Foreign Policy
1/26/2012 | Foreign Policy
New U.S. Ambassador to Russia: We Support ‘Universal Values’ Not ‘American Values’
CNS News
The new U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, said that in dealing with the former Soviet Union, he and the Obama administration would be advocating “universal values” and “not American values.”
McFaul was sworn in as ambassador to Russia by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Jan. 10. He made his remarks on Tuesday’s Morning Edition on NPR. The show’s host, David Greene, had asked McFaul about Russia’s “evolution towards demoracy,” and McFaul said “there is no single path to democracy” and that his job was to support universal values.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.5/24/2011 | Foreign Policy, Israel
Netanyahu: Israel ready for painful compromises
Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians but said he would not agree to any deal that threatens Israel's security or its identity as a Jewish state.
Speaking before a wildly receptive joint session of Congress that showered him with more than two dozen sustained standing ovations, Netanyahu said Israel wants and needs peace but repeated his flat rejection of a return to what he called the "indefensible" borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast war. He also restated Israel's refusal to entertain the return of millions of Palestinian refugees and their families to land in Israel. And, he maintained that Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their capital, could not be divided.
"Israel will never give up its quest for peace," Netanyahu said, adding that he is "willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace."
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationJim Showers, Executive Director, President, The Friends of IsraelTom Wallace, Fortress of Faith5/19/2011 | Foreign Policy, Israel
Obama Endorses 1967 Borders for Israel
The New York Times
Seeking to harness the seismic political change still unfolding in the Arab world, President Obama for the first time on Thursday publicly called for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would create a non-militarized Palestinian state on the basis of Israel’s borders before 1967.
“At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent that ever,” he said.
Although Mr. Obama said that “the core issues” dividing Israelis and Palestinians remained to be negotiated, including the searing questions of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, he spoke with striking frustration that efforts to support an agreement had so far failed. “The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome,” he said.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationJim Showers, Executive Director, President, The Friends of IsraelTom Wallace, Fortress of Faith4/7/2011 | Foreign Policy, U.S. Military
NBC’s Brokaw: Saudis ‘So Unhappy' With Obama They Sent Emissaries to China, Russia Seeking Enhanced Ties
CNS News
Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq yesterday, NBC’s Tom Brokaw said the Saudi Arabian monarchy is “so unhappy with the Obama administration for the way it pushed out President Mubarak of Egypt” that it has sent senior officials to the Peoples' Republic of China and Russia to seek expanded business opportunities with those countries.
After remarking on the difficulty of establishing democracy in the Middle East, Brokaw said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates “will face some tough questions in this region about the American intentions going on now with all this new turmoil, especially in an area where the United States has such big stakes politically and economically.”
“And a lot of those questions presumably will come from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia,” reported Brokaw on the Nightly News. “I was told on the way in here that the Saudis are so unhappy with the Obama administration for the way it pushed out President Mubarak of Egypt that it sent high level emissaries to China and Russia to tell those two countries that Saudi Arabia now is prepared to do more business with them.”
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchMajor Eric Egland, Author, The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help...Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary3/30/2011 | Character and Ethics, Foreign Policy, Presidential Issues
Middle East conflicts reveal media bias
OneNewsNow
A conservative media watchdog says mainstream television networks have shown a blatant double standard when it comes to the coverage of two major incursions under different presidents.
When President George W. Bush made the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, many in the media chastised him, even though he had prior congressional approval to authorize force based on reports that Saddam Hussein possessed "weapons of mass destruction."
However, when President Barack Obama recently ordered air strikes on Libya without congressional approval, the same media failed to challenge him, even reporting it was the right thing to do. Since the operations began last week, the consensus appears to be that Libya does not pose any national security risks for the U.S.
Rich Noyes (Media Research Center)Rich Noyes, director of research at the Media Research Center, says about the Libya situation: "When you listen to liberal reporters, they seem more excited about the fact that the United States is spending its treasure and risking the blood of its sons in something that has no national security implications for United States -- and yet this seems to be where liberals get most excited. They don't like it when we actually do have a security interest."
