It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Turkey launches military operation in Iraq
A cross-border ground offense is supported by artillery, jets, helicopters and drones
Ankara has begun a major cross-border military offensive, targeting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the northern part of Iraq, according to Turkey’s Defense Ministry.
The operation involves an extensive airstrike campaign using jets, helicopters and drones, as well as a ground incursion by commando troops, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced in a video address on Monday morning.
Ankara claims it successfully destroyed multiple bunkers, tunnels and ammunition depots, as well as military headquarters of the PKK in northern Iraq's border areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan, before its ground forces moved into the neighboring state. It is unclear how many troops and military hardware are involved in the operation.
“Our operation is continuing successfully, as planned. The targets that were set for the first phase have been achieved,” Akar said, as cited by AP.
Turkish forces are only targeting “terrorists,” taking extra precautions to avoid the loss of civilian lives and damage to cultural heritage, the minister claimed.
“Our struggle will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized,” he said. “We are determined to save our noble nation from the terror misfortune that has plagued our country for 40 years.”
The PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, who fight for an independent Kurdistan, have been battling Ankara since 1984, in a war that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. Over the years, Turkey has conducted multiple military operations against the PKK, which is based in northern Iraq and has used the territory to fuel insurgency in the eastern part of Turkey.
The PKK has also been designated a terrorist group by the US, UK, and EU. However, the Kurds were an important ally to the West and the US in the fight against Islamic State terrorists both in Syria and Iraq. Washington maintains a military foothold in Syrian Kurdish-controlled regions, while the Iraqi Kurdistan region hosts several American military installations and a US consulate in Erbil.
Arab party suspends Israeli coalition govt membership amid Jerusalem violence
Issued on: 18/04/2022 -
01:47Israeli police in the old city of Jerusalem on April 17th, 2022
Israel's fractious governing coalition faced a new split on Sunday when Arab-Israeli party Raam "suspended" its membership, after violence around a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site that wounded 170 people over the weekend.
The government -- an ideologically disparate mix of left-wing, hardline Jewish nationalist and religious parties, as well as Raam -- had already lost its razor-thin majority this month when a religious Jewish member quit in a dispute over leavened bread distribution at hospitals.
Since then, days of violence around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, put Raam under pressure to quit too.
"If the government continues its steps against the people of Jerusalem... we will resign as a bloc," Raam said in a statement.
The declaration came hours after more than 20 Palestinians and Israelis were wounded in incidents in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The latest clashes take the number of wounded since Friday to more than 170, at a tense time when the Jewish Passover festival coincides with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
They also follow deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank starting in late March, in which 36 people have been killed.
Early on Sunday morning, police said "hundreds" of Palestinian demonstrators inside the mosque compound started gathering piles of stones, shortly before the arrival of Jewish visitors.
Jews are allowed to visit but not to pray at the site, the holiest place in Judaism and third-holiest in Islam.
Israeli police said its forces had entered the compound in order to "remove" the demonstrators and "re-establish order".
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 19 Palestinians were injured, including at least five who were hospitalised. It said some had been wounded with rubber-coated steel bullets. Free hand
An AFP team near the entrance to the compound early Sunday morning saw Jewish worshippers leaving the site, barefoot for religious reasons, and protected by heavily armed police.
Outside the Old City, which lies in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Palestinian youths threw rocks at passing buses, smashing their windows, resulting in seven people being treated for light wounds, Shaare Zedek hospital said.
The police said they had arrested 18 Palestinians, and Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said Israel would "act strongly against anyone who dares to use terrorism against Israeli citizens".
Bennett had said that the security forces "continue to receive a free hand... for any action that will provide security to the citizens of Israel", while stressing every effort should be made to allow members of all religions to worship in Jerusalem.
Political sources told AFP that, after Raam's withdrawal from his coalition, Bennett would likely seek to calm the situation.
King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday called on Israel to "stop all illegal and provocative measures" that drive "further aggravation".
The kingdom serves as custodian of holy places in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by most of the international community.
Senior Palestinian official Hussein Al Sheikh said Sunday that "Israel's dangerous escalation in the Al-Aqsa compound ... is a blatant attack on our holy places", and called on the international community to intervene.
The chief of the Hamas Islamist movement, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, had earlier warned Israel that "Al-Aqsa is ours and ours alone".
"Our people have the right to access it and pray in it, and we will not bow down to (Israeli) repression and terror," Ismail Haniyeh said. Pope's Easter peace prayer
Weeks of mounting tensions saw two recent deadly attacks by Palestinians in or near the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, alongside mass arrests by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
A total of 14 people have been killed in attacks against Israel since March 22.
Twenty-two Palestinians have been killed over the same period, including assailants who targeted Israelis, according to an AFP tally.
On Friday morning, police clashed with Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound, including inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, drawing strong condemnation from Muslim countries. Some 150 people were wounded during those clashes.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a call Sunday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said he would make contact with all sides to "end the Israeli escalation", Abbas's office said in a statement.
Pope Francis on Sunday -- with Christians marking Easter at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where they believe Jesus died and was resurrected -- prayed for peace.
"May Israelis, Palestinians and all who dwell in the Holy City, together with the pilgrims... dwell in fraternity and enjoy free access to the Holy Places in mutual respect for the rights of each," he said in his Easter address.
(AFP)
Thank Ex-President Moon For South Korea’s Big Military Build-Up
K2 Black Panther. Image Credit: Creative Commons. The bitter South Korean presidential election reached its dramatic conclusion. Prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol won a surprisingly narrow victory in a race that focused on domestic issues. However, the greatest divergence between the two candidates appeared to be on security issues.
Yet there may be one area of broad agreement between the two parties—important after such a close election and with the National Assembly remaining in the soon-to-be opposition Democratic Party’s hands for two more years. Both parties support a more robust South Korean military.
