January
Our members supported President Trump in his struggle to expose the fraud which seems to have swept Joe Biden into the White House. Immediately upon taking office, President Biden began to reverse Trump’s successful policies in many areas, and most importantly for our members, on Middle East policy. The World Evangelical Alliance came out in support of lifting sanctions on both Iran and Syria. AMCD immediately countered that any lifting of sanctions would bolster the mullahs of Iran and the Assad regime in Syria and that this would ultimately hurt the people the WEA was trying to help. Even if negotiations were to be entered into, we argued that it would be foolish to throw away a major bargaining chip that sanctions represented.
Ultimately, we bade farewell to a great leader; one who was unfairly maligned and hounded by both the opposition party and the media every single day for over four years – all for the crime of not being their choice for President. On the bright side, his policies are looking wiser by the day, especially in the way he handled our southern border crisis and the brilliance of the Abraham Accords in Middle East foreign policy. We look forward to his return.
February
Our fears were confirmed as an emboldened Iran allowed or directed its proxy Hezbollah to carry out a wave of assassinations against its critics in Lebanon, especially those who had pointed toward Hezbollah as being responsible for the horrific port explosion. We sent a letter to Secretary Blinken warning him on the same subject.
We also joined with our friends at the Alliance of Iranian Women to publish and sign a letter to President Biden urging him to stand with Iranian women against the mullahs of Iran. We also wrote to the Secretary General of the United Nations concerning Iranian hegemony over Lebanon and to insist that UNSC resolution 1559 calling for the disarming of militias in Lebanon (including Hezbollah) be fully implemented.
We began our program of zoom conferences with Trump Victory Finance National Co-chair Roy Bailey. He advised us to continue lobbying the current administration and our representatives in Congress whether they be Republican or Democrat to help influence the direction of US foreign policy in the region.
Our second Zoom meeting was with former White House Press Secretary and Arkansas gubernatorial candidate, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She gave a rousing speech about where the Republican Party needs to go in the future as opposed to the failing policies of the Biden administration. Our members pledged to support her campaign – Go Sarah!
March
A terrible atrocity occurred in Yemen when African refugees were locked in a refugee center which was then burned to the ground – burning all inside to death. AMCD issued a strong statement in response calling on the Biden Administration to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization. They had removed this designation as a gesture of appeasement to Iran.
Ellie Cohanim, who will be joining the AMCD advisory board, wrote a strong article with Keith Krach condemning China for its treatment of its Uyghur population. This remains one of the major en masse human rights violations in the world today, but receives very little news coverage. It is ironic that China is suppressing Islam within its borders while partnering with the Islamic Republic of Iran internationally. It is also to be noted that Iran has not condemned China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, but rather willingly partners with them to advance their goal of regional hegemony. Under both regimes, the individual counts as nothing, the collective is ascendant, and the will to power for the elite is everything.
We met with Abe Friedman aide to Congresswoman Suzan Delbene (D) via zoom. Our members (as always) were very knowledgeable and presented effective arguments against the Biden administration’s plans to re-join the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Our members argued that due to the fact that:
- Iran is a state sponsor of international terror,
- routinely abuses human rights at home,
- upholds gender apartheid and oppresses its women terribly,
- commonly executes gay men,
- viciously suppresses any opposition,
- have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands,
- and have continued their nuclear program virtually unhindered after the last talks,
Iran has not earned its right to sit at the table with America. We advise the US to stand strong and demand behavior change on the part of the mullahs before any negotiation should occur.
Then we met with Congresswoman Maria Salazar(R) from Florida, who on the House subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. We discussed the China-Iran deal in some depth. This deal will give Iran a way to export unlimited amounts of oil directly to China (at a discount) and access to the Chinese banking system which will allow them to get around the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. It will give China access to Iran’s military bases, integrate Iran into China’s Belt and Road initiative linking China to Europe, the Middle East and then to Africa, building modern infrastructure along ancient trade routes such as the Silk Road and enabling China to increase its influence globally.
One of our members pointed out that the China-Iran deal has been in the works for many years, but was put on hold when Trump as elected. China has pledged to help Iran with its nuclear energy program as well. Trade and military integration with China will strengthen Iran immeasurably. Our members all agreed this is an extremely dangerous development.
Chinese communists, Russian autocrats and Iranian mullahs are actively uniting against the US and the Western World in general.
Congresswoman Salazar suggested holding hearings on the Iran-China deal and other issues, such as the plight of women in Iran, and offered to allow our input. This may certainly be possible after Republicans retake the House next year and then take control the committee agendas. AMCD will help to make that happen! We are fully behind Congresswoman Salazar and will do everything we can to ensure her re-election.