Cinfici’s Address to the 2015 Reading School Board

           Last week, I delivered a speech to the Reading School Board of Directors.  It was the first time I had addressed the Board, other than at a public hearing, since shortly after my term as a School Director ended in 2013.

            I congratulated the Board President for being elevated by her colleagues to the presidency, which I took as a validation of the work that she, I and others on the previous Board did to balance the School District’s budget, under difficult circumstances, without raising taxes, while producing millions of dollars in surplus.  I praised and thanked the current Board for continuing the previous Board’s practice, which had been my suggestion, to have metal detectors at Board meetings for the safety of the public.  I also praised the new Board for continuing two successful projects initiated by prior Boards: the under-budget renovation of the Amanda Stoudt elementary school and thanked the Board for planning a meeting there for the public to see the renovations and additions, and the repair of the Hampden Park Comfort Station, which had fallen into such disrepair as to be a danger to the public, as well as an eyesore, and noted also its improved security. 

However, I observed several areas, in contrast, where the current Board had failed to make progress or had even regressed.  I noted that the new Board has ignored a number of facilities resolutions approved by the previous Board, numerous suggestions for cutting wasteful spending or improving the collection of revenue that I urged it to consider, a recommendation by the Finance Committee to issue requests for proposals for professional services in order to increase openness and transparency and act in the best financial interest of the District, and the recommendation of the District’s auditor and the Pennsylvania Auditor General to have an “Audit” or “Financial Review Committee” to increase openness and transparency and improve the District’s financial controls.

Finally, noting the criticism of the Auditor General of a prior Board in 2011 for failing its fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers by being “too trusting” of administrators, I expressed my deep concern that the majority of the current Board was also too trusting of administrators, whom I noted are not perfect or all-knowing and usually are not from the District.  I urged the Board to conduct proper oversight by asking questions in order to hold the Administration accountable.  Noting how several of the School Directors on the Board shared my concern, I suggested the way to afford Directors the opportunity to learn what is happening in the District and to ask questions was to return to the practice of having board committees. 

I warned that the majority of the current Board’s failure to conduct proper oversight would result in it, too, failing its fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers.

Nigerian Presidential Elections: Representative Government vs. Terrorism and Other Observations

           Nigerians braved the threat of violence from Islamist terrorists to vote in presidential elections.  The elections were relatively free of violence and irregularities. 

A Muslim who is a former military dictator was elected, winning even some Christian areas in this divided African state.  Despite his record of repression, he won on the promise to do more to fight the jihadists than the incumbent and on his record of honest government, which is an exception in Nigeria, one of the world’s most corrupt states. 

The incumbent conceded defeat and will give up power, which will mark the first transfer from one party to another through elections in Nigerian history. 

Nigerians deserve praise for their commitment to representative government and opposition to public corruption and to terrorism.  May they safeguard their liberty and remain united to defeat the terrorists.

Six-Year Blog Visit Report; Happy Easter

           In the six years since StatCounter has been tracking pageviews to my blog, there have been nearly 6,170 visits to my blog, according to my strict definition of a visit.  Thank you for visiting!

As always, I do not count my own visits and only count as separate visits those pageviews by individuals that are at least one hour apart, as well as not counting visits that are obviously not by individuals or in cases in which it is unknown which page was visited.  Even without these exceptions, counting repeated pageviews of the same page during one visit or the total number of views of various pages per visit would yield a number thousands higher.  Fewer visitors than before are able to be tracked by StatCounter because of privacy protections, as I can judge by the statistics of hits tracked by the blog host, Blogger, as the latter is able to track many more than the former, although sometimes pageviews are tracked by StatCounter and not Blogger. 

There has been no change in the statistical proportions of visits as before.  Visits from American States tend to come from Pennsylvania most, followed by other States in proportion to their population, more or less.  Malaysia, Algeria, Canada and the United Kingdom remain the foreign states which are the sources of the most visits, but with the trend especially more toward Algeria than Malaysia over the previous year.  The visit from the most exotic country last year was from Fiji.  The Rise and Fall of Islamic Civilization, with over 1,500 visits, and Commentary on the Roman Influence on America Exhibit at the National Constitution Center, with well over 400, remain the two most popular posts since StatCounter began tracking visits to my blog in 2009, but The Rev. Monsignor Felix A. Losito, Rest in Peace was the second-most visited post over the last year, behind the Rise and Fall of Islamic Civilization.  Each of the three posts from 2009-2011 attracted 25-50 visits.  Lepanto, by G.K. Chesterton and Useless Cabinet Departments were the next most-frequently visited posts.  The homepage of my blog was the overall most visited page since my last blog report.

I especially appreciate repeat visitors, public or private followers and those who post comments.  Please visit at least weekly.  Again, thank you for your patronage. 

I wish all my visitors a Happy Easter!

Foreign Digest: Cambodia, Russia, Israel, Yemen, Afghanistan

Cambodia

Cambodia has been continuing to prosecute more and more former Khmer Rouge regime members for crimes against humanity, in addition to the ones I posted about in August of last year in my post, Cambodian Tribunal Convicts Communist Khmer Rouge Leaders of Crimes Against Humanity, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-cambodian-tribunal-convicts-communist.html .  The Maoist Communists conducted a brutal reign of terror against much of the Cambodian population during their 1975-1978 rule, including mass murder, starvation, imprisonment, torture and slavery.

Russia

           The recent murder of a major opposition figure in Russia is the latest in a series of killings of political opponents of Communist dictator Vladimir Putin, a former Soviet secret services agent.  Many other dissidents have been subjected to harassment, including phony criminal investigations, or have even been imprisoned or  forced into exile, amidst a climate of a lack of judicial independence and rule of law, and a diminishment of the freedoms of assembly and the press, as few independent media have been tolerated by the regime.  As a result, there are relatively few opposition politicians in office or even willing to seek election.  The argument by the legions of Russian propagandists active both in Russian and global media, many of whom are employed by the Russian government, that Putin could not possibly have authorized the murder because it would have made him “look bad” would, if believed, allow him to escape blame for any crime he wished to commit, while these propagandists conveniently blamed every foreign or domestic opponent of Putin for the murder. 

