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Is the Coronavirus China’s Revenge on Trump?
By Cliff Kincaid – March 4, 2020 In his 1968 non-fiction blockbuster, The Biological Time Bomb, Gordon Rattray Taylor wrote about the prospect of germ warfare in the context of “undeclared war.” He explained, “In current thinking the best way to wage war is to wage it without your enemy even being aware that it is happening.” He was predicting the use of infectious diseases to cripple a nation. The current war, however, is out in the open. Looking at the economic damage being inflicted on the United States and the world, one cannot dismiss the possibility that the rapidly-spreading coronavirus is China’s revenge on America for President Trump’s trade war. The virus has the potential impact to cause a major economic recession and sabotage President Trump’s reelection effort. Health emergencies are being declared around the country as the number of coronavirus cases increase. The interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is an indication of desperation. “Whether the agent comes from a deliberate biologic warfare attack, or the natural emergence of a novel virus, the results could be devastating,” notes the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness in a commentary on potential mass casualty events. Politically, Trump and the Republicans could be the casualties. Looking at modern warfare, Gordon Rattray Taylor had also predicted, “Some minor human epidemics might help. Even the common cold keeps people away from work. It might be ten years or more before it dawned on the health authorities that they were really being too unlucky with minor illnesses.” China is admittedly the source of this deadly disease, also known as COVID-19. However, the regime claims that attributing the virus to a biological weapons lab in the region is a “conspiracy theory” spread by “anti-China forces.” It is going after independent journalists and whistleblowers who dispute the regime’s version of events. Globally, the high-tech social media companies such as Facebook are playing into China’s hands by censoring content that the virus is a bioweapon. Also called by some the Xi virus, named after the Chinese dictator, the communist Chinese regime claims it somehow came out of a food market. Typical is the claim that the virus is thought to have originated from wild animals, probably bats. However, some counter-claims are getting out. National Taiwan University public health researcher Fang Chi-tai reportedly thinks it’s possible that China’s scientists were working on a virus more difficult to contain than SARS and that the likely source of the virus is the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The latest “official” information from the U.N.’s World Health Organization is that the coronavirus mortality rate has jumped to 3.4%, as compared to a mortality rate of less than 1% for the flu. SARS, another virus from China, had a mortality rate of 9.6 percent in 2003, but COVID-19 is believed to be far more contagious than SARS. By all accounts, the Communist regime has engaged in economic and military warfare against the United States. The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission was established “to review the national security implications of trade and economic ties between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.” One of the witnesses back in 2017 was Edward H. You, Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI’s Biological Countermeasures Unit in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. His job was described in one story as following “fast-moving developments in labs” and making sure “they don’t lead to a bio-attack.” But American scientist Dr. Steven Hatfill was one of the innocent victims of the FBI’s post-9/11 anthrax letters investigation, known officially as “Amerithrax.” The FBI had tried to blame Hatfill for the anthrax mailings before exonerating and paying him $6 million in financial damages. There was never any evidence indicating that Hatfill was anything other than a patriot who tried to help America prepare for the terrorist attacks that were blamed on him. A foreign connection, involving al Qaeda, was never seriously investigated by the FBI. The FBI eventually blamed the attack on another scientist. Robert S. Mueller, Russia-gate special counsel, was in charge of the FBI at the time. The threat today is so great that the Trump White House is working with Congress to get billions of more dollars for battling COVID-19 and other public health threats. But throwing more money at the Centers for Disease Control -- the “professionals” who failed to quickly develop a reliable coronavirus test -- is a smokescreen. Where are the hearings into the source of this virus and whether it had been weaponized by a Chinese lab? Is the FBI on the job, again? Unrestricted Warfare, a book on military strategy written in 1999 by two colonels in the People's Liberation Army, refers to the “new concepts of weapons,” including biological weapons. The book referred to financial attacks on nations by billionaire hedge fund operators such as George Soros, the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the disciples of the doomsday cult Aum Shinri Kyo, and attacks by Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden. To accentuate the current economic downturn, our media have played a familiar role. CNBC featured a “top economist” by the name of Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics saying a coronavirus pandemic could spark a deep recession and pose a “significant threat’’ to Trump’s reelection. What CNBC did not disclose is that Zandi is a Democrat who contributed to Hillary Clinton and said Trump's election in 2016 would itself cause a recession. Zandi’s June 17, 2016, report had claimed, “…the economy will be significantly weaker if Mr. Trump’s economic proposals are adopted” and that “Under the scenario in which all his stated policies become law in the manner proposed, the economy suffers a lengthy recession and is smaller at the end of his four-year term than when he took office.” Last October, however, he reversed himself, saying that Trump was a strong favorite to win a second term based on positive economic trends. But with a 10 percent correction in stock prices, “the picture changes dramatically and Democrats win under a typical turnout scenario,” he said. That has happened as a result of panic over the coronavirus. Trump’s reelection is now in question and Democratic Senate challengers are surging in the polls, threatening to take back the majority from the Republicans. Republican Senators in Colorado (Cory Gardner), Arizona (Martha McSally) and North Carolina (Thom Tillis) are all in serious trouble. Without Senate control, a reelected Trump would not be able to get his conservative judges approved. The stakes are high as the White House pursues a “Coronavirus Plan of Action.” Does that plan include moving to a war footing with the communist regime in Beijing? The National Defense Strategy already recognizes China as a major threat to U.S. security and prosperity. *Cliff Kincaid is president of America’s Survival, Inc. www.usasurvival.org Backing up the Chinese regime’s theory about the origins of the virus, observers such as Roy Pomeroy at Real Clear Science are insisting that “experts are pretty sure” the virus came out of a food market. In a separate article on why “novel and dangerous infectious diseases” emerge from China, he blamed the country’s low living and medical standards.
