Terrorism: No Biggie

Last time we looked at the Obama administration’s five foreign policy rule and examined in some detail the first three: Love of despots, undermining of freedom advocates (nearly 500 political dissidents were jailed in Cuba while he was laughing it up with Rual Castro), blame America for all the problems in the world, this time we’ll look at the last two: terrorism is no big deal and his high tolerance for the suffering of others.  The callousness of Obama is beyond belief. Not since the 1930’s has such a dangerous movement as Islamic extremism risen in the world and Obama is either sympathetic to or at least complacent against it.  Who is Obama most supportive of in the Middle East, Israel or Iran? I can come to no conclusion other than the Iran deal is Obama’s attempt to have a nuclear power in the region to counter balance Israel, the way I suspect he believes the Soviet Union was needed to counter the United States.

Donald Trump considers the Iran deal bad but believes with his special brand of negotiating abilities he can make it work.

Ted Cruz would throw it in the garbage can. Remember the maligned letter Senate Republicans sent to Iran stipulating that any deal was between the Obama administration and the Iranian President not a binding treaty on the US.

The rise of ISIS is the most damning legacy of the Obama administration included below is the entire interview where Obama called them the JV team. The rape torture plunder and murder, that ISIS has wrought rose up from the anarchy of Syria spread into Libya after Obama/Clinton removed the despicable but controlled and manageable Khadafy and turned that country into a post-apocalyptic waste land, then when he pulled our forces out of  Iraq he left that  country exposed to the ravages of the marauding horde that is Islamic Extremism.  The Obama line is that Bush is to blame but the reality is that when Obama took office Iraq was stable free though still a Republic in its infancy. All that was needed was a small (10-20 thousand) contingent of US troops and logistical support to make sure that during the unavoidable period of political discord that arises from starting a new nation especially when no democratic tradition exists. How stable was the US in the first decade of our independence? Obama will argue that Iraq rejected the status of forces agreement but if so why did Joe Biden return from the failure to secure an agreement by saying it was an honor to be entrusted to end the war?

Donald Trump echoes the blame Bush mentality and has recently stated that he will make ISIS disappear soon after he becomes President.

Cruz too says that invading Iraq was in error, one of the few disagreements I have with the man, but spells out a clear way forward on his website linked below.

Obama is not a friend of Liberty, he does not respect inalienable rights and he cares little for religious freedom and for eight years has supported our enemies empowered the forces opposed to freedom and undermined our allies. What to do about it?

Donald Trump basically says that because he is Donald Trump he can make the words work. He wishes to redefine NATO and back out of our role as defender of liberty in the world. While a prudent policy of limiting our involvement is essential the absence of the US as a leader creates a vacuum that must be filled. No other nation has the power to fill that vacuum with liberty; it will be filled with Sharia, or communism or other despotism if we back off. Yesterday Donald Trump gave his definitive foreign policy speech but what does it mean? You can count on anything Trump says today to be different tomorrow. He will betray any ally that he has just like he betrayed the Bible belt Christians who voted for him on the false impression that he was pro-life. A betrayer betrays and Trump is a proven betrayer.

Our allies need a President that can be trusted, who has a principled approach to foreign policy. One who can easily see the difference between good and evil.  Who is not neutral concerning Israel and Palestinians, one who understands that religious freedom must be the number one principle promoted.

Our enemies need to fear us, our friends need to trust us. The number one recruitment tool for ISIS is the perception they are winning, the best way to stop their recruitment is not to shut down the internet as Trump suggests it is to defeat them.  Ted Cruz is the candidate who gives us the chance to restore the respect of the world both to America and to the office of the Presidency, at least as I see it.  

 Obama critics often accuse conservatives of taking Obama’s quotes out of context, I find the context even more infuriating.  Like in this story that begins with the question while you were on vacation:

From a New Yorker profile interviewer David Remmick.

Remnick:  "You know where this is going, though. Even in the period that you’ve been on vacation in the last couple of weeks, in Iraq, in Syria, of course, in Africa, al-Qaeda is resurgent."

Obama:  "Yes, but, David, I think the analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant. I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian."

Remnick: "But that JV team just took over Fallujah."

Obama:  "I understand.  But when you say took over Fallujah –"

Remnick:  "And I don’t know for how long."

Obama:  "But let’s just keep in mind, Fallujah is a profoundly conservative Sunni city in a country that, independent of anything we do, is deeply divided along sectarian lines. And how we think about terrorism has to be defined and specific enough that it doesn’t lead us to think that any horrible actions that take place around the world that are motivated in part by an extremist Islamic ideology is a direct threat to us or something that we have to wade into."

Another quote:

I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela – these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we’re going to wipe you off the planet.

Remember how the president went golfing after a brief statement about the beheading of American journalist James Foley, or the pathetic hashtag bring back our girls campaign? Obama is very slow to be moved to action over the greatest series of human rights atrocities in the modern world but he gets deeply concerned over Mississippi and North Carolina trying to defend the first amendment rights of its own citizens. Obama is a waste who has weakened our military and made the world an far more dangerous and unstable place then just 7 short years ago.

