Monthly Archives: September 2023

The United Kingdoms parliament has been shaken byallegations that two of its staff were Chinese spies. The scandal illustrates that Western democracies are ill-prepared for Communist Chinas intelligence gathering and political interference operations.

TheTimes, which first broke the story last week,identified one of the alleged Chinese spies as Chris Cash, a 28-year-old British citizen. According to TheTimes, Cash was a history major who had studied and worked in China. Cash was recruited as a sleeper agent during his stay in China, tasked with infiltrating the U.K.s political networks critical of the Beijing regime.

Cash seemed to have succeeded in his mission.Alicia Kearns,chairwoman of parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, hired Cash as a researcher. Although he had no security clearance, Cash accessed almost everywhere in Westminster as an employee. He worked for the China Research Group, an internal think tank co-founded by conservative members of parliament (MP) Tom Tugendhat and Neil OBrien in 2020. Members of the think tank are mostly conservative MPs with hawkish views on China and its ruling Communist Party (CCP).

Cash wasreportedlyan outgoing individual and often a fixture at Westminsters social scenes, rubbing elbows with MPs, activists, Chinese dissidents, and journalists covering China. Cash also participated in China-related policy discussions. Early this year, Cashaccompanieda conservative MP to meet with Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart to discuss proposed amendments to the Procurement Bill.

The bill was designed to strengthen U.K. policy toward China, including the ability to exclude companies posing national security risks from bidding on government contracts. It is unclear if Cash tried to water down the bill in any way. But it seems Cash might have caused harm in other ways.

An MP sanctioned by Beijing,Luke de Pulford, tweeted about Cashs duplicity: Worth noting: this is a man who consistently briefed against @ipacglobal and its members, and who I believe subverted free parliamentary debate by downplaying the behaviour of the CCP. He worked to divide the movement a typical CCP tactic and he had success.

In March, Cash and another staff member in his 30s were arrested under the Official Secrets Act and were released on bail until October. Only senior leaders of the parliament were aware of these arrests. Other MPs and the general public didnt find out until last week, when The Times reported it.

Cash maintains that he is completely innocent. People who came in touch with Cash in the past are upset and demanding to know why parliamentary leadership kept something so egregious to themselves.

China critics are anxious about how much of the information they shared with Cash was reported back to Beijing and if their safety is now compromised. Some Hong Kong dissidents are concerned whether Cash shared their whereabouts with Beijing. Even if the spy allegation is false, Beijing has succeeded in its mission to sow distrust and division within the U.K. legislature.

The spy incident was exposed the same week British media revealed that the nations spy agency, MI5,warnedthe Conservative Party to keep two individuals off its candidate lists in 2021 and 2022 due to their alleged links to ChinasUnited Front Work Department, a CCP outfit responsible for spreading propaganda and conducting covert and overt interference operations overseas. In 2022, MI5 also issued a rare security alert against Christine Lee, a U.K. lawyer who was linked to the United Front and allegedly involved in political interference activities in Britain on behalf of China.

Despite its spy agencys warnings, the measures the U.K. government has taken to address the security threat posed by China are completely inadequate, according to a parliamentaryreport released in July. The report accused the CCP of using its size, ambition, and capability to successfully penetrate every sector of the U.K.s economy, and Chinese recruitment schemes have tried to headhunt British and allied nationals in key positions and with sensitive knowledge and experience.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunaksaid he was appalled by the espionage scandal. Yet he refuses to name China as a threat and has no plan to change his engagement with Beijing because he believes that confronting China too much will hurt his nations economy and discourage China from cooperating on tackling climate change.

The United Kingdom is far from the only democracy exposed to the CCPs subversion activities and interference operations. In Australia, an investigation uncovered a network of China-linked donors and companies that contributed more than $5.5 millionto Australian Liberal and Labor parties between 2013 and 2015, aiming to influence Australias foreign policy by favoring Beijings positions.