Likewise, our media say any talk about tracing the virus to the Wuhan lab is "fringe." Despite the reluctance of the American “free press” to hold China accountable, most Americans want the source of this virus identified. President Trump can and should demand answers. Why are they refusing to conduct a probe into this lab? March 03, 2020
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement For release at 10:00 a.m. EST The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals, the Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/2 percentage point, to 1 to 1‑1/4 percent. The Committee is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook and will use its tools and act as appropriate to support the economy. Voting for the monetary policy action were Jerome H. Powell, Chair; John C. Williams, Vice Chair; Michelle W. Bowman; Lael Brainard; Richard H. Clarida; Patrick Harker; Robert S. Kaplan; Neel Kashkari; Loretta J. Mester; and Randal K. Quarles. This is not a liberal or conservative issue.
As several outlets reported, coronavirus tests developed by CDC were flawed. Then, Rep. Mark Pocan has sent a letter to the CDC director demanding answers to why their website removed public data on the number of patients tested in the United States for the China virus. The New York Times asks: How is it possible that the world’s most medically advanced nation has struggled to diagnose this infection? Why weren’t more Americans tested sooner? How many may be carrying the virus now? Most disturbing of all: Did a failure to provide adequate testing give the coronavirus time to gain a toehold in the United States? Now, we need members holding China respnsible for the leak of this virus from a lab. State Department Acts Against Red Chinese Media
Institution of a Personnel Cap on Designated PRC State Media Entities 03/02/2020 01:12 PM EST Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State For years, the government of the People’s Republic of China has imposed increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment, and intimidation against American and other foreign journalists operating in China. President Trump has made clear that Beijing’s restrictions on foreign journalists are misguided. The U.S. government has long welcomed foreign journalists, including PRC journalists, to work freely and without threat of reprisal. The U.S. government is today instituting a personnel cap on certain PRC-controlled state media entities in the United States – specifically, the five entities that were designated by the U.S. State Department on February 18, 2020, as foreign missions of the People’s Republic of China. This cap limits the number of Chinese citizens permitted to work for these organizations in the United States at any given time. The cap applies to the five Chinese state media entities operating in the United States that have been designated as foreign missions, which recognizes that they are effectively controlled by the PRC government. Unlike foreign media organizations in China, these entities are not independent news organizations. The decision to implement this personnel cap is not based on any content produced by these entities, nor does it place any restrictions on what the designated entities may publish in the United States. Our goal is reciprocity. As we have done in other areas of the U.S.-China relationship, we seek to establish a long-overdue level playing field. It is our hope that this action will spur Beijing to adopt a more fair and reciprocal approach to U.S. and other foreign press in China. We urge the Chinese government to immediately uphold its international commitments to respect freedom of expression, including for members of the press. The Russian outlet RT is featuring this story: ‘We fought Russia 16 times and will fight it again,’ warns [Turkish President] Erdogan’s adviser amid Idlib escalation. The same story is also at Breaking Israel News.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: Good afternoon. The North Atlantic Council has just met, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria. Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. I spoke to the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last night about the situation in Syria. And he requested these consultations. Today Turkey briefed on the serious security situation in Syria. Allies offer their deepest condolences for the death of Turkish soldiers in last night’s bombing in Idlib. And expressed their full solidarity with Turkey. Allies condemn the continued indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia in Idlib province. I call on them to stop their offensive. To respect international law. And to back UN efforts for a peaceful solution.This dangerous situation must be deescalated and we urge an immediate return to the 2018 ceasefire. To avoid further worsening of the horrendous humanitarian situation in the region. And to allow urgent humanitarian access for those trapped in Idlib. Today’s meeting is a clear sign of solidarity with Turkey. Turkey is a valued NATO Ally and Turkey is the NATO Ally most affected by the terrible conflict in Syria, which has suffered the most terrorist attacks, and which hosts millions of refugees. NATO continues to support Turkey with a range of measures. Including by augmenting its air defences. This helps Turkey against the threat of missile attacks from Syria. I thank Turkey for briefing Allies regularly on the situation in Syria. Allies will continue to follow developments on the South-eastern border of NATO and to consult very closely. Lea Gabrielle, State Department special envoy and coordinator of the Global Engagement Center (GEC), told AFP that in the case of the Cornavirus "we were able to