Despite their promises to deny terrorists safe haven, the Taliban will do the opposite. They and Al Qaida are joined at the hip, with both Osama Bin Laden and his successor Ayman Al Zawahiri having sworn unbreakable allegiance, bay'ah, to the leaders of the Taliban.

The Islamic State's Khorosan branch, with several thousand fighters in Afghanistan, will pose a similar threat. Many political leaders in the US and UK claim the Taliban are sworn enemies of the IS, with some even suggesting that we might form an alliance against IS with Taliban terrorists. But this abhorrent proposition is merely an attempt to help limit the political fall-out from their ill-judged actions that facilitated the Taliban's conquest.

Today, all these actors know there is no prospect of further large-scale US intervention in the country, no matter how great their atrocities. The US remains capable of air strikes and even special forces raids against serious threats emanating from Afghanistan, but these require high-grade intelligence which, despite the powerful technical capabilities of the agencies, is extremely difficult to gain now that we have withdrawn all forces.

The prospect of a successful jihadist insurgency in Pakistan, with its nuclear arsenal, has been a long-standing concern for the US, which invested huge intelligence and military resources to help prevent it. Most of this capability was withdrawn with the exit from Afghanistan.

Like Pakistan, China supported the Taliban insurgency for many years. In return, the Taliban have frequently hunted down and killed many of the Uighur leaders — fellow Sunni Muslims — who took refuge in Afghanistan. Desperate for Beijing's funds and political backing, the Taliban can be relied on to do all they can to prevent any export of jihadism into China.

But we can expect no such efforts from Beijing to prevent terrorist actions against the West. On the contrary, as the new cold war intensifies, China is more than capable of using its increasing cooperation with the Taliban to enlist jihadists from Afghanistan as proxies against the US.

Two ingredients drove the outcome in the 2020 elections: First, private philanthropy injected into government election offices and, second, a banana-republic style suspension of agreed-upon election rules. You didn't need much outright voter fraud when these two ingredients combined to poison the 2020 election.

The CTCL took "ZuckBucks" and with extreme, strategic precision, re-granted it to thousands of government election officials to "help" them conduct the 2020 election. It converted election offices in key jurisdictions with deep reservoirs of Biden votes into Formula One turnout-machines.

Now, after the fact, some states are fixing the problem and banning private money to government election offices. They should ban it. Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Iowa have prohibited election offices from receiving private money.

City employees roamed door to door with armfuls of blank ballots, knocking and pushing people at home to vote in a process entirely foreign to state laws. Ballots were collected and delivered by others who had been strictly banned from touching someone else's ballot before COVID. Over and over, the rules broke down.

The Palestinian Authority, which is largely funded by American and European taxpayers' money, is imprisoning Palestinians for even trying to engage in real estate deals with Jews.

The Palestinian public seems generally supportive of the death sentences and extrajudicial killings of suspected "land dealers" and informants. Even Palestinian human rights organizations appear to be extremely careful when they mention such issues.

As far as Hamas and many Palestinians are concerned, peace with Israel or any form of "collaboration" with the "Zionist enemy" is an act of treason punishable by death.

Mahmoud Abbas is already facing accusations of being a traitor because of the security coordination between the PA security forces and the Israeli authorities in the West Bank.

As long as the PA and Hamas punish Palestinians who work with Israel or are willing to sell real estate to Israeli Jews -- frequently by issuing sentences of hard labor or death -- the hope of reviving the "peace process" is, unfortunately, a pitiful waste of time and effort.

The verdicts passed against the "land dealers" in the West Bank and the suspected "collaborators" in the Gaza Strip show that Palestinians remain as far as ever from accepting Israel, let alone making peace with it.

The verdicts are yet more proof of how Palestinian leaders continue to radicalize their people against Israel -- to the point that no Palestinian who wishes to stay alive would ever claim that he or she seeks to make peace with Israel or recognize all of the land as anything other than totally Palestinian in every way.

"It's simply not reasonable to expect that Huawei would refuse a direction from the Chinese Communist Party." — Simeon Gilding, former head of the Australian Signals Directorate's signals intelligence and offensive cyber missions.

It is essential for business leaders to understand this: there is no such thing as a private company in China.... all Chinese companies and individuals must assist with intelligence efforts if asked.

