Anti-Americanism is On The Rise

Donald Trump has been President for less than two months, but is making major impacts, and not in a good way. He has curbed illegal immigration, but that's about it. His on-again, off-again tariffs, along with worries about a looming recession, have sent the stock market into a nosedive. Unemployment is rising. So is inflation. But what bothers me most is that he has turned our foreign policy on its head, from his bellicose threats to Canada, Greenland and Panama to his embrace of Vladimir Putin, a murderous dictator. 

The Economic Times reports that "Canadians have taken to booing the American national anthem and Panamanians to burning US flags. The British tabloids have tarred and feathered Vice President JD Vance for insulting British troops. A carnival float in Dusseldorf, Germany, displayed giant puppets of Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shaking hands while squeezing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy between them into a bloodied pulp. A sign on the float read “Hitler-Stalin Pact 2.0.” Back at home, the Washington Post has published a guide on how to navigate hostility abroad (“dress neutrally, not patriotically”)."

Even more worrying are the taunts, with Trump referring to Canada's former Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, as "Governor." 

Most disgusting is the decision to blind Ukraine from intelligence and leave it exposed to Russian attacks. 

It is increasingly unlikely that our allies will be there when we need them. 

Congressional Candidate Kevin Dellicker Addresses Drone Attack That Killed and Injured US Soldiers

On Saturday night, three US soldiers stationed in Jordan were killed and at least 34 were injured as a result of a kamikaze drone launched by Iranian-backed militants. I questioned how we should respond, but received few cogent answers. How about our Lehigh Valley Rep in Washington? Susan Wild was too busy criticizing Republicans over a border security bill to have much to say. GOP Congressional candidates Ryan MacKenzie and Maria Montero were in turn complaining about Wild. But one GOP Congressional candidate, Kevin Dellicker, did have a thoughtful response, and actually sent it to me. 

He's the only one of this quartet who himself was a member of the military. And I appreciate his willingness to address this direct affront to our national security. His reply is below:

Here is my response to your question, “How Do We Respond to the Drone Attack that Killed Three U.S. Soldiers in Jordan and Injured 30+?”

Short Term:

1. We must take immediate steps to protect U.S. troops in the region who are deployed at remote outposts throughout the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Africa. These brave men and women have been the target of more than 150 attacks from Iranian-backed militias since October and now three Army Reservists are dead. The Biden Administration must remove restrictive rules of engagement and weapons limitations, withdraw vulnerable troops to more fortified locations, and/or reinforce forward operating bases with additional firepower. That means ensuring that enough assets are immediately moved to the U.S. military hubs in the region to respond if remote troops are in trouble. Currently, we are at risk of another Mogadishu or Benghazi.

2. We must strike at the Iranian-backed terrorists who have waged these attacks. Most of these groups are operating in areas where the U.S. has air superiority. We must target fighters, weapons storehouses, command-and-control, logistics infrastructure, and warfighting capabilities in multiple places against multiple militias. This not to “send a message.” It is to degrade the militias' ability to attack American troops in the region and deter them from attacking again.

Near Term:

1. The Biden Administration owes the American public an explanation of why we have all those remote outposts in the first place, what our troops our doing there, and when their mission will be accomplished. Most Americans didn’t even know we had troops in Jordan.

2. The Iranian militias are likely to reconstitute and reattack even after a devastating strike. The only way to stop them long-term is to sever their supply networks and dissuade their benefactors in Iran. This requires a combination of military, diplomatic, economic, and information operations against Iran that will be expensive, difficult, and long-lasting.

3. Bombing Iranian sites that produce the drones, rockets, and missiles is an option, but the American people are not ready for a war with Iran, and neither is the U.S. military. We hardly have enough resources to meet our current challenges. I don’t support this course of action right now.

Long Term:

1. The Iranians are poised to have nuclear weapons aimed at Israel and American military bases in the region. A nuclear-armed Ayatollah will pose unprecedented risks to world peace and prosperity. We have three options to prevent it: destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities before they are fielded, change the regime, or engage the regime. President Biden has tried the latter, and it has failed miserably. The President must level with the American people about his failed appeasement policies and the severity of the threat we face from a nuclear Iran. There are no good options.

