There's That Ten-Letter Word: C O R R U P T I O N

"The Gordie Howe Bridge has been a bipartisan priority because it supports jobs, makes transport easier, and will lower costs."

"At the last minute, the President wants to derail this hugely important project because a billionaire campaign donor told him to."

"This kind of blatant corruption hurts working families, and needs to end. For the sake of Michigan's economy, let's pass this bill."

Kristen McDonald Rivet, Democratic U.S. Representative 

 

"Twenty-five years in the making. Seven years of construction, and, at its peak, 2,500 workers on-site. Costing $6.4 billion and stretching 2.5 kilometres—the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America, rising 46 metres above the Detroit River—the Gordie Howe International Bridge is much more than these impressive numbers."

"“The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a symbol of the friendship between Michigan and Canada and a testament to what’s possible when we work together,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer when the bridge deck was completed last July."

"Construction started on October 18, 2018, and after more than 19 million work hours, the structure is complete. What remains before the first vehicle crosses the bridge is testing, re-testing and training."

David McPherson, ReNew Canada

Could Trump block bridge opening? Workers are shown at the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Detroit on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /The Windsor Star

 

After having praised the building of the Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Windsor, Ontario to Detroit Michigan, as a second bridge crossing, after the century-old Ambassador Bridge, in 2017, President Trump suddenly diverted from pushing for the "expeditious completion" of the bridge, to posting outraged messages on his social media site. His apoplectic charges have no base in reality, however.  

Canada, he states, has treated the U.S. "very unfairly for decades", including the charge that the bridge was built "with virtually no U.S. content". "With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset", he grumped. Well, in fact, Detroit does 'own one-half' of the bridge, a gift from Canada. Canada, as it happens, footed the entire $6.4 billion cost of the bridge, but has granted joint ownership between Canada and the state of Michigan. Once the cost of the bridge has been paid through collected tolls, toll receipts are to be divided evenly between Canada and Michigan.

This is called mutual partnership generosity. In the building of the bridge, American workers were employed alongside their Canadian counterparts. The bridge was built with the use of American steel included in the process. "I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them", thundered the American president in righteous fury on a Truth Social post. 

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to the Detroit Economic Club on Jan. 13. (Ryan Sun/The Associated Press)

"I know the importance of Michigan manufacturing and that's why I'm demanding Trump drop this reckless threat, let the bridge open, and stop playing games with our jobs and our economy." 

"[By threatening to block the opening of the bridge, Trump is] unsurprisingly [placing jobs and] billions of dollars in economic growth at risk."

U.S. Representative Haley Stevens 

It has been reported by the New York Times that the president's post was prefaced by a meeting mere hours before, when U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik and Matthew Moroun, the billionaire private Lebanese-American owner of the Ambassador Bridge, took place. This is a bridge that rivals the new Gordie Howe Bridge which has enjoyed its monopolistic trade conduit between Windsor and Detroit since 1929. The company representing the owners has parted with millions of dollars over the past decade in an attempt to thwart government plans for a competing, publicly-owned bridge.

 

Trucks line up to clear customs and cross the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial vehicle crossing between Canada and the U.S. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

 

Major Republican donors, the Moroun family expended some $30 million on a failed Michigan ballot proposal in 2012 to block construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge. Dozens of lawsuits toward the same end have also been launched. In the background is the fact that Michigan entered a bilateral agreement in 2012 to advance construction of the bridge, with no direct cost to the taxpayers of Michigan. The project was known for "demonstrating the project's nonpartisan importance to American workers, manufacturers, and national competitiveness". 

 

The Gordie Howe Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, seen here on May 10, 2024, is expected to open sometime in 2026 after almost a decade of construction. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

 

The U.S. Retreats from the Middle East in Favour of Navel-Gazing Introspection

"We're sitting still, and the Chinese, the Russians, Iran, North Korea, and several others, are moving to shore up their relations and threaten us in a lot of different places... It's an indication that the Saudis and others are [also] trying to hedge their bets with China and Russia, because they don't think the United States has the resolve and the fortitude necessary to do what they need to do to protect the world against Iran and its intentions."

"The Chinese have a strategy they've been following... We kind of wander around from day to day."

Former US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton

 

"[Saudi Arabia is signalling that] they will act to secure their own national interest as the region and the world around them changes."

"Mohammed bin Salman is thinking long term and assessing the world Saudi Arabia will be navigating into mid-century and in that world China likely looms larger than the U.S. in all manner of ways."

Kristian Ulrichsen, fellow for the Middle East, Baker Institute, Rice University

 

"Thanks to the lack of leadership and the vacuum that the Biden administration has created -- and appears continuing to create on the global stage, the new axis of Iran-China-Russia has been shaped with Beijing, Moscow and the ruling mullahs -- rather than the brutalized people of Iran."

"The Axis is seizing leadership of the new world order, or -- if the world's communists manage to defeat the world's democrats, as they seem tenaciously determined to do -- it will be, more accurately, the new world disorder."

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, president of the International American Council on the Middle East

If the US further pulls out of Asia, the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, the vacuum created will be filled by the new axis of China-Russia-Iran. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's then President Hassan Rouhani in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP via Getty Images)

 A spurned lover looks elsewhere for validation and comfort. And that is what has happened between the United States and Saudi Arabia. A new world order appears to be emerging; the United States steadily withdrawing from its dominant position in the Middle East and elsewhere, and the contestants for the status of new world powers, moving in to fill the vacuum. The withdrawal under three American presidents; Obama, Trump and Biden has had a disequilibrating effect; the political/economic colossus that is China seeks to mediate the chaos. With a view needless to say of consolidating its ambitions.

 

Washington seems well prepared now to fully vacate its traditional position of main mediator in the Middle East, where the 21st century saw the United States as the essential puppeteer of the region long after France and Britain abandoned their colonialist clutch. It was, of course, oil that brought the U.S. to the Middle East, and clinched its patron relationship with Saudi Arabia, protecting its energy interests. Times change and so does energy extraction technology.

 

Where in the first decade of the 21st century political occupation of the region was critical in Washington's heavy dependency on Saudi oil, Riyadh's part of the deal was a fairly steady supply of American weaponry and above all, a reliable partner for security. Relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran have traditionally been adversarial; although a minority Shi'ite sect, as opposed to the majority Sunni that characterized most Arab countries, Aryan Persia cast a jealous eye on the Kingdom's custodianship of Mecca and Medina.

 

The Iranian Republic imagines itself recast to its former glory as the Islamic powerhouse of the Middle East, eyeing Saudi Arabia's leadership in an open clash of sectarian and tribal animosity. The final break that took place seven years ago led to the final strain in their diplomatic relationship. When Iran planned and supported a Houthi-proxy rebellion in Yemen, forcing the legitimate government out of Sana'a and splitting the country in a violent civil war Saudi Arabia entered with a Sunni coalition to oppose the Houthi presence. 

Now that the U.S. no longer depends on Saudi oil since its own shale and horizontal drilling oil extraction revolution has made it independently oil-sufficient, the ties that bound frayed. Nor did it help that President Joe Biden was hostile to the Saudi heir-apparent and now de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, accusing him of ordering the murder of the Saudi dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi diplomatic mission in Turkey.

Describing MbS as "a pariah" once the CIA reached the conclusion that the crown price had ordered the 2018 assassination, the message was clear; Washington could no longer be relied upon to remain the staunch friend it once had been, just as before the Biden tenure, then-President Obama abandoned U.S. support for then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and gave full support to his replacement by a ''democratically elected' Mohamed Morsi, leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

More latterly, top diplomats from Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two signal regional archrivals, arrived to Beijing in confirmation of the resumption of relations, a historic meeting and agreement that China brokered as new peacemaker and global authority, moving to a position of influence in the Middle East in Washington's absence. Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi foreign minister, was photographed smiling beside his Chinese and Iranian counterparts Qin Gang and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

So much for the plans of the still-sole superpower whose intention it was to pivot away from the Middle East in favour of confronting China over its military and economic influence in the Asia-Pacific. The U.S. was focused on extracting itself from endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Saudi leadership, having had one too many lectures on human rights and with the realization that a once reliable security partner had withdrawn, looked elsewhere for reassurance in protection of their interests.

 

In March of 2023 Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced a new slogan to outline what he envisaged as the new foreign policy mantra of"Xiplomacy". China, Mr. Xi explained, should be 'determined, proactive and dare to fight', once he was sworn in for his third administrative term. In February, China revealed it had an agreement for Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore their diplomatic relations; a diplomatic coup that surprised Washington.

 

April brought an announcement that Saudi Arabia was partnering with The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a China-led security bloc. These deepening ties with Beijing represent a shifting market for oil exports where China has become the main importer of Saudi oil, buying 1.75 million barrels per day, in 2022. This international game of musical chairs is now in full play. From full-throttle world warden, the United States has withdrawn to navel-gazing introspection. 

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud; Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. West Asia News Agency/Handout via Reuters

"Saudi Arabia has no interest in any war in the Gulf region. The failure of the U.S. maximum pressure policy on Iran, Tehran’s policy of increasing uranium enrichment, and Israel’s threats to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities have precariously placed the region on the verge of war. Saudi Arabia does not want to be part of this escalation that will undermine its security and delay its social and economic transformation. An opening with Iran sends a clear message to the Iranians, the United States, and Israel that the Kingdom is not willing to risk direct war with its neighbor."

"...When it comes to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s security priorities are concerned with the Islamic Republic’s support for Shiite groups, mainly in Yemen and Iraq, in addition to its advanced conventional missile program. Those two priorities are not part of the talks between the United States and their European partners with Iran. While Saudi Arabia is fully aware that Iran won’t put restrictions on its missile program, it believes that normalization of relations is an alternative path that might contribute to the region’s stability, especially in Iraq and Yemen."

Abdolrasool Divsallar and Hesham Alghannam, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs

 

The Seriousness of the START Situation

"[Vladimir Putin's decision on tactical weapons] followed the failure by Kyiv's allies to heed previous serious signals [from Moscow because of the] fundamental irresponsibility of Western elites before their people and international security."

"Now they will have to deal with changing realities."

"We hope that NATO officials will adequately assess the seriousness of the situation."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Moscow

The Russian Foreign Ministry initially said Moscow would keep notifying the U.S. about planned test launches of its ballistic missiles, but Ryabkov's statement reflected an abrupt change of course.  CBC

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided that Moscow is no longer obligated via treaty to honour the United States' decision-making by trustfully alerting it through advance notice regarding Russian missile tests. This, at a time when the Russian military under Kremlin orders deployed mobile missile launchers in Siberia as a demonstration of Russia's massive nuclear capabilities a highlighted link to the invasion of Ukraine and the fortunes of a conflict that has left both countries in a veritable stalemate condition.

Russian news agencies carried Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov's remarks that all information exchanges under the START agreement with Washington have been halted by Moscow, completing the distancing of the two countries in their nuclear responsibility pacts following on the suspension of Russia's ongoing participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the United States.

Data relating to the current state of both countries' nuclear forces -- up to the present routinely released at six month intervals complying with the treaty -- both parties also exchanged advance warnings of test launches. Notices of this type represent an essential element of strategic stability and have for decades. This cooperation allowed Russia and the United States to properly interpret each other's moves, making certain that neither would mistake a test launch for a missile attack.

Termination of missile test warnings represents another effort on Moscow's part to discourage the West from continuing to strengthen its support for Ukraine. Emphasizing Russia's massive nuclear arsenal is a most transparent threat, one occasioned by the fury of stalemate and the isolation imposed by the U.S. and NATO upon the Russian Federation.  Augmented by President Putin's announcement of tacticl nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus territory, as a regional trusted ally.

 

This photo made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, shows a Yars missile launcher of the Russian armed forces being driven from a shelter in an undisclosed location in Russia. The Russian military on Wednesday launched drills of its strategic missile forces, deploying Yars mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country's massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

 

The New START treaty was suspended last month, with Mr. Putin stating that U.S. inspections of Russia's nuclear sites was unacceptable at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have committed to Moscow's defeat in Ukraine. While not withdrawing entirely from the pact, Moscow stated its intention to continue to respect caps on nuclear weapons set by the treaty.

