Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

AFGHANISTAN

Chaos rules despite what President Biden said in his Friday speech. In it he made promises to try to rescue Americans still in Afghanistan, but also said “I cannot promise what the outcome will be.” Biden said not that he has, but that he “will” authorize every resource to help where needed to evacuate Americans. The story on the ground in country is very different from what the Administration in Washington is reporting to the American people. A Washington Post reporter in Afghanistan, Susannah George, confirmed that Taliban fighters were beating men, women, and children attempting to flee the country. Some, according to George, were struck with rifle butts. Others were called traitors and harassed physically. Some were killed. She wrote in a Washington Post article Friday that “…there was no system to get people safely inside the airport.” There also are reports of Afghan children being crushed by the rush of people at the airport. According to The Hill, “Adding to the mayhem is mixed messaging from the State Department, which is urging Americans and those with travel documents to head to the Hamid Karzai International Airport ‘as soon as possible’ even though the U.S. Embassy alerted people that it could not guarantee safe passage.” On Friday the US military had to temporarily stop evacuations after the overflow of evacuees passed the capacity of the air base in Qatar to accept them. Apparently, the Biden Administration did not plan this well.

The situation on the ground is extremely dangerous in Afghanistan. According to Reuters and other news organizations this week, the Taliban have seized dozens of aircraft and thousands of weapons, as well as pieces of US provided high-tech equipment including night -vision goggles, unmanned aerial vehicles, M-16 rifles, US Humvees, Super Tucano attack aircraft, and Black Hawk combat helicopters. One report out of Washington stated that the Taliban was now better equipped than Great Britain’s military.

RUSSIA

The State Department announced this week it is imposing new sanctions on the Russia Federation as punishment for its role in the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny, the opposition leader who was sickened by a “Novichok” nerve agent in the August 2020. New sanctions imposed today under the CBW Act include restrictions on the permanent imports of certain Russian firearms and new and pending permit applications for the permanent importation of firearms and ammunition manufactured or located in Russia will be subject to a policy of denial. The Department also said there will be additional Department of Commerce export restrictions on nuclear and missile-related goods and technology pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act of 2018.

NATO

Whatever she taught her children was to point them towards God. viagra tab It contains herbs and natural compounds such as L-arginine are also used by many people. viagra brand online https://regencygrandenursing.com/invisible/materials-form Working With a levitra purchase Foot Health Expert If you have been searching for the answer on “how to stop premature ejaculation naturally”, you must first understand the root cause of the disorder which can be physical as well as mental benefits are easier than one can think of in a state of depression. It can be caused due to variety of factors ranging from stress to diabetes mellitus. regencygrandenursing.com india viagra generic

In a joint statement by the NATO foreign ministers on Afghanistan, they expressed deep concerns about reports of serious human rights violations and abuses across Afghanistan. “Our immediate task,” it stated, “is now to meet our commitments to continue the safe evacuation of our citizens, partner country nationals, and at-risk Afghans, in particular those who have assisted our efforts… As long as evacuation operations continue, we will maintain our close operational coordination through Allied military means at Hamid Karzai International Airport.”

TAIWAN

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is refuting Chinese government claims this week that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan indicates the United States is an unreliable partner and that it marks weakened support for Taiwan. “When it comes to Taiwan, it is a fundamentally different question, in a different context,” noted Sullivan on Tuesday.

CUBAThe United States has imposed additional sanctions on Cuban military and security leaders in response to the Cuban regime’s continued violent suppression of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in the days and weeks following the protests on and after July 11, according to a State Department announcement issued August 19.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay