Pelosi: Democrats Stand By The IMF

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

Despite the uncertainties that Congressional Republican leaders have on the efficacy of the reform of the International Monetary Fund, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is adamant that “The IMF will have a strong support from the Democrats.”

Pelosi defended the international organization today at her weekly press conference where she also mentioned the success of her recent bipartisan trip to China.

House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Minority Whip Eric Cantormay, backed by other House Representatives who fear that Democrats are fusing two very different entities, the IMF and a bill, together, said that "Weighing down this critical legislation with non-defense spending will only drag this process out further and cost it essential Republican support needed for passage."

Cantor added that “We should not be having this discussion. IMF funding has no business being included in the war supplemental bill,” while adding that the funding may result in helping terror-sponsoring states such as Pakistan.

The debate over funding of the IMF has stemmed from President Barack Obama’s announcement at the April Group of 20 meeting that $100 billion will be granted to the IMF as part of the U.S war-bill which should further the fight against the global economic crisis.

Obama also said that the U.S would support the IMF as it sell 400 tons of gold, whilst Pelosi reminded that “It [the IMF] has been reformed so that it will help the poor. They wanted to sell gold, we said you can, but the proceeds have to go to help the poor.”

Responding to Cantor’s allegations, Pelosi said “I don’t know why anyone would say that the money is going to the hands of terrorists, it’s simply not based on facts and is a scare tactic.”

Pelosi also said “There are two contradictory things: one says that one shouldn’t be on war funding, which is our responsibility to support our troops in the war in Iraq, end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and fight terrorism where is it a threat to our country, which is in Afghanistan, and we know that we have to do that." She added that “The IMF, in its reformed state, can be a force for alleviating the despair amongst people in the world. It’s a very important national security initiative.”

“The issue of the IMF, I think, has strong support on the Democrats’ side; not any support we’re hearing on the Republican side,” Pelosi said.

This war-bill, which involves military and diplomacy costs for Iraq and Afghanistan, will skyrocket to over $100 billion.

Soldiers Silencing the Critics

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News

Since World War II, the success of American soldiers in actions abroad has preserved freedom for millions of people, according to former Republican Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney. At a Heritage Foundation event Monday, Romney noted the upcoming 65th anniversary of D-Day and said American soldiers have shouldered the burden of defending freedom since World War II. The event was meant to commemorate those who served and to criticize the Obama administration for cutting funding from the Defense Department budget.

“Because of what America did in the 20th century, there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who now live in freedom-who, but for the price paid by the United States, would have lived in despair. I know of no other such example of national selfishness in the history of mankind. That is why America is the hope of the earth.”

The broad military plans of the Obama administration are also troubling to Romney, who was a 2008 presidential candidate. He is concerned that Obama will look to the military budget for the largest cuts in the process of reforming the financial system.

“ The right way to scale America’s defense budget is to add up the requirements for each of our missions, beginning with strategic defense,” he said.

He laid out other defense missions that he felt the U.S. should be focusing on such as: fighting and winning land wars and counter-insurgencies and providing counter-insurgency support for nations under threat from Jihadists.

“We cannot allow the economic crisis to conceal the very real threats to our nation’s security. We cannot ignore the intentions of competitors who would replace America’s leadership with their own, and set back the cause of freedom,” Romney said.

The demands of all U.S. defense missions involving U.S. soldiers are not covered in Obama’s planned cuts for the department, Romney said, do not equal budget cuts. He believes a $50 billion increase in the modernization budget is needed. He noted that Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also repeatedly said that is a necessary increase.

He concluded by saying, “Providence has blessed us and trusted us to safeguard liberty; in a time of confusion at home and challenge abroad, let ours be the voice of clarity and good sense-confident in our cause, and faithful in the care of freedom.”

North Korean Threat Not So Imminent?

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service.

Analysts for the Brookings Institution gathered to assess the North Korean threat on America and its allies in reaction to N.Korea's recent underground nuclear bomb detonation and the launch of two short-range missiles.

The think tank was pressed into discussing the matter following North-Korea’s acceleration in its military activity.

Pyongyang had already caught the international community’s attention in October 2007 by unsuccessfully testing a nuclear weapon.

However the threat posed by the North Asian state has reached new heights after N.Korea announced that it had conducted underground nuclear tests on Monday, followed by two short-range missiles (a ground-to-ship missile and a ground-to-air missile) launched from an east-coast base on Tuesday.