 

 

To the present, until Ryabkov's statement, it was understood by the United States that Moscow intended to continue notifying the U.S. of planned test launches of ballistic missiles, now upset by an abrupt change in orders. 

 

Russian drills will see Yars mobile missile launchers manoeuvre across three regions of Siberia involving measures to conceal the deployment from foreign satellites and other intelligence assets. No mention from the Russian Defence Ministry was given of how long the drills would last, nor were any practice launches mentioned of the nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic Yars missile with its range of about 11,000 kilometers. The Yars missile represents the backbone of Russia's strategic missile forces.

The tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus are useful on the battlefield with their relatively short range and considerably lower yield, in comparison with the long-range strategic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads capable of obliterating entire cities. This latest decision by President Putin follows repeated warning that Moscow is prepared to use "all available means" -- referring to its nuclear arsenal -- to fend off attacks on Russian territory.

A still image from video, released by the Russian Defence Ministry in October 2022, shows what is said to be a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launched during an exercise at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. (Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters)

Her Excellency Madam Pelosi

"There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response. Now, they've taken dangerous acts to a new level." 

"We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

"I heard that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken held his news conference and spread some misinformation and was not speaking truthfully."

"We wish to issue a warning to the United States: do not act rashly, do not create a greater crisis."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

 

"Our visit is part of our broader trip to the Pacific — including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan — focused on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance. Our discussions with our Taiwanese partners will focus on reaffirming our support for the island and promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. America’s solidarity with Taiwan is more important today than ever — not only to the 23 million people of the island but also to millions of others oppressed and menaced by the PRC." 

"[The world is facing] a choice between democracy and autocracy."

"America's determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world remains ironclad."

U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi

"The only way out of this crisis is that the U.S. side must take measures immediately to rectify its mistakes and eliminate the grave impact of Pelosi's visit."

"[Washington should] avoid pushing China-U.S. relations down the dangerous track of conflict and confrontation."

Jing Quan, senior Chinese Embassy official, Washington

"Facing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down."

We will firmly uphold our nation's sovereignty and continue to hold the line of defence for democracy."

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen

Arguments began when President Joe Biden cast public doubt on the wisdom of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan by suggesting that the Pentagon saw it as too risky. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

They both represent the same Democratic Party, the president of the United States, and the Speaker of the House. Yet somehow there appears not to have been a discussion by the two executive branches of government about Speaker Nancy Pelosi's intended trip to Taiwan. And in her statements while in Taipei, reassuring the Taiwanese that nothing has changed, America has its back, she spoke with the royal 'we' as though she and her word are imperial law.

How is it possible that when Joe Biden was asked by reporters whether Nancy Pelosi really would be visiting Taiwan as part of her trip to Eastern allies? A controversial trip certain to raise Beijing's hackles at the prospect of a high-level U.S. legislator, sufficiently elite in her position to be considered second in line to the presidency should an emergency arise, and about as diplomatically awkward given current stresses and strains between Washington and Beijing as conceivably provoking. His response was rather odd; admitting he really didn't know.

The trip, it appears, was all about Nancy Pelosi. Smiling for the cameras, being applauded for her courage in inviting an outraged response from Beijing who, after all, promised there would be one -- and there was. Ingratiating herself personally with the political leaders of of America's Asian allies; Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, feted everywhere. South Korea's president a bit more cautious; too busy holidaying to meet with her.

And what did she accomplish, glad-handing her Asian counterparts, smiling broadly, promising the largess of American patronage and protection to China's near-abroad neighbours, nervous about Beijing's strident assertiveness in its territorial ambitions and power plays? Her visit, despite words of gratitude from Taipei, placed the country in more imminent peril from a furiously-snubbed Beijing. Of a visit guaranteed to be the ultimate in provocation and changing nothing between the U.S. and Taiwan.

Leading China to launch a series of military operations including live fire within Taiwan's territorial airspace. It will take some time before tensions between the two world's largest trading partners and competitors for the title of dominating world power to relax to a returned working level. The People's Liberation Army Air Force flew a contingent of 21 warplanes close to Taiwan, causing a responding scramble from the Taiwanese air force.

