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More than 1,000 U.S. troops are effectively being held hostage in Niger with medical supplies running low -- stuck between the military junta-controlled government's demands for them to leave and the Biden administration's refusal to let them go home after the end of their deployments, according to a report prepared by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and obtained exclusively by Breitbart News.
The post Nightmare in Niger — Exclusive: Biden Administration Leaves Hundreds of U.S. Troops ‘Hostage’ in Niger appeared first on Breitbart.
While Israeli air defense systems took out most of the 300 missiles and one-way drones fired by Iran during an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday, American sailors and airmen in the region helped to shoot down a number of them.
The post American Sailors, Airmen Helped Thwart Iranian Missile Attack on Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
Antonio Graceffo reporting from inside the war zone in Burma/Myanmar.
On Easter Sunday, the Burmese army launched an airstrike against a monastery in Karen State, where an entire village had taken refuge. The bombs fell for hours, and when the smoke had cleared, numerous civilians, including women, children, and monks, were dead.
There were no soldiers in the village, so 100% of the casualties were civilians. About half of them were Christians.
Burma is predominantly Buddhist, with a significant Christian minority comprising approximately 6% of the population. Many of these Christians belong to the country’s 135 ethnic minority groups, notably including the Kachin, Chin, Karen (also known as Kayin, as featured in the movie “Rambo IV”), and the Karenni (distinct from the Karen, despite the similarity in name).
The repression against Christians and the wholesale murder of civilians have been features of the Burmese civil war, which has been ongoing for about 70 years. However, targeted attacks against churches, monasteries, Catholic, and Baptist schools have intensified since the 2021 coup, which dashed any hopes of a transition to democracy.
Previously, I had worked with the Shan ethnic group and resistance fighters. However, recently, I decided that I wanted to focus my energy on the Christian minority in Karenni State (also called Kayah State), the smallest ethnic state in Burma.
About 50% of Karenni are Christian, with the majority being Catholic and the rest Baptist. Over the past three years, roughly 80% of the Karenni people have been displaced, and 3,000 civilians have been killed, from a total Karenni population of less than 400,000 people.
Catholic priests and nuns assigned to dioceses in Burma have risked their lives to remain with their flocks, offering what help and protection they could. In November, 1,300 civilians, including Christians, Buddhists, and animists, took refuge in Christ the King Catholic Cathedral complex in Loikaw, the capital city of Karenni State.
These people were internally displaced individuals (IDPs), meaning that the Burmese army had already destroyed their villages, and they had found their way to the Cathedral, where the priests and nuns were offering them refuge.
The Burmese army threatened to bomb the complex, but the priests implored the soldiers not to attack and to allow the people, who included the aged and the infirm, to remain in safety.
However, eventually, the Burmese army attacked, using heavy weapons, fighter jets, armored vehicles, and 120 mm cannons. Many people were killed, while the rest were forced to flee into the jungle, including the Bishop of Loikaw, H.E. Celso Ba Shwe, and the priests and nuns, who were finally forced to abandon their post. After the people fled, the Burmese army took over the center and are now occupying it.
Loikaw is the site of the most intense fighting in Karenni State. According to Lt. Colonel Mei Reh, a battalion commander in the Karenni Army, the Burmese junta has laid hundreds of landmines around their positions and uses drone jammers to protect themselves from the resistance fighters.
He estimated that counting soldiers, dependents, and support personnel, Loikaw is now occupied by about 10,000 Burmese who receive resupply by air. They are also protected by helicopters and jets.
The rebels, by contrast, are on foot, carrying what small arms and rations they have, walking for weeks in some cases to reach the front lines and fight to retake their country.
When I am inside Burma, I meet with internally displaced people and soldiers, filing reports on the war. I also pray with anyone who is willing, and the reception among the Karenni is astounding. Nearly everyone I meet wants to pray together.
Over the years that I have been reporting on this conflict, I have been inspired by David Eubanks, leader of the Free Burma Rangers. The lesson that I learned from him and from his faith as a missionary/soldier is to pray not for victory, but to pray that the hearts of the Burmese army will be changed by God’s grace and that they will stop fighting.
He teaches that Christian soldiers should pray for peace and an end to the conflict, and when they kill, to kill for love. They must remember that they kill to protect their people, their land, and their country, but not out of hate.
Amazingly, when I met Catholic soldiers, including a company commander, this is what they prayed for: to kill with love and to stop killing as soon as they could find peace and establish a democracy in their country.
The Free Burma Rangers have been spreading that message in Burma for more than 20 years, among all of the ethnic resistance armies. And now that I am working with Karenni Christians, I can say the message is getting through.
The United States is one of the few countries to ever win independence and establish a democracy by way of a bloody war. Usually, after a revolution, warlords and generals replace the previous dictator, and nothing changes.
Instilling ideals of love, compassion, and forgiveness in the soldiers and officers now will hopefully help to heal the country when the war ends, so they can avoid retribution killings and animosity that would result in a fractured state.
People back in the US ask, “How can you be a Christian and a soldier?” and the answer is, “to kill with love.” They ask me, “How can you support Burmese refugees but demand a secure southern border?”
And my answer is, the Karenni and other ethnics are not requesting to be resettled in the US or some Western country. They just want safety from the war now, and they want the war to be over so they can go home and resume their lives in their own land.
The Catholic Church in the camp where I was located had been hit by an airstrike a few months ago, so the people were afraid to go to worship there. However, the Catholic Karenni women told me that during Lent, they held prayer services in their huts every day.
On Good Friday, they decided to risk using the church building, and for the first time, they held service there. The priest could not make it to the camp because of the fighting, but two Karenni catechists trained at the seminary in Karenni State led the worship.
They did the same on Easter Sunday. These people could easily have lost their faith, being displaced by war and losing their families and their homes, but they trusted that God had a plan, and they would eventually return to their homeland in peace. Their faith should be an inspiration for all the people in wealthy countries at peace.
After the Catholic service, I attended the Baptist service on the other side of the camp. Although I am Catholic and love attending Mass, I have to admit, the Baptist service is more fun and has more singing and guitar playing.
The pastor asked me to address the congregation, and I reminded them of David and Goliath. Although the people of Burma are small and weak in comparison to the Burmese army, which is armed by Russia and China, the people have faith, and since the coup, they also have unity. As David Eubanks told me, “The army is stronger than the people. But it is not stronger than ALL the people if they work together.”
On the day before Easter, I was staying in a hut with the soldiers when a batch of new recruits arrived, and they just looked so young to me. I was 17 when I joined the military, but as we get older, young people look like children to us.
On Easter Sunday, looking out at the congregation, I saw so many bright young kids who were just about military age, many of whom would soon be joining the fight. It made me sad that they would never have a prom, never get a driver’s license, never have a part-time job at Wendy’s, and some of them would be killed, and soon.
After the Baptist service, I was walking back to the house with the soldiers, feeling I had been given an amazing blessing to have spent this most crucial religious holiday with these wonderful and resilient people. I had found a moment of happiness in war and hoped to write an inspiring article about faith and happy endings.
When I reached the house and got a cell signal, I began receiving live feeds from the Free Burma Rangers, documenting the Easter massacre of the civilians at the monastery in Karen State. David Eubanks sent a message saying that in addition to the other casualties, the head monk’s body had been torn in half.
And just like that, I had no idea how I was going to end my story. What was I meant to take away from this experience?
The words of Htay Ree, the 25-year-old assistant pastor at the Baptist church, came to mind. He said, “God is love. God is for our spiritual health, not our physical being. We can get sick or even be killed.
God only guarantees our spiritual life; if we believe in Jesus, we can get eternal life.” He went on to say that God never said it would be easy. “But people who blame God for their physical suffering just do not understand. And this is an opportunity to teach. So, for me, it is not a problem,” he concluded.
The people of Burma have lost everything — their homes, their freedom, their money, their food, their loved ones — and some even lose their faith. But the assistant preacher didn’t see any of that as a problem, just an opportunity to teach. And now I can pass that lesson along to the readers.
The post Worshiping with the Christian Insurgents in Myanmar appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Karenni Catholic Church inside the war zone in Burma/Myanmar, photo by Antonio Graceffo
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Karenni Army recruits, photo by Antonio Graceffo
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Karenni Catholic cross damaged by bomb blast, photo by Antonio Graceffo
Nestled on the banks of the Rio Grande some six miles south of Eagle Pass, construction is reaching a fever pitch on one of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s latest border projects. Breitbart Texas captured the progress being made on “Forward Operating Base Eagle,” a military base camp designed to provide housing to 1,800 Texas Army National Guard soldiers deployed to the area as part of Operation Lone Star.
The post WATCH: Texas Military Border Base Construction in Full Swing appeared first on Breitbart.
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Amid increasing suspicion of China’s aggression, the leaders of the United States and Japan are touting an “enhanced” security agreement.
“Our alliance we have with Japan is purely defensive in nature,” President Joe Biden said during a Rose Garden press conference Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“It’s not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region,” Biden added. “And it doesn’t have anything to do with conflict. This is about restoring stability in the region.”
Under the new agreement, the U.S. and Japan will upgrade a joint base in Tokyo with 54,000 U.S. troops, set up a joint military council to produce more missiles and other weapons, and increase joint research on artificial intelligence. The two countries also will join a security partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia as a deterrence to China.
Biden met with Kishida at the White House, where a state dinner was set for Wednesday night. On Thursday, the two are scheduled to meet with Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at a time when Chinese and Philippine vessels have had run-ins in the South China Sea.
The United States already has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. Chinese ships also have been repeatedly intimidating Taiwanese ships in the area.
For Japan’s part, Kishida stressed the need for “rule of law” with regard to China’s hostilities at sea.
“Regarding the challenges concerning China,” Kishida said during the White House press conference, “Japan and the U.S. as global partners should work in close coordination. The president and I are committed to continuing our dialogue with China, but we continue to call on China to fulfill its responsibilities as a world power.”
Biden said he recently spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“I spoke at length to President Xi and we agreed to No. 1, have personal contact with one another … so we know exactly what the other is thinking,” Biden said. “We had a discussion about two weeks ago now. It’s the best way to reduce the chance of miscalculation and misunderstanding.”
The president stressed that the U.S.-Japanese alliance isn’t aimed at China.
“The things we discussed today improve our cooperation and are purely about defense and readiness,” Biden said. “It’s not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region. And it doesn’t have anything to do with conflict. This is about restoring stability in the region.”
The post Biden Says Enhanced Military Alliance With Japan ‘Not Aimed’ at China appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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A proportional response means it will happen again and again until Israel is destroyed.
The liberals want Israel to “show restraint.” The most unthinking are those calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. As long as Hamas continues to exist, this war can never end. A ceasefire would be followed by countless billions in developmental aid flowing from the globalist establishment into Gaza. It would be a huge win for Hamas. Terrorist attacks against Israel would continue. And if Israel reacted again in the future, they would immediately be attacked by the globalists. Both Hezbollah and Hamas will continue to attack Israel, provoking, wounding, occasionally killing, and the world will continue telling Israel to restrain itself.
The Covenant of Hamas clearly states Hamas’s goal of killing all of the Jews and eliminating Israel. “HAMAS” is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. The movement issued the Covenant of HAMAS on August 18, 1988. Hamas, an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization, has been designated a terrorist organization by the US and many Western powers. The group was elected as the official authority in Gaza in 2006.
Hamas operates with the expressed intent of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The HAMAS Covenant states: ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.’ (Article 6). This suggests that not only does Hamas seek to eradicate Israel in Gaza, but also in the territory currently known as Israel, as well as the West Bank, where Hamas holds no authority.
Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant is interpreted as a call for genocide against Jews: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.'”
There is no way to negotiate with a group whose aim is genocide. Liberals calling for compromise are actually just calling for Israel’s capitulation. What compromise would be possible? Hamas wants to kill 100% of the Jews. Should the two parties haggle and agree for Hamas to kill 40% instead? Given Hamas’s genocidal intent, there is no way that the two sides can coexist.