 

Israel

            The governing center-right party won the Israeli parliamentary elections, despite interference from associates of liberal Democratic President of the United States Barack Obama, and has formed a coalition government with various right-wing parties.  Israel will continue its anti-terrorist policies as a strong ally of the U.S., as well as its opposition to the Islamist terrorist Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program.  Israel’s governing party also benefited from a prosperous economy.

Yemen

 I had posted last month about possible intervention in Yemen in my post, Calls for the United Nations to Intervene in Libya and Yemen, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2015/02/calls-for-united-nations-to-intervene.html, in which I specifically mentioned the role of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  Egypt and most members of the Gulf Cooperation Council are now participating in a Saudi-led military intervention against the Iranian-backed Shi’ite rebels in Yemen.  The rebels, who are backed by forces loyal to Yemen’s previous longtime dictator, who had been ousted as a result of the Arab Spring, overthrew the internationally-recognized Yemeni government that had been an ally of the United States in the War on Terrorism.  The U.S. has worked with Yemen against al-Qaeda’s branch there, which has been its most dangerous.  The rebel takeover has been an obstacle to American counter-terrorism efforts.  The U.S. is supporting the Arab effort against the pro-Iranian Yemeni rebels. The Arab states deserve praise and gratitude for their efforts.

Afghanistan 

           President Obama has slowed down the timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, at the request of the Afghan government and based upon the advice of U.S. military leaders in regard to the conditions in theater in this critical battle in the War on Terrorism, in order to prevent Afghanistan from once again being taken over by the Taliban and becoming a safe harbor for terrorists, such as al-Qaeda, who plotted the September 11 Terrorist Attacks from there.  Obama has decided not to repeat the mistake he made in withdrawing from Iraq prematurely after failing to secure a status of forces agreement, despite warnings from military leaders about the conditions there and the possibility of a takeover by Islamists, such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the “Islamic State” and remnants of the Baathist regime who are in alliance with them.  These insurgents promptly seized large swaths of Iraq after the American pullout, which has necessitated the U.S.-led air campaign against them, supported by infantry from the Iraqi government and allied militia.  It is hoped that the American-led effort in Afghanistan will be more successful.

Republican Wins a Special Election for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

           A Republican won a special election this week for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, picking up a seat vacated by a Democrat.  The GOP win gives residents of the City of Philadelphia their second Republican State Representative for the first time in nearly 30 years.  The Republican majority in the lower house of the General Assembly will now reach 120 seats, to the Democrats’ caucus of 83.  

Foreign Digest: Terrorism, Human Rights Abuses, Persecution of Christians

In addition to all the African states I mentioned in a post last month that have been deploying their armed forces against Islamist terrorists, Djibouti has also recently sent troops to Somalia.

There were reports from human rights monitors that the “Islamic State” has used chlorine gas in Iraq.

The Obama Administration lightened sanctions on Sudan, despite its horrendous human rights record, including its ongoing genocide in Darfur, as well as killings in rebellious Blue Nile and Khordofan provinces.  The Islamist Sudanese leader is wanted for crimes against humanity and his government is a sponsor of terrorism.

The United States increased sanctions further on Venezuela because of its continued crackdown on political dissent, while the Obama Administration continues to dialogue with Venezuela’s patron, Communist Cuba, another dictatorial state with a poor human rights record.  The Administration is trying to legitimatize the Cuban regime with diplomatic recognition and to trade with it, despite Cuba’s harboring of American fugitives, its theft of billions of dollars of American assets and its status as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration continues to negotiate with the worst state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, and to offer lifting sanctions on the Islamic Republic.  It fails to recognize Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons itself as a form of terrorism – one that ought not to be rewarded with legitimacy and trade. 

A study by a reputable foundation found that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world.  

M. Stanton Evans, In Memoriam

           Conservative journalist, author, founder and activist M. Stanton Evans died today at the age of 80 at a nursing home in Leesburg, Virginia, after a long illness.

            Born in Kingsville, Texas in 1934, but raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Washington, D.C. area, Evans graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with a degree in English in 1955.  He studied economics under Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises at New York University.

            Upon graduation from college, Evans became the assistant editor of the Freeman.  He then wrote for the new conservative magazine National Review, serving as associate editor from 1960-1973, and thereafter as the managing editor of Human Events, the national conservative weekly, where he remained a contributing editor until his death.  In the meantime, Evans became head editorial writer of The Indianapolis News in 1959 and by the following year the youngest editor of a metropolitan daily in America.  He served as the newspaper’s editor for fifteen years.  Evans was a syndicated columnist across the Union from 1974-1987.  Over the years, he won numerous awards for journalism.  Evans’ writings were characterized by his elegant, but accessible style that became increasingly appreciated with the decline of good writing, as well as by his wit.  During his journalistic career, he was also a political commentator on television and radio.

            In 1960, Evans co-founded, together with William F. Buckley and others, the Young Americans for Freedom and drafted its charter, the Sharon Statement of conservative principles of political and economic liberty, limited government and strong defense, which is regarded as a founding document of the American conservative movement.  He supported Buckley’s fusion of conservative political and economic ideas with moral and religious conservatism. 

            Evans was Chairman of the American Conservative Union from 1971-1977, during which he criticized United States President Richard Nixon and promoted the presidential candidacy of Ronald Reagan.  He founded the Education and Research Institute, where the pioneer of conservative reporting mentored numerous popular conservative writers.  Evans served as President of the Philadelphia Society and on the boards of several major conservative organizations over the years.