One of the nations promising politicians, Senator Sam Dastyari, resigned from parliament in 2017 after he wasreportedly under the political influence of a China-born businessman who is linked to the United Front. The Australian parliament passed an anti-foreign interference law in 2018 to address Chinas overseas political interference activities. But former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull complained the law wasnt rigorously enforced, even in 2023.

Last year, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)warnedits government that Beijing is the foremost perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada. CCP operatives have employed incentives and punishment as part of their overseas operations, directly targeting Canadian legislators, business executives, and Chinese immigrants in the nation.

This spring, Canadaexpelleda Chinese diplomat, accusing him of seeking to intimidate an MP who is an outspoken critic of China by going after the MPs relatives in Hong Kong and mainland China. Under public pressure, Prime Minister Justin Trudeauorderedan independent investigation to help identify and combat foreign interference in Canadas elections and its democracy.

The United States has also encountered Chinese espionage and political interference. A suspected Chinese spy reportedlydeveloped extensive ties with local and national politicians in the United States, including Homeland Security Ranking Member Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., before she escaped to China. Early this year, aChinese spy balloonflew across the continental United States for weeks, passing sensitive military sites, before the U.S. military shot it down.

Last month, two U.S. Navy sailorswere arrestedfor passing intelligence to China. Of course, the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden hasrevealed that Chinese businessmen sent him millions of dollars, seeking to buy influence over his father, President Joe Biden.

All these incidents reveal two disturbing trends. First, the CCP has stepped up its spying and political interference, and its goals have expanded from gathering intelligence and suppressing overseas dissent to directly meddling in democratic processes. The CCP wont be deterred by any arrest or publicity because it believes every revelation will spread distrust and confusion in a democratic society, to the partys advantage.

Second, Western democracies are ill-prepared for Chinas threat to their political systems, mainly because some leaders are concerned that hawkish policies would jeopardize their countries economic ties with China. Above all, they believe climate change is the biggest threat to humanity and desperately seek Chinas assistance to solve the climate crisis.

These leaders misplaced priorities, wrong-headed policies, and unwillingness to confront China have given the CCP ample opportunities to weaken the democratic systems of their countries. We can only hope voters will wake up to the CCPs threat and hold their leaders accountable.

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While Western Leaders Look Away, China's Spies Are Everywhere - The Federalist

Last week, a middle school teacher in Texas was fired for assigning the graphic adaptation of Anne Franks diary. Judging from most headlines, this seems to be an instance of intolerant and anti-intellectual parents targeting a teacher for trying to engage her class with a text that denounces hate.

Newsweeks title was typical, Anne Frank Book Gets Teacher Fired, placing the blame on the book rather than the teacher, and purposely de-contextualizing the issue so that its about the presence of this book, not what was done with it. Understandably, Randi Weingarten, the infamous president of the American Federation of Teachers union, tweeted to her 124,000 followers about the incident to complain about a wrongful termination but had all the details wrong.

All this is to say that theres more to this story that deserves further examination.

Ill admit, as an English teacher myself, I sympathized with this woman at first, thinking she mustve been caught in the crosshairs of some vindictive parents or administrators who disagreed with her politics or lifestyle. Ive witnessed this and can attest the attacks can be from both sides, and it gets ugly.

However, once I made it past the headline, it became apparent why this teacher was removed from the classroom. First, the book wasnt included in the classs approved curriculum. Second, the book included sexually explicit content that was wildly inappropriate for a middle school English class.

At best, the teacher was incompetent and thought using this book would help her struggling readers understand Anne Franks story, not thinking about the material in it. At worst, the teacher knew what was in the book, thought it would be good for her students, and wanted to rebel against prescribed standards by going off-script.

For most people, all this might be confusing. After all, how can Anne Franks diary be inappropriate when so many millions of students read the book and missed these salacious descriptions? This is because the original version published in 1947, which most people have read, doesnt include Franks descriptions of puberty, genitalia, and lesbian desires, which were in the original diary. For whatever reason, the graphic novel version published in 2017 includes these missing portions, as the Daily Mails writeup on this story shows.

