Friday News Roundup — August 7, 2020
COVID Relief Impasse, Tragedy in Beirut, Remembering EXTORTION 17, COVID & Latin American Democracy, Farewell Chris
Good morning and happy Friday from Washington, D.C. Questions remain over the fate of the August recess, as negotiations on further Congressional measures appear at an impasse. COVID hotspots are seeing some declines from their peak caseloads a week ago, but concerns remain about testing delays and the growing number of schools reverting back to online learning.
Tech tensions between the U.S. and China continue to grow, as President Trump signed a pair of executive orders targeting Chinese companies ByteDance, owner of Tiktok, and Tencent, which owns WeChat and has investments in other U.S. and western companies.
With 88 days until the election, it is also becoming increasingly clear that it might be far more than 88, 89, or 90 days before we know the election victor. As we continue to raise concerns about preparing for the logistics of this election and how bad actors might take advantage of election uncertainty, it is worth reading this piece from Florida Senator Marco Rubio, telling Americans to prepare for this uncertainty and strengthen ourselves against those seeking to manipulate and divide us, at home and abroad.
This week at CSPC, we hosted a virtual discussion with David Shimer, author of “Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference.” In the Diplomatic Courier, Joshua also reviewed Anne Applebaum’s “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Allure of Authoritarianism.”
In this week’s roundup, Dan covers the impasse in COVID relief negotiations and what could come next. Michael writes of the tragedy in Beirut and decries the deprivations the Lebanese have suffered at the hands of their neighbors and their leaders. Ethan commemorates the 9th anniversary of the deadliest night for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan and remembers their heroism. Emily looks at how COVID has affected fragile democracies and institutions in Latin America. Finally, Chris writes his farewell, as we wish him luck in law school this fall and thank him for his contributions in making this roundup a reality. As always, we wrap with news you may have missed.
COVID Relief Crunch Time?
Dan Mahaffee
Negotiations continue, far past many actual and self-imposed deadlines, on the next phase of Coronavirus relief and economic stimulus measures. The immediate prospects for further rounds of assistance appear murky right now, as Congress appears to be moving towards its August recess with little agreement between Democratic leadership, GOP Senate leadership, and the White House. While there is generally agreement that further measures are needed—with some doubters in the GOP caucus—the barriers, in terms of price tags and partisan priorities, remain significant. The COVID pandemic drives a continued worsening of the economic picture. Still, with fewer than thirteen weeks until the election, the political incentives are not aligned for the next tranche of relief...yet. Only In Washington is there no middle ground between $1 trillion and $3 trillion.
A wide range of measures are under debate. There are agreements on some measures, such as another round of direct payments, while with others, such as some extension of the PPP program and federal eviction protections, seem to enjoy bipartisan support. The need for these programs is clear, as PPP helped to cushion some of the initial blow for businesses and a recent Goldman Sachs survey of small businesses found that 84% of them will exhaust their PPP funds this week and only 37% could survive the shutdowns of a second wave.
Democratic priorities like support for state and local governments are a red line for GOP conservatives who see it as a bailout for indebted states mismanaged by politicians beholden to public sector unions. Emergency support for the postal service and additional aid to states for election operations are equally contentious—not just in any election year, but definitely this one. At the same time some of the main goals for the Republicans, such as liability protections for businesses that reopen, have been met coolly by Democratic negotiators, but could serve as future bargaining chips.
There even could be a path forward on a deal regarding the contention surrounding additional unemployment support. Initial research now suggests that the $600 in supplemental unemployment insurance has not deterred returning to the workforce and a growing number of layoffs are permanent, rather than temporary furloughs. Still, compromise will likely reduce the unemployment payment, but not remove it entirely, while extending it to the end of 2020 or into 2021.
For the Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Shumer, their priorities are as laid out in the HEROES Act passed by the House earlier in the summer. $3.4 trillion floor. There are legitimate qualms about the cost of the package and whether some of the measures reflect real pandemic relief or long-time Democratic priorities, but Speaker Pelosi has largely been able to keep her caucus in-line, focus on their comprehensive plan as their negotiating position, and wait to see how they can best achieve their priorities—and whether they can get more in a massive package or deals designed to facilitate issue-by-issue logrolling with the White House. In rebuffing issue-by-issue, compromises, they do face shared blame for the impasse—yet believe that the political verdict will be that they were right to hold out for major action, given the magnitude of the crisis.