China's Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army revealed its military conducted air and sea drills to the north, southwest and east of Taiwan "to test the troops' joint combat capabilities".  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Beijing that Washington does not seek a crisis over the unfortunate trip to Taiwan by Ms. Pelosi. Which failed to stop four missiles fired by China over Taipei and others landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

If Speaker Pelosi's grand plan was to foment further turmoil for America's allies in the East, her smiling presence certainly did that, and more. "We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region", she said reassuringly, after having done her level best to do all that, and more, roiling the region regally.

The Columnist

A Fawning Putin and a Stern Biden...?

"I want to say that the image of President Biden that our press and even the American press paints has nothing in common with reality,"

"He was on a long trip, had flown across the Ocean, and had to contend with jet lag and the time difference. When I fly it takes its toll. But he looked cheerful, we spoke face-to-face for two or maybe more hours. He's completely across his brief."

"Biden is a professional, and you have to be very careful in working with him to make sure you don’t miss anything. He doesn’t miss anything, I can assure you." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin

"We didn't need to spend more time talking. [I informed Mr. Putin that] we need some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by. I did what I came to do."

"[There was] no substitute for face-to-face dialogue, [I told him the agenda was] not against Russia [but] for the American people."

"This is not about trust, this is about self-interest and verification of self-interest [with a] genuine prospect [of improving relations]."

U.S. President Joe Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet at the start of the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Denis Balibouse)

They're not strangers to one another, although relations between them have been strained; the cool distance between Washington and Moscow has been awhile brewing. President Biden's predecessor had a relaxed, somewhat warmish relationship with President Putin. The Democratic White House is aggrieved over what it believes was Russian interference in the election that brought Donald Trump to four years in the White House. Nonsense, Moscow responds.

The summit between them on June 16 was productive, in a cool, businesslike way, according to each of the participants. Despite that no feel-good, accomplishment-proud joint news conference took place after their frank discussions laying (almost) everything on the table. There were some 'don't go there' issues that each made clear were not up for discussion, and they weren't. Both accomplished politicians, actors, diplomats, smile on cue.

Vital issues like arms control and cybersecurity talks proceeded. The discussions were to have consumed between four to five hours. And to make certain that it was well understood that this was strictly business, no food to be served; water sufficed on this occasion. The exercise in 'airing it all' (almost) took much less time than anticipated; between two to three hours, so no hardship for either in threats of famishing penance.

Certainly the setting was conducive to feeling good, at the lakeside Villa La Grange in Geneva. In the end, 68-year-old Vladimir Putin, acquiesced to the 78 year-old American president, graciously putting the lie to early dementia capturing the older man's brain. To Mr. Biden's severity of purpose, Mr. Putin was less curt and dismissive in a notable role-reversal, expressing his confidence in his political adversary as a constructive, experienced discussion partner, speaking "the same language".

Reminiscent in part, of former U.S. President George W.Bush enthusing that looking into Vladimir Putin's eyes assured him that this was a man he "could do business with". But in the final analysis, was unable to. Relations between the two countries have been tense. The Kremlin came under fairly universal condemnation with its surprise annexation of Crimea and its military arming, training and fighting alongside ethnic Russian Ukrainians in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. An issue that Mr. Putin is rather prickly about; off-limits.

 

President Putin, briefing reporters following their discussion, and in lieu of the more generally accepted joint news conference spoke of the two sides making progress on shared goals, that the meeting had set aside hostilities as indication of the two leaders' wish to make an effort to understand the framework of the position each spoke from. It was "hard to say" whether relations would improve beyond a "glimpse of hope" that mutual trust might result.

 

The remaining distance between them expressed by the lack of geniality in each inviting the other to visit their respective capitals. According to Mr. Biden, much time was spent on discussions around arms control and cyber-attacks, when it was made clear by him to Mr. Putin that "critical infrastructure should be off-limits". As emphasis, he handed over a list of 16 strategic sectors to Mr. Putin, who undoubtedly has a similar list back home in Moscow. 