Huawei is hardly slowing down. Despite still being under telecom restrictions.... Huawei was granted hundreds of applications to purchase chips for its automotive supply business by the Biden administration. The company, according to a spokesman, aims to be a component provider for "intelligent connected vehicles."

In July, Democratic super-lobbyist Tony Podesta signed up as a "consultant" for Huawei. A Huawei company message board posting noted that the hiring was part of an "expanded U.S. influence operation."

Huawei also employs a white shoe Washington law firm, Sidley Austin, to handle its interests in the capital. This firm was also representing Meng Wanzhou in her successful battle to avoid extradition to the US. Christopher Fonzone, a partner in that law firm, was recently confirmed over Republican objections as the Biden administration's choice to be the top lawyer for the office of the Director of National Intelligence. An Obama administration veteran.... his LinkedIn profile... goes on to note, "He also has particular experience assisting clients in the management of crisis situations."

To be clear, the spending bill is actually the creation of a national debt so massive that it has the means to destabilize a democracy dependent on a functioning economy.

For the Chinese Communist Party, seeking to master the 21st Century as the one global superpower, it represents a strategic victory without so much as firing a single bullet. They know that an economically weakened America cannot possibly sustain its military leadership when it is burdened with paying down a massive debt. Our allies and unaligned nations recognize this threat as well, and will reinvent their relationship with China if they believe America's best days are in the past.

What makes the Administration believe that Corporate America would not respond with massive restructuring to avoid a confiscatory tax bill -- or passing the added cost on to the consumer, or moving the company's headquarters offshore to a country with a lower corporate rate -- to avoid the threat of losing its international competitive edge? Corporations have good accountants, too.

Few debate the idea that our nation's infrastructure is in need of serious attention but the level of political dishonesty in characterizing the Biden plan as "infrastructure" has even made many in his own party queasy. Significant portions of the bill are earmarked for "environmental" agendas and seeming favors to campaign donors, such as billions in subsidies for electric vehicles. The proposed bill cries out for more sunlight and vast quantities of disinfectant.

This recipe for an economic apocalypse comes at a time when new job creation has stagnated and the specter of a serious inflation has begun to emerge.... As historians will tell you if we have the wisdom to listen, no one escapes the devastation of a debtor nation. No one.

U.S. President Joe Biden can reestablish deterrence by offering Taiwan a mutual defense treaty. If he does not want to do that, he should either base American nuclear weapons in Taiwan or transfer such weapons to the island so it can defend itself. In the 1980s, the U.S. beefed up deterrence of the Soviet Union by basing nuclear-tipped Pershing missiles in Europe.

China, in short, apparently believes it can run over America to make Taiwan its 34th province. To disabuse Chinese aggressors at this late date, the U.S. should ditch the decades-old "strategic ambiguity," the policy of not telling either Beijing or Taipei what it would do when conflict was imminent, and publicly offer Taipei a mutual defense treaty.

Taiwan has always been critically important to America. The island makes advanced chips for U.S. products, anchors America's western defense perimeter, and is a beacon of democracy. After the fall of Kabul, Taiwan is seen as the test of U.S. resolve. The U.S. should, therefore, be willing to go to extraordinary lengths to protect the island.

[T]here are no un-dangerous options for Washington.

Sha Zukang, the former Chinese ambassador for disarmament to the U.N. in Geneva, last month suggested that China create large exceptions to its announced no-first-use policy, the promise not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.

"It is like humidity in a house. Initially the threat is invisible...." — Boualem Sansal, Algerian novelist, L'Express.

Bfmtv interviewed Fewzi Benhabib, a resident of Saint-Denis. Since his arrival from Algeria 25 years ago, he found in France the ideology from which he was fleeing in his former country "For the Islamists, it is a question of Islamizing modernity, not modernizing Islam."

Next year, France will decide to try to save itself or continue to sink. Either way, it will unleash a tsunami that will not stop at its borders and instead flood all of Western Europe.

First, last week's election, the fifth in Iraq's history since liberation in 2003, shows that despite many ups and downs caused by historic and cultural bumps on the road, the process of democratization is still well on its course.

