Border Patrol Agent Stabbed Multiple Times, Kills Assailant
FBI to investigate — they will likely conclude the border is dangerous, and getting more so
Fox News reports that at 7:00 PM on Monday, a Border Patrol agent on watch near the border east of Nogales, Ariz., encountered a group of apparent illegal migrants, one of whom attacked the agent with a knife. The agent apparently suffered multiple stab wounds before he shot and killed his assailant; the agent was airlifted to a local hospital, where his condition is unknown. Numerous law-enforcement entities, including the FBI, are investigating the incident. They will likely determine that the border is a dangerous place, not least of all for the Border Patrol.
Tucson Border Patrol Chief Roy D. Villareal tweeted out the following, confirming the Fox News reporting:
Earlier tonight a Tucson Sector #BorderPatrol Agent was attacked and stabbed multiple times while on patrol near Nogales. Details here. pic.twitter.com/oQEM5XgvNz
— Roy D. Villareal (@USBPChiefTCA) September 22, 2020
CBP has been delinquent in updating its statistics on assaults on Border Patrol agents since FY 2018, but the agency was pretty busy last year with the migrant surge, so I will give them a break. In FY 2018, there were 683 assaults on agents in 379 separate incidents (one incident can result in multiple assaults), down (sort of) from 783 assaults in 324 separate incidents in FY 2017. That decrease is likely cold comfort to the 683 agents who were assaulted in FY 2018.
Many of those incidents involve migrants (or smugglers) throwing rocks at agents; I personally got to experience that in 2006 in Calexico, only the rock was a cinder block. Or attempting to tackle them when they are intercepted, as happened near Campo, Calif., in January. Or striking them (that happened near Lukeville, Ariz., in December). Also in December, a suspected smuggler tried to run an agent over with his car.
Fortunately, stabbings and shootings of agents are rare. But the stakes along the border are high, and getting higher. Even with the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, drug cartels are sending more "hard drugs" — and in particular methamphetamine and the deadly drug fentanyl — into the United States.
CBP officers at the ports have already seized twice as much meth in FY 2020 (through August, with a month to go in that fiscal year) than they did in FY 2019, and almost 30 percent more fentanyl (3,202 pounds — enough to kill more than 726 million people).
And as I noted recently, Border Patrol seizures of hard drugs at the border and interior checkpoints are also up for FY 2020: 13,580 pounds of cocaine (16 percent more than in all of FY 2019), 19,053 pounds of meth (32 percent more), and 707 pounds of fentanyl (a 212-percent increase).
With fewer migrants to apprehend, Border Patrol has more resources to seize those drugs — but intercepting the drug trade comes with greater dangers than apprehending migrants who are planning to surrender in order to file (often questionable) credible fear claims.
Interestingly, Border Patrol seizures of cocaine are 36 percent as high as they are at the ports, and fentanyl seizures by agents on the line are 22 percent what they are at the ports. And that is just the cocaine and fentanyl that agents can intercept — the border is long, and can use a larger Border Patrol presence.
Carrying a pound of cocaine or fentanyl over the border is not tough (Wyatt and Billy, the motorcycling protagonists in the 1969 film Easy Rider, were cocaine smugglers), but it is lucrative. The street value of cocaine in the United States is $96 a gram. That is more than $43,540 a pound. A kilogram of uncut fentanyl costs $6,000, but can be sold for $1.6 million — or just under $725,750 per pound.
Needless to say, a smuggler would be reluctant to drop a load worth that kind of money and scoot back across the border, as marijuana mules are apt to do. Not only is there cash on the line for the courier, but the cartels are likely to be displeased at such a loss. Evasion — or worse, assault — of a Border Patrol agent becomes a lot more likely.
These statistics also call into question the claim that drugs "almost universally come through the ports of entry along the southern border".
And the pandemic has only increased the desire in the United States for more illicit narcotics. The AMA reports that: "More than 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality as well as ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder in counties and other areas within the state."
Why? As the Association of American Medical Colleges explains: "More than 20 million people in the United States have a substance use disorder. Now, Covid-19 has left many locked down, laid off, and flooded with uncertainty." That is bad for them, bad for America, and will ultimately be bad for the Border Patrol. Until the United States (and the world) gets back to normal, expect border drug seizures — and assaults — to increase. Cartels don't care, and they know an opportunity when they see one.
As Breitbart News reported, up to 80 percent of criminal illegal aliens freed back into American communities by sanctuary jurisdictions go on to commit more crimes, an ICE official confirmed in congressional testimony.
llegal Alien Charged with Raping Child in North Carolina
An illegal alien has been charged with raping a child in Cherokee County, North Carolina, local law enforcement officials confirm.
