Abandoned by Biden, the Philippines surrenders Sabina Shoal. The Shoal is well within Manila's exclusive economic zone but the Chinese have the initiative.
from Friday...
Biden dithers, weakly, on long range weapons for Ukraine. The president cannot get to "yes" on Ukraine's request to be able to use UK missiles inside Russia.
Germany and Spain exemplify EU's foreign policy crisis on China and Russia. The two countries are bowing to easy choices in their own national favor against EU economic-security needs.
Dancing to Putin's WW3 waltz, Trump trades for weakness for strength. The U.S. should not be bowing to Putin's nuclear rhetoric.
New U.K. government already looks a questionable ally. Keir Starmer is flirting with China and suspending arms supplies to Israel.
U.S. police had guns at Paris Olympics, just not those protecting Team USA. The Diplomatic Security Service failed to secure authorization for its agents to carry their firearms.
Decoding Vladimir Putin's U.S. election mind games. The Russian president wants Trump to win but also revels in playing psychological games.
Is the U.S.-EU relationship salvageable? These long-term allies have increasing policy divergences on critical matters
The U.S. should sanction Western enablers of China's repression in Hong Kong. The latest conviction of journalists is another step toward Beijing's elimination of freedom there.
No, Taiwan isn't spending enough on defense. If Poland, with an economy the same size as that of Taiwan, can spend 4.1% of GDP on defense, Taiwan must spend more than 2.5% of GDP on defense.
U.S. must resist China's aggression toward the Philippines. The situation in the South China Sea is increasingly intolerable for the treaty defense ally and U.S. alliance credibility.
From last week
House Republicans challenged Biden on Havana Syndrome. Congress deserves credit for getting after this concern.
Examining China's multipronged threat. A panel discussion in Denver.
No, the U.S. didn't leak Mossad agent names to Iran. The accusation was made by an unreliable Kuwaiti newspaper then absurdly amplified on social media.
Why Iran (and likely China) are for Harris, and Russia and North Korea are for Trump. Different adversaries have varied expectations of what the next president might bring.
Top U.K. judge betrays Hong Kong for China's gold. David Neuberger is a former U.K. supreme court judge who has sold out the principles of the democratic rule of law.
European crackdown on free speech deserves American derision. The European Union and United Kingdom are taking extreme liberties with their threats to U.S. citizens.
China carrier deployment underlines U.S. Navy overstretch. The Chinese rule the waves in the West Pacific this week.
Expect the White House to criticize Ukraine's impressive offensive into Russia. The Biden Administration is too deferential to Russian escalation narratives.
British Army chief outlines new strategy to fight Russia. The general is sacrificing mass for reconnaissance maneuver.
What's behind Ukraine's incursion into Russia? The limited offensive into Kursk seems designed to create friction, dilute Putin's authority, and to boost Ukrainian morale.
What's going on with the English riots? White working-class frustration over the economy and immigration has bled out into violent thuggery.
Thank the CIA director not Vice President Harris for the Russian prisoner swap agreement. There is an unserious effort to portray Harris as instrumental to the agreement.
Evan Gershkovich swap carries a dangerous FSB cost. Vladimir Putin has learned that even his Western-target assassins are on the prospective table for release.
Biden deserves credit for Russia prisoner swap but... we shouldn't forget that it was Biden's misguided trade of Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout which precipitated Evan Gershkovich's detention.
The FTC should investigate DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats. The food delivery services area failing to provide recourse to customers who don't receive what they paid for.
Israel's clever strategy in strike on Lebanese Hezbollah leader. The Israelis targeted an individual wanted by the U.S. for the Marine barracks bombing. This complicates the White House's prospective criticism of Israel.
A lesson in overmatching Russia over the Black Sea. The British air force are showing how to deal with Russian intimidation tactics.
Endorsing Venezuela election theft, China proves the lie of "win-win" cooperation. Maduro plainly stole the election, Beijing cares not one iota. Indeed, it is happy.
From Friday...
The messages behind Sino-Russian strategic bomber exercises. The Chinese and Russians want the U.S. to fear that a new alliance might face it in any future war.
DC's 911 call center remains broken. Mayor Bowser is responsible.
Washington, DC Police response times are too slow. Crimes in progress are not receiving due attention.
Does China's airfield strike training suggest a Pearl Harbor-style attack possibility? The PLA are training to take out America's most advanced jets on the tarmac.
Snubbing Netanyahu's address, Kamala Harris shows a weird partisanship. The Israeli prime minister is a poor American ally but U.S.-Israeli interests require dialogue.
The science problem with "Nope- It's never aliens." A new Scientific American piece takes a rather one-sided look at the UFO subject.
The Secret Service director had to go. Kimberly Cheatle's position was rightly untenable.
Does the Secret Service need to protect 36 people? The demands on Secret Service resources are significant. But protection should only be provided to those who actually need it.
Central Command's Kurilla, unlike predecessor, speaks truth to power. The general has made clear to his political masters that their counter-Houthi strategy is failing.
Foreign governments will fear even higher stress Secret Service visits. The agency is always uncomfortable with foreign visits. But the recent Trump assassination attempt will only increase this stress quotient.
Biden ends reelection campaign, doing the right thing for the nation. The president's decision is the right one but it should have come sooner.
Trump's Iron Dome boondoggle won't make America safer. The costs and capability potential of this proposal are not supportive of the national interest.
Germany aside, Europea attempts to build bridges with Trump. Most European powers want to establish at least a functional relationship with Trump. Apparently not Germany.
The U.S. should threaten Europe over X/tech extortion. The EU Competition Commissioner is waging a blatantly protectionist/extortionist war on U.S. tech firms. It should not be allowed to stand.
