China's troubles make Vladimir Putin into a loser - CNBC Friday September 4th, 2015 at 2:37 PM
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China's troubles make Vladimir Putin into a loser
CNBC Putin is in China this week for a World War II commemoration ceremony and for talks with his counterpart, Xi Jinping. The focus of the trip, according to the Kremlin, is to discuss trade and economic issues. Both are big priorities for Russia and China ... Putin's China Deals May Hide Paper Tigers as Growth SlowsBloomberg Russia Has a China Problem, TooThe Diplomat Why the friendship between Russia's Putin and China's Xi is becoming strainedEconomic Times Reuters all 300 news articles » |
September 4, 2015, 7:19 PM (IDT)
The crowing over Barack Obama’s success in gaining congressional support for his Iranian nuclear deal against Binyamin Netanyahu’s defeat is premature. The Vienna nuclear deal of June 14 was the first round of the game. More are still to come, before either can be said to have won or lost. The biggest hurdle is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s silence on where he stands, except for insisting on immediate sanctions relief. Netanyahu and AIPAC are fully fired up to take their campaign against a nuclear-armed Iran to the next stage: the fight over sanctions.
September 4, 2015, 8:42 AM (IDT)
The five American Yeshiva students from Brooklyn were driving through Hebron Thursday when they lost their way and entered a Palestinian district of the West Bank town. A mob surrounded the car, bombarded it with rocks and set it on fire with a firebomb. Three were hurt, none seriously. A Palestinian bystander rescued the five youths, hid them in his home, alerted the army and kept them safe until the soldiers arrived to collect them. Jewish residents of Hebron demand that the checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian neighborhood which was recently dismantled be put back.
A top UK defense official said she believes a major review of its military will be less painful than one faced five years ago, when the budget situation forced tough choices on London's military leaders.
Four American and two Multinational Force and Observer peacekeepers were injured Thursday in two explosions in Northeast Sinai, the Pentagon said.
An overall consensus, in broad outline, seems to have taken shape among the main European players, pre-eminently Moscow and Berlin, to accelerate a solution to the conflict “in” Ukraine by the end of this year, on Russia’s terms. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted a meeting in Berlin on August 24, in an unprecedented “Normandy minus Russia” format, though in basic consensus with Moscow (see EDM, September 2).
Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and French President François Hollande (three of the four Normandy parties) have set out a sequence of steps to settle this conflict on conditions acceptable to Moscow. They aim to complete the main work at a high tempo until December 31, the deadline imposed by the Minsk armistice
According to German and French readouts and follow-up actions, the Berlin meeting has set out the sequence of steps toward that end.
1.) Ceasefire: The participants in the August 24 meeting appealed for a full, verifiable ceasefire to be in place by September 1. Ukraine had all along been calling for an immediate and effective ceasefire; with particular urgency during August, when it faced multiple attacks along the demarcation line (seeEDM, August 13). The August 24 appeal from Berlin notwithstanding, another round of Russian/proxy attacks followed on August 26–28, killing 11 and injuring 26 Ukrainian soldiers (President.gov.ua, August 27–29). This seemed designed to be a demonstration effect on Kyiv, ahead of the Verkhovna Rada’s (Ukrainian national parliament) August 31 vote on the constitutional status of the Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine’s east. Apparently satisfied with the vote’s outcome, Russian and proxy forces have declared a complete ceasefire as of 00:00 hours, on September 1, which is holding for now (Interfax, September 1, 2).
2.) Pullback of light artillery and tanks: The proposed pullback would create a “buffer zone” to a depth of 15 kilometers on either side of the demarcation line. This does not form a part of the Minsk ceasefire (February 12). It is, instead, a more recent innovation, designed to mitigate somewhat that ceasefire’s ineffectiveness (see EDM, August 14). The August 31 meeting in Berlin, however, could not advance this proposal, since the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) is prevented from verifying pullbacks in the Russian-controlled territory.
Furthermore, Moscow wants Kyiv to sign the “buffer zone” agreement with Donetsk and Luhansk at senior levels. This would exonerate Russia of its responsibility as an active belligerent, would instead portray the war as internal to Ukraine, and could legitimize not simply the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR-LPR”) as such, but their military organizations also. In practical terms, the “buffer zone,” or indeed the Minsk ceasefire, could only work if the OSCE would monitor the Ukrainian side of the Ukraine-Russia border. Russian and Donetsk-Luhansk forces, however, control a 400-kilometer section of that border from what is legally the Ukrainian side, and do not allow the OSCE to operate along that section. This matter will certainly not be resolved by December.
3.) Halting Russian/proxy harassment of OSCE’s monitoring mission: According to Chancellor Merkel at this meeting, “the OSCE’s ability to operate freely is the Alpha and Omega of sustaining the armistice.” However, Merkel lamented, the mission’s monitors are physically threatened, their movements and access restricted, and the mission’s unmanned aerial vehicles—“which we have so painstakingly supplied”—are being jammed (Bundeskanzlerin.de, August 24). The Chancellor’s readout did not name the perpetrators, although the OSCE’s reports can no longer avoid pointing at Russia’s proxies (Osce.org, July and August 2015). Merkel’s remarks amount to an admission that Ukraine cannot have a reliable ceasefire unless it accepts Russia’s terms on a political settlement of the conflict. Russia expects further decisions in the weeks ahead on the constitutional status of Donetsk-Luhansk and the holding of “elections” there. In that case, Moscow will itself be interested in a show of constructive cooperation with the OSCE for the duration of elections (see below).
4.) Status of the Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk-Luhansk: Merkel and Hollande praised Poroshenko’s “great efforts” to enshrine that territory’s self-administration in an amendment to Ukraine’s constitution. “It is not easy,” they conceded, “to muster a majority for passage of this act in the Ukrainian parliament.” Undoubtedly, they asked Poroshenko to guarantee a majority in the Verkhovna Rada’s August 31 vote; which he went on to deliver. Nevertheless, Merkel’s readout of the meeting hinted at a deeper problem: “there are differences with Russia on this matter; it is imperative to overcome those differences” (Bundeskanzlerin.de, Elysee.fr, August 24).
Indeed, on August 20, Berlin had hosted a meeting of legal experts from all four “Normandy” countries to discuss the Ukrainian constitutional amendment, as well as “elections” to be held in the Russian-controlled territory. In that August 20 meeting, the Russians quoted the Minsk armistice chapter and verse. It states that Kyiv must negotiate the constitutional amendment and the election modalities with Donetsk-Luhansk, seeking “mutually acceptable solutions,” instead of Kyiv legislating solutions “unilaterally.”
*To read Part Two, please click here.
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*To read Part One, please click here.
On August 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called together a unique meeting, in Berlin, of the “Normandy” format minus Russia (though essentially in consensus with Moscow). Merkel, along with French President François Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, outlined a series of steps that need to be taken to resolve the Ukraine conflict, on terms acceptable to the Kremlin, prior to the December 31 deadline imposed by the Minsk Two accord (see EDM, September 2).
The German and French readouts of the meeting, first of all, call on both sides to adhere to a full, verifiable ceasefire. Second, they propose a pull-back of light artillery and tanks to a depth of 15 kilometers on each side of the demarcation line. Third, they demand the end to Russian/proxy forces’ harassment of the monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (see Part One).
The fourth step listed in the German and French readouts of the Berlin meeting specified the need to resolve the status of the Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory in Donetsk-Luhansk. Russia has been adamant that, regarding this matter, Kyiv must reach “mutually acceptable solutions” with Donetsk-Luhansk (see Part One). Ukraine has, until quite recently, refused to turn its constitution into an object of bargaining with Moscow and Donetsk-Luhansk (Interfax, Ukrinform, August 21; RFE/RL, August 22). But in an August 29 triangular phone call, Putin again told Merkel and Hollande that the relevant constitutional and legislative amendments need to be agreed upon between Kyiv and Donetsk-Luhansk (Kremlin.ru, August 29).