The two-state solution is complete nonsense. Gaza and the West Bank are not contiguous; they cannot be a single country. It would be impossible for Israel to ensure its security because they would be pressured by globalists to not impede Palestinians passing through Israel from one state to the other.
The liberals keep stressing that Gazaa and the Palestinians are not Hamas. However, there appears to be no anti-Hamas movement in Gaza. There is no anti-Hamas resistance. The Gazans looked very happy when they were celebrating after the October 7th attack on Israel. So, it is unclear how the liberals see Hamas as distinct from Gaza. And if they are distinct, why have the liberals not condemned Hamas? There don’t seem to be protests in the US or Europe stating “We support Gaza, but condemn Hamas.”
Even the liberals, even the Queers for Palestine are refusing to condemn Hamas. If they do not differentiate between Hamas and Gaza, then why should everyone else?
Iran and Qatar must also be held accountable for their support of Hamas and other militias. Qatar has provided financial and political support to Hamas, and Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was based in Qatar for a period. Additionally, Qatar has hosted a Hamas office, which serves as a political bureau and facilitates communication and coordination with the international community. This office has been involved in diplomatic efforts and media relations on behalf of Hamas.
Right now, the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia, are disrupting global shipping. Hezbollah is also ratcheting up their harassment of Israel, firing missiles into Israeli territory and trying to instigate a war. Given Israel’s current posture of seeking a military solution to finally end these insurgencies, Hezbollah may get the war they are asking for.
The world must not just sit on the sidelines, but should take an active role in targeting Iran, destroying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) preventing China from supporting Iran economically, and disabling Iran’s ability to fund and train regional militias. This would decrease China and Russia’s access to oil and drones, respectively, which would help the US achieve foreign policy objectives in Asia, as well as in Ukraine.
One way to alleviate the burden on American taxpayers funding Ukraine would be to end the war. If China’s support for Russia were cut, the end would come much sooner. If Russia did not have Iranian drones, that would also help level the field and bring the end nearer.
Attacks on Iran would also serve to destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The only way that Israel can survive is to eliminate Hamas. The only way for the region to be stabilized is for Iran’s destabilizing force to be eliminated.
The post Finishing Hamas: The Only Way the War Can End appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City
Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7, 2023. Palestinian militants have begun a "war" against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photo by Ali Hamad apaimages
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There are a lot of legitimate reasons to criticize the United Nations. It is ineffective, expensive, threatens U.S. sovereignty, and impedes U.S. foreign policy objectives. But mostly, it is completely ineffective.
Earlier this month, North Korea tested a hypersonic weapon. Kim Jong Un is obsessed with developing nuclear missiles capable of striking South Korea, Japan, and the US. The United Nations expressed grave concern over the North Korean nuclear program but has been unable to slow it, much less stop it.
During COVID, China influenced the UN’s health body, the World Health Organization (WHO), to advocate for masks, lockdowns, school closures, and vaccines. The global economy still has not recovered, while children all over the world lost roughly two years of schooling. Teachers in the US are reporting that not only are children behind academically, but truancy has doubled compared to pre-COVID times, and classes are unruly.
Last December, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) introduced a bill to Congress calling for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations. The bill, titled the Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act, proposes withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO), ceasing participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, including providing funding, personnel, and equipment. Additionally, it would revoke diplomatic immunity in the U.S.
Among Senator Lee’s objections were the loss of sovereignty and the ongoing funding for the UN, which comes at the expense of US taxpayers. The US is the single largest funder of the UN, accounting for about one-third of the organization’s budget. In 2022, the US contributed $18 billion.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) supported the bill, citing corruption within the UN and the UN’s protection of Hamas in the current conflict with Israel. A further complaint was that China, a country the US has sanctioned for committing numerous human rights violations, particularly genocide against the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang, sat on the Human Rights Council.
Republicans have been criticizing the UN for years. Regarding a US pullout from the Human Rights Council, Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said, “When organizations undermine our national interests and our allies, we will not be complicit.” He was attacked by Democrats, liberals, and the mainstream media, who apparently value globalism over the national interests of the United States. When the Council was first formed in 2006, then-President George W. Bush refused to join.
At that time, Representative Tom Lantos of California, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said, “This is a major retrenchment in America’s long struggle to advance the cause of human rights around the world, and it is a profound signal of U.S. isolation at a time when we need to work cooperatively with our Security Council partners.” The point Rep. Lantos is missing is that the US can be committed to human rights without joining the UNHRC.
The Brookings Institute said, “This telling remark illustrates that this administration’s North Star is toward a nostalgic past in which states had greater independence from international laws and multilateral diplomacy.” Countries, particularly the United States, having autonomy to join or not to join, to act without joining, is not a matter of nostalgia. It is a matter of choice. Throughout the decades, American Republicans have chosen for the U.S. to be independent and autonomous. Furthermore, there is the very real issue that when Washington joins these multinational organizations, the U.S. winds up footing the bill.
In 2018, Brookings said that US participation in the UNHCR was crucial, “investigating and condemning human rights abuses by some of the worst violators of human rights—Syria, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, Cambodia, Belarus, Burundi, and Eritrea, to name a few.”
Looking at this list, 18 years later, it is obvious how ineffective the UNHCR is. Syria remains a basket case of instability, Iran is the single most disruptive force in the Middle East, the Myanmar junta has bombed more civilians in the last two years than Russia has in Ukraine, Sudan is still facing civil war. Hun Sen, who ran Cambodia as his own pocketbook for 30 years, retired, transferring power to his son, Hun Manet. Belarus is a pariah state, one of Russia’s closest allies, and Eritrea is on the brink of war with Ethiopia, again. Burundi only has limited rebel activity now, with only 20 people killed in December. They also have border disputes with Rwanda, but have not declared war. So, maybe the globalists count that as a success.
Supporters of globalism cite the importance of the UNHCR in protecting LGBTQ and women’s rights. Meanwhile, about 30% of UN member countries are Muslim-majority countries where LGBTQ may be illegal, and where women have very few rights.
