The Latest Russian Support of Militant Islamism

I have posted before how the Russian Federation, under ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, has supported Islamism in a number of ways, despite its appeal to far-right Westerners as some kind of a bulwark against terrorism and Muslims generally. I noted Putin’s appointment of a tyrannical Islamist Governor of Chechnya and his support for the terrorist-sponsoring tyrannical Syrian regime that is backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the worst state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and how Russia works with the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite organization, Hezbollah. And observers have noted the high proportion of foreign jihadist fighters in Syria were from Russia. The latest example of Russian support for militant Muslims is in the Southern Caucasus. Russia had mediated an end to the second war between the former Soviet Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020 and provided peacekeepers after the former regained land from the latter and gained control of the corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the separatist ethnic Christian Armenian region within mostly Muslim Azerbaijan. The Russian peacekeepers allowed Azerbaijan to cut off the corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia since last year, depriving the residents of food and supplies. They were unable to stop the Azerbaijani offensive last week that forced the separatists to surrender. Although supplies are finally reaching the ethnic Armenian region and the Azerbaijani Government promises to respect the religious and political liberty of the Armenians, the residents are skeptical of the Azerbaijani Government, as Azerbaijan is an unfree State. A mass exodus of the 120,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh is beginning. Armenia, which is a member of a defensive pact with Russia, is increasingly turning to the West as a more reliable protector of its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity versus a Russian tyrant who has his own interest in supporting Azerbaijan and is violating the independence, sovereignty and territory of another former Soviet Republic with its aggression against Ukraine.

Foreign Digest: Afghanistan, Mali and Niger and Migration

Afghanistan: A United Nations report last week found the Taliban militia regime of Afghanistan violates human rights with arrests, torture and denial of due process to prisoners. This facet of Taliban rule is only one aspect of its tyranny. The Taliban, who are not internationally recognized as the legitimate Afghan government, returned to power in 2021 after the disastrous Trump-Biden withdrawal of United States and allied forces who had been protecting the Afghan Government against the return to power of the Islamist, tyrannical Taliban who were state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. had led an international coalition to overthrow the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America, which killed a record nearly 3,000 people. Mali and Niger: The United Nations force for Mali, which was been aiding the State in the Sahel region of Africa since 2013 against Islamist terrorists, has gradually been withdrawing at the request of the Malian military junta. French forces, who had already been forced to withdraw, had been effective in aiding the former French colony, but U.N., Malian and Kremlin-backed Russian mercenaries have not. There have been multiple military coups against Malian governments regarded as ineffective against the violent jihadists, but attacks and casualties have increased and Islamists doubled the territory they control. Meanwhile, separatist Tuareg rebels have taken up arms again, claiming Malian forces have violated a deal; they had been allied with the Islamist terrorists before they and the terrorists turned on each other. There has been a similar result in Niger, one of three States in the Sahel that have suffered military coups because of perceived ineffectiveness against the Islamist rebels, and which then rejected Western military support, without any transition back to civilian rule or elections. France, the region’s former colonial ruer, and the United States maintain forces in Niger as a bastion in the fight against Islamist terrorism, but the Nigerien coup leaders have demanded French troops withdraw. Migration: Pope Francis on the Catholic Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees today emphasized the right to emigrate or not to be forced to, encouraged the saving of lives of migrants at sea, the welcoming of migrants with Christian love and through more legal channels for migration, and the fair sharing of the burden of providing for them while processing their claims, particularly noting the increased migration in the Mediterranean region. The Head of State of Vatican City and leader of the Holy See as Bishop of Rome dismissed the categorization of migration as an “invasion” or an “emergency,” which is used for anti-migrant propaganda against those fleeing persecution, war, disaster, or desperate economic circumstances for a better life.

The Reagan Foundation Rejects Donald Trump

The Reagan Foundation and Institute that manages the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has declined to invite the non-conservative Donald Trump to speak at the presidential center for the conservative President. A member of the Board of Trustees said that many things Trump did and said were “not consistent with the Reagan philosophy.” President Ronald Reagan’s cheerful optimism and willingness to work with the opposition party congenially, versus the extreme stridency of Trump were cited as a difference. The Reagan Foundation earlier this month joined the statement lead by the Presidential Foundation of another conservative Republican President, George W. Bush, that I posted about against threats to civility, liberty and representative government, which was a thinly veiled response to Trumpism. Trumpism is a populist mix of ideas, including acceptance of authoritarianism, as opposed to the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and constitutional principles such as the separation of powers and States’ rights. President Reagan, whose opponents Donald Trump had donated to, was in favor of such principles and freedom, and opposed to dictatorship. Three other main Trumpist ideas are the direct opposite of Reagan-Thatcher conservatism: 1) protectionism, which is a tax increase on imports to protect domestic production and is thus against free market competition; 2) isolationism, which opposes the defense of American principles, interests and security abroad as part of the defense of the independence and sovereignty of the United States; and 3) nativism, which is based on hatred or exaggerated fears of migrants, including refugees seeking asylum from persecution, instead of proudly recognizing the attraction of universal ideas like equality, liberty and representative government in America and the contributions of those who come here who appreciate freedom and pursue the American Dream.

