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In this mailing:
* Pete Hoekstra: Will Congress Save Itself by Stopping the Iran Deal and Biden's Imperial Presidency?
* Amir Taheri: The We've Got to Do Something Syndrome


** Will Congress Save Itself by Stopping the Iran Deal and Biden's Imperial Presidency? ([link removed])
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by Pete Hoekstra • August 13, 2023 at 5:00 am
* The continuing trend of broad expansions of presidential powers... is eroding the powers of the legislative branch.
* Constitutionally, the vital decisions of government were not to be decided by the stroke of a pen from the president, with no congressional action from the duly elected representatives of the people.
* By addressing the Iran nuclear deal that is not yet dead, Congress can reclaim some of
its constitutionally mandated powers by insisting that the initial steps taken regarding any Iran deal be reviewed by Congress, then followed up with strong action, as powerfully initiated by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.
* Regrettably, Congress has allowed its authority to be eroded for decades by the Executive Branch, and has insufficiently guarded its power under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
* Congress should be particularly concerned that the administration might use extraordinary means to bypass and implement a nuclear agreement without congressional review, as is required by federal statute in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.
* This legislation passed the House with 400 "yes" votes to 25 "no" votes, and passed the Senate with a vote of 98 - 1, a remarkably strong bipartisan response indicating deep support by Congress for exercising its rightful role in treaties and international agreements.
* [I]t is abundantly clear that Congress wants -- and needs -- to play a role in any future agreement. Given the uncertainty on whether Biden will follow the review steps outlined and required in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, now is the time for Congress to assert itself fully and forcefully into this process.
* Congress should indicate, clearly and immediately, that any perceived violation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act will be met by the strongest means possible under the constitution: full use of the courts and the power of the purse to defend its position.
* A potential Iran deal that Congress has clearly signaled it wants to reject is a perfect opportunity for Congress to reassert some of the authority it has tossed away or lost.
* To make sure its voice is heard, Congress needs urgently to begin preparing for the fight that might materialize between the Executive and Legislative branches.
* Congress must stop major national security decisions from being unilaterally imposed by an imperial president.

The continuing trend of broad expansions of presidential powers... is eroding the powers of the legislative branch. Constitutionally, the vital decisions of government were not to be decided by the stroke of a pen from the president, with no congressional action from the duly elected representatives of the people. Pictured: The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The United States, rather than maintaining its status as a republic, has been backsliding toward a monarchy, according to a 2020 report by then-Cato Institute Constitutional researcher Trevor Burrus. The continuing trend of broad expansions of presidential powers, Burrus notes, is eroding the powers of the legislative branch. Two examples are the Obama Administration's 2016 "Dear Colleague" letter that had the effect of changing the definition of gender for choosing what bathroom one wished, and President Donald Trump's 2018 imposition of steel tariffs in the name of national security, a decision that was upheld in court.

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** The We've Got to Do Something Syndrome ([link removed])
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by Amir Taheri • August 13, 2023 at 4:00 am
* Is the Sahel region in West Africa becoming a new hub for international terrorism, as the badlands of Afghanistan were almost three decades ago? Last week, the question forced its way into global policymakers' circles with the military coup in Niamey, the capital of Niger, an impoverished state in that region.
* The Biden administration in Washington, having long claimed that it wouldn't neglect Africa as Donald Trump had done, did its own "we've got to do something" number by sending Acting Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to Niamey for what she described as "a harsh but serious", and in reality useless, conversation with some of the jackboots.
* For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin did his own "we've got to do something" by having local agents distribute Russian flags and envelopes filled with cash among the rent-a-mob crowds supporting the coup in Niamey. That was followed by rumors that Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin's friend-cum-foe has phoned the generals to offer support from his Wagner Group mercenaries who did the same for coup leaders in Mozambique, Libya, Central African Republic, and more recently Mali.
* Western expression of support for "democratically elected leaders" has seldom been more than diplomatic posturing. The mere holding of elections doesn't turn a society into a democracy. Even then, there are quite a few democratically elected undemocratic leaders.
* The Western idea of a one-size-fits-all is an illusion.
* The USSR reaped no benefits from spending money and prestige to prop up African dictators who continued to talk of socialism but put their stolen money in Western banks.
* Today, Putin's Russia is even less likely to do any better. Apart from wheat and corn, it has nothing to sell that Africans want to buy, while Africans have nothing to offer that Russians might wish to purchase. Worse still for Putin, Wagner Group has turned local African opinion against Russia in many places, including the Central African Republic, Libya, Mozambique, and more recently even Mali.
* As for the growing jihadi threat, letting Putin do the fighting on behalf of the African governments may not be a bad option. The French fought the jihadis in Mali and prevented them from entering the capital Bamako and seizing power only to end up as a target for hatred of the very rulers they had saved from annihilation.
* Trying to impose the Western democratic model on African states by force hasn't worked in at least a dozen countries. Sanctions don't work either; they inflict suffering on the poorest masses without affecting the ruling cliques. Many years ago I visited an African "republic" under severe international sanctions to interview its president. The dinner he offered us was truly five-star, while the people of his capital, in ruins after a bloody civil war, were starving.
* Military coups do pose a problem. But contrary to the French Cartesian illusion, not every problem has a ready solution. And when there is no ready solution wisdom advises patience, allowing people to make their mistakes and learn from them, not theatrical "we've got to do something" gesticulations that discredit those who make them.

Is the Sahel region in West Africa becoming a new hub for international terrorism, as the badlands of Afghanistan were almost three decades ago? Pictured: The Air Mountains in Tenere desert, near Agadez, Niger in the Sahel region of Africa. (Photo by Frans Lemmens/Corbis via Getty Images)

Is the Sahel region in West Africa becoming a new hub for international terrorism, as the badlands of Afghanistan were almost three decades ago? Last week, the question forced its way into global policymakers' circles with the military coup in Niamey, the capital of Niger, an impoverished state in that region.

Commander of the Presidential Guard Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani put the "democratically elected" President Mohamed Bazoum under arrest in the presidential palace and declared himself the new ruler, continuing the series of recent coups that have led to military rule in neighboring Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso and Mali.

The alarm bells sounded by the coup broke the summer torpor of Western chanceries with the usual "we've got to do something" slogan leading to the usual hastily designed reactive measures.

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