On August 31, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian national parliament) passed the constitutional amendment on the Russian-controlled territory’s self-administration in the first reading (Ukrinform, August 31, September 1). Whether Kyiv’s “unilateral” enactment would satisfy Moscow, in content and procedure, seems far from certain. Moscow may well encourage Donetsk and Luhansk to insist on a negotiated, “mutually acceptable” constitutional status. This is, almost certainly, the main part of those persisting “differences” to which Merkel alluded in her August 24 readout of the Berlin meeting (see Part One).
The fifth step refers to holding elections in the Russian-controlled Donetsk-Luhansk: Local elections there would go hand in hand with that territory’s constitutional status in Ukraine (currently in the process of being enacted as “self-administration”). To exercise that status, the authorities in Donetsk-Luhansk must be deemed legitimately elected, in conformance with OSCE standards, as part of Ukraine’s country-wide local elections scheduled for October 25.
Moscow, Berlin and Paris in the Normandy group, as well as Washington and the OSCE, all follow this legalistic approach. Politically, however, Russia would recognize the outcome of elections in that territory regardless of any standards. Ukraine’s Western partners suggest that such elections could be validated if the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) assists with preparing those elections, monitors them, and determines that they complied with the OSCE’s standards.
Ukraine has, all along, argued that no valid elections would be possible under the rule of the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR-LPR”), under Russian military occupation, and with mass-scale population displacements. Such elections could only be, in Kyiv’s words, “fake elections.” President Poroshenko and the governing coalition have said this many times. They now feel compelled, however, to retreat from that position under external pressure. Having yielded on the constitutional status, Kyiv must now advance from A to B and accept even “fake elections” in the Russian-controlled territory.
Under the Minsk armistice, elections in that territory are to be held under Ukrainian law. But, under that same document, the “modalities” of those elections (i.e., the ground rules and actual practices) are subject to negotiation between Kyiv and Donetsk-Luhansk for “mutually acceptable solutions.” That means something other than Ukrainian law. Following the August 24 Berlin meeting, the Minsk working group has jump-started negotiations between Kyiv and Donetsk-Luhansk on those “election modalities.” In her annual end-of-summer press conference (August 31), Chancellor Merkel stated that Ukraine’s parliament should “formulate Ukraine’s electoral law in such a way that the separatists [sic] could accept it” (Bundeskanzlerin.de, August 31).
Russia and the “DPR-LPR” are heavily invested in staging those local elections. They need, therefore, to halt their military actions at least temporarily, in order for the elections to proceed. It is equally in the interest of Moscow and Donetsk-Luhansk to allow the OSCE to verify their compliance with the ceasefire. They would not be able to stage their elections unless the OSCE’s monitoring mission confirms that the ceasefire holds, at least for the duration.
Taking all those factors into account, the political settlement is developing in Russia’s favor, and fast. The key dates are drawing close: local elections on October 25; the Verhkovna Rada’s second reading of the constitutional amendment and its court review in late November and early December; the deadline for Ukraine’s political compliance with the Minsk armistice by December 31. While the process advances in Russia’s favor, at this accelerated tempo, and under external prodding of Kyiv as has recently been the case, Moscow has no reason to re-start hostilities. It is now reaping the political fruits of previous military operations and its capacity to conduct attrition warfare against Ukraine as long as necessary, below the threshold that could provoke new economic sanctions from an already sanctions-fatigued Europe.
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If the FBI or NSA or Homeland Security want to spy on a crowd filled with cellphones without a warrant—according to the policy—they'll have to be actively trying to keep someone from getting killed or injured, keep evidence ...
Yahoo Politics |
Exclusive: Former Clinton aide has rebuffed FBI and State Department ...
Yahoo Politics Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checks her mobile phone at a U.N. Security Council meeting in 2012. (Photo: Richard Drew/AP). The former aide to Hillary Clinton who helped set up and maintain her private email server has declined to talk to the ... Clinton aide refusing to cooperate with FBI probe of serverThe Hill FBI Reportedly Looking Into Whether Hillary's Server Was HackedMediaite State Department asks FBI about records on Hillary Clinton server, thumb drivePolitico (blog) Breitbart News -Washington Examiner -Daily Mail all 851 news articles » |
Gizmodo |
The FBI Now Needs a Warrant To Use Its Phone-Sniffing Stingray Boxes
Gizmodo If the FBI or NSA or Homeland Security want to spy on a crowd filled with cellphones without a warrant—according to the policy—they'll have to be actively trying to keep someone from getting killed or injured, keep evidence from being destroyed, or ... FBI, DEA and others will now have to get a warrant to use stingraysArs Technica Stingray stung: FBI told 'get a warrant'The Register all 20 news articles » |
Reuters |
Justice Department tightens rules on cellphone tracking devices
Reuters Until now, agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been able to use so-called cell-site simulators without applying for a warrant or outlining a probable cause. Cell-site simulators replicate cell towers to pick up ... The ... DOJ cracks down on cell-duping StingraysKSPR all 35 news articles » |
Chippewa Herald |
Justice Department tightens rules on cellphone tracking devices
Business Insider Until now, agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been able to use so-called cell-site simulators without applying for a warrant or outlining a probable cause. Cell-site simulators replicate cell towers to pick up ... The ... New federal requirements on cellphone surveillanceChippewa Herald all 94 news articles » |
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Chippewa Herald |
DOJ cracks down on use of cell-duping Stingrays
CNN And a judge in March detailed a deal between the FBI and local sheriff's office to drop cases rather than reveal any information about the use of Stingrays to gather evidence. The Justice ... "This should have been policy many years ago; it shouldn't ... DOJ cracks down on cell-duping StingraysKSPR New federal requirements on cellphone surveillanceChippewa Herald Justice Department tightens rules on cellphone tracking devicesStreetInsider.com all 76 news articles » |
Chippewa Herald |
New federal requirements on cellphone surveillance
Chippewa Herald Local departments have faced scrutiny from judges about how they deploy the equipment, though agencies have often insisted that non-disclosure agreements with the FBI limit what they can say. ... "After decades of secrecy in which the government hid ... and more » |
Ars Technica |
FBI, DEA and others will now have to get a warrant to use stingrays
Ars Technica The move comes after federal agencies, most notably the FBI, have tried to tightly control information about stingrays for years. The FBI and the Harris Corporation, one of the primary manufacturers of the devices, have refused to answer specifics ... Surveillance State Protected by a Footnote in DOJ Cell-Site Simulator PolicyObserver DOJ cracks down on use of cell-duping StingraysCNN DOJ cracks down on cell-duping Stingrays WPTZ The Champlain Valley eNews Park Forest all 62 news articles » |
Chippewa Herald |
Justice Dept. to Require Warrants for Some Cellphone Tracking
New York Times The new rules also aim to bring greater uniformity to the use of the technology, outlining new management practices, reporting requirements and a standardized approval processes for requesting a warrant to use the technology. Other than in rare urgent ... Justice Department tightens rules on cellphone tracking devicesBusiness Insider New federal requirements on cellphone surveillanceChippewa Herald Justice Department tightens cellphone tracking rulesFx Report Daily all 150 news articles » |
The Guardian |
2000 cases may be overturned because police used secret Stingray surveillance
The Guardian However, a Guardian investigation in April revealed a non-disclosure agreement that local police and prosecutors were forced to sign with the FBI before using the Stingray devices, which mandated them to withdraw or even drop cases rather than risk ... |
Peshmerga commanders and government officials admit the security forces’ salaries are typically paid late, with some not receiving a salary for months at a time.