The use of biometric cards also helped with ensuring the process against organized fraud.

We have not completed a breakdown of the results, but at first glance it is clear that a new generation of Iraqi politicians is taking shape. The fact that young activists representing pre-Covid street protesters won more than 8% of the seats may point to new directions in Iraqi politics.

Last week, the Tehran media labelled the Iraqi election as "the first test for Gen. Esmail Qa'ani" the lackluster bureaucrat who has replaced the bombastic Soleimani.

Well, Qa'ani emerges as the loser that he deserves to be. As for Soleimani, who died in Baghdad, his ghost now witnesses a second death in Iraq, this time of Soleimanism.

In another blow to the US, after many years of Iran trying to be a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), SCO members finally agreed in September to elevate Iran's status from "observer" to "full member," even though the global financial watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, had placed the Islamic Republic on its terrorism financing blacklist.

The SCO is a political, military, economic and security alliance that currently includes China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. This alliance will likely... assist the mullahs of Iran to defy the West.

In the face of these critical developments, the Biden administration has remained silent

The Chinese regime is profiting as well. This [25-year deal with Iran], which appears similar to a colonial agreement, grants Communist China significant rights over the nation's resources. Leaked information reveals that one of its terms is that China will be investing nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In return, China will get priority to bid on any new project in Iran that is linked to these sectors. China will also receive a 12% discount and it can delay payments by up to two years. China will also be able to pay in any currency it chooses. It is also estimated that, in total, China will receive discounts of nearly 32%. Another secret element of the agreement has a military dimension: China will deploy 5,000 members of its security forces on the ground in Iran.

Such a strategic and economic deal is a clear win for the Chinese Communist Party.... China will have full authority over Iran's islands, gain access to Iran's oil at a highly deeply rate and increase its influence and presence in almost every sector of Iranian industry, including telecommunications, banking, energy, railways and ports.

For the ruling clerics of Iran, appeasement means only more weakness.

Critics of DJI's systems claim they have the potential to be monitored remotely, and a review of the drones conducted by the Pentagon earlier this year concluded that they posed a potential threat to national security.

The Pentagon has been voicing concerns about commercial off-the-shelf drones since 2018, when it implemented a ban. The following year, Congress passed legislation banning the use of drones and components manufactured in China, and the Trump administration blacklisted DJI for national security reasons

"DJI drones are safe and secure for government and enterprise operations." -- spokesman for DJI rejecting claims that its drones posed a security risk, Reuters, July 23, 2021

Given the Chinese Communist Party's abysmal record for trustworthiness, however – as in promising not to militarise the fake islands they built in the South China Sea just before they militarised them, or claiming that their Chinese virus, COVID-19, was not transmissible human-to-human – this assessment is less than reassuring.

The city of Cologne, once a stronghold of Christendom in Germany, has authorized mosques in the city to begin sounding Muslim calls to prayer over outdoor loudspeakers. The move, ostensibly aimed at promoting multicultural diversity and inclusion, represents a significant step toward the cultural normalization of Islam in Germany. It is taking German multiculturalism into uncharted territory.

Critics say that comparing Islamic prayer calls to church bells is a false equivalence because the muezzin proclaims religious slogans such as "there is no god but Allah" and "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the Greatest").

"The Muslim call to prayer is not like the ringing of church bells, which are a reminder of a scheduled worship service. Instead, it is a creed and a statement of political Islam, which has unfortunately been abused in many ways in recent years. The call 'Allahu Akbar' is not only a call to prayer, but it has also become the battle cry of jihad by Islamist terrorists." — Necla Kelek, Turkish-born German Islam expert.

"It's not about 'religious freedom' or 'diversity,' as Mayor Reker claims. The mosque operators want visibility. They celebrate the muezzin as a show of power over their neighborhoods." —Ahmad Mansour, Israeli-Arab and German Islam expert.

"The Muslim call to prayer, the muezzin call, is now permitted in Cologne. Cologne's Lord Mayor Henriette Reker calls this a 'symbol of diversity.' For me it is the opposite — a sign of discrimination.... In 2015, I had to flee from Bangladeshi Islamists because I publicly criticized Islamism. When I hear 'Allahu Akbar' from loudspeakers in Germany, I think of a lot, just not diversity.... The muezzin call reminds me of the killing of my six blogger friends by Islamists and the brutal repression of minorities.... This call from the speakers of conservative mosques is above all a show of power. The fact that the city of Cologne now allows the muezzin call with reference to tolerance is a sign of false tolerance for me." — Shammi Haque, a Bangladeshi-born journalist in exile in Germany.