            From 1961-2012, Evans authored ten books, including two meticulously-researched books on Communist infiltration of the United States government, media and entertainment by the Soviet Union, based upon documents declassified after the American victory in the Cold War with the Soviets.  His most significant work was Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joseph McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s Enemies, published in 2007, through which, together with his columns, he restored the reputation of Joseph McCarthy by disproving charges of “McCarthyism” against him and others.  Another important book by Evans, published in 1994, The Theme is Freedom, in which he made the case that America’s Founding Fathers were conservatives, as they had conserved virtues, based upon religion and morality, in promoting the dignity and liberty of man. 

            The election of a conservative as President and of a conservative-Republican majority in Congress are two of the legacies of Evans. 

           May M. Stanton Evans’ model of journalism, his books and commentaries continue to inspire conservatives to become outstanding reporters, columnists and authors and may his conservative ideals be conserved in the pursuit of liberty.   

George Washington’s Birthday Reminds us of Great Leadership

           As I do every year around this time, I post some observations on George Washington’s birthday.  In addition to praising Washington and defending him against false allegations or misconceptions, I have been encouraging that he ought to be better remembered and honored by restoring the name of the holiday popularly celebrated as “Presidents’ Day” and officially called some variation of the same by most of the States of the American Union to “Washington’s Birthday,” as it is legally called by the United States in order to detract from Washington.  I post today to observe his birthday, as I have also urged that the celebration of  “Washington’s Birthday” be moved to the date of his birth, February 22, because it is never observed on that date under federal and state law.

            As I have noted before, George Washington the Great is underrated as the General who led the Patriots to victory in the American Revolution against overwhelming force, as the indispensable Founding Father of the Union and its Republic and as the first and greatest President of the United States.  This year, recalling Washington’s biography, I cannot help but think of how in the midst of crises today, the world is crying out for leadership, particularly from the American President.  When the American people and others around the world admire the King of Jordan or President of Egypt more than the leader of the Free World, let alone notice the superior leadership skills of a dictator like Russia’s, the deficiency in leadership in the current Chief Executive and Commander in Chief is obvious.  Although we cannot expect that men as extraordinary as Washington would be ordinary, we nevertheless rightly expect that at least an adequate level of leadership be exhibited, especially by one of Washington’s successors, and that his successors study Washington and his leadership skills and follow his example.  The Electors especially should know Washington as the model for the presidency, as should Congress, the States and We the People. 

           Now, more than ever, a holiday of “Washington’s Birthday” is needed to provide the example of virtue, civility, fidelity to the Constitution and republican government, and especially of leadership.

East Timor Completes Transfer of Power

East Timor completed its first successful transfer of power from one party to another, which it performed peacefully, since independence in 2002, following the resignation of its independence leader as Prime Minister to allow younger leaders to take his place.  The President chose the opposition leader to from a coalition government. 

Congratulations to the East Timorese on their benchmark accomplishment in representative government.  I wish them successful parliamentary elections and the continued enjoyment of liberty.

War on Terrorism Updates: Libya, Nigeria, Europe

In a follow-up and update to my post yesterday calling for United Nations intervention in Yemen and Libya, I note there are fears in Italy that jihadists could infiltrate the multitude of refugees from Arab states coming to its shores I mentioned that have been burdening the Italian Republic.  The “Islamic State,” which has affiliates in Libya, has threatened to conquer Rome.  Libya is only a few hundred miles from Italian territory.  Italy, which formerly ruled Libya, supports United Nations-sponsored negotiations in Libya among the warring parties, but is supportive of UN-authorized action, should diplomacy fail.  The Libyan government, which notes Italy is especially vulnerable to the spread of Islamist attacks from Libya, is pleading for more international intervention, including air strikes and the supply of weapons.

Egyptian warplanes did strike “Islamic State” targets in Libya after the Islamists murdered the kidnapped Coptic Christian Egyptians who had gone to Libya to work.  As I mentioned in a post earlier this month, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have bombed Islamists in Libya who are fighting the Libyan government, as Egypt continues to battle “Islamic State-affiliated” rebels in the Sinai Peninsula.  The Egyptian government also has been cracking down on supporters of the Islamist government it replaced by popular demand after the Islamists became oppressive.  In addition to the numerous other African states besides Egypt battling terrorism I praised in that same post, Benin is also sending troops to Nigeria to fight the al-Qaeda affiliate there, as the Islamists have launched attacks in Cameroon, Niger and Chad, each of which is fighting al-Qaeda and supporting Nigeria. 

Numerous European states have been implementing various anti-terrorism measures, especially in regard to those who go abroad to wage violent jihad and who could pose a threat to their homelands upon return. 

American Purchases of Iraqi WMDs Further Refutes WMD Truth-Deniers

The latest revelation from the New York Times investigative reports on the finding by American and coalition forces of numerous dangerous chemical weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) for several years after the 2003 Liberation of Iraq is that the United States secretly purchased hundreds of artillery shells with chemical warheads from an Iraqi source.

            The Times, the liberal newspaper of record, reports the U.S. bought over 400 WMDs in the form of artillery shells, many of which contained warheads with the nerve gas, sarin, some of which were much more lethal than expected, between 2005 and 2006.  American forces had previously discovered chemical WMDs in buried caches and in improvised explosive devices assembled by insurgents, as had been reported at the time, was revealed to have amounted to 500 weapons by the U.S. in 2006, was referred to in federal documents leaked in 2010 and was detailed in a series of reports from October to December of last year by the Times to be an even larger number, and that both American and Iraqi forces had suffered wounds from exposure to the WMDs that had remained more dangerous than claimed by the WMD truth-deniers, who insisted that the WMDs were “too degraded” to pose any threat. 

All of these WMDs had been manufactured by Iraq prior to 1991.  Some of the Iraqi WMDs found, as well as all those that were purchased, were among those known about by United Nations inspectors, in part through inconsistent Iraqi declarations.  However, unlike some of the other Iraqi WMDs, the inspectors did not know the precise number of these specific rocket shells with chemical warheads still in existence, which appears to have been larger than believed, because Iraq did not fully disclose how many it possessed, which validates the finding of the Deulfer Report that Iraq was in some ways “more dangerous” than believed.  The WMD truth-deniers selectively ignored that part of the report, and focused on the lack of an official announcement of the finding of large stockpiles of WMDs at the time.  The Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein lied that it had destroyed its WMDs and failed to provide any such proof of their destruction.    