Benito Morales Mendez, a 39-year-old illegal alien, was arrested by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office on statutory rape charges after allegedly fleeing to Texas in an attempt to evade arrest.
In January, a complaint was filed alleging that Mendez had sexually assaulted a child. Officials also alleged he violated a domestic violence protective order before issuing a warrant for his arrest.
Mendez, officials allege, fled North Carolina for Texas. In cooperation with the United States Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), officials were able to locate Mendez in Texas months after the arrest warrant was issued.
Since locating Mendez, law enforcement secured his extradition back to North Carolina where he is now in local custody on $500,000 bail. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has placed a detainer on Mendez so that if he is released at any time, he will be turned over to their custody for arrest and deportation.
North Carolina’s illegal alien population has ballooned in recent years thanks to its multiple sanctuary jurisdictions that shield illegal aliens from arrest and deportation. In 2019, more than 500 illegal aliens were released in the state by sanctuary jurisdictions.
As Breitbart News reported, up to 80 percent of criminal illegal aliens freed back into American communities by sanctuary jurisdictions go on to commit more crimes, an ICE official confirmed in congressional testimony.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
House Votes to
'Enhance the Border Security' of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia--Not the
USA
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has voted to fund
efforts to
"enhance the border security" of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia
while moving to deny all funding to build walls, fencing or any other
structures to enhance the border security of the United States.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants
have their priorities.
To them, borders on the other side of
the world are more important than our own.
On June 19, the House approved a massive
spending bill. In an act of legislative polygamy, it "married" the appropriations
bill for the Department of Defense to the appropriations bills for the
Department of State, the Department of Energy, and the Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
The Congressional Budget
Office estimated this monstrosity would cost taxpayers $984.7 billion
in fiscal 2020.
Yet there is one thing this bill would
forbid the Trump administration from spending one penny to accomplish.
On page 304 (of 650), it says: "None
of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act or any prior
Department of Defense appropriations Acts may be used to construct a wall,
fence, border barriers, or border security infrastructure along the southern
land border of the United States."
A month later, the House Appropriations
Committee sent the full House a bill to fund the Department of Homeland
Security.
This bill — so far — is unmarried
and would cost taxpayers
$63.8 billion.
President Trump had requested that it
include $5 billion to use in constructing barriers at the border.
How much did the committee give him?
"No funding is provided in the bill
for new physical barriers along the southwest border," said the committee
report.
It also said, "The recommendation
provides no funding for additional Border Patrol Agents."
Thus, the Democrat-controlled House is
advancing discretionary appropriations bills that would spend more than $1
trillion in one year but provide zero dollars to build physical barriers to
stop illegal aliens, human traffickers and drug smugglers from crossing our
southern border.
Yet that does not mean the
Democrat-controlled House is not planning to spend some money to enhance border
security.
It just depends where the border is.
In that 650-page spending bill that
prohibits Defense Department money from being used to defend the southern
border of the United States, there is a section that creates a $1.295 billion
fund for use by the secretary of defense.
"For the 'Counter-Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria Train and Equip Fund', $1,295,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2021," says the bill. "Provided, That such funds shall
be available to the secretary of defense in coordination with the Secretary of
State, to provide assistance, including training; equipment; logistics support,
supplies, and services; stipends; infrastructure repair and renovation; and
sustainment, to foreign security forces, irregular forces, groups, or
individuals participating, or preparing to participate in activities to counter
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and their affiliated or associated
groups."
"Provided further," says the
bill, "That these funds may be used in such amounts as the Secretary of
Defense may determine to enhance the border security of nations adjacent to
conflict areas including Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia resulting from
actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria."
So, the secretary of defense could take
a chunk of this $1.295 billion and give it to the government of Egypt to secure
its border with post-Gadhafi Libya, where ISIS is active.
And he could give a chunk to Tunisia to
secure its border with Libya.
Or he could give some American tax
dollars to unnamed "irregular forces, groups, or individuals" who,
someplace in this world, are "preparing to participate in activities"
to counter ISIS, or at least groups that are "affiliated or
associated" with ISIS.
But according to the House
appropriations bills, President Trump cannot spend a penny to build structures
at our own border to secure our own territory and our own people.
By contrast, the Republican-controlled
Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a Homeland Security spending bill
that does include $5 billion to build "pedestrian fencing" — to stop
people on foot and in vehicles from crossing our southern border. Also, that
committee's defense spending bill does not prohibit the president from using
defense money to build barriers to defend our own border.
