Is India Using U.S. Sterilization Funds for Population Control?

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A group of women lay on the hospital floor, like beggars on the side of the streets, two unconscious and fighting for their life after a botched sterilization procedure. A doctor had chipped one of the women’s bladders as he rushed to snip his target. . .

Was the family fully informed about the risks and side effects of the procedure? Did they receive proper counselling, or were they lured and rushed into the program? Did they receive instructions about post-operative care? Were the doctors given targets to be achieved, and compensation for each procedure?

These are just some of the questions that scream for our attention. The answer tells whether these family planning programs violate the Tiahrt Amendment—the statutory requirement pertaining to U.S. tax dollars spent on global contraception programs like this sterilization camp. . .

India is one of the largest USAID recipients, receiving an average of $100 million each year. The money India receives for contraception is relatively higher than the total it receives for basic health. It’s highly critical for the USAID administration to ensure statutory compliance so that U.S. taxpayer money does not fuel human right abuses and targeted population control abroad.

Around 4 million sterilizations and 6 million IUD insertions were performed in India in 2017. Close to 200 million IUD insertions and 200 million sterilizations were performed in the country in just six years (2010-2016). USAID disbursements for the corresponding period add up to $100 million. This is money dedicated exclusively for contraception and does not include funds for other population policies and maternal health. (Read more from “Is India Using U.S. Sterilization Funds for Population Control?” HERE)

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Turkey and U.S. Agree to 20-Mile ‘Safe Zone’

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The United States and Turkey have reportedly agreed to the creation of a 20-mile-wide “safe zone” in Syria along the Turkish border. . .

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced during a speech to Parliament that his country and the United States had reached an agreement. According to Erdogan, the deal had been struck during a phone call between the two world leaders on Monday.

The full details of how this “safe zone” would work are still unclear. A number of Kurdish settlements, including the cities of Qamishli and Kobani, sit right in its path. Kurdish leaders have not yet said if they would be willing to leave these settlements in return for promises that Turkey would cease its attacks their settlements elsewhere in Syria. . .

Turkey has had trouble with a Kurdish militant group inside its own borders known as the PKK. While the U.S. considers the PKK to be a terrorist group, it differentiates between the PKK and other ethnically Kurdish groups — some of which have proven to be invaluable allies, particularly in the fight against ISIS.

Turkey makes no such distinction. Instead, it has used the instability caused by the now nearly eight-year-long Syrian civil war to launch a series of incursions against Kurdish cities in Syria. (Read more from “Turkey and U.S. Agree to 20-Mile ‘Safe Zone'” HERE)

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Hush Money: Witness Reveals How Much El Chapo Allegedly Paid Mexican President

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On Tuesday, Columbian drug lord Alex Cifuentes Villa testified in the Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera trial. During his testimony, Villa said El Chapo paid former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto $100 million in bribes, The New York Times reported.

According to Villa, Nieto reached out to El Chapo first and asked for $250 million to call the manhunt off for the wanted drug lord. El Chapo counter offered $100 million and Nieto accepted. . .

There have been other allegations of other government officials receiving bribes from El Chapo but the news of Nieto, if true, would be the most shocking. It would mean the drug cartels truly do have a hold on Mexican officials.

After testifying about the two presidents, Mr. Cifuentes rattled off other bribes that Mr. Guzmán and his allies had paid to Mexican officials. On at least two occasions, he said, the kingpin gave the Mexican military between $10 million and $12 million to launch operations to “either kill or capture” associates of the Beltrán-Leyva brothers during his war with them.

Mr. Cifuentes also said the Mexican federal police not only turned a blind eye to drug trafficking, but occasionally took part in it. Once, he told jurors, traffickers gave the police photographs of several suitcases packed with cocaine that were sent by the cartel on an airplane from Argentina to Mexico. The police picked up the suitcases from the baggage claim, Mr. Cifuentes said, and sold the drugs themselves.

(Read more from “Hush Money: Witness Reveals How Much El Chapo Allegedly Paid Mexican President” HERE)

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The U.S. Should Always Be Ready to Deploy Military Strikes Against Iran

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The focus on the partial government shutdown has left little room for other news. But Washington elites still managed to find another reason to complain about the Trump administration over the weekend––they were shocked by the report that National Security Advisor John Bolton requested the Pentagon to provide the National Security Council (NSC) with military options to strike Iran last year.

