Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani delivered remarks today at the U.N. discussing the difference between U.S. President Donald Trump’s current strategy and the failed policy of former President Obama.
Two key differences underline the optimism of Ghani: #1) President Trump listened to what the region needed for stability; and #2) The Trump Doctrine of appropriately placing responsibility on Pakistan due to their enabling conduct with the extremist Taliban.

(Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategy to win the war in Afghanistan will work where his predecessor’s failed because the Afghan army is stronger and Trump wants a regional approach and a harder line with Pakistan.
Ghani also said that former President Barack Obama “did not have a partner in Afghanistan,” implicitly criticizing former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who frequently disdained U.S. policy and the U.S.-led international military force.

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President Donald Trump meets with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and highlights the message that the ongoing goal of Israeli-Palestinian peace remains vital to regional stability.

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CTH readers are entirely clear-eyed as to the scope of the challenge. No-one amid our association is naive to the seemingly impossible scale against the backdrop of history. It may be that their task is impossible. Yet, if they do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if they do not try, it most certainly won’t be done…
There is absolutely no doubt of the work that has been going on for months, quietly, mostly under the radar. National media are completely deficient for not covering the ongoing events and the diplomacy that has been taking place all year.
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[…]  The United States of America has been among the greatest forces for good in the history of the world, and the greatest defenders of sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all.
Now we are calling for a great reawakening of nations, for the revival of their spirits, their pride, their people, and their patriotism.  ~ U.S. President Donald J Trump

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world leaders, and distinguished delegates: Welcome to New York. It is a profound honor to stand here in my home city, as a representative of the American people, to address the people of the world.
As millions of our citizens continue to suffer the effects of the devastating hurricanes that have struck our country, I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to every leader in this room who has offered assistance and aid. The American people are strong and resilient, and they will emerge from these hardships more determined than ever before.
Fortunately, the United States has done very well since Election Day last November 8th. The stock market is at an all-time high — a record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years, and because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back, creating job growth the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long time. And it has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700 billion on our military and defense.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly today in New York.
In a brief joint press availability President Trump stated an optimistic outlook, “an absolute go”, toward the potential for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

CTH readers will note the ongoing quiet diplomacy that has been a foundational block of the Trump administration from day-one.   In an under-reported recent development Hamas has agreed to hand Gaza to a unity government of the Palestinian Authority.
Those who follow the mid-east closely will note the need for Hamas and the P.A. to align in singular voice was a precondition to the stabilization efforts of Egypt when President Fattah al-Sisi negotiated cease-fire terms in 2014.  President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were cut-out from the conversation that eventually led to that cease-fire.
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Things are going swimmingly, strategically, seemingly according to plan.  When the full measure of history allows time to review, observers will note the strategic victory was achieved on August 5th, 2017; that’s the original date when Russia and China agreed to the U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea.  That first, historic, Russia and China U.N. Security Council vote against North Korea came as a result of eight months of assembled economic leverage created by President Donald Trump.
As a result of this ongoing strategy, every time North Korea’s Kim Jong-un takes an action, President Trump hits China’s Xi Jinping with an additional economic squeeze.  As Beijing feels the squeeze, they tell Kim Jong-un to act. Every time Kim Jong-un acts, President Trump squeezes Beijing with more economic pressure.  Wash-Rinse-Repeat.
Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable cycle. The only way out of the box is to concede and lay the DPRK defeat at the feet of Kim Jong-un.  The conceding will evidence itself when Beijing inevitably calls for ‘Six Party Talks‘.  Today:

(Via Associated Press) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says his country will “fully and completely” abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions on North Korea.
Wang told reporters Wednesday China would work with other members of the council on how best to react to North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday.
He says, “We will make a necessary response.”

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United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, recently visited the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to review the ongoing JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) as they continue to monitor Iran’s nuclear program.
Ambassador Haley outlined a summary of the IAEA meeting and fielded additional questions about North Korea and Venezuela.  She will be traveling to Washington DC on Monday to brief President Trump and Secretary Tillerson.

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As you might note from her remarks (see below), Ambassador Haley is keenly aware of the uniqueness, and effectiveness, of President Trump’s economic approach toward regional national security issues – specifically as it pertains to the recently announced Venezuela sanctions. Strong concise statements. Strong, short, effective and deliberate answers.
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President Donald Trump –  “Thank you very much. Thank you. Please be seated. Vice president Pence, Secretary of State Tillerson, members of the cabinet, General Dunford, Deputy Secretary Shanahan, and Colonel Duggan. Most especially, thank you to the men and women of Fort Meyer and every member of the United States military at home and abroad. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who were injured and lost after a tragic collision at sea as well as to those conducting the search and recovery efforts.
“I am here tonight to lay out our path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia. But before I provide the details of our new strategy, I want to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight. To those watching from their posts, and to all Americans listening at home. Since the founding of our republic, our country has produced a special class of heroes whose selflessness, courage, and resolve is unmatched in human history.
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Tonight from Fort Myer, Virginia, President Trump is scheduled to address the nation and outline his administration’s national security policy toward the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, and larger regional issues.
The national speech will be covered by most cable news outlets and is scheduled for 9:00pm EDT.
RSBN Livestream link – Fox10 Livestream Link – Alternate Livestream Link

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By now most discerning political followers have identified the ideological source of the attacks against HR McMaster.  A widely diverse community of domestic America-Second interests that have come together, in common ideological purpose, to attack President Trump’s National Security Advisor.
Sadly these interests often use the divisive label of antisemitism to attack people behind policies they disagree with.  It is an unfortunate, albeit historically predictable, approach.  Specifically because of the agenda behind these attacks, last night President Trump delivered support for McMaster noting the NSA head’s support for Israel.

“General McMaster and I are working very well together.  He is a good man and very pro–Israel. I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country.”
~ President Donald Trump, August 4th, 2017

Today, the Times of Israel also comes to McMaster’s defense by pointing out that officials within Israel are well aware that HR McMaster supports the pro-Israel viewpoints of the Trump administration:

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman meets with US National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster on May 22, 2017.

(ISRAEL) Israeli officials responded to mounting allegations that US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is anti-Israel, saying that these were blatantly false and he was a staunch supporter of the Jewish state.
“Anyone who meets McMaster among us and is in contact with him is constantly impressed by how pro-Israeli he is,” an unnamed Israeli security official told the Haaretz daily on Saturday. “The connection with him is excellent.”

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Dangerous/Sketchy – An Inspector General investigation into a military recruitment program for non-Americans with foreign language skills has resulted in a dangerous level of foreign infiltration by potential terrorists.  Some of the dangerous recruits, potentially terrorists, are now “missing” and “unaccounted for”.

“The program has been replete with problems, to include foreign infiltration.”

(Via Fox News) Defense Department investigators have discovered “potential security risks” in a Pentagon program that has enrolled more than 10,000 foreign-born individuals into the U.S. armed forces since 2009, Fox News has learned exclusively, with sources on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon expressing alarm over “foreign infiltration” and enrollees now unaccounted for.

After more than a year of investigation, the Pentagon’s inspector general recently issued a report – its contents still classified but its existence disclosed here for the first time – identifying serious problems with Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI), a DOD program that provides immigrants and non-immigrant aliens with an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for military service.

Defense Department officials said the program is still active but acknowledged that new applications have been suspended.
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