That said, this doesnt make it a bad book. Puberty and sexual desires are normal aspects of young adulthood, and many adolescent readers may take solace in the fact that Frank felt the same things some of them do.

But this kind of content does make it a bad book for whole-class reading in a middle school English class. In this context, the teacher is effectively acting as an authority on sensitive topics, taking it upon herself to introduce, explain, and evaluate what Frank is talking about.

Instead of students encountering these subjects when theyre ready, they are forced to adopt and apply their teachers interpretation. Otherwise, they may be punished or suffer a bad grade.

Naturally, this makes for an extremely uncomfortable classroom environment. In addition to assigning the graphic novel to her classes, this teacher was making her students read these parts aloud, which is extremely questionable. Why would she ask 13-year-old boys and girls to read lines about how Frank feels about menstruating or how she wants to grope her friend? Either she gets a perverted thrill from this, or she wants to somehow de-stigmatize or normalize this subject matter for her young students two things most people would consider sexual grooming.

As a teacher, I also question the instructional merits of assigning a graphic novel as whole-class reading. Most middle schoolers desperately need to practice reading texts, building their vocabulary, logic, and imagination to better comprehend complex ideas in written form. And as much as I love graphic novels as a narrative art form Scott McClouds classic book, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, is still a favorite of mine their reliance on visual representation makes them unsuitable for teaching reading.

Seeing illustrations of Frank with accompanying word bubbles and narration is altogether different from reading her words and putting them together in ones mind. The content might be similar, but the skills involved are not, and this matters if students are going to be tested on those skills at the end of the year.

Overall, far from condemning the administrators and parents as bullies and book banners, we can say that they did the right thing in dismissing a teacher who crossed more than a few lines. Not only did she neglect to teach age-appropriate content to her classes, but she corrupted her students, doing untold damage to their mental and emotional health.

For the time being, a long-term sub has replaced her while the district looks for someone to fill the vacancy. Its unlikely the students will learn much in the meantime, but at least they wont be subjected to further harm.

Hopefully, educators can learn from this story and remember what they were hired to do. Our job is to teach kids knowledge and skills (i.e., how to think), not opinions and values (i.e., what to think), and certainly not how to become activists (i.e., not to think). This might mean reading the PG version of Frank and avoiding various hot topics that come up in class discussions. Thats fine.

The kids will grow into adults and think about these things when theyre ready. We just need to make sure they actually do grow into adults and learn how to think in the first place.

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Teacher Who Assigned An Anne Frank Book Deserved To Be Fired - The Federalist

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on a series of military nominations on Wednesday, all but admitting hes had the power to do so in spite of his attacks against Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville over the latters protest of the Pentagons abortion policy.

For months, Schumer and Democrats have attacked Tuberville for using his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee to slow-walk military personnel moves requiring Senate confirmation. Tuberville did this to protestthe Pentagons use of taxpayer money to cover service members abortion-related travel expenses.

Despitepossessing the power to bring these nominations to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Schumer has spent months attacking Tuberville and pushingbaseless claims the Republican senators protest is putting American security in jeopardy. Schumers filing on the nominations of Air Force Gen.Charles Q. Brown, Marine Corps Gen.Eric Smith, and Army Gen.Randy George, however, is a tacit admission by the Senate majority leader that hes had the ability to bypass Tubervilles protest all along.

According to The Daily Caller, the cloture motions would, if approved by at least 60 senators, limit debate on the nominations to 18 hours and lead to a final confirmation vote.

The motion on Browns nomination was approved by the Senate by an 89-8 vote Wednesday evening.

Instead of voting, Democrats have spent months complaining about having to vote, Tuberville said during a speech on the Senate floor. Sen. Schumer could have confirmed these nominees a long, long time ago. I didnt come [to Congress] just to outsource my job to the Pentagon or the White House. Yet, thats exactly what Democrats want to do.

This is a win for the legislative branch of government, he added.

