TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
A Trump Doctrine for Singapore and Beyond
by Pat Buchanan 
.
Jim Jordan as First Maga Speaker of the House -
Awesome Speech Shows Why
{ rickwells.us } ~ Without sounding like he was a man campaigning for the position of Speaker of the House... Rep Jim Jordan left little doubt as to why he should be given serious consideration by his peers as the man to replace Paul Ryan and why it should happen as quickly as possible. Integrity, character, faith and commitment aren’t just words he uses, as is so often the case with politicians, to convince people he’s something he’s not. He describes how they determine how he lives his life and how he attempts to govern and represent the American people. He tells his audience at a May 17th conservative conference that “good things in life don’t just happen. If you want to accomplish anything of meaning, anything of significance, anything of lasting value it takes work, it takes effort and most importantly it takes willingness to assume risk.” He says, “Whenever you try to accomplish something that matters there’s a chance you might fail and that alone keeps a lot of people from ever trying.” He cites personal anecdotes, including the relevance of a favorite movie, the musical “1776” and how it relates to his duties in the House and how if they’re doing their job right, some people are going to be offended... https://rickwells.us/maga-speaker-house-jordan/.
Europe Plotting to Undermine New U.S. Sanctions on Iran
by Adam Kredo
{ freebeacon.com } ~ European countries are currently examining a range of options to counter the reimposition of harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran in a bid to continue doing business with the Islamic Republic... a move that is being met with chilly reception on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are already putting in place measures to ensure that any European nation caught skirting U.S. sanctions faces harsh repercussions, according to a new policy paper being examined by lawmakers and viewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Ahead of a landmark foreign policy speech on Iran Monday morning by newly installed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his first since taking the office, European nations have been locked in meetings to develop contingencies to continue doing business with Iran after new U.S. sanctions go into effect in the coming months. European Union members are seeking to reimpliment an old law known as the blocking statute, which orders European companies to ignore U.S. sanctions on Iran...Thats a big mistake..
Who done it? Huge explosions at Iranian missile
depot in Hama, Syria – but no one being blamed
by William A. Jacobson
{ legalinsurrection.com } ~ Israel repeatedly has bombed Iranian missile and weapons depots in Syria. along with other Iranian assets... In most of the cases Syria is quick to blame Israel, and Israel is silent. When Iranian Revolutionary Guard fighters fired dozens of rockets at Israel recently, Israel wiped out 50 or so Iranian targets and was public in claiming credit. A couple of days ago there was a massive series of explosions at a Syrian military airport serving as a weapons storage facility for Iranian missiles. The video is as dramatic as we have seen, with enormous plumes of smoke rising high in the sky....
Pompeo: U.S. to Implement
‘Strongest Sanctions in History’ Against Iran
by JACK CROWE
{ nationalreview.com } ~ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that Washington would impose the “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran... if the regime does not comply with a list of U.S. demands intended to bolster nuclear non-proliferation verification measures and reign in the rogue state’s support for terror groups and involvement in foreign proxy wars. Pompeo, speaking at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, laid out a “diplomatic road map” for future relations with Iran that includes the reimplementation of the sanctions lifted under the 2015 agreement, which the U.S. withdrew from earlier this month, as well as the imposition of additional sanctions intended to bring the regime back to the negotiating table. The former CIA director laid out a comprehensive list of requirements that Iran must comply with to avoid the painful sanctions, including the declaration of all nuclear material to the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), the allowance of unqualified IAEA access to all nuclear sites, the conclusion of missile development, and the release of all American hostages. He suggested that the Trump administration was prepared to lift the sanctions, reestablish a commercial relationship and allow Iran access to advanced technology in exchange for good behavior....
The Left’s War Against Prosperity in Seattle
by Jarrett Stepman
{ dailysignal.com } ~ The left is sleepless in Seattle, working overtime to squander years of economic success... Seattle is, by many measures, one of the fastest-growing cities in America, if not the fast-growing city. A few big tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, plus other large, successful businesses such as Boeing and Starbucks, have fueled this explosive rise. But prosperity hasn’t necessarily bred contentment, as the traditionally left-wing city turned on the elements that made it rich. In the latest move to soak the productive part of the city’s economy, the Seattle City Council voted 9-0 to approve a new “head tax” imposing a $275-per-worker charge on companies making over $20 million a year... https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/05/17/the-lefts-war-against-prosperity-in-seattle/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell%22&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTjJabU56QXpZalUzWmpSbSIsInQiOiJ0VmRFV2RxNXI3T3BjOEsralhxVzBGT1NtSlJQc3pmMjkyQVpUTTdmU1dBbGlMY3RcLzNpZVlvaGdoeUlUU3FrOWxVVWtSRGdlcEdPMG1nbGowSUIxWXF1c3R3dUxDNjUrc3lPOW53Sk8yWWRKMXRxaVNyY0lKVW5ySmVwNklnd1gifQ%3D%3D.
