Us foreign policy

Rep. Ilhan Omar 's (D-MN) ouster last Thursday from the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) is richly deserved, but for reasons even more fundamental than those detailed in the resolution removing her from the panel. The congresswoman's hostility towards Jews and the Jewish state of Israel, her related attempts to draw moral equivalence between jihadists and Israeli and American forces, and the broader anti-Western worldview that pervades the rhetoric recounted in the removal resolution make her a uniquely repugnant figure—now officially so, as determined by her House colleagues. But the reality is that Rep. Omar should have never been allowed to serve on the HFAC in the first place. By appointing her to that post, Democrats knowingly and recklessly endangered U.S. national security—a crucial but overlooked point in the Omar saga. This is because, while the committee touches on nearly every sensitive issue vital to U.S. national security and foreign policy, an … [Read more...] about House GOP Adamantly Correct to Kick Rep. Omar off Foreign Affairs Committee

Live updates: The U.S. has shot down the Chinese spy balloon. WASHINGTON — The Chinese spy balloon that floated across the continental United States before it was shot down by the U.S. military generated deep concern on Capitol Hill in part because it came on the heels of a classified report that outlined incidents of American adversaries potentially using advanced aerial technology to spy on the country. The classified report to Congress last month discussed at least two incidents of a rival power conducting aerial surveillance with what appeared to be unknown cutting-edge technology, according to U.S. officials. While the report did not attribute the incidents to any country, two American officials familiar with the research said the surveillance probably was conducted by China. The report on what the intelligence agencies call unidentified aerial phenomena focused on several incidents believed to be surveillance. Some of those incidents have involved balloons, while others … [Read more...] about Classified U.S. Report Highlights Foreign Power Aerial Spying With Advanced Tech

BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad , who has mostly won Syria’s civil war , now faces an acute economic crisis that has impoverished his people, brought about the collapse of the currency and fueled a rare public rift in the ruling elite. Government salaries have become nearly worthless. Protests against falling living standards have broken out in the southeast. The Syrian pound is worth so little that people have posted images on social media of bank notes used to roll cigarettes . The government is so strapped for cash that it is squeezing wealthy businessmen to help fund the state, a move that prompted a powerful Syrian tycoon to openly criticize the government. For nine years, Mr. al-Assad has relied on brute force to beat back the rebels who sought to end his family’s decades-old grip on power. But now, with the war’s biggest battles behind him, he faces new threats that he cannot bomb his way out of or count on his few allies to help him surmount. … [Read more...] about Syria’s Economy Collapses Even as Civil War Winds to a Close

BALI, Indonesia — President Biden returns home from a week of diplomacy and crisis management in the Middle East and Asia strengthened in his faith that this period of war and economic turmoil calls for his brand of coalition-building politics — reinforcing the leadership differences with his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, just as he announced another White House run on Tuesday. Mr. Biden’s swing through Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia was buoyed by a cascade of better-than-expected news for Democrats in the midterm elections and punctuated by a nearly three-hour meeting with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, that appeared to ease the rancorous rhetoric between the two increasingly rivalrous economies, the world’s largest. As reports emerged of Russian-made rockets killing two people in Poland, Mr. Biden convened an emergency meeting with NATO and Group of 7 leaders over the latest missile strikes in Russia’s war in Ukraine, declining to speculate on the source until more facts were … [Read more...] about Amid Crises, Biden Offers the World a Choice: My Way, or Trump’s

All public bus and trolleybus stops in Bratislava will become request stops as of February 13, as the capital's public transport company looks to make savings. Passengers will have to signal for vehicles to stop, Martin Chlebovec, Bratislava Public Transport (DPB) company spokesman said on Tuesday. Skryť Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryť Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The company believes the move will cut down on fuel use and save almost €0.5 million. “In light of growing fuel prices, loss of income for municipalities and regions, as well as the situation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, DPB has been losing millions of euros since 2019,” said Chlebovec, adding the firm expects to report a loss of €35 million in 2023 alone. The new policy will see journey times shortened by an average of about 10 percent during off-peak hours, while lowering emissions. The change … [Read more...] about Capital’s public transport to operate request stop only policy

WASHINGTON — The top military commander overseeing North American airspace said Monday that some previous incursions by Chinese spy balloons during the Trump administration were not detected in real time, and the Pentagon learned of them only later. “I will tell you that we did not detect those threats, and that’s a domain awareness gap,” said Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon’s Northern Command. One explanation, multiple U.S. officials said, is that some previous incursions were initially classified as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” Pentagon speak for U.F.O.s. As the Pentagon and intelligence agencies stepped up efforts over the past two years to find explanations for many of those incidents, officials reclassified some events as Chinese spy balloons. It is not clear when the Pentagon determined the incidents involved Chinese spying. When the determination was made, officials kept the information secret to avoid letting China know their surveillance efforts … [Read more...] about Previous Chinese Balloon Incursions Initially Went Undetected

Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star Army general with deep experience in the Middle East, has been nominated to become the first Black secretary of defense, President-elect Joe Biden announced on Tuesday. The selection of Austin, who has only been out of uniform for four years instead of the required seven, will require a waiver from Congress to bypass legal requirements for keeping the Pentagon under civilian control. That continues a pattern established by President Trump in 2017, when Trump selected Austin’s predecessor at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for the position. “Above all, I chose Lloyd Austin as my nominee for secretary of defense because I know how he reacts under pressure, and I know that he will do whatever it takes to defend the American people,” Biden said Tuesday. Word of the announcement began to attract discomfort early Tuesday among Capitol Hill Democrats who questioned the need to grant a second extraordinary waiver in as many years, as well as from retired … [Read more...] about Biden Picks Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to Run Pentagon

Governments around the world were quick to respond to requests for international assistance after Monday’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, deploying rescue teams and offering aid. The European Union said it was urgently dispatching search and rescue teams from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania to Turkey to help. In a statement, the bloc also said it was directing its satellite system to support Turkish efforts in mapping the quake and its aftermath. Greece said it was sending a C-130 transport aircraft to help neighboring Turkey, along with 21 members of the Greek fire service’s special disaster management unit, rescue dogs, a rescue vehicle, medics and the head of the government’s organization for disaster management, the Greek Civil Protection Agency said. India said it was sending medical squads, search and rescue teams and relief material to assist Turkey’s response. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, … [Read more...] about Governments Around the World Send Rescue Teams After Quake

See the article in its original context from November 12, 1972 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. “The Best and the Brightest;” Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam's latest, most important and impressive book, sets out to discover why America got involved in the worst and messiest war in our history. “What was it about the men, their attitudes, the country, its institutions and above all the era which had allowed this tragedy to take place?” They were, after all, “the best and … [Read more...] about How we got into the messiest war in our history

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), warned on Monday that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could lead to broader world conflict. Guterres, a high-ranking politician and diplomat, addressed UN member nations in a speech on Monday morning about the state of the world in 2023. During this, he touched upon the "Doomsday Clock," a symbolic measurement used since 1947 to show how close humanity is to a global catastrophe, represented by the amount of time a clock is from striking midnight. This year, citing factors like the Russian invasion of Ukraine , spiraling climate change, and persistent nuclear threats undermining global societal norms, Guterres explained that the Clock now sits at 90 seconds to midnight as of the start of this year, 10 seconds closer than it was since January 2020, and the closest it has ever been. In discussing these threats to global stability, Guterres touched on his fears of continuing escalation in the Russian invasion of … [Read more...] about UN chief warns ‘wider war’ is coming out of Russia-Ukraine fighting