Ironically, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, and Venezuela have all sat on the UNHCR despite being some of the most oppressive countries that regularly repress human rights. The UNHCR has done nothing to change the world’s worst regimes, guilty of gross human rights abuses: Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have sat on The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The UN Security Council is similarly useless and farcical. China and Russia sit on the council and have veto power to stop UN actions against genocide or against China or Russia, two of the world’s biggest violators.
Trump tore up the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He even threatened to withdraw the US from the UN and NATO. While these may seem extreme actions, why is it so wrong for the US to act in the best interest of the US? Furthermore, why should the US continue to pay money and lives for institutions that fail to prevent wars or mitigate crises but which can infringe on US autonomy?
The post The Case for US Withdrawing from the UN appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Nigerian physicians being trained by the World Health Organization (WHO) on how to put on and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) to treat Ebola patients. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
French soldiers will guard Buckingham Palace for the first time in history to mark 120 years of friendly relations between London and Paris.
The post French Troops to Guard Buckingham Palace for First Time in History appeared first on Breitbart.
Reporting from the war zone in Burma/Myanmar
The UN and the global community have failed to enforce an arms embargo against the Myanmar junta, which receives weapons from Russia and China, while private donors are prohibited from supplying weapons to the rebels.
Late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday, the Burmese army launched airstrikes against a Buddhist temple in Karen State, where civilians from the nearby village had taken refuge. Five-hundred-pound bombs rained down for more than 10 hours. There were no soldiers in the village, so the strike had no military objective. In the end, women and children were among the dead, as was the head monk, whose body was torn in half. The villagers will likely join the ranks of the roughly 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma.
The IDPs have no UN protection and remain prime targets for the Burmese military. They also have little or no support from outside. Humanitarian aid given by the US, EU, and UN goes directly to the junta. These donations end up funding the war, displacing and killing the very civilians the outside world mistakenly believed they were helping.
Airstrikes and artillery barrages are now killing more civilians in Burma/Myanmar than anywhere else on Earth, including Ukraine.
Since the 2021 coup, the United Nations, US, EU, and most developed countries have agreed not to sell arms to the Myanmar junta. However, a binding arms embargo has been stymied by China and Russia, both members of the Security Council. In 2022, when the UK drafted a statement of concern about the crisis, China and Russia vetoed it.
The Burmese army receives economic support from China and purchases attack helicopters and fighter jets from both Russia and China. The fuel for the jets is provided by China and Russia, and possibly India, though India denies it. The Burmese army also receives small arms, artillery, armor, and training from both Russia and China.
An example of how ineffective the UN is: the Burmese junta is one of the most sanctioned pariah states on the planet, yet they have no shortage of weapons, and the UN is powerless to stop them.
The ethnic resistance armies, by contrast, have no heavy weapons, no aircraft, and no means of detecting or defending against airstrikes. They engage in combat with a mix of homemade weapons, Vietnam-era US weapons, shotguns, hunting rifles, muskets, crossbows, cheap Burmese and Chinese copies of quality weapons, and even bicycle pump guns (Yes, you read that correctly).
What’s more, the rebels have no aircraft for resupply or troop transport. Consequently, the soldiers must travel on foot, carrying all of their equipment. Currently, one of the largest battles in Karenni State is taking place at the city of Loikaw. It takes approximately three weeks to walk there from the military base. The average Karenni soldier weighs about 121 lbs (55 kg). Carrying a Burmese MA-1 assault rifle, which weighs 4 KG, along with a backpack, uncooked rice, crew-served weapons like mortar rounds and ammunition, the gear quickly adds up, nearing their body weight. By the time they reach the front lines, they are hungry, weak, and ill-equipped.
The rebels now control most of the jungle and rural areas, but across the country, the Burmese army still holds the cities and towns. They are entrenched and have surrounded their positions with landmines. The rebels cannot launch direct attacks due to the presence of landmines and the fear of airstrikes. Drones have proven successful, but the rebels lack an adequate supply of drones, and the junta now possesses drone jammers provided by Russia.
Private donors attempt to transfer weapons to the rebels, but transiting weapons through Thailand violates Thai law. Meanwhile, the junta is fine to receive airplane and shiploads of weapons at its air and sea ports, in violation of international sanctions.
Outrage expressed in a UN letter has not halted the flow of weapons to the junta.
Last week, two Myanmar nationals were arrested in Thailand attempting to deliver an anti-drone jammer to an address in Burma. They were arrested under Thailand’s Arms Control Act, which prohibits the transit of weapons through Thailand without a permit.
Thai authorities are capable of intercepting weapons passing through Thailand, but most of those are destined for the rebels. The UN and the international community are unable to prevent weapons and fuel from reaching the junta, despite the junta being sanctioned and recognized as “the bad guys” by everyone except China and Russia.
The law can prevent the good guys from having guns, but not the bad guys. This echoes the old saying: “In a world where guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”
The post Myanmar: Only Bad Guys Can Have Guns appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Karenni bicycle pump gun, Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo
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Burmese assault rifles Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo
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A recent study by the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation warns a Chinese government takeover of the democratic nation of Taiwan would have huge economic and security consequences for America.
The post Study: China Would Have ‘Unacceptable’ Leverage over U.S. If It Takes over Taiwan appeared first on Breitbart.
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“U.S. Doubles Pentagon Budget for Multinational Haiti Force,” reports The Miami Herald. And just like that, the U.S. has another war on its hands, and soon the refugees will arrive. Despite Republican opposition blocking $40 million in security aid, $10 million is already on its way to buy guns for the Haitian police.
The situation in Haiti is unwinnable, and U.S. meddling has only made things worse. More U.S. money, weapons, and diplomatic support for any of the warring factions will just perpetuate the cycle of violence, coups, assassinations, and corruption that have rendered Haiti an effectively failed state.
In 2021, the Biden Administration backed Haiti’s unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a move that many feel helped to fuel much of the current violence. James Foley, a retired career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Haiti, remarked that the Biden Administration “rode the horse to their doom” by supporting the wrong man.
