Peter Myers Digest: US pressures UK to continue blocking ICC’s Netanyahu arrest warrant
(1) Sunak & Cameron delayed ICC Warrants on Netanyahu, but Starmer may allow them to proceed
(2) US pressures UK to continue blocking ICC’s Netanyahu arrest warrant
(3) Will Labour protect Netanyahu from being prosecuted by the ICC? – Geoffrey Robertson
(4) American Hegemony is over – Col. Douglas Macgregor
(1) Sunak & Cameron delayed ICC Warrants on Netanyahu, but Starmer may allow them to proceed
Starmer learnt that the price of power was support for genocide
Starmer learnt that the price of power was support for genocide
8 July 2024
Britain’s new prime minister has shown he is already an arch-exponent of the dark political arts of deceit, hypocrisy and bad faith
Middle East Eye – 8 July 2024
By a crushing majority, the 17 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled more than five months ago that Israel was “plausibly” committing genocide in Gaza.
The highest court in the world <https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/icj-rule-israel-allies-put-on-trial-genocide> put Israel on trial, accused of the ultimate crime against humanity.
Much has happened since that decision – and all of it is even more incriminating against Israel than the evidence considered by the World Court back in January.
Tens of thousands more Palestinian civilians are dead or missing, most likely under rubble. Gaza is now a wasteland, one that will take <https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/rebuilding-bombed-gaza-homes-may-take-80-years-un> many decades to rebuild.
Till then, the population has nowhere to live, nor institutions such as <https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-hospitals-destroyed-there-little-help-palestinian-cancer-patients> hospitals, <https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-war-us-europe-bear-blame-Israel-war-Palestinian-education> schools, universities and government offices to care for them, nor infrastructure like functioning electricity and <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd119dz515wo> sewage systems to rely on.
In violation of a second ICJ ruling, Israel has invaded and <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/25/israel-continues-to-bomb-gaza-including-rafah-despite-icj-ruling> repeatedly bombed Rafah, a small “safe zone” into which Gaza’s population had been herded by Israel, supposedly for their own protection.
And Israel has intensified its blockade of aid, now to the point where there is famine across much of the enclave. Children, the sick and the vulnerable <https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/israel-gaza-children-starvation-malnutrition-intl/index.html> are dying in growing numbers from an entirely man-made catastrophe.
Presented with so much evidence, how is the World Court dealing with Israel’s genocide trial?
The answer: it is moving at a snail’s pace.
Most experts agree that the ICJ is unlikely to issue a definitive ruling for at least a year. Until then, it seems, the western powers will continue giving Israel a licence to shed far more of Gaza’s blood – that is, to continue much further on the trajectory of a plausible genocide.
At this rate, the court will determine conclusively whether Israel is guilty of genocide only when that genocide is all but finished.
Eyes tight shut
Back in the mid-1990s, the world was confronted by another genocide, in Rwanda.
Then, the West vowed that it and the legal institutions supposedly there to uphold international law and protect the weakest should never <https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/20-years-after-rwanda-genocide-regret-and-remembrance> drag their feet again, permitting a crime of such monstrous proportions to unfold without hindrance.
But 30 years on, the West is not just dragging its feet in addressing the crimes against the people of Gaza. Washington and its closest allies, including Britain, are actively arming Israel’s slaughter, and assisting with its starvation of the population.
In ruling against Israel, the ICJ would, by implication, also be finding the sole global superpower and its allies guilty of complicity in genocide.
In the circumstances, the reasons for caution at the World Court, rather than urgency, are all too obvious.
The ICJ’s sister court, the International Criminal Court (ICC), showed late last month that it too was in no hurry to stop the slaughter and mass starvation in Gaza.
Whereas the World Court judges the behaviour of states, the ICC judges the actions of individuals. It is empowered to identify and put on trial those who carry out crimes on behalf of the state.
In May, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, incensed western capitals by announcing that he was <https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-genocide-continue-israel-us-must-destroy-laws-war> seeking an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, along with three Hamas leaders.
All five were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Netanyahu and Gallant’s case, that included the crime of exterminating Gaza’s Palestinians, using starvation as a “weapon of war”.
In truth, the ICC swung into action very late indeed – some eight months after Israel began its war crimes spree.
Nonetheless, Khan’s decision offered a brief moment of hope to Gaza’s bereaved, destitute and starving.
While the World Court’s lengthy genocide trial offers the prospect of a remedy potentially years away, arrest warrants from the ICC pose a far more direct and pressing threat to Israel.