2. We must rebuild our military. We have lost our deterrence. Our military is stretched so thin that we are sending reservists from Georgia to remote outposts in Jordan. Did you know that hundreds of soldiers from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard are heading into the region right now? We can’t produce enough ships, submarines, missiles, or aircraft. We can’t even produce enough bullets. Our weapons are too expensive. Our supply chains are too dependent on other countries. Our military wastes millions of dollars on progressive priorities that have nothing to do with fighting and winning wars. We are not ready to counter China.

Our sovereignty is being challenged, our interests are being attacked, and our sons and daughters are dying. We are failing in our responsibility to defend our country and protect our troops.

We need strong leaders in Washington with national security experience to fix our military and keep us safe. That’s a main reason why I’m running for Congress.

Why Republicans Were Elected

We elected Democrat Tom Wolf for Governor here in Pa. But in Congressional races, it was a Republican landslide. But this was no endorsement of Republican thinking. Think about it. Nebraska and Arkansas, both of them GOP states, voted to raise the minimum wage. Washington State actually was able to adopt a gun control measure, in spite of the NRA. And weed was legalized in Alaska, Oregon and D.C.. So why did people vote Democrat on the issues but Republican on the person?  In a word, Obama. In three words, Obama and Putin.

Obama has been so weak and ineffectual on foreign policy that many people no longer take our national security for granted. Obama's impotence in the Middle East has encouraged both China and Russia to be more bellicose.

Just yesterday, Reuters reports that Russia intends to begin long range bomber flights that will take it right down to the Gulf of Mexico.  NATO has complained about Russian provocations, but Obama has reacted weakly, or not at all.

According to a London-based think tank, there have been 40 dangerous or sensitive incidents between Russia and the west. Here are the details on three of them:

"Near mid-air collision with passenger plane On 3 March this year, an SAS passenger plane taking off from Copenhagen with 132 passengers bound for Rome had a close encounter with a Russian reconnaissance plane which did not transmit its position. A collision was only avoided because of good visibility and the alertness of the SAS pilots, according to the report. The incident, which happened 50 miles south-east of Malmo, in Sweden, was before the shooting down of the MH17 passenger plane over Ukraine. Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists were blamed for the July missile attack.

"Simulated cruise missile attacks on North America In early September this year, Russian strategic bombers in the Labrador Sea near Canada practised cruise missile strikes. The Russian aircraft stayed out of Canada’s airspace but it was still a provocative move in light of the Nato summit at the time, according to the report. Cruise missiles launched from the Labrador Sea would have Ottawa, New York, Washington, Chicago and America’s Norfolk naval base in range.

"Black Sea encounter On 7 September, the Canadian frigate Toronto was buzzed by a Russian aircraft in the Black Sea with the plane coming within 300 metres. The Toronto locked its radar on the Russian plane but took no further action as the Russian plane was not armed. The incident coincided with larger Russian larger naval combat training activities near Sevastopol. “Such aggressive behaviour, if repeated by an armed aircraft, could have resulted in the ship commander targeting the aircraft in an act of self-defence,” the report says."

Dent On America's Failed Foreign Policy

Let me tell you something about LV Congressman Charlie Dent. He's a foreign policy expert. I learned that when he once called me from Islamabad, probably not the safest place to be, right before the surge, Dent was unable to stop describing the people, right down to the decorated buses that are used as taxis. A former International Politics major, he pays attention to what is going on in an increasingly scary world.

That's more than I can say for President Obama

Dent released the statement below right before President Obama's televised but uninspired speech to the nation last night on the threat posed by ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Dent's more comprehensive views below, which sound as though they could have been uttered by President Kennedy, are more comprehensive. Obviously, we need a strategy. More importantly, we need real leadership.

"Tonight the President will speak to the country and propose a strategy for dealing with ISIS. The President is late coming to the table with a plan, and not just concerning ISIS.

“The Tide of War is receding," President Obama has declared. Except when it's not.

