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In this mailing:
* Judith Bergman: Killing Free Speech in Austria
* Peter Huessy: Nuclear Policy: Whatever Happened to Common Sense?


** Killing Free Speech in Austria ([link removed])
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by Judith Bergman • July 7, 2020 at 5:00 am
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* The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) ignores that there may be a context and a reason for "portraying newcomers as a threat to security". It does not consider the proliferation of Islamic terrorism in Europe or research showing that terrorists have migrated into Europe disguised as asylum seekers, who have gone on to perpetrate deadly terrorist attacks.
* "According to the study, six of the 16 mosque associations examined (37.5%) pursue 'a policy that actively impedes integration into society and to some extent exhibits fundamentalist tendencies.' Half of the 16 mosques examined 'preach a dichotomous worldview, the pivotal tenet of which is the division of the world into Muslims on one side, and everyone else on the other.' Six of the mosques were found to practice 'explicit denigration of Western society'."
* None of this context exists for ECRI, which appears to operate in a vacuum, unencumbered by real world facts.
* Instead, ECRI commends Austria for having "several measures in place... which aim to combat hate speech by developing a counter-narrative."

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently published its sixth monitoring report on Austria.

ECRI, which describes itself as "independent", is the human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe -- not to be confused with the European Union. The Council of Europe is composed of 47 member states, including all of the 27 European Union member states.

ECRI is an unelected body with members designated by their governments (one for each member state) who are supposed to have "in-depth knowledge in the field of combating intolerance.... and recognised expertise in dealing with racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance". It was founded in 1994 by the heads of state of the Council of Europe with the mandate, among other things, to "review member States' legislation, policies and other measures to combat racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance, and their effectiveness".

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** Nuclear Policy: Whatever Happened to Common Sense? ([link removed])
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by Peter Huessy • July 7, 2020 at 4:00 am
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gatestoneinstitute.org%2F16180%2Fnuclear-policy-common-sense&pubid=ra-52f7af5809191749&ct=1&title=Nuclear+Policy%3A+Whatever+Happened+to+Common+Sense%3F [link removed]
* William Perry's proposals, in his new book, The Button, (1) ignore the current Russian and Chinese nuclear threats, (2) widely exaggerate the costs of US nuclear modernization and (3) would actually so upset the nuclear balance as to make a nuclear attack on the US more likely.
* For some strange reason, Perry does not ask for cuts from Russia or China, perhaps heralding a new faith-based arms control strategy? Both countries are completing massive nuclear modernization build-ups. Putin's defense minister announced Russia's nuclear modernization would be nearly 90% complete by the end of 2020, while China is on pace to double its nuclear forces by 2030.
* At its peak, then, the complete nuclear enterprise would amount to 6-7% of the defense budget to modernize, operate and maintain, while modernization alone would be 3%. This still is some one-third of what it was at the height of the Cold War, when the US economy was far smaller and the defense budget a fraction of what it is today.
* As soon as the US eliminates its ICBM force, Russia and China will get back in the business of seeking to disarm the United States, one top admiral reminded Gatestone.
* In the new defense bill, the administration and Congress are building better missile defenses, including space-based sensors, and advanced national and regional systems. Combined with the newly initiated discussions in Geneva with the Russians on arms control measures, the US is on the right path.

The new US Department of Defense nuclear handbook notes that since 1997, the US has not designed and built a single new nuclear armed missile, submarine or bomber, and will not do so until 2029 at the earliest. Pictured: The ballistic missile nuclear submarine USS Rhode Island. (Image source: U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Rebecca Rebarich)

Dr. William Perry is considered one of the fathers of stealth aircraft; he started directing research on the B2 program when a senior official in the DOD back in the 1970s.

He later became secretary of defense from 1994-1997 during the Clinton administration and was often seen in Ukraine at photo-ops where Soviet-era ICBM silos were eliminated, both between Russia and the USA, as part of the 1992 Nunn-Lugar and 1991 Start treaty.

Perry has a new book, The Button, about US nuclear policy and his support for global nuclear disarmament. He makes numerous proposals that he claims will lessen nuclear dangers and bring us closer to global zero, the end state when presumably all nuclear weapons have been destroyed.

Unfortunately, his proposals are seriously misguided and his numerous assumptions about US nuclear deterrence are unfortunately plain wrong.

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