Once signed, those warrants would obligate all parties to the Rome Statute, including Britain and other European states, to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant should they step on their soil.
Israeli <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-21/ty-article/.premium/icc-prosecutor-khan-has-created-a-new-reality-for-israel-and-it-could-end-badly/0000018f-97a4-d376-a5bf-9ffdc1d40000> media have reported on panicked army commanders worried about carrying out orders in Gaza for fear they may be charged next with war crimes.
For a moment, it looked as though Israel might have to weigh whether it could afford to continue the slaughter of Palestinians.
Superpower bullying
But the ICC’s judges agreed to lift the sword from Netanyahu and Gallant’s necks – while leaving Gaza’s women and children, the sick and elderly, exposed once again to the full force of Israel’s bombs and starvation policy.
Rather than approving, as expected, the arrest of Netanyahu and his defence minister for war crimes, the ICC caved into pressure from the United States and Britain.
It revealed that it was willing to revisit the question of whether it had jurisdiction over Gaza – in other words, whether it had the authority to put Netanyahu and Gallant on trial for crimes against humanity.
It was an extraordinary moment – and one that confirmed quite how dishonest the West’s professions of humanitarianism are, and quite how feeble are supposedly independent institutions like the ICC and ICJ when they run up against Washington.
The question of jurisdiction in Gaza and the other occupied Palestinian territories was settled by the ICC long ago. Were that not the case, Khan would never have dared to request the arrest warrants in the first place.
Nonetheless, the ICC’s judges accepted submissions, secretly made by the outgoing British government, that question the legal body’s jurisdiction powers. The UK was undoubtedly waging this campaign of intimidation against the war crimes court in coordination with the US and Israel.
Neither have standing at the ICC because they have refused to ratify the war crimes statute that founded the court.
The UK’s move was a transparent delaying tactic, relying on a piece of standard Israeli sophistry: that the Oslo Accords, from 30 years ago, did not give Palestinians criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, and therefore Palestine cannot delegate that power to the ICC.
The flaw in this argument is glaring. Israel violated the terms of the Oslo Accords decades ago and no longer considers itself bound by them. And yet it now insists – via Britain – that the Palestinians still be shackled by these obsolete documents.
Even more to the point, the Oslo Accords were long ago superseded by a new legal and diplomatic reality. In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognise Palestine as a state.
Three years later, Palestine was allowed to become a member of the ICC. After a long delay, the court finally ruled in 2021 that it had jurisdiction in Palestine.
Since then, and again at a snail’s pace, the ICC has been investigating Israeli war crimes, including atrocities against Palestinians and the building of armed, exclusively Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory, denying the Palestinians any chance to exercise their right to statehood.
In a properly functioning system of international law, arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israel’s top brass would have been issued years ago, long before the current plausible genocide in Gaza.
Buying time
The question of jurisdiction is no longer a matter of legal debate. But revisiting it unnecessarily does buy time, time in which Israel can kill more Palestinians, level even more of Gaza, and starve more Palestinian children.
It is just such delays that lie at the heart of the matter. It is the endless deferments of accountability that directly enabled the current genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s cynical evasions in implementing the Oslo Accords of the mid-1990s led to a growing backlash from Palestinians, culminating in the eruption of a <https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080066/israel-palestine-intifadas-first-second> violent uprising in 2000.
The endless postponements by western powers, led by Washington, in recognising Palestinian statehood destroyed the credibility of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians’ government-in-waiting.
The obvious futility of the Oslo process drove many Palestinians into the arms of militant rival groups like Hamas that promised to let Palestinians take back control of their fate.y does.
(2) US pressures UK to continue blocking ICC’s Netanyahu arrest warrant
https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/jul/10/america-is-pressuring-uk-to-block-iccs-netanyahu-arrest-warrant
US ‘pressuring UK to block ICC’s Netanyahu arrest warrant’
Human rights barrister says US expects Labour government to continue UK challenge to proposed action against Israeli PM
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Thu 11 Jul 2024 03.53 AEST
The US has been accused of putting pressure on the new Labour government not to drop a legal challenge mounted by Rishi Sunak’s administration over <https://theguardian.com/law/article/2024/jun/28/icc-decision-benjamin-netanyahu-arrest-warrant-delay-uk> the international criminal court’s right to seek an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.