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Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisMichael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Jeffrey Conway, Former CFO, Ruth’s Chris SteakhouseTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchChuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage FoundationWilliam Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Coordinator of the Apolo, Westminster Theological SeminaryRon Ferner, Dean of the School of Business and Leadership, Philadelphia Biblical UniversityFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationMike Gottfried, Founder, Team FocusRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationWayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studie, Phoenix SeminaryColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchJulius Kim, Westminster Seminary CaliforniaPhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage FoundationGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkAlex McFarland, President, Southern Evangelical SeminaryFran McGowen, Founder and President , CarSenseDavid "Mac" Mcquiston, President/CEO, CEO Forum, Inc.Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage FoundationJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinJeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit MinistriesGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological SeminaryAndrew Peterson, Reformed Theological Seminary, Virtual CampusVern Poythress, Westminster Theological SeminaryGale Radebaugh, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ret.), Pfizer ResearchPhil Ryken, President-Elect , Wheaton CollegeChuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias ResDavid Wheaton, Author, Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host, TheChristianWorldview.com2/10/2011 | Foreign Policy, Politics
Egypt's govt resists mounting pressure for change
Reuters
Egypt's government resisted growing pressure on Thursday from key ally the United States and from a still energetic popular protest movement, both demanding radical and immediate political change.
Concern in the business community and the wider population about the economic impact of more than two weeks of disruption is adding to strains facing the cabinet appointed 10 days ago by President Hosni Mubarak to try to stave off the unprecedented challenge to his 30 years of one-man rule.
An outbreak of strikes by Egyptian workers, emboldened by the anti-government protests across the Arab world's most populous nation, is compounding the challenge to Mubarak.
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Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin1/14/2011 | Foreign Policy, U.S. Military
Russia nears arms pact approval, warns on pullout
Reuters
Russia's parliament moved closer to approving a landmark arms reduction treaty with Washington Friday by amending domestic legislation to stress that Moscow could withdraw from the pact if it felt threatened by the West.
The amendments required for Russia to ratify the New START treaty do not change the pact itself and were introduced before the second of three ratification votes in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
The U.S. Senate included its own interpretations of the treaty -- the centrepiece of a "reset" that has improved long-strained relations between Moscow and Washington -- when it voted to ratify it last month.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchMajor Eric Egland, Author, The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help...Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary12/23/2010 | Foreign Policy
Lame-Duck Senate Approves New START With Support of 13 Republicans
CNS News
Thirteen Senate Republicans joined Democrats Wednesday as the lame-duck U.S. Senate approved the New START arms-reduction treaty with Russia. The pact, a key foreign policy priority for President Obama, has generated significant debate in recent weeks.
Senior administration figures were present as the Senate voted 71-26 in favor of the treaty. Vice President Joe Biden presided over the roll-call vote and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also on hand.
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Obama Says U.S. Poised for New Chapter of Engagement
In a humble finish to his first foreign trip, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that despite its flaws and imperfections the U.S. is poised for a "new chapter in American engagement" with Muslims and the rest of the world. President Barack Obama speaks during a student roundtable discussion at the Tophane Cultural Centre in Istanbul, Turkey. Addressing college students in Turkey's largest city, Mr. Obama rejected the stereotype that America is selfish and crass. "I'm here to tell you that's not the country I know and not the country I love," the president said. "America, like every other nation, has made mistakes and has its flaws, but for more than two centuries it has strived" to seek a more perfect union. Mr. Obama made those opening remarks before taking questions, telling students he would keep the session short because of the Muslim call to prayer. Mr. Obama repeated his pledge to rebuild relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world. "I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement," he said. "We can't afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us." The Turkish stop capped an eight-day European trip that senior adviser David Axelrod called "enormously productive," including an economic crisis summit in London and a NATO conclave in France and Germany. ... Mr. Obama told the college students he sees nothing wrong with setting his sights high on goals such as mending relations with Iran and eliminating the world of nuclear options -- two cornerstone issues of his trip.
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Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin4/2/2009 | Economy, Foreign Policy, Politics
G-20 Leaders Eye More IMF Funds, Tighter Rules
Associated Press
Leaders from around the globe made headway Thursday on tackling the world's worst financial crisis since the 1930s, with early signs of agreements to give more money to the International Monetary Fund and to take a closer look at regulating hedge funds. Two people close to the negotiations said leaders had agreed on giving more fund to the IMF so it could help developing economies reeling from currency woes and the effects of the global downturn. They also said France and Germany had successfully persuaded the Group of 20 leaders to back stronger financial regulations to avoid a repeat of the current crisis. As President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined other leaders at a working breakfast in the city's east Docklands district, protesters began gearing up for a second day of demonstrations, gathering outside the London Stock Exchange near St. Paul's Cathedral. Riot police took up their positions as well, ringing the stock exchange. Obama and Brown expressed confidence Wednesday that world leaders would come up with a strong agreement to address financial regulation, growth, and troubled banks. But that optimism was marred by a split with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who refused calls for more government spending and insisted the meeting must instead take concrete steps on tougher financial regulation.
