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/americans-want-greater-restraint-in-foreign-policy/

I disagree because of the public acceptance of the many many wars we are currently fight…..

It seems the only people that are fighting against all these wars are the people that had to fight them….our veterans….https://truthout.org/articles/veterans-demand-congress-end-the-forever-wars/

We need to find a way to educate the voter on our foreign policy….for as long as they stay uninformed the military can run rough shod over their decisions and as long as the MSM works as the propaganda arm of our polices we will stay in a forever war.

What we need is a Progressive foreign policy….

The 2020 election will not turn on global issues of – and more’s the pity. After all, thanks to decades upon decades of accumulating executive power in an increasingly imperial presidency, it is in foreign affairs that the commander-in-chief possesses near dictatorial power. Conversely, in domestic policy, a hostile Congress can – just ask Barry Obama – effectively block most of a president’s agenda.

Still, the vast majority of Americans don’t give a hoot about issues of war, peace, and international diplomacy. Why should they care? It’s not as though anything is asked of them as citizens. By cynically ditching the draft, Tricky Dick Nixon took the wind out of the sails of current and future antiwar movements, and permanently cleaved a gap between the U.S. people and their military. Mothers no longer lose sleep over their teenage sons serving their country and they – along with the rest of the family – quit caring about foreign policy. Such it is, and so it will be, that the 2020 presidential election is likely to be decided by “kitchen-table” affairs like healthcare, immigration, race, and taxes.

https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2019/03/25/still-waiting-2020-fever-and-the-quest-for-a-progressive-foreign-policy/

Turn The Page!

Closing Thought–27Mar19

As we approach another election the Right has pulled out attacks from the 1950s…..socialism…..then there are the mental midgets like Rep. Mo Brooks from Alabama (I expect this kind of stupid from a politico from Alabama)…..Brooks wants to link Dems to Nazis…..

Politico is pointing out that the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, aka the Nazi Party, “was fascist, not socialist—the opposite end of the political universe from socialists” following what it calls an “inane debate” among members of Congress. It began Monday as Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks accused “socialist Democrats and their fake news media allies” of perpetuating the “biggest political lie” in regard to accusations of collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. Standing on the House floor, he went on to read a passage from Mein Kampf, referring to Adolf Hitler as “another socialist who mastered ‘big lie’ propaganda to maximum, and deadly, effect.” Per CNN, his emphasis of “socialist” seemed intended to link Democrats and Nazis, though the two are “not comparable.”

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas continued the thread Tuesday during a Judiciary Committee hearing, saying he feared a corrupt Justice Department could usher in a future authoritarian leader. All that’s needed is “another socialist like Hitler to come along” and “we could lose everything,” he said. “As a Jewish person … I get offended when you compare socialists to Nazis,” responded Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee. “It’s what they were,” Gohmert countered before Chairman Jerry Nadler weighed in. “It’s hard to listen to historical revisionism or perhaps ignorance about the Nazis,” who were at the “extreme right of the political spectrum,” said the New York Democrat. Cohen wasn’t done. “The logical connection in their messaging is to say that socialists were for the Holocaust,” he said. That’s “abominable and scary.” (Brooks also links rising sea levels to erosion.)

Ever notice the ones the spread manure the thickest are old white guys….

Just another Babbling Buffoon Of Babylon!

Student Debt Can Be Fixed

One of the biggest issues that many Millennials are dealing with is their student debt…..which in most cases these days is massive. Many are looking to the candidates for an answer to their misery.

I am happy to say that all my years in college was paid for by my G.I. Bill and some scholarships….but nowadays students are not so lucky….most of them are saddled with massive debt thanx to getting an education.

Congress needs to grab their nuts and do something about this problem…..and they can if they would just grow a pair……

Students borrowed approximately $91 billion in federal loans in 2018, bringing the total outstanding loan balance to nearly $1.5 trillion.¹ For many, college would not have been possible without such readily available financing, but the burden of debt has become too much. More than 1 million borrowers default every year,² and millions more are stuck in what feels like an endless cycle of interest payments³ and benefits applications.⁴ Borrowers of color, in particular, are struggling to repay their debt, exacerbating long-term inequities and causing higher education to be more of a gamble than was promised.⁵

All of these woes are part of the college affordability crisis, but they are also part of a more arcane problem: The United States’ federal student loan repayment system is broken. This year, however, Congress has a chance to fix it.

