Suggested Discussion Outline

[johnkarls]

.

Suggested Discussion Outline


Links and citations to our meeting materials (original proposal, short quiz answers, seven participant comments and one reference material) are omitted.

After all, reading all of them comprises less material than a typical focus book when we have one.



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Sec. A – Nuclear Non-Proliferation Background

1. The Nunn-Lugar Act (aka The Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991) to provide funding and expertise for de-commissioning nuclear/biological/chemical weapons of the former Soviet Socialist Republics as agreed under treaties such as Salt-1.

2. “Last Best Chance” (2005) movie starring Tom Brokaw as himself, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga and long-time Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee) as himself, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind and long-time Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) as himself, and starring as fictitious U.S. President Charles Ross – former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN 1994-2003) whose Senate career was sandwiched by 55 acting credits per IMDb (including The Hunt For Red October (1990) and Secretariat (2010) in addition to 140 TV episodes 2002-2007 as District Attorney Arthur Branch for Law & Order).

3. Tim Russert’s 5/29/2005 “Meet The Press” interview of Nunn, Lugar, Kean, Hamilton & Thompson on the occasion of the release of “Last Best Chance” – which per IMDb was a “Thriller about governments around the world racing to attempt to stop a terrorist organization from gaining loose nuclear weapons and supplies before it's too late.” [Its purpose was to support HKS Founding Dean Graham Allison’s “Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe” (Times Books 8/9/2004) – please see next point.]

4. Harvard Kennedy School Founding Dean Graham Allison’s “Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe” (Times Books 8/9/2004) on how to deal with Osama bin Laden’s fatwā to nuke 4 million Americans (Osama had increased the number to 10 million Americans by the 5/29/2005 Meet the Press interview).

5. Congress rejected Dean Allison’s proposal to keep track of all the world’s fissile material the meticulous way we used to keep track of gold at Fort Knox.

6. Congress chose instead to combat nuclear terrorism with FISA Sec. 702’s extraordinary grant of power to our intelligence services to spy on terrorists, including their communications with American citizens. AND WITH FISA SEC. 702’S GRANT OF AUTHORITY TO SPY ON ANY AMERICAN FOR A 12-MONTH PERIOD WITHOUT A WARRANT PROVIDED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OR THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DECLARED AN “EMERGENCY” (WHICH, PRESUMABLY, COULD BE RENEWED EVERY 12 MONTHS WITH A NEW AG/DNI DECLARATION).

7. That is why on at least 3 occasions (the most recent when FISA Sec. 702 came up for renewal) we focused on "Authoritarian Rule By Our Intelligence Services."


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Sec. B – A Tale Of Four Nations – Message to the World: Any Country Would Be INSANE To Give Up Its Nukes

1. On 12/26/1991, the leaders of the three largest “Soviet Socialist Republics” – Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – declared that the USSR no longer existed and the remaining 11 “Soviet Socialist Republics” joined them shortly thereafter in recognizing that all of the SSR’s were now independent.

2. By way of background, the USSR was bankrupt and, for example, its military serving in occupied Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc.) were selling their weapons (including the notorious 132 suitcase-size nukes, 84 of which have never been recovered) in order to avoid starvation because the USSR couldn’t afford to pay them.

3. The dissolution left Ukraine with 1,900 multiple-warhead nuclear missiles.

4. Ukraine had had its share of USSR nuclear scientists and the USSR military had contained enough Ukrainian nuclear-missile techies that Ukraine would have had no trouble in remaining the world’s THIRD-largest nuclear power – behind the U.S. and Russia BUT AHEAD OF Britain, France, China, etc.

5. However, as a new “world citizen,” Ukraine signaled its willingness to surrender its 1,900 multiple-warhead nuclear missiles and its nuclear-weapons program IF ITS INDEPENDENCE AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY WERE GUARANTEED.

6. On 12/5/1994, President Bill Clinton for the U.S., Prime Minister John Major for the U.K., and President Boris Yeltsin for Russia signed an agreement GUARANTEEING UKRAINE’S INDEPENDENCE AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY if Ukraine would surrender its 1,900 multiple-warhead nuclear missiles and its nuclear-weapons program – which Ukraine promptly did.

Nation No. 1 – Ukraine

1. President Obama Dis-Honored President Clinton’s Solemn 12/5/1994 Agreement. In Feb/March 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine – annexing the Crimean Peninsula and asserting permanent control over the Donbas Region of Eastern Ukraine. President Obama refused, in effect, to “lift a finger” – providing Ukraine with ONLY NON-LETHAL AID in the form of blankets and pillows!!!