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legal Insurrection (blog) |
Former Clinton Aide Will Invoke Fifth Amendment in Hearings
legal Insurrection (blog) This is one of the primary reasons that congressional grants of immunity are fairly rare (the last one given was to Monica Goodling in 2007 by the House Judiciary Committee). With respect to Pagliano, however, this would hardly seem to be a serious issue. Former Clinton aide expected to plead the 5th in response to email inquiriesCNN Former Clinton aide who helped set up server to plead Fifth Amendment to avoid ...Fox News Former Clinton Aide Bryan Pagliano Plans to Plead the 5th to Benghazi ...ABC News NBCNews.com -American Spectator (blog) -Middletown Press all 802 news articles » |
The life of Guy Burgess, one of the so-called ‘Cambridge Five’ double agents, who spied on Britain for the Soviet Union before defecting to Moscow in 1951, is detailed in a new biography of the spy, written by Andrew Lownie. 
Arab American News |
FBI names new top agent in Detroit
Arab American News DETROIT — FBI director James B. Comey has named David P. Gelios as the special agent in charge of the Detroit division. Gelios, 53, started his FBI career in 1995. He has served in Kentucky, California, Connecticut, Alaska and Washington, D.C., mostly ... and more » |
Hillary's Email and National Security Scandal Continues to Grow
Accuracy In Media However, despite the confidence some have in FBI Director James Comey's independence, this investigation has become inherently political, and will have a political outcome. President Obama has two choices: indict Mrs. Clinton, and risk a civil war ... and more » |
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
The US-led coalition is facing allegations that its airstrikes against the Islamic State have killed 71 civilians in Iraq and Syria; a US central command spokesman disclosed the claims to the Guardian, reports Alice Ross.
The battle to retake Ramadi is “going nowhere,” reports Loveday Morris, a situation which highlights the “shortcomings” of the US strategy to defeat the Islamic State. [Washington Post]
ISIS has blown up three tower tombs in Palmyra, Syria’s antiquities chief announced today; the Islamist group has also destroyed two ancient temples in the city in recent weeks. [Reuters]
US-led airstrikes continue. The US and partner military forces carried out seven airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on September 2. Separately, coalition forces conducted a further 16 strikes on targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
Syrian civilians are “suffering the unimaginable, as the world stands witness,” said the chair of a UN-mandated human rights inquiry, calling for greater diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to a conclusion. [UN News Centre]
Turkey has released two British VICE News journalists detained on suspicion of terrorism; the Iraqi fixer working with them is still being held.
The refugee crisis facing Europe highlights its political failure in finding solutions to conflicts like the one in Syria, reports Anne Bernard, citing suggestions that the crisis is “essentially self-inflicted.” [New York Times]
A Dutch air force sergeant is suspected of travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State, the defense ministry has said. [BBC]
A mother accused of trying to travel to Syria with her children has been arrested after returning to the UK following her detention in Turkey. [The Guardian’s Chris Johnston]
“The largest humanitarian failure of the Obama era is also its largest strategic failure,” argues Michael Gerson, suggesting that the US response to the Syrian conflict has been a “sickening substitute for useful action,” in an op-ed at the Washington Post.
ISIS “will be defeated,” writes Bernard-Henri Lévy, arguing that “although they are very adept terrorists they are not good soldiers,” at the Wall Street Journal.
IRAN
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the country’s parliament “should not be sidelinedon the nuclear deal issue,” ordering parliament to vote on the accord and calling for the complete lifting of sanctions rather than suspension, in remarks broadcast on state TV. [The Guardian; New York Times’ Thomas Erdbrink and Somini Sengupta]
Three Democratic “holdouts” expressed their support for President Obama’s nuclear deal yesterday; Sens Heidi Heitkamp, Mark Warner and Cory Booker said that while the deal is not perfect, it is better than the alternative, reports Seung Min Kim. [Politico]
The Pentagon is finalizing a $1 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, a move designed to reassure the kingdom about the Iran agreement, report Helene Cooper and Gardiner Harris. [New York Times] Carol E. Lee and Ahmed Al Omran discuss US-Saudi relations and the importance of King Salman’s visit to Washington today. [Wall Street Journal]
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have won “in a way” on the Iran deal, with aides and allies of the leader arguing that Netanyahu never believed he could block the deal in Congress, but instead wanted to convey how dangerous Iran was. [Washington Post’s William Booth]
The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes that the Democrats “[p]olitically speaking, … now own the Ayatollahs,” arguing that by supporting the deal, the party is now responsible for Iran’s compliance and “imperial ambitions.”
“A disaster has been averted.” Roger Cohen explains why President Obama’s victory in Congress has prevented the US from negative international repercussions, at the New York Times.
US citizens held in Iran’s prisons could be swapped for Iranians detained in America, the speaker of Iran’s parliament suggested yesterday. [Washington Post’s Carol Morello]
HILLARY CLINTON EMAIL CONTROVERSY
The State Department has asked the FBI whether the agency has come across certain official records during its review of Hillary Clinton’s email server, in compliance with a court order, Josh Gerstein reports. [Politico]
A former Hillary Clinton aide is refusing to cooperate with the investigations of FBI and State Department officials, reports Bradford Richardson. [The Hill]
If an “ordinary worker” at the State Department had sent similar information to that sent by Hillary Clinton on her private server, “they would very likely face prosecution for it,” NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said during an interview with Al Jazeera. Snowden added that the idea Clinton believed her server to be safe is “completely ridiculous.” [The Guardian’s Ellen Brait]
The Clinton campaign is in “damage control mode” trying to reassure supporters as the investigation into her email practices while at the State Department goes on. [Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler and Peter Nicholas]
And, a former State Department official underwent nine hours of questioning by the House Benghazi Committee yesterday. [The Hill’s Julian Hattem]
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Two improvised explosive devised wounded six international peacekeepers stationed in Egypt, including four Americans, yesterday. [New York Times’ Liam Stack]
NATO has established its first permanent outposts beside Russia, opening a small command post in Lithuania. [Wall Street Journal’s Julian E. Barnes]
A new Justice Department policy will require federal agents to obtain warrants before using equipment to locate and track cellphones, it was announced yesterday. [New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos]
Cluster bombs were used in five countries this year, none of which have signed the treaty prohibiting the weapons, according to a Cluster Munition Coalition report. [New York Times’ Rick Gladstone] Glenn Greenwald criticizes the article, asserting that the US “remains one of the world’s most aggressive suppliers” of the weapons. [The Intercept]
The Palestinian UN ambassador expects to raise the Palestinian flag at the organization’s headquarters in time for a speech from Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas to the General Assembly on September 30. [New York Times’ Somini Sengupta]
The Navy is seeking prosthetic services for five Guantánamo detainees for at least five years, indicating that the Pentagon intends to continue detaining there after President Obama leaves office, reports Carol Rosenberg. [Miami Herald]
Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda said he “never attacked civilians” and was a professional solider during his trial on 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the ICC. [Al Jazeera]
Reform of China’s military will be risky and difficult, an armed forces official paper said today following the announcement of a 300,000 cut to troops. [Reuters]
Many in southern Yemen are wondering when exiled President Hadi will return to the country from Saudi Arabia now that Houthi rebels have been pushed out of much of the region. [Wall Street Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov]
A French soldier has been accused of sexual abuse in Central African Republic, the UN human rights chief said yesterday in a statement; the teenage girl is thought to have been abused about a year ago and in April gave birth to a child. [New York Times’ Nick Cumming-Bruce]
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This is a really great article.
My Brookings colleague William McCants has written a lengthy profile of the Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, published by the Brookings Essay. It's one of the more informative things I've read on the subject. Will has also written a new book on the Islamic State, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamc State, which is due out in a few weeks.