.
A Trump Doctrine for Singapore and Beyond
by Pat Buchanan
{ townhall.com } ~ After Pyongyang railed this week that the U.S.-South Korean Max Thunder military drills were a rehearsal for an invasion of the North, and imperiled the Singapore summit, the Pentagon dialed them back.
The B-52 exercises alongside F-22 stealth fighters were canceled.
But Pyongyang had other objections.
Sunday, NSC adviser John Bolton spoke of a "Libyan model" for the North's disarmament, referring to Moammar Gadhafi's surrender of all his weapons of mass destruction in 2004. The U.S. was invited into Libya to pick them up and cart them off, whereupon sanctions were lifted.
As Libya was subsequently attacked by NATO and Gadhafi lynched, North Korea denounced Bolton and all this talk of the "Libyan model" of unilateral disarmament.
North Korea wants a step-by-step approach, each concession by Pyongyang to be met by a U.S. concession. And Bolton sitting beside Trump, and across the table from Kim Jong Un in Shanghai, may be inhibiting.
What was predictable and predicted has come to pass.
If we expected Kim to commit at Singapore to Bolton's demand for "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization," and a swift follow-through, we were deluding ourselves.
At Singapore, both sides will have demands, and both will have to offer concessions, if there is to be a deal.
What does Kim Jong Un want?
An end to U.S. and South Korean military exercises and sanctions on the North, trade and investment, U.S. recognition of his regime, a peace treaty, and the eventual removal of U.S. bases and troops.
He is likely to offer an end to the testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, no transfer of nuclear weapons or strategic missiles to third powers, a drawdown of troops on the DMZ, and the opening of North Korea's borders to trade and travel.
As for his nuclear weapons and the facilities to produce them, these are Kim's crown jewels. These brought him to the attention of the world and the Americans to the table. These are why President Trump is flying 10,000 miles to meet and talk with him.
And, unlike Gadhafi, Kim is not going to give them up.
Assuming the summit comes off June 12, this is the reality Trump will face in Singapore: a North Korea willing to halt the testing of nukes and ICBMs and to engage diplomatically and economically.
As for having Americans come into his country, pick up his nuclear weapons, remove them and begin intrusive inspections to ensure he has neither nuclear bombs nor the means to produce, deliver or hide them, that would be tantamount to a surrender by Kim.
Trump is not going to get that. And if he adopts a Bolton policy of "all or nothing," he is likely to get nothing at all.
Yet, thanks to Trump's threats and refusal to accept a "frozen conflict" on the Korean peninsula, the makings of a real deal are present, if Trump does not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
For there is nothing North Korea is likely to demand that cannot be granted, as long as the security of South Korea is assured to the degree that it can be assured, while living alongside a nuclear-armed North.
Hence, when Kim cavils or balks in Singapore, as he almost surely will, at any demand for a pre-emptive surrender of his nuclear arsenal, Trump should have a fallback position.
If we cannot have everything we want, what can we live with?
Moreover, while we are running a risk today, an intransigent North Korea that walks out would be running a risk as well.
A collapse in talks between Kim and the United States and Kim and South Korea would raise the possibility that he and his Chinese patrons could face an East Asia Cold War where South Korea and Japan also have acquired nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
In the last analysis, the United States should be willing to accept both the concessions to the North that the South is willing to make and the risks from the North that the South is willing to take.
For, ultimately, they are the one who are going to have to live on the same peninsula with Kim and his nukes.
Trump ran on a foreign policy that may fairly be described as a Trump Doctrine: In the post-post-Cold War era, the United States will start looking out for America first.
This does not mean isolationism or the abandonment of our allies. It does mean a review and reassessment of all the guarantees we have issued to go to war on behalf of other countries, and the eventual transfer of responsibility for the defense of our friends over to our friends.
In the future, the U.S. will stop futilely imploring allies to do more for their own defense and will begin telling them that their defense is primarily their own responsibility. Our allies must cease to be our dependents.
Comments