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Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/17/2009 | Foreign Policy, Economy
Mexico Retaliates With Tariffs on U.S. Products
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Mexico said Monday it will increase tariffs on about 90 U.S. products in retaliation for last week's decision to end a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods in the United States. Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said the U.S. decision violates a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was supposed to have opened cross-border trucking by January 2000. "We consider this U.S. action to be wrong, protectionist and a clear violation of the treaty," Ruiz Mateos told reporters. "By deciding to protect their trucking industry, they have decided to affect other countries and the region." The measure will affect about $2.4 billion in trade involving approximately 90 agricultural and industrial products from 40 U.S. states. Ruiz Mateos said the department later this week will publish a list of the products, which he said were chosen to represent a large number of U.S. states and significant trade items. He did not specify how much tariffs would be increased, but said "the retaliatory measures are the cost the United States is going to have to pay for failing to fulfill its obligations under NAFTA."
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Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/3/2009 | Economy, Foreign Policy, Politics
Brown woos Obama on global deal
The Sunday Times
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession. As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president’s inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy. Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy. ...Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems. The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
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Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/3/2009 | Foreign Policy, Israel, Politics
U.S. Supports Two-State Solution in Mideast, Clinton Says
Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. will vigorously pursue the creation of a Palestinian state. Mrs. Clinton is making her first visit to the region as the top U.S. diplomat. She spoke Tuesday alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ahead of a meeting later in the day with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jeruslaem. Mr. Netanyahu's criticism in the past of peace talks with the Palestinians and the possibility of Palestinian independence has raised concerns that his new government could clash with the U.S. Mrs. Clinton said earlier in the day that the U.S. would work with any Israeli government. But she said the U.S. "will be vigorously engaged in the pursuit of a two-state solution every step of the way." Mrs. Clinton also said the U.S. will dispatch two envoys to Syria for "preliminary conversations." The statement is the most significant sign yet that the Obama administration is considering restoring ties with Damascus. She said there is "no way to predict" the direction U.S.-Syria relations will take, but thinks "it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary conversations." Mr. Netanyahu, leader of the hardline Likud Party, is putting together a new coalition government and is expected to be sworn in as prime minister within weeks. His criticism of U.S.-led Mideast peace talks during the recent election campaign has raised fears that his government could clash with the Obama administration. Mrs. Clinton sought to play down such concerns, saying the U.S. is ready to work with any Israeli government. "We will work with the government of Israel that represents the democratic will of the people of Israel," she said after meeting Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres.
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Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationJim Showers, Executive Director, President, The Friends of IsraelTom Wallace, Fortress of Faith1/29/2009 | Foreign Policy
Russia, China Blame Woes on Capitalism
The premiers of Russia and China slammed the U.S. economic system in speeches Wednesday, holding it responsible for the global economic crisis. Both focused on the role of the U.S. dollar, with China's Premier Wen Jiabao calling for better regulation of major reserve currencies and Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calling over-reliance on the dollar "dangerous." Speaking on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they both urged more international cooperation to escape the downturn. They also talked up the abilities of their own economies to ride out the recession. Mr. Wen said he was "confident" China would hit its 8% growth target for this year even though that was "a tall order." The Russian and Chinese leaders also called for cooperation with U.S. President Barack Obama, but it was a chilly reception for the new administration that reflected growing anger in economies that are now getting hit hard by a financial crisis that began with subprime mortgages sold in the U.S. Mr. Putin was characteristically blunt. He called for the development of multiple, regional reserve currencies in addition to the dollar. "Excessive dependence on a single reserve currency is dangerous for the global economy," Mr. Putin said.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.10/6/2008 | Foreign Policy, Presidential Issues
Biden's Fantasy World
The Wall Street Journal
In the popular media wisdom, Sarah Palin is the neophyte who knows nothing about foreign policy while Joe Biden is the savvy diplomatic pro. Then what are we to make of Mr. Biden's fantastic debate voyage last week when he made factual claims that would have got Mrs. Palin mocked from New York to Los Angeles? Start with Lebanon, where Mr. Biden asserted that "When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, 'Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.' Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel." The U.S. never kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, and no one else has either. Perhaps Mr. Biden meant to say Syria, except that the U.S. also didn't do that. The Lebanese ousted Syria's military in 2005. As for NATO, Messrs. Biden and Obama may have proposed sending alliance troops in, but if they did that was also a fantasy. The U.S. has had all it can handle trying to convince NATO countries to deploy to Afghanistan. Speaking of which, Mr. Biden also averred that "Our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan." In trying to correct him, Mrs. Palin mispronounced the general's name -- saying "General McClellan" instead of General David McKiernan. But Mr. Biden's claim was the bigger error, because General McKiernan said that while "Afghanistan is not Iraq," he also said a "sustained commitment" to counterinsurgency would be required. That is consistent with Mr. McCain's point that the "surge principles" of Iraq could work in Afghanistan.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)7/31/2008 | American History, China, Foreign Policy