Just ask the people of Syria, Iraq and Ukraine. These conflicts, while complex and distinct, collectively represent the most serious threat to global peace and stability since the end of the Cold War. And I’m alarmed. We need decisive leadership and action.

These on-going situations raise two questions: When will the United States develop a real strategy to deal with ISIS? And when will Europe understand the threat posed to the post- Cold War order by the Russian revanchist Vladimir Putin and respond accordingly?

Both questions need coherent answers. I sense President Obama is too passive, disengaged and defeatist in tone at this point to deal with these real threats. Members of his Administration including – UN Ambassador Samantha Powers, General Martin Dempsey, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and even Attorney General Eric Holder – have made stark, sobering assessments about ISIS and Russian aggression only to be contradicted by the Commander-in-Chief. Caution and circumspection are laudable traits, but these attributes should not be excuses for inaction or indecision.

Putin is a determined, ruthless autocrat who knows what he wants as he seeks to establish a renewed Russian sphere of influence. By contrast, the hideous monstrosity of hatred, barbarism, fanaticism and delusion – better known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) – is a cancer that continues to metastasize as it works its wicked will across the Arabian desert – murdering, plundering and pillaging every gruesome step along the way.

The good news is there is a genuine consensus that ISIS must be defeated and that a containment strategy is not a viable option. The United States, Europe, the new Iraqi Government, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, the Kurds, Iran, Russia and what's left of Assad's Syria all agree on that point. The Sunni's of the region, especially the Sunni Arabs, must realize it is in their best interests to end ISIS and shoulder more of the responsibility in fighting the ISIS menace.

The United States, the indispensable nation, is conducting limited air strikes, reconnaissance missions, training and arming the Kurdish Peshmerga, protecting Christians, Yazidis and Turkmen -- while encouraging political reconciliation among Iraqi Sunni, Shia and Kurds. These actions by themselves have slowed ISIS but will not defeat them. If President Obama intends to establish a coalition of the willing, then he must lead the effort. The coalition will not form on its own without our leadership – period.

President Obama must have frank conversations with our partners and allies in the region, starting with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Saudi Arabia needs to engage militarily. The Saudis have a capable, American trained and equipped Air Force. What is the House of Saud waiting for? ISIS is an existential threat to the survival of the Kingdom. It's time for Saudi King Abdullah to move beyond grand rhetoric and start acting.

ISIS is on the border of Turkey. Instead of inciting Islamists, cracking down on dissenters in his own country and making belligerent statements against Israel, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan should join the fight with ground forces. He should reinforce the courageous Kurds on the frontline, rather than taking comfort in a buffer zone provided by the Kurds along its southeast border.

If the United States continues to act as the region's Air Force, Americans must demand more leadership – skin in the game – from the Sunni nations who too often privately support American intervention but are too afraid of their own people to provide full throated public and material support.

And then there is tiny Qatar, mighty financier of Hamas and radical groups in Syria including ISIS. It is time for Qatar to choose sides: ISIS or the civilized world. We can move our military base elsewhere if they answer incorrectly. Stated another way, we can easily remove the American security blanket that protects them.

Our friends in Europe, too, must move beyond strong advocacy in support of NATO, ahem, the United States, to lead the charge against ISIS, which represents an immediate threat to their nations. Of course, Europe will always reserve the right to complain about their American protector, which provides nearly three fourths of NATO's funding. This is particularly galling given that only three of NATO's twenty five European members – the United Kingdom, Greece and Estonia – spend 2% or more of GDP on defense.

If ISIS isn't enough of a threat to move Europe to lead and act decisively in its own interest, then maybe Vladimir Putin is. And, let's not forget the three famous reasons for the establishment of NATO: to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down. Thanks to Putin, a repurposed NATO still must keep the Russians out and the Americans in.

But, what about the Germans? I say let them play to their weight.

Same goes for the Japanese, as an increasingly aggressive China threatens stability in the Pacific.

The civilized world that operates within the “rules-based order” needs Japan and Germany – the 3rd and 4th largest economies in the world – to shoulder more of the global security burden that falls almost exclusively on the United States. The challenges are simply too great and too many for us to take on such a disproportionate share of the responsibility. These two nations cannot remain mighty economic forces while outsourcing too much of their security interests to the United States.

