Tag: national security

With Russia Ascendant, Phillips Bill Proposes New Arctic Ambassador to Fight Climate Change and Enhance National Security

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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) introduced the Arctic Diplomacy Act of 2021, legislation that would establish a United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs. The newly created Arctic Ambassador would work with partner nations to maintain peace and stability while encouraging environmentally sustainable natural resource management and economic development. The bill would also mandate an Arctic Region Security Policy to bolster U.S. diplomacy, advance principles of good governance, and enhance resilience capacities to combat climate change and increased militarization. 

Earlier today, the Russian Federation began its two-year term as chair of the influential Arctic Council, the international body dedicated to promoting cooperation in the region. In light of that development, it is more important than ever that the United States play an active role in Arctic diplomacy – and a dedicated Arctic ambassadorship would make that aspiration a reality. Furthermore, as the climate crisis continues to intensify, the Ambassador for Arctic Affairs will be needed to promote sustainable development, reduce carbon emissions, and strengthen resilience in the Arctic Region. 

Continue reading “With Russia Ascendant, Phillips Bill Proposes New Arctic Ambassador to Fight Climate Change and Enhance National Security”

Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say

New York Times logoFirst came a destabilization campaign in Moldova, followed by the poisoning of an arms dealer in Bulgaria and then a thwarted coup in Montenegro. Last year, there was an attempt to assassinate a former Russian spy in Britain using a nerve agent. Though the operations bore the fingerprints of Russia’s intelligence services, the authorities initially saw them as isolated, unconnected attacks.

Western security officials have now concluded that these operations, and potentially many others, are part of a coordinated and ongoing campaign to destabilize Europe, executed by an elite unit inside the Russian intelligence system skilled in subversion, sabotage and assassination.

The group, known as Unit 29155, has operated for at least a decade, yet Western officials only recently discovered it. Intelligence officials in four Western countries say it is unclear how often the unit is mobilized and warn that it is impossible to know when and where its operatives will strike.

View the complete October 8 article by Michael Schwirtz on The New York Times website here.

Climate change is really about prosperity, peace, public health and posterity – not saving the environment

The story of climate change is one that people have struggled to tell convincingly for more than two decades. But it’s not for lack of trying.

The problem is emphatically not a lack of facts and figures. The world’s best scientific minds have produced blockbuster report after blockbuster report, setting out in ever more terrifying detail just how much of an impact we humans have had on the Earth since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Many people believe anthropogenic climate change – rapid and far-reaching shifts in the climate caused by human activity – is now the story that will define the 21st century, whether anyone’s good at telling it or not.

Nor is it merely a problem of delivery. The past decade has witnessed an explosion of climate change communication efforts spanning nearly every conceivable medium, channel and messenger. Documentaries, popular books and articles, interactive websites, immersive virtual reality, community events — all are being used in increasingly creative ways to communicate the story of climate change. Many of these efforts are beautifully designed and executed, visually and narratively engaging and careful to avoid common traps and shortcomings that have tripped up previous efforts.

View the complete September 27 article by Ezra Markowitz, Associate PRofessor of Environmental Decision-Making at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Adam Corner, Research Director at Climate Outreach & Honorary Research Fellow in Psychology, Cardiff University, on the Conversation website.

Democrats push to make national security a 2020 wedge issue

Foreign policy is getting placed on the back burner as 2020 Democratic presidential candidates look for a breakout moment in the party’s crowded field.

But Democratic senators and strategists are clamoring for White House hopefuls to talk up the issue, arguing President Trump is vulnerable on national security after sparking a series of international dust-ups during his presidency.

“It’s an enormous point of political exposure for this president. He continues to screw up everything in every corner of the world,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a leading voice within the Senate Democratic caucus on foreign policy. “We have the opportunity to close the national security gap with Republicans in 2020, so I would hope that Democrats see this as an opportunity.”

 View the complete June 9 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

Republicans can’t claim to be the party of national security

The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., in April 2016. Credit: Carolyn Kaster, AP

An impressive list of 58 former national security officials — who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents — have released a declaration attacking the fiction that there is an “emergency” along the southern border, justifying President Trump’s power grab. Coming on the eve of Tuesday’s House vote on a resolution to short-circuit the declaration, it makes clear the degree to which Republican lawmakers will endanger national security to stay on Trump’s good side.

The officials state:

At the outset, there is no evidence of a sudden or emergency increase in the number of people seeking to cross the southern border. According to the administration’s own data, the numbers of apprehensions and undetected illegal border crossings at the southern border are near forty-year lows. Although there was a modest increase in apprehensions in 2018, that figure is in keeping with the number of apprehensions only two years earlier, and the overall trend indicates a dramatic decline over the last fifteen years in particular.