On the other hand, the GOP approach has faced the combined challenges of reconciling caucus COVID skepticism with vulnerable seats for re-election, jockeying for the party’s future, and varying skepticism of the approaches taken both by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and lead White House negotiators Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Republican Senators, estimated to be about 20 in all, question whether further aid is needed, pointing to the fact that previous stimulus money remains unspent. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have been seen as the most vociferous, and, along with other jockeying amongst Republicans we can see some now trying to claim fiscal probity if the GOP is going to be a limited government party again in a post-Trump world. Finally, while there has been skepticism from his caucus about McConnell’s approach, Mnuchin had to go so far as to assure Republicans that he wasn’t in the hands of Pelosi, while Meadows has tried to carry water for conservatives in a White House that is more inclined to make a deal with the Democratic leadership as it eyes the electoral math.
While the doubts about Congressional action continue, leaders continue to push for a deal, and perhaps, if one is made, we will see Members of Congress quickly return. At the same time, President Trump appears to be gearing up to address what he can through unilateral executive action, such as redirecting existing aid monies or stopping payroll tax collection—as the White House’s proposal for a payroll tax cut or holiday was DOA in Congress—but legal and constitutional questions abound. If we were to look at the 2008 playbook, we would need severe market meltdowns to force Congressional action, but thus far the markets have melted up.
There is of course, the dire economic picture and the impact of the virus that requires our response. We have spent trillions of dollars already, and trillions more will likely be added to future generations’ debt burden, all so that we could come through this crisis. This economic crisis comes from the pandemic, and if money and time, have been wasted, it is because we failed to use the first window of lockdowns and closures to put together the infrastructure to contain the virus while politicizing the basic science of the response. Furthermore, if Congress fails to act at a time of immense crisis, and executive unilateral action is the only recourse we see for this crisis response, then Congressional prerogatives and institutional esteem will suffer.
Today’s July job numbers show that the quick recovery continues to slow. Momentum lost to the virus now, but businesses and jobs that are lost permanently, will prolong the economic pain long after vaccines and therapeutics. For policymakers, the challenge is that the short-term economic blow of the first wave of the pandemic is giving way to the longer-term structural breakdowns that make for lasting recessions. Epidemiological and economic factors are driving the scope of this crisis, and it is historic. The cost of these measures will be immense, and there will be a reckoning for this spending that we do have to bear in mind. The exigencies of the current crisis, however, have Americans wondering how long politicians can bicker before they see relief. There will be additional attempts before the election, and reasonable compromises are there to be seen, even after these abortive negotiations. Maybe even they can listen to Eisenhower’s advice that “Whenever I run into a problem I can't solve, I always make it bigger. I can never solve it by trying to make it smaller, but if I make it big enough, I can begin to see the outlines of a solution.” After all, don’t forget that they still need to come to a deal on keeping the government running by the end of September...
A Tragedy upon Tragedies in Beirut
Michael Stecher
Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, a fire broke out in a warehouse in the Port of Beirut. Video of the fire appears to show one large explosion, several small explosions—possibly caused by fireworks stored in the warehouse—followed by a massive blast. Roughly 150 people have died as a result of the blast, a blessedly small number considering the horrifying scope of the disaster. The proximate cause was reportedly an enormous store of ammonium nitrate that had been left unattended in a warehouse for several years. The underlying cause, however, is the continuing … I was going to say disintegration, but that implies a prior period of cohesion … of the Lebanese state.
For generations, Lebanon has been beset by powerful centrifugal forces that have pulled the country apart and used by powerful neighbors as a battleground for their competition for influence. The explosion at the port is only one of many crises afflicting the country at this moment and it will make a terrible situation substantially worse. The international community, if such a thing can be said to exist for Lebanon, has a titanic task ahead of it to try and pull the country back together to prevent the country from sliding further towards a volcano of human suffering.
Lebanon generally and Beirut in particular has a peculiar place in the Western imagination. It is easy to find nostalgic stories of the “Paris of the Middle East,” wistful tales of “its French Mandate architecture, its world-class cuisine, its fashionable and liberated women, its multitude of churches on the Christian side of town, and its thousand-year-old ties to France.” Jeffrey Feltman, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations for Political Affairs, gently mocks this view in a piece published this week in the Brookings Institute’s Order from Chaos blog. He recounts a joke that “God bestowed Lebanon with beautiful mountains, stunning beaches, freshwater resources, fertile soil and fruited plains, and creative, attractive people: paradise. But then God realized that heaven is reserved for the afterlife—so he created Lebanon’s neighbors.”
