Biden: Only the 'MAGA Crowd' Is Questioning the Billions Spent on War in Ukraine
(CNSNews.com) - President Joe Biden told ABC News on Friday, it's up to Ukraine to decide how the war ends; only the "MAGA crowd" is questioning the billions of dollars Biden is spending on the war; Ukraine "doesn't need F-16s now"; and if Russian President Vladimir Putin likes the Chinese peace proposal, "how could it be any good?"
Biden would not predict how the war ends.
"But here's what we have to do in the meantime," he said. "We have to put the Ukrainians in a position where they can make advances this spring and summer and move to a place where a negotiated...they can negotiate from a position of strength."
ABC's David Muir noted that U.S. aid to Ukraine now totals at least $113 billion so far. "Many" Americans are asking, "how long can we spend like this?" Muir told the president:
"Well, first of all, I'm not sure how many are asking that," Biden said.
"I know the MAGA crowd is. The right-wing Republicans are, you know, talking about, we can't do this. We find ourselves in a situation where the cost of doing -- of walking away could be considerably higher than the cost of helping Ukraine maintain its independence," Biden said.
Biden said "for now," the U.S. will not be sending Ukraine the F-16 fighter jets President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is requesting.
"Look, we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now," Biden said. "He needs tanks. He needs artillery. He needs air defense, including another HIMARS. There are things he needs now that we're sending him to put him in a position to be able to make gains this spring and this summer going into the fall.
"You don't think he needs F-16s now?" Muir asked.
"No, he doesn't need F-16s now," Biden said. Then he seemed to indicate that the war could go on for years, telling Muir, "Look, first of all, the idea that we know exactly what's going to be needed a year or two, three from now -- but there is no basis upon which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s.
"I am ruling it out for now," Biden said.
"What do you make of this Chinese peace plan floated overnight that Putin is now applauding today? Muir asked Biden.
"I think you answered the question," Biden responded.
"Putin's applauding it, so how could it be any good? I'm not being facetious. I'm being deadly earnest. I've seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed.
"It's the idea that China is going to be negotiating the outcome of a war that's a totally unjust war for Ukraine is just not rational."
As CNSNews.com reported, the 12-point paper presented by China covers many of the same basic arguments China has been putting forward since shortly after the invasion began, including statements about the need to:
-- respect the sovereignty of all countries;
-- promote “equal and uniform application of international law”;
-- abandon “Cold War mentality” and refrain from pursuing security at the expense of others;
-- implement a ceasefire and resume direct dialogue;
-- protect civilians and prisoners of war;
-- safeguard nuclear facilities;
-- facilitate grain exports; stabilize supply chains;
-- and support post-conflict reconstruction.
It also calls for “all parties” to stop “fanning the flames and aggravating tensions,” and for an end to “unilateral” sanctions – that is, those not authorized by the Security Council, where both Russia and China have veto power.
What the “political settlement of the Ukraine crisis” document does not do is call on Russia to withdraw its troops from its neighbor’s sovereign territory, or to reverse its purported annexation of parts of that territory now under control of its armed forces.
Biden told Muir that the U.S. "would respond" if China provides lethal aid to Ukraine:
"I had a very frank conversation with President Xi this past summer on this issue, and I pointed out to him, without any government prodding, 600 American corporations left Russia from McDonald's to Exxon to across the board.
"And I said, and if you are engaged in the same kind of brutality by supporting the brutality that's going on, I said, you may face the same consequence. I don't anticipate -- we haven't seen it yet, but I don't anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to -- to -- to Russia."
ICE: In FY 2022, ERO Arrested 46,396 Noncitizens With Criminal Histories
(CNSNews.com) - An attempted murder suspect who illegally entered the United States at an unknown time and place is now back in Mexican custody, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Monday.
According to ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), 31-year-old Elvis Alexis Molina Enriquez is wanted in Mexico on charges involving aggravated bodily harm, domestic violence, and attempted "femicide," or the murder of a female.
This is far from an isolated case, given the Biden administration's lax border security and the resulting record numbers of migrants crossing at will.
According to ICE:
ERO conducted 142,750 administrative arrests in FY 2022, nearly doubling the number (74,082) it made in FY 2021.
(An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes.)
46,396 of those 142,750 noncitizens arrested in FY '22 had a criminal history, including 21,531 charges or convictions for assault; 8,164 for sex offenses and sexual assault; 5,554 for weapons offenses; 1,501 for homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 for kidnapping, "demonstrating the serious public safety risks associated with many of the noncitizens ERO targets and arrests in the interior," ICE said in its FY 2022 annual report.
In FY 2022, ERO conducted 72,177 removals of noncitizens to more than 150 countries worldwide, compared with 59,011 noncitizen removals in FY 2021.
Among those removed in FY '22, 2,667 were known or suspected gang members (vs. 2,718 in FY '21); 56 were known or suspected terrorists (vs. 34 in FY '21), seven were human rights violators, and 74 were foreign fugitives wanted by their governments for crimes including homicide, rape, terrorism, and kidnapping.
Officials apprehended Molina Enriquez on October 18 as part of a targeted enforcement operation in Santa Maria, California. He was then transferred to Colorado for his immigration proceedings.
ERO officers in Denver sent him back to Mexican authorities, handing him over at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California.
ICE's ERO agents target public safety threats, such as convicted criminal noncitizens and gang members, who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-enter the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.
Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
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State Department Report on Terrorism: 'The U.S. Southern Border Remains Vulnerable to Terrorist Transit'
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. State Department on Monday released its congressionally mandated report on worldwide terrorism in 2021, noting that 21 years after 9/11, "the terrorist threats we face are more ideologically diverse and geographically diffuse than ever before."
One of those threats is located at our own southwest border, the State Department said in its country report on Mexico:
"Counterterrorism cooperation between Mexico and the United States remained strong in 2021," the State Department said:
"There was no credible evidence indicating international terrorist groups established bases in Mexico, worked directly with Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the United States in 2021.
"Still, the U.S. government remains vigilant against possible targeting of U.S. interests or persons in Mexico by individuals inspired by international terrorist groups. The U.S. southern border remains vulnerable to terrorist transit, but to date there have been no confirmed cases of a successful terrorist attack on U.S. soil by a terrorist who gained entry to the United States through Mexico."
The report notes that "there were no reported terrorist incidents in Mexico in 2021," although it's clear that violence by drug cartels is a persistent problem.
But recent congressional attempts to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations have not succeeded, so cartel violence is not a terror threat for purposes of the State Department's 2021 report.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents encountered 98 aliens on the terrorist watchlist between ports of entry at the Southwest border in Fiscal Year 2022. Another 67 were detained at Southwest border ports of entry in that year.
In Fiscal year 2023 so far, 53 non-citizens on the terrorist watchlist have been detained between ports of entry at the Southwest border, and another 32 have been detained at ports of entry.
'White Identity Terrorism'
As required by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the State Department report now includes "all credible information about 'white-identity terrorism' (WIT)," with particular attention to whites "who perceive that their idealized ethnically white identity is under attack from or is being replaced by those who represent and support multiculturism and globalization."
The report notes that in 2021, "there were no known WIT attacks" and only one successful conviction for planned WIT violence -- the sentencing of a neo-Nazi in the United Kingdom for stockpiling bomb-making materials.
The 2021 report also includes a category called REMVE -- "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism," which "remained a threat to the United States and our allies," the report said:
"Violent white supremacists and like-minded individuals continued to promote violent extremist narratives, recruit new adherents, raise funds, and conduct terrorist activities — both online and offline — across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.
"REMVE actors also continued to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to radicalize individuals and incite violence, particularly against health professionals, government officials, and minority populations.
"Additionally, the December arrest of four neo-Nazi actors in Brazil for allegedly plotting an attack against Jewish and Black residents on New Year’s Eve demonstrates the growing reach and influence of REMVE adherents globally."
The 330-page report notes that despite some counter-terrorism successes, "terrorist groups remained resilient and active."
Here are a few highlights:
-- "ISIS continued to promote a large-scale terrorism campaign...Groups affiliated with ISIS ramped up activities in the Lake Chad Region of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. Despite losing its territorial 'caliphate' in 2019, ISIS in Iraq and Syria maintained a significant operational structure and conducted terrorist operations in that region."
-- In 2021, Al Qaida and its affiliates constituted an "enduring threat to the United States and its allies. AQ continued to leverage its branches in the Middle East and Africa — notably AQ in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Shabaab, and Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin — that remain quite capable of inflicting damage on our allies and targeting our interests. AQ-related threats expanded from West Africa and the Sahel into the Gulf of Guinea littoral states in 2021, with Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo reporting terrorist group activity and attacks in their northern border regions."
-- "In Afghanistan, ISIS, elements of AQ, and regionally focused terrorist groups maintained an active presence and conducted terrorist activities. Despite taking significant losses from U.S. and NATO forces in recent years, ISIS-K continued to conduct terrorist attacks against civilians and the Taliban. ISIS-K remained a resilient enemy with roughly 2,000 to 3,000 fighters in the country, although precise estimates are hard to determine..."
-- "Iran continued to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism, facilitating a wide range of terrorist and other illicit activities around the world. Regionally, Iran supported acts of terrorism in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen through proxies and partner groups such as Hizballah and Hamas. Additionally, senior AQ leaders continued to reside in Iran and engaged with other AQ elements from the country..."
The 2021 report provides a detailed, country-by-country review of recent successes and the ongoing challenges posed by hundreds of designated terrorist groups, and you can read all about it right here.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Says U.S. Will Provide $10B to Ukraine in ‘Coming Months’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States would provide $10 billion to Ukraine “in coming months,” during remarks she made Thursday at the G-20 finance summit in India.
She stated:
The United States and our allies are proud to support the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom. The United States has provided over $46 billion in security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Our military assistance includes key defensive weapons that Ukraine has asked for — such as the Patriot missile defense system. And our economic assistance is making Ukraine’s resistance possible by supporting the home front: funding critical public services and helping keep the government running. In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine.
Yellen called on the International Monetary Fund to also provide more money for Ukraine.
“We commend our allies for stepping up their direct assistance. And we believe it’s critical that the IMF move swiftly toward a fully financed program for Ukraine — as they have said they will do. Continued, robust support for Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion during my time here in India,” she said.
The U.S.’s continued assistance to Ukraine has prompted some opposition among the American public. An NBC News poll last month showed that 47% oppose Congress approving more aid to Ukraine while 49% approve, with a margin of error of 3%.
The growing opposition to providing aid to Ukraine comes as the U.S. debates the future of social security and its potential insolvency in the next decade.
A recently circulated video of remarks President Joe Biden made last year about paying for Ukrainian pensions prompted anger from the right.
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) captured the sentiment, tweeting, “CBO: Social Security headed for insolvency by 2033. Biden: American taxpayers will pick up the tab for Ukraine’s pension payments.”
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