I'll have thoughts on the book after I've read it. In the meantime, the essay is highly recommended.
It opens:
IBRAHIM AWWAD IBRAHIM AL-BADRI was born in 1971 in Samarra, an ancient Iraqi city on the eastern edge of the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad. The son of a pious man who taught Quranic recitation in a local mosque, Ibrahim himself was withdrawn, taciturn, and, when he spoke, barely audible. Neighbors who knew him as a teenager remember him as shy and retiring. Even when people crashed into him during friendly soccer matches, his favorite sport, he remained stoic. But photos of him from those years capture another quality: a glowering intensity in the dark eyes beneath his thick, furrowed brow.Early on, Ibrahim’s nickname was “The Believer.” When he wasn’t in school, he spent much of his time at the local mosque, immersed in his religious studies; and when he came home at the end of the day, according to one of his brothers, Shamsi, he was quick to admonish anyone who strayed from the strictures of Islamic law.Now Ibrahim al-Badri is known to the world as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ruler of the Islamic State or ISIS, and he has the power not just to admonish but to punish and even execute anyone within his territories whose faith is not absolute. His followers call him “Commander of the Believers,” a title reserved for caliphs, the supreme spiritual and temporal rulers of the vast Muslim empire of the Middle Ages. Though his own realm is much smaller, he rules millions of subjects. Some are fanatically loyal to him; many others cower in fear of the bloody consequences for defying his brutal version of Islam.
McCants concludes:
But the bare facts of Baghdadi’s biography show an unusually capable man. He helped found an insurgent group, finished a Ph.D. while managing the religious affairs of the Islamic State, and has been able to prevail amid the State’s cutthroat politics because of his skill at coalition building and his ability to intimidate his rivals. The consolidation of the Islamic State’s territorial gains in Syria and its rapid expansion into Iraq came after the death of his “prince of shadows.” Although the New York Times recently reported that he himself is making arrangements for a succession in the event of his demise by devolving many of his military powers to subordinates, his blend of religious scholarship and political cunning won’t be easily replaced. None of his possible successors combine his Prophetic lineage, religious knowledge, and skill at winning powerful friends and quieting dissent.Throughout his life, Baghdadi has chosen the path of religious extremism, and in ways as small as denouncing dancers at a wedding and as large as mass executions he has always attempted to impose his views on others. He could have been a university professor, persuading young minds with argument. But the believer became the commander of the believers, seeking to impose his savagely bleak religious vision on the entire world. “The march of the mujahidin will continue until they reach Rome,” he proclaimed last year. If Baghdadi’s life is a cautionary tale, it is about the danger of creating the chaos that allows men like him to flourish.
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A former assistant secretary of defense urges a strategy to defeat ISIS that goes beyond military and economic pressures.
Tensions are growing from the influx of Syrians and other migrants seeking entry to the European Union, even as some Muslims in the bloc flee in the opposite direction, to Syria itself.
Little has been done in Western capitals to stop or mitigate the slow-motion disaster that was befalling Syrian civilians and sending them on the run.
President Xi Jinping’s announcement that China will cut its military by 300,000 troops was couched in the language of peace. Yet analysts say that it was intended as a move to modernize and strengthen, not diminish, the country’s armed forces.
The Justice Department has rebutted defense claims that the arrest of Ahmed Abu Khattala in a U.S. military raid south of Benghazi and his interrogation for 13 days aboard a U.S. Navy ship without a lawyer present violated his due process rights.
This summer's sprawling Western wildfires may go down in history as a disaster that spurred one of the longest-ever call-ups of National Guard members for firefighting, the commander of the U.S. National Guard said Thursday during a visit to Central Washington fire camps.
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Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have made “significant” advances against the Islamic State near Tuz Khormato in northern Iraq as the effort to reclaim the western city of Ramadi is moving slowly, a U.S. general said Friday.
A survey conducted by researchers from Duke University and the University of Chicago found that Chicago criminals obtained their firearms almost exclusively from friends and family.
The survey, funded by the Joyce Foundation and set to be published in the October edition ofPreventive Medicine, consisted of interviews with 99 inmates at Chicago’s Cook County Jail who had illegally possessed a gun within six months of their incarceration. It found that most criminals only acquired guns from people they knew and trusted.
“It is rare for offenders to buy from licensed dealers, and also rare for them to steal their guns,” the study says. “Rather, the predominant sources of guns to offenders are family, acquaintances, fellow gang members—which is to say, members of their social network.”
The study found that due to fears of encountering undercover police officers attempting sting operations, a large majority of the criminals surveyed would only make illegal gun purchases from people they knew. “In discussing the underground gun market in their neighborhoods, most respondents emphasized the importance of connections—prior relationships that could create sufficient trust to reassure the seller that the transaction would not create an unacceptable legal risk,” the survey says. “A majority of the primary guns (40 of the 48 for which we have detailed information on the source) were obtained from family, fellow gang members, or other social connections; the fraction is still higher for secondary guns.”
“Only 2 of the 70 primary guns (3%) and no secondary guns were reported as purchased directly from a gun store.”
The survey also found that criminals preferred handguns by a wide margin. Rifles, shotguns, and firearms that would be classified as “assault weapons” under Illinois law made up a small percentage of the guns criminals reported they had owned. Additionally, the survey found that criminals kept their firearms for only a short period of time and had little knowledge of firearms.
The researchers noted that the findings may challenge what many believe about how criminals obtain firearms.
“Some of the pathways people are concerned about don’t seem so dominant,” Harold Pollack, co-director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab and co-author of the survey, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation said that the survey is evidence that new gun control legislation aimed at gun shows or online sales is misguided.
“The University of Chicago Crime Lab survey said the same thing as the U.S. Bureau of Justice: Criminals get their guns from friends and family—not gun shows,” said Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for the NRA.
“This proves what we have said all along,” Alan Gottlieb, the founder of Second Amendment, told theFree Beacon. “Criminals don’t go through background checks to acquire a gun. They don’t buy them at gun stores, gun shows, or on the Internet. They get them from family, friends, and fellow gang members. Gun control laws only affect lawful gun owners.”
“Criminals don’t obey laws,” he said. “That’s why we call them criminals.”
The post Study Finds That Chicago Criminals Get Guns From Friends, Family appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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China’s display of military hardware in Beijing showcased several new weapons systems built as part of the People’s Liberation Army military buildup, including a new intermediate-range missile capable of attacking U.S. forces on Guam.
The DF-26 ballistic missile was revealed to the public for the first time during a parade through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square marking the end of World War II.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported last year that the DF-26C had been deployed. Its range is estimated to be at least 2,200 miles—enough to hit targets at the major U.S. military hub on the island of Guam.
The DF-26 is one reason the U.S. military has deployed its newest ground-based anti-missile system, the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, to Guam.
The parade appeared to be the latest step in Beijing’s anti-Japan propaganda program, which has sought to portray Tokyo as reverting to World War II militarism.
DF-26
In addition to elements of China’s missile force, the parade involved 12,000 troops, tanks, and scores of trucks and launchers carrying missiles, and appeared similar to past military reviews that were a feature of rule under the personality cult of Mao Zedong.
President Xi Jinping was the centerpiece of the military display and was shown on television standing through the sunroof of a black car as he reviewed PLA troop and weapons formations that lined the main boulevard through Tiananmen Square.
The square was the scene of the bloody June 1989 military crackdown when Chinese tanks and troops attacked unarmed protesters, ending a large-scale pro-democracy movement.
During his review, Xi greeted sections of troops along the route and all replied in unison with a Communist Party slogan, “Absolutely follow the Party’s command; be able to win a war; develop an excellent moral character.”
Xi criticized Japan for trying to “enslave China” during the war.