One of two men will likely be the next republican candidate to fix the mess Obama will leave their positions on terror and defense:

Trump: As with all things one policy is hard to pinpoint from Trump. Just as Crux does Trump speaks to bombing ISIS and building up the military there the coherency of his policy ends. He wants to kill terrorist’s families except he doesn’t he suggests closing of the internet to terrorists but doesn’t say how to do so, or under what conditions. He bounces around on banning Muslim immigration from his website: Mr. Trump stated, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life. If I win the election for President, we are going to Make America Great Again." - Donald J. Trump

Does this include Muslims who aid our forces in the fight against terror? Just wondering. While better vetting of immigrants is only logical, Trump’s call for a national registry of Muslims was one Rooseveltian step he has since walked back.  Trump is king of the soundbite but passed that he has little of a coherent nature.

Cruz: from his website

The United States of America is the exceptional nation, the nation other countries aspire to be like. We should stand as a shining beacon of what free people enjoying a free market and system of government can achieve. But while our intentions towards the rest of the world are peaceful, that does not mean we have no enemies, and the fact of the matter is our enemies are on the march.

Two terms of the disastrous Obama-Clinton foreign policy have had one useful effect: we now know what the world starts to look like without America. The next president will have to start on day one rebuilding what they have tried to tear down. A truly conservative foreign policy would have three simple principles:

To preserve our country we need to exert leadership on the global stage, not withdraw from it.

We need to fiercely defend our allies and interests.

And we need to judge each challenge through the simple test of what is best for America.  Because what is best for America is best for the world.

In order to restore America’s safety and security, we must rebuild our military. If you think defending the country is expensive, try not defending it. We must rebuild our military in a way that will secure our children without bankrupting them.

ISIS seeks to destroy our very way of life. We must defeat them. That starts by calling the enemy by its name – radical Islamic terrorism – and securing the border. Border security is national security.

We cannot recede from our leadership in the world. If we withdraw from the Middle East, the radical jihadists will not be content to stay there—they are going to attack our allies in the region and beyond. And they are on the lookout for every opportunity to attack us here at home.

On day one, a President Cruz will immediately repeal every word of President Obama’s dangerous Iran deal and will prioritize American national security interests in every instance.

Authored legislation urging the Secretary of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, introduced the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015, immediately barring refugees to the United States from any country, such as Iraq or Syria that contains substantial territory controlled by a foreign terrorist organization.

Chaired a hearing for the Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts titled “Justice Forsaken: How the Federal Government Fails the American Victims of Iranian and Palestinian Terrorism.” This hearing focused on the federal government’s failure to support the American victims of Iranian and Palestinian terror in their search for justice.

Cruz record:

Introduced the IRGC Terrorist Designation Act, urging the U.S. Department of State to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization.

Sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner laying out a three-step approach to stop the flow of funds to the Iranian regime according to the terms of Corker-Cardin, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

Introduced a resolution defining the start of Congress’ 60-day review period and detailing flaws within the submittal of the agreement.

Sent Obama a letter and declared his intention to hold reauthorizing legislation and block all State Department nominees unless Obama provides written assurance that he will block the UN resolution to approve the Iran deal until congressional review has run its course.

Has twice introduced the Sanction Iran, Safeguard America Act to reinstate, impose, and expand Iran sanctions and stop failed negotiations until Iran meets certain preconditions.

Has twice introduced the Expatriate Terrorist Act, which seeks to prevent terrorists who join ISIS or other terrorist groups from re-entering the country and to make clear that citizens who collaborate with terrorists have forfeited their right to US citizenship.

Introduced legislation to prevent terrorists from entering the US as UN ambassadors, which Iran had attempted by nominating Hamid Aboutalebi. It passed Congress unanimously and President Obama signed it into law.

Opposed arming Syrian rebels, while supporting securing Syrian chemical weapons.

Introduced legislation to ensure that the victims of Fort Hood were eligible to receive the Purple Heart. The acts of Nidal Hasan were not random acts of workplace violence — it was a clear act of radical Islamic terrorism on our own soil. The men and women who stood bravely in the midst of it deserve to be rightly honored, and Cruz’s measure ensured that were.

Successfully amended the Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations bill to require the VA Secretary to provide Congress with a plan to address the long wait times for veterans seeking health care at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.

Sponsored the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act to make it easier for senior executives at the VA to be terminated for negligence, mismanagement, and other performance failures.

On behalf of three million veterans, Cruz successfully defended the crosses at the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial.

For a detailed plan on rebuilding the military: https://www.tedcruz.org/american-resolve/

Cruz’s views are concise and consistent and easy to find, Trump’s change so frequently that its hard to follow, which we will look at more soon.