The stars seem to have aligned for a long-overdue reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA),⁶ the country’s primary legislation governing postsecondary education. Senate Education Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who plans to retire at the end of the current congressional session, will likely be motivated to burnish his legacy by passing the first HEA reauthorization in more than a decade.⁷

Since HEA was last updated in 2008, the loan system has moved to 100 percent direct lending through the federal government.⁸ This completely federalized system has resulted in many benefits: less on-the-ground industry influence in lending;⁹ repayment programs that are unavailable in the private market;¹⁰ and, though it may seem ironic given the current dissatisfaction with the repayment system, stronger consumer protections.¹¹ Perhaps most importantly, the transition to direct lending saves the federal government roughly $6 billion per year—funds that have resulted in an infusion of $36 billion of mandatory funding into the Pell Grant program over the past 10 years.¹²

Nevertheless, now that direct lending has been the primary federal loan system for nearly a decade, it is time for a major revamp to address modern problems.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2019/03/07/467005/congress-can-fix-student-loan-repayment/

The idea of a free college education is a great idea but will not fly……however the system of debts needs reforming if not changing…

Why Not Keep The Electoral College?

I have been calling for an end to the electoral college for decades….I have even wrote a few posts about the fact……https://lobotero.com/2019/03/05/electoral-college-must-go/

In keeping with my policy of trying to give both sides of a debate…I have read something the president said about the electoral college (he is in favor after all that is what gave him the presidency)…….

President Trump has changed his mind on the importance of the Electoral College versus the popular vote, for reasons that may be connected to his winning the Electoral College and losing the popular vote in 2016. “I used to like the idea of the Popular Vote, but now realize the Electoral College is far better for the USA,” Trump tweeted Wednesday, explaining that campaigning for the popular vote is “much easier & different” to campaigning for the Electoral College. He said it was “like training for the 100 yard dash vs. a marathon.” Trump won with 304 Electoral College votes in 2016, compared to 227 for Hillary Clinton, who had nearly 3 million more total votes. He once called the Electoral College “a disaster to a democracy,” notes the Washington Post; his reversal comes as Democrats including Elizabeth Warren call for the Electoral College to be dismantled.

To win the popular vote, Trump said, candidates only need to visit “the large States – the Cities would end up running the Country. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power.” Clinton’s 2016 defeat, which was the fifth such loss in US history, has led to Democratic efforts both to bypass the college and to pay more attention to states like Wisconsin, which Trump won after Clinton failed to campaign there, the Hill reports. According to National Popular Vote, 17 Democratic-leaning states plan to sign a pact to award their Electoral College votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. (Read more electoral college stories.)

Instead of getting rid of this dinosaur….they will do what they always do…try to reform it…..that is the cowards way out of this debate.

Closing Thought–26Mar19

This post illustrates just how accurate the saying is…”You Can’t Fix Stupid!”

I read a great story about how some guy milked $122 million out of Google and Facebook….that is $122 million!

Last week, Evaldas Rimasauskas of Lithuania plead guilty to US wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering charges, admitting that he had stolen $99m from Facebook and $23m from Google between 2013 and 2015.

Rimasauskas’s grift was pretty bold. He merely sent Google and Facebook invoices for items they hadn’t purchased and that he hadn’t provided, which the companies paid anyway. The invoices were accompanied by “forged invoices, contracts, and letters that falsely appeared to have been executed and signed by executives and agents of the Victim Companies, and which bore false corporate stamps embossed with the Victim Companies’ names, to be submitted to banks in support of the large volume of funds that were fraudulently transmitted via wire transfer.” He also spoofed emails that appeared to come from corporate execs.

Apparently, no one checked first to see if these corresponded to invoices/POs that had been issued within the companies.

Rimasauskas was pretending to be the giant Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Quanta Computer Inc, and had registered a company in Latvia with the same name.

He’s agreed to forfeit about $50m. It’s not clear what’s happened to the other $73m, but Rimasauskas was a prolific and baroque money-launderer who squirreled cash away in Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Latvia. Google has said that “We detected this fraud and promptly alerted the authorities. We recouped the funds and we’re pleased this matter is resolved.”

Rimasauskas will be sentenced on July 29. He faces up to 30 years.

Say if Google and Facebook did not vet the bills they received then I say let the guy keep his ill-gotten gains…

But they is just me.

That “Marshall Plan”

As usual the old professor is about to drop some history on you….was that an eye roll?

Whenever some economic plan comes about it is compared to the Marshall Plan of the 1940s….but since the nation is so damn young now how many actually knows what the Plan was about?