Beijing and Tokyo have been at odds over control of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China is claiming the islands, which are said to contain undersea oil and gas deposits, as its territory. Japan has owned the islands since the end of World War II.
Rick Fisher, a military analyst with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said China’s carefully scripted rollout of the DF-26 included an official disclosure during the parade that the intermediate-range missile is capable of attacking “medium-sized ships.”
“This makes the DF-26 a second generation anti-access weapon that extends PLA strike capability far into the second island chain,” a string of islands hundreds of miles from China’s coast, Fisher said.
“This is alarming because the United States has barely started to respond to China’s first-generation anti-access ensemble targeting the first island chain, like the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile,” he added.
The DF-21D also was displayed during the parade. It is considered a threat to U.S. aircraft carriers because the U.S. Navy has limited defenses against the high-speed maneuvering missile, which is accurate enough to strike a large ship at sea.
Peter Cook, a Pentagon spokesman, said yesterday that defense officials are not surprised by the DF-21D. “It wouldn’t be the first time that new military hardware of some sort was displayed at a military parade, so I would suggest to you it’s not completely surprising and not something we wouldn’t have expected,” he told reporters. He did not mention the DF-26 at the Pentagon news conference.
Cook was asked why the United States does not hold similar military displays.
“The U.S. military is the world’s foremost military, and people shouldn’t doubt that,” he said. “And people know the strength of the United States, the strength of our military, and I think it’s safe to say that we don’t need to display it at parades necessarily for people to understand what the United States is capable of.”
U.S. military analysts closely monitored the parade and the weapons presented, a defense official said, adding there were no major surprises in weapons displayed.
Both the DF-26 and the DF-21D missiles are part of what the Pentagon calls China’s anti-access area-denial weaponry and part of Beijing’s military doctrine that seeks to force the U.S. military, a fixture for peace and stability in Asia for decades, to move out of the region.
As a result, the Pentagon has launched what has become known as the “pivot to Asia.” However, critics say budget shortfalls have made the pivot less effective as a strategy to bolster allies and promote freedom of navigation in the region.
A Chinese announcer during the parade called the DF-21D “an important weapon in China’s asymmetric warfare”—the Chinese military’s strategy of using niche, high-technology weapons that would allow a weaker force to defeat a stronger military.
The CJ-10 long-range conventionally armed land-attack cruise missile also was on parade. It was described as a missile “capable of stealth penetration” that can inflict “palpable damage.” It is one of China’s main battle armaments, the announcer said.
In providing new details on the DF-26, a Chinese spokeswoman said the missile is capable of being launched with either or both nuclear and conventional armed warheads.
“The DF-26 can conduct medium- to long-range precise attacks on key ground targets and large to medium naval ships,” the spokeswoman said.
“It is China’s new weapon in its strategic deterrence system.”
Fisher said the DF-26 appears to be a main reason behind Russia’s decision to violate the U.S.-Russia Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
“The DF-26 [Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile] ASBM indicates that China is winning the anti-access versus access arms race with the United States,” he said.
As for the INF treaty, the missile “severely undermines” the 1987 accord.
“China’s deployment of new intermediate-range ballistic missile and medium-range ballistic missiles is a key reason why Russia has made repeated hints that it wants to end the INF Treaty,” he said.
The Chinese DF-26 deployment should prompt the U.S. government to realize that the INF treaty no longer contributes to U.S. national security, he said.
“The United States needs to start building its own force of [Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles] MRBMs and [Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles] IRBMs to deter China and Russia,” he said.
Short-range missiles in the parade included the DF-15B and DF-16, which Chinese state media said are used for conducting “precision strikes.”
One defense official said the parade did not produce any major surprises and was more significant for the four new high-technology weapons and capabilities that were not on display.
“They didn’t show their cyber warfare capabilities, or their anti-satellite missiles, or the new DF-41 ICBM or the hypersonic glide vehicle,” the official said.
Those weapons are the ones that are believed to present the greatest challenges for U.S. war planners.
The hypersonic glide vehicle initially identified as the Wu-14 is now being called the DF-ZF.
Other missiles shown in the parade included the DF-31A and DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles, considered the backbone of China’s expanding strategic nuclear forces.
The DF-31A is a solid-fuel road-mobile missile that is an important strategic deterrent weapon for the Chinese.
DF-31 (Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center report)
The DF-5B is a modernized variant of one of China’s longer-range missiles deployed in silos.
“It is a shield of defense for national sovereignty, and national dignity,” the Chinese spokeswoman said of the DF-5B.
Mark Stokes, a former Pentagon China affairs policymaker, said the inclusion of advanced missiles such as the DF-26, DF-21D, DF-5B, and DF-16 “strongly suggests” the systems are operational.
“Other systems, such as the DF-41 and hypersonic cruise vehicle, are likely in the advanced stages of research and development,” said Stokes, with the Project 2049 Institute. “All are capabilities that have implications for the U.S., allies, and friends in the region.”
Fisher said the DF-5B has a multiple-warhead capacity that is based on technology obtained from U.S. satellite dispenser technology transferred to China in the 1990s for commercial satellite launches.
DF-5B missiles are presented during a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing Thursday Sept. 3, 2015 / AP
The diversion of U.S. space technology by China for its missile and warhead programs was highlighted in a 2000 congressional investigation known as the Cox Commission, after its chairman Rep. Chris Cox (R. Calif.).
The commission’s report warning of Chinese obtaining multiple-warhead technology has been confirmed, said Fisher, a former staff member of the panel.
China’s DF-5B warhead “illustrates the dangers of cooperating with China in space, as it will exploit dual use technologies to threaten U.S. security,” Fisher said.
Asked about Xi’s announcement that China would cut 300,000 troops to streamline its forces, Cook, the Pentagon spokesman, said the announcement was not significant.
“I don’t think we have a particular reaction to that news, other than it’s basically in line with what the Chinese have said in the past about the size of their military going forward,” Cook said.
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An Anti-American White House by Matthew Continetti
This week President Obama won the 34th vote in support of his nuclear deal with Iran. The vote,from Senator Barbara Mikulski, guarantees that the deal will survive a rejection by Congress. The fact that the deal will be made despite such opposition—something a few of us predicted months ago—is, in the words of the AP, a “landmark Obama victory.” It is worth asking how many more of these victories our country can withstand.
The president and his supporters, of course, say their foreign policy has improved the world. “Like George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton,” writes Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs, “Obama will likely pass on to his successor an overall foreign policy agenda and national power position in better shape than when he entered office, ones that the next administration can build on to improve things further.”
I’m not convinced. Rather than trying to predict how things will look when Obama leaves office, rather than contemplating abstractions such as our “overall foreign policy agenda” and “national power position,” why not examine the actual results of Obama’s policies, as they exist now, in the real world before our eyes?
If we do that, we get an outcome different from Gideon’s. Subjectively, the president may be trying to peacefully integrate rogue regimes into the liberal international order. Objectively, however, the result of Obama’s foreign policy is to empower America’s adversaries. This has been, in its conduct and consequences, an anti-American White House.
I am not saying that the president or the Democratic Party is anti-American in ideology or rhetoric or intent. What I am saying is that the net effect of President Obama’s actions has been to legitimize, strengthen, and embolden nations whose anti-Americanism is public and vicious and all too serious.
Iran is an obvious example. The anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism of the regime is inescapable. Not even Obama, who has gone out of his way to defend the Iranians as rational actors, can ignore it. How has Iran’s “power position” been affected by this White House? In 2009, when the regime faced its most serious challenge in years, the president was silent. In 2011 and 2013, when urged to act against the regime’s closest ally in Syria, the president did nothing.
Why? To speak out in favor of protesting students, to support the Syrian rebels, to punish Bashar al-Assad for violating red lines the president himself had drawn—these acts would have jeopardized the nuclear negotiations with Iran.