It even includes a larger fund ($1.8
billion) than the House bill that, among other things, can be used "for
enhanced border security" not only in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia
but also in Oman.
We are now more than a month into fiscal
2020. The government is running on a continuing resolution that expires Nov.
21.
President Trump should deliver a simple
message to Speaker Pelosi: He is not going to sign a spending bill that funds
border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia but not California,
Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
He should put America first — even if
Pelosi will shut down the government trying to stop him.
(Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor
in chief of CNSNews.com.)
US sends 3,000 more troops to defend Saudi monarchy
The Pentagon confirmed Friday that 3,000 more US troops are
being deployed to Saudi Arabia to defend the blood-soaked monarchy led by Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman and prepare for war against Iran.
The deployment includes two fighter squadrons, one Air
Expeditionary Wing (AEW), two more Patriot missile batteries, and one Terminal
High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD).
According to a Pentagon statement Friday, the US Secretary of
Defense phoned Crown Prince bin Salman (who also holds the post of Saudi
minister of defense) to inform him of the coming reinforcements, which he said
were meant “to assure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia.”
The Pentagon also acknowledged that the latest escalation
brings the number of additional troops sent into the Persian Gulf region since
May to 14,000. They have been accompanied by an armada of US warships and a
B-52-led bomber task force. The Pentagon has also announced that an aircraft
carrier-led battle group will remain in the Persian Gulf.
US soldiers deployed in the Middle East (U.S. Army by 1st Lt.
Jesse Glenn)
While initiated as a supposed response to unspecified threats
from Iran, the US buildup in the Persian Gulf region has constituted from its
outset a military provocation and preparation for a war of aggression. This
military buildup has accompanied Washington’s so-called “maximum pressure”
campaign of sweeping economic sanctions that are tantamount to a state of war.
The aim, as the Trump administration has stated publicly, is to drive Iranian
oil exports down to zero. By depriving Iran of its principal source of export
income, Washington hopes to starve the Iranian people into submission and pave
the way to regime change, bringing to power a US puppet regime in Tehran.
The latest military buildup was announced in the immediate
aftermath of an attack on an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea, about 60 miles from
the Saudi port of Jeddah.
The National Iranian Tanker Co. reported that its oil tanker,
the Sabiti, was struck twice by explosives early Friday morning, leaving two
holes in the vessel and causing a brief oil spill into the Red Sea.
While Iranian state news media blamed the damage on missile
attacks, a spokesman for the company told the Wall Street Journal that
the company was not sure of the cause.
Some security analysts have suggested that the fairly minor
damage to the vessel could have been caused by limpet mines. Such mines were
apparently used last June when two tankers—one Japanese and one
Norwegian-owned—were hit by explosions in the Sea of Oman. At the time,
Washington blamed the attacks on Iran, without providing any evidence. Tehran
denied the charge, saying that it sent teams to rescue crew member of the
damaged tankers.
The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted an unnamed
Iranian government official as stating that the Iranian tanker had been the
victim of a “terrorist attack.”
“Examination of the details and perpetrators of this
dangerous action continues and will be announced after reaching the result,”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
The National Iranian Tanker Co. issued a statement saying
that there was no evidence that Saudi Arabia was behind the attack.
The incident raised the specter of an escalating tanker war
that could disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through
which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows. News of the attack sent crude
oil prices spiking by 2 percent.
In addition to the June attacks on the tankers in the Gulf of
Oman, in July British commandos, acting on a request from Washington, stormed
an Iranian super tanker, the Grace 1, in waters off the British overseas
territory of Gibraltar. In apparent retaliation, Iranian Revolutionary Guards
seized the British-flagged Stena Impero for what Tehran charged were violations
of international maritime regulations as it passed through the Strait of
Hormuz. Both tankers were subsequently released.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a
statement charging that the Iranian super tanker, renamed the Adrian Darya 1,
had offloaded its oil in Syria in violation of European Union sanctions and a
pledge made by Tehran to the UK at the time of the vessel’s release. He
demanded provocatively that “EU members should condemn this action, uphold the
rule of law, and hold Iran accountable.”
The Trump administration, which in May of last year
unilaterally and illegally abrogated the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran
and the major powers has been pressuring the European signatories to the
deal—Germany, France and the UK—to follow suit.