The Lebanese Civil War, which began in 1975, sucked in many international players. Beirut has always been the major entrepôt for a region that extends well into Syria. The regime of Hafez al-Assad felt it needed to control it, so it occupied part of the country for almost 30 years. After the Black September conflict in Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organization reemerged in the refugee camps in southern Lebanon as state control waned. This drew in the Israeli military, which occupied parts of Lebanon from 1982-2000. Resistance to Israel made the largely Shi’a population of the area receptive to Iran’s first attempt to export its revolution, which culminated in the creation of Hezbollah. The international community attempted to pacify the country through the creation of a UN peacekeeping force and a U.S.-British-French force. It was this group that was targeted by proto-Hezbollah in the 1983 Marine Corps Barracks bombing and numerous other attacks.
Even now, Lebanese Shiites in Hezbollah are acting as Iran’s shock troops in support of the Syrian regime and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians are acting as human shields to secure Hezbollah’s ability to hold Israel at risk in a potential conflict with Iran. Saudi Arabia also plays a major role in supporting Lebanon’s Sunni community, including the bizarre incident in November 2017 when the Saudis sort-of-kidnapped former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and forced him to resign (followed quickly by his un-resignation).
This story that focuses on Lebanon’s neighbors pays insufficient attention to the deleterious roles played by the country’s own political elites. Power in Lebanon is allocated among the various religious communities in the country, according to their prevalence in the population in 1932, the last time an official census was taken. Most of the confession-based political parties extend the international patronage networks down to the local level. This creates networks of corruption and rentierism that serve to undermine attempts at good governance.
The Port of Beirut is an unfortunate example of that. As Feltman points out, Hezbollah plays a dominant role at the port—as it does at the airport—for the same reason that the mafia used to control the longshoremen’s union in New York: it makes it easier to conduct smuggling. As a result, when a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate was declared unseaworthy in port in 2013, it was impounded, but no one disposed of the chemicals before Tuesday’s blast.
This disaster comes at a very difficult time for Lebanon. The country’s population has swelled with nearly a million Syrian refugees, significantly straining resources. While its currency is officially pegged to the dollar, inflation in the country has led to dollars becoming exceedingly scarce and the real value of the local currency evaporating. In March, it defaulted on foreign debts and the banking system is at risk of total collapse. The country imports most of its goods, including the majority of its food supply. Beirut is the primary staple port and the country’s largest grain elevator was destroyed in the blast. Bread lines and fuel shortages already existed in the country and will no doubt become worse over the coming weeks.
Lebanon’s new government, installed after street protests ousted Hariri’s government last year, has inherited a list of problems they probably lack the capability or inclination to address. The political and economic situation in the country has created the worst conditions since the civil war ended in 1990. Foreign donors and lenders are nervous that any funds delivered to the national government will end up supporting Hezbollah, which is a major player in the current political alignment, or corrupt plutocrats. That is why Western governments like Canada are trying to identify NGOs to directly support with aid money. Without this aid, people in the country will starve, but all of the influences that have made Lebanon corrupt and unstable remain.
Since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, the Lebanese people have repeatedly gone into the streets to demand an end to a system of corruption, foreign domination, and oppression yet the wheel of fortune keeps bringing the same system back in a different guise. We can only hope that the international response to this latest crisis allows for fresh options, but, with the international community so inward-focused, riven, and irresolute in the face of mounting global crises, I am left with little hope.
Remembering EXTORTION 17
Ethan Brown
This week marks the 9th anniversary of the deadliest night for U.S. special operations in the Afghanistan War.
Shortly after 0200 hours, a U.S. Army CH-47 piloted by David Carter of the Colorado National Guard, co-piloted by Bryan Nichols, Kansas Army Reserve, took off with 38 personnel- a mix of U.S. Navy Special Warfare Development Group (“DEVGRU”, more commonly referred to as Seal Team Six), U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen, special warfare support personnel including a Military Working Dog, and a handful of Afghan Special Operations Commandos. After a brief eight minute flight from a nearby Forward Operating Base, Mr. Carter attempted to land the unruly twin-rotor monster in a hasty HLZ (helicopter landing zone) to support the special operations team already on the ground. An RPG-7D in the hands of an insurgent brought on the deadliest helicopter crash in U.S. special operations history.