Now, the country has collapsed into chaos, with a figure known as Barbecue leading the country’s gang coalition. However, Barbecue has been excluded from a transitional governmental council established with the UN’s blessing.
Last year, under Henry’s watch, gangs killed an estimated 4,800 people. Between January and the beginning of March, an additional 1,200 were killed. The streets were littered with decomposing bodies, while gangs waged war for control.
Innocent civilians suffered; they were robbed, raped, or caught in the crossfire. Business owners were forced to pay for protection, and shortages of essential goods occurred as delivery drivers refused to risk their lives.
Kidnapping for ransom had become a mainstay industry. A humanitarian crisis exploded as doctors, nurses, and patients were afraid or unable to reach hospitals. More than 300,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes, while refugees have flooded into or attempted to flood into the Dominican Republic.
While Haiti burned, gangs demanded Prime Minister Henry’s resignation.
The gangs attacked police stations, raided a jail, and released 3,000 inmates. Already in control of 80% of the territory in the capital city, they laid siege to both the presidential palace and the interior ministry. The gangs were struggling to gain control of the country’s primary seaport and airport when Prime Minister Henry jumped on a plane.
He flew to Africa to meet with leaders there and also held meetings with CARICOM, the 15-nation bloc of Caribbean countries, trying to organize an international peacekeeping mission to restore order in Haiti.
However, those nations were not willing to step into the quagmire of trying to prop up an unpopular government in a country that has never had stability.
On his way back to Haiti, the situation had become so dire that it was no longer safe for him to land at the country’s main international airport. So, he attempted to find a friendly port to take refuge in.
Neighboring Dominican Republic, as well as other Caribbean nations, refused to let him in. Finally, the U.S. gave him permission to land in Puerto Rico.
Now a former police officer, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, previously accused of participating in several large-scale massacres in Port-au-Prince, has emerged as the leader of a coalition of gangs attempting to negotiate the formation of a new government.
Aid groups estimate that 1.5 million people are now in need of protection and assistance. President Biden believes the aid should come from America, while many Americans hold a contrary opinion.
Haiti has never experienced stability, and the situation appears unresolvable at this point. By assuming the burden of fixing Haiti’s problems, the US would be stepping into another situation akin to Iraq or Afghanistan, which is deemed completely unwinnable due to a long history of dysfunction and numerous warring parties, all vying for control of one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries.
Between 1945 and 2023, Haiti witnessed 24 coup d’états, and six Haitian presidents were assassinated. The most recent assassination occurred in 2021 when President Jovenel Moïse was killed.
Following his assassination, Claude Joseph, who was the acting Prime Minister at the time of Moïse’s death, declared a state of siege in Haiti. However, there was a dispute over leadership, as Ariel Henry, who had been appointed as Prime Minister by Moïse just days before his assassination, claimed the right to lead the government.
Eventually, Ariel Henry was recognized as the Prime Minister by international actors, principally the United States, and took office, succeeding Claude Joseph.
On March 11, Henry finally resigned, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his support for a transitional council that would appoint a successor to Henry until elections could be held.
The first problem with this plan is that Ariel Henry’s assumption of office as Prime Minister was initially intended to be temporary, with the goal of overseeing the organization of elections in Haiti.
After assuming office, Henry pledged to work towards holding elections and facilitating a peaceful transition of power. However, the situation remained tense as various factions did not accept Henry’s rule.
A systemic issue that has contributed to violence and instability is that each of the successive governments for the past 20 years or more has utilized street gangs as enforcers.
Consequently, the powerful and well-funded gangs demand a piece of the action. As soon as a government resorts to extra-governmental militias to enforce its policies, democracy is compromised.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle, Biden, the UN, and other well-meaning actors mistakenly believe that a democratic transition is possible.
The transition, which the UN approves of, was agreed upon in Jamaica by the intergovernmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM), along with representatives of Haiti’s government and opposition.
When the list of political groups was released by CARICOM, some Haitian political factions were enraged because they were not represented. Some rejected the list completely, while others criticized the fact that Haiti’s political class, which had steered the country into its current crisis, were to be brought back to power.
Barbecue, for his part, threatened to kill politicians and their families who participate in the council.
The situation is completely untenable. The gangs are not going to accept the interim government, and the violence will continue unabated. Biden needs to steer the US clear of this dumpster fire. The last thing America needs is another expensive and hopeless foreign military intervention.
The post Biden Sending Aid, Guns, and Money Won’t Fix Haiti appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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FILE - A protester carries a piece of wood simulating a weapon during a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in the Petion-Ville area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 3, 2022. Source: Voice of America (VOA)
The Pentagon on Tuesday said U.S. weapons to Israel have "flowed more rapidly than ever" since Hamas conducted its terrorist attack on October 7 and amid calls from Democrats to condition or limit that assistance.
The post Pentagon: Weapons to Israel Have ‘Flowed More Rapidly than Ever’ Since October 7 appeared first on Breitbart.
Xi Jinping’s goal is to have the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ready for a Taiwan invasion by 2027 and to surpass the US military by 2035. The PLA’s modernization costs money that Beijing gets from Americans who invest in China and/or purchase Chinese imports.
The media keeps blaming Trump, saying the tariffs he put on Chinese imports were ineffective because they made Chinese products more expensive, which was inconvenient for Americans. They also warn that if you vote for Trump in 2024, the tariffs are likely to go up.
As a trained economist, I can assure you that the purpose of the tariffs was to make Chinese products more expensive, aiming to deter Americans from purchasing them. Therefore, they were extremely effective in achieving this goal. The only Americans who found them inconvenient were those who refused to buy American-made products.
About half of China’s exports are manufactured by foreign companies in China. The tariffs cause these nations to relocate their factories to other countries, mostly Mexico, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, in order to avoid tariffs. Not only does this decoupling reduce the amount of money Beijing can allocate toward the military, but it also cuts China’s foreign direct investment (FDI). Now, China’s net investment has gone negative, hitting a 30-year low. Factory activity is trending downward. Manufacturers are facing deflation, and youth unemployment hit 21.3%. To make the numbers look better, Beijing stopped reporting. But even after inventing a new definition for “youth unemployment,” the rate remains at a dismal 15% and continues to climb.