While the respective governments of the three countries have
insisted that they still support the nuclear agreement, they have repeatedly
bowed to Washington’s war drive, while failing to take any significant actions
to counter the effects of the US “maximum pressure” campaign and deliver to
Tehran the sanctions relief and economic normalization that it was promised in
exchange for curtailing its nuclear program.
Most recently, the three European governments backed
Washington in blaming Iran for a September 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities
that temporarily shut down half of the kingdom’s oil production and sent crude
prices spiraling by 20 percent—again without providing a shred of proof.
Washington is seeking to topple the Iranian regime or bully
it into accepting complete subordination to US imperialist predatory interests
in the energy-rich and geostrategically vital Middle East.
The US sanctions regime and military buildup have placed the
entire region on a hair trigger for the outbreak of a catastrophic war that
could engulf not only the Middle East, but the entire planet.
All of the regimes involved in the escalating conflict are
gripped by crises that make the drive to war all the more explosive.
The impact of the sanctions on Iran’s economy has been devastating.
It is estimated that oil exports last month fell to just 400,000 barrels per
day (b/d), compared to 1.95 million b/d in September 2018. Left with little
means of combating spiraling inflation and growing unemployment, Iran’s
bourgeois-clerical regime is caught between intense pressure from imperialism
on the one hand, and the growth of social opposition among Iranian workers and
poor on the other.
The Saudi monarchy is confronting the debacle of its
four-year-old and near genocidal war against the people of Yemen, made possible
by the weapons and logistical aid provided by Washington, even as Prince bin
Salman remains a global pariah for his ordering of the grisly assassination of
dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year in Istanbul.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, incapable of forming a new
government after two elections and confronting criminal indictments, has grown
increasingly concerned over the apparent lack of appetite by the Persian Gulf
Sunni monarchies for military confrontation with Iran and Washington’s failure
to carry out military strikes after the downing of its drone in June and the
attacks on the Saudi oil facilities last month. Clearly, Tel Aviv, which has
cast Iran as its strategic enemy, would have a motive for attacking Iranian
tankers in the hopes of provoking a response that could lead to US military
action.
And then there is Trump. He has proclaimed his determination
to halt the “endless wars” in the Middle East and provoked a political
firestorm by pulling back a relative handful of US troops in Syria, allowing
Turkey to launch a long-planned attack on the Pentagon’s erstwhile proxy force,
the Kurdish-dominated YPG militia.
Faced with an escalating political crisis and growing social
tensions within the US, along with an impeachment investigation by the
Democrats in Congress that is focused entirely on the national security
concerns of the CIA and the Pentagon, he has ample motive for launching a new
war.
While the Democrats’ exclusive focus on Trump’s failure to
pursue a sufficiently bellicose policy against Russia and prosecute the war for
regime change in Syria has allowed the US president to absurdly posture as an
opponent of war, the reality is that he has overseen a staggering increase in
military spending designed to prepare for “great power” confrontations,
particularly with China.
Meanwhile, whatever his political pretense, Trump has done
nothing to end any of the wars in the Middle East. While he has ordered US
troops to pull back, allowing the Turkish invasion, none of them have been
withdrawn from Syria.
With the latest buildup of US forces in Saudi Arabia, Washington is preparing, behind the backs of the working class, to launch a catastrophic military conflict with Iran. The most urgent task posed by these developments is the building of a global antiwar movement led by the working class. This movement must be armed with a socialist and internationalist program to unify working people in the United States, Europe and the Middle East in a common struggle against imperialist war and its source, the capitalist system.
TRUMP AND THE MURDERING 9-11 MUSLIM SAUDIS…
Why is the Swamp Keeper and his family of
parasites up their ar$es??
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/03/trump-and-9-11-murdering-saudis-will-he.html
WHAT WILL TRUMP AND HIS PARASITIC FAMILY DO FOR
MONEY???
JUST ASK THE SAUDIS!
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/03/trump-flees-to-mar-swamp-amidst-mueller.html
JOHN DEAN: Not so
far. This has been right by the letter of the special counsel’s charter. He’s
released the document. What I’m looking for is relief and understanding
that there’s no witting or unwitting likelihood that the President is an agent
of Russia. That’s when I’ll feel comfortable, and no evidence even hints at
that. We don’t have that yet. We’re still in the process of unfolding the
report to look at it. And its, as I say, if [Attornery General William Barr]
honors his word, we’ll know more soon.
