The Daily Brief: Required Reading for the Citizens of the United States of America

The Government Shutdown Continues

I'd rather remain impartial; however, in times of gridlock their should be reverence and a default to the requests of the president- whatever party- as the president and vice president are the only two individuals elected popularly by our country as a whole. Gerrymandering has rigged the districts as they are and many regional representatives have thin margins of electoral support in their region- as they are- so it is with certainty that the views, policies and vision of Barack Obama is more closely in line with what the majority of what Americans want. It is inhumane and savage for a contingent of Republican radicals to shut down our government and expose our country to immense and immediate national security threats so that they can glow from a false sense of self-righteousness for denying medical insurance to 12 million people who need it and allow for teenage pregnancies and unwanted pregnancies by denying access to birth control. What America has seen, is the sabotage of a trojan horse, unable to see any interest beyond the walls of their glass castles. People are going to do die because of their actions. Without insurance, curable diseases will go undiagnosed. The decline in government services will have dire consequences for the poor and sick dependent upon them. With our intelligence agencies unfunded, terrorists will cement gains within the United States of America and to our enemies abroad, we will look divided and weak. The blame and shame rests squarely on the shoulders of congress charged with constitutional responsibility to pay our governments bills. Strict liability for any harm caused by their vote should be upheld by law. Should the shutdown continue to the point where America defaults on its debts, Corruption, Sabotage and Treason charges against the ringleaders of the tea party's political circus should commence.

America and Japan Agree to modernize their Defense Alliance

America and Japan, as the number 1 and 3 economies of the world, central components of the “Pacific Rim Empire” have to remain United in a strong military alliance capable of responding to any North Korean attacks and deterring any Chinese imperial expansion. Despite the challenges of an aging population and high debt levels slowing growth, Japan continues to be an economic powerhouse, key trading partner and reliable ally that provides quality products and quality markets. Japanese companies such as Toyota, set the bar for management practices. Abe has been aggressive and responsible in preventing economic retraction and taken the actions necessary to alleviate the short term struggles of his populace while responsibly promoting continued growth. Continued cooperation in addressing Cyber Threats is going to be central to our evolving relationship.

The Taliban Launch Suicide Attacks in Pakistan

The Pakistanis failure to take the threat from the Taliban serious and aspirations to utilize them as an ISI asset to counter an Indian/American aligned Afghani government has cost the lives of thousands and prevented the formation of a secure democracy in Afghanistan. A clear promise to provide key Taliban members with jobs in an Afghani national fire department could have brokered acceptable peace, but the stubbornness of both sides have prevented such a deal from being made. With a clear leader in charge of the Taliban, it is inexcusable that Mullah Omar has never been captured and delivered to negotiate a surrender. While the Afghani military is showing increasing capability to stand its own, the Pashtun ethnic group that feeds the Taliban with men and supplies is too large to defeat in a humane way acceptable to the decencies of the world. Nabi Hanafi was a competent commander and one of the few courageous enough to do is duty in combatting the Taliban on the Pakistani side of the border, and his loss- along with the other 17 dead- in the most recent Taliban suicide attack is tragic. American Security interests have been bruised by this assault. The failure of Pakistan's government to take the war on the Taliban serious, has exposed their country to the risk of collapse and Islamist take-over, something that will require prompt and massive American intervention to secure nuclear weapons and nuclear sites. This attack should stand as a wake up call to the Pakistani military and ISI to move to the right side of history by implementing a competent strategy to prevent the radicalization of the next generation of Pashtuns. Better education, closer monitoring to keep at risk Pashtuns to their farms in the spring time along with better integration of young adults into the economic/political system of the region can augment better intelligence and improved policing operations. America's State Department and Peace Corps can help by providing training for teachers and adequate text books for schools can augment the missions of the CIA and military across the border in Afghanistan.

America should insist on maintaining military and air fields in the North East and West of Afghanistan as security insurances against both Tehran and Islamabad in a quiet, out of sight out of mind manner. Better aerial surveillance capable of identifying suspicious behavior hinting at the planting of roadside bombs can halt the Taliban advance as foreign troops withdrawal. Providing the Afghani military an early advantage by using an Electro Magnetic Pulse to devastate Taliban electronics should be considered, as two months in the heat of spring where the Taliban unable to coordinate online or electronically, may be the advantageous head start the Afghani military needs to hold ground and stand on its own two.

Syria

Assad's regime has continued to lay siege to the town he gassed with Sarin gasses killing over 1400 people. The Republican in congress unwillingness to authorize Barack Obama's usage of force, has allowed for a despicable tyrant to go unpunished and signaled to other rogue leaders that America no longer has the resolve to punish international atrocities. It seems that the Republican Party for miscalculated and fleeting regional political gains is content to surrender America's position as global leader by undermining our president and sabotaging free people of the world everywhere with their selfish business interests. Its an unforgivable offense that will cost them the house in 2014 and prompt constitutional changes that will make such sabotage impossible in the future.

Gambia

The United Kingdom should not surrender Gambia as a British Commonwealth or abandon the citizens of Gambia in the face of Yahya Jammeh's rogue dictatorship of bigotry and use all the tools in its belt from MI6, financial aid, UN resolutions and Allies to get Yahya to back down or else oust him from power.

NIGERIA

Nigeria will become an increasingly important country in North Africa and its success in its fight against Boko Haram is vital to long-term security of the United States, our allies and the citizens of Nigeria. Their recent attacks university students are inexcusable and demand aggressive forward policing operations to punish, prevent and deter any future attacks hindering the development of Nigeria, a country that is on the path to democracy and prosperity.

Greece

The fact that the cradle of western civilization and birth place of democracy, Greece, is in such dire straits speaks to the issues that the west is facing as a whole. The Golden Dawn movement and its leader are allegorical for the ideological plague threatening our liberties, freedoms and prosperities. The European Union, has failed, because the single currency has robbed its members from flexible currencies, putting them dangerously in debt to Germany with a cold weather industrial edge with which the Mediterranean countries cannot hold parity, prompting borrowing to pay for German exports. Fair trade is a crucial component of global prosperity and peace, but uniform currency, the lack of minimum wage/labor standards, the surrender of national sovereignty and the right to a reasonably bounded democratic self-determination is only going to exasperate the regional and class frustrations that drive conflict and set the conditions for armed conflict and war. 

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