On the Republic of Korea’s Armed Forces Day last October President Moon Jae-in expressed “trust and pride” in his nation’s military and “strong security posture.” At the end of the year he discussed even broader defense aspirations, reportedly opining that the ROK’s “defense capabilities are needed not only for deterrence against North Korea, but also for the autonomy of our country stuck between great powers.” Thus, “We should be equipped with defense capabilities befitting such a geopolitical location.”
More important, while talking of peace, his government prepared for war. For instance, last September Seoul announced that it was expanding its missile program. The Defense Ministry explained: “We will develop stronger, longer-range and more precise missiles so as to exercise deterrence and achieve security and peace on the Korean Peninsula.” These improvements became possible after the U.S. ended restrictions on South Korean missile production. Said the ministry: “Following the termination of the [missile] guidelines, we will exercise deterrence against potential threats and improve strike capabilities against main targets.”
Equally significant, Seoul tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in September. Moon watched the launch and insisted that it was “not a response to North Korea’s provocations.” However, he noted “the reinforcement of our missile capabilities can be a clear deterrent to North Korea’s provocations.” By matching North Korea’s SLBM program and providing an essentially invulnerable deterrent, the ROK is entering an exclusive club of just eight nations that currently possess this capability.
Moreover, SLBMs could prove valuable in confronting not just the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea but other states, most obviously China. Explained the Blue House: “The possession of an SLBM has a significant meaning for the purpose of securing deterrence capabilities responding to omnidirectional threats and will play a big role in the establishment of national self-defense and peace on the Korean Peninsula in the future.”
After the North’s seven missile tests in January, Defense Minister Suh Wook visited the Army’s Central Missile Command. He said the unit was “central” in responding to the North and “gives confidence to our people through overwhelming strategic victory at times of emergency,” The political nature of the visit was clear, but it highlighted the Moon administration’s increased military effort.
The Seoul government’s current blueprint would hike military outlays by a quarter by 2026. The latest budget envisions improved defenses against missiles, long-range artillery, and submarines, enhanced intelligence and surveillance capabilities, an aircraft carrier for vertical-takeoff aircraft, and much more. Roughly a third of military outlays would go to “force enhancement,” to maintain the South’s qualitative military edge over the DPRK. Although both Tokyo and Seoul have enjoyed a cheap ride at Washington’s expense, the South faces notably greater threats. Without an ocean moat against an armed and hostile North Korea, the South must take its defense responsibilities more seriously than has Japan.
Observed the U.S. War College’s Lami Kim: “Since Moon, a member of South Korea’s Democratic Party, took office in 2017, the country’s defense budget has increased by an average of 7.4 percent annually. Under the two previous conservative administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, the defense budget only rose by between 4 and 6 percent annually. By 2022, South Korea is expected to spend more on defense than Japan—whose gross domestic product is three times as large—and become the fifth- or sixth-biggest-spender on defense in the world.”
Yoon might accelerate that pace. After the election he said he would “establish a strong military capacity to deter any provocation completely.” Nevertheless, Japan threatens to make defense outlays into a competitive race with its new defense plans. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s latest manifesto pledged to double outlays to two percent of GDP. Although no one expects Tokyo to reach that level soon, having America’s closest Asian allies vie to spend the most on the military would be a welcome change.
Most broadly, higher South Korean military outlays would respond to broad security concerns. Last year’s Defense White Paper declared:
“Our recent security situation is extremely complex and grave, both internally and externally. Neighboring countries of the Korean Peninsula continue to reinforce their cutting-edge military capabilities, pushing their own priorities while expanding their military domains not only in the sea and air but also to space and cyber. In addition, transnational and nonmilitary threats such as COVID-19, disasters and terrorism are emerging as challenges to national security. In particular, with the spread of COVID-19 and the strategic competition between the United States and China, the fluidity and uncertainty of the regional security structure are increasing.”
Greater military strength also would reduce Seoul’s dependence on Washington, an embarrassment for a nationalistic people who effectively surrender important military decisions to the U.S. Moreover, negotiating from a position of military strength would give Moon’s successor more confidence in dealing with the DPRK. Moon termed the South’s new capabilities a “clear deterrent to North Korea’s provocations.” Yoon promised to take a tougher stand against the North. A stronger ROK also would require fewer concessions from the North to secure peace. And North Korea would have more reason to yield if Seoul enhances its defense capabilities.
Pyongyang officials unintentionally make this point when they complain vociferously about South Korean military developments. For instance, the North claims that weapons developed by the ROK, including fighters and satellites, are intended for a preventive attack. The Kim regime even criticized South Korean weapons development as an “unpardonable act of perfidy.” The North understandably prefers a weaker South.
The ROK also has been seeking to confront unique threats posed by its nuclear-armed adversary. Ian Bowers and Henrik Stålhane Hiim of the Royal Danish Defence College and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, respectively, observed: “To deter North Korea—and limit damage if a conflict breaks out—South Korea is operationalizing an independent conventional counterforce strategy, or offensive and defensive measures designed to destroy or deplete the nuclear forces of an adversary. To bolster deterrence, South Korea is also threatening countervalue strikes, seeking to hold the North Korean leadership at risk.”
Equally significant, perhaps, the ROK’s goal is to create military capabilities separate from America’s. Bowers and Hiim reported that though Seoul “is developing this strategy within the framework of its alliance with the United States, the ultimate goal is a fully independent operational capability.” They see this stance “as both a short- and long-term hedge against U.S. abandonment.” Yoon would be wise to continue this strategy. Although American subsidies reduce Seoul’s need to invest in the military, they increase Seoul’s vulnerability to swings in U.S. policy. And the endless stream of rising deficits facing Washington make future military cuts likely.
Improved South Korea capabilities will become more necessary if nuclear negotiations with North Korea continue to drag on without positive result. Unless an agreement is reached to at least cap the DPRK’s program, the North could soon end up as a mid-level nuclear power. The Rand Corporation and Asan Institute estimated “that, by 2027, North Korea could have 200 nuclear weapons and several dozen intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hundreds of theater missiles for delivering the nuclear weapons. The ROK and the United States are not prepared, and do not plan to be prepared, to deal with the coercive and warfighting leverage that these weapons would give North Korea.”
