Author: J.P. Knowles

President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone Wednesday amid diplomatic tensions following the United States’ new trilateral agreement with the United Kingdom and Australia, with both leaders agreeing that the situation would have “benefited from open consultations” among allies.
The call came in the aftermath of the AUKUS agreement, announced last week, which will focus on developing Australia’s nuclear powered submarine capabilities – something France had been working to undertake with Australia.

Blindsiding France with the deal struck another blow to Biden’s pronouncement that “America is back”; the U.S. president tried to reassure allies in his speech at the United National General Assembly this week.

“The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,” the White House statement read “President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”

During the call, Biden and Macron, “decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives.”

“They will meet in Europe at the end of October in order to reach shared understandings and maintain momentum in this process,” the statement read.

Last week, following the announcement of AUKUS, Macron recalled its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia, but as a result of the call Wednesday, Macron “decided that the French Ambassador will return to Washington next week,” and that the ambassador will “start intensive work with senior U.S. officials.”

Biden reiterated the “strategic importance” of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region – which AUKUS looks to address.

“The United States also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defense, that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to NATO,” the statement read. “In the framework of their joint fight against terrorism, the United States commits to reinforcing its support to counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel conducted by European states.”

France initially made an agreement to send French-made submarines to Australia. Under the trilateral agreement, France will lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel submarines for Australia under the terms of the initiative, which will see the U.S. and Britain help Australia construct nuclear-powered ones.

Despite repeated warnings from the United States military that Chinese surveillance drones constitute a threat to national security, federal law enforcement agencies in the United States are apparently purchasing Chinese surveillance drones.

“The Secret Service bought eight DJI drones on July 26, according to procurement records obtained by the industry publication IPVM,” Axios reported. “That was three days after the Defense Department released a statement saying DJI products ‘pose potential threats to national security.’”

Further, according to Axios, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) purchased 19 drones from the same China-based manufacturer, according to records obtained by the publication.

During the Trump administration, the United States military issued numerous warnings against the use of drones, and the military continued to issue such warnings during the Biden administration.

“The Department of Defense (DOD) position is that systems produced by Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) pose potential threats to national security,” the Pentagon said over the summer. “Existing DOD policy and practices associated with the use of these systems by U.S. government entities and forces working with U.S. military services remain unchanged contrary to any written reports not approved for release by the DOD.”

“In 2018, DOD issued a ban on the purchase and use of all commercial off-the-shelf drones, regardless of manufacturer, due to cybersecurity concerns,” the statement later added. “The following year, Congress passed legislation specifically banning the purchase and use of drones and components manufactured in China. DOD complies with Section 848 of the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and additional guidance provided by Executive Order 13981.”

In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning, stating that it had “moderate confidence” that the Chinese-based corporation DJI Science and Technology was giving Chinese authorities information about vital infrastructure and law enforcement data in the United States.

DHS further warned it has:

“… high confidence [DJI] is selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.”

“…high confidence a foreign government with access to this information could easily coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites.”

“… high confidence that outside of DJI’s goal to attain law enforcement customers, DJI’s criteria for selecting accounts to target appears to focus on the account holder’s ability to disrupt critical infrastructure. As a result, DJI has amassed customers such as American Water, Union Pacific, and American Electric Power, some of the biggest utility and transportation companies in the United States.”

“… high confidence the critical infrastructure and law enforcement entities using DJI systems are collecting sensitive intelligence that the Chinese government could use to conduct physical or cyber attacks against the United States and its population. Alternatively, China could provide DJI information to terrorist organizations, hostile non-state entities, or state-sponsored groups to coordinate attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. The UAS capture close-up imagery and GPS information on water systems, rail systems, hazardous material storage systems, first responders’ activity, and construction of highways, bridges, and rails.”

A total of 40 military officers were apprehended in Sudan on Tuesday after they attempted to overthrow the country’s transitional administration.

According to CNN, the officers attempted to seize control of Sudan’s state television station as well as the country’s biggest military post in the capital. The officers had backed former president Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019 and is currently imprisoned on corruption charges, according to a government spokesman in a statement released on Monday.

Following his release from a Sudanese prison, Bashir will be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide. During the 2004 Darfur genocide in which the Sudanese army and government-backed militias killed as many as 200,000 ethnic minorities, the Sudanese transitional government agreed to hand Bashir over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for trial.

as well as military officers within the Sudanese Armed Forces.

He added that all members of the coup leadership, civilian and military, have been detained.

