Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

IRAQ

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, in a talk at the 40^th anniversary luncheon of Concerned women for America, announced that the US is providing $340 million to support Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities, including Christians. He pointed out: “When religious freedom is denied, a host of other freedoms are often denied alongside it. This is especially true for women and girls. We’ve seen this with the enslavement of Yazidi women by ISIS in the Middle East and with the assault and kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram.”

Today, 83% of the world in living in nations that threaten, restrict or totally deny religious freedom.

AFGHANISTAN

The President reiterated recently his goal was achieving peace in Afghanistan and bringing our troops home. According to the State Department Spokesperson, this remains the objective although it will not be easy. Protecting the homeland continues to remain at the center of discussions for the President’s entire security team. Secretary Pompeo on Monday said he hopes “we can get them back to the negotiating table; we hope we can get the Taliban to make a commitment to break from al-Qaida and to reduce violence in the country. If we can get those three commitments, we’ll reduce the need for America’s young men and women to put their lives at risk by going and serving in this faraway place.”

Secretary Pompeo, in a recent interview, pointed out that he believed that the President was absolutely right to cancel the talks as they are, and that this “is the direction that the President has given us for now.”

How we get there, he added, “obviously is going to diverge from how we thought we were going to get there two weeks ago.” Pompeo noted that the Administration will “work on a path forward in Afghanistan that continues to be inclusive of the Afghan Government, of women, of civil society, of all elements in Afghanistan.”

IRAN

The Iranian regime recently delivered oil to Syria, according to the State Department. That “fuel goes straight into the tanks of troops that are slaughtering innocent Syrians, and that’s something – again, the Iranians lied about this,” according to the State Spokesperson. She added that it should be no surprise as Iran also lied to the EU and the international community.

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The State Department has been calling out the Iranian regime for a while on oil deliveries. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified Adrian Darya as “blocked property” on August 30th and has filed a civil complaint against the vessel. The illicit oil again goes to the Assad regime. The Spokesperson said that: “…the thing that is incredibly troubling about that is we know exactly what the Assad regime is using that for. They’re using it to slaughter Syrians.

NORTH KOREA

The North Korean foreign ministry recently asked the United States for the new conditions of negotiations. The State Department Spokesperson said the Administration’s goal “has not changed and will not change for North Korea.” A denuclearized North Korea remains the end objective. The regime has continued to fire test missiles in an attempt to draw the US to the negotiating table on its terms without success.

TERRORISM

On Tuesday the President signed an Executive Order modernizing and expanding sanctions to combat terrorism. According to the State Department, this Executive Order – the most significant update of terrorism designation authorities since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks – enhances the United States’ ability to target and deprive terrorists and their enablers of financial, material, and logistical support worldwide.

The goal it to expand the government’s counterterrorism authorities to enable it to more effectively sanction the leaders of terrorist organizations, as well as those who participate in training to commit acts of terrorism. This Order also puts foreign financial institutions on notice that they risk sanctions if they knowingly conduct or facilitate any significant transactions on behalf of designated terrorists.

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