Michael O’Hanlon, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution warned that although “Their options are limited,” threats must be taken seriously, they must be mitigated.

Richard Bush, a Senior Fellow and Director for the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, confirmed that “They have a problem though, and that is that deterrence is not yet credible; their missiles don’t fly far enough and accurately enough, the weapons design is not yet perfect and so they need to test, that's the only way they can demonstrate to others that they have the capability to inflict harm on the United States and on Japan.”

If the production of the missiles is one leap closer to achieving significant nuclear capabilities, O’Hanlon explained that “The real issue is the size of the weapon and how deliverable it would be by the North Koreans, if they were to choose to deliver it some day.”

Additionally, “[The missile] has to survive the stresses of missile flight, which are no trivial,” said O’Hanlon.

However, according to the analysts, this does not mean that a threat is nonexistent but rather that the U.S should not be concerned by missiles coming from North Korea directly.

O’Hanlon said “I would say the most worrisome question is the sale of nuclear material because if they attack South Korea, their regime will end.”

O’Hanlon concluded that “The only thing they can plausibly get way with is the sale.”

Admiral Mullen: Our Future Is Guaranteed If We Take Care Of Our People

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

“Our future is guaranteed from a national standpoint If we take care of our people,” according to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This was one of the central points of Admiral Mullen’s talk on the “Future of Global Engagement” at the Brookings Institution today.

Afghani presidential elections coming up in August are forcing the U.S. military to draft a report on the effectiveness of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.

In addition, the law passed by Afghani President Hamid Karzai which prohibits a woman from refusing sexual intercourse with her husband may have signaled the need for yet more work and presence from the troops, implying the road is still long for the soldiers who are stationed there.

On his priorities, Mullen said, “The main effort right now is in Afghanistan. Increase the growth of the Army and the Marine Corps. But now those forces must be put together to rotate in the theater.”

Mullen added that because of the need for troops in different missions, “The numbers (of repeated deployments per soldier) we are getting right now are 3 and 4 but we’ve talked to families that are on their fifth and sixth deployment.”

“Even in our eighth year of war we’re in the beginning of getting at what I consider to be a debt that needs to be repaid for those sacrifices (by the troops), it’s for injuries seen but it’s also for injuries unseen,” said Mullen.

Mullen said that “what we should buy for their future is to make sure we get it right for our people, that’s health care, that’s housing, that's benefits, that's the compensation packages, that's the bonuses... that's where I spend an awful lot of my time with the services chief."

Protecting The Franchise Abroad While Being Precluded At Home

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Fighting to spread democratic ideals and ensuring the right to vote abroad are two of the most important missions that the American military partakes in. But while the military performs this task abroad, members are unable to vote because of institutional barriers, like the time it takes for ballot to arrive in the mail.

“Up to 27 percent of ballots requested by military and oversees voters were not counted,” said Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, who continued to say, “Those are just the voters that were able to get their requests for ballots answered.”

An even more sobering statistic was that 63.1 percent of military votes arrived late, which was a 14 percent increase since the 2004 election. “The problem is not getting better, it is getting worse,” said Schumer.

Pat Hollarn, the Acting Under Secretary for Personnel Defense and Readiness at the Department of Defense, believes that the institutional barriers take three forms.

Firstly, the barrier of time, as it takes too long to get information from America, through the mail system, to the individual abroad, said Hollarn.

Secondly, the barrier of distance, as the mail can be sent, but the individual may be far away from a base. People who serve on submarines or special operations units that do not return to military bases for long periods of time experience this problem, Hollarn said.

Thirdly, the barrier of mobility, as soldiers located in one site may be re-deployed quickly before the ballot can arrive.

As a result, Hollarn encourages states to allow soldiers to “allow electronic transmission options for registering to vote, requesting a ballot, and returning a ballot.” She believes that using electronic options would break the institutions that bar soldiers from voting, and therefore would be able to have their voices heard.

Additionally, Hollarn wants states to unify their rules so that all soldiers from all states would be able to follow the same procedures, instead of the current situation, in which all states have disparate rules.

For example, the study of voters abroad from the 2008 election shows the difference in rules, as California sent out 102,983 ballots and had 65,836 votes cast, or 63 percent. By contrast, West Virginia sent out 4,194 ballots and had 1,554 votes cast, or only 37 percent.

The problem with under representation of military voters has plagued America since the Truman Administration. While no legislation has been enacted to solve the problem, all the speakers remained hopeful that change would come, and that America would live up to its democracy, and all peoples voices would be heard.