Despite Yoon’s commitment to an even closer bilateral relationship, it is difficult to see how the alliance as presently organized could then survive. Although the North would face devastating retaliation if it initiated a first strike, it could threaten to use its nuclear weapons in any conventional conflict that threatened it with defeat and regime destruction. In 1950 China intervened to rescue the North after America’s entry into the war. That wouldn’t happen in another conflict, but Kim could threaten to use nukes in a similar circumstance unless Washington retreated from North Korean territory. No American president could responsibly risk U.S. cities under such circumstances. This conundrum necessarily would call the alliance into question.
South Koreans no less than Americans recognize the challenge, which was exacerbated by President Donald Trump’s reckless chest-thumping about “fire and fury” mixed with proposals to withdraw U.S. forces from the peninsula. Assessed Bowers and Hiim: “Under these conditions, South Korean military and political elites are unwilling to rely passively on extended deterrence by the United States. Instead, they are following a long-worn path of making incremental internal adjustments to their country’s military capabilities to strengthen its relative position in the alliance.”
Although with the right conventional weapons the South could wreak great harm on the North, Seoul still would feel vulnerable facing a nuclear North alone. Perhaps in fear of this future, the ROK already is considering its nuclear options. Last September Yoon advocated that the US reintroduce tactical nuclear weapons and negotiate a nuclear sharing agreement. So did conservative contenders Hong Joon-pyo and Yoo Song-min. Four years ago liberal Assemblyman Lee Jong-geol, a member of the Defense Committee, advocated choosing “tactical nuclear as the last negotiating card,” which he acknowledged “has been taboo until now.”
In April Yoon’s transition advisers visited Washington and advocated the return of “strategic assets,” such as bombers and submarines, to the peninsula. Opined Assemblyman Park Jin: “Deploying the strategic assets is an important element of reinforcing the extended deterrence, and the issue naturally came up during the discussions.”
Moreover, preparations are being laid, conveniently if perhaps inadvertently, for an ROK nuclear weapon. Bowers and Hiim contended that current policy “will bolster South Korea’s nuclear latency. Many of the capabilities South Korea is acquiring or considering—particularly advanced ballistic and cruise missiles—will shorten the time frame for development of a credible nuclear deterrent. Moreover, these conventional capabilities may function as a stopgap deterrent to protect South Korea during the dangerous window between abandonment and the attainment of deliverable nuclear weapons.”
In fact, there is notable political support for an independentnuclear deterrent. Popular backing for a nuclear capability has been increasing; it hit 69 percent, the highest over the last decade, in a September poll conducted by the Asan Institute. Hong forthrightly stated that he would consider constructing nuclear weapons, arguing that “Nukes can only be countered with nukes.” He added that “the balance of terror via nuclear weapons was achieved in Europe. The inter-Korean front is more dangerous place than Europe.”
He is not the first substantial political figure to take that position. In 2013 Chung Mong-joon suggested going nuclear, delivering a speech in Washington proposing to match the North while offering to halt nuclear activities if North Korea did so as well. Honorary chairman of the Asan Institute, he was a long-time member of the National Assembly, chairman of the ruling conservative party, and a 2002 presidential candidate. Chung declared that “The lesson of the cold war … is that against nuclear weapons, only nuclear weapons can hold the peace.’’
Yoon has yet to declare his position, and the issue remains a decided minority view among South Korea’s governing elite. However, changing circumstances could increase support. If there is reason to doubt Washington’s commitment to the ROK’s defense, Seoul would have to take over responsibility for its own defense, including against the possibility of a North Korean nuclear strike. In which case future Armed Forces Days might take on a very different character.
Yoon’s election likely presages a faster South Korean military build-up. However, Moon’s aggressive military program provides a solid basis for Yoon’s plan to increase South Korean capabilities. Although time remains to cap and even reverse the North Korean nuclear program, if the North advances as fast as some analysts fear the Korean peninsula may enter a brave new world sooner than most anyone expects. Then today’s challenges will look simple compared to those facing future policymakers.
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A 1945 Contributing Editor, Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties. He worked as special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and editor of the political magazine Inquiry. He writes regularly for leading publications such as Fortune magazine, National Interest, the Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Times. Bandow speaks frequently at academic conferences, on college campuses, and to business groups. Bandow has been a regular commentator on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He holds a JD from Stanford University.
The Uzi submachine gun is forever tied to the 1980s for many reasons. Why it is not a modern gun like say a Glock or Sig Sauer, its place in history is secure: A quick glimpse of the famed Uzi submachine gun immediately conjures up many memories. Universally recognizable, the Uzi became synonymous with the Israel Defense Forces and lived large in popular culture in the 1980s – showing up in everything from movies to music videos. It sprays bullets to make adversaries take cover in close quarters combat. It’s compact for soldiers in tanks, armored personnel carriers, or in airborne drops. And it gave Israelis confidence at a time when the country was emerging and fighting for its survival in the Middle East.
Israel had to fight its way out of trouble since its founding in 1948. The Israelis had used a mishmash of small arms they received from other countries and even took civilian rifles and shotguns into battle. They needed something small and powerful that allowed new soldiers to train effectively in a short amount of time.
An Israeli named Uziel Gal, a veteran of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, took this into consideration. The back story on Gal is illustrative. He had a German name when he escaped from the Nazis and dreamed of a new life in the Middle East. He, unfortunately, had to go to jail in British-run Palestine for illegal gun possession in 1943. Years in prison gave him much time to read and reflect, so he studied mechanical engineering and later joined the Jewish underground and then the military.
Uzi: Small and Easy to Carry
He came up with a prototype in 1950 that had a compact design borrowed from Czech models which could fire in semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. It was 18.5-inches long with its buttstock folded and weighed 7.7 pounds, although it originally had a wood stock. The 25 or 32-round magazine of 9-mm ammunition would be inserted into the grip much like a sidearm is loaded.