Well I can help with that lack of knowledge……

The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. The brainchild of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, for whom it was named, it was crafted as a four-year plan to reconstruct cities, industries and infrastructure heavily damaged during the war and to remove trade barriers between European neighbors – as well as foster commerce between those countries and the United States.

In addition to economic redevelopment, one of the stated goals of the Marshall Plan was to halt the spread communism on the European continent.

Implementation of the Marshall Plan has been cited as the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and its European allies and the Soviet Union, which had effectively taken control of much of central and eastern Europe and established its satellite republics as communist nations.

The Marshall Plan is also considered a key catalyst for the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance between North American and European countries established in 1949.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/marshall-plan-1

But with this gesture of goodwill was not without a bunch of myths…..was not all rainbows and unicorns……

Perhaps the most persistent and enduring myth in modern British history is that the country did badly, in comparison with its European neighbours, out of the Marshall Plan, the scheme of American largesse that funded the reconstruction of war-ravaged western Europe. But it is simply not true.

West Germany received $1.7 billion of postwar aid from the United States, which it invested primarily in capital and infrastructure, paving the way for the Wirtschaftswunder, the postwar economic miracle that turned the country into a manufacturing powerhouse, which, even after the considerable cost of reunification in 1990, it remains.

Britain, as victor, had an understandable sense of entitlement – and let us not forget the nature of the regime that it and its Empire had helped defeat – but, as an indication of the sacrifice it had made, it ended the conflict with an economy more like that of a defeated or occupied nation.

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/editor/marshall-myths

You now know more than you did before reading…..

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

Sanctions! Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts!

Every president that I recall during my many years of age have used the tried and true penalty of sanctions against nations that has pissed the US off.

Sanctions?

Let’s look at just what this entails……https://lobotero.com/2019/03/04/those-inevitable-sanctions/

The reason I touching on this is that our president has decided to hit Iran with more sanctions as a punishment….these are directed at the so-called nuke program that Iran is supposedly developing…..

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), together with the U.S. Department of State, designated 14 individuals and 17 entities today in connection with Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which has provided support to designated Iranian defense entities and whose key personnel played a central role in the Iranian regime’s past nuclear weapons effort. This action targets current SPND subordinate groups, supporters, front companies, and associated officials.

“The U.S. government is taking decisive action against actors at all levels in connection with Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) who have supported the Iranian regime’s defense sector,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “The United States will continue applying maximum pressure to the Iranian regime, using all economic tools to prevent Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction. Anyone considering dealing with the Iranian defense industry in general, and SPND in particular, risks professional, personal, and financial isolation.”

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm634

And then there are the sanctions against North Korea (a country that has a nuke capability)……

President is reversing his administration’s decision to slap new sanctions on North Korea and ordering them withdrawn. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump “likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” per the AP. Trump himself addressed the move on Twitter: “It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” he wrote. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about which sanctions Trump was referring to. However, his administration on Thursday sanctioned two Chinese shipping companies suspected of helping North Korea evade sanctions—the first targeted actions taken against Pyongyang since Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Hanoi last month. The Hill sees it as “remarkable” that Trump would publicly rebuke his own Treasury Department, especially after national security adviser John Bolton praised the sanctions announced on Thursday. The Washington Post describes the move as an “apparent effort to salvage nuclear negotiations.”

This illustrates just how moronic Trump’s foreign policy truly is…..he emboldens the nation that has a capability and punishes a nation that does not…..

His Neocon cronies….Pompeo and Bolton…..are leading Trump down the primrose path and his lack of comprehension is hurting the US at every turn…..and he, Trump, is too ignorant to see it.

Closing Thought–25Mar19

Right now there is a rush to vet all the Dem candidates….plus the desire to “force” VP Biden into another run for the presidency by hammering his name daily and prodding him into a dash for the White House….if not the 2020 election then the legal claptrap as the MSM pushes for the release of the Special Council’s report (due out any hour, according to the MSM)….(it’s out now and MSM does not like the findings so far)…..

But what are they saying about our Beloved Supreme Leader’s chances if he decides to run for re-election?

Good question, right?

Politico has touched on the possibility of a win in 2020……

President Donald Trump has a low approval rating. He is engaging in bitter Twitter wars and facing metastasizing investigations.

But if the election were held today, he’d likely ride to a second term in a huge landslide, according to multiple economic models with strong track records of picking presidential winners and losses.

Credit a strong U.S. economy featuring low unemployment, rising wages and low gas prices — along with the historic advantage held by incumbent presidents.