The impression was left with Mr. Biden that there was genuine concern of being "encircled", the belief by Mr. Putin that Washington planned to "take him down". And of course, Mr. Biden assured Mr. Putin that such was not the case; they just had to accommodate themselves to the practicality of getting along and pursuing their mutual interests in ensuring the good of the global community was uppermost in mind, primarily in restraints in arms control.

He did warn Mr. Putin, he said, of consequences should jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny expire in prison as a result of detention conditions; a situation that would prove to be "devastating for Russia". Both agreed without hesitation that Moscow and Washington shared nuclear stability responsibility; further discussions on altering the recently extended New START arms limitation treaty would be on the agenda.

Mr. Putin made it abundantly clear that concerns about Mr. Navalny's fate should rest solely with Russia and expanded Russia military presence close to the eastern border of Ukraine was also Russia's internal business. He laid to rest as far as he was concerned the very absurdity of Russian responsibility for a series of cyber-attacks in the United States. 

Although both Mr.Putin and Mr. Biden expressed the hope that more stable, predictable relations between the two countries might result prior to their meeting, it appeared somewhat obvious that the meeting itself did little to advance that prospect; cool, collected, remote relations. The irritants expressed on the U.S. side unresolved to its satisfaction, and guaranteed to remain so in the near future. "I'm not confident he'll change his behaviour", the last words on the matter by Mr. Biden.

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrived to meet at the Villa la Grange on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (Saul Loeb)

"I watched Putin's press conference after the summit meeting, but since Russians have heard most of his lies and evasions for years, there wasn't much new for me. The foreign audience seemed shocked when Putin said Navalny had only himself to blame for consciously breaking parole by leaving the country -- even though Navalny was evacuated to Germany in a poison-induced coma. He also tried to justify the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 (which he used to deny) by arguing that it had introduced "stability" after the independent nation struggled to free itself from Putin's grip. Putin also denied responsibility for cyberattacks and blamed the US for being the biggest offender."

"These are examples of the absurd, reality-twisting nonsense Russians are fed 24-7 by the state-controlled media, and Putin was delighted to have the chance to spread it around the world. Had Biden wanted to send a real message to Putin, he would have met instead with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. Or with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leading opposition candidate in Belarus' sham elections last year, who is now living in exile after fleeing persecution by Putin's loyal servant Belarusian despot Alexander Lukashenko. Or Biden could have extended a White House invitation to the families of Putin's many victims."

Opinion by Garry Kasparov, CNN

Locked and Loaded?

"The president talked about our use of those [cyber weapons] previously, but I'm certainly not going to forecast what we'll do as we move forward."
"This was Iran through and through [from drone downing to missile strikes on two Saudi oil facilities], and the United States will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

U.S. Intel: Saudi oil field attacks originated from Iran

"Cyber can certainly be a deterrent, it can be a very powerful weapon."
"It is an option that can cause real damage."
Senator Angus King, Maine, Chairman, Cyberspace Solarium Commission

Visitors gather at Tehran's Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense museum during the unveiling of an exhibition of what Iran says are U.S. and other drones captured in its territory, in the capital Tehran on Sept. 21, 2019. ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images

"To the extent that Iran is conducting unlawful operations, I think [the cyber strike] was an appropriate measure to take to preclude their ability to conduct further unlawful operations."
"Sometimes cyberspace allows you to take operations that are not as escalatory as other options on the table. And this would strike me as one such operation."
Michael Schmitt, international law professor, US Naval War College

The purported wreckage of the destroyed US drone. File photo: Reuters

"Clearly those who conducted this attack were not deterred. That means inflicting pain."
"But we want that pain to be inflicted in a wise way that does not increase the credibility in the eyes of the Iranian people of a regime that is not credible."
Bradley Bowman, senior director, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

From piracy in the Strait of Hormuz to prove to the world that the Islamic Republic of Iran through the expert terrorism credentials of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, can give as good as it gets when one of its oil tankers was taken into custody in the belief that it was headed to unload its cargo in Syria where EU sanction against such traffic was being enforced at Gibraltar, to the downing of a sophisticated American surveillance drone which Iran claimed had overflown its territorial air space, the Republic has gone out of its way to prod, goad, provoke its Gulf neighbours and their ally, the United States of America.

