by Adam Kredo • Washington Free Beacon
Iran continues to hide key work it undertook on nuclear weapons development while perfecting ballistic missile technology that could carry such a weapon, according to a new report from a senior Israeli military official that has fueled calls from Trump administration insiders and Congress to nix the deal ahead of a May deadline.
Significant flaws in the original nuclear deal reached by the Obama administration with Iran has enabled Iran’s ballistic missile program and permitted the Islamic Republic to obfuscate ongoing work on nuclear enrichment and possible weaponization technologies, according to Jacob Nagel, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council.
Loopholes in the original agreement have allowed Iran to continue working on advanced nuclear centrifuges that can enrich uranium—the key component in a nuclear weapon—at least 15 to 20 times faster than original models of these devices, according to Nagel, who is serving as a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD. Continue reading
By • The Hill
This month on the brink of another deadline, Congress passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2018, including hundreds of billions in critical funding for the U.S. military. As with any 2,322 page bill, some of the most interesting consequences are the ones you haven’t read about yet.
Included in the spending bill was $600 million for two additional Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellites badly needed by the U.S. Air Force. The WGS system is the backbone of our military’s global satellite communications, currently providing the vast majority of the global high-data-rate communications capability for marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, the White House Communication Agency, the U.S. State Department, and some of our key international partners. As you might imagine, secure and dependable satellite communications are vital for the global security missions we demand of our military every day.
WGS satellites provide excellent value for the taxpayer. Boeing and the Air Force have been able to increase capability on each successive WGS, while at the same time reducing the per-satellite cost. WGS satellites also have unique military features that allow it to operate in contested, warfighting environments. Continue reading
by Bill Gertz • Washington Free Beacon
China’s Communist Party recently authorized an aggressive program of stealing U.S. science and technology information by recruiting Americans in the tech sector with access to trade secrets, according to an internal Party directive.
The directive outlines a secret program authorized by the general office of the Communist Party of China (CCP) Central Committee of stepped up technology collection beginning in late 2016 and carried out by an intelligence unit called the United Front Work Department.
The document is an approval order from the Central Committee for a “working plan on strengthening the intensity of United Front Work in the area of science and technology of the United States in 2017.”
“The united front work targeted on the areas of science and technology of the United States is an important measure of our party to deeply divide western hostile forces, to maintain social stability, to ensure national security, to comprehensively advance the rapid development of our own science and technology and economy, to accelerate the construction of national defense modernization, and to consolidate the overseas united front,” the document states. Continue reading
by Bill Gertz • Washington Free Beacon
The Trump administration on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on 19 Russians and two Russian intelligence agencies for their role in the 2016 election meddling and costly cyber attacks and penetrations.
The Russian spy agencies included the Federal Security Service and the GRU military intelligence service, along with six GRU officers.
No FSB officers were named in the Treasury Department list of sanctioned Russians, although 13 Russians indicted last month in a separate action, were named.
The Russians are linked to the Internet Research Agency, a St. Petersburg operation that used social media to interfere with the presidential election.
Government officials did not say whether the Internet Research Agency was a front organization for the Russian government.
Officials also revealed that Russian cyber actors conducted reconnaissance into industrial control systems related to the U.S. electrical grid in a bid to obtain sensitive information that could be used in future attacks aimed at shutting down power networks. Continue reading
by Matthew Continetti • Washington Free Beacon
Almost immediately after the news broke that President Trump intends to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo, media figures speculated that the decision was about Russia. The argument went like this: Tillerson was fired because he had recently criticized the Russian government for its attack using a nerve agent on a former spy living in the United Kingdom. He thereby endangered détente with Russian president Vladimir Putin and so, the critics said, Trump sacked him.
Yet the rumor was exposed as false almost as soon as it was aired. For one thing, Tillerson had been informed that he would be removed days before he made his entirely justified condemnation of Russian behavior. For another, the Trump administration soon came out hard against the assassination attempt. Nikki Haley lambasted Russia at the United Nations. President Trump signed a joint statement with the British prime minister, French president, and German chancellor assigning responsibility to Russia. The Treasury Department announced further sanctions against Russian cyber-warfare.
It was Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon who first reported the real story. Tillerson had been engaged in a months-long defense of the Iran nuclear deal that finally reached an impasse when he took Europe’s side in debates over the agreement. Continue reading
By Adam Kredo • Washington Free Beacon
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling on America to “make guns illegal” in light of deadly shootings that have taken place across the United States, according to comments made by the Iranian leader over the week.
Khamenei, who has instructed his government to spend billions of dollars on military hardware and ballistic missiles, lashed out at the United States over the weekend, calling on America to ban all guns in light of a series of domestic shootings.
“No one dares apply the clear solution to the promotion of guns and homicide in America. What’s the solution? It’s to make guns illegal,” Khamenei wrote on Twitter. Continue reading
By Bill Gertz • Washington Free Beacon
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in language suggesting the start of a new Cold War, revealed Russia is building nuclear-powered cruise missiles, drone submarines, and other strategic arms designed to attack the United States.
During an annual address, the Russian leader boasted the new cruise missile was tested in December and utilizes small nuclear reactor technology recently developed by Russian weapons designers.
Videos shown during the speech showed a model of the new missile and other high-tech arms, including one that simulated a Russian nuclear strike on the United States. Continue reading
By • Newsmax
After the fall of Soviet communism, much changed globally. But we’ve been slow to catch up with at least some of those changes. For example, Bulgaria, a former Eastern Bloc country once in the Soviet orbit, is now a democratic nation with a market economy and a pro-western, pro-NATO government.
Most Americans would be surprised to learn that Bulgaria is more pro-American than some of our longstanding allies in Europe. It’s time that American policy and policymakers reflect this new reality. The U.S. must welcome Bulgaria as a meaningful partner promoting security, stability, and prosperity in a strategically challenging and important part of the world.