2. President Biden Is Dis-Honoring President Clinton’s Solemn 12/5/1994 Agreement. He has long since ruled out any military response to the new Russian invasion and constantly rules out such things as Ukraine’s request for a “no fly zone” and Poland’s offer to give 28 MIG 29’s to Ukraine.

Nation No. 2 – Libya

1. Abdul Qadeer Khan (aka A.Q. Khan, and aka “Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb”) provided all Pakistan’s nuclear-bomb technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. He was prosecuted in 2004 in order to appease President Bush, but freed 2/6/2009 as soon as Bush left office. Recognized throughout his life as a Pakistani national hero, he was given a “state funeral” 10/10/2021.

2. In December 2003, when it had become clear that A.Q. Khan had provided Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi with a nascent nuclear-weapons program, Qaddifi agreed (like Ukraine in 1994 but without any formal agreement) to surrender his program.

3. The result of Qaddafi’s STUPIDITY??? In 2011, Obama “green lighted” Britain’s and Italy’s program to colonize Libya’s oil industry with a military invasion which would have been impossible without U.S. military support. Obama dismembered Libya and it has been an Al Qaeda “hot bed” ever since.

[What was Obama thinking??? “Muammar al-Qaddafi” means Muammar, Head of the Quaddaf’s, and the land under Libya’s largest tribe contains all the oil!!!]

Nation No. 3 – North Korea

1. As noted above, Abdul Qadeer Khan (aka A.Q. Khan, and aka “Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb”) provided all Pakistan’s nuclear-bomb technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya.

2. Kim Jong-il (Supreme Leader of North Korea 1994-2011) KEPT HIS NERVE!!!

3. He was NOT STUPID like Qadaffi in 2003 (and Ukraine in 1994)!!!

4. He proceeded to develop successfully North Korea’s nuclear-weapons & nuclear-missile programs.

Nation No. 4 - Iran

1. As noted above, Abdul Qadeer Khan (aka A.Q. Khan, and aka “Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb”) provided all Pakistan’s nuclear-bomb technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya.

2. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Supreme Leader of Iran since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989) was also NOT STUPID like Qadaffi in 2003 (and Ukraine in 1994)!!!

3. He kept his nerve and continued to develop Iran’s nuclear program – indeed, news reports of many North Korean nuclear tests record that Iran’s nuclear scientists were prominent observers at the North Korean tests. [Even provoking speculation that some of the nukes tested were Iranian.]

4. Ayatollah Khamenei was shrewd enough to permit Obama to enter into the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal (aka JCPOA) which – (A) did NOT provide for “anytime anywhere” inspections, (B) did NOT impede at all Iran’s development of nuclear-capable short-range and inter-continental ballistic missiles (which are typically launched with such slogans painted on their sides as “Death to Israel” and “Death to the Big Satan” aka the United States – BTW, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has often, even in the wake of the JCPOA, led crowds in chants of “Death to America”), and (C) did GUARANTEE Iran nuclear weapons by 2030.

5. Biden is attempting to grovel his way back into the JCPOA without any corrections!!! With Russia and China as his negotiators with Iran!!!

6. Unfortunately, Biden destroyed America’s “energy independence” that he inherited. And in order to TRY to control inflation which is largely driven by ballooning world oil prices, Biden “green lighted” Iran’s producing oil “flat out”!!!

7. Is it any wonder that Iran’s JCPOA negotiators announced in the wake of that “green lighting” that any and all concessions made to date for permitting Biden to grovel his way back into the JCPOA are now “off the table”!!!

8. Biden’s apparent attitude??? Israel be damned!!! So what if Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei loves to proclaim every chance he gets, that Israel is only a “one bomb” state!!! And so what if Israel’s current population of 9.5 million exceeds the number of 6 million Jews killed in the World War II “holocaust”???


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Sec. C – “Real Politik” Implications For Biden’s Failure To Honor America’s Guarantee to Ukraine

1. China invading Taiwan.

2. Iran (the U.S. State Department’s long-time and still currently-designated as required by the U.S. Code, “No. 1 State Sponsor of Terrorism”) acquiring nukes AS GUARANTEED BY 2030 BY THE JCPOA (aka Iran Nuclear Deal).

3. Nuclear arms race in the Middle East as the “Gulf State Six” (aka Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, and Oman) all “nuke up” to meet the Iranian threat. [NB: Saudi and the Emirates no longer take calls from Biden – the White House claims it hasn’t tried to call either since early February but that only raises the question “WHY DOESN’T BIDEN WANT TO TALK TO THEM???”!!!]