Speedboat of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard moves around a British-flagged oil tanker, Stena Impero, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas two days after it was seized in the Strait of Hormuz by the Guard on Friday, July 19. File photo: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the United States is 'locked and loaded', should it indulge in any further violent expressions of contempt for its adversaries, even while it reacts increasingly recklessly in its frustration over the strict sanctions most latterly imposed on the oil-rich but distribution-and-sales-poor nation aspiring to expand its authority and command in the Middle East and beyond. Iran's use of coercion and threat followed by violence it claims has nothing to do with it is a strategy that has worked for it up to the present.

The American president exercised restraint after the destruction of the U.S. drone, preferring, it seems, to bide his time rather than risk an all-out war on a country that continues to agitate for war even while it claims it seeks peace and to make certain that foreign elements stay well away from its territory. This, even while it sends its proxy terrorist groups abroad to indulge in destabilizing violence meant to further Iran's territorial and conquest interests. That big stick Washington carries is withdrawn in exchange for blasting rhetoric mimicking Tehran's.

Ah, and then there is the U.S. Cyber Command, the world's purported most potent arsenal of cyber weapons that cyber professionals are preparing to implant in enemy networks. Tougher sanctions have only made the Islamist Shia tiger gnash its teeth in rage and fulminate over violent attacks on its Sunni neighbours delivered mostly via proxies, if not by the IRGC. The original Stuxnet cyberattack meant to disable Iran's centrifuges enriching uranium to bomb-grade succeeded in setting the Iranian nuclear program back temporarily.

A number of following cyberstrike launched by the U.S. and another three months ago which the Pentagon claims would be disabling to the Republic, which is not yet aware of it -- which makes the uninitiated wonder just how powerful and useful such a cyberattack could be if its results have not yet been detected by the target -- is being considered the beginning of a series, the next of which is now being considered to wreak as much damage to the country's cybernetworks as possible; presumably in a manner that would be catastrophic and not readily given to repair.

Trump, it seems, is unwilling to widen the conflict into a potential war footing, given his promise that the U.S. would be leaving the region. But a strike to significantly damage Iran's oilfields just as it has done to Saudi Arabia, and put its refineries out of immediate business is being considered for its "proportionate response" value. The administration is not, however, convinced that a cyberattack alone would be sufficient to convince calculating Iran that its ongoing belligerence is not paying off.

The mission is meant to convince Iran that it should set aside its ambitions for nuclear and missile programs. To punish the theocratic executive powers sufficiently so as to move them toward the kind of self-preservation that would convince them to step back from their regional destructiveness, much less its dedicated support and direction of terrorist groups acting at its behest, from Shiite militias, to Hezbollah, to Hamas.

Restraining themselves from overt military action in favour of reliance on cyberwarfare may not, however, be the answer to the dilemma, as pointed out by General Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and the director of the National Security Agency who has warned the president and his aides that the nation's cyber arsenal represents "no magic bullet" for Iranian aggression deterrence.

So, back to the drawing board. Perhaps. Perhaps not. The big question is how far is Iran willing to push and shove the U.S. into a responsive 'proportionate' military reaction?

Air and missile defense units are at the top of the list for a deployment in support of Saudi Arabia, following an Iranian attack on oil fields there. (Capt. Rachael Jeffcoat/Army)

Civil Discourse in America

"Sexual assault survivor questioned Cruz during disruption at fancy Washington D.C. restaurant. Cruz ignores her."
"This is a message to Ted Cruz, Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump and the rest of the racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic right-wing scum."
"You are not safe. We will find you. We will expose you. We will take from you the peace you have taken from so many others."
Smash Racism DC social media

"I'd love to talk to you about Brett Kavanaugh tonight."
"I'd love to know what  your vote is going to be tonight. I know that you're very close friends with Mr. Kavanaugh. Do you believe in survivors, sir?"
"Senator, we have a right to know what your position is on Brett Kavanaugh."
"God bless you, as well. I'm a survivor of sexual assault. I believe all survivors. There are now three people who have come forward and said that Brett Kavanaugh has attacked them."
"Would you talk to him about that?"
Unnamed women in mob group of 12, Fiola Italian restaurant, Washington, D.C.