Minister Al Amir further stated that the attempt was being monitored by security forces for some time.

— Awad Mustafa (@awadz) September 21, 2021

“There has been a failed coup attempt by military officers remnants of the former regime, we are confirming as the transitional council that we are coordinating fully and we are comforting the Sudanese people that the situation is completely under control,” the spokesman, Hamza Baloul, said, according to CNN.

“We’re not going back… there are people trying to turn back the hands of time,” he continued.

Abdalla Hamdok, the Prime Minister of Sudan, is in charge of the country’s transitional government at the moment. President Hamdok and other top government officials have expressed their desire to hold parliamentary elections, which are tentatively scheduled to take place in 2022. Since the overthrow of Bashir, the country has been hit by economic shocks and widespread food insecurity.

Sudan has had to deal with military coups on a number of occasions. Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup against Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. Following a coup in 1985, Al-Mahdi was elected to the position of prime minister in 1986.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a senior-level review of the investigation that found that 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, were killed in an Aug. 29 U.S. drone strike in Kabul. The Pentagon initially reported that the drone strike had killed an Islamic State fighter. The reviewer is to consider whether any military disciplinary action is warranted.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that Austin had instructed the Air Force to appoint an officer at three or four-star rank to review the Central Command investigation. The main findings of the investigation, which examined in detail the sequence of events leading up to the strike, were that only Afghan civilians were killed and that the U.S. military had been mistaken in its belief that the white Toyota Corolla that was struck with a Hellfire missile was a valid threat.

Discrepancies were discovered between the military’s initial claims about the strike and findings on the ground.
Reports emerged about the driver of the vehicle targeted being a longtime employee of a U.S. humanitarian organization. There was no evidence of a secondary explosion, even though the Pentagon reported that the vehicle contained explosives.

The head of Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, announced Friday that his investigation determined that the vehicle targeted by the drone had initially been seen at a known Islamic State compound in Kabul and was tracked by U.S. intelligence for eight hours. McKenzie said the intelligence about the vehicle turned out to be tragically mistaken.

The military initially reported that at least one Islamic State fighter had been killed in the vehicle, but McKenzie’s investigation found that only innocent civilians were killed. McKenzie accepted the blame for the mistake and apologized.

“This particular strike certainly was a terrible mistake and we certainly regret that, and I’ve been very clear that we take full responsibility for it,” McKenzie said during a press conference.

Austin alluded to a request for a review on Friday, saying in a written statement that he wanted to be sure that Central Command had considered “all available context and information” about the mistaken attack and that accountability be fully considered.

Kirby said the Air Force review will look at the thoroughness of Central Command’s investigation and make recommendations about whether anyone involved should be held accountable.

“If there is accountability to be held, the decisions about who and what would be done would be a separate consideration,” Kirby said.

The review is to be completed within 45 days of the appointment of a reviewing officer, according to Kirby.

Former President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would soon be considered a Third World nation due to the outrageous number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border.

“The United States will soon be considered a “Third World Nation,” Trump said in a statement. “There has never been anything like what is happening at our border. Millions of people have already poured in, but many more than that are coming!”

Drone video and photographs from a number of outlets show the makeshift camp under the bridge and a constant stream of migrants crossing illegally into Texas from Mexico unimpeded.

In an interview with CNN, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said that the increased number of crossings at that location could be the result of word-of-mouth or social media postings that the border at Del Rio was essentially “open.”

According to the report, there are migrants sleeping in makeshift tents or on the dirt under the bridge as daytime temperatures exceed 100 degrees.

“The BidenBorderCrisis has been marked by mistake after mistake from this Administration. There’s no doubt about it,” the House Homeland GOP posted Monday on Twitter. “The humanitarian and security crisis we’re seeing in Del Rio is a direct result of President Biden’s misguided open border policies.”

Almost immediately after taking office, Biden reversed several of President Donald Trump’s border policies which subsequently caused an ever-increasing number of migrants crossing at the border since then.

There were 200,000 migrant crossings in both July and August, that’s more than three times the number during the Trump administration.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Saturday that it would implement a “new, comprehensive strategy” to deal with the situation at Del Rio.

The plan will include sending more than 400 agents to help in the control of the location, flying 2,000 to 3,000 migrants daily to other processing centers to be assessed and removed if necessary, work with the source countries to take take their citizens back, and taking actions to improve the humanitarian crisis in Del Rio by supplying medical attention, portable restrooms, water, and other necessary supplies to the migrants.

“Beyond the six steps outlined above, the Biden Administration has reiterated that our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey,” the DHS statement said.

“Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion. Irregular migration poses a significant threat to the health and welfare of border communities and to the lives of migrants themselves and should not be attempted.”

Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark criticized President Joe Biden for spending his weekend at the beach while Americans are still trapped in Afghanistan.

While campaigning in Iowa this weekend on behalf of Republicans, Cotton made comments about Afghanistan, the border crisis, the 2024 election and other issues.

Cotton said the president’s weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware is “adding embarrassment” to humiliation.”

“I think it’s an embarrassment. Simply adding embarrassment to the humiliation of Joe Biden’s reckless abandonment of Americans in Afghanistan,” he said.

“He made a decision to get our troops out of Afghanistan by September 11, which he thought was a politically symbolic date,” Cotton continued. “But it was a tactically disastrous date right in the middle of the fighting season as the Taliban had geared up to fight again.”

“And the symbolism turned out to be the Taliban flag flying over what once was the American embassy,” he added.

Cotton accused Biden of “adding insult to that injury by breaking his word” to the Americans who are currently “stranded” in Afghanistan after he called for the military to leave before evacuating them.

“To say nothing of all the green card holders and their families, and Afghans who served alongside our troops, and who were vetted and approved to immigrate to America – who were left behind in Afghanistan, as well – while he also brought, apparently, thousands of Afghans who had no discernible connection to America or no right to immigrate here under our laws,” Cotton said.

An alderman visiting a known “problem corner” in Chicago this past weekend was assaulted by a group of men that were intoxicated and high on illicit drugs.

Saturday night, Alderman James Cappleman of the 46th Ward “was the victim of a battery” in the 4700 block of North Racine in Chicago police’s 9th District, police spokesman Tom Ahern said. A suspect was taken into custody and charges are pending.

The violence in Chicago this past weekend was recorded from just before 6 p.m. on Friday through mid-night Sunday, Chicago police recorded 46 shootings that involved 56 victims. Nine murders were recorded during the time frame.

Saturday morning alone there were 5 fatal shootings. Among them were two men, 34-year-old Charles Jackson Jr and an unidentified 29-year-old who were shot and killed in a drive-by incident in Lawndale on the West Side. Police said they are looking for a red vehicle that opened fire around 12:15 a.m. in the 1900 block of South Saint Louis Avenue.

A 3-year-old little boy was shot in the back Saturday in the 9300 block of South Escanaba Avenue on the South Side. The boy was hospitalized and in good condition.

An officer was involved in a shooting Sunday morning as Chicago police responded to a “domestic disturbance” in the 6500 block of South Harvard. Officers answering the call encountered a male who was armed with a knife, as the incident escalated an officer fired his weapon, striking the 28-year-old man who later died. The responding officer was placed on routine administrative duty while the incident is being investigated.

Cappleman was visiting the corner of Racine and Leland avenues where young families have complained to him about an unruly group that has been gathering there for weeks drinking and doing drugs.

“In the past two weeks, it’s just gotten out of control again. And the problem is when you can get them to leave one corner they just go to the next corner,” Cappleman said. “I talked to this guy and I said, ‘This can’t keep going on. Residents are rightly upset about this.’ They are out there just drinking nonstop and drugging and that kind of stuff. It’s caused a lot of concern to the community.”

Cappleman said he is growing frustrated with the problem of those abusing drugs and alcohol, as offenders who are arrested by police are often released back on the streets where they continue their behavior.

“We’re going to see what we can do to get this guy this help. But how do you help someone who is refusing help to address their addiction?” he said. “I know it’s not just arresting them because arrests don’t always matter. When you’re released from Cook County Jail, you go right back to the street.

He said that he periodically visits the area before reporting to police. He said this time as he rounded the corner he was attacked by three men, when he was placed in a headlock and struck repeatedly with a blunt object.

Cappleman said that he recognized the men from prior arrests in the neighborhood.

“We can’t arrest ourselves out of this,” Cappleman said. “For most humans, for most living creatures, we respond to negative and positive reinforcement. It can’t be all negative, but it can’t be all positive. We have to find that right balance. And we know we’ve found the right balance when it produces the intended result. For this guy, we’ve not found that right balance.”

Senator Ted Cruz posted a video on Thursday afternoon from his recent trip to Del Rio, Texas, where he saw what he estimated to be more than 10,000 illegal aliens who had been caught by the U.S. Border Patrol.

