We'll concede Senator Corker's point that Mitt Romney's statement about Russia being our number one adversary isn't so far fetched, but it's still not correct. The Tennessee Senator himself explained that there are several significant concerns, not necessarily placing one of the other - to name a few: ISIS, the Iranian nuclear deal; and China... of course.
We'd like to hear more from the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee in the Senate on China and what we're doing about cyber-security. As Ret. Maj. Gen. Brett Williams explained, the hacking of the 21.5 million background checks from the Office of Personnel Management was an act of pure espionage. Strategically, China tops the list of U.S. competitors for global influence, by far. Putin wants a 'benevolent' dictatorship in Russia, but that's not what China is about at all. In fact, there's little likelihood that something like that would happen in China. In addition to cyber-espionage, China has also been aggressive militarily in disputed waters with several of our Pacific-Rim allies, claiming islands and building bases. And then there is omnipresent economic entanglement.
Given all of that, it's unbelievable to hear Maj. Gen. Williams say that cyber-security and hence cyber-warfare doesn't figure into the overall strategic defense plan; that it is treated separately. More discouraging was his statement that there is no will to make the difficult decisions to get anything done, translate to appropriate the money. Perhaps worst of all is that there has been poor risk assessment... is that what defense is all about?
He also said something that we all know but always bears repeating, which is that we spend the money in the wrong places. It was only of some consolation that he demurred when Mr. Todd asked him if the United States is involved in cyber-espionage, giving a vague answer that the United States uses all the tools available for defense. From the 'John Q. Public' perspective, the answer is, "We better be!" which has some wisdom in its simplicity.
And on Iran, we couldn't how politically versus factual based Senator Corker's statement about the negotiations being on a downward trend for a while actually was. We side with his concerns inspections and verification, and in the case we welcome a tempered conservative perspective on what's in the deal. That comes from no distrust of the Obama Administration as much as it does the Iranian regime. Mr. Corker was absolutely correct in saying the Iran will cheat by the inch. The reason for our certainty is that we all do it, given the opportunity in a particular situation, human nature.
It was good to hear Mr. Corker endorsing the Obama Administration in its forcing of the issue as it were. The United States has to because ultimately Russia and China are not as concerned as we are about Iran having nuclear capabilities, and if Iran having nuclear weapons benefits Russia and China's interests in the region then so be it. Russia has been helpful in the negotiations because their interest is served by having Iran help them with eliminating Islamic extremists before they start to fully infiltrate into Chechnya. However, does feel the same on that existential threat as the United States does when it comes to Iran's threat to Israel.
All of this comes into play while assessing Secretary Kerry's negotiating skills, with which Mr. Corker said he was not impressed. However, with the details of the deal apparently coming this week, we'll have to leave it at, "We''ll see."
***
What separates the pros from us are articulated statements like Matt Bai's of Yahoo News, in which he said that, "Her [Governor Nikki Haley's] journey on the flag is the Republicans' journey on the flag." Concise and true. When asked about her profile being on the rise, Ms. Haley responded that she thinks about the Emanuel 9, as she called them, and the effect their deaths have had on the state of South Carolina in particular let alone the country. Providing some perspective on 'Ms. Haley's journey,' it's the first time that Southern conservative politicians have really begun to understand the meaning of that flag through the eyes of African Americans, and they have begun to see the horror in it.
And when the victims' families showed that there is no political high ground in terms of Christian forgiveness, the effect on southern republican thinking was profound.
Panel: Doris Kearns-Goodwin, presidential historian; Maria Hinojosa, NPR; Matt Bai, Yahoo! News; Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute
One Last Thing...
And the Trump Effect is real, and it's wreaking havoc in the Republican primary and with the RNC. Chairman Reince Priebus is a chump if he thinks Mr. Trump is going to listen to him on anything. Trump knows that people buying what he's selling, not the Republican National Committee, and because of it the damage to the Republican Party will be felt hard. The politician that benefits the most from all this turmoil is Hillary Clinton because moderate Republicans, especially woman, will ultimately migrate to her.
No comments:
Post a Comment