The Uzi Had Many Admirable Qualities
Nicknamed the Uzi (Gal really didn’t want the gun to be named after him), the 600-round per minute submachine gun had the balance of a pistol with simple sights. It was easy to shoot, and soldiers were quickly trained on its operation. It resisted sand particles and didn’t malfunction that much. Israel didn’t have much money to develop small arms, so the new submachine gun had to be inexpensive to produce. Therefore, the Uzi had stamped parts that aided in manufacturing, and by 1954, the Israelis began cranking them out in numbers.
Troops gave it high marks and it proliferated throughout the defense forces. Tankers liked its small size. Regular soldiers could load it fast. Airborne troops could finally jump without a bulky long rifle. It was used in the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Reagan Assassination Attempt
The Uzi even found its way to America in the 1980s. In March 1981, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. There was a crowd outside the building and Reagan waved as he was getting into a limousine. Then suddenly six rounds were shot at the president. The Secret Service sprang into action. Secret Service Agent Robert Wanko removed an Uzi packed in a special briefcase and the gun was captured in photos that spread around the world.
It was replaced by the M16 in the 1980s. The Israelis needed a rifle with the longer range as the Uzi was not that accurate past 50 meters. The Uzi was finally officially retired by the IDF in 2003. Although it does seem to have made at least a small comeback, if you count the Uzi Pro, that is.
Meet the P-47 Thunderbolt – Before the United States of America entered the Second World War, it eagerly monitored the advances made in military hardware – notably in aviation – and digested the results of the air combat in Europe. In 1940 that led to the development of new aircraft. Among those was the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
The company’s chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, went so far as to scrap his existing concepts for what would be a much larger fighter that was equipped with the new R-2800 engine. The result was the heaviest single-engine piston fighter produced during the conflict to reach large-scale service. The aircraft went on to be produced in greater numbers – with some 15,683 being constructed by war’s end – than any other American fighter aircraft.
As with the P-51 Mustang, the P-47 was unique in that it was completely conceived, tested, and put into service entirely during the war years.
Notable Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Facts: The “Razorback”
The first P-47s were accepted into the United States Army Air Force in late 1941, and the early aircraft are readily identified by their “razorbacks” and framed canopies. That proved to be a weakness, however, as it presented about a 20-degree blindspot behind the cockpit. Sponsored Content
Razorback Thunderbolts were built by Republic and Curtiss-Wright and had a dominant role in the USAAF from 1943, first as a fighter and then later as a fighter-bomber over occupied Europe. The early models were also supplied to the Free French Air Force as well as to the Soviet Union.
The 56th Fighter Group was the first to take the P-47 into combat, and it became the top-scoring U.S. fighter group of the war – with more than 674 kills. The Late War Jug
A common complaint from the early P-47 pilots was that the razorback cockpit limited the rearward visibility. To address this issue, the bubble canopy from a Hawker Typhoon was adapted and that improved visibility considerably.
The aircraft are known as the “bubbletop” Thunderbolts, but the bulky shape of the aircraft led to it is affectionately called “Jug” – based on the bulky shape of the aircraft. Big and Beefy
Weighing in at 13,358 pounds (6,059 kg), the P-47 prototype was the heaviest single-seat fighter adopted by the USAAF. A fully-loaded P-47D weighted more than two and a half times the weight of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and about three times as heavy as the Royal Air Force’s Supermarine Spitfire; while the late model P-47N, with its powerful engine – which helped make it the fast piston-engined fighter in the world – at 20,500 pounds (9,300 kg) was heavier than a bombed-up Dornier Do 17 bomber. In addition, the Thunderbolt’s massive four-bladed propeller had a diameter of 3.76 meters (12 feet, four inches)!
All of that is especially notable as the P-47 was originally conceived as a lightweight fighter, but it was redesignated as the XP-47B to improve its top speed. It was based on Kartveli’s earlier P-44 design and was built around one of the most powerful engines available at the time, the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18-cylinder, two-row radial. The variant of the engine used in the P-47D model employed water injection to boost performance at altitude.
According to one legend, Kartveli came up with the layout of the aircraft during a meeting in 1940 and drew it on the back of an envelope.
A Lot Were Built’A total of 15,683 Thunderbolts were produced between 1940 and 1945, with more “D” models than any other aircraft sub-type in history. Even though it didn’t make its combat debut until April 1943, the Jugs flew more than 500,000 combat sorties between March 1943 and August 1945. The aircraft served in every theater of the war, and performed a variety of missions from bomber escort to close air support. The P-47s could claim nearly 4,000 enemy aircraft, 9,000 trains, 86,000 trucks and 6,000 armored vehicles as confirmed “victims.”
Redesignated the F-47, the aircraft also remained in service with other nations well into the 1950s, and some were used by the French Air Force in Indochina as dive-bombers, dropping napalm tanks on enemy positions. The Thunderbolt even remained in service in Latin American until the late 1960s – a testament to its striking capabilities. Now a Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military hardware and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes.
Caracas neighborhood uses art to prevent violence
#ABOLISHICE
ICE blew $17M on unused hotel rooms for migrants, DHS watchdog finds
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly spent $17 million on mostly unoccupied hotel rooms while housing undocumented migrants in 2021.AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File
Immigration officials wasted $17 million dollars on unused hotels for migrants last year, after hiring a politically connected contractor that failed to meet COVID-19 protocols, a government watchdog found.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered into the $87 million contract with the nonprofit company Endeavors to provide services for the surge of migrants at the southern border, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General said in a Tuesday report.
ICE should have sought multiple bids for the work, instead of signing onto the “sole source” deal with Endeavors, which required the agency to pay for a block of more than 1,200 hotel rooms, no matter how many were used, the watchdog found.
As a result of the alleged blunder, the government was contractually obligated to pay Endeavors $17 million for hotel rooms that were mostly empty between April and June of 2021, according to the report.