They also make clear, “There is no reason to believe that there is a terrorist or national security emergency at the southern border that could justify the President’s proclamation.”

View the complete commentary by Jennifer Rubin on The Washington Post website here.

North Korea remains a top threat despite diplomatic thaw, U.S. commanders say

The chief of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, testified North Korea “remains the most immediate challenge.” Credit: Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

North Korea remains a top threat to the U.S. despite a recent thaw in diplomatic relations, the commanders of U.S. forces in the Pacific and on the Korean Peninsula told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.

The commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Army Gen. Robert Abrams, noted a “significant reduction in tension” compared to the recent history of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea. But the four-star general cautioned the regime’s annual military exercises hadn’t changed in size, scope or timing.

“I remain clear-eyed about the fact that, despite a reduction in tensions along the DMZ and a cessation of strategic provocations coupled with public statements of intent to denuclearize, little to no verifiable change has occurred in North Korea’s military capabilities,” Abrams told senators.

View the complete February 12 article by Connor O’Brien on the Politico website here.

Jared Kushner’s security clearance was rejected on concerns of ‘foreign influence’ — until this official overruled it: report

Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in Riyadh last year. Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Two White House security clearance specialists rejected President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s applications out of concerns that he was potentially susceptible to foreign influence — only to be overruled by Carl Kline, an official installed as the head of personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President, according to a new report from NBC News.

Questions about Kushner’s security clearance have hung over the top aide to the president for about a year, as previous reports had found that he had persisted on a provisional security clearance for months, much longer than is typical, while questions were raised about his application.

Eventually, it was announced that Kushner has obtained an official security clearance — but how that came to pass wasn’t revealed until now.

View the complete January 25 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here. 

FBI Agents Aren’t Getting Paid During the Shutdown — and They Say It’s a Threat to National Security

One can’t afford to pay the mortgage on his new home. Another is struggling to pay medical bills incurred by his wife’s terminal cancer. A third feels humiliated and degraded, finding it difficult to even pay bills in full and on time.

FBI agents working without pay are struggling to make ends meet as the historic partial government shutdown enters its second month, according to a report from the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), a group that advocates for 14,000 current and former FBI agents. The document, which shares anonymous anecdotes from dozens of FBI agents, details the financial strain on agents and their families and the significant blow the lapse in funding has meant for the bureau’s operations and ongoing investigations.

“I am proud to be an Agent, proud to serve my country, and willing to sacrifice my life in defense of the people and the Constitution,” says an FBI agent based in the Western region. “But to have my family placed in the financial situation we are currently facing due to partisan politics is disgusting to me as a government employee and a citizen.”

View the complete January 22 article by Jennifer Calfas on the Money website here.

Abuse of Power: Debunking the Trump Administration’s National Security Argument for Coal

The following article by Luke Bassett and Ned Price was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 16, 2018:

A coal-fired power plant sits near the Ohio River in WV, November 2011. Credit: Michael Williamson, Getty Images

After several failed attempts to bail out coal power plants, President Donald Trump and his administration have turned to co-opting national security tools and arguments to pursue their domestic energy agenda. Recently, administration officials have selectively targeted natural gas and renewable energy generation resources, falsely claiming they pose greater risks to the electric grid than do nuclear or coal resources. Specifically, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry misconstrued the facts about certain electricity generation resources and their relative vulnerability to threats, hiding behind his access to classified information to short-circuit a policy debate and thereby strengthen his proposal in a way that circumvents fact-checking.

This unprecedented use of defense arguments to favor certain electricity generators over others defies competitive energy market rules. Furthermore, it impairs the ability of experts, officials, and even the public to assess, prevent, or respond effectively to actual threats to the energy system, thereby undermining national security efforts as a whole. Continue reading “Abuse of Power: Debunking the Trump Administration’s National Security Argument for Coal”

Lawmakers Concerned About Trump’s Pledge to Save China’s ZTE

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website May 14, 2018:

Schumer claims U.S. president’s help would ‘make China great again’

A ZTE-made mobile device. Trump says he will help the Chinese firm avoid collapse. Credit: Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Members from both parties reacted skeptically Monday to President Donald Trump’s intention to help troubled Chinese telecommunications company ZTE, saying they were concerned he was reversing his pledge to get tough on Beijing.

Trump campaigned, in part, on altering the United States’ trading relationships with the rest of the world, taking a particularly hard line against China and its practices. In 2011, he went so far as to say “China is raping this country.” So a Sunday tweet by the president raised eyebrows when he announced an effort with Chinese President Xi Jinping to “give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast.” Continue reading “Lawmakers Concerned About Trump’s Pledge to Save China’s ZTE”