In May, under the previous Conservative government, the Foreign Office challenged whether the ICC had any jurisdiction over Israeli actions in Gaza. In 2021, the ICC ruled that it did have jurisdiction over Israeli activity in Palestine.
The ICC has given the new Labour government until 26 July to decide whether to pursue the legal challenge. It did so after the ICC pre-trial chamber ruled on 26 June that it would allow the UK and other interested parties to make submissions over the jurisdiction. Other states and interested parties have been given until Friday to make their own submissions to the court.
The human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson makes the claim about US pressure on Labour in a Guardian article published on Wednesday in which he also warns that <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/10/labour-first-moral-test-netanyahu-icc-israel-gaza> giving into US pressure would be “the first big moral mistake” of the premiership of Sir Keir Starmer. He writes: “The US is not a member of the ICC, and expects the UK to look after its interests there.”
The issue of the ICC request for an arrest warrant was expected to be raised at a meeting between Starmer and the US president, Joe Biden, in Washington, the first between the two men.
Labour officials at the weekend told the Guardian that in opposition Labour had rejected the Conservative legal challenge to the ICC jurisdiction and its policy remained unchanged in government, <https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/jul/08/labour-expected-to-drop-challenge-to-icc-over-netanyahu-arrest-warrant> but did not say if the claim was being withdrawn as a result.
The UK foreign secretary, <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/david-lammy> David Lammy, is expected to travel to the region on Monday to face what may be tough scrutiny of Labour policies, including on arms sales.
The Foreign Office’s argument to the ICC, first propounded by Israel, is that the Oslo accords agreed between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin from 1993 to 1995, reached with the help of Norwegian mediators, preclude Palestine from prosecuting Israelis.
Describing the legal argument as preposterous, Robertson points out: “The ICC decided in the 2021 case that this was ‘not pertinent’ to its right to punish crimes in Gaza as Palestine was a member state, so any war crime on its territory fell within the ICC’s remit.”
Robertson writes: “The ICC was not even in existence in 1995 (it was not established until 2002), and the idea that a provisional clause in a moribund negotiation 30 years ago can prevent it from acting over breaches of international criminal law now is preposterous.
“Israel’s argument, adopted (so far) by the UK, is that Palestine is precluded from prosecuting Israelis and this means it cannot ‘delegate’ such prosecutions to the ICC. This is wrong because the ICC prosecutor is in no sense a delegate of Palestine.
“Karim Khan KC is an independent prosecutor who has collected evidence that he will bring to the court to ask it to issue an arrest warrant. He has no connection with Palestinian authorities.
“If the argument adopted by the UK is correct, there would be nothing to stop the Israel Defense Forces lining up Palestinian children and executing them point-blank. There would be no accountability for any crime against humanity they might commit.”
Due to the legal challenge, no ICC decision on issuing arrest warrants is likely until August at the earliest.
This article was amended on 11 July 2024. The Oslo accords were agreed between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, not Ehud Barak as an earlier version said.
(3) Will Labour protect Netanyahu from being prosecuted by the ICC? – Geoffrey Robertson
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/10/labour-first-moral-test-netanyahu-icc-israel-gaza
Labour faces its first moral test in power. Will it protect Netanyahu from being prosecuted by the ICC?
Geoffrey Robertson
Britain finally has a chance to reject the Sunak government’s claim that Israel enjoys impunity in Gaza
Geoffrey Robertson KC is the founding head of Doughty Street Chambers
Thu 11 Jul 2024 02.19 AEST
Should Benjamin Netanyahu be prosecuted? The Sunak government tried to stop it happening, but now the Starmer administration must decide where it stands.
Back in May, the prosecutor of the international criminal court <https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/may/20/icc-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-warrants-israeli-pm-netanyahu-hamas-officials-war-crimes> applied for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for war crimes involving the indiscriminate bombing of civilians – more than 15,000 children <https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240517-red-crescent-15000-children-have-been-killed-in-gaza/> have been killed so far – and the starvation of citizens in Gaza.
It is down to the court to decide whether the evidence is sufficient to put him on trial. But Sunak’s government, on behalf of the UK, has quietly tried to stop the court by announcing its intention to argue that <https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel> Israel has impunity in Gaza, and can commit any war crime there that it chooses. This was a disgraceful initiative, but the ICC has now given Starmer’s government the opportunity to decide whether or not it wishes to continue this intervention. If it does, this will be its first big moral mistake. …
The UK application was made in May. But last week the Foreign Office woke up to the fact that there was an election and its case might not sit well with a new government. It begged for an extension of time to present its argument and this was granted, until the end of July. By that time the foreign secretary must decide whether it will go ahead with what amounts to a claim that Israel is entitled to impunity in <https://www.theguardian.com/world/gaza> Gaza.
