Secure Freedom Minute

The adage that “elections have consequences” certainly applies to the Middle East and America’s vital interests there following ours in 2020.Donald Trump bequeathed to Joe Biden a region as tranquil as it had ever been, with Israel prosperous, powerful, and secure, a growing number of Muslim nations making peace with the Jewish State and her enemies and ours – especially Iran and its terrorist proxies – in check.Today, the legacy of the third, pro-Iran Obama-Biden administration is appalling. Most of the Mideast is effectively at war with Israel. And her “cold peace” partner, Egypt, seems ready to pile on with Sharia-supremacist regimes and the jihadist organizations they support.Mr. Trump has warned that “all hell will break loose” if Hamas refuses to release its remaining Israeli hostages. The truth is, thanks in no small measure to Biden and Company, it already has.This is Frank Gaffney.

President Donald Trump’s meeting today with King Abdullah of Jordan has the potential to transform the Middle East. The host has rightly concluded that thanks to the war Hamas terrorists started fifteen months ago, Gaza is simply uninhabitable. If the visitor – who, like rulers across the region, professes a commitment to the Palestinian people – prioritizes alleviating their unsustainable circumstances by granting them at least temporary refugee status, a festering humanitarian disaster and a flashpoint for wider war can be eliminated.President Trump deserves great credit for refusing to do the easy thing, namely continue policies towards Gaza specifically and the Palestinians more generally that have demonstrably failed. His ultimatum giving Hamas until noon on Saturday to release all hostages and insistence that Gazans cease being effectively held hostage as well affords Abdullah an opportunity to be a catalyst for peace.Seize the day.This is Frank Gaffney.

The Chinese Communist Party remains in power today significantly thanks to the lies it tells its people and the rest of us. These include, for example, providing patently false information about its country’s economic growth, losses due to COVID-19, and military expenditures.Cooking the books was also a feature of Joe Biden’s presidency, a man some experts describe as “a controlled asset of the Chinese Communist Party.”For instance, Heritage Foundation labor statistics expert E.J. Antoni says, among numerous other falsehoods, the Biden administration systematically inflated – and subsequently lowered – the official monthly jobs growth data by an average of over 600,000 new hires.Thank God, American voters were not fooled by such outrageous betrayals of the public trust. Otherwise, we would likely be living here under a regime that practiced a lot of other CCP techniques, including outright repression, as well.This is Frank Gaffney.
 

History’s worst crime against humanity is taking place on our watch. Considerably more Christians than the entire population of the United States are being heavily persecuted worldwide simply because they follow Jesus.Even here, the Biden administration exhibited anti-Christian bias, a precursor to possible discrimination and, ultimately, persecution. Candidate Donald Trump pledged to protect Christians, notably in Armenia and Egypt. And yesterday, he issued an executive order to end bias against them as part of a larger effort to enforce the laws assuring “the freedom of Americans…to practice their faith in peace.”President Trump’s commitment to “end the anti-Christian weaponization of government…in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals and public squares” is both needed and welcome. Now, let us pray he’ll use his power to prevail on other governments – like those of China, Turkey, Nigeria, and India – to do the same.This is Frank Gaffney.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been closed down by the Trump team.Those who believe such aid can be an important tool for countering the immense influence operations of China, Qatar, and others working against our interests have always faced widespread public sentiment that our money would be better spent at home. Now, they must contend with growing evidence that USAID was a massive political slush fund for various radical leftist causes abroad and even here.Revelations that the agency, for example, underwrote a left-wing domestic media outlet, Politico, celebrities’ visits to support Ukraine’s president, “Woke” indoctrination, and feeding Hezbollah argue powerfully for a complete reboot.If assistance that can be an important foreign policy tool suffers enduring harm, the blame will rest squarely with those responsible for such abuses – like Biden’s “radical lunatic” former AID Director, Samantha Power.This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu's meeting yesterday may rank in historical, strategic importance alongside those of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in the early years of World War II and the collaborations of Ronald Reagan with Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II at the Cold War's zenith.In each case, "special relationships" were forged that empowered embattled leaders to stave off and defeat their times' "existential threats to freedom." The partnership on display during Tuesday's White House press availability, rooted in a shared commitment to victory over totalitarians seeking the destruction of both countries, can – and must – do the same in ours.Most immediately, President Trump's common sense declaration that Gaza has become uninhabitable sets the stage for the relocation of its populace and the first decisive loss contemporary Sharia supremacists have suffered in what is truly their "endless war" against Judeo-Christian civilization.This is Frank Gaffney.