Fighting for her job: Secret Service director’s record faces growing scrutiny. Kimberly Cheatle has pursued various DEI initiatives that some say have weakened the Service.
Trump assassination attempt: Secret Service critiques vary between the justified and the ignorant. The agency should be judged fairly but only by those who understand basic elements of close protection.
Europe can't Trump-proof NATO on the cheap. European allies must spend more on defense to ensure the alliance retains Trump's support. This is a simple, justifiable requirement.
Russia gives China another lesson on how to hunt U.S. submarines. The Russian navy have far more experience than the PLA in this regard.
Trump shows courage and Secret Service skill amid Trump campaign rally attack. The former president was not seriously injured.
Congress must summon AT&T CEO John Stankey over catastrophic data leak. The telecommunications firm is showing a lack of seriousness over its security incompetence.
Trump honors most pro-China leader, Hungary’s Orban, at Mar-a-Lago. The idea that Orban is anything other than a human carpet for Communist China is laughable.
Germany gives Russia an assassination plot pass. Scholz has failed to respond with any serious resolution to a Russian plot to murder one of Germany's top businessmen.
NATO headquarters needs relocating to Warsaw, Poland. The alliance needs to look east and toward allies that care about burden sharing.
The problems with the NATO defense spending happy talk. 19 allies are spending less than or just slightly more than the 2%-of-GDP minimum defense spending target.
Biden rallies support for Ukraine and rightly salutes Jens Stoltenberg. The president broadly did a good job at the NATO leaders summit on Tuesday.
Biden commits to a Praetorian presidency. By pledging to serve out a full second term, Biden has essentially pledged that unelected advisors will hold executive power.
Rishi Sunak offers Biden and Trump an example of political civility. The former UK prime minister made an impressive speech in Parliament on Tuesday.
The politics behind Putin's missile strike on a Ukrainian children's hospital. The Russian leader is likely playing to his nationalist base and also sending a message to NATO. But he risks aggravating Xi.
Biden's self-destructive Morning Joe interview. The president continues to show his mental frailty.
Who is Keir Starmer and what will the UK's new prime minister mean for the special relationship? The Labour Party leader is unlikely to produce major changes to the relationship. But China policy will bear attention.
Will the West do anything about China sending combat drones to Russia? If the U.S. won't admit this crosses a lethal aid red line, Europe surely isn't going to do anything.
Restoring America's military industrial base. The threat posed by China demands urgent action to ensure the U.S. can build more ships, submarines and missiles asap.
China tests Biden with Taiwan-Philippines piracy. The Chinese are escalating their seizure efforts against Taiwanese and Filipino vessels.
Biden's debate excuses: jet lag? advisers? a cold? What's next, Aliens? The president has utterly failed to take responsibility for his disastrous debate performance.
Secret Service professionalism underlined by absent Biden leaks. Members of the protective agency have surely witnessed concerning lapses by the president. That they haven't leaked is a tribute to their professionalism.
For the Bidens, the buck stops anywhere but with Joe Biden. The First Family's incapacity for introspection and holier than thou rhetoric is tedious.
How the U.S. should respond to Lebanon war risks. The key is to protect U.S. citizens and interests.
Delta Force asks candidates whether they would follow an order to assassinate a political opponent. You're not getting into the unit if you answer in the affirmative.
from Saturday
Will Russia attempt to exploit American fears over Biden's age/senility? It is likely a tempting prospect for Vladimir Putin.
What international media are saying about the Biden-Trump debate. The near universal perspective is that Biden is very obviously frail and that Democratic panic is justified.
In the battel between Biden the ghost and Trump the narcissist, the ghost lost. Biden's obvious frailty and senility will take paramount concern in voter minds.
Xi signals Taiwan ambitions with public defenestration of former PLA officials. The public listing of charges against Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu is striking.
CNN's incomprehensible decision to block the pool reporter from the presidential debate. The decision is contrary to the public interest and ammunition for Trump's narratives.
SXSW badly misses the mark with Army repudiation. The music-tech festival organizer has made a poor decision in banning the Army from sponsoring its 2025 event.
from Wednesday...
On Russia's growing suggestion it might shoot down a U.S. drone over the Black Sea. Russian officials are giving increasing indications of this rising threat.
China set to assume EU presidency via its Hungarian puppet. Viktor Orban's government is a servant of Beijing.
Russia's escalation theatrics are designed to manipulate Americans. Putin wants Americans to back off from supporting Ukraine in fear of what will happen if they don't.
Why Russia has invented a Ukrainian dirty bomb plot. It's just part of the growing effort to stoke Western fears of direct escalation.
What the Russia-North Korea security agreement actually means. It is not a treaty defense accord. It's an effort to secure greater North Korean aid for Putin's Ukraine war.
Prince George's County Police department show DC how to deal with carjackers. I was a witness to a successful pursuit and arrest of armed carjackers on Wednesday.
Urgent border terrorist threat underlined by Tajik arrests. Responding to an FBI tip off, ICE has arrested six Tajiks suspected of possible ISIS-K membership.
China's self-defeating Dutch gun barrel diplomacy. China wants ASML exports but it also wants to harass Dutch warships in international waters. The two don't gel well.
Viktor Orban's nationalist sovereignty jelly. The Hungarian leader does not care about sovereignty nearly as much as he pretends.
The visit of a Russian submarine to Cuba is far more of a U.S. opportunity than a prospective threat. The intelligence collection potential related to this visit is significant.
Hong Kong calls on primary schools to report anti-Communist Party attitudes and behavior. The guidance issued on Monday is just the latest evidence for the death of Hong Kong's democracy.