[RELATED: Dont Ask Tommy Tuberville Why The Senates Not Voting On Military Nominations. Ask Chuck Schumer]

Schumer has hardly acted alone in his attacks on Tuberville. In recent months, high-ranking military officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have repeated the baseless accusation that the Alabama senators protest was harming military readiness and jeopardized national security. Of course, none of these officials ever called on the Pentagon to abandon its policy of forcing U.S. taxpayers to subsidize the murder of unborn children. Nor did they voice concerns about military readiness when the military fired over 8,400 U.S. service members for choosing not to receive the Covid jab.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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Schumer's Cave On Military Nominations Is A Win For Tuberville - The Federalist

Now that one of the 2 million Democrat prosecutors chasing Donald Trump has filed a court motion to make it illegal for him to talk about the election, is it okay to laugh anytime Joe Biden frames 2024 as a referendum on democracy?

Monday night would have been a good time to exercise that rule. Speaking at a fundraising event on Broadway, the president told FOLKS! in attendance that hes running for reelection because democracy is at stake and on the ballot once again.

Its gotten so corny, and yet if there werent pollsters, consultants, and all of the media telling every Democrat in the country that its a line that works for their voters, he wouldnt be saying it.

Yet, its Democrats who come up with a new way to shut down the few remaining options and avenues the American public has to express their opinions and choices on virtually everything. They do it on the daily. Just last week, Special Counsel Jack Smith requested that a federal judge in Washington, D.C., place a gag order that would prevent Trump from disparaging Smiths Jan. 6-related case against him, even in political terms.

[T]he defendant has repeatedly and widely disseminated public statements attacking the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses, Smith wrote in the filing. Through his statements, the defendant threatens to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool

He asserted that Trump has a history of inflammatory and misleading statements that would cause others to harass and harm perceived critics or adversaries. One of those supposedly dangerous statements was a social media post wherein Trump said, Joe Biden directed his Attorney General to prosecute his rival. This is not an independent Justice Department, this is not an independent special counsel. This is being directed by the Commander-in-Chief.

Smith said that remark was made without any basis, even as none other than the New York Times wrote in April last year for its millions of readers does Jack Smith have a subscription? that Biden has told his associates he wants indictments against his predecessor and that he wanted his attorney general to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6.

It wouldnt be until seven months later that Trump would launch his own reelection campaign, but everyone knew he was going to do it, and everyone knew that when he did, he would instantly become the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Thats the context dismissed by Jack Smith as without any basis.

The motion comes just a month after the judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, has already sided with Smith on a similar motion regarding inflammatory statements. She said there were limits to what Trump could say whether it will affect a political campaign on either side. In essence: Even if Trumps campaign is partly or wholly about the case against him, he cant talk about it.

When Democrats arent limiting what Trump can talk about in a national election, theyre trying to get his name removed from state ballots. When theyre not doing that, theyre suppressing what their dissenters can say on the Internet. When theyre not doing that, theyre trying to shrink the Internet by icing out would-be customers from renting space.

If you dont agree with Democrats on anything, what are you supposed to do? Where are you supposed to go?

Democracy really is at stake. Biden and his party are working to eliminate it as an option altogether.

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Biden Claims 'Democracy Is At Stake' While Preventing Democracy - The Federalist

US military asks the public for help finding its missing F-35 fighter jet after its pilot had to eject while training over South Carolina.

While the above Insider headline may sound like a comedic piece straight from the pages of The Babylon Bee, its not. The U.S. military actually publicly claimed it had lost a multi-million-dollar fighter jet.

The loss occurred Sunday following an alleged mishap that required the aircrafts pilot to eject. The F-35 purportedly kept on flying. It wasnt until Monday evening a day after Joint Base Charleston requested the publics assistance in finding the missing jet that military officials announced they had discovered a debris field about two hours northeast of the base.

The debacle has since prompted the Marine Corps acting commandant, Eric Smith, to issue a two-day stand-down order for all military aviation units both inside and outside of the United States.

This episode raises so many questions. For one, how does the U.S. military the supposed best and most advanced fighting force on the planet lose a highly-valued asset, especially over U.S. soil?