see their [the Russians'] full disinformation ecosystem in effect, including state TV, proxy web sites and thousands of false social media personas all pushing the same themes," including allegations that the virus is a US effort to “wage economic war on China”, that it is a biological weapon manufactured by the CIA or part of a Western-led effort “to push anti-China messages.” Ms. Gabrielle's bio says: Lea Gabrielle joins the State Department as Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center. She is a former Human Intelligence Operations Officer, Defense Foreign Liaison Officer, U.S. Navy Program Director, Navy F/A-18C Fighter Pilot, and national television news correspondent and anchor. While serving in the U.S. Intelligence Community, Ms. Gabrielle was a CIA-trained Human Intelligence Operations Officer, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). She directed and conducted global clandestine strategic intelligence collection operations. Ms. Gabrielle also deployed in tactical anti-terrorist operations in hostile environments with Naval Special Warfare (SEALs), conducting independent operations in support of Tier One Forces. Ms. Gabrielle later served as Director of a U.S. Navy sensitive intelligence program. Prior to becoming an intelligence operations officer, Ms. Gabrielle was a Defense Foreign Liaison Officer for the Office of International Engagements, DIA. In this foreign diplomacy role, Ms. Gabrielle was a Department of Defense principal contact with foreign Defense Attachés, organizing international military cooperation and information-sharing operations between these attachés and U.S. Government leaders. Ms. Gabrielle began her public service in the U.S. Navy as an aircraft carrier-based F/A-18C fighter pilot, flying combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq in Operations Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch. After 12 years of active duty service, Ms. Gabrielle became a television news journalist at NBC News, and most recently served as a correspondent and frequent anchor for the FOX News Channel and Fox Business Network. Ms. Gabrielle is a U.S. Naval Academy Graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She is thrilled to be returning to her roots in U.S. Government service and to be able to apply her extensive national security and diplomacy experience to U.S. foreign policy as the U.S. State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center. The State Department is Winning for America
02/28/2020 03:22 PM EST Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State American Conservative Union Foundation Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center National Harbor, Maryland SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. (Applause and cheers.) Thank you – thank you so much. This is awesome. This is awesome. I – so I survived an introduction by my wife. That’s good. (Laughter.) And I just left the Oval Office; I survived that, too. (Laughter.) And the President – I told the President where I was going. I said, “I got to go. I got to get over there. The people are all waiting for me.” And I said, “I’ve got to defend America’s foreign policy.” He says, “Oh, that’ll be easy.” (Laughter.) Look, I am thrilled to be here at the largest conservative gathering in the country – except every Trump rally. (Applause.) And you should all know I was going to pass out copies tonight, but I heard Nance the Ripper is still on the loose. So – (laughter). So no hard copies of my remarks. (Applause.) Let me start with a simple question – I think I know the answer: Can anyone in this room remember a better time to be an American conservative? (Applause and cheers.) We are safer than ever, our economy is more prosperous than ever, and President Trump will not stop winning. (Applause.) It’s what a lot of folks have been working on for a long time. And you’ve heard from Susan, not so many years ago, Susan and I were right there beside you. We were working our tails off as grassroots volunteers trying to get good candidates elected. Sue Schlapp, who introduced my wife, was running for city council in Wichita. We did our best to help her be successful. (Applause.) She was a great city councilperson. But we did what you all do. We donated to causes that we believed in. With most of our time, we raised our family, we taught fifth grade Sunday school together. That was great practice for my current job. (Laughter.) Look, we were active in our church – typical deplorable stuff. (Laughter.) As I was thinking about this group and what I would say today, I thought: When I was where you are, what would I like to have heard from a Secretary of State back then? What would I have liked to have known? How does the State Department spend your money, taxpayer money? What does the Secretary do all day to advance America’s interests and its values? How did that guy get the job? (Laughter.) I can’t answer the last question, but I’m going to tackle the first two with you all today. I want to talk about how under President Trump’s leadership, the State Department is winning for America once again. (Applause.) We have 74,000 people. We have embassies in 192 countries that go from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. On a daily basis, the State Department does everything from helping American companies be successful abroad and do deals. We screen visa applicants to keep America safe. We forge new alliances. And if you lose your passport, come see me. But apart from that daily work, apart from the core, President Trump and I have set a few overarching principles about what we need to do in the world, and the things that we do not need to do. Simple mission – this may sound trite – but we have