Keep on the firing line

Cruz Cuba Trump and the Tango. Pt 1

Nero fiddles while Rome burns, perhaps not 100% historically accurate but it is a by word for heartless and callous behavior from a leader in a time of crisis. Perhaps the phrase needs an update, Obama tangoed as Brussels burned.  Perhaps nothing in the long Obama nightmare shows the ineptitude of the Obama foreign policy as did his recent foray into Cuba/central America. He loves despots, he undermines freedom advocates, he blames America for the entire world’s problems, terrorism isn’t a big deal and he has a very high tolerance for the suffering of others.  Let’s look at President Obama’s foreign policy and how the two remaining Republican hopefuls react.

Policy point 1, Love of despots:

President Obama once said “I’m not a dictator,” but I have no doubt he wishes he could be. He has cultivated positive relations with such dictators as Rual Castro, yet alienates traditional allies such as Israel and England time and again. While his embracing of Castro is telling his support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is damning. He actively supported one of the worst extremist groups rise to power then openly condemned their removal. His support of a nuclear deal that will lead to Iranian nuclear weapons though is the worst example.   Iran already a threat to the world through its support of terror would become the greatest threat to our firmest ally in the Middle East, Israel.  

Cruz from his campaign website: Two terms of the disastrous Obama-Clinton foreign policy have had one useful effect: we now know what the world starts to look like without America. The next president will have to start on day one rebuilding what they have tried to tear down. A truly conservative foreign policy would have three simple principles:

To preserve our country we need to exert leadership on the global stage, not withdraw from it.

We need to fiercely defend our allies and interests.

And we need to judge each challenge through the simple test of what is best for America.  Because what is best for America is best for the world.

On day one, a President Cruz will immediately repeal every word of President Obama’s dangerous Iran deal and will prioritize American national security interests in every instance.

Trump from his nothing on foreign policy except renegotiating deals with China, and bombing Isis he has however made it clear that he thinks the Iran deal is a poor one but prefers to fix it rather than abandon it: “[that] ... Because I’m a deal person. And when I make deals ... I will police that deal. You know, I’ve taken over some bad contracts. I buy contracts where people screwed up, and they have bad contracts. But I’m really good at looking at a contract and finding things within a contract that, even if they’re bad, I would police that contract so tough that they don’t have a chance. ... And the problem is, by the time I got in there, they will have already received the $150 billion.”

Point #2 Undermines freedom’s advocates:

Pres. Obama said, “What I've said to the Cuban government is, if . . . we're seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans, I'd love to use a visit as a way of highlighting that progress, " What Obama did was to go to Cuba and offer Cuba millions in American investment without one single concession on human rights, and all the evidence proving that the oppression of the Cuban people worsening. This is a pattern that began early while chaos was spreading over the middle east Obama ignored the democracy movement in Iran that may have made overthrown one of the most evil and dangerous regimes in the modern history of the world.

Cruz reaction: “For decades, leftists and Hollywood liberals have made the pilgrimage to Cuba to pay homage to Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro,” Cruz said. “It’s very chic, it’s very chichi for leftists to celebrate vicious communist dictators.”

If elected president, Cruz vowed he would visit Cuba too, though under different circumstances.

“I cannot wait as president to visit Cuba,” he said. “But when I visit Cuba, it will be a free Cuba. It will be a Cuba without Raúl Castro, without Fidel Castro. And I can’t wait to celebrate with the people of Cuba 90 miles off America’s shore.”

Trump was more concerned about the personal insult payed the pres. By Castro Wow, President Obama just landed in Cuba, a big deal, and Raul Castro wasn't even there to greet him. He greeted Pope and others. No respect

Point # 3 Blaming America:

Many many quotes from Obama imply or directly say, he blames the US for the world’s prblems but with the emphasis on Cuba I’ll pull just one line from that speech: I know these issues are sensitive, especially coming from an American President.  Before 1959, some Americans saw Cuba as something to exploit, ignored poverty, enabled corruption.  And since 1959, we’ve been shadow-boxers in this battle of geopolitics and personalities.  I know the history, but I refuse to be trapped by it. I’ve made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention to impose change on Cuba.  What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people.  We will not impose our political or economic system on you.“

How do you impose freedom? How do you force people into self-determination, compel people to exercise free markets?  This has been a recurring theme in liberalism, at its core is the belief that America is nothing special, that the great experiment in freedom is the moral equivalent of a great experiment in Marxism or Maoism or Sharia. In the end Obama sees an equivalency between American governance and Communist oppression, and always looking back Obama sees the hand of America as the root cause of the issues not the communist oppressors who lied to gain American support than seized power and instituted their totalitarian regime.

A Cruz quote directed at Russia: “Autocrats have reason to fear when Americans focus on our principles, and focus on exceptionalism, because it’s been American exceptionalism that stood up to the Nazis, stopped the murder from the Nazis And it was American exceptionalism that stood up to the Soviet Union and freed hundreds of millions from behind the Iron Curtin.  So Putin is right to be concerned about American exceptionalism.”

Trump: “we’re not a strong country anymore. We will have so much winning if I get elected, that you may get bored with winning.”

Time and space fail but next time we’ll look at the last two points, since the issue of terrorism deserves its own post.

Until then, keep on the firing line!