Bush to attend church in China, urge religious freedom
Breitbart.Com
US President George W. Bush plans to attend church while in China for the opening of the Olympic Games next month, and will speak about freedom of religion, a top aide said Wednesday. "When he goes to church on Sunday (August 10) he will make a statement afterwards in which he discusses his view on religious freedom in China," said national security council director of Asian Affairs Dennis Wilder. "You can deliver the message of freedom without politicizing the events of the game," Wilder said. "The president will have diplomatic meetings with the Chinese leadership that are separate from the games. And in those meetings with the Chinese leaders he will of course bring up these issues." Bush, a devout Christian, has walked a diplomatic tightrope over the Olympics, repeatedly insisting the games are not a political venue while recently stepping up his public criticism of Beijing's rights record. Bush will attend the August 8 opening ceremonies of the games, having rejected human rights activists' appeals for him to boycott the gala in protest of China's overall rights record, including a crackdown in Tibet in March.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin7/10/2008 | Foreign Policy, Iran, Presidential Issues, Terrorism, U.S. Military
Iranian War Games Test Candidates' Resolve
The Bulletin - Philadelphia
News that the Iranian government test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles with the capability of reaching Israel drew a quick rebuke from the major U.S. presidential candidates yesterday. Republican John McCain used Tehran's war games as justification for pursuing a missile defense shield and Democrat Barack Obama called for the U.S. to aggressively pursue diplomacy and threaten sanctions. "Iran's most recent missile tests demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel," Mr. McCain said. "Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran's continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran's dangerous ambitions."
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Zakariah Anani, Shoebat FoundationJoel Anderson, Assemblyman, California State AssemblyTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, Senior Pastor-Manhattan Bible ChurchMajor Eric Egland, Author, The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help...Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Kamal Saleem, Shoebat FoundationWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationTom Wallace, Fortress of FaithTimothy Watkins, Producer/Director, Renegade Productions7/9/2008 | Foreign Policy, Iran, Radical Islam, Terrorism
Defiant Iran angers US with missile test
Breitbart.Com
Iran on Wednesday test-fired a missile it said is capable of reaching Israel, angering the United States amid growing fears that the standoff over the contested Iranian nuclear drive could lead to war. The Shahab-3 was among a broadside of nine missiles fired off simultaneously at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) from an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert, state television pictures showed. State-run Arabic channel Al-Alam said the missiles test-fired by the elite Revolutionary Guards included a "Shahab-3 with a conventional warhead weighing one tonne and a 2,000-kilometre (1,240-mile) range." The firing comes at a time of growing tension over Tehran's nuclear drive, which Iran insists is peaceful but the West fears could be aimed at making an atomic bomb. "The aim of these war games is to show we are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation," Al-Alam quoted Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami as saying.
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China's economy to become world's biggest in 2035: study
Breitbart.Com
China's economy will overtake that of the United States by 2035 and be twice its size by midcentury, a study released Tuesday by a US research organization concluded. The report by economist Albert Keidel of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said China's rapid growth is driven by domestic demand more than exports, and will sustain high single-digit growth rates well into the 21st century. "China's economic performance clearly is no flash in the pan," Keidel writes. "Its growth this decade has averaged more than 10 percent a year and is still going strong in the first half of 2008. Because its success in recent decades has not been export-led but driven by domestic demand, its rapid growth can continue well into the 21st century, unfettered by world market limitation." Keidel said the rise of China to the world's biggest economy will happen regardless of the method of calculation. Under current market-based estimates, China's gross domestic product is about three trillion dollars compared to 14 trillion for the United States. Based on a more controversial purchasing power parity (PPP) measure used by the World Bank and others to correct low labor-cost distortions, he said China's GDP is roughly half of that of the United States.
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Vehicle bombings in Iraq at lowest level in nearly 4 years
USA Today
WASHINGTON — Car and truck bomb attacks have fallen to their lowest level in Iraq in almost four years, according to the military command in Baghdad and a private firm that tracks violence there. In May, there were 23 car and truck bomb attacks, the fewest since August 2004, when there were 18. Last month, the Multi-National Force-Iraq reported 24 such attacks. Cars and trucks packed with explosives have been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq. Roadside bombs generally target a single vehicle; terrorists use car bombs to inflict mass casualties, often aiming them at ethnic or religious rivals.
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