Home Ken's Thoughts Of The Week National Security Challenges Abound in 2022 – Ken’s Thought of the Week

National Security Challenges Abound in 2022 – Ken’s Thought of the Week

Kenneth Abramowitz

December 27, 2021

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Quote of the Week:

Threat Analyst Ken Abramowitz
is author of “The Multifront War”

Editor: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, President,
American Center for Democracy (ACD)

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By the end of 2021, President Biden’s first year in office, the United States was reeling from three national security fiascos that he created and that both weakened the country and emboldened its numerous adversaries:

1) The Biden administration botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan. They deserted the country prematurely and unnecessarily, leaving 40 million Afghans to the barbaric Islamist rule of the Taliban and the criminal gangs of the Haqqani Network. The Biden administration also abandoned thousands of Americans, 60,000 Afghan friends and allies, $85 billion worth of sophisticated military equipment, and the strategically positioned Bagram Air Force Base.

2) The Biden administration illegally opened the U.S. southern border in 2021 to at least two million illegal migrants from over 100 countries, many of whom have been transferred at night, using the cover of darkness, to many states without notifying the local governments.

Who are these illegal migrants? Where are they from? Do they speak English? How many are seeking to contribute to the economy? How many are simply seeking government handouts? How many are criminals? Gang members? Terrorists? What kind of diseases do they carry, in addition to COVID?

The American people aren’t able to answer these questions because the Biden administration hasn’t revealed what, if anything, it knows. However, the upkeep of these and possibly millions more will burden the American taxpayers for decades.

3) The Biden administration has been wrong on every major domestic and foreign policy decision. Yet, it routinely denies the mistakes, spinning them to claim its actions are good for America. The Biden Administration’s incompetence, which it always blames on others, is worse than that of any previous administration. In less than one year, it has weakened America from within, and dramatically undermined its Super-Power status in the world.

Who is likely to take advantage of this newly and deliberately weakened America and the Biden administration’s ineptitude?

1) Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, has long desired to take control over Ukraine, which, he claims, “is not even a state!” Putin justifies this statement, pointing out that the origins of the Russian state, go back to 9th century Kyiv (then called Kievan Rus) . He has often stated that Russians and Ukrainians “are one people”.

Putin wants to protect Russia’s western border from European “pro-democracy” influences and NATO forces in Eastern Europe. He has already sent more than 100,000 Russian troops to Russia’s border with Ukraine. The Biden administration threatened to impose heavy sanctions if he invades Ukraine. However, Biden’s performance thus far has not been much of a deterrence. If Putin doesn’t invade Ukraine in 2022, it will not be because he fears Biden’s response.

2) Chinese President Xi Jinping has long sought to take over the Republic of China (ROC), known as Taiwan, as have previous leaders of communist China. Since Biden entered office, Xi has escalated his threats to take over Taiwan. He, like his communist predecessors, claims it belongs to China, although the island, which is just 100 miles away, has never been part of the communist People’s Republic of China. Taiwan, whose 95% of the population consists of Han Chinese, is a democracy with a successful free-market economy, and a leader in high technology, semiconductor manufacturing, and petrochemicals.

Since the Biden administration has been slow to react to Xi’s growing aggression, Xi may decide to attack Taiwan in 2022. Taiwan is small and not sufficiently equipped to properly counter a Chinese offensive.

3) Iran’s dictator since 1989 is the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who has repeatedly asserted in public that no one and nothing could stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons to eliminate its enemies. The U.S. (Big Satan) and the Jewish State of Israel (Small Satan), are at the top of his ‘elimination’ list. In the meantime, Iran is rapidly developing its uranium and plutonium enrichment programs, and using them to threaten the Middle East and beyond.

The Biden administration’s continuing efforts to appease Iran has already facilitated Teheran’s rapid enrichment of uranium in quantities that would soon be enough to assemble nuclear warheads for long-range ballistic missiles.

At the same time, Iran has also increased its support for radical Islamist terrorist organizations, such as Hezballah and Hamas, without criticism or recrimination from the Biden administration.

As a former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Obama’s Vice President, Biden has been busy placating Iran. And he declared his intentions to negotiate with Iran, even before he entered the Oval Office. His unprecedented display of weakness during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, together with his visible incompetence on all other foreign and domestic policies, may well encourage Iran to increase aggression in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

2022 is shaping up to be an historically challenging year. The forces of evil are rising, while the U.S. is holding back, and the Europeans seem unwilling or incapable of doing what is necessary to protect themselves from enemies within and without. Only Israel is preparing to defend itself.

But little Israel cannot save Western civilization by itself. The U.S. and Europe had better wake up and get ready to protect and defend their Western democratic cultures and systems, so they can safely thwart the brewing conflicts.