Why are military bases such as Joint Base Charleston acting as landing pads for commercial planes transporting members of the Peoples Republic of China the very government trying to topple the United States as the worlds hegemon?

While its improbable any of these questions will actually be answered to the publics satisfaction, the likely answers probably wouldnt reverse Americans waning confidence in the ability of U.S. military leadership to defend the American homeland. Nor should they.

This weeks fighter jet fiasco is just one example of many showcasing a U.S. military in severe institutional decline. Instead of focusing on how to win wars which should be the sole purpose of any military top Pentagon brass have since at least the Clinton administration treated the service as one giant, left-wing social experiment.

Through its adoption and outright promotion of neo-Marxist ideologies including DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), the military has sacrificed efficiency, ruthlessness, and strength for LGBT celebrations, racial politics, and climate alarmism. A look into the backgrounds of President Bidens many military nominees shows the primary focus of the Pentagons leading figures isnt defeating communist China or protecting Americans from other international threats, its crafting a diverse and inclusive social club where leftist lunacy is treated as gospel and conservative wrongthink as extreme.

Look no further than the Pentagons abortion policy, which violates U.S. law in using taxpayer money to pay for female military members travel expenses to kill their unborn child. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Democrats have baselessly claimed for months that Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubervilles slow-walking of Bidens military nominees in protest of the policy harms military readiness.

If thats true, then why hasnt the Pentagon dropped its policy? If readiness is such a major concern, why did the military fire thousands of service members who chose not to get an experimental shot? And why isnt Democrat Chuck Schumer using his power as Senate majority leader to approve Bidens supposedly important nominees?

The reason, as tacitly admitted by the heads of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, is that taxpayer-funded abortions are a sacrament of the leftist religion so must be preserved at all costs. Coupled with decades of failed military adventurism and nation-building like that conducted in Afghanistan, its no wonder the U.S. military is facing the worst recruiting crisis since shifting to an all-volunteer force in 1973.

The Marxist hijacking of Americas military isnt an accident; its an intentional act contributing to the lefts greater plan to re-invent society. For the left, the military is just another piece on the American chessboard to coopt. Its why the military so vigorously promotes Marxism and penalizes conservative beliefs: to dissuade the God and America-loving patriots who have largely staffed it for generations from joining or remaining in service.

As witnessed many times before, however, the leftist takeover of institutions has its costs. Only Americas rainbow military could cost our country its security and well-being.

For decades, the U.S. military has prevented widespread global conflict, deterring aggression from hostile actors and maintaining peace through strength. If the worlds leading aggressors no longer view America as the dominant military power, where does that leave us? If the U.S. gets dragged into a war with a rival power, can we be confident our rainbow fighting force can get the job done? The withdrawal from Afghanistan and growing quagmire in Ukraine atop the failed war in Iraq and our militarys distraction into identity politics dont bode well.

Much like the missing F-35, our nations military is lost with no sense of direction or purpose, and those faithfully committed to the American cause are forced to bail out. Let us hope and pray for new military leadership before its too late.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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America's 'Rainbow' Military Is On Track To Lose A Major War - The Federalist

Its not just Google that has negativelyaffectedconservatives through its online services orabusedits platforms to favor itself.Apple is another global tech behemoth that is exercising excessive and undue content moderation on its platform.

Without notice, Apple removed thousands of episodes of The Glenn Beck Program from Apple Podcasts on the morning of Aug. 16. Apple restored the popular show to its platform five hours later, blaming the removal on a trademark dispute. Host Glenn Beck said he received a notice from Apple about an issue with the show, but a link to more information contained therein simply informed him that Apple had removed his show.

This episode illustrates the harm that Apples monopoly is causing to a flourishing internet. From the excessive fees and gatekeeping of its App Store to its greed-fueled support of the totalitarian Chinese government, Apple has shown it is abusing its monopoly power, which runs counter to Americas best interests as well as a free and open internet.