Iraq’s failure to fulfill its obligation under its 1991 ceasefire after the Liberation of Kuwait, as well as UN resolutions, was why the UN Security Council found Iraq in “material breach” of those resolutions, subject to “serious consequences,” which were understood to mean military action.  In addition to the Baathist regime’s violation of its ceasefire by firing on Coalition aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones over Kurdish and Shi’ite parts of Iraq, and Iraqi sponsorship of terrorism, including harboring and financing terrorists who had targeted and killed Americans, Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were a justification for war.  Indeed, Iraq, which had committed serial aggression under Hussein, intimidated its neighbors, both with its remaining conventional force, and its retention of WMD.  The Baathist regime was also found to possess missiles of longer range than permitted by UN resolutions.  Iraq was violating the UN embargo in the hope of outlasting it to resume its WMD program.

The program to acquire the 400 Iraqi chemical WMDs succeeded in removing the weapons from the black market and potentially from the hands of terrorists or other insurgents.  It makes sense, therefore, that the results of the program were not announced at the time, despite the public criticism of President George W. Bush and other American an international leaders who supported the Liberation of Iraq for the supposed lack of finding of WMDs. 

The lack of credibility in Hussein and the absence of any proof provided by him that he had destroyed his known WMDs or even disclosed his full arsenal, made criticism by the WMD truth-deniers, even at the time, invalid, especially after both media and government reports of finding of WMDs in Iraq.  The series of Times reports now demonstrate clearly, as if any further proof were necessary, how wrong the WMD truth-deniers were in believing Hussein and insisting that Iraq no longer had any WMDs, that the WMDs it had were few or were not lethal (at least in 2003), and thus Iraq was not a threat and war was not justified, leaving aside Iraq’s other aforementioned acts of war that were alone sufficient even without Iraqi possession of any WMD.  The critics’ argument that the only justifiable cause of war would have been new WMDs because of the insignificance of the old WMDs has been thoroughly refuted by reference to Bush Administration specific citations of Iraq’s old WMDs as a justification, as well as in terms of the amount and lethality of Iraq’s WMD arsenal. 

The report even diminishes the one criticism of the Bush Administration that might reasonably have been made about Iraqi WMDs: that the Bush Administration’s efforts to destroy Iraqi WMDs had not been effective.  At least in regard to this particular stockpile of Iraqi WMDs, the program did achieve some success. 

See also my posts on the Times reports from October to November of last year and my commentary on the significance of the finding of larger numbers of dangerous Iraqi WMDs: Thousands More Lethal Chemical WMDs Have Been Found in Iraq, Wounding Soldiers, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/10/thousands-more-lethal-chemical-wmds.html, and Follow-Up on the Finding of More Chemical WMDs in Iraq, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/10/follow-up-on-finding-of-more-chemical.html, Update on the Exposure of American Troops to Iraq’s Chemical WMD, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/11/follow-up-on-exposure-of-american.html, and American Concern about the Islamic State’s Capture of Iraq’s Chemical WMDs, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/11/american-concern-about-islamic-states.html. 

Calls for the United Nations to Intervene in Yemen and Libya

           There have been calls by several governments for the United Nations to intervene in two Arab states where Islamists have either gained power or have created a security crisis by threatening to seize power from legitimate governments

            In Yemen, Iranian-backed Shi’ite rebels have taken control from the government.  They are also fighting with Sunni tribes and al-Qaeda.  Yemen, the poorest Arab state, is fractious, as there is a separatist movement in South Yemen, which merged with North Yemen, which sparked a civil war in the early 1990s.  There are also Communists, who had been in power in South Yemen before the fall of the Soviet Union and the union of both Yemens.

            The UN Security Council passed a resolution today demanding the Shi’ite rebels relinquish control of Yemen’s government, but the Gulf Cooperation Council is calling for UN intervention in Yemen or the organization of Arab states of the Arabian (or Persian) Gulf will act on its own, with or without UN authorization.  They are interested in thwarting any spread of Iranian revolutionary influence among Shi’ites in Arab states.  Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also reportedly making coordinated contingency plans to keep shipping lanes in the Red Sea open, while the latter has reportedly been arming Sunni tribes against the Shi’ite rebels.

            At the same time, Libya remains in civil war after the overthrow of Col. Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.  Various Islamists are fighting the government, which has fled the capital.  Some of the militant Muslim rebels are affiliated with al-Qaeda and others with the “Islamic State.”  Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have provided limited military support to the Libyan government, which retains control over some of Libya’s territory. 

           Italy is calling for UN intervention in Libya, which it would lead in its former colony across the Mediterranean, as it has been burdened by a refugee crisis from Libya, Syria and other Arab states since the Arab Spring.  The Italian Government’s own maritime refugee rescue program implemented since the Arab Spring was replaced with a European Union one to relieve Italy of the disproportionate financial responsibility of saving tens of thousands of lives, but there were recently hundreds more deaths of refugees and other incidents, including threats by human smugglers pointing guns at Italian Coast Guardsmen.  The Italians rescued over 2,000 refugees this weekend alone.  

           It is in the interests of the world, as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Mali and Nigeria, to stop the spread of Islamism, whether Sunni or Shi’ite, in Yemen and Libya.  As negotiations in Yemen and Libya have failed, the UN must act to authorize military intervention in both states to stop militant Muslims from imposing harsh Islamic rule by force on Yemenis and Libyans, undermining international anti-terrorism efforts and creating refugee crises.  

Update: The United States Army Will Award Purple Hearts to the Ft. Hood Jihad Victims

           The United States Army will award Purple Hearts to the victims of the violent jihadist attack at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2009, Fox News reports. 