“ICE’s sole source contract with Endeavors resulted in millions of dollars being spent on unused hotel space,” it read.
Additionally, Endeavors put “migrant families and the outside population at risk of contracting COVID-19” by not following testing procedures before transporting migrants, officials alleged.
Surveillance footage shows dozens of migrants being processed at an Endeavors-owned hotel in Phoenix, Arizona during May 2021.Office of Inspector General / Department of Homeland Security
The Texas-based nonprofit also failed to provide snacks and storage areas for migrant families as required by ICE guidelines, the Office of Inspector General said. Spotty surveillance and document security at migrant facilities run by Endeavors was another concern, according to the report.
The alleged mismanagement came around the same time Endeavors entered into another, more lucrative no-bid contract with the US Department of Health and Human Services. The deal raised eyebrows because it was secured after the organization hired Biden administration transition team member Andrew Lorenzen-Strait as its senior director for migrant services and federal affairs.
ICE disagreed with much of the report and said it was justified in hastily entering the no-bid contract due to the “unusual and compelling urgency” of the migrant border crisis.
Video shows a migrant family arriving for a COVID-19 protocol check at an Endeavors-owned hotel in El Paso, Texas in May 2021.Office of Inspector General / Department of Homeland Security
“ICE is committed to ensuring that non-citizens in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments, and under appropriate conditions of confinement,” an agency executive wrote in a March letter to DHS.
Endeavors said it “followed appropriate protocols and met the standard of care for migrant families in this contract,” in a statement to Fox News.
NY POST
CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M
A fugitive Chinese billionaire claims this cryptocurrency will overthrow Beijing. Experts say it has the 'hallmarks of a scam'
"I think Guo and Bannon are just using 'take down the CCP' as an excuse to make money"
Guo Wengui told his followers a revolutionary cryptocurrency called HCoin would help take down the Chinese Communist Party.
(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Almost $20,000 of Lisa Chen's savings were sent to overseas bank accounts before she saw red flags about her investment into a scheme that promised to reshape the global financial order.
In April last year, Ms Chen — a Chinese immigrant to Australia — began investing in a new cryptocurrency called Himalaya Coin, or HCoin.
The digital token was being promoted by a global anti-Chinese government movement founded by fugitive Chinese businessman Guo Wengui and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
Mr Guo claimed the token would one day replace the Chinese renminbi.
A member of Mr Guo's movement since early 2020, Ms Chen said she tried to warn fellow followers about her discoveries but was branded a traitor by other members of the movement.
"I invested and asked all my relatives to invest in HCoin as well," Ms Chen said.
"I thought I did the right thing. I thought I was fighting for justice."
She's seen first-hand how members of the organisation have harassed and attacked their critics and detractors, but is now speaking out against them.
Lisa Chen has chosen to not disclose her identity out of fear of retaliation from Mr Guo's followers.
(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Other investment schemes Mr Guo's movement had promoted were the subject of a United States Securities and Exchange Commission review that resulted in a settlement worth more than $539 million in 2021.
Mr Guo also filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut in February and claimed he had less than US$100,000 in assets.
Meanwhile, proponents of the new cryptocurrency have boasted HCoin's market value has reached more than US$43 billion. An ABC investigation, through analysing financial documents, private chat rooms and blockchain wallets, has unravelled a sophisticated cryptocurrency operation endorsed by Mr Guo and Mr Bannon's political movement. The scheme has raised alarm bells for financial crime and cryptocurrency experts, who said it had the hallmarks of a scam.
Despite international authorities putting the platform where HCoin is traded, Himalaya Exchange, on investment caution lists, it is still being promoted by Mr Guo and his loyal followers who believe it will herald a new political age.
A spokesperson for Himalaya Exchange, said it had "no connection, whether shareholding or financial, to Wengui Guo".
A new world order and a coin to overthrow Beijing
An online search for the coin leads to a bombastic music video posted in November on YouTube called "Hcoin to the moon".
The title is a play on a phrase popularised by cryptocurrency investors celebrating an enormous spike in a digital token's valuation.
In the video, Mr Guo is seen taking lengthy drags from a cigar, while a ship soars past a golden moon.
The exiled billionaire then waxes lyrical about the coin's "advanced encryption technology" between rapid inserts of fireworks and a woman dancing in an astronaut suit.
Guo Wengui released this flashy and highly-produced rap video called "Hcoin to the Moon" to promote the digital token.
(YouTube: MilesGuoVEVO)
For Mr Guo's followers, HCoin isn't just about financial security, it is part of an all-encompassing way of life out from under the shadow of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Mr Guo reportedly fled mainland China in 2014 in anticipation of corruption charges that took down his business partner and afterwards, his political patron. He arrived in the United States in 2015, later boasting he would reveal all about top officials in China.
Qiu Yueshou, a Chinese scholar who fled the country after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, said it was Mr Guo's promise to provide compromising information about key CCP figures that caught his attention.
He said he was among a core group of Australian followers in a chat group with Mr Guo, where they received his direct orders.
"He said he had a Pandora's box," the 67-year-old said.
"When the box open, CCP finished."
Qiu Yueshou said he was drawn to Mr Guo's determination to undermine the CCP.
(ABC News: Jack Fisher) Mr Qiu and Ms Chen are former members of The Whistleblower Movement, which was led by Mr Guo and Mr Bannon.
It's been linked to disinformation campaigns about COVID-19 and about US President Joe Biden. To take the political movement to another level, Mr Guo and Mr Bannon founded the New Federal State of China (NFSC) on June 4, 2020, and referred to it as "a government in exile".
They said the NFSC movement would one day replace the CCP.
Mr Guo reiterated in February, HCoin would be instrumental to their revolution and would replace the Chinese currency.
"Our NFSC's Himalaya Exchange and Himalaya Coin can attract all the money from the Chinese people," he said.