The argument, first propounded by Israel, is that the Oslo accords between Yasir Arafat and Ehud Barak in 1993-1995, <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo> reached with the help of Norwegian mediators, preclude Palestine from prosecuting Israelis. The ICC decided in the 2021 case that this was “not pertinent” to its right to punish crimes in Gaza as Palestine was a member state, so any war crime on its territory fell within the ICC’s remit.
Of course, this question could be raised by Netanyahu himself during the case, if it was to go ahead. Why Britain has decided to raise it now is a mystery: David Cameron gave no explanation, and there are suggestions that it has been filed at the behest of the White House. The US is not a member of the ICC, and expects the UK to look after its interests there. Joe Biden denounced its prosecutor for bringing the case against Netanyahu – although, of course, he was full of praise when he sought a <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/17/vladimir-putin-arrest-warrant-ukraine-war-crimes> warrant for Vladimir Putin.
The obvious reason why the foreign secretary should drop this benighted initiative is that it is a legal nonsense. The Oslo accords are a dead letter. They were an early attempt at a two-state solution that ended a few years later with the failure of Bill Clinton at Camp David. Both sides have breached these accords – Israel, most notably, by encouraging illegal settlements. The ICC was not even in existence in 1995 (it was not established until 2002), and the idea that a provisional clause in a moribund negotiation 30 years ago can prevent it from acting over breaches of international criminal law now is preposterous.
Israel’s argument, adopted (so far) by the UK, is that Palestine is precluded from prosecuting Israelis and this means it cannot “delegate” such prosecutions to the ICC. This is wrong because the ICC prosecutor is in no sense a delegate of Palestine. Karim Khan KC is an independent prosecutor who has collected evidence that he will bring to the court to ask it to issue an arrest warrant. He has no connection with Palestinian authorities.
Meanwhile, the ICC operates on the level of international law and takes no account of domestic law with its amnesties and immunities and limits on prosecutions. The fact that authorities in Gaza have not prosecuted Israelis does not prevent the ICC doing so in the sphere of international criminal law. If the argument adopted by the UK is correct, there would be nothing to stop the Israel Defense Forces lining up Palestinian children and executing them point-blank. There would be no accountability for any crime against humanity they might commit.
That is why the argument is wrong and an explanation is needed as to why the UK told the court last month that it intended to advance it. Presumably the UK legal submission, which was due this week but has now been postponed for two weeks, has already been drawn up and public money will have been spent on retaining expensive KCs to draft it. It must be urgently reviewed by the new attorney general (a sound international lawyer) and the foreign secretary, David Lammy – and then withdrawn.
Last week, the Foreign Office <https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/jun/28/icc-decision-benjamin-netanyahu-arrest-warrant-delay-uk> told the Guardian it had acted because it was “imperative” for the court to consider the Oslo accords. It is not – unless Netanyahu raises them in his defence or another member state intervenes to take this bad point. Why should the UK waste its time and money, and worsen its image in the human rights world, by making this mistaken and advancing pettifogging argument that there should be no international justice for crimes against humanity in Gaza if committed by Israelis?
(4) American Hegemony is over – Col. Douglas Macgregor
Ideas for Candidates Beyond Talking Points
Americans want a nation that leads by example. The candidates for the presidency and Congress should provide it to them.
Douglas Macgregor
Jun 24, 2024 12:05 AM
American political, economic, and military global hegemony—sustained by America’s past economic productivity, the dollar’s reserve status, and the reliance on forward-deployed American military power—is over. In a new world shaped by sweeping technological change in warfare, business and finance, it’s not just the end of the much exaggerated “<https://www.fpri.org/books/making-unipolar-moment-u-s-foreign-policy-rise-post-cold-war-order/> unipolar moment.” The tectonic plates of the international system are shifting beneath America’s feet, crushing Washington’s reactionary, postwar world order, giving rise to a new international system with new power centers and coalitions.
Washington is horrified. Washington’s impulse to think and behave like an unyielding autocrat is a failure. Attempting to freeze the deteriorating postwar status quo, or beating down resistance to Washington’s will, is a poor way to cultivate liberty and order in the world.
