Secure Freedom Minute

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Israel exercised its sovereign right yesterday to deny entry to two women who make no secret of hating the Jewish State and championing a boycott, divestment and sanction movement designed to delegitimize and otherwise harm it.

The Israeli government subsequently decided to allow one of the two, who happen to be Members of Congress, to visit an ailing relative on the condition that she not use the occasion to further her agenda of boycotting Israel. Rep. Rashida Tlaib has reportedly agreed to those terms. Evidently, Rep. Ilhan Omar is still not getting a visa.

Many Congressional Democrats insist that these provocateurs must be admitted into Israel. They are, thereby, undermining the recent, overwhelming vote engineered by the House Democratic leadership finally to begin distancing its caucus from these anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist legislators by repudiating the so-called BDS Movement they so vehemently endorse.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Yesterday, President Trump addressed the “Hong Kong thing” in successive comments and Tweets. Calling it “tough,” he hoped nobody will get hurt and that it will work out for liberty. He also professed bemusement about why some are blaming him for what’s happening.   

Clearly, the President is tiptoeing through a minefield. But he should be under no illusion: The Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda outlets are already blaming him and America – rather than China’s own repressive conduct – for Hong Kong’s popular uprising.

And if, as seems increasingly likely, Beijing responds by cracking down violently – either with its own uniformed forces now massing for the purpose or through the violent actions of undercover operatives – Mr. Trump will be widely blamed if he declined to deter such repression by  establishing beforehand that it will entail high costs for China.

Mr. President: Do that now. 

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

One of the defining moments of the Cold War took place in June 1963 when President John F. Kennedy declared in German “I am a Berliner.” This statement communicated to the Kremlin that there would be real costs if it tried to end that city’s highly symbolic opposition to Communist oppression. JFK succeeded in deterring a Soviet assault on West Berlin.

Today, another city that is similarly an outpost of freedom faces an imminent threat from another ruthless Communist regime. The people of Hong Kong urgently need a similar expression of solidarity to deter a seemingly imminent Chinese crackdown.

America’s bipartisan leadership should declare today that “We are Hong Kongers.” If combined with a commitment to end the Chinese Communists’ ability to exploit Hong Kong’s Most Favored Nation trade status in the event its autonomy is ended, deterrence may just work again.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

A number of Russians engaged in an experiment involving a nuclear-powered jet engine died last week and radioactivity was released in northwestern Russia. 

Some believe the failed test involved a “doomsday” nuclear-armed cruise missile theoretically of unlimited range due to what the Russians call its “atomic battery.” It is only capable of flying indefinitely, of course, if that power plant actually works.

But, this incident appears to be just the latest in a series of failed tests of this weapon system, which NATO calls the “Skyfall,” with accompanying releases of radioactive material. 

The trouble, of course, is not simply Vladimir Putin’s evident disregard for the safety of these missiles and the environmental hazards posed by their further development. It is his determination recklessly to pursue ever-more dangerous weapons of mass destruction with which to threaten, and perhaps annihilate, us.  

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Yesterday, President Trump, Vice President Pence and the new Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, officially pledged to establish a sixth armed service called the Space Force.  It can only be hoped that with such explicit, official and top-level direction previous, determined efforts by some in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill to stave off such an initiative will finally come to an end. 

The President clearly understands that the United States must have secure access to and use of space. Unfortunately, China and Russia are positioning themselves to dominate that strategic domain – to the grave detriment of America’s economic as well as national security.

Next, Mr. Trump must entrust the Space Force to someone who fully shares his vision and has the command experience and leadership skills to actualize its potential.  The right man for the job is Lieutenant General Steven Kwast. 

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

The Chinese Communist Party will likely soon launch a violent crackdown on Hong Kong’s extraordinarily courageous freedom-fighters and attempt permanently to enslave the rest of its population. 

Tom Cotton has just proposed retaliatory measures that, if announced now, may help stave off such a disaster. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt yesterday, the respected Arkansan senator warned the Chinese that such an attack would create “an irreparable breach in the relationship between the United States and China.”

He added, “If that were to happen, I would suggest we take the kind of actions that we ought to have taken 30 years ago after the Tiananmen Square massacre – halting trade negotiations, sanctioning senior Community Party officials, revoking their visas, kicking them out of international organizations, and reconsidering the Hong Kong Policy Act.”

President Trump, please publicly endorse Sen. Cotton’s deterrent measures now.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Last week, an arms control treaty I helped President Reagan negotiate landed in the dustbin of history. It is a sign of how unserious we have become about nuclear threats that critics of President Trump’s decision to scrap the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces accord believe that, by so doing, he has somehow made the world more dangerous.

In fact, back when I left the Reagan administration – in part over differences about the INF Treaty, it was clear the other party could easily cheat on its terms.  Sure enough, Vladimir Putin has taken advantage of the pact’s various problems to put into place weapons that were supposedly prohibited. All President Trump has done is say we’re not going unilaterally to observe the treaty any longer.

Putin’s build-up of myriad nuclear arms is making the world more dangerous. Recognizing that fact isn’t the problem.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Donald Trump is not much given to public remorse. He may, however, soon regret his comments yesterday about Hong Kong.

As the President headed to a rally in Ohio last night, he affirmed that Hong Kong is part of China and, following repeated “riots” there, it must work out differences with Beijing. Unfortunately, such remarks are likely to be seen by the Chinese Communist Party as a green light for an imminent crackdown in the former British colony.

As evidence mounts that the PRC is inserting military personnel into Hong Kong and rounding up protesters, we should be signaling that there will be real costs if China snuffs what’s left of the city’s autonomy. U.S. law requires economic retaliation in such an event. And regrets will abound if we fail to emphasize that reality now, when it might yet have a deterrent effect.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Ever since President Trump took office, he has been searching – largely in vain – for a military leader who not only looks the part and has served in uniform with distinction, but has the vision to perform the most challenging missions confronting our nation. In Air Force Lieutenant General Steven Kwast he has such an officer.

Gen. Kwast has distinguished himself as a visionary leader on what is, properly, a key Trump priority: the asymmetric and growing threat posed by Communist China, especially in space. He has articulated persuasively the immensely ominous implications for U.S. national and economic security – and championed measures to protect our country. 

Unfortunately, unless Mr. Trump acts quickly, Gen. Kwast will shortly be unwillingly retired from his service –  punishment for daring to share the Commander-in-Chief’s vision for a Space Force. He should, instead, be tasked with actualizing it.

This is Frank Gaffney.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Last week, Communist China’s People’s Liberation Army released its first public defense strategy report in years. It describes the United States as the PRC’s main adversary and, among other insights into its plans for defeating us, emphasizes that “space security” is one of China’s eight vital strategic interests.

 

To advance its determination to exercise control of this “commanding height,” China has created a Space Corps equipped with an array of both ground- and space-based weapons capable of jamming, lasing or physically attacking the various satellites upon which our military and economy are critically dependent.

Against this backdrop, it is clear that President Trump’s decision to establish a U.S. Space Force may be among his most important legacies. That will largely depend, however, on whether he entrusts its leadership to an individual with the vision and ability to overcome the Chinese space threat.

This is Frank Gaffney.