The survivors and the families of those killed would thereby be entitled to certain benefits.  I would expect the Army also to award its corresponding civilian medal to those civilian employees killed or injured in the attack, as well as to the victims of the shooting at the Arkansas recruiting center earlier that same year. 

The decision came after the passage of the defense authorization bill by the lame duck Congress, which included a provision authorizing the awards in response to resistance from the Obama Administration to acknowledge the attack as an act of violent jihad (Islamic holy war).  See also my post from December, Conservative Analysis of the Federal Spending Authorizations: http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/12/conservative-analysis-of-united-states.html.  The Ft. Hood attacker was inspired by the leader of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, with whom he corresponded. 

I have criticized the Obama Administration’s failure to identify the enemy and its motivation in several posts to this blog and have specifically championed the cause of awarding the medals to the victims of these jihadist attacks.  The awarding of the medals for those wounded in action necessarily acknowledges the attack was part of the War on Terrorism.  Congress, which acted in a bipartisan manner, deserves praise for righting this wrong.

In Praise of African Allies in the War on Terrorism

           Several individual African states, as well as the African Union (AU), have engaged in combat on their continent over the last several years to fight Islamist terrorists, most of who are affiliated with al-Qaeda. 

            Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, along with AU troops, have all fought al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, with much success in liberating territory from Islamist control.  Niger and Chad supported Mali’s government under AU encouragement against al-Qaeda and their allied Tuareg Islamist rebels and Burkina Faso is sending troops to Mali.  The French-led intervention last year freed northern Mali from the Islamists in the former French colony, but insurgents have been launching more attacks there from the desert over the last several months.  Both Niger and Chad also have been supporting Nigeria’s fight against its al-Qaeda branch, as has Cameroon.  These states are operating under an AU mandate.  Their efforts, especially those of Chad, which had also provided the largest African contingent of troops in Mali, have provided a much-needed boost to the Nigerian government, which has proven ineffective in its battle against its Islamist rebels. 

            Egypt has battled Islamists in Libya and along their border while engaging in its own struggle against Islamist terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula that are affiliated with the “Islamic State.”  In addition, Egypt has choked off supplies to the Iranian-backed terrorist Palestinian Hamas organization.  The most populous Arab state has become a bulwark in the War on Terrorism since its overthrow of its own Islamist government last year. 

            Several other African states have been sharing intelligence or even arresting Islamists.  Morocco has been especially helpful in this regard.  Other states have provided logistical support.  Meanwhile, Algeria continues to fight Islamist rebels, while Tunisia has cracked down on Islamists there, as well.

            The United States occasionally strikes by drone or launches a commando raid in Somalia, while France still helps Mali.  In contrast, after a European-led international coalition intervened in the Libyan civil war to help overthrow longtime dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, there has been no intervention, other than by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, on behalf of the internationally-recognized government in its fight against various Islamists.        

           These African states deserve praise for all their efforts against terrorism and Islamism.  The international community outside of Africa must do more to support its African allies in the War on Terrorism, especially Libya and Nigeria.

Liberal Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf Is off to a Poor Start

           Newly-inaugurated Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a liberal Democrat, is off to a poor start with three noteworthy actions in particular. 

First, Wolf fired the Open Records Office head who had been appointed by outgoing Governor Tom Corbett.  The Corbett appointee is a respected expert on the matter, having worked as a Senate staffer on revisions that strengthened the law that guarantees public access to public records.  The legislature is suing Wolf, arguing he lacks the authority to fire the Open Records head.

            Wolf’s second mistake was to ban horizontal drilling for natural gas thousands of feet below public parks from adjacent lands that would not have disturbed the surface of the parks or anywhere near it.  His decision was not based upon sound science or out of concern for the environment, but upon an unreasonable political and ideological motivation, including pleasing one of his major coalitions.  Wolf’s prohibition on environmentally safe horizontal drilling from adjacent lands will cost the Commonwealth millions of dollars of revenue that was expected from the leases to help offset the state’s budget shortfall.

           The third mistake by Wolf was to raise the salaries of his cabinet members by 9% each, as well as three other senior administration officials, despite the Commonwealth’s $2+ billion projected deficit.  The raises also mean the officials receive a substantially higher base for their pensions, which means Pennsylvania taxpayers will be on the hook for decades for Wolf’s decision.  

Sergio Mattarella Is Elected Italian President

Sergio Mattarella was today elected President of the Italian Republic to complete the nearly six years remaining on Giorgio Napolitano’s unprecedented second term.  The 89 year-old Napolitano agreed in 2013 to be reelected after the grand electors failed to reach a majority for other candidates, but indicated he would resign before his term expired.

The newly-elected twelfth President of Italy, 73, a Sicilian and former Constitutional Court Judge with strong anti-mafia credentials and a history of placing principle above party, is the author of Italy’s previous parliamentary election law that was replaced by the current one that was subsequently declared unconstitutional.  Mattarella is a former member of the Christian Democratic Party, the center-right party that dominated Italian post-war politics until the early 1990s and that had prevented the Communist Party, the strongest communist party in Western Europe, from winning national parliamentary elections.  He served in the cabinet of several governments in the 1980s and 90s, with various portfolios.  After the dissolution of the Christian Democratic Party in the early 90s, he joined the center-left Democratic Party, the currently ruling party that put forward his name as a presidential candidate.

The New Center Right Party, which is a junior coalition member of the governing Democratic Party’s center-left-center-right executive, joined with the Democratic Party in voting for Mattarella, while the main center-right party cast blank ballots and a smaller conservative party backed a different candidate, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.  Nevertheless, ANSA reports all the parties’ grand electors, except those of the populists, gave Mattarella a long standing ovation and the main center-right party leader, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, sent him auguri (augurs, a traditional Italian well-wishing).