When a consumer wants to download an app on his iPhone, there is only one shop in town the Apple App Store. App developers must also play by Apples exploitative rules if they want to sell their services on the App Store. Once a developer earns $1 million in revenue, it must fork over 30 percent in fees. X CEO Elon Musk correctly labeled this fee a 30% tax on the Internet.

Presumably, having exorbitant fees and complete control over access to the App Store would mean Apple is equipped to prevent abuse of its platform. In reality, Apples App Store is consistently in the news for the opposite.

Back in 2022, it was reported that cybersecurity researchers found TikTok bypassed certain security audits of its code run by Apples App Store. In 2019, cybersecurity company Trend Micro published a report showing it found hundreds of fake applications in the App Store, some ranking in the top 100, that could hide their true behavior during Apples review process. Even Pro-Big Tech outfit AEI had to cover the fact that the App Store was hosting Pure Spyware on the Chinese-built app My2022 for Olympic athletes, including useful hidden features like continuous voice monitoring.

A man named Kosta Eleftheriou single-handedly exposed Apples inability to properly police its App Store by identifying high-revenue scam apps that Apple had overlooked. In 2015, cybersecurity firms found malware in more than 300 apps due to an issue with Apples developer tools, causing personal information to leak from Chinese-developed apps. The notion that Apples App Store is an impenetrable walled garden where no malicious app can enter is a falsehood.

Apples faults go far beyond its App Store drama. In August 2021, it announced that photos stored in iCloud would be scanned for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While the pursuit of such a mission may be admirable, the obvious privacy implications caused such an outcry that Apple ultimately walked back the decision. The widespread concern about this tools misuse is well warranted given Apples subservience to the Chinese Communist Party.

In the wake of the Hong Kong protests, Apple rolled out an update to Chinese iPhones that would restrict the Everyone mode of AirDrop after 10 minutes, making it harder for Chinese dissidents to use one of the few uncensored communication mediums in China. During the zenith of the protests, Apple removed an app that allowed protesters to track the movements of police after an official CCP newspaper called out Apple for allowing it on the App Store. Apple lobbyists have also tried to prevent efforts to end forced labor in China, and CEO Tim Cook visited China multiple times to orchestrate a $275 billion investment deal that would help the company avoid CCP regulations.

Apples dominance of the smartphone and app store industry combined with its high fees, lack of oversight, and exclusionary practices is making the internet a worse place for both innovation and freedom. Apple has consistently proven itself to be driven by greed and a dangerous political agenda. To hear firsthand, just ask Beck, the protesters in Hong Kong, or those harmed by predatory apps allowed on the iOS App Store.

Apples monopolistic abuses should not dictate the freedoms of Americans online. Consumers deserve options in the application marketplace without sacrificing quality or bearing greater costs.

That is why Congress should pass vital legislation, such as the Open App Markets Act. This legislation would remove restrictions on consumers that stop them from downloading apps of their choice, while also preventing app stores from forcing their in-app payment systems on developers. Doing so would help to curb Big Tech interests and restore market balance for both consumers and competitors. Its time to unshackle the online space from Big Tech and restore a free and open internet for its users.

Caleb Larson is a cybersecurity researcher, policy analyst with the Internet Accountability Project, Heritage Foundation alum, and contributor at The Daily Caller, where he writes about cybersecurity-related issues facing the United States.

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Apple Will Curb Your Freedom 'Til Congress Crushes Its Monopoly - The Federalist

The going rate for an American hostage these days is around $1.3 billion. Thats what the Biden administration paid out for five Americans in a prisoner swap with the Islamic Republic of Iran this week. And with little overhead, its mostly profit for the mullahs.

But dont let the term prisoner swap insinuate any moral equivalence. These are not two normal countries trading spies or combatants. No, this is just an old-fashioned extortion.

The Iranians released political hostages, snatched off the streets of Tehran after unwisely returning to visit family or attending funerals or protests. Many of them were reportedly thrown into the notorious Evin prison for the crime of having dual citizenship. Some, like Siamak Namazi, were put in solitary confinement for over two years.