“It’s a maddening crisis,” Cruz said from the border. “Just over a week ago, there were fewer than a thousand people here under the bridge, averaging between 700 and 1000. Then, on September 8th, the Biden administration made a decision to cancel deportation flights back to Haiti. The vast majority of these illegal immigrants crossing into Del Rio are from Haiti.”

“And [when the Biden administration] made that decision eight days ago, the 700 to a thousand people who were here discovered they could stay, they pulled out their cell phones,” Cruz continued. “They called their friends, they called their family, and eight days later, 700 people became 10,503.”

Senator Ted Cruz declared that the situation in the country was a “man-made crisis” that was the “product of political decisions,” and that President Joe Biden could easily repair it by simply following the law and reintroducing deportation flights to the United States.

“When you have open borders, this is what you get,” Cruz concluded. “This is wrong. This is not humane. This is not compassionate. This is lawless, and it is inviting suffering. This needs to end.”

I am on the ground in Del Rio, Texas tonight. As of this moment, there are 10,503 illegal aliens under the Del Rio International Bridge.

This manmade disaster was caused by Joe Biden. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/VpzkrH1zyb

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 17, 2021

We know that this is a ploy by President Biden to gain more Latin American voters for the left. Instead, he should close the border and follow the law that was put into place to prevent this man-made crisis.

According to a Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday, sixty-two percent of Americans believe the U.S. military will be forced to go back to Afghanistan to fight terrorism.

“The pullout is over, but boots will be back on the ground eventually,’ predict voters, who clearly see a looming terrorist threat churning in the cauldron that is Afghanistan,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.

The poll which was conducted Sep. 10-13 also reported that 54 percent of Americans say they approve of Biden’s decision to withdraw service members from Afghanistan, compared with 41 percent who disapprove.

Biden has been harshly criticized for the withdrawal, which saw the swift takeover of Kabul by the Taliban and a suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members.

Sixty-nine percent of Americans polled said military withdrawal from Afghanistan was the right move while 24 percent say it wasn’t. Sixty-five percent scored the way Biden handled the withdrawal negatively. Thirty-one percent, meanwhile, scored it positively.

The poll also revealed that 50% disapprove of the way Biden is handling his job as president, with 42% approving. Also, 48% approve of Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 response, but the majority still lies with the 49% who disapprove.

Biden received negative scores on his handling of foreign policy (59-34 percent), the economy (42-52 percent) and climate change (45-42 percent)

“If there ever was a honeymoon for President Biden, it is clearly over. This is, with few exceptions, a poll full of troubling negatives…from overall job approval to foreign policy, to the economy,” said Malloy.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez has had just about enough and has threatened to subpoena top Biden administration officials over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Menendez made a statement promising accountability. Menendez made it clear that he would subpoena Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other Biden officials who declined to voluntarily appear before the panel.

“Mr. Secretary, the execution of the U.S. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed,” Menendez told Blinken.

Menendez stated that multiple administrations “lied” about the stability of the Afghan government, then added that Austin’s refusal to testify “will affect my personal judgment on Department of Defense nominees.”

Menendez said, “We know now that the Taliban had no intention of pursuing a political path and peace deal with the Afghan government.”

“The administration says that we should judge the Taliban by their actions, and I agree,” Menendez said, “and their actions since taking over Afghanistan have been pretty horrifying – beating women activist, murdering ethnic and religious minorities such as the Hazara, separating classrooms by gender, shutting down local media, refusal to break with al-/Qaida, appointing the head of a foreign terrorist organization…to lead the ministry of interior, and the list goes on.”

Blinken testified that the Biden administration started planning in the spring and summer for a “worst-case scenario” in Afghanistan, and preparation had been made for evacuating the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in 48 hours and for establishing control of the airport there.

Blinken refused to present the committee with a copy of a July 13 State Department dissent cable that warned of the immediate fall of the Afghan government after the U.S. withdrawal.

“Such messages are only to be shared with senior officials in the department,” Blinken said.

Blinken said that the State Department is “still tabulating” the number of Special Immigrant Visa applicants that are still stranded in Afghanistan. He added the agency had increased resources this spring to reduce backlogs in the program.

Blinken had testified virtually for more than five hours on Monday before the House Armed Services Committee. Republican members of the committee called on him to resign after the disastrous withdrawal.

“We inherited a deadline. We did not inherit a plan” said Blinken, continually blaming former President Donald Trump for the epic fail.

Blinken insisted the evacuation effort was “extraordinary” despite the fact that about 100 U.S. citizens and an estimated “thousands” of green card holders are still stranded in Afghanistan.