From:
slider@anashram.org
President Donald Trump has laid out plans for the U.S. to challenge Russia
and China's growing influence on the world stage; rein in North Korea and Iran's defiance of the West; and destroy what's left of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-america-first-challenge-russia-china-north-korea-iran-isis-751543
Trump announced Monday his new national security strategy, a document
produced by every U.S. leader since former President Ronald Reagan as
mandated by Congress in 1986. Trump's highly anticipated report, which was shared by the White House, promised an "America First" strategy that
identified other leading world powers, authoritarian states opposed to the
West and the global threat of jihadi organizations as the foremost threats
to the U.S.
"China and Russia challenge American power, influence and interests,
attempting to erode American security and prosperity. They are determined
to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and
to control information and data to repress their societies and expand
their influence," Trump wrote in his first such report as president.
"At the same time, the dictatorships of the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran are determined to destabilize regions, threaten Americans and our allies, and brutalize their own
people. Transnational threat groups, from jihadist terrorists to
transnational criminal organizations, are actively trying to harm
Americans," he wrote.
In the 55-page document, Trump did not specifically reference U.S.
allegations that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 presidential
election in his favor, but did charge Moscow with "using information tools
in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies." When Trump
entered office in January, he was widely considered to be a political ally
of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but their relationship has been
strained as their nations diverged on major issues such as the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.
Recent reports that the CIA provided the Kremlin with crucial intelligence
to stop a jihadi attack in St. Petersburg, and cautious cooperation
between the U.S. and Russia in battling ISIS in Syria have produced
prospects for an improved relationship, but the Trump administration has remained deeply suspicious of Russia's growing military power and
diplomatic influence that challenges Western dominance in crucial areas
such as Europe and the Middle East.
Trump criticized Russian and Chinese initiatives to develop "advanced
weapons and capabilities that could threaten our critical infrastructure
and our command and control architecture" and "to reassert their influence regionally and globally." In addition to targeting China's own growing
military and political power, Trump censured Beijing for stealing "U.S. intellectual property valued at hundreds of billions of dollars," while
noting its advances in sophisticated artificial intelligence programs and investment in infrastructure across the globe.
The report singled out the "rogue regime" of North Korea and "evil dictatorship" of Iran, both of which occupied the State Department's list
of State Sponsors of Terrorism as of November. Trump escalated the
U.S.-led campaign to disarm North Korea's nuclear and ballistic weapons arsenal, which has grown substantially in power under young supreme leader
Kim Jong Un, and threatened to do so by force. Trump also decertified a
2015 historic nuclear deal with Iran and has led efforts to isolate Tehran diplomatically over accusations it sponsored militant groups across the
Middle East.
Trump pledged to deploy "a layered missile defense system focused on North Korea and Iran to defend our homeland against missile attacks." Both
countries have denied wanting to target the U.S. and have compared Trump's stance toward their respective nations to that of former President George
W. Bush in the days leading up to the Iraq War.
Trump's charges against Russia and Iran came in spite of the fact that all three were involved in the fight against ISIS, which saw significant
losses in the past year. In separate offensives, a Russia and Iran-backed campaign and a U.S.-led campaign largely defeated the militants in Syria,
while forces supported by both the U.S. and Iran ousted the jihadis from
the vast majority of Iraq. Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria have all declared victory over the group in past weeks, but their forces, as well as the
U.S., continue bombing the group in shrinking pockets of territory.
Despite ISIS's massive territorial defeats, attacks conducted in the name
of the group have continued worldwide. New York City experienced its first ISIS-inspired attack in October, the deadliest to hit the city since 9/11,
and a second earlier this month, which injured several people, including
the perpetrator. Authorities said the suspect in the pipe-bomb blast,
which only seriously hurt the attacker himself, may have gotten
instructions to build the device online, highlighting the continued threat
of ISIS's virtual caliphate, which has provided instructions to would-be jihadis to strike targets around the world.
### - so then, straight from the horses mouth: that russia, china & iran
'are' the last 3 remaining obstacles to american progress and interests in leading the free world!
damn right they are! they're competing ideologies!
and there can be only one?
which basically means the world (as it currently is & stands) is fucked!
'coz those 3 ain't gonna be going away without a serious fight??
so some kinda war IS inevitable!
in which case: better buckle-up dorothy 'coz wallyworld is going bye-bye!
and probably fairly soon!
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)