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Hillary's Run

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
Hillary Clinton launched her 2016 campaign for the White House  yesterday with a speech in Washington.  No, no, she didn't actually declare her candidacy.  But the fact that she coyly refuses to do so simply feeds what a once and future politician craves most - namely, public clamor for a presidential run.
The topic of her first speech since leaving the State Department signals trouble ahead, though.  It addressed women's rights around the world.  Yet, as Secretary of State, she helped enable the greatest setback for women in decades with the rise of Islamists across the Middle East and North Africa.
Hillary's role in that disaster for women, and the rest of us, and that of her Muslim Brotherhood-associated aide, Huma Abedin, will be fair game in her bid for the White House.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.

North Korean Restart

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
North Korea today declared that it will restart a mothballed reactor that once put it in the nuclear weapons business.  Its closure was supposed to be proof that Pyongyang was prepared to get out of that business - and it was handsomely rewarded by the West for doing so.
The reactor is obsolete and it will probably take time to restart.  The mere fact that North Korea is willing to try, however, is a reminder of the futility of seeking to buy better behavior from despotic regimes that delight in duping us - and being paid for it.
Needless to say, this ominous episode - and more likely to follow it - should put an end to President Obama's dangerous notion that the world will be rid of nuclear weapons, if only we continue to eliminate ours.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.

Marco's Test

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
Senator Marco Rubio is a rising star in Republican circles.  That's due, in part, to this first-generation American's unabashed love of this country and all that it has made possible for his Cuban immigrant parents and for their son.
Mr. Rubio's background prompted him to join seven other Senators from both parties in crafting so-called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" legislation.  They have done so in secret.  And the Senate's Democratic leadership seems determined to try to ram through whatever deal is conjured up by this "Gang of Eight" and to use Senator Rubio to deflect Republican criticism.
In an early test of his character and leadership, Marco Rubio has committed himself to an open process of debate and amendment.  He'll be pressed to abandon this sensible stance, and must not do so.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.

Pyongyang's Threat

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
North Korea says it is heightening the alert status of missiles aimed at allied assets in Asia.  The pretext for this latest threat is a U.S. show of force yesterday as two B-2 stealth aircraft dropped dummy bombs in South Korea.
The public in this country is being assured that the North Koreans do not have the means to attack us here at home.  Unfortunately, this is wrong and misleading.  Pyongyang may lack the capability to do so from its own territory, but it has large numbers of shorter-range missiles that could be brought by ship close to our shores.
The United States needs effective means of monitoring, detecting and countering such threats -- and protecting particularly our electrical grid against the electro-magnetic pulse attack they could inflict here.  And we need them now.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.

Kerry Recusal

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
Totalitarian regimes have long exploited the relatives of individuals they wish to coerce, intimidate or subvert.  Sometimes these relatives are taken prisoner, tortured or even killed.  Sometimes the threat of such actions is enough to extract the desired results.
For this reason, disclosure of foreign ties - familial or otherwise - is an essential part of the clearance process for access to classified information or U.S. government employment.  And, for this reason, it is very worrying to learn that the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, has an Iranian-American son-in-law with family members in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Kerry's judgment on Iran has been problematic even before this revelation.  Now, he must, at a minimum, recuse himself from matters involving Iran - which happens to be much of his portfolio at the moment.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.

Carrier-Killer

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.
From time to time, transformative military technologies emerge that can prove to be game-changers on the battlefield and beyond. In the past, for example, machine guns, tanks, and poison gas have inspired and enabled aggression.
Now, China is believed to have deployed a ballistic missile capable of destroying U.S. aircraft carriers at sea over great distances. When combined with other anti-ship and space-control weaponry, the Chinese may be able to neutralize the huge mobile airfields that have for decades enabled America to safeguard its interests and allies throughout the Pacific.
Loose talk about a "pivot" to Asia - made all the more unlikely by the so-called sequestration budget cuts - must not be allowed to obscure, let alone preclude, a national debate about the rising threat from China, and what to do about it.
This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.  Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.