Ms Chen said the charismatic exiled billionaire's vision for HCoin and NFSC convinced many of his followers to back the digital token.
"He promised us it will be a good investment," she said.
Mr Bannon also voiced his support. In an interview posted on pro-Trump social media platform Gettr in November, he called the Himalaya Coin project "monumental". Himalaya Exchange denied any connection to the political operative.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui
launch the New Federal State of China on a boat in New York in 2020.
(YouTube: Supplied)
For Ms Chen, investing in the coin wasn't straightforward and neither was where her money ended up.
While typical cryptocurrencies can be purchased directly from exchanges, Ms Chen said she was instructed by Himalaya Exchange to purchase HCoin tokens by making direct bank transfers to overseas bank accounts.
Ms Chen provided the ABC with bank records that showed her investment was sent to accounts in the Bahamas and the US — the latter under the beneficiary account name Himalaya International Clearing.
Australian investors, in some cases, were told to sign an agreement that prohibited them from taking any action that "could potentially hurt or damage the reputation of the Exchange".
The Himalaya Exchange spokesperson said it would not disclose or confirm any bank account details the ABC raised with the company. Himalaya Exchange: A mysterious multinational platform
The ABC asked several cryptocurrency and financial crime experts to analyse the trading platform Himalaya Exchange and HCoin.
They concluded both raised red flags.
It's unclear who owns Himalaya Exchange and the website does not acknowledge any connection to Mr Guo. The platform is linked to a web of companies across Australia, the UK and the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
One Australian company linked to the exchange is Himalaya Currency Clearing (HCC), which has offices in Sydney and is registered with AUSTRAC as both a digital currency exchange and a remittance provider.
HCC's registration means the company is subjected to anti-money laundering laws but this does not guarantee investor protection, according to cryptocurrency crime expert George Andreopoulos.
Unlike BitCoin or other well-known cryptocurrencies, HCoin can only be traded on its own platform Himalaya Exchange, which means claims about its value cannot be independently verified.
A live ticker on the Himalaya Exchange website puts
the value of HCoin at US$43 a token.
(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Himalaya Exchange founder and Hong Kong businessman William Je was quoted in a recent Bloomberg opinion piece that claimed HCoin had reached a market value of US$43 billion.
In US court documents, Mr Guo described Mr Ye as "a long-time friend" and allegedly told a former staffer he is "the money man".
Lawyer and blockchain specialist Aaron Lane said there was "absolutely no chance" this eye-watering valuation was correct, adding it would put HCoin in the top 10 cryptocurrencies and above well-established tokens such as Ripple XRP.
"To be in excess of Ripple and not listed on any major list is completely unbelievable," Dr Lane said.
He warned the scheme had "the hallmarks of a cryptocurrency scam".
"If it's a genuine exchange, it's a centralised exchange, and there doesn't appear to be a good way of seeing what's behind that black box."
The ABC has been unable to substantiate many of the claims made about the coin, including basic information routinely found with many other tokens.
"You can't see who's behind the project, whether there's any companies backing it or funding it, what the distribution of the token is going to be," Mr Andreopoulos said after examining HCoin's white paper.
George Andreopoulos said there was little transparency
about the people backing the HCoin project.
(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
The same document also claimed its contract was verified by blockchain security company Certik, which would be an indication the project had been checked by a third party.
In a statement to the ABC, the company said HCoin was not a Certik project.
The Himalaya Exchange spokesperson said its whitepaper had been "drafted and verified by numerous lawyers in different jurisdictions" and it had disclosed "all relevant information".
"Investors have a choice whether to invest or not," they said.
The company also rebuked suggestions it was not audited by Certik, adding it had "relevant documentation" but did not provide it to the ABC.
The exchange's website also does not provide any information about the blockchain contracts for HCoin.
Unlike Bitcoin, claims about HCoin's value cannot be independently verified.(Unsplash: Kanchanara)
Researchers with social media analysis group SMAT located two blockchain addresses — one for HCoin and an another associated with a stable-coin called Himalaya Dollar — but cryptocurrency experts could not identify any evidence of regular trading for either.
A Himalaya Exchange spokesperson did not respond to ABC questions about these addresses.
It said Himalaya Coin "was recently launched and is in discussion with other exchanges".
"[It] will be listed with other exchanges in due course," they said.
The exchange has also come under scrutiny from overseas regulators, including New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which said it is "not a registered financial service provider" in the country.
The FMA has issued a warning about the exchange, along with regulators in the Bahamas and in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) said in a January 25 notice that it was investigating complaints that Himalaya Exchange "may be conducting activities" that were "either registrable/licensable or illegal" in its jurisdiction.
It said the company was cooperating with its investigation.
Himalaya Exchange positions itself as a platform for human rights and democracy.(YouTube: Himalaya Exchange)
A Himalaya Exchange spokesperson said those warnings were based on "malicious, false complaints and all notices have been contested and are defended".
The exchange said authorities had "concluded that there was no wrongdoing" on their part.
However, notices remain on all three regulator websites, with the FMA stating it "recommend[s] exercising caution when dealing with this entity".
British Columbia authorities gave similar warnings and added the platform was not "registered or recognised" in its jurisdiction. Detractors fear speaking out
When Ms Chen grew suspicious of HCoin in August last year she contacted Australian regulators and her bank, National Australia Bank (NAB), with little success to reclaim her $20,000 investment.
NAB referred her case to its digital fraud and scams team.
A review concluded "the money transfers as a result from the scam could not be reversed because the recipient organisations will not return your money".
Ms Chen said she fared better with the offshore banks where her money was sent. After reaching out to them she was refunded most of her investment.
Lisa Chen was unsuccessful in reclaiming her investment through NAB
.(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
But when she raised her concerns to Himalaya Exchange and other Australian NFSC followers in a covert chatroom on voice messaging service, Discord, she said she was labelled a "CCP agent" and lost access to Himalaya Exchange.
"Some people lost more money than me," Ms Chen said.