"I did not try to leave the scene of the accident, though driving drunk, which I did, is a terrible mistake for which there is no excuse or justification or defense, and I will not try to provide one."
"Not right that Senator Cruz and his wife Heidi were surrounded and forced to leave a restaurant last night because of protesters."
"The Cruz family should be treated with respect."

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.), Democratic Senate candidate opposing Republican Cruz

Ted Cruz confronted in a D.C. restaurant about a mile from the U.S. Senate building. Smash Racism DC / Twitter

First it was President Trump's press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders who was refused a table at a rural Virginia restaurant. The restaurant owner refused to serve anyone who served Trump. Sanders gathered her dignity and her family and departed. As insults go, this was pretty stinging -- and socially indefensible. Last week it was Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican whom Mojos Real Cuban in Venice, Florida refused to serve, furious over the scourge of red tide algae presence in the state's waterways.

Senator Cruz and his wife were out for a evening's dining experience in Washington. They had made reservations at a restaurant popular with D.C. politicians of both stripes. Somehow, a motley assembly comprised of members of left-wing groups, a local anti-fascist group and a Democratic Socialists of America branch, and others got wind of the Cruz family reservation. They arrived an hour earlier to sit at the bar awaiting the Cruz's arrival. 

"[Politicians from both parties frequent Fiola often.] Everyone except Donald Trump. We're very bipartisan by nature", later explained a perturbed Maria Traochhi, a co-owner of the popular, upscale restaurant. "We're not trained to deal with this. How do you deal with things like this? It's crazy times", she opined, obviously unwilling to be viewed as supporting the ruckus that erupted leaving her and her staff fearful that violence might ensue. Not, however, from Senator Cruz who was being verbally crucified; his response to all the shrill charges shouted at him was: "God bless you, Ma'am."

His continued response to the ongoing confrontation was unwavering; polite, respectful and non-committal. Challenged by a woman whose odious behaviour he suffered, he remained polite throughout her harangue. That he had stated last week before a second woman declared herself to have been harassed by the candidate for the Supreme Court nominated by President Trump, and supported by him, irrespective of the hysteria now surrounding that nomination, that "These allegations are serious and deserve to be treated with respect", obviously held no currency with the raucous mob verbally assaulting the Senator.

The dozen self-righteous accusers kept flashing the cameras in their cellphones in the Senator's face, repeatedly chanting "We believe the survivors!", "Fascist, racist, anti-gay!", raising middle fingers, chanting continuously, "We believe the survivors!". As the Cruzes made to leave the premises, one of the men in the mob snarled a warning at other patrons in the restaurant, "This is what'll happen to you if you support Kavanaugh".

Police had been called. The restaurant staff stood watching, appalled at the viciousness of the attack on a couple who had assumed they had a right to privacy and a restful night out, enjoying a meal together after the stress of political life in the nation's capital that has become uber-partisan and unrelentingly ugly. The staff was uncomfortable and decidedly of the opinion that their hospitality was being besmirched by a demonstration of incivility unbecoming a civil society.

While the mob of a dozen misfits screamed and shouted at Senator Cruz, he responded with smiles, quietly repeating "God bless". Finally requesting of his attackers that they allow himself and his wife to leave without further ado: "Can you let my wife through?", he asked of the frenzied group. Finally a member of the restaurant staff ordered the mob to "Leave the premises. This is a private space." So by the time police arrived Senator Cruz had departed and the mob had left, mission accomplished.

And Smash Racism DC was quick to post videos of the event on their social media account. 

Last night, a group of protesters unexpectedly entered Fiola with the purpose of confronting Senator Cruz. Recognizing that there was a potential for escalation and concerned for the safety of all our customers, our management did what they could do to diffuse a difficult situation and, as is our policy, if there is ever an event of this nature, the police were immediately called.  We are trained at hospitality not public safety, and our highest priority is always the well-being of our customers. Separated from the protesters, the Senator exited the restaurant and the protesters left soon thereafter.
Fiola owners Fabio and Maria Trabocchi