Bolton made the request after Iranian-supported militias in Iraq fired rockets against the U.S. consulate in Basra and at Baghdad’s green zone, where the U.S. embassy is located, on September 6, 2018. Although fortunately no one was injured, the United States still regarded the militias’ actions as “life-threatening attacks” against the United States.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made it known that “the United States will hold the regime in Tehran accountable for any attack that results in injury to our personnel or damage to United States government facilities.” She further promised that “America will respond swiftly and decisively in defense of American lives.”

As national security advisor, Bolton’s request to the Pentagon for military options to strike Iran is reasonable. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon developed some military options upon Bolton’s request. However, unnamed sources (of course) told the Journal that the request raised alarm within the Defense and State Departments, saying “People were shocked. It was mind-boggling how cavalier they were about hitting Iran.”

In the end, other than public statements, the United States didn’t really do anything to Iran as a response. But over the past weekend, Washington elites were still shocked that Bolton even made such a request in the first place. Apparently there are many weak knees in Washington. (Read more from “The U.S. Should Always Be Ready to Deploy Military Strikes Against Iran” HERE)

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Oxford Students Want World’s Top Natural Law Scholar Fired for Religion

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Students at Oxford University have launched a petition calling on the university to remove John Finnis, an emeritus professor of law and philosophy, from his academic position because of Finnis’ purported “discriminatory conduct.” The petition, which has garnered hundreds of signatures, claims the 78-year-old Australian “has a long record of extremely discriminatory views against many groups of disadvantaged people,” and “is known for being particularly homophobic and transphobic.”

Among other things, Finnis is accused of professing that “gay sex is like bestiality—having sex with animals;” that “being gay is ‘evil’ and ‘destructive;’” and that “approving of gay sex is like approving of killing innocent people in a terrorist massacre.” The Oxford Student published Finnis’ response to the charges:

The petition travesties my position, and my testimony in American constitutional litigation. Anyone who consults the Law Faculty website and follows the links in the petition can see the petition’s many errors. I stand by all these writings. There is not a ‘phobic’ sentence in them. The 1994 essay promotes a classical and strictly philosophical moral critique of all non-marital sex acts and has been republished many times, most recently by Oxford University Press in the third volume of my Collected Essays.

. . .

The Oxford petition seeks Finnis’ removal not for anything he has done as a professor, but based solely on his published work. On this point, the petition is clear, noting the university’s harassment policy is unhelpful: “Although it identifies the aims of promoting ‘a positive environment’ of fairness and respect, ‘free from harassment’, it does not provide guidance on how to deal with professors who target disadvantaged people more generally (e.g. through their published work).” . . .

First, the petition signatories view academic research, including scholarship published in top-tier journals and the upper echelon of university presses, as harassment. Second, the petition makes clear that the student signatories view natural law and the precepts of the Catholic church and traditional Christian churches as adopting homophobic, transphobic, and “extremely discriminatory views.” Third, the petition’s reference to awaiting a “person-to-person instance of harassment or victimisation,” exposes the students’ view that a classroom lecture that includes Finnis’ scholarship would be verboten. (Read more from “Oxford Students Want World’s Top Natural Law Scholar Fired for Religion” HERE)

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Another Caravan: New Migrant Group Forms, Prepares to Head North to U.S. Border

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While Washington Post fact-checkers argue among themselves about whether or not the situation at the border constitutes a humanitarian crisis, the outlet reports that in Honduras another migrant caravan is preparing to start the long trek north.

“Another migrant caravan is forming in Honduras, with plans to set out next week on a journey that will once again test the immigration policies of Mexico and the United States,” the Washington Post reports.

The Post notes that, as with the previous caravan, a flier has been “circulating on Honduran social media” announcing the plan to form a new group to head north. The flier provides the location where the new caravan is gathering — San Pedro Sula, a city close to the northern Honduran border — and says the group will set out at 5 a.m. on Jan. 15. “We’re looking for refuge,” reads the flier. “In Honduras, we are being killed.”