"Why they didn't speak out? Because they are afraid."
A Himalaya spokesperson said it was confident it had not fallen foul of any refund policies.
"The Exchange has never retained anyone's funds and all return of funds have been honoured," they said.
Ms Chen is still urging Australian authorities and banks to investigate the scheme and protect Australian investors.
"I want them to stop other investors from sending money over and protect them from being scammed," she said.
Neither Mr Guo, Mr Bannon or Himalaya Exchange founder William Je responded to ABC interview requests or answered detailed questions about HCoin.
However, Mr Guo continues to sing the praises of HCoin and Himalaya Exchange.
On March 30, during the invasion of Ukraine, he claimed on social media that a "world-renowned individual" had asked him for one million HCoins.
Both Mr Qiu and Ms Chen hope other followers will become disillusioned by the movement. "I think Guo and Bannon are just using 'take down the CCP' as an excuse to make money," Mr Qiu said.
"Himalaya Exchange's vision is to give financial freedom to everyone in the world and supports freedom, human rights, and democracy," Himalaya Exchange's spokesperson said.
It said some of its supporters share its vision and promote the exchange on their own social media, but "these organisations and persons have no financial or any other relationship" with the company.
"Himalaya Exchange is aware that it is constantly being maliciously attacked by CCP and organisations/bad actors sponsored by them, including some customers who made complaints without any grounds," it said. Meanwhile, an apparent live ticker on the Himalaya Exchange website showed HCoin was currently valued at around US$43, up from US$0.10 when it was launched in November.
ANALYSIS This 1939 newspaper shows Australia's politicians have behaved the same way for 80 years
Smith's Weekly, in January 1939, reported on the scandal of the "organised starvation of the poor"
by Australian governments.
I found an old Australian newspaper the other day, from 1939.
You should see the stories inside.
They touch on so many issues that concern us today that it makes you wonder: Have we been complaining and talking about the same things (and families) for more than 80 years?
If you'd like a break from coverage of the federal election, have a look at this. Smith's Weekly, founded by Joynton Smith
The newspaper is Smith's Weekly, a popular weekly paper published from 1919 to 1950.
Its hometown was Sydney but it was read around the country.
One of its founders was the journalist Robert Clyde Packer, the father of Sir Frank Packer, father of media baron Kerry Packer, and grandfather of James Packer.
Some famous people worked for it through the years.
Kenneth Slessor (the poet) edited it for a while. Henry Lawson, Dorothy Drain and Lennie Lower all wrote for it.
The edition I stumbled across is from January 14, 1939.
So, it comes from a time just before World War II officially began.
Have a go at its front page story.
"Organised starvation of the poor by Australian governments promises to leave on the political records of this generation the darkest stain in the Commonwealth's history," the story begins.
The paper condemned Australia's governments for keeping 200,000 people in severe poverty.(ABC News: Gareth Hutchens)
"Denied the right of employment, 200,000 Australians, including adults and children, are being doled out food rations, which, even the BMA admits, are insufficient for the maintenance of healthy life."
The story was written the same way as a modern news story.
The paper's journalists gathered statistics on the food allowances paid in different states, for different household types.
Unemployment is falling quickly, but many people are still locked out of the labour market.
Then they went to shops in three different suburbs (which they believed were representative of poorer suburbs in Australia's capital cities) to see what food prices were like.
They wanted to see what groceries could be purchased with the food allowance.
They found the dole was set at "starvation rates".
"With the single exception of Tasmania, every State in the Commonwealth has sentenced its unfortunate unemployed and many of its 'fortunate' employed to an apparent eternity of malnutrition," the paper concluded.
As an aside, have a look at the graph below.
It shows how far the modern unemployment payment has been allowed to fall below the poverty line, in recent decades, by Liberal and Labor governments.
See the red line?
The unemployment benefit has barely increased in decades, and it's well below the poverty line(Source: Grattan Institute, Orange Book 2022, page 35.)
It shows how hundreds of thousands of Australians were lifted out of poverty very briefly during the pandemic, when unemployment payments were increased temporarily, and how the federal government quickly pushed them back into poverty by taking those payments away again.
Australia, currently, has the second-worst rate of unemployment benefit in the OECD.
But let's get back to the Smith's Weekly story from 1939.
The paper's journalists went door-knocking in Glebe and Woolloomooloo, two of Sydney's poorest suburbs at the time, to ask people for their opinion of the food allowance.
In one house, in Norton Street, Glebe, a woman answered the door.
"Billy Hughes is always hammering away at more population, but he doesn't tell us what to do when we do have children," she said.
"I know they should have more milk, and this better balanced diet business, but keeping them from real hunger is an outsize job on its own."
Another woman, in Woolloomooloo, scoffed at the idea that politicians would know how to survive on the dole.
"I'll challenge anybody to provide 21 meals a week at less than 9d a meal which is 15/9," she said.
"That's about what some of these politicians and diet experts spend on one meal for themselves."
The paper wrapped its story up with a message.
It said politicians seemed to have forgotten their responsibilities.
It said some were too busy pursuing ideological causes, such as trying "to impress Fascist methods on this Australian democracy", or trying to conscript "the youth of the Commonwealth".
It said politicians everywhere "must be forced to remember that the first responsibility of any government is to ensure that the people are properly fed".
"Australia is a land of abundant food, but the fact, today, is that there are starved and semi-starved Australians," it said.
"Politicians and military brasshats are shrieking from the house-tops for adequate defence.
"There is nothing better in the first place than filling the stomachs of the potential army." Jobs for the boys
There's another familiar story on page 3.
It's about Joseph Lyons, the conservative prime minister, handing a very well-paid job to a former colleague, and waiting until parliament was in recess before doing so.
Sir George Pearce, who'd been a cabinet minister in Lyons' United Australia Party government, had been kicked out by voters at the 1937 election.
He'd served as a senator for 37 years and 3 months, which is the Australian record.