to keep America safe. (Applause.) This may seem obvious. And we have – President Trump has constructed a foreign policy around government’s most basic mission, national security. That’s what we were protecting when we launched the strike that killed the terrorist who had murdered and maimed hundreds of Americans. (Applause.) It’s really been my honor to help President Trump rid the world not just of Qasem Soleimani, but of other truly demonic, evil people. (Applause.) Qasim al-Raymi was a founder and leader of al-Qaida. He’s gone. (Applause.) Hamza bin Ladin, the son of Usama bin Ladin, a rising figure in al-Qaida – gone. (Applause.) And of course, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS – gone. (Applause.) And can we all agree that the world is a better place because these people are gone? (Applause.) When it comes to these missions, it’s not just the State Department. I’m part of a big team. I’m in constant contact with our Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who happens to be a college classmate of mine. Our intelligence head, my former deputy, Gina Haspel, is running the CIA. General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a great American and my neighbor. In fact, the only key member of our team that I don’t know well is that German shepherd, and I’m going to get to know him. (Laughter.) It’s a remarkable team that the President has, that he has put together to help deliver President Trump’s foreign policy. A second priority that I have set and the President’s set is to advance American values. That includes defending that first freedom: religious liberty. (Applause.) Some people look at the killings of Christians in the Middle East – or the imprisonment of Uighur Muslims, ethnic Kazakhs, other believers in China – and say, “Look, that’s not our problem.” But I say, and President Trump says, oh yes it is. It’s our problem. Because the God that has blessed this country as the standard bearer for religious freedom is important everywhere. (Applause.) Nations that respect this right are freer, more prosperous, more secure, and more stable. And if we don’t defend religious freedom, no one else will. It’s why President Trump has made this incredibly central to what it is we are trying to achieve. (Applause.) I’ll give you another great example. It’s why, under President Trump’s leadership, we have aligned United States assistance, American aid with American values by reinstating the Mexico City Policy that prohibits one single dollar of yours for going to an abortion anywhere in the world. (Applause.) President Trump understands deeply that abortion isn’t a human right; it takes a human life. And there’s another common sense, core American value President Trump has injected into our foreign policy: taking care of our own. It’s why we have all worked so hard to liberate American hostages. (Applause.) One of my proudest moments, and I know the President’s too, it’s part of our idea that says our foreign policy will have realism, restraint, and respect. This mission stands out. One of my first big tasks as the Secretary of State was to get a handful of Americans home from North Korea. (Applause.) We flew to North Korea, we negotiated them out, we made the long flight home. When Kim Dong-chul, Kim Hak-song, and Tony Kim got off that airplane it was about 2:30 a.m. not far from here, Joint Air Base Andrews, they cried tears of joy. You’ll remember the pictures, President Trump and Melania were on the tarmac to meet them. As they were getting off the plane, one of them handed me a card. I put it in my suit pocket as they were making their way towards the crowd. When I got home that night, I saw Susan, I pulled out the card, and on that index card was Psalm 126. It read as follows. It said, “When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. And then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Amen to that. (Applause.) Many of the hostages I’ve released we have not been able to make public. There is nothing I’m more proud of than the priority President Trump has made of bringing home every American, and we’ve had lots of success. (Applause.) So that’s the mission of the State Department. How do I spend my time advancing it? You should know that it’s different, different Secretaries kind of roll different. I’m not in it for the fancy dinners in Paris or Switzerland or Vienna. I’ve only been to those places twice during my time on the job. One of my predecessors went 62 times. (Laughter.) That, my friends, is a lot of cocktails. (Laughter.) He also went to Antarctica, and I don’t know who he was negotiating with there. (Laughter.) Look, I’d rather go be with my team in tough places, places that present hardship to the young men and women who are serving as diplomats all across the world. (Applause.) Even as we stand here today, even as we stand here today, we have people in China, people in Kabul, and Luanda, Angola, and Baghdad. These are often places secretaries don’t go as frequently – places like Hungary and Iceland, Belarus, and Paraguay. When I go to these places, I get a chance to thank my team that is delivering America’s value set all across the world alongside our brothers and sisters in the Department of Defense. It is an incredible privilege for me to be part of that. (Applause.) And when I meet with leaders, it’s – I’m pretty much just Mike. I live by a code that I learned why Susan talked about it, and I learned this at West Point: Just tell the truth. Shoot straight. They prefer it. It’s the way President Trump operates as well. I set clear expectations for what it means to be on America’s side. I ask our partners to step up on the biggest challenges we face, whether that is countering the Islamic Republic of