The Mexican government is already preparing for the new caravan’s arrival at the southern border with Guatemala, interior minister Olga Sánchez Cordero said at a press conference Monday. After having failed to stop thousands of migrants from illegally crossing into the country last year, Sánchez Cordero said this time they plan to more effectively lock down the border, in part by placing guards at 370 potential crossing points, the Post reports.

Like many in the previous caravan, which included around 7,000 migrants, the Honduran migrants who manage to make it into Mexico and to its northern border to apply for asylum in the U.S. will likely end up finding themselves having to wait in Mexico while their applications are processed due to a deal between the Trump administration and the Mexican government to keep asylum seekers south of the border during the process. (For more from the author of “Another Caravan: New Migrant Group Forms, Prepares to Head North to U.S. Border” please click HERE)

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Only Two Democrat Senators Will Publicly Oppose the Anti-Israel BDS Movement

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Sen. Marco Rubio threw a rock at a political hornet’s nest on Monday when he tweeted, “The shutdown is not the reason Senate Democrats don’t want to move to Middle East Security Bill. A huge argument broke out at Senate Dem meeting last week over BDS. A significant # of Senate Democrats now support #BDS & Dem leaders want to avoid a floor vote that reveals that.”

Twitter erupted — as it is wont to do — with users arguing whether this reflected insider knowledge or was a convenient lie. Personally, I’m inclined to believe there’s something to what Rubio wrote. Anyone who’s followed American foreign policy in recent years knows that the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement is an explosive and barely contained hot-button issue for Democrats.

Consider that one year ago, Pew Research polled Americans’ attitudes toward Israel and the Palestinians. They reported that “the partisan divide in Middle East sympathies, for Israel or the Palestinians, is now wider than at any point since 1978. Currently, 79% of Republicans say they sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, compared with just 27% of Democrats.”

Drilling down, Pew quantified the change within the Democratic Party’s progressive wing that’s been apparent to Middle East watchers for some time: “The share of liberal Democrats who sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians has declined from 33% to 19% since 2016. Currently, nearly twice as many liberal Democrats say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israel (35% vs. 19%).”

Lest these numbers be dismissed as theoretical concerns, Midwestern voters just elected the nation’s first two pro-BDS members of Congress. Of course, neither Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan nor Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota were particularly forthright about their views during election season. It wasn’t until after winning her Democratic primary that Tlaib “explicitly endors[ed] a one-state solution and oppos[ed] aid [to Israel], a change celebrated by far-left Palestinian activists, who sharply criticized her for seeking out and receiving the J Street endorsement.” Omar didn’t publicly acknowledge that she supported BDS until after November’s election. (Read more from “Only Two Democrat Senators Will Publicly Oppose the Anti-Israel BDS Movement” HERE)

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For Just 12.5 Percent of Annual Afghanistan Costs, We Can Secure the Border

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The United States continues to spend an enormous amount of money nation-building in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has virtually zero interests, in a country whose people present no current threat to us.

In 2018 alone, the Pentagon estimated that the U.S. military dropped $45 billion dollars on the long Afghan war, which has been going on for 17 years and counting. As I detailed last month in Conservative Review, there is no longer an American interest in Afghanistan, and there has not been for quite some time. And given that President Trump appears to be leaning toward finally withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan, we can hope that significant funds will soon be freed up for other U.S. priorities.

Topping that list of unfunded national security priorities is a no-brainer: our southern border, which remains recklessly unsecure and leaves our Border Patrol agents hopelessly underfunded for stopping some of the most dangerous criminal organizations and individuals from entering our country.

For just 12.5 percent ($5.7 billion) of the $45 billion that we spent in Afghanistan last year, the president and Congress can fund and bolster border security. Plus, we can reopen the government and repurpose wasted funds to reinforce actual national security measures.

There are many other places where the president can seek funds for the border wall. But given that the border wall is a national security issue, it’s much easier to make the case that the funds should come from the Defense Department.

Afghanistan isn’t the only multibillion-dollar boondoggle in the defense apparatus. The Daily Caller reported Wednesday, “The Defense Department has relinquished over $27 billion to the U.S. Treasury since 2013 simply because it couldn’t spend the money quick enough.”

In recent years, the Pentagon has burned through $125+ billion in bureaucratic waste. U.S. taxpayers footed the bill for the trillion-dollar boondoggle that is the F-35 program. The DOD also overpays defense contractors in a system that awards no-bid, non-competitive contracts.