Twenty-Second Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks

Today is the twenty-second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks against America that targeted the World Trade Center in New York City and the heqadquarters of the United States Department of Defense (the Pentagon) in the Virginia suburbs of the District of Columbia with three hijacked civlian aircraft that were crashed into them, and another liner that crashed in western Pennsylvania after the passengers rose up agains their Islamist terrorist hijackers. The attacks were the deadliest in world history, killing nearly 3,000 people. The al-Qaeda terrorist organization, based in Afghanistan, was responsible for the attacks. The U.S. led an international coalition to overthrow the Afghan Taliban militia in 2002 that had harbored al-Qaeda and also targeted the terrorist organization directly, as the first campaign of a global War on Terrorism that continues. But after the disastrous Trump-Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have taken over the whole of Afghanistan. Although al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State, have suffered severe blows in the War on Terrorism, I have posted on the ongoing threat from Islamist militancy that requires continued sacrifice and vigilance. But today, in addition remembered those who died on September 11 and those who have given their lives in the War on Terrorism and who have been killed in many subsequent terrorist attacks, I also acknowledge those rescuers at the World Trade Center who have experienced deadly respiratory health problems every since they arrived on the scene in the days and weeks after the attacks thinking not of themselves, but of trying to save others. They are surely indirect victims of the terrorist attrocity. May we remember all the victims who died and those who still suffer, and may we remain ever-vigilant and willing to defend our security and freedom from the threat from Islamist militants around the world.

Statement from Thirteen Presidential Foundations for Liberty and Representative Government

The foundations that manage the presidential libraries of thirteen former Presidents of the United States have issued an unprecedented joint statement about strengthening liberty and representative government in the face of current challenges: Strengthening our Democracy | George W. Bush Presidential Center (bushcenter.org). The statement in support of pluralism, civility and American leadership in promoting freedom abroad, which it recognizes as beneficial to U.S. security, is recognized as an implicit reference to the threat from Trumpism. Led by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the foundations of every President from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama, with the sole exception of the foundation for Dwight Eisenhower, signed the extraordinary statement, thus including those of every living former President, who personally approved the statement, except Donald Trump. The former Presidents included Republicans, Democrats, liberals, moderates and conservatives. The foundations were created by federal legislation in 1955, starting with the former living Presidents at the time, making Hoover’s the one for the earliest President. The George W. Bush Presidential Center has been particularly active in promoting human rights, including in a bipartisan manner. As I have posted, Trumpism is a populist mix of protectionism, nativism, isolationism, dishonesty, corruption, disloyalty, cruelty and authoritarianism, all of which are anathema to conservatism. The authoritarianism was manifest in violations of the principles of judicial independence, the rule of law, the separation of powers, and States’ rights, as well as undermining American leadership on human rights.

Mass Protests against Syrian Tyranny

There have been mass protests in the south of Syria for weeks, in a predominantly Druze area that has been mostly peaceful during the Syrian Civil War. The protests are the first significant ones in Syria since last year. At first, the demonstrations were against inflation, but now also are about ending the tyrannical Baathist regime of Bashar Assad. There have also been some isolated protests elsewhere in the majority Muslim Arab State. Syria has been in civil war since 2011, which has killed over half a million people, displaced 12 of the 25 million Syrians, including 5 million who fled Syria. The Islamist Republic of Iran and its terrorist allies and the Russian Federation back Assad in the multi-sided war that includes both moderate and Islamist rebels. Some rebels are backed by Turkey while the United States supports the Syrian Democratic Force, which is made of Kurds and some others. The SDF has been fighting against the Islamic State, the offshoot of al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the deadliest attacks in history, the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks against America that killed nearly 3,000. The U.S. led an international coalition that defeated the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and maintains a small force to complete the destruction of the bloody terrorist organization. The Kurds remain outside the control of Assad, as do a few other rebels. Meanwhile, Israel continues to strike Iranian and Iranian-backed terrorist targets in Syria.

An Entire Martyred Family’s Beatification for Saving Jews During the Holocaust Includes a Newborn

The Catholic Church today in Poland beatified nine members of the Ulma Family who were summarily executed by the Nazis and local Polish police collaborators for harboring eight Jews from the Holocaust. A Vatican Cardinal performed the ceremony while Pope Francis read a statement from the Holy See that was broadcast on screens in the Polish town where the Ulma’s martyrdom for “hatred of the faith” took place after the-deeply Christian family were betrayed by a local policeman. The eight Jews they had sheltered were also killed, among the three million Jews and six million Poles killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust. It was unprecedented that an entire family (parents and seven young children) was beatified, which literally means to be called “blessed,” as a sign that their souls were saved and that the family is a model of Christian sacrifice for the faithful. Another unusual aspect of the beatification was that the young mother in the Ulma Family was pregnant with the youngest child at the time of her murder, which the Vatican interpreted as the child being born and then “baptized by blood.” It is nonetheless a powerful statement of the humanity of unborn children. Poland’s President and Prime Minister were in attendance of today’s beatification.

Foreign Digest: Zimbabwe, Bosnia, Italy and China

Zimbabwe: The presidential elections in Zimbabwe last week were won by the incumbent president, whose ruling far-left party has ruled the southern African State since independence in 1980. International observers and the leading opposition party report irregularities in the close vote, as is usual in Zimbabwe, which remains unfree and unrepresentative. Bosnia: The European Court for Human Rights ruled that elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina are not democratic because of the “privileged” results for certain ethnic groups. Bosnia is geographically and politically split between Croat (Slavic and Roman Catholic) and Bosniak (Muslim) and Serbian (Slavic and Eastern Orthodox) communities since the civil war ended in 1995 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Serbia, the dominant Republic within Yugoslavia, was led at the time by a Communist tyrant who fomented extreme Serbian nationalism, which led to bloody wars and atrocities for years and which has created enduring tensions. Italy and China: The Italian Government will not renew the Belt and Road Initiative with Communist China. Under a left-right populist coalition government, Italy had been the only major industrial or Western power to sign onto the infrastructure program dubbed the “New Silk Road” that increases Chinese influence and opportunities for espionage and undermining security. But the deal was suspended under the national unity government of Mario Draghi because of security concerns and pressure from allies. The current right-wing government also cites an imbalance of benefits for China.