On August 6, 2011, in the Tangi Valley (Wardak Province), a special operations component of U.S. Army Rangers, with their Afghan special forces counterparts, set out with a host of aerial assets including fixed wing fighters, remote-piloted aircraft, AH-64 Apache helicopters, and an AC-130 gunship, in order to conduct a Direct Action raid to capture Qari Tahir- a senior Taliban commander, in the village of Juy Zarin.
The standard operational construct during that period of the war had SEALs and Rangers trading places from one direct action raid to the next- that is, one group would conduct the raid, while the other group would stand by on a Initial Reaction Force (IRF) or Quick Reaction Force (QRF), swapping roles on the next turn. On the night of EXTORTION 17’s final flight, Rangers of Second Battalion, Seventy-Fifth Ranger Regiment (2/75) were the main effort, with members of DEVGRU Gold Squadron on stand by to quickly respond to a ‘infil’ call from the Ranger Platoon commander on scene.
The Ranger platoon landed on the objective via EXTORTION 16 and 17, engaging a group of enemy combatants shortly after infil with the AH-64s, resulting in six EKIA (enemy killed in action), although several were able to evade the harrowing 30mm fire from the helicopters. Those personnel were soon lost to aircraft sensors under the thick foliage and vegetation of the late summer. The two CH-47s returned to the FOB, refueled and remained on standby for the exfil call or a call to insert the IRF. After several hours, the Ranger platoon was able to secure the targeted compound and apprehend several high-value personnel, but Qari Tahir was not among the detained persons.
Through coordination between the aircraft overhead and the Joint Terminal Attack Controller on the ground, the Ranger strike force ascertained multiple groups of enemy combatants maneuvering in and around the village to positions of advantage- it was suspected that Tahir was among one of those groups, coordinating and preparing to ambush the Rangers on target. At this development, the Ranger platoon commander passed the launch call for the IRF to enter the battlespace in order to interdict the enemy combatants, enabling the Rangers to remain on the target to further exploit the detained persons and collect intelligence for future missions.
In an effort to place the IRF in an optimal position to deter the formations of enemy combatants, the chosen HLZ could only accommodate a single CH-47. The minimum necessary space for landing a single CH-47 Chinook is 120’ x 120’, that is under ideal conditions. Again, late summer vegetation in the high valleys of Wardak (and frankly anywhere in Afghanistan) are anything but ideal, made much more challenging by the nighttime nature of the mission.
The two massive helicopters approached the village (using a different route than the original infil flight path), and EXTORTION16 broke off to provide cover and immediate support in the event that -17 became engaged, a standard rotary-wing lift tactic. During hundreds of pre-mission Air Mission Briefings, I heard every flight lead state explicitly “once the first boot touches dirt, we are wheels down until all friendlies are on deck”. EXTORTION17 approached the HLZ, still roughly 30 seconds away from the touchdown point and slowed to about 58 miles per hour. The pilot requested a “BURN” from the AC-130 gunship, a huge infrared spotlight capable of illuminating a football-field sized swath of earth for night vision goggles. This location was several kilometers from the target compound held by the Rangers, but sound travels unbelievably far in those conditions, and the flashing IR strobes on the helicopters look like a neon light show to those under NVGs.
On a direct action raid, there is no single moment of risk greater than the ingress and egress of the helicopters. At that moment, the flying school bus has flared and creeps inexorably slowly towards the ground, making it the loudest, easiest thing to spot- even at night in utter Afghan darkness.
Whether it was Murphy and his damnable law, or his little brother- bad luck, but no one in the stack of aircraft was able to identify the two insurgents a few hundred feet away from the HLZ carrying RPGs. The 2/75 operators could only watch as an insanely (un)lucky rocket sheared a tail rotor, causing the engine pylon to break and tear away. The lead engine soon failed and came apart against the strain as the doomed helicopter fell burning into a wadi (dry riverbed).