Many legal experts agree that the president has the statutory authority to build the wall and the right to reappropriate defense funding for the border wall, which should be priority 1A for our national security. If he doesn’t want to cut the Afghanistan nation-building budget by a mere 12.5 percent, he can find plenty of funds elsewhere within the Defense Department. (For more from the author of “For Just 12.5 Percent of Annual Afghanistan Costs, We Can Secure the Border” please click HERE)

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Iran Tests POTUS, Taking First American Hostage During Trump Era

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The terrorist regime that rules Iran has confirmed that it is holding U.S. Navy veteran Michael R. White hostage.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency Wednesday: “An American citizen was arrested in the city of Mashhad some time ago and his case was conveyed to the U.S administration on first days.”

The New York Times confirmed White’s capture on Monday after speaking to his mother.

“Iran has been holding an American Navy veteran in prison on unspecified charges since late July, when he was seized while visiting an Iranian girlfriend, his mother said Monday,” the Times reported.

Iranwire, a website for Iranian expatriates, also discussed White’s capture. In the piece, Irvar Farhadi, a former Iranian prisoner, said he met Mr. White at Iran’s Vakilabad Prison in the city of Mashhad.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), Vakilabad authorities conduct secret mass executions inside of the prison.

“He was not in a good psychological condition and is not allowed visitors or access to the phone. He is virtually a hostage without any charges against him,” Farhadi told Iranwire.

He added, “Michael is kept among dangerous criminals including murderers and professional drug smugglers and his life is in danger. I promised to myself that if I got out of prison one of the first things that I would do would be to inform people about the situation of this American prisoner.”

At least four U.S. citizens and one U.S. permanent resident are currently being held by Iran. CBS reports, citing sources, that Tehran is “holding the Americans to try to extract concessions such as those received in a deal reached with President Obama.”

President Obama set a dangerous precedent in paying a total of $1.7 billion dollars (in what appeared to resemble a ransom payment) for the release of four American hostages.

This is believed to be the first time that the Iranian regime has taken an American citizen hostage during the Trump era. The last known American detained by Iran was Xiyue Wang, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University. He was detained while conducting research in Tehran on August 8, 2016. Wang was later sentenced for espionage charges.

President Trump has a decision to make. He can follow in Obama’s footsteps and negotiate with the terrorist regime in Iran. He may instead choose to demand the unconditional release of the growing number of Americans held hostage by Tehran. The White House has not yet commented on the matter. The State Department said it was aware of the reports but did not comment further. (For more from the author of “Iran Tests POTUS, Taking First American Hostage During Trump Era” please click HERE)

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Media Completely Ignores Isaam Akel, an American Brutalized Like Khashoggi

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An Arab man with deep ties to America dissented against an authoritarian Middle Eastern regime. As a consequence, he was held captive, reportedly beaten, and his life may be over.

No, his name is not Jamal Khashoggi. Unlike Khashoggi, this man is a U.S. citizen. And he was not consorting with or propagandizing on behalf of Islamists, but enraging them by consorting with America’s closest ally in the region.

While Issam Akel has not been made a cause celebre, perhaps he should be. An American resident of East Jerusalem, Akel was arrested by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in October 2018 and sentenced to life in prison with hard labor for allegedly committing the mortal sin of “selling a house to the enemy in Jerusalem.” . . .

The details of Akel’s plight are characteristically sketchy, but reports indicate he was either lured to Ramallah, or picked up off the street in Jerusalem by PA police, incarcerated, and potentially tortured. This was a particularly brazen act, given that Akel is a U.S. citizen, who carries an Israeli ID card that should provide him immunity from PA arrest.

In spite of all the significant threads coming together in the imprisonment and potential beating of an American by an autocratic regime for allegedly flouting an anti-Semitic law, the Western media and political class have been largely mum. There is no echo chamber lauding Akel’s putative bravery, nor haranguing Mahmoud Abbas and the PA for their brutality. There is no chorus lobbying for sanctioning the PA with the full force of the U.S. government. Rest assured, Akel’s face will not grace the cover of Time as “Person of the Year” anytime soon. (Read more from “Media Completely Ignores Isaam Akel, an American Brutalized Like Khashoggi” HERE)

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