Unfortunately, Washington is currently populated with far too many men and women who cannot reconcile the reality of the new world that is emerging with Washington’s <https://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?id=343> failed vision of hegemony. This delusional state of mind reinforces the idiotic belief that political, economic and military conflict or crisis is inevitably a contest between absolute virtue and absolute evil.
The biggest problem with this approach is that <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/worldview/article/abs/morality-and-foreign-policy-by-kenneth-w-thompson-louisiana-state-university-press-xiii-197-pp-1695/1C4BC1C964B4733446C0D0DD82B4557B> it discards tangible concrete interests as a guide to action in favor of a false ideology of moral supremacy. The outcome is Washington’s blatant disregard for human life, ethics, and morality combined with a predisposition to smear, demean, and demonize any foreign power or individual that opposes them.
To paraphrase the <https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2936846.Tacitus> Roman historian Tacitus, Washington’s policies destroy the lives of tens of millions inside the United States and overseas, then call the resulting wasteland “Democracy.” The wastelands created by Washington’s ruling class are visible at home and abroad.
America’s city centers are filled with <https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/> homeless people. Smash-and-grab gangs roam American city streets unchecked. <https://drugabusestatistics.org/drug-related-crime-statistics/> Criminals sell drugs, <https://www.statista.com/topics/4238/human-trafficking/#topicOverview> traffic children, assault the innocent, and devastate rural and urban communities without fear of punishment. America’s electrical grid is unreliable, its roads are crumbling, and its bridges are collapsing.
Inflation is destroying the middle class as real wages stagnate. America’s southern border is overwhelmed with millions of illegal migrants whose presence inside American society comes at a time when America’s economy is fragile. Many illegal <“https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1743284218363257148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1743284218363257148%7Ctwgr%5E73462f917585d14084c67a99f5b93a49f76ac21a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Feconomics%2Fwall-street-> migrants are taking jobs that Americans need, and many others are committing criminal acts. <https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-general-lack-of-social-cohesion-in-western-society> Societal cohesion in America is at an all-time low.
The wastelands beyond our borders are out of sight for most Americans, but the destruction of life and property stretching from Kabul to Baghdad, Baghdad to Damascus, Damascus to Benghazi, and Benghazi to Kiev is impossible to hide.
Ukrainians are living in a hell that Washington’s political class created for them. Today, the <https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mainstream-media-belatedly-reports-ukraines-brutal-military-recruitment-methods> Ukrainian army relies on whatever men and boys the Ukrainian military’s press gangs can force into uniform and send to a front that is melting away in the face of the Russian onslaught. What Ukraine needs now is peace and humanitarian assistance, not more weapons that will change nothing on the battlefield.
Washington’s reckless actions in Ukraine and Washington’s unconditional support for Israel’s ruthless war of <https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/anger-signs-rebellion-among-egyptian-troops-sisi-remains-silent-gaza> annihilation against Gaza, and increasingly Hezbollah, is <https://theintercept.com/2024/06/12/israel-west-bank-airstrikes-drones-palestinians-killed-children/> doing irreparable damage to American interests and threatens to provoke a much wider war with <https://archive.ph/hAVeX#selection-1547.0-2337.174> nuclear-armed powers.
The 50-year-old petrodollar agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia expired on June 9. <https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/saudi-arabia-chooses-chinese-yuan-over-us-dollar-global-markets-react/ar-BB1oe5bW> The end of the petrodollar will likely precipitate a decline in global demand for dollars that could hike inflation and devastate an already weak bond market in the United States.
America’s futile attempt to isolate Russia has isolated Washington, not Moscow. Rather than joining the sanctions bandwagon, the <https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2024/06/21/malaysias-brics-move-an-inevitable-sign-of-global-multipolarity/> rising powers of the Global South—India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, the Gulf States—are all deepening economic ties with Moscow and Beijing. Turkey, our erstwhile NATO ally, will now probably <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2024)760368> join the BRICS.
In Europe, where authoritarian globalism masquerades as liberal democracy, the glacial pace of change in European politics is giving way to a <https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-europe-young-voters-election-2024-foreigners-out-generation-france-germany/> flood of anger at the ballot box. The wholesale devastation of Europe’s economies, especially Germany’s economy, combined with an intense backlash against the policies of denationalization through unrestricted mass migration, is creating a political upheaval that will sweep away the current governing elites. NATO, the sacred cow of the uniparty, <https://www.rusi.org/news-and-comment/in-the-news/nato-has-just-5-air-defences-needed-protect-eastern-flank> is on life support.