Mainstream media also has a lot of “smoking gun” articles where they reveal the shocking claim that the tariffs backfired because they are actually paid by American consumers, not China. Once again, yes, this is exactly how tariffs are meant to work. The price is raised by a tariff, which is a tax. The tariff is paid by the purchaser, not the seller, and the tariff revenue goes to the United States government, not Beijing.
The increased price of tariffed products is a blow to Beijing’s income, because it reduces demand for Chinese products, as explained above. They also create leeway for American companies to enter the market. The main reason companies manufactured in China before was because it was cheaper, and by manufacturing in the US, the product price would be too high and could not compete with products made in China. The tariffs raise the price of Chinese products so that US companies can afford to manufacture and sell them.
This brings manufacturing back to the U.S. It also removes China from our supply chains, making our nation stronger in the event of war.
The Trump tariffs caused several changes within China that helped bring manufacturing back to the US. First, the increased cost of the tariffs makes manufacturing in China more expensive. Second, as US and foreign companies pull out of China and unemployment rises, Chinese consumers have less money to spend. So, there is less of a market in China for US products. Brands like Nike and Apple found it affordable to manufacture in China because they could offset the rising labor costs with domestic sales in China. Now, those sales are winding down. At the same time, Xi Jinping is pushing propaganda encouraging patriotic Chinese to buy Chinese-made products, further reducing the market for US manufacturers. This incentivizes American companies to manufacture in the US or in a friendlier country.
Another added benefit to the US and allied nations pulling their factories out of China is that it reduces China’s opportunity for intellectual property (IP) theft. China’s technological rise is largely predicated on stealing IP from the US and other nations. Putting a stop to this theft will set China back by decades.
One of the main pieces of evidence that mainstream media cited to claim that the trade war was a failure was the fact that the tariffs had failed to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China. However, they will need to start printing apologies because not only has Mexico displaced China as the US’s top trading partner, but the US trade deficit with China has been steadily decreasing.
Reducing Beijing’s income with tariffs, investment bans, and sanctions is crucial for national security. In addition to threatening the U.S. directly, China is the primary economic benefactor of North Korea, Russia, and the Taliban. Additionally, Iran is using the money it earns from China to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
One point where the mainstream media is right, however, is that the tariffs could be more effective. This is why they should be raised. A 60% tariff, as Trump is promising, if he is reelected, would be the final nail in the coffin for China as the world’s factory. No one could afford to manufacture there anymore.
The post China Tariffs Reduce Funding for Beijing’s Military appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Photo: Screenshot from the WeChat account of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command
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Antonio Graceffo
Reporting from inside the war zone in Myanmar/Burma
Americans are sick of solving the world’s problems, and many are fed up with funding Ukraine. However, the war in Myanmar/Burma is a just cause, and the locals are willing to do all the fighting if America would give them some surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) like the FIM-92 Stinger to counter Russian and Chinese helicopters and aircraft.
The war in Myanmar has been ongoing since 1948, with ethnic resistance armies fighting against the military junta. Three years ago, the junta allowed a popular election, which was won in a landslide by the National League for Democracy (NLD). Shortly afterward, the military invalidated the election, seized control of the government, and arrested elected members of parliament. The generals then began an unprecedented campaign of repression, extrajudicial killing, arbitrary detention, and terror.
In previous decades, the violence was largely focused on the ethnic minorities, who collectively comprise about half the population of the country. This time around, the government basically declared war on everyone, from school teachers and journalists to human rights activists and religious leaders—anyone who they saw as a threat. For the first time, large numbers of the Burman majority fled the cities to join the ethnic resistance armies fighting in the jungles.
David Eubanks, leader of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), who has spent more than 25 years in this war, said, “There is a new unity in Burma against the dictators. The people are fighting for a free, democratic, and federal government where the ethnics will have rights. And that unity cuts across social, political, economic, ethnic, religious, racial, ideological, and tribal lines. And that is a unity I have never seen before—Burmans working with ethnics, ethnics working with ethnics.”
Although I have been in and out of Burma and Thailand over the years, my own experience with the war spans 20 years. I can attest to Eubanks’ observation: nearly all of the ethnic minorities are working together now, and most notably, they have been joined by Burmans, who also recognize that all of the people of Burma are victims.
A few of the ethnic armies, like the Karen and the Shan, have been fighting almost since the war began, so they have more experience. Some of the resistance armies are better equipped than others, but none have the airpower, armor, artillery, and troop numbers of the Tatmadaw, the junta’s army.
Presently, I am working with the Karenni, an ethnic group of about 400,000 people, about 75% of whom have been displaced. Like many Burmese who had hoped and waited patiently for better days, the 2021 coup was the last straw, which sucked the Karenni into the war. They were ill-equipped, inexperienced, untrained, and disorganized. But they are learning fast, and they are motivated by seeing their families, their villages, their homes, and their people murdered, gang-raped, and burned alive.
A battalion commander of the Karenni Army (KA) told me, “The Tatmadaw is better equipped, but we have better hearts.”
In violation of international sanctions, the Tatmadaw receives financial support from China and has helicopters and aircraft, small arms, mortars, artillery, and armor from both Russia and China. The ethnic resistance armies do not receive any major support from the international community. The airstrikes are the biggest problem for the resistance. Everyone I talked to, from the lowest soldier to the high-ranking officers, government officials, and even housewives and religious leaders, told me, “We need something to shoot down the planes. Please tell the Americans to send us weapons against airstrikes.”
Taking inventory in the armory at Karenni Army (KA) post, the weapons were less than state-of-the-art. There were cheap knockoffs of American weapons that would stop working fairly quickly. The best weapons were the ones left over from the Vietnam War, and those were completely shot out and rattling. But the Karenni are hill people, and they know how to fight and survive in the jungle.