The fact that a large number of Palestinians are desperate to work in Israel is a sign of the failure of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to improve the living conditions of their people despite the massive sums of money they receive from various sources, including the United States, European Union and United Nations.

Instead of holding Hamas responsible for what he called the "tragedy" in the Gaza Strip, al-Amsi and other Palestinians choose to blame Israel.

This view is in keeping with the longstanding habit of the Palestinian leadership to evade their responsibility for thievery and non-governance by blaming Israel for everything.

Many Palestinians and Arabs, however, are no longer buying this nonsense and know exactly who is trying to help and who has not done a thing to end their suffering.

"Thousands of Palestinians, including those with [academic] degrees, are fighting for a job in Israel. I guarantee you that if Israel announced that it wants workers from Algeria, they would cross the Sahara [Desert] on foot to work in Israel to escape the hell they are living in at home." — Hoda Jannat, Syrian journalist and political analyst, Twitter, October 7, 2021.

As has now become embarrassingly clear for all to see, Israel has become the only hope for the hungry workers in the Gaza Strip -- who have been abandoned not only by their leaders, but by the rest of their Arab brothers as well.

Far more destructive that most Americans could ever imagine, the nation's multi trillion dollar deficit now being advocated by progressive socialists in Congress would place our future on a collision course with catastrophic bankruptcy.

Which may just be the outcome some in Congress are seeking to achieve.

Democratic Senator Joseph Manchin told Associated Press he won't support even half of Biden's multi-trillion dollar progressive wish list. He has been joined by fellow Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema in seeking to avert Washington's march to become a global pauper. Theirs is a courageous stand and one that will be recorded by historians as last ditch actions taken by a literal handful to prevent America's self-directed destruction.

We would be wise to... recognize that America's deficit is more than a number. It is a nation-destroying weapon.

The memo acknowledges that "spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution." .... Nothing wrong with that. But no similar memo was directed against Black Lives Matter and other far-left groups that not only threaten violence against public officials and private citizens, but also engage in a considerable amount of criminal conduct, such as arson and destruction of property.

As a result of this timing, context and apparent lack of concern for the Black Lives Matter type of protests, many parents are understandably worried that the Justice Department may be engaged in selective investigations and ultimately selective prosecutions.

The most distressing aspect of this memorandum is its apparent focus on right-wing activities, as distinguished from equally dangerous left-wing activities. The rule of law must always pass the "shoe on the other foot test."

In the past, the ACLU vigorously protected the rights of Klansmen, Nazis and other right-wing thugs with whom they fundamentally disagreed. They worried about the chilling effect that government threats could have.... These concerns seem to have been subordinated to partisan and ideological considerations.

I like Merrick Garland. I supported his nomination to the Supreme Court. And I think he was a good choice for Attorney General. It is in this spirit that I call on him to clarify his memorandum in two respects: (1) by making it clear that law enforcement will not investigate or prosecute raucous protests that fall on the protected side of the Constitutional line; and (2) that whatever standards law enforcement does apply must be applied equally to protests by left-wing agitators.

I disapprove of teaching captive student from the "critical legal studies" playbook, precisely because it is not critical or objective. It tends to be propaganda rather than education. But I will defend protests against both views with equal vigor, because the First Amendment does not distinguish between protected and unprotected protests based on content, and neither should the Justice Department.

The Chinese communists very much want to gain control of Taiwan, and the current intelligence assessment that China's leadership is probably looking at is one that spells opportunity — a weak U.S. president, wary of foreign military entanglements, whose political fortunes are crashing, and in their analysis is the real possibility of a transfer of power to an even weaker and less popular vice president in Kamala Harris, who has little foreign policy chops.

The bottom line — the next year will be a high-risk period between China and the United States where serious miscalculations could take place. And that is why... the Biden Administration must send a clear signal of support now for Taiwan.