Foreign Digest: Syria, Russia, Libya, New Zealand and Germany

Syrian non-Islamist U.S.-backed rebels bombed by Russia

            Russian Federation forces again recently bombed the non-Islamist Syrian rebels backed by the United States, despite the Russian claim to be supporting the Syrian regime against Islamist terrorists.  The rebels, who are not terrorists, are fighting against the tyrannical Baathist regime of Bashar Assad.  Assad is a state sponsor of terrorism and an ally of Iran.  The Syrian civil war has killed hundreds of thousands and produced millions of refugees, the most in world history since the Second World War.  The Russian goal is to maintain its military base and influence in Syria and to counter American influence.

Russian opposition protests

            The Russia democratic opposition leader has recently conducted rallies in several cities across Russia, attracting thousands who have rallied against the corrupt and authoritarian regime of the Russian Federation.  Opposition is not tolerated by the dictatorship, which violates basic freedoms, such as freedom of assembly.  Demonstrators are often arrested, fined and imprisoned for expressing support for liberty and representative government.  A small group of demonstrators in Moscow were arrested this weekend, for example.

Italian intervention in Libya

            Italy has intervened this month in Libya because of the migrant crisis by supporting the Libyan coast guard against human smugglers and by protecting the southern Libyan border.  Libya has been in civil war between its government and Islamists, including al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State.”  It has also been a point of embarkation for migrants and refugees from Libya, Syria and even sub-Saharan Africa across the Sicilian Channel to Italy.  Italian forces have saved many lives in the Mediterranean, but the voyage in sometimes less-than-seaworthy vessels, which are often abandoned by the smugglers, is frequently deadly.  The European Union has been in support of the Italian rescue mission in the Mediterranean.  Spain and Greece have also been entry points for refugees.  Italy is the former colonial power in Libya, where the descendants of Italian colonists continue to live.

New Zealand parliamentary elections

            The ruling conservative party won the most seats in New Zealand’s parliamentary elections last week, but the party of the Prime Minister will have to form a coalition with a smaller populist anti-immigrant party in order to obtain a majority of seats to allow the Premier to form another government, as he is expected to be able to do.  New Zealand is an ally of the United States.

Germany parliamentary elections

            The ruling center-right party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is bidding for a fourth term, won the most seats in the German parliamentary elections today, but with fewer seats than currently, thus necessitating a coalition government.  However, this coalition will likely be different from the current one.  Like the ruling center-right party, the main opposition party, which is center-left, also lost parliamentary seats, as populist parties gained significantly.  A far-right party, for example, won seats in the German Parliament for the first time, although fewer than originally projected.  It will be difficult for the ruling party to form a coalition, as the center-left has ruled out a grand center-right/left coalition. 

            One reason populist parties were blunted somewhat was because the major parties had made a pact not to use any leaked information for political gain, out of concern about Russian interference, as in the American and French presidential elections.  Germany is a strong ally of the United States.

           Ruling center-right parties have won the most seats in the elections in all three major states this month: Norway, New Zealand and Germany.

Pete Domenici, In Memoriam

           Former United States Senator Pietro “Pete” Vichi Domenici, a Republican of New Mexico, died this week in Albuquerque at the age of 85.  He was a fiscal conservative whose work helped lead to the first balanced federal budget in three decades.

            Born in Albuquerque in 1932 to Italian immigrants, one of whom was undocumented, Domenici earned a degree in education from the University of New Mexico and, after serving as a public school teacher, a law degree from the University of Denver. 

            Domenici’s political career began with his election to the Albuquerque City Commission in 1966.  He was elected its chairman two years later, which made him Mayor, a position in which he served for over two and a half years.  Nominated by the Republican Party for governor in 1970, Domenici lost the gubernatorial election. 

Domenici was elected U.S. Senator in 1972, becoming the first Republican to represent New Mexico in the upper chamber in 38 years, to the first of six terms.  His tenure of 1973-2009 as Senator was the longest in New Mexico history.  As Chairman of the Budget Committee, Domenici led the passage of domestic spending reductions and the rebuilding of defense and intelligence under President Ronald Reagan and was later partly responsible for the balanced budgets of the late 1990s.  He continued to advocate for fiscal responsibility even after leaving office.  Another of Domenici’s legislative legacies was the requirement of parity between physical and mental health insurance.

            As one of the few Americans of Italian descent with an Italian surname serving in the Senate at the time, Domenici’s stature provided affirmation for Italian-Americans struggling against negative stereotypes.  

           May Pete Domenici’s legacy of fiscal responsibility be an example that can inspire others to achieve balanced federal budgets in order to improve the fiscal health of the United States and increase economic liberty.

Foreign Digest: Chemical Weapons Attack by Syria, More International Sanctions on North Korea, Norwegian Parliamentary Elections

Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack

            The United Nations issued a report earlier this month in which it found that the Baathist regime of Bashar Assad was responsible for a chemical weapons of mass destruction attack, specifically of sarin gas, earlier this year.  Also earlier this month, Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian chemical weapons facility.

Additional United Nation Sanctions on North Korea

            The United Nations Security Council last week imposed a new round of economic sanctions on North Korea, including an embargo on oil, to punish the Communist dictatorship for its continued advancement of its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile programs.  The North Koreans recently claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb and successfully launched a missile 1,500 miles into the Pacific Ocean, suggesting that the American territories of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam could be within reach, in addition to South Korea and Japan.

Conservatives Win the Norwegian Parliamentary Elections 

           The ruling center-right party won the parliamentary elections in Norway last week, obtaining another four-year mandate for the Prime Minister.  Norway, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has also been a strong ally of the United States in the War on Terrorism.

Thoughts on the Sixteenth Anniversary of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

           Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists.  As always on this date especially, we remember the dead, honor the heroes and express our gratitude for all those responsible for having preventing another attack on such a scale.

            The policies initiated by President George W. Bush and the Republican-led Congress after the attacks have been effective in preventing another September 11-scale attack, especially the removal of the Taliban regime, who had been providing safe harbor for al-Qaeda, from power in Afghanistan, which is from where al-Qaeda planned the attacks.  As I explained in my post last month about the War in Afghanistan, it is necessary to continue that battle of the Global War on Terrorism to prevent the return to power of the Taliban. 

            The Bush era counter-terrorism policies, which, in addition to military and covert intelligence activity, included improved intelligence sharing both domestically and internationally, increased tracking of terror financing and prevention of money-laundering, and the application of additional criminal legal procedures for law enforcement.  Although he weakened or had attempted to weaken the application of some of these policies, for the most part, Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, continued them, meaning that they have been continued across the administrations of both major political parties.  Obama’s successor, in turn, has also continued them.  The Bush administration also enhanced preparedness for responses to various potential types of terrorist attacks on the American homeland.  These preparations have been maintained. 

It is necessary that these counter-terrorism policies, including the War on Terrorism, be continued for the foreseeable future and that governments around the world continue not to give in to the demands of terrorists, lest terrorism be rewarded and encouraged.  It is also necessary to continue to condemn terrorism and Islamism and to pray for the thwarting of the plans of the terrorists and militants, for conversions, and for peace and tolerance between the Islamic world and the rest.  Through all these efforts, we can hope never to experience another day like the one sixteen years ago today, or even smaller-scale terrorist and militant attacks on the U.S. homeland or against Americans abroad.  

May God bless the United States of America and keep safe all American military, intelligence, law enforcement and first response personnel and may there never be another attack like September 11 again anywhere in the world.