His term officially ended in 1938, after which Lyons gave him a three-year tenure with the Commonwealth Grants Commission, which paid handsomely.
In Australia, the revolving door of politics has been turning for decades.
(ABC News: Gareth Hutchens)
The Commission was created in 1933, by Lyons, to provide impartial advice on the distribution of federal assistance to the states. Today, it's the body responsible for carving up the GST.
"Mr Lyons has just given, on behalf of Australian taxpayers, a needless Christmas present to the man who has pulled more plums out of the pie of Federal politics than any other Australian in Commonwealth history — ex-Senator Sir George Pearce," the paper said.
"Salary of Sir George will be 200 [pounds] a year.
"Sir George was once a carpenter at Cottesloe, WA, was a Senator from 1901 until the last election, and a minister for 25 years.
"He now owns two stations.
"In Parliamentary pay, excluding travel expenses, he has drawn approximately 50,000 [pounds].
"It can be said that no man in Commonwealth history has taken more money out of Parliament."
The paper criticised Lyons for giving his former colleague another job.
"That Mr Lyons waited until Parliament was in recess to make the appointment is a tribute to his cunning, rather than his political sagacity," it said.
"To put the matter tersely, it is the second attempt to find a job for Pearce, irrespective of the necessity or his capacity."
The federal seat of Pearce in Western Australia is named after the ex-senator (it is currently held by former attorney-general Christian Porter, who is retiring at the May election).
The paper reminded its readers of Pearce's record in parliament (with a very negative spin).
"In 1917, while he was Minister for Defence, it was found that 60,000 [pounds] had actually been passed for payment to a corps long previously demobilised, and certain officers were imprisoned," the paper reads.
"Judge Scholes, in giving judgement, said that the evidence showed 'gross mismanagement and chaos'.
"Further revelations, and an insistent public outcry, resulted in the appointment of a Royal Commission which recommended a Board of Business Administration in the Defence Department, which was duly appointed.
"Any other Minister would have resigned. It was not, however, until some time later that Mr Hughes — ever loyal to old colleagues — transferred his old friend to the Home Affairs Department, and stifled public protest." Raging feminists?
Let's skip to page 11.
Smith's Weekly was a fun read, mixing strong opinions with some sensationalist stories and satirical pieces.
It was mostly pitched to a male audience, returned servicemen, so I can't tell if this story is serious or satirical.
I'm assuming it's satirical. It must be.
But whatever the real opinions of the writer, Helen Seager, this article delivers an archetype of "crumb maiden" logic.
How so?
A few crumbs here and there.(ABC News: Gareth Hutchens)
Well, Ms Seager tells the paper's readers that the social order is fine the way it is, and she doesn't want to rock the boat.
However, it would be lovely if men could grant women a few small "privileges", she says.
A few crumbs.
"I am willing to bow the knee to Man superior. Never could I be a feminist," Seager wrote.
"I'd rather be just an ordinary housewife, with a husband to lean on.
"But I do yearn to be permitted certain privileges that for some curious atavistic reason the male of the species regards as his prerogative."
What were the small privileges she'd like?
She'd really like to be allowed to carve the meat at dinner time.
She'd like to be allowed to light and poke the fire, to read the newspaper before her husband sometimes, to draw the cork from a bottle of wine occasionally, and to "twiddle the radio knobs".
"Skip it, feminists, this is not for you," she says.
"This is for the average woman of the world, who, I'm sure, feels as I do."
With some imagination, can crumbs feel like croutons? Wherever he goes there are whispers
I could go on.
There are so many familiar stories in this single edition of the paper.
One story talks about the huge untapped potential of trade with India and countries in South-East Asia, if only the Australian government could get its act together.
Another talks about the rapacious landlords in Sydney that always increase the rent for small business owners whenever those businesses enjoy a slight increase in profits.
But let's wrap it up with this one. This story is about Sir Keith Murdoch, the father of media baron Rupert Murdoch.
The paper wrote about Sir Keith Murdoch going from city to city, building his media empire.(ABC News: Gareth Hutchens)
It talks about him like he's a mythical figure.
It says whenever he's spotted in public, in a different capital city each time, there always seems to be news, a little later, that he's just bought a big newspaper in that town.
"A few months ago the gossip grapevine in the Federal Capital flashed the news: 'K.M. is at the Hotel Canberra. Wearing riding boots'," the story says.
"This time rumour was right. K.M. was on a lobbying expedition to ease through Parliament a bill protecting an Australian newsprint industry, which was to be run by K.M. and his friends.
"But the bill was turned down. For once K.M. failed."
A lesson from the 1970s?
When Australia's economy was struggling in the 1970s, the media behaved irresponsibly, writes Gareth Hutchens.
The story notes the role Keith played, as a journalist, in exposing how incompetently the Gallipoli campaign was being run, and how official military censorship was hiding the dire truth.
It also talks about the power he accrued as a media baron when he returned to Australia.
"It was a Murdoch campaign that ran Mr. Lyons into the Prime Ministership. A Melbourne wag at the time described the United Australia Party coat-of-arms as 'Herald with Lyons rampant'," the story says.
"Two years later Murdoch was knighted.
"Since then his power has grown. His chain of papers now dominates every mainland capital except Sydney. A long string of radio stations is also under his control.
"He is master of a tremendous propaganda machine in the Federal sphere."
And the piece ends by noting the business interests backing Sir Keith.
"At the head of the financial group behind him is the Baillieu family, of Collins House, Melbourne," the story says.
"Among the group's vast business connections the most important is Broken Hill Proprietary Limited [that is, the miner BHP].
"Labor men and democrats of all shades regard the propagandist strength of the Murdoch-Baillieu group as an ugly and dangerous factor in Australian politics.
"Most journalists are of this opinion, though most of them think also that there is no better proprietor to work for than Murdoch.
"An ex-reporter himself, he gives his staff good premises, hands out bonuses, [and] lends young men money to go abroad."
All those stories in a single edition of an Australian newspaper from 83 years ago.