Iran, countering China, restoring democracy in Venezuela. You could see President Trump’s mission set. You can see his heart in our foreign policy. We are countering the face of oppression around the world. This was a value that we all know from the enormous successes we had under President Reagan and when the Iron Curtain fell when I was a young cavalry officer. Another part of shooting straight is being honest with yourself. You have to tell – you have to be clear about what you can do and what you can’t. No foreign policy that is built on fantasy ever works. It’s what we have had to correct in our time. (Applause.) Under previous administrations, our nation signed dangerous agreements that made Americans less safe, like the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Accord, and bad trade deals. People said these things couldn’t be fixed. Previous administrations were proud of themselves for these agreements. They got to go to the ribbon cutting and the signing. But everyone knows this – the point is changing behavior, not signing documents. (Applause.) If there is no compliance, or if the agreements were flawed, you’ve got to get out of them. They’re just ink and paper. And so we did. President Trump’s a smart business leader. We changed course. We renegotiated terms. We got better deals for each and every one of you. (Applause.) Now, our success depends on who you ask. If you ask the media, maybe not so much. (Laughter.) If you ask our friends (inaudible) I was at a hearing today where they said President Trump’s foreign policy was a failure. But remember, these are the same people who said for years that we could never achieve exactly what we’ve done. (Applause.) They said – and I’ve read it. They said, well, you can never successfully confront China on trade. We have a phase one trade deal. (Applause.) They said you can never get Mexico to control its border. And there are thousands of Mexican troops helping us stop the crossings. (Applause.) They said you’d never defeat ISIS. And the caliphate is gone. (Applause.) And they said we’d never free Pastor Brunson from his prison in Turkey. And he’s home. (Applause.) They said Mexico and Canada will never renegotiate their deal. (Laughter.) They said the North Koreans would never engage in a conversation about their nuclear weapons program. They said they’d never release their hostages and that we couldn’t get the remains of our soldiers home. And we’ve done that. (Applause.) They said that pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal would lead to runaway proliferation. But it’s restored deterrence. And they said taking out Qasem Soleimani would lead to World War III. And it’s actually made our world far safer. (Applause.) We should – it’s easy to forget, but they said that moving our embassy to Jerusalem would set the Middle East alight. That didn’t happen. And our plan represents the best chance for peace in decades. (Applause and cheers.) I could go on, but time is short and winning is exhausting. (Laughter.) And while I know fatigue and stress is definitely part of my job, I know too – Susan reminded you I’m the 70th Secretary of State. I know President Trump is the 45th president, more turnover in my gig. (Laughter.) I wanted to leave you with one last thought. I am frequently challenged by those who disagree with our foreign policy. They ask questions such as, “Why is it okay for America to intervene between two countries with nuclear weapons?” Or, “Why does America care who’s elected the next leader in Venezuela?” And so on. I answer this way, typically. I’ve traveled a bit and I’ve spent significant and necessary time with evil individuals who have American blood on their hands. And I’ve also hugged and held children in every corner of the world. In both instances, they know the answer to those questions. They know America under President Trump means business. They know that America is a force for good. (Applause.) It does not mean – it does not mean we get it right every day. But I can assure you – I can assure you – that wherever I go, working for President Trump, people tug on my sleeves. They want to meet me. They want to meet me not because I’m Mike from Kansas, because I represent the greatest nation in the history of civilization. (Applause and cheers.) It is my honor – it is my honor to represent each and every one of you every day. Thank you for what you’re doing to keep this country exceptional. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.) January 31. Trump action on infected foreigners: Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
Excerpt: During Fiscal Year 2019, an average of more than 14,000 people traveled to the United States from China each day, via both direct and indirect flights. The United States Government is unable to effectively evaluate and monitor all of the travelers continuing to arrive from China. The potential for widespread transmission of the virus by infected individuals seeking to enter the United States threatens the security of our transportation system and infrastructure and the national security. Given the importance of protecting persons within the United States from the threat of this harmful communicable disease, I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to take action to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of all aliens who were physically present within the People’s Republic of China, excluding the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. I have also determined that the United States should take all necessary and appropriate measures to facilitate orderly medical screening and, where appropriate, quarantine of persons allowed to enter the United States who may have been exposed to this virus. |