Conversely, the United States released a bunch of spies, most of them caught trying to send military and nuclear equipment back to Iran all of them given the benefit of due process.

The moral imperative to retrieve American citizens from these fascist regimes is admirable. Incentivizing more kidnappings is not. So, its one thing for the Biden administration to contend, we did what he had to do and quite another for them to celebrate as if they had just signed the Peace of Westphalia.

Yesterday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted out a triumphant picture of the Biden team and the released hostages, writing seven Americans on their way home from Iran alongside a world class group of American diplomats.

The fact that Iran, a far weaker state with little leverage, walks away with its spies and six billion in sanctioned cash in exchange for five innocent people does not strike me as a great diplomatic coup at least, not for the United States.

Mullahs, and others, feel quite comfortable taking American hostages, which speaks poorly of our world standing, and confoundingly of the Democrats soft touch with Iran. Hey, thats a nice military base you have there, it would be a shame if it ended up like the shredded corpse of Qasem Soleimani, is what the vile mullahs should be hearing. Instead, Democrats, gung ho to fight proxy wars against nuclear powers, will almost never utter a cross word that might offend the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Secretary of StateAntony Blinken, trying to manage the political fallout, contends that the United States is working every single day to take steps to make this practice [hostage taking] more and more difficult and more and more of a burden on those countries that engage in it. They say the same thing every time. And it is never true.

Hostage-taking has been a lucrative business for the Islamic Republic since its inception. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both signed off on a deal to transfer nearly $8 billion to the Ayatollah for American hostages. Reagan tried to do it again in 1986 with a convoluted scheme that was also intended to help Nicaraguan rebels, which became known as the Iran-Contra affair.

Barack Obamas midnight cash ransom payments not to mention other highly dubious and likely illegal giveaways to Iran was an even bigger scandal, though you would never have known from the coverage. Obama, obsessed with helping Iran become a Middle Eastern power, gave Iran virtually everything they wanted in nuclear talks. Guess what? Almost immediately, they began taking more American prisoners.

For a long time, U.S. policy was to never pay ransom for hostages taken by terror groups. The Justice Department objected to Obamas lavish cash payments to Iran because it ignored those existing guidelines. This is why Washington now uses diplomatic euphemisms like wrongfully detained rather than hostage. And the U.S. not only still considers Iran a state sponsor of terrorism but it has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the group that reportedly seized these very people we just liberated, a terror organization.

Which is also why the White House claims that under terms that provide confidence, the funds will be spent only on a limited category of humanitarian trade: food, medicine and agricultural products. Thats it.

Is it, though? There is absolutely no real way to ensure that the Islamofascists in Qatar, the nation brokering the deal, will hold their friends in Iran accountable, or that it even matters. Before all the funds were even transferred to Iranian accounts, President Ebrahim Raisi had told NBC News that his country would spend $6 billion wherever we need it. Of course, even if the mullahs bought only food, medicine and agricultural products with it, that specific money is, as everyone knows, fungible.

Iran boosters will tell you none of this matters because the ransom money is actually Irans to begin with funds held by South Korea due to American sanctions. Its not theirs, we took it. Nor should it ever be theirs. The Iranian government, companies, and officials still owe American citizens at least $53 billion in outstanding judgments. Legislation passed in 2015 granted $4.44 million to every American held hostage by Iran in 1981 $10,000 per day. Then there are the families and relatives of 9/11 victims, who also won tens of millions in judgments against Iran, which not only gave safe harbor to Sunni terror groups but also helped transit al-Qaeda members out of Afghanistan before 9/11, including some of the hijackers.

Maybe we needed to make this deal, maybe not. But giving a nation that attacks U.S. interests around the world, murders hundreds of our soldiers, takes hostages whenever it needs cash, and is at the center of every bloody conflict in the Middle East, another $6 billion is nothing to brag about.

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Paying Iranian Terrorists Ransom Is Nothing To Brag About - The Federalist