American soldiers are used to having choppers or convoys bring them their chow and resupply. The Karenni only have what they carry. U.S. soldiers take things like ration packs, meals ready to eat (MRE), for granted. Karenni soldiers carry rice in their backpacks, and the only way to eat it is to stop, make a fire, and boil it for thirty minutes. In combat, they don’t usually have thirty minutes, so they don’t eat.
Also, how much rice can you possibly carry on your back? They go out for weeks at a time, humping up and down the mountains, and when they get hit with airstrikes, all they can do is go to ground and take cover.
Eubanks described the air attacks: “Chinese jet fighters come three at a time. Aircraft drop 500-pound bombs, 200-pound bombs, and 50-pound bombs… Then there are the attack helicopters, firing cannons and machine guns.” The craziest thing he talked about was the Chinese Y12 transports: “which they use to drop cassettes of 81mm mortars out the back, like eight at a time, 12 at a time sometimes hand dropping them one by one. And that’ll fly over you for four hours, dropping mortars on you.”
While Burma is a Buddhist-majority country, about half of the Karenni are Christian. They ask that Americans and the world pray for them, send humanitarian aid for their displaced civilians, send surface-to-air missiles, and provide recognition to the National Unity Government (NUG), the government in exile.
Additionally, they need the world community to pressure China and Russia into ceasing their support for the generals.
The post The War in Myanmar: Karenni Resistance Fighters Need Stingers appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Members of the Karenni Army take part in a graduation ceremony for military trainees in October 2021 (KNPP/Facebook)
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Karenni Army (KA) weapons, photo by Antonio Graceffo
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Trump warned Europe of being too dependent on Russia. He warned NATO that they were not spending enough on defense. And now, both of his warnings have proved correct.
Furthermore, he argued that if NATO does not step up its defense spending, the cost will be passed on to American taxpayers, and it has. Not only has the defense of a lazy, ungrateful, smirking, effeminate Europe been passed on to Americans, in the form of tax money being shipped to Kyiv, but Americans are also paying in the form of higher oil prices.
In a 2018 headline from The Washington Post, “Trump accused Germany of becoming ‘totally dependent’ on Russian energy at the U.N. The Germans just smirked.”
The story goes on to report that after Trump said: “Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course. Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers.” The delegates laughed at him, and the German representative smirked.
At the time, Trump detractors applauded the story, focusing solely on the part where delegates lowered themselves to laughing at the president of the United States.
The incident was widely shared across social media, serving as supposed evidence that Trump was not a good leader. However, his warnings have since proven to be true.
Trump demanded that NATO spend more on defense, threatening to shift US defense priorities away from Europe if they didn’t comply. At the time, only two or three NATO members were meeting their 2% of GDP spending requirement.
Trump argued that Europe was leaving the US to foot the bill, as the US provided about 70% of the total funding for the then 30-member group. NPR claimed to have debunked this assertion, citing the absence of an actual tab or written ledger.
However, this semantic counterargument overlooks the fundamental point that the US has been footing the bill for Europe’s defense for 70 years, all while facing criticism from Europe for its perceived militancy and warmongering stance.
Europe outsourced their defense to the US and then criticized the US for its large defense budget. These countries can’t even defend themselves, while the US has to spend enough to defend the free world.
Europe has always criticized the US for its lack of socialized medicine and higher education. Essentially, by hiding beneath the US nuclear defense umbrella, they were able to channel their defense budgets into healthcare and education.
Not only did Europe refuse to spend the agreed-upon percentage, but they were also funneling money to Russia through energy purchases. At the NATO summit, Trump emphasized, “We have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that are being paid to the country we’re supposed to be protecting you against.”
Every dollar Putin receives is money that could be used to purchase weapons to threaten Europe. And given Europe’s reluctance to defend itself, the US is obligated to match Russia dollar-for-dollar.
In order to protect Europe from Russia, the US has to outspend Russia, which is being funded by Europe.
At a recent campaign rally, Trump stated that, as far as he was concerned, Moscow could do whatever it wanted to NATO allies who refused to meet defense spending requirements.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg criticized Trump, stating that such comments “undermine all of our security, including that of the U.S.” However, the secretary’s response overlooks the fact that NATO allies are freeloading and forcing US taxpayers to fund their defense.
The European allies don’t want Trump back in office because he called them out on their refusal to defend themselves. However, in addition to holding them accountable, Trump also kept Putin and Xi Jinping in check.
Some Democrats and mainstream media have accused Trump of being a Russian asset because he and Putin understood one another. However, the Ukraine invasion occurred under Biden, not Trump.
Trump faced similar criticism for his relationship with Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia is the US’s primary ally in countering Iran in the Middle East. Biden, on the other hand, referred to Saudi Arabia as a “pariah,” and now the Middle East is exploding in Iran-backed violence.
Trump warned them, but they dismissed his words because they were triggered by his tweets. They also didn’t appreciate being held accountable for their actions.
Now, Ukraine has been invaded, the Middle East is engulfed in violence, shipping through the Red Sea is disrupted, Somali pirates are back in action, gasoline prices are up, inflation is up, and the risk of a world war is increasing. Despite all this, Democrats claim victory because the angry tweets have stopped.
The post Trump Warned them About Russia and NATO appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Rebuilding the US industrial base is not only crucial for national security in preparation for potential conflict with China but will also help stave off socialism by creating good-paying jobs for the working class.
Increasing domestic production is a better choice than socialist solutions such as forcing a higher minimum wage for burger flippers, expanding welfare programs, or implementing universal basic income (UBI).
“Production is deterrence,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks told the Reagan Center. She went on to say that delays in rebuilding the US industrial base “rob us of critical momentum, forcing us to stand still, while Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran move to modernize their militaries, coerce their neighbors, and work to outpace us.”
Decades of US outsourcing have driven China’s economic rise. The advanced technology and production capabilities they have developed, as well as the money earned from exports, have provided Beijing with the means to build the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a near-peer of the U.S. military.