The President of the Italian Republic is Head of State and the arbiter of Italian politics.  He not only has the power to dissolve parliament and give a mandate to form a government, but returns any law he finds unconstitutional or not supported by the budget to Parliament.  The appointment of life senators and the granting of pardons are also among the President’s powers, in contrast to the claims of the liberal media, such as the Associated Press, that his role is “ceremonial,” or that his office has no political role.  President Mattarella will play a key role in the continued major fiscal, political and constitutional reforms being considered by the Italian Parliament, of which I shall post updates.

Auguri, Sergio Mattarella!

A Consideration of Recent Alleged Instances of “Terrorism” and Related Observations

There have been a number of instances over the last several months of the misuse or overuse of the word terrorism. 

As I have posted a number of times, terrorism is a distinctly evil form of illegitimate warfare, whereby the strategy of the attacker is to target innocent civilians in order to intimidate the populace into giving into the demands of the attackers.  The overly broad use of the word to include lesser evils as equal to terrorism, or even the defense against terrorism as “terrorism,” dilutes the meaning of the word and undermines the legitimate right to self-defense against terrorism. 

Not all politically or religiously-motivated violence is terrorism and not every violent act committed even by terrorists is necessarily an act of terrorism.  The question of the applicability of terrorism has sparked a number of recent controversies.  This post is a survey of such recent incidents and an explanation of whether or not they meet the definition of terrorism, as well as related observations. 

            Because of North Korea’s cyber attack on Sony in December in order to prevent the showing of a motion picture, some in the United States Congress are suggesting the Hermit Kingdom should be placed back onto the Department of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, which necessitates the imposition of various measures against that state.  The cyber attack was an act of sabotage, not terrorism, as it was not aimed at the masses of innocent civilians, but at a company’s actions to which North Korea objected inappropriately.  However, the Communist regime’s threat to attack movie theaters showing the film did meet the definition of terrorism, as it was targeted at innocent civilians and intended to intimidate not only the company and theater operators, but the populace into giving into North Korea’s demands that the film not be seen.  Therefore, the U.S. should re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.

            North Korea’s cyber attack exposed the vulnerability of companies to cyber attacks, even more than prior breaches of Internet security at other major American companies.  It reminds Americans of the vulnerability also of civil entities and the need for improved security on the Internet.

The attack on a French satirical newspaper earlier this month was not an act of “terrorism,” as it was targeted at journalists and cartoonists of a leftist, secular satirical newspaper who had made graphic images of the prophet of Islam, not at the masses.  The attackers, who were an al-Qaeda cell, expressed their motivation not to terrorize the French people, even though they belonged to a terrorist organization, but to avenge by murder the acts they considered to be idolatry, sacrilege or blasphemy.  Indeed, the violent jihadists from al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch only shot specific individuals, although their actions certainly inflicted fear on other witnesses and probably had in indirect effect of terrorizing those who would exercise their freedom of expression in a manner objectionable to Muslims.  The attack by an “Islamic State” cell on a Jewish delicatessen in France, however, was an act of terrorism, as it was targeted at innocent civilians in order to intimidate the French people into opposing the arrest of the attackers on the newspaper.

            The Obama Administration, in attempting to deny an inconsistency in its policy of not giving into the demands of terrorists when it traded five Taliban leaders it had detained for a captured American soldier last year, is arguing that the Taliban is an “armed insurgency,” not a “terrorist organization.”  These terms are not mutually exclusive, as terrorist organizations do not necessarily limit their violence only to acts of terrorism.  Regardless, the Taliban meets the definition of a terrorist organization both because it harbored other terrorist organizations, particularly al-Qaeda, and because it commits acts of terrorism itself in Afghanistan and Pakistan, such as the slaughter of hundreds of schoolchildren in Pakistan last year, and was even behind the attempted bombing of New York City’s Times Square in 2010.  In fact, the Administration designates the Taliban as a foreign “terrorist organization” under another law.  As with its direct negotiations with the Cuban Communist Castro regime that is listed by the State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Obama Administration’s direct negotiations with the Taliban were thus negotiations with terrorists. 

           Ukraine has been referring to the pro-Russian separatists in its east as “terrorists” and is sponsoring a United Nations resolution to declare them as such.  Although the rebels sometimes have made indiscriminate attacks that have killed innocent civilians, including both Ukrainians and others, such as the Malaysian Air flight they shot down last year, their attacks do not appear to meet the definition of terrorism because they are not targeted at innocent civilians, but at Ukrainian soldiers and government officials.  Their insurgency nevertheless represents a threat to freedom, as noted in my last post.  

Foreign Updates: Cuba, Ukraine, Tunisia and France

Cuba

            Cuba finally released the political prisoners it had promised to free several weeks ago after its deal with the Obama Administration of the United States to return convicted Cuban spies.  Some of the freed political prisoners already have been subject to typical Castro Communist dictatorship harassment.  Dozens of other Cubans remain as prisoners of conscience.  As I noted in my posts last month, the Cuban regime made no structural changes to increase liberty or respect human rights as part of the exchange.  In fact, in follow-up discussions between the terrorism-sponsoring state and Obama Administration officials, it reportedly has refused any such changes. 

            There has been no progress in the issue of Cuba returning American fugitives, including terrorists.  The return of billions of dollars in property stolen from U.S. citizens has not apparently been emphasized in the Obama Administration negotiations with the Communist regime. 

Ukraine

            There have been more Russian Federation incursions and obvious aid to pro-Russian separatist rebels, which have helped the rebels launch a counteroffensive.  The death toll in the conflict has surpassed 5,000.

            Meanwhile, Russian government forces have shut down the last independent radio station in Crimea, the territory Russia seized from Ukraine after invading it, in violation of a treaty that obligated the Russian Federation to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and setting up a puppet government that handed the territory over to Russia after conducting a referendum of questionable validity.  The radio station’s market was the ethnic Crimean Tatars.  Tatars have lived there before the territory was colonized after its conquest by the Russian Empire.  There has been a pattern in the Russian Federation under Dictator Vladimir Putin of journalists, opposition politicians and dissidents being targeted with criminal probes or charges, and even violence.  Freedom House, a respected organization that assesses countries and certain territories on their level of liberty, recently rated Crimea, like Russia, as “Not Free.”