There are European leaders who talk openly of replacing NATO. They seem upset that America is expecting them to keep their treaty obligation to spend 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense. In stark contrast, Bulgaria’s ruling GERB Party strongly backs NATO and the United States. Bulgaria is putting its money where its mouth is — agreeing to NATO’s financial commitments. Continue reading
By • Frontiers of Freedom
The Frontiers of Freedom Institute has sent letters to Secretaries Tillerson and Mnuchin on February 27, 2018, requesting an investigation into gross human rights violations and extreme corruption against nine individuals in Hungary.
In addition, the letters call the Secretaries’ attention to the Hungarian government’s policies that threaten the security of NATO and the European Union, and jeopardize the political and economic unity of the latter.
The statements in the letters are supported by ample evidence assembled meticulously from credible reporting from international and local non-governmental organizations, writings from investigating journalists, personal accounts of individuals affected, and the Institute’s own publications.
The Institute will continue to monitor and publish additional information on the developing situation in Hungary.
By • Frontiers of Freedom
Dear Secretaries Tillerson and Mnuchin,
As an Institute dedicated to the universal promotion of human rights and the fight against corruption, we commend you for your commitment to implementing the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (PL 114-328, Subtitle F), which authorizes the President to impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions on foreign persons in response to certain human rights violations and acts of significant corruption. We have been pleased to see President Donald J. Trump pledge in April 2017, that his administration will engage in “Robust and thorough enforcement” of the Act, and that he intends for his administration to “fulfill our commitment to hold perpetrators of human rights abuses and corruption accountable.” Continue reading
The defense industry and foreign competitors
By • Washington Times
For a man of many tag lines, it’s one of his most popular.
“Buy American” is right up there with “Make America Great Again” when President Trump takes to the podium or opens up his Twitter app. Mr. Trump is most at home making a strong case for American workers, and the businesses that employ them.
“I’m here to deliver a simple message: there has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States,” Mr. Trump told the “global elite?” crowd in Davos just weeks ago.
But for those who watch the defense industry closely, the refrain raises a curious question: Will Mr. Trump’s “Buy American” campaign apply to the U.S. Air Force?
This year the Air Force will select a new jet to replace their aging 1960s-era T-38 trainer fleet with 350 new aircraft and the accompanying ground-training systems. With an expected Continue reading
By • Frontiers of Freedom
The greater Middle East that Turkey is historically, politically, and religiously has been a part of, presently passes through numerous overlapping and extremely bloody crises. Divisions between those countries that are desirous to maintain the status quo and Iran that wants to radically transform the region to its advantage are running deep. Moreover, at least since 2011, the region has been broken up between those regimes that desire to arrest the flow of blood and reestablish peace, and those that promote the religious ideology of Divine right by their military might. Finally, the states involved in this life and death struggle have been busy to put together shifting alliances that only contribute to the overall chaos and anarchy.
The entry of Turkey into this mess following the eruption of the so-called Arab Spring has been an unmitigated disaster for the country and also personally for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Having been driven by his messianic Ottoman and Islamist mentality, President Erdogan has failed to comprehend the difficulty of gaining any real influence over the ethnically and religiously diverse fellow rulers who are shaping events across the region and beyond. Clearly, with the notable exception of the United States of America and Israel, it appears that it is the ruling Shi’a clergy in Iran and the Sunni rulers throughout the Arabian Peninsula who are exciting their peoples, and decisively dominate the political narratives. In this context, the policies of President Erdogan has too much the appearance of Ottoman restoration.
By Adam Kredo • Washington Free Beacon
Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades held over the weekend, a move that experts view as a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime as dissidents continue efforts to stir protest.
On the heels of an encounter between an Iranian drone and Israeli forces, Iranian leaders showcased their ballistic missile capabilities, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology, according to experts.
The nuclear-capable missile can strike Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that could further inflame the region.
Iranian military leaders bragged the ballistic missile “can be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape missile defense shields due to Continue reading
By Natalie Johnson • Washington Free Beacon
The U.S. military has begun redirecting personnel and equipment from Iraq and Syria back to Afghanistan, where the Pentagon hopes to revamp its fight against the Taliban, the top commander of the American-led air campaign in the country said Wednesday.
Air Force Maj. Gen. James Hecker said the drawdown of major operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has enabled U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, to again prioritize the 16-year war in Afghanistan. CENTCOM is the military command responsible for operations in the Middle East and parts of South Asia.
“Afghanistan has become CENTCOM’s main effort thanks to the recent successes in Iraq and Syria,” Hecker told Pentagon reporters from Kabul. “This has allowed CENTCOM to shift more assets our way, which will significantly improve our ability to assist the Afghans.”
The Pentagon’s refocus officially began on Feb. 1. Hecker said CENTCOM began deploying additional aircraft to the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition Continue reading
By • Frontiers of Freedom
President Trump’s objection to illegal migration has been well known since he declared his candidacy on June 16, 2015. His insistence on securing the borders prior to deciding the fate of the illegal migrants has generated a hysterically emotional, in reality idiotic, reaction from his opponents.
Steering the debate away from rationality and reason has necessarily resulted in cynical disregard of facts and truths under the banner of destroying the very fabric of the constitutional order of the United States of America. In order to restore sanity and unmask the lies of the advocates of lawlessness and anarchy, eight truths must be stated unequivocally.
First, who are these people? Overwhelmingly, they are men of all ages, who left their countries or places of their habitual residencies to find better lives in an economically more prosperous state. For all legal and practical purposes they are migrants. Consequently, they can by no means be subject to the protection of any international convention, protocol, or multilateral treaty.