The outcome of those negotiations was a deal in which the Iranians agree to suspend some elements of their nuclear research for about a decade in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. So a fundamentalist theocracy whose leaders chant “Death to America” and whose self-identity is based on a revolutionary challenge to the United States and Israel has been endorsed as a quasi-member of the “international community,” and will receive an infusion of much needed cash.
The Iranian leadership is strengthened, the Iranian economy is strengthened, the Iranian paramilitaries and terrorist affiliates—active in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and beyond—are strengthened, all in the fissiparous hope that decades from now this deal will result in Iran’s liberalization. Oh, and at the end of the decade, Iran retains the capability to build an atom bomb. How powerful, how dangerous, will Iranian anti-Americanism be then?
Cuba is not as important a world power as Iran, but it, too, was forged in anti-American upheaval, its ideology is anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-liberal, and its elite bears long-held grievances against the United States. The U.S. trade embargo may not have driven the Castros from power, but it nonetheless expresses American opposition to the nature of Cuba’s government, and to the aims and practices of its rulers. President Obama’s thawing of relations with Cuba repudiates this traditional, bipartisan, moral stand in return for … what exactly? The truth is we receive less from the opening of Cuba than we do from our détente with Iran.
The United States, as a superpower, can afford to be magnanimous with nuisances such as Cuba. But that doesn’t mean we should indulge in the fantasy that the provision of economic and diplomatic stimulus to a decrepit communist backwater will bring positive consequences for the cause of freedom and democracy, and improve the political status of the Cuban people. Nor should we cling to the idea that engaging and trading with the Cubans will pacify them. America has been trading with China for decades. The Chinese are just as un-free as they were the day Apple built its first factory there—and indeed China is more powerful, its influence greater, its willingness to challenge the United States more robust than before. What will Cuba look like—how well armed and fascistic will it be—after 20 years of trade with America?
Cuba may be unimportant, for now, but Russia is not. It has repeatedly rejected President Obama’s desire for a “reset” in relations, and has opted for historical revisionism and territorial expansion. Not only has Vladimir Putin an entire global propaganda network to attack, defame, and inspire hatred of the United States, he has Georgia, Crimea, much of eastern Ukraine, and a nuclear stockpile too.
The Baltic States are terrified of Putin’s next move, as he orders Bear Bombers to fly near our shores and deploys troops to fight alongside the Syrian military. The power base from which he launches his ideological and paramilitary attacks on the West has not diminished. It has expanded.
Indeed, the size of territory held or claimed by anti-American forces has increased considerably since President Obama took office. Not only has Russia slowly digested a once-independent nation. China has also built a series of islands to assert its claims in the South China Sea, the Islamic State governs the western provinces of what was once Iraq, Libya has fallen to Islamic militias, and the Taliban have reclaimed the south of Afghanistan. Each enlargement of the anti-American sphere brings new recruits to the various hostile causes, strengthens our adversaries’ convictions that they are on the winning side of history, fuels their desire to project power even further, heightens the risk of instability and terror.
There is no more inescapable force than the law of unintended consequences. The president, writes Gideon Rose, is “best understood as an ideological liberal with a conservative temperament—somebody who felt that after a period of reckless overexpansion and belligerent unilateralism, the country’s long-term foreign policy goals could best be furthered by short-term retrenchment.” However one understands Obama, whatever one thinks he has been doing, the results of his “short term” retrenchment have energized and amplified the global cause of anti-Americanism.
“Human beings,” wrote James Burnham in 1941, “as individuals and in groups, try to achieve various goals—food, power, comfort, peace, privilege, security, freedom, and so on. They take steps that, as they see them, will aid in reaching the goal in question.”
And yet, “experience teaches us not merely that the goals are often not reached but that the effect of the steps taken is frequently toward a very different result from the goal which was originally held in mind and which motivated the taking of the steps in the first place.”
Experience has taught Obama nothing. The next administration won’t be “building” on his foundation. It will be attempting to reclaim the ground that this anti-American White House has lost.
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The decision of former Hillary Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano to plead the Fifth Amendment on questions surrounding her private email server could not be a “politically worse outcome” for her, NBC’s Chuck Todd said Friday.
Pagliano, identified in digital records as setting up Clinton’s server at the State Department in 2009, announced late Wednesday he would not answer questions after being subpoenaed by the congressional Benghazi Select Committee.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Todd said it appeared Clinton’s campaign was losing control of the story.
“You cannot come up with a politically worse outcome than suddenly when you realize this email story is no longer in your control,” Todd said. “You’re a campaign, and you’ve got former staffers taking the Fifth and you realize somebody has decided what’s in the best interest of Hillary Clinton is not in the best interest of them, then that’s how stories like this become out of your control, and that’s when you sit there and say you can’t assume anything right now.”
Clinton will sit down with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell later today to presumably address the latest chapter in her email scandal, which has hurt her favorability numbers and perception of trust from the public.
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As aides to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign forecast “headwinds” and “bumpy” rides as the commotion surrounding her private email wages on, one major Democratic fundraiser is expressing growing concern regarding the former secretary of state’s viability in 2016.
Peter Buttenwieser, a Philadelphia philanthropist who helped raise over $500,000 for Barack Obama in his first presidential bid in 2008, described himself as “concerned” about polls indicating that a majority of Americans do not trust Clinton, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Buttenwieser is one of several Democratic donors with whom top campaign aides are hurriedly establishing communication to assure that Clinton did not do anything illegal in her exclusive use of a private email system while secretary of state.
“They have made a careful and bona fide attempt to reassure people. I’ve told representatives of the campaign … that I have grown to be quite concerned,” Buttenwieser said. In response to his worry, staffers have invited the donor to Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, to meet with campaign manager Robby Mook as well as other top aides.
Buttenwieser, who donated to Joe Biden’s campaign for Senate in 1999, lamented that Clinton’s bid for president is “on a serious downward trajectory.”
The donor has not yet hosted a fundraiser for Clinton nor made a contribution to her campaign, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
This is also not the first instance of Buttenwieser expressing concern about the controversy surrounding Clinton.
In April, the Democratic fundraiser also expressed worry regarding the Clinton Foundation’s suspect acceptance of donations from foreign sources.
“I think it should be a concern, yes,” he told Politico. “It’s a legitimate concern, and I think that Secretary Clinton needs to be able to explain this in a straightforward, constructive, thoughtful way. And I think the sooner that she does that, the better. And I assume that she will rise to the occasion and work through this; it’s part of running, and I think it’s critical that she do it and not wave it off.”
Buttenwieser’s increased worry comes just as Vice President Joe Biden mulls a bid for the White House in 2016.
Clinton aides have been rattled by the email controversy as the FBI continues its investigation into the security of the former secretary of state’s personal server. Senior aides, reportedly including Huma Abedin and campaign chairman John Podesta, are reaching out to donors via meetings, phone conversations and emails to quell their concern.
According to an unnamed senior campaign official, the message aides are selling to donors is, “It’s going to be bumpy, friends.”
Indeed, Podesta warned of “headwinds” brewing amid the email controversy Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
“We’ve had some headwinds particularly around the email question,” the campaign chairman confessed. “There’s been a lot of noise that’s made it more difficult to break through.”
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Despite being given two opportunities to do so by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Hillary Clinton did not apologize Friday for her use of a private email server while at the State Department.
“You said recently that using your personal email while you were secretary of state was not the best choice and that you take responsibility,” Mitchell said. “Are you sorry?”
“Well, I certainly wish I had made a different choice and I know why the American people have questions about it, and I wanted to make sure that I answer those questions,” Clinton said. “My personal email use was fully aboveboard. It was allowed by the State Department as they have confirmed, but in retrospect … I should have had two accounts. One for personal, one for work-related.”