Tunisia

            The transition of power from the losing party to the winning one after parliamentary and presidential elections under Tunisia’s new constitution has occurred peacefully and smoothly.  The new government, led by nationalists, does not include either Islamists or leftists.  Tunisia has become the first Arab state to earn a rating of “Free” from Freedom House.

France

           The Socialist government has abandoned its confiscatory tax of 75% on high earners, after the tax failed to generate sufficient revenue by weakening France’s economy and causing high earners to flee the French Republic.

March for Life 2015: Every Child Is a Gift

           Yesterday, the 42^nd annual March for Life took place in Washington, D.C., in support of the right to life.  It is held on or around every January 22, the anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton United States Supreme Court decisions that overturned state abortion restrictions.

            As usual, hundreds of thousands of pro-life supporters attended the March for Life, despite the winter weather.  In the days leading up to it, there were also pro-life rallies across the Union that were each attended by hundreds or even thousands in support of the right to life.  The theme of this year’s march was “Every Child is a Gift.” 

On the same day, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure along mostly party lines to make permanent the prohibition on federal funds for most abortions, a prevision known as the Hyde Amendment that must be renewed annually.  Several Representatives spoke at the rally.  The bill is especially relevant because abortions are one of the immoral practices, along with contraception and sterilizations, which are covered under the federalization of health insurance, known as “Obamacare.”  The “Abortion President,” Barack Obama, a liberal Democrat, has threatened to veto the bill should it pass the Senate.  Other proposals expected to be considered by the new Congress include one to legislate the conscience protections for closely-held corporations that were upheld by the United States Supreme Court last year, the scope of the ruling of which the Obama Administration is trying to narrow, and another one that would extend conscience protections for medical providers who wish to opt out of abortions.

Advocacy on behalf of the right to life, such as through the March for Life, as well as increased support provided to women in cases of unexpected pregnancies, more scientific knowledge and improved technology that has revealed more about human development in the womb, and the passage of more moral laws that have been upheld by the courts have combined to reduce the number of abortions significantly in the U.S. since 1973.  Alas, more than a million babies – a million gifts – are still rejected and put to death annually across the American Union.  This Culture of Death has contributed to the coarsening of society and the decrease of respect for life and love for fellow human beings, especially women and the poor.  Therefore, it is necessary to continue to stand for the right to life until every life is respected, from conception until natural death.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Legacy of Conservative Policies and Reforms

           Tom Corbett, a Republican, today completed his four-year term as the 46^th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Last November, I summarized Corbett’s record in a series of posts: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Record of Reforms and Improvements, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/11/pennsylvania-governor-tom-corbetts.html, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Pro-Life Record, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-pro-life-record-of-pennsylvania.html.

To update his record, I note he recently signed legislation requiring the NCAA’s $60 million fine against Pennsylvania State University to remain in the Keystone State, dedicated to anti-child abuse measures.  

There were also several partial, temporary accomplishments worth noting.  Corbett signed a voter identification law, which had been implemented on a trial basis before an unfavorable court ruling.  Through his executive actions and court cases, he delayed the redefinition of legal marriage to include same-sex unions.  Corbett delayed the costly expansion of Medicaid, an inefficient federal welfare program and instead substituted a market-based offering that incentivized looking for work and making healthy choices.  

As with anything else in history, perspective will allow a better interpretation of Corbett’s record as Pennsylvania Governor, but his numerous accomplishments in only one term were significant in helping to restore Pennsylvania’s budget and economy and to provide better government and advance conservative principles of fiscal responsibility, security, health and morals, education, environmentally responsible energy, federalism and liberty.  

Iraq Sets Its National Record in Oil Production

           Despite the insurgency by Islamist terrorists, Iraq has emerged from its liberation by United States-led forces in 2003 to set a national record in oil production, the Iraqi Republic’s oil ministry reported.  

           Last month, four billion barrels of oil were pumped per day, on average, surpassing the previous record set in 1979, in the early days of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.  Only Saudi Arabia currently produces more oil than Iraq.  

           The increase in Iraqi production, along with increased American production and reduced global demand because of conservation and economic weakness, is one of the main reasons for the current oil glut and consequent dramatic drop in the price of crude oil.  Nonetheless, Iraq’s budget should benefit from oil revenue.  The new Iraqi government had recently reached an oil revenue-sharing agreement with the Kurdish-held areas.  

The Movement Across the United States to Require Passage of a Civics Test to Earn a High School or Equivalent Diploma

           There is a new movement across the United States to require students to pass a civics test in order to graduate from high school or earn the General Educational Development equivalent.  Arizona last week became the first state to pass such a measure.  Fifteen other States are in various stages of consideration of a similar requirement. 

The movement is led by the Arizona-based Joe Foss Institute, founded by the eponymous former Republican South Dakota Governor and decorated World War II aviator, in response to concerns about a significant decrease in the civics knowledge among young Americans.  The purpose of the institute is to increase patriotism and knowledge of American civics.  The bipartisan movement is supported by a number of prominent Americans in various fields.  In Arizona, for example, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has championed the cause of increasing civics education, publicly supported the measure.  The goal is to have all 50 States require the passage of the test by the 230^th anniversary of the Constitution in 2017.

The examination is based upon the same test required for the naturalization of immigrants, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Citizenship Civics Test.  Students would be required to answer at least 60 of the 100 questions correctly, except that unlike the naturalization test, it will be in the multiple-choice format.  Students may retake the test as often as necessary.  The questions are considered the most fundamental about the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, the federal government, the 50 States of the Union and basic American history and symbols of patriotism.  While the passage rate for immigrants seeking naturalization is over 90%, that of high school students is well under 10%, which is consistent with numerous surveys suggesting a disturbing lack of basic knowledge of American civics by high school students and young Americans. 