With Putin's recent escalation and overt invasion of Ukraine, it's time that European leaders get serious about stronger sanctions. Business is pretty good with the Russians for Britain, France and Germany, but accommodating the crocodile Putin to protect commercial interests while he violates the territorial integrity of his neighbors hearkens back to darker days when another European tyrant was "appeased" for eerily similar behavior – until it was too late.

And, yes, it is past time to provide defensive weapons to the Ukrainian government, which simply wants Ukraine to be a territorially secure, sovereign, independent nation. While I oppose admitting Ukraine into NATO, Ukraine must be free to form economic and political associations however they wish. Moreover, Ukraine is ground zero in this latest clash between east and west. The proud and thriving Poles once lived this brutal reality. That ground has now shifted. Ukraine is the new Poland.

Where do we go from here? No need to re-litigate the past – such as President Bush's controversial decision in 2003 to invade Iraq, or President Obama's decision to remove all American forces from Iraq in 2011 over the objections of so many in the national security establishment. Both decisions are history.

Yes. We must learn from them, but we must also deal with the here and now.

President Obama must provide real leadership in both the Middle East and Europe. Hitting the links after condemning the beheading of James Foley sent a terrible message that the President is not only disengaged, but detached from what's happening in the world. It’s time for President Obama to get off the 15th Tee, and stop blaming social media for the cause of people’s concern about the very real crises taking place. Facebook didn't send the “Little Green Men” (non-uniformed Russian soldiers), artillery and tanks into Ukraine, nor did it dispatch ISIS on its terror parade through Syria and Iraq. The Commander-in-Chief saying he has no strategy or plan for ISIS is dismaying to say the least.

Vice President Joe Biden says: “we will follow ISIS to the gates of hell.” I assume hell is ISIS-controlled Syria. If that’s the plan – to return American ground forces to Iraq and into Syria – what is the exit strategy from hell? And will our friends, allies and partners join us on this mission to hell and back?

Congress will insist on a say in this matter. That’s why President Obama should view Congress as more than a speed bump on the road to enacting his agenda. Congress must be a partner with the President in addressing these grave challenges that our country and the world face today.

Events are unfolding rapidly. As I said earlier, I’m alarmed. I wish there was some indication that the President is too.

Ukraine: Time Correspondent Pisses Off More People Than Me!

Time Correspondent Michael Crowley tweeted the above pic with this comment: "not a character judgment, but this does kind of capture the moment". He's on his way to Kiev right now with Secretary of State John Kerry.

He's received responses like these:

"I keep telling y'all White folks are all fucked up in the head because there's a Black man in the WH taking care of business."

"Dear @assholeofday: I have a nominee for you."

"Congrats, @TIME. Your Moron of the Day"

"@CrowleyTIME You're trying my patience.Putin is a power hungry bigot and he can't touch our President's shine.You value the wrong shit."

"Big ass, pasty, balding white man with boobs and a beer gut, riding an old ass horse gives dudebros like @CrowleyTIME a hard dick. Lmao"

Incidentally, Russia and China are in complete agreement about Ukraine. So there you have it.

President Jello

While President Obama skips out on a National Security Team meeting on the Ukraine, and tells fellow Democrats it's "Happy Hour," at the very moment that Russians are invading Crimea, can anyone really doubt he's the Neville Chamberlain of the United States? Yes, the very man who ridiculed Mitt Romney for calling Russia our greatest geopolitical foe, has allowed a former KGB to make a fool out of us time and again. Putin's Crimean gambit is just the latest example.  

Whether it is Afghanistan, Iran, Syria or Israel, Obama has forged a new image of the United States as a weak and undependable ally.

We all should have known. After all, before his re-election, he was overheard telling a Russian President that, after the election, he'd have "more flexibility" to discuss Europe' missile defense.Then he went to cancel every part of the deal that bothered Russia. So basically, he's already thrown Eastern Europe under the bus. What's one more state? Given Obama's weakness, the only question I'd ask the Kremlin spy is, what took you so long?

At least Obama is not talking about crossing a red line again.