The platoon of 2/75 Rangers immediately raced across several kilometers of uncontrolled terrain to secure the crash site, known by the brevity term “fallen angel”. Their titanic efforts to recover the remains of the Joint special operators are nothing short of heroic, with utter disregard for their own personal safety. Upon arriving at the crash site, a secondary explosion (likely ammunition inside the downed aircraft) ‘cooked off’, showering the 2/75 Rangers in shrapnel and causing more casualties. Despite the injuries, the Rangers continued to search the crash site for bodies and sensitive equipment.
At the time, I was a very young JTAC on my first deployment farther south. But even being so far away, a fallen angel incident immediately turns the entire theater on its head. We received a notification to be on stand-by, ready to support as required, even though it was far out of my supported Army counterparts area-of-responsibility (AOR). So we stood by in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC), watching some of the live feeds from the drones overhead assisting with the recovery. Along with everyone else in the country, we waited for the word to go.
Members of First Battalion, Seventy-Fifth Ranger Regiment (1/75) were in a neighboring province (including one of my former teammates who was their platoon JTAC), and were alerted to respond to the fallen angel later in the day. In order to make the exfil, those members of 2/75 holding down the crash site had to walk seven kilometers to swap out with the incoming 1/75 platoon, who then had to make that same 7km walk to arrive on the site. This distance was dictated by the reality that more helicopters couldn’t get any closer to the crash site due to the remaining enemy in the valley, the sunrise, and a myriad of other factors contributing to safety of flight for the aircrews. Recall that the 2/75 personnel had already conducted a full mission, then moved impromptu to the crash site, and had secured it all the next day. They were beyond exhausted. My former teammate and his platoon (3rd Plt, Delta Co., 1/75) spent the next three days in that wadi- holding off multiple ambushes, enduring a flash flood that further scattered the piecemeal helicopter, destroying the helicopter fragments, securing equipment and most importantly, locating and securing the remains of the personnel from the crash.
There is no national security or defense analysis in this section of the roundup this week. Just a short dedication, and reminder of the men of EXTORTION17, who lost their lives that night in pursuit of an enemy who wished to harm innocent people. The men of EXTORTION17, and most especially the Joint Special Operators of First and Second Battalions who responded to the crash, embody the highest ideals of our nation, and this week their memories weigh heavy on those of us who were near.
Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.
Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier, who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger, my country expects me to move further, faster, and fight harder than any other soldier.
Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight, and I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.
Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.
Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.
Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.
RANGERS LEAD THE WAY.
When It Rains, It Pours
Emily Stone
Citizens across the Western Hemisphere are currently navigating two different threats to their livelihood: the health and economic effects from COVID-19, and the alarming decline of democracy. When I first set out to research about this issue, Latin America was on the forefront of my mind; after all, it’s no secret that many countries in the region have been facing considerable blockades to their democratic systems, and COVID-19 only serves to exacerbate the corruption. However, after a team meeting where we discussed possible outcomes from the upcoming Presidential election, it became obvious to me that the United States is not immune from threats to our democratic system.
It is easy to point fingers at countries in Latin America, where corruption is so blatant that we struggle to conceptualize how they ended up in that position in the first place. While some other countries in the region have made strides in their efforts towards a more democratic system in the past 40 years, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, and Chile in particular have seen declines in democracy, highlighted by civil unrest across each nation. In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro’s administration has faced domestic and international scrutiny following a corrupt 2018 election, with many countries (including the United States) refusing to recognize him as the fair winner, and instead recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the rightful President-elect. Maduro’s growing power and disregard for democratic systems has been concerning the US government for some time, even leading to a private American military company, Silvercorp USA, recently attempting to capture Maduro in a botched raid dubbed “Operation Gideon” in May of this year. In this contentious political climate, COVID-19 is no friend to a fair election — the pandemic that has claimed the lives of well over half a million people worldwide also serves as a political ploy for corrupt leaders to extend their terms or otherwise stray from the pillars of democracy, all in the name of “health and safety”. In Venezuela, Maduro has terrorized activists and journalists who have spoken out about his response to the pandemic, as well as those who have spoken out about the government’s published coronavirus data, which many people doubt reflect the true numbers in Venezuela.