With the increasing emphasis on mathematics, science and English, civics has been crowded out in curricula.  Also, critical thinking skills, which are valuable, have been emphasized over memorization skills, which help develop the foundation of knowledge necessary for critical thinking in the first place.  The purpose of public education and state education requirements are in order to promote good citizenship, something that is critically important in a representative republic, especially one with near-universal adult suffrage.  The requirement by all 50 States of passage of the test would also help unite all Americans, naturalized or native born, by providing them with knowledge of our common American patrimony.

I had been concerned about the inconsistency in requiring aliens to pass a citizenship test in order to become citizens and gain the privilege to vote and the lack of any similar requirement for natural-born citizens, but at least the requirement that passage of the test be required in order to receive a high school or equivalent diploma decreases this inconsistency and should help promote better citizenship.  I hope the preparation for the test, for which there already are sufficient materials, will begin early enough as to construct a foundation of knowledge that is built upon every year with increasing age-appropriate layers, in order for those students who opt not to earn a high school or equivalent diploma at least to have learned some of the basics.  I would also urge the inclusion into curricula of state and local history and civics and some requirement of at least minimal knowledge in order to be awarded a high school or equivalent diploma. 

I call upon all States in the American Union to adopt the requirement by 2017 of passage of the naturalization test to earn a high school or equivalent diploma.  

Foreign Digest: Ukraine, China, Syria and Iran

Interpol recently issued an arrest warrant for charges of embezzlement of public funds against the former pro-Russian authoritarian President of Ukraine, who was overthrown by a pro-democratic and pro-Western revolution last year.  He fled to Russia. 

The property of one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in the Chinese Hong Kong was recently firebombed, in addition to the crackdown on street protesters by Chinese Communist authorities insistent on limiting the choices of Hong Kong leaders in elections to those approved only by the Communist Party. 

The fourth anniversary of the civil war in Syria has passed.  The grim toll is now more than 200,000 dead and 3 million refugees, the latter of which are straining the resources and stability of the neighboring states to which they have fled.  Meanwhile, another human rights organization has confirmed the Syrian dictatorship’s use of chlorine as a weapon.  Syria’s partner in sponsoring terrorism, the Iranian regime, has reportedly admitted to supplying arms to Syria, and manufacturing arms there, as well as pursuing its nuclear weapons program in the territory of its only Arab ally.

American Forces End Active Combat Operations in Afghanistan

           United States forces are successfully completing the active combat operations phase of the Afghan War, but both that war and American involvement in it will continue.

            American forces and their Afghan allies, together with a broad international coalition, removed the Taliban, who had controlled most of Afghanistan, from power in 2001, thereby denying al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, and other Islamist terrorists the safe harbor the Islamist Taliban had provided.  U.S. troops have trained Afghan troops and continued to help them fight the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamists to prevent the Taliban from returning to power in Afghanistan and turning it once again into a safe haven for Islamist terrorists.

            A residual American force will remain until the end of 2016, unlike after President Barack Obama withdrew American forces from Iraq after failing to obtain a status of forces agreement, which allowed Islamists to conquer vast swaths of Iraq and establish a quasi-state.  Other coalition partners are also remaining in Afghanistan until they complete a phased withdrawal.

            American involvement in the war in Afghanistan is still ongoing.  As the Afghan civil war is a battle subsumed by the War on Terrorism, U.S. drone strikes against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other Islamist terrorists in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Theater of operations will continue.  American forces will continue to be involved directly or indirectly in the Afghan civil war.  In addition to training and providing other support to the Afghan government, American troops would back-up Afghan forces, if necessary, and, as always, defend themselves from any attacks by the enemy, just as they did recently in Iraq.

            The U.S. goal must be to prevent the Taliban from regaining control of Afghanistan and providing a safe haven for terrorists like al-Qaeda or other Islamists again.  Strategic decisions on the timetable of any withdrawal of the remaining American forces should be determined by professional military leaders, based upon the conditions in theater, not Obama’s political considerations.  The schedule of withdrawal, if any, ought not to be announced to the enemy in advance, lest it wait out the withdrawal of U.S. forces to attack the Afghan government, as in Iraq.  The strategy of the Islamists has obviously been to kill enough American soldiers to wear down public support for the war to force political leaders to withdraw military forces prematurely—a strategy that cannot be allowed to succeed.  

           American servicemen have accomplished their mission and have made the American people and all the people of the world safer, for which we must express our praise and gratitude.  May the U.S. and its allies have the fortitude and courage to see through victory to the end in Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism.   

Presidential Elections in Tunisia Consummate Representative Government Based on Liberty

           Tunisia has conducted its first presidential election under its new constitution, after successfully conducting parliamentary elections earlier this year.  An official from the dictatorship that was overthrown in 2011 was elected over the Interim President, who was supported by the Islamist Party that had won interim elections, but whose government collapsed earlier this year because of ineffectiveness. 

Tunisians had elected moderates to form a government in parliamentary elections in October under a new constitution approved in January.  The Islamists respected the process and gave up power, as the Interim President, who has called for peace and respect for the democratic process, is expected to do.  The incoming President had invoked Tunisia’s founder, Habib Bourguiba, a moderate who had good relations with the United States.  He has offered to be considerate of the opposition’s concerns and to promote political reconciliation among Tunisians.  

Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring, the popular protests for more freedom and representative government throughout the Arab world.  The presidential elections and transition of power mark the consummation of Tunisia’s transition to representative government based upon liberty.  See also my posts, from January of this year, New Tunisian Constitution Is a Model of Liberty http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-new-tunisian-constitution-is-model.html, and Elections in Ukraine and Tunisia Restore Liberty, from October, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2014/10/elections-in-ukraine-and-tunisia.html.  I congratulate the people of Tunisia and wish them the blessings of liberty and peace.