4. NATO itself – since our obligation to Ukraine was a MUCH HIGHER moral and legal obligation than our NATO obligation.

[After all, we did NOT dupe any of the NATO countries into surrendering the means to defend themselves AND many (if not most) of the NATO countries do NOT spend 2% of their GDP on defense which is the minimum requirement for receiving our protection.]


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Sec. D – Propaganda From Biden Apologists

1. Biden was smart to let Ukrainians be killed/raped/tortured in order to rally world public opinion!!!

[Query whether this was a conscious decision???]

[Query whether Biden would let French citizens be killed/raped/tortured in order to rally world public opinion – RATHER THAN HONORING OUR NATO OBLIGATION???]

2. We can’t do too much to help Ukraine FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING PUTIN!!!

3. The Ukrainians are too stupid to realize that a “no fly zone” won’t really help Ukraine!!!

4. The Ukrainians are too stupid to realize that 28 MIG-29’s from Poland won’t really help Ukraine!!!

5. 1st Pres. Bush’s “Chicken Kiev Speech” – endorsing Putin’s propaganda!!!

6. The Minsk “Agreements” – endorsing Putin’s propaganda!!!

7. Others???


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Sec. E – Quo Vadis (the Latin title of MGM’s 1951 epic movie meaning “Where Do We Go From Here")


E-1. Do you agree Pres. Biden is hopeless?

E-1-a. Isn’t he constantly ruling things out for fear Putin might be offended? And has to be “dragged, screaming and kicking” to do anything?

E-1-b. Didn’t he refuse to impose any sanctions before the invasion, claiming they must be held back as a “deterrent”?

E-1-c. Didn’t he really hold then back because, when they were finally unveiled following the invasion, they were laughable? And then he claimed it would take 30 days to determine whether they had any effect? [NB: 30 days is long after U.S. intelligence predicted Ukraine would be conquered!!!]

E-1-d. Doesn’t he seem pitiful when almost every day as a new Russian atrocity comes to light, he claims that yet another sanction or two will make Putin “really pay the price”??? If so, why weren’t such sanctions on the original list???


E-2. Isn’t it true that the only sanction that “passes the laugh test” would be a worldwide boycott of Russian oil & gas?

E-2-a. Since oil is fungible, isn’t an oil boycott like punching a pillow and seeing the volume remains the same – you’ve just changed the shape of the pillow?

E-2-b. Doesn’t the CIA’s World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/ ... a/#economy) show that the overwhelming value of Russian exports is from oil & gas? Isn’t this why the late Sen. John McCain loved to call Russia “a gas station masquerading as a country?

E-2-c. Don’t most of Russia’s oil & gas exports currently go to Europe?


E-3. Weaning Europe from Russian oil & gas expeditiously

E-3-a. Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk (as widely reported earlier this week) claim that Europe used to obtain much, if not most, of its energy from nuclear plants?

E-3-b. Indeed, haven’t we studied in the past that France not only obtained virtually all of its energy from nuclear but even used to export nuclear-generated electricity to the rest of Europe?

E-3-c. Did Germany turn its back completely on nuclear – substituting Russian natural gas via the in-operation Nordstream-1 pipeline and the nearing-completion Nordstream-2 pipeline in addition to buying Russian crude oil & refined products?

E-3-d. Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk (as widely reported earlier this week) claim that Europe, IF IT WOULD SO DEIGN, could cut Russian oil & gas imports DRASTICALLY and IMMEDIATELY by simply turning its moth-balled nuclear plants back on?


E-4. Possible Targets for an E-mail Campaign Based on Elon Musk’s Proposal

E-4-a. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union’s Executive Cabinet

[NB: As we have studied in the past, the European Union is a highly-NON-democratic institution since the Executive Cabinet (aka, together with its indirectly-elected President, as the “European Commission”) is the only E.U. component with power to initiate legislation (in other words, the EU’s so-called European Parliament is impotent to initiate legislation).]

E-4-b. General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General


E-5. Secondary Boycott Aimed At Russian Oil & Gas Exports

E-5-a. Russia could easily export its oil to other countries with only a slight economic penalty for the longer transportation required

E-5-b. Russia could, at a significant economic penalty compared to pipelines, liquefy its natural gas for transportation in LNG tankers

E-5-c. How could we foster a secondary boycott of countries taking Russian oil & gas via E-1 and E-2?

E-5-d. How would such a secondary boycott be structured??? “Real” sanctions against purchasers of Russian oil & gas???