Clinton’s sentiment about understanding why the American people wanted to know more was curious, given she had claimed in August no one spoke to her about her email saga except the media covering the scandal.
After a long-winded answer by Clinton about the focus of her presidential campaign, Mitchell strangely repeated her question as if Clinton had not heard it the first time.
“But this has created what even your own campaign manager said are some headwinds,” Mitchell said. “A lot of noise out there, so let’s get through some of it. First of all, are you sorry? Do you want to apologize to the American people for the choice you made?”
“Well, it wasn’t the best choice, and I certainly have said that,” Clinton said. “I will continue to say that. As I’ve also said many times, it was allowed and it was fully aboveboard. The people in the government knew that I was using a personal account, but it would have been better to have two separate accounts to begin with.“
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A record 94,031,000 Americans 16 or older did not participate in the nation’s labor force in August, and the labor force participation rate remained at 62.6 percent, a 38-year low, according to datareleased Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The 94,031,000 Americans not in the labor force are those individuals who did not have a job and did not actively seek one in the past four weeks. This measure increased by 261,000 individuals over the month.
The participation rate, the percent of the population who participated in the labor force by either having a job or actively seeking one in the past four weeks, remained unchanged from June to July at 62.6 percent. This metric has not been this low since October 1977, when it was 62.4 percent—a span of 38 years.
The unemployment rate declined from 5.3 percent in July to 5.1 percent in August. This measure does not account for those individuals who have dropped out of the labor force. The unemployment rate measures the percentage of those who did not have a job but actively sought one over the month. The number of unemployed individuals dropped by 237,000 over the month.
For women, the employment situation is even more acute. A record 56,253,000 women 16 or older did not participate in the nation’s labor force in August, according to the BLS data. This measure increased by 44,000 individuals over the month.
When President Obama took office in January 2009, there were 49,226,000 women not in the labor force. This means that since that time, 7,027,000 women have dropped out of the labor force.
The female participation rate remained unchanged from July to August at 56.7 percent. The unemployment rate for women declined in August for to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent in July.
While the official unemployment rate improved for both sexes over the month, that measure does not account for the significant number of Americans who have stopped looking for work.
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was not “thinking a lot” when she first got to the State Department in 2009 and elected to use a private email server, citing the business of her tenure from the beginning and the “many problems around the world” she had on her plate.
Clinton appeared on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports Friday for a rare televised interview as revelations about her use of a private server and mishandling of classified information have sent her approval ratings and trustworthiness levels into a downward spiral.
“Did anyone in your inner circle say, ‘This isn’t such a good idea. Let’s not do this?’” Mitchell asked.
“You know, I was not thinking a lot when I got in,” Clinton said. “There was so much work to be done. We had so many problems around the world. I didn’t really stop and think what kind of email system will there be.”
Earlier in the interview, Clinton received two separate opportunities to apologize for her use of a private server in the first place, but she dodged doing so both times, simply saying that she wished she had made different choices.
Clinton did say that she was “sorry this has been confusing to people.” Last month, Clinton said that no one in her time on the campaign trail brought up the email scandal to her except for the press, but she acknowledged Friday that she understood why the American people were interested in learning more about her email decisions.
Clinton has seen her lead in the polls over challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) gradually dwindleduring the young campaign season. Vice President Joe Biden could still potentially enter the fray and shake up the race even further, saying he would “not hesitate” if his family was up for the challenge.
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While the number of foreign-born individuals holding jobs increased in August, the number of employed native-born workers fell, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
There were 24,914,000 foreign-born individuals employed in August, up 204,000 from the previous month. According to the BLS, a foreign-born worker may be undocumented because the data does not distinguish between legal or illegal immigrants.
“The foreign-born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants. The survey does not separately identify the numbers of persons in these categories,” according to the BLS.
While employment increased for these individuals over the month, workers born in the United States faced a decline. There were 124,314,000 native-born workers employed in August, which was down 698,000 from the month before.
The unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of the labor force that either had a job or looked for one in the past month, is lower for foreign-born workers than it is for native-born workers.
In August, the unemployment rate for foreign-born workers declined to 4.4 percent from 5.2 percent in July. The unemployment rate of 4.4 percent is lower than the 5.3 percent unemployment rate for native-born workers in August.
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Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now disagrees with the decision of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to use a private email server for official business, Clinton said Friday.
“I now disagree with the choice I made,” Clinton said, while maintaining that her use of private email for state secrets was above-board.
Clinton discussed her widening email scandal with MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell.
“The first words that came to mind when asked about you are ‘liar,’ ‘untrustworthy,’ ‘crooked,’” Mitchell said. “How does that make you feel?”
“It certainly doesn’t make me feel good,” Clinton said, “but I am very confident that by the time this campaign has run its course people will know that what I have been saying is accurate.”
Clinton said she will have a chance to clear her name when she testifies before the House Select Committee on Benghazi in October.
“They [committee members] may disagree as I now disagree with the choice that I made, but the facts I have put forth have remained the same,” Clinton said.
Clinton also refused twice to apologize for her decisions with her private email server during her interview with Mitchell, saying she did wish she had made a different choice and saying she was sorry the American people felt “confusion” about her choices.
Clinton’s numbers on honesty and favorability have suffered throughout the scandal, which first came to light in March. Clinton falsely claimed at the time to have never sent nor received classified information through her server.
Her sit-down Friday with Mitchell marks the third nationally televised interview Clinton has given since she began her campaign for president in April.
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Hillary Clinton’s favorable rating has dropped to its lowest level since March 2001 as the Democratic presidential candidate battles controversy surrounding her use of a personal email account at the State Department.
A Gallup analysis released Friday indicates that 41 percent of American adults currently view Clinton in a favorable light, while a significant majority–51 percent–hold an unfavorable opinion of the former secretary of state.
Arguably her worst to date, Clinton’s current favorable score sits about where it did in March 2001 at the start of her career representing New York in the U.S. Senate, just months after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ended his final term by pardoning more than 100 Americans.
The controversial pardons included former CIA Director John Deutch who, ironically, was in danger of facing criminal charges for mishandling classified information on his personal computer, in addition to Clinton’s former Whitewater business partner Susan McDougal and his brother Roger Clinton.
The poor 2001 favorable rating also came just after the Clintons were scrutinized for taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of property from the White House when they left.
Clinton’s current favorability rating is 26 percentage points less than its peak of 67 percent in 1998.
Indeed, top Clinton campaign aides are trying to ease concerns surrounding the FBI investigation into the security of Clinton’s email server, reaching out to donors to instill confidence in the presidential contender but warn that the controversy will continue to be “bumpy.”
While Clinton has repeatedly insisted that she never knowingly sent or received information marked classified on her personal email, the inspector general of the intelligence community has identified at least two emails held on her system that contain “top secret” information.
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The five Chinese Navy ships spotted operating in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska steered within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coast and passed through U.S. territorial waters, the Pentagon said.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Pentagon officials said for the first time late Thursday that the five Chinese navy ships had passed through U.S. territorial waters as they transited the Aleutian Islands, but said they had complied with international law. Analysts saw the passage as significant as Beijing has long objected to U.S. Navy vessels transiting its territorial waters or operating in international waters just outside.
The Chinese vessels, including three combat ships along with a replenishment vessel and an amphibious ship, were first observed in the area Wednesday after moving toward the Aleutian Islands, which are controlled partially by the U.S. and Russia.
China’s Defense Ministry explained that the ships had sailed to the Bering Sea for training following joint exercises with Russia called “Joint Sea 2015 (II)” at the end of last month, insisting that the actions were “routine.”
“This is a routine arrangement in the annual plan, it is not aimed at any particular country and target,” the ministry said in a statement.