“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and
Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy
approaching par with third-world hell-holes. This
is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” ---
- Karen McQuillan AMERICAN THINKER
PRESIDENT of the
UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP: Pathological liar, swindler, con man, huckster,
golfing cheat, charity foundation fraudster, tax evader, adulterer, porn whore
chaser and servant of the Saudis dictators
THE TRUMP FAMILY
FOUNDATION SLUSH FUND…. Will they see jail?
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-phony-trump-slush-fund-will-it-put.html
VISUALIZE
REVOLUTION!.... We know where they live!
“Underwood is a
Democrat and is seeking millions of dollars in penalties. She wants Trump and
his eldest children barred from running other charities.”
Opinion: Trump And Pompeo Have Enabled A Saudi Cover-Up Of
The Khashoggi Killing
October 2, 201911:45 AM ET
AARON DAVID MILLER
RICHARD SOKOLSKY
In the weeks following the death of
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump spent more time praising
Saudi Arabia as a very important ally than he did reacting to the killing.
Hasan Jamali/AP
Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) is a
senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former
State Department Middle East analyst, adviser and negotiator in Republican and
Democratic administrations. He is the author most recently of the End of Greatness: Why America Can't Have
(and Doesn't Want) Another Great President.
Richard Sokolsky, a nonresident senior fellow
at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, worked in the State
Department for six different administrations and was a member of the secretary
of state's Office of Policy Planning from 2005 to 2015.
It
has been a year since Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist
Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul where he was slain
and dismembered. There is still no objective or comprehensive Saudi or American
accounting of what occurred, let alone any real accountability.
The
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's admission in a recent CBS interview that he takes
"full responsibility," while denying foreknowledge of the killing or
that he ordered it, sweeps under the rug the lengths to which the Saudis have
gone to obscure the truth about their involvement in the killing and cover-up.
The
Saudi campaign of obfuscation, denial and cover-up would never have gotten off
the ground had it not been for the Trump administration's support over the past
year. The president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not only refused to
distance themselves from the crown prince, known by his initials MBS, but also
actively worked to relegitimize him. The Saudis killed Khashoggi but Trump
acquiesced in the cover-up and worked hard to protect the U.S.-Saudi
relationship and soften the crown prince's pariah status. In short, without
Trump, the attempted makeover — such as it is — would not have been possible.
The Saudis killed Khashoggi but Trump acquiesced in the
cover-up and worked hard to protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship and soften the
crown prince's pariah status.
Weak
administration response
The
administration's weak and feckless response to Khashoggi's killing was
foreshadowed a year before it occurred. In May 2017, in an unusual break with
precedent, Trump visited Saudi Arabia on his inaugural presidential trip; gave
his son-in-law the authority to manage the MBS file, which he did with the
utmost secrecy; and made it unmistakably clear that Saudi money, oil, arm
purchases and support for the administration's anti-Iranian and pro-Israeli
policies would elevate the U.S.-Saudi "special relationship" to a new
level.
Predictably,
therefore, the administration's reaction to Khashoggi's killing was shaped by a
desire to manage the damage and preserve the relationship. In the weeks
following Khashoggi's death, Trump spent more time praising Saudi Arabia as a
very important ally, especially as a purchaser of U.S. weapons and goods, than he did reacting to the killing. Trump
vowed to get to the bottom of the Khashoggi killing but focused more on
defending the crown prince, saying this was another example of
being "guilty before being proven innocent."
Those
pledges to investigate and impose accountability would continue to remain
hollow. Over the past year, Trump and Pompeo have neither criticized nor
repudiated Saudi actions that have harmed American interests in the Middle
East. Two months after Khashoggi's death, the administration, in what Pompeo
described as an "initial step," imposed sanctions on
17 Saudi individuals implicated in the killing. But no others have been
forthcoming, and the visa restrictions that were imposed are meaningless
because none of the sanctioned Saudis would be
foolish enough to seek entry into the United States.
What's
more, the administration virtually ignored a congressional
resolution imposing sanctions on the Saudis
for human rights abuses and vetoed another bipartisan resolution that would
have ended U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia's inhumane military
campaign in Yemen.
The
Saudis opened a trial in January of 11 men implicated in the killing, but the
proceedings have been slow and secretive, leading the United Nations' top human
rights expert to declare that "the trial underway in Saudi Arabia will not
deliver credible accountability." Despite accusations that the crown
prince's key adviser Saud al-Qahtani was involved in the killing, he's still
advising MBS, has not stood trial and
will likely escape punishment. A year later, there are still no reports of
convictions or serious punishment.