The story is the same in other countries as well, such as in Bolivia where the elections have been postponed, while the interim government abuses emergency funding by putting it toward their own electoral campaign. COVID-19 did not cause the issues that threaten democracy, of course, but the pandemic has served to show glaring pitfalls that lie within a weak political system, which have set these nations up to quickly slide into Authoritarianism. Without a democratic system in place to hold government leaders accountable, risks of poor economic performance and of human rights violations increase, issues which NGOs and IGOs have already been tracking due to concern in certain areas.
However, let us not settle with the notion that the United States is completely immune from similar issues, but rather be proactive with our efforts to preserve our democracy. This year’s presidential election is like none other in history — the founding fathers didn’t exactly write a pandemic scenario into the Constitution, so we are left to piece together how to best hold a free and fair election in November. President Trump has already begun the process of sowing seeds of doubt into people’s minds about the fairness of this year’s election, claiming that mail-in ballots are a fraudulent system which will rig the entire election. Despite the fact that President Trump’s claims of fraud are largely baseless, he is setting his followers up to discredit the election should Biden win … and then what? Another scenario could be that President Trump refuses to accept the results of the election altogether, and yet another (unconstitutional) scenario that he has spoken to would be to push the election back a few months, all due to COVID-19.
While President Trump would (hopefully) not end up acting upon these blatantly corrupt measures to question the fairness of the election, he would still stand to threaten Biden’s presidency by encouraging his followers — on Twitter and the real world — to discredit the legitimacy of the election. Widespread belief in democracy is essential in upholding the system our nation has relied upon for 244 years — as we sit here today, three months away from Election Day, it’s important to remind ourselves that Democracy isn’t a given.
The Great Task Ahead
Chris Condon
Dear readers of the News Roundup, the time has come when I must bid farewell to regular participation in this publication. Although the challenges facing our nation have seldom been more imposing and I am proud of the work we have done in this Roundup and at the Center overall, I look forward to beginning the next chapter in my career of public service. Next week, I will continue my education at the George Washington University Law School. I hope the knowledge I accrue there will only help me to engage more deeply with the issues I have touched on here at the Center, and hopefully I will not totally disappear from CSPC publications in the future. That said, I believe that this is an appropriate time to provide a few parting thoughts on the state of our Union.
While many assert that the United States has not been as divided as it currently is since the Civil War, I contend that we are actually more divided as a nation now than we were in 1860. Upon the election of Abraham Lincoln, America’s fault lines centered almost entirely around one issue: slavery. While perhaps no modern issue runs quite as deeply as that of human bondage, the tensions spread across many contemporary issues add up to a sum greater than that which sparked America’s most concentrated national tragedy. In the coming years, we must take care to not let the division which has beset our nation become permanent, lest we repeat the mistakes of the 19th century. We must unite to save our city upon a hill.
Perhaps the most aggressive driver of our national disunion is political partisanship. An issue nearly as old as America itself, bickering between political factions has never been so sophisticated or dire as it is today. Parties are massive apparatuses that use every tool available — including social media — to exploit the pre-existing but formerly innocuous differences among the people. Many of the institutions that are meant to protect against hysteria, such as the press, have seen fit instead to participate in divisiveness for their own gain. With these institutions crippled or unwilling to help, it falls to the people to set aside our differences for the good of the nation. We must not let party politics and political differences stand in the way of the national interest.
There is no greater national interest than the restoration of our constitutional order. Over the past century, the balance of powers has been woefully skewed away from its appropriate arrangement. Federalism has taken a back seat, and the federal government completely disregards any measure of sovereignty that state governments may possess on any given issue. The executive branch, meant simply to execute the will of the peoples’ representatives in the legislature, has seized previously unimaginable levels of authority. The framers of our Constitution arranged political power in America artfully enough that our system has persevered for centuries; we must now take care to honor their vision and ensure that the system they created does not tear itself asunder.
Much disregard for our founding principles rises from an ignorance of our history. While it should hardly be expected that every person will be an expert on the American Revolution, we must dedicate our efforts to ensuring a basic understanding of the events which shape the modern world. A working knowledge of our Constitution, understanding the prelude and postlude of the Civil War, understanding the true implications of the movement for civil rights — these are just some of the lessons that every American must learn. It has become cliche to say that history repeats itself, but all major stains upon human history have resulted from an ignorance of the telltale lessons that history teaches. We must renew our nation’s commitment to comprehensive historical education.