Instead of negotiating to <https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nyt-documents-putin-was-willing-compromise-end-war-2022> resolve the conflicts that threaten world peace and investing in the health, education, and prosperity of the American people, Washington hunts for elusive “white supremacists,” whom the ruling class believes is the real threat to America. It is time for the American people to redefine America’s role in the world, reverse America’s economic decline, and restore the foundational principles of the American Republic.
Americans want to live in a prosperous country that is strong and free. Americans want a nation that leads by example. The candidates for the presidency and Congress should provide it to them. To chart a new course, the candidates should pursue action in ten key areas:
1. Secure America’s Borders: End the practice of open borders and <https://apnews.com/article/china-immigration-border-deportation-mayorkas-514f42ee56e80fe7eb7f9fcc71c4d55c> regain control of our southern border. Immigration has become a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the current government. Enforce existing laws and expel the illegal border crossers. Devise a new legal immigration system that respects our sovereignty and promotes national power.
2. Defend America First: Reserves the use of American military power for the defense of the U.S., American citizens, and identified vital strategic interests unless the U.S. is directly attacked by foreign State or non-State power. U.S. Foreign Policy must prioritize diplomacy and peaceful cooperation <https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/xi-said-us-trying-goad-beijing-attacking-taiwan> over the use of military power. Aside from nuclear weapons, which can only be deterred with nuclear weapons, none of our potential adversaries pose a direct threat to the American homeland. In addition, if international terrorism is still a threat to America, how do open borders aid in that fight?
3. Restore the Rule of Law: We must <https://time.com/6093684/police-quitting-federal-data/> support law enforcement agencies and ensure they have the resources necessary to keep our communities safe. We must also reform our criminal justice system. The system must be just and hold criminals accountable. It is time to reconsider the lifetime appointment of judges who release criminals onto the streets, ensuring that our judiciary prioritizes public safety.
4. Build New Armed Forces for the 21st Century: We need a strong military designed to protect our nation in the 21st Century, not an anachronistic and expensive structure with an enormous overhead, and very few fighters. Missions involving self-defeating interventions to export democracy at gunpoint must end.
5. Reenergize the U.S. Economy: Inflation is eroding the middle class and harming citizens of every income class. Washington’s economic policies must benefit American workers and small businesses, not just the wealthy and the corporate sector. <https://finbold.com/china-dumps-largest-amount-of-us-treasury-and-agency-debt-in-history/> Spending must pass the test of necessity. Reduce regulatory burdens, abolish the Internal Revenue Service, and implement a new tax system that stimulates economic activity and brings manufacturing back to our shores.
6. Build New Infrastructure: American infrastructure is the backbone of the economy. We need a comprehensive plan to repair and modernize our roads, bridges, electrical grid, and public transportation systems, ensuring they are safe, reliable, and efficient.
7. Create Energy Independence: Harness America’s vast energy resources, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables. Energy independence will reduce our reliance on foreign powers, lower energy costs, and create high-paying jobs.
8. Strengthen Free Speech and Civil Liberties: The Bill of Rights is the foundation of our republic. Protect Free Speech; the right to speak freely and ensure that government censorship, or by extension its private sector appendages is not tolerated.
9. Reorient Education: Technological advancements are reshaping the world. Americans must invest in research and development, incentivize education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and develop an educational culture of merit-based advancement to ensure that America remains a global leader in technology.
10. Forge National Unity: At least 52 million people inside the US were born in another country. It is time to insist that those coming legally to the US immerse themselves in American culture and way of life or leave. Americans must unite to ensure that every American feels strong, secure and involved in our national life.
Until the forces of change overtake them, Washington’s political class rarely sees change coming. But change is underway. The world is <https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraq-awards-projects-to-chinas-sinopec-ueg-cnooc-iraq-and-anton-oilfield/?__cf_chl_tk=2cB3jSws.8J4XzKN9wi1sgsQV6_WsWDsZuL96QP5YLw-1718938491-0.0.1.1-3860> turning away from American leadership.
If America is to secure a role in the emerging international system it must be a vital, positive force for stability and peace in the world. America must adapt to the new international system and stop clinging to the past.
Washington must respect the culture and security interests of people who are different from us. These changes do nothing to diminish America’s readiness to vigorously defend its citizens and its interests against any threat. If anything, these proposed changes will enhance American national security and restore confidence in American leadership.