Pentagon officials said that the vessels passed through the U.S. territorial waters in agreement with international law’s principle of “innocent passage.”
The Navy ships “transited expeditiously and continuously through the Aleutian Island chain in a manner consistent with international law,” a Pentagon spokesman explained.
The ships were observed off the Alaskan coast just as President Obama concluded his three-day trip there to raise awareness about climate change. The sighting also comes three weeks before Obama welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, D.C., for a White House state dinner.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Army Secretary John McHugh is suspending operations at four Defense Department laboratories that handle biological toxins, as the military scrambles to correct problems that led to the accidental shipment of live anthrax to dozens of labs around the country and the world.
McHugh is also directing a ...
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - The family of a Louisiana National Guardsman killed in a helicopter crash will bury him at Arlington National Cemetery, a request that was initially denied.
The standard military honors burial service will be conducted Tuesday for Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Florich III, cemetery spokeswoman Melissa Bohan ...
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MADISON, S.D. (AP) - Experts at a U.S. Senate cybersecurity field hearing say a national lack of understanding about cybersecurity and a shortage of security experts are significant challenges to confronting the growing threat from cyberattacks.
U.S. Sen. John Thune chaired the Thursday hearing at Dakota State University about meeting ...
The federal agency entrusted to stretch tax dollars as far as they can go to get veterans the best medical care, in fact, has a hard time spending tax dollars wisely.
Over the last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been repeatedly cited for waste, fraud, abuse and theft ...
Hillary Clinton classified emails mostly sent by Jake Sullivan, Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedinby Stephen Dinan, S.A. Miller and S.A. Miller, Stephen Dinan
Nearly a third of the classified messages released so far from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails came from one man: Jake Sullivan, who served as her deputy chief of staff in the department, and is now the top foreign policy adviser to her presidential campaign.
Cheryl D. ...
President Obama is set to receive an official, albeit reluctant nod of approval for the Iran nuclear deal when Saudi Arabia's new king visits the White House for the first time Friday, but analysts say it will come at a price as Riyadh seeks Washington's support for its increasingly anti-Iran ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is greeting King Salman of Saudi Arabia with assurances that a nuclear deal with Iran also comes with the necessary resources to help check its regional ambitions.
The king is making his first visit to the White House since ascending the throne in January. ...
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump labeled as "gotcha" questions some posed to him by radio host Hugh Hewitt on foreign affairs, saying that when the time is right, he'll be up to speed on world affairs.
On his radio show Thursday, Mr. Hewitt asked Mr. Trump if he was familiar ...
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday that he'd try to work with what he called a "disastrous" nuclear deal with Iran to turn it around and that there will be "hell to pay" if Iran violates the terms, taking a different path from some of his 2016 GOP rivals ...
Published on Sep 4, 2015
President Barack Obama welcomed King Salman of Saudi Arabia to the White House Friday, outlining a broad range of discussion they will have on the Middle East, including the Iran nuclear deal and the civil war in Yemen. (Sept. 4)
Western defence officials warn of rise of online privateers
Didn’t follow the international news this summer? That’s all right. These are the facts that tell the stories you need to know going into what’s going to be a very busy autumn:
1. Iran
The Iran nuclear deal was the single most consequential story of the summer for the global economy. In exchange for opening to international nuclear inspections, Tehran was promised sanctions relief. With the economic boost, Iran’s GDP is expected to grow as much as 8 percent over the next two years.
But with more money at its disposal, Tehran could further destabilize an already chaotic Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia are long-time rivals, and have waged proxy conflicts across the region for years—in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere. Saudi Arabia spent $80 billion on defense last year; hampered by sanctions, Iran could only spend $15 billion. That will change as Iran sells an additional one million barrels of oil per day by the end of 2016. It’s a fundamental shift in the Middle East’s power balance—creating both risks and opportunities for other countries, including the U.S.
Congressional opponents of the deal won’t have the votes to override the president’s veto of any legislation intended to kill the agreement. So watch Saudi-Iranian relations instead. That’s where the real story lies.
2. China
Iran was the summer’s no. 1 story, but China was a close no. 2. Weak economic data and surprising government interventions suggested the world’s no. 2 economy might be slowing much more quickly than expected. China is transitioning from an export-driven economy to a consumer-oriented one, and this will slow China’s economy in years to come. What’s surprising was how quickly things seemed to move south: from June 15 to August 27, the Shanghai Index fell about 40 percent as Beijing waffled on how to respond to unprecedented market swings, intervening with mixed results.
Given the state’s ability to ease lending and ratchet up government spending, China is still projected to grow at about 7 percent this year. But events this summer have reminded us that the world is dependent on a stable China with a growing economy. China has simply become “too-big-to-fail,” accounting for 10 percent of all global goods traded in 2014. Last year it was responsible for 17 percent of global GDP. So countries around the world now find themselves dependent for their own growth and stability on a country whose decision-making and internal politics remain opaque.
3. Brazil
While China has been rocked by market swings this summer, Brazil has been rocked by corruption scandals. The biggest investigation centers on state-owned energy giant Petrobras. Investigators contend that high-level company officials awarded contracts in exchange for political kickbacks, currently valued around $2 billion. That’s bad; what’s worse is that Dilma Rousseff, the country’s current president, was chairwoman of the company when the illicit exchanges took place. There’s still no evidence that Rousseff had knowledge of any wrongdoing, but more than 50 politicians are now under investigation. Rousseff’s approval rating is at 8 percent, and 66 percent of Brazilians now favor her impeachment.
Brazil was supposed to be an emerging market success story, a model for how Latin America could lift its people out of poverty while running a dynamic economy built on investor-friendly policies and responsible economic planning. Now it’s in danger of becoming the poster child for how political scandals can derail promising economic growth. Indictments against politicians will continue into the fall. If former President Lula—Rousseff’s mentor and political patron—is indicted, Brazil might descend quickly into open political warfare.
4. ISIS
Back to the Middle East: ISIS continues to gain followers as Western powers struggle to come up with an effective response. ISIS is the best-funded, best-equipped terrorist group in the world, and its appeal continues to grow. An estimated 20,000 foreign fighters have joined the jihadi group, about 3,500 of whom hail from Western countries. More disturbing is that as many as 20% of these foreign fighters are women, despite its horrific record of sexual violence, signaling that outsiders don’t understand ISIS’s appeal as well as they think they do. Combined with the fact that ISIS takes in more than $1 million a day via extortion and taxes, and the group has staying power.
This fall, Sunni militia groups—backed by Western powers—will try to deal serious blows to this Sunni terrorist organization. Watch the Iraqi city of Mosul—it’s currently the most populous and important city under ISIS’s control. Losing it will badly damage Islamic State finances—and its image as a winner for many young Muslims.
5. Europe
Violence in the Middle East is pushing refugees toward Europe, and European governments are scrambling. Europe is still managing the Greek debt crisis and debating how best to mend original design flaws in the Eurozone. The migrant crisis, and the political pressures it exacerbates within EU countries, makes it that much harder for European governments to share burdens. The basis of the European Union isn’t money or security—it’s shared values. And when officials in countries like Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic say they’re only willing to accept Christian refugees, it throws those common values in doubt. 107,500 migrants arrived on European shores this past July, triple last year’s figures; 50,000 arrived in Greece alone.
This fall will be crucial for the continent. The first test is how much money Europe commits to the migrant crisis. The second is how equitably EU member states will share the burden of absorbing them. But the most important test is what happens to the Schengen Agreement. A pillar of the EU, Schengen allows for the free movement of travel between EU nations. Some countries argue that Schengen needs to be suspended in light of the current crisis. If the migration crisis forces the EU to suspend or even abolish one of its central tenets, the future of the 20th century’s most ambitious political project will grow bleaker.
(Politico EU, Wall Street Journal)
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