A national challenge that has little precedent in American history is the looming threat of the national debt. Exponentially approaching $25 trillion, our debt is unparalleled in the entire history of the world. Such a number demonstrates the complete inability of our government to prioritize, and exposes the deficiency of our leaders in preserving prudence, restraint, and the balance of power. If the people do not soon demand an end to the untethered tendency of government to spend far beyond its means, it is not unreasonable to expect that our nation will be plunged into further financial and economic ruin.
Part and parcel of the government’s lack of fiscal self-control is our preposterous level of military engagement overseas. Although nonintervention in foreign conflicts has been a bulwark of American political philosophy since the Washington administration, many in the modern foreign policy establishment seek to convince us that it is un-American to suggest focusing on domestic affairs. Beyond engaging in struggles between nations to preserve our national interest, we now intervene in civil wars half a world away in which we have no business and no interest. We must rededicate ourselves to free commerce and good-faith diplomacy with all nations, and end our quest for world domination. At present, we more closely resemble the empire of George III than the republic of George Washington.
All of the above concerns may suggest that I believe all hope is lost. On the contrary, I am dedicating myself to a career in public service precisely because I believe we can still correct our nation’s course. I have always seen my role as one of a student, passing on the lessons I learn from research and presenting them in a digestible, compelling form. Although I doubt that I have always completed this task with aptitude, I hope that my contributions to the work of the Center have prompted someone somewhere to think more deeply about the issues that have faced, are facing, or will face our nation. I now look forward to the continued opportunity to improve our nation and preserve it for posterity.
News You May Have Missed
Over Two Days, Two Death Penalties for Canadians in China
In the continued back-and-forth between China and Canada following the December 2018 arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver to face extradition to the United States, two Canadians have been sentenced to death in China for drug-related crimes. This brings the total number of Canadians sentenced to death by the Chinese government since Meng’s arrest to four, along with Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who both face espionage charges. China claims that the cases are unrelated to that of Ms. Meng, despite angrily bloviating about the “independence” of the Chinese judiciary and denying hostage diplomacy.
Bipartisan Lawmakers Raise Questions about USPS Slowdown
Lawmakers of both parties have written to Postmaster General Lewis DeJoy about the ongoing slowdowns in the U.S. Postal Service. These slowdowns have come as the financial state of the postal service has become a political shibboleth, with DeJoy implementing new policies that end postal worker overtime, thus shutting down facilities even if letter sorting for the day is incomplete. Of course, this comes with the backdrop of concerns about demands on the USPS to facilitate widespread voting by mail this fall.
¿Dónde está Juan Carlos?
Once a hero of the country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy, former Spanish King Juan Carlos abandoned the country as authorities opened investigations into graft, corruption, and money laundering related to infrastructure deals and Swiss bank holdings. Juan Carlos’s scandals have multiplied in his later years and were a key factor in his abdication of the throne in 2014. Spaniards speculated over the former king’s destination, until it was revealed today that he is at a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Lawsuit by Exile Claims Saudi Assassination Squad Tried to Enter Canada
In a U.S.-filed lawsuit, Saudi dissident Saad Aljabri claims that in December of 2018, a Saudi assassination team, or “Tiger Squad”, linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman traveled to Canada to kidnap or kill Mr. Aljabri. Mr. Aljabri was once a key intelligence figure in the Saudi government, but was closely aligned with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was deposed by Crown Prince bin Salman. In addition, Mr. Aljabri claims to know of bin Salman’s corruption, as well as details that would weigh on the relationship between Washington and Riyadh.
U.S. Military Presence in Europe Shifting Eastward
By Maria Hatzisavvas Damsgaard
Amidst a withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany, which U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said would “strengthen NATO and improve operational efficiency.”, the U.S. is looking to Poland to enhance military cooperation. A new DoD statement on enhanced defense cooperation between the U.S. and Poland, completed Monday, August 3 and awaiting signatures, sets up a host of projects to forward U.S. presence in Poland on NATO’s eastern flank. Aside from infrastructure projects and the assigning of 1,000 extra rotational troops, the U.S. has also agreed to send MQ-9 Reaper drones due to Poland’s “strategic location in Eastern Europe,” civilian U.S. Air Force official told the Air Force Times. In June, president Trump praised Poland for meeting the 2 pct. GDP defense contribution. The new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is set to “enhance deterrence against Russia, strengthen NATO,” and “… improve our strategic and operational flexibility”.
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