According to the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, China is the number one threat to US national security and to the current American-led rules-based order. US outsourcing to China has strengthened America’s number one enemy.
Shutdowns during the Covid pandemic made it clear that the US is highly dependent on China, and that Beijing could turn off the flow of goods at will. It does not take a degree in national security to understand that if the US were at war with China, they would be less likely to sell us weapons and ammunition.
At the same time that outsourcing is making China richer, working-class Americans are getting poorer. Most of the jobs Biden claims to have created were simply allowing people to return to work after Covid.
Apart from those, the new jobs are mostly part-time. Research shows that about half of the people working part-time jobs right now are only doing so because they cannot find full-time work.
The socialist answer to this is to force companies to pay a higher minimum wage, which will only cause prices to go up, making it even harder for people to survive after four years of Bidenflation.
The US still leads China in developing new technology and advanced weaponry; however, by outsourcing the manufacturing, we are providing China with that technology.
In most cases, China is not directly manufacturing US weapons, but it is part of the supply chain for raw materials or components. The main reason for outsourcing is not that the US is incapable of production, but that it is cheaper.
However, the government paying higher prices for defense technology in the United States is preferable to the government paying money to China.
Rebuilding the US industrial base will give the US an edge in case of war. Additionally, it will reduce the income China is earning and slow the development of the PLA. It will also decrease the opportunities China has for industrial espionage, which, again, will hinder the development of China’s military capabilities.
On the domestic front, increased industrial output will create full-time jobs, which pay much better than minimum wage. Many of these jobs will not require a bachelor’s degree, providing hope and upward mobility to people who cannot afford to pay for tuition.
This will reduce the amount of student loan forgiveness the Biden administration will feel obligated to pay out to its base. It will also provide a counterargument to socialists who want the minimum wage raised to $20 for unskilled labor. Additionally, it will stave off calls for universal basic income (UBI) to help the poor survive Bidenomics.
By outsourcing defense-critical production, US corporations are signaling their lack of patriotism. Bringing production back home will increase US self-reliance while decreasing the need for welfare.
Ronald Reagan, a great American patriot who loved the nation and its self-reliance, said, “We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.” At the national level, self-reliance means the US not being dependent on other countries. At the personal level, self-reliance means working people not being dependent on the government. Both are a win for the American taxpayer.
The post Reduce Welfare, Increase Defense Critical Manufacturing appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
TikTok poses a significant national security risk, yet banning it could infringe on the First Amendment.
Many US lawmakers advocate for its ban due to this recognized threat, primarily focusing on its extensive data collection practices. TikTok collects various user data, including browsing history, location, and potentially biometric identifiers, raising concerns about access by the Chinese government. China’s National Intelligence Law mandates that all companies and entities aid the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in intelligence gathering and that they turn over all data when requested to do so.
Influence operations present another potential concern. The CCP’s United Front Work Department oversees foreign influence and propaganda efforts. Operating thousands of social media accounts, it disseminates disinformation, shapes public opinion, and influences elections.
Although less common, there is also a malware risk associated with TikTok. The People’s Liberation Army’s Unit 61398, also known as APT1, is China’s military hacking unit. The U.S. Intelligence community has identified China as a major hacking threat, with numerous high-profile hacks and cybercrimes linked to the Chinese government. There’s a possibility that TikTok or its updates could contain malicious code, potentially granting Beijing access to data and allowing activities such as spying on U.S. military or government personnel by remotely activating device cameras.
A pervasive threat across all social media platforms, including TikTok, is active monitoring by China. The Chinese government employs numerous highly sophisticated and costly programs for monitoring and analyzing social media content. This data enables identification of users and understanding of their preferences, facilitating tailored propaganda messaging. Additionally, China can access users’ location, demographics, social connections, affiliations, and family details. This wealth of information serves Beijing in recruiting agents or identifying vulnerable individuals susceptible to exploitation or corruption.
As Congress considers a TikTok ban, opponents have initiated TikTok campaigns, threatening lawmakers with potential loss of votes in the next election if they support the ban. This underscores the risks associated with TikTok. Without an FBI investigation, it’s impossible to determine whether these individuals acted independently or if they were paid by Beijing.
Monitoring US social media grants Beijing a deep insight into American society, allowing them to identify vulnerabilities, exploit divisions, and shape public opinion to meet their strategic goals. Therefore, there’s no dispute regarding TikTok’s national security threat.
Some Americans, including Donald Trump, oppose a TikTok ban for two primary reasons: they view it as ineffective due to Beijing’s activity on all social media platforms, and they perceive it as a violation of the First Amendment.
In 2020, conservative social media accounts were frequently shut down, particularly those advocating against masks, school closures, lockdowns, vaccines, or the election results. Dissenting voices were silenced, creating a false impression that all scientists and doctors supported COVID measures. Conservatives value the freedom to express diverse viewpoints and have experienced censorship firsthand.
Yes, TikTok is a national security threat. And yes, it contains Chinese government propaganda and disinformation. But many liberals believe that conservative talking points are also disinformation. They reject claims that crime rates are up, illegal immigrants are illegal, funding Ukraine might be a bad idea, and the border is not secure. If they could, they would brand these positions as disinformation or Russian propaganda and ban them.
Mainstream media and the liberal establishment already disdain Twitter for allowing free speech. A common misconception about the First Amendment is that it solely protects speech we agree with, or speech that is “true,” or speech that “is not dangerous.” But during 2020 and 2021, we learned that the definition of “true” can be twisted. Banning untrue information becomes self-fulfilling because many people believe that only mainstream media is true. And if mainstream media refuses to print something, then it must not be true. As for “dangerous speech,” the only speech that is supposed to be censored is “a call to action” or “advocacy of illegal action.”
Hate speech is another area of contention. Who gets to determine what is or is not hate speech? There have already been people who lost their jobs or were kicked out of schools for stating, “There are only two genders.”
A TikTok ban sets a dangerous precedent for government censorship.
The post TikTok Ban: National Security and the First Amendment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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印媒指解放军"61398部队"发动黑客攻击。(互联网)
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