Legitimizing
Mohammed bin Salman
The
Trump administration has not only given the crown prince a pass on the
Khashoggi killing, but it has also worked assiduously to remove his pariah
status and rehabilitate his global image. Barely two months after the 2018
slaying, Trump was exchanging pleasantries with the crown prince at the
Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires and holding
out prospects of spending more time with him. Then this past June, at the G-20
in Osaka, Japan, Trump sang his praises while dodging questions about the
killing. "It's an honor to be with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, a
friend of mine, a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms
of opening up Saudi Arabia," Trump said.
And
you can bet that when Saudi Arabia hosts the G-20, scheduled to be held in its
capital of Riyadh in November 2020, the Trump administration will be smiling as
its rehab project takes another step in its desired direction.
What
the U.S. should have done
Trump
has failed to impose any serious costs or constraints on Saudi Arabia for the
killing of a U.S. newspaper columnist who resided in Virginia or for the
kingdom's aggressive policies, from Yemen to Qatar. In the wake of the
Khashoggi killing, the administration should have made it unmistakably clear,
both publicly and privately, that it expected a comprehensive and credible
accounting and investigation. It should
have suspended high-level contacts and arms sales with the kingdom for a period
of time. And to make the point, the administration should have supported at
least one congressional resolution taking the Saudis to task, in addition to
triggering the Magnitsky Act, which would have required a U.S. investigation; a
report to Congress; and sanctions if warranted.
Back
to business as usual
The
dark stain of the crown prince's apparent involvement in Khashoggi's death will
not fade easily. But for Trump and Pompeo, it pales before the great
expectations they still maintain for the kingdom to confront and contain their
common enemy, Iran, as well as support the White House's plan for Middle East
peace, defeat jihadists in the region and keep the oil spigot open.
Most
of these goals are illusory. Saudi Arabia is a weak, fearful and unreliable
ally. The kingdom has introduced significant social and cultural reforms but
has imposed new levels of repression and authoritarianism. Its reckless
policies toward Yemen and Qatar have expanded, not contracted, opportunities
for Iran, while the Saudi military has demonstrated that, even after spending
billions to buy America's most sophisticated weapons, it still can't defend
itself without American help.
Meanwhile,
recent attacks on critical Saudi oil facilities that the U.S. blames on Iran
have helped rally more American and international support for the kingdom.
When
it comes to the U.S.-Saudi relationship and the kingdom's callous reaction to
Khashoggi's killing, the president and his secretary of state have been
derelict in their duty: They have not only failed to advance American strategic
interests but also undermined America's values in the process.
The U.S. Military is Sending Thousands of Troops and Even B-1
Bombers into Saudi Arabia (To Counter Iran)
The National Interest•November
3, 2019
On October 6, around fifty U.S. commandos in northeastern Syria tasked
with hunting down ISIS forces were withdrawn from territory near the Turkish
border controlled by the Kurdish-Arab SDF faction.
The U.S. withdrawal was a prerequisite for a Turkish attack
against the SDF which subsequently took place. The remaining hundreds of U.S.
forces elsewhere in northeastern Syria were endangered in the crossfire and had
to be withdrawn a few days later.
The U.S. withdrawal was post-hoc justified on the basis that
they were no longer needed in the Middle East and it was time to “bring the
troops home.”
But in the weeks since, the United States has deployed over
3,000 more troops to the Middle East—including hundreds of National Guardsmen
in Syria, and thousands of soldiers and airmen deployed to Saudi Arabia.
While a companion article looks at the deployment of a
mechanized battalion to defend an oil field in southeastern Syria, this second
part looks at the rapid buildup of U.S. forces in the wealthy Kingdom in
response to intensifying clashes with Iran following the United State’s
withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Tehran.
Return to the Kingdom
The deployments to Saudi Arabia marks a dramatic turn around
from sixteen years earlier in 2003, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
pulled out thousands of U.S. troops. Their presence had long been cited as a
factor radicalizing Muslims across the planet who objected to the presence of
foreign troops so close to the holy city of Mecca.
Apparently, these concerns have since faded, despite political
headwinds from a U.S. Congress angered by Saudi Arabia’s grisly murder of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.
The buildup has been prompted by Iranian harassment of shipping
in the Persian Gulf, the shootdown
of U.S. surveillance drone over the Persian Gulf in June, and a drone and
missile attack on Saudi oil refineries in September that was almost certainly
of Iranian origin but which Yemeni rebels took credit for.
First, following the loss of drones in June, that the Defense
Department announced it was doubling troop deployment to the Kingdom from 500
to 1,000 personnel.
GOP/Democrats Slip
No comments:
Post a Comment