While Trump appears to be in a much stronger position than his approval rating and conventional Beltway wisdom might suggest, he also could wind up in trouble if the economy slows markedly between now and next fall, as many analysts predict it will.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/21/trump-economy-election-1230495

And his chances of re-election are looking good…..his approval tating is at 41% and the report from Mueller has handed Trump the perfect tool to run on in 2020….https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/politics/donald-trump-mueller-report-presidency/index.html

Dems need to proceed from this point on with caution…..their knee jerk BS could hand Trump the election.

What say you?

Will he be re-elected…that is if he stands for it?

If not, who will beat him?

Pentagon And The “Great Wall”

Just as the other Great Wall was erected to keep “invaders” out our Dear Supreme Leader is trying to erect one of his own (something he can point to as a material accomplishment of a weak presidency)…..

And where will the president try to slip cash out to pay for this worthless endeavor?

The Pentagon always has more money than it knows what to do with…..

The Pentagon has a list of $6.8 billion worth of construction projects it could choose to take money from in order to build President Trump’s border wall, according to a list belatedly provided to Congress on Monday.

But officials have yet to even decide how much Defense Department money they’ll use toward the wall, and so they haven’t decided which projects on the target list would actually be affected.

The Pentagon also said Congress can make sure none of the projects suffer by passing an increase in military construction money for 2020, allowing the government to go back and replenish the accounts Mr. Trump wants to drain for his border wall.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/18/pentagon-lays-out-68b-projects-cut-border-wall/

Several projects would be delayed if the Pentagon has to shoulder the cuts to pay for Trump’s “Great Wall”……

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Monday forwarded to Congress the list of construction projects the Pentagon could delay to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall.

The projects range across the country and around the world, from an air traffic control tower in Alabama to fuel tanks in Australia, according to the 21-page document.

“Decisions have not yet been made concerning which border barrier projects will be funded” under the president’s authority, according to the Pentagon memo attached to the list.

Democrats pounced on the list and Trump’s emergency declaration as a political stunt.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/18/pentagon-project-list-shows-congress-how-could-pay-trumps-wall/3204758002/

On a side note…the Pentagon plans to cut $31 billion from its budget (seriously?)…….

The U.S. Army‘s fiscal 2020 budget, which will be made public in mid-March, will cut $31.5 billion from existing programs to ensure that the service’s top priorities of readiness and modernization remain on track, Under Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said Tuesday.

Army senior leadership just wrapped up its version of “night court,” a time-consuming and tedious process in which top generals went through each program to find extra money for the service’s six modernization priorities and to fund efforts to increase the readiness levels of brigade combat teams, McCarthy told an audience at an Association of the United States Army breakfast.

https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2019/02/26/army-plans-cut-315-billion-coming-budget.html

It is always fun to see what the Pentagon does for they know that the Congress will shove lots of taxpayer money up their butts and tell they to play pretty.

This is all so much BS….

Summary Of The Mueller Report

Oh boy we finally have a report issued by Special Council…..but do not take my word for the report….read it for yourself (if that is possible)….

A look at the headlines…..

Attorney General William Barr has written his summary of the Robert Mueller report for lawmakers, and President Trump sounds pretty happy about it. Here’s a look at how the main headlines of various outlets were handling the news about 6:30pm Eastern Sunday:

New York Times: “Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy, Barr Says”
Washington Post: “Attorney general: Mueller does not find that Trump campaign conspired with Russia”
Drudge Report: “Trump Wins!” (in red)
CNN: “Mueller did not find Trump conspired with Russia”
NBC News: “Mueller Finds No Proof of Trump Collusion With Russia; AG Barr Says No Plans to Prosecute”
Fox News: “Probe finds no proof of Trump campaign collusion with Russia, no conclusion on obstruction: Barr letter”
Breitbart: “No Collusion!” (in red)
Mother Jones: “Trump Aided and Abetted Russia’s Attack. That Was Treachery. Full Stop.”
NPR: “Mueller Report Doesn’t Find Russian Collusion, But Can’t ‘Exonerate’ On Obstruction”
Politico: “Mueller finds no evidence of Trump-Russia conspiracy”
USA Today: “Mueller: No Trump-Russia conspiracy; no answer on obstruction”
Moscow Times: “No Evidence of Trump-Russia Collusion, Mueller Report Says”

Leaders of the Justice Department have sent a summary of Robert Mueller’s key findings to key members of Congress. The special counsel’s office completed its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election on Friday.

Attorney General William Barr is required to notify Congress that the investigation is complete but is not obligated to release the full report, as many in both parties have demanded.

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/24/706351394/read-the-justice-departments-summary-of-the-mueller-report

Let the debate begin!