Texas Weekly Online

Menu
Menu
Facebook Twitter Youtube

Author:

Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien: Ukraine’s NATO bid risks ‘World War III’

Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien: Ukraine’s NATO bid risks ‘World War III’

EXCLUSIVE: As Ukraine renews its call for an invitation into the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, a former top Trump official warned that such a move “risks World War III.” Reflecting on a variety of geopolitical threats in an interview with Fox News Digital, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the U.S. could offer security guarantees for Ukraine and more biting sanctions on Russia, but could not fulfill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for an invitation into NATO without serious escalation. “To bring a country into NATO and the alliance that’s in a war with Russia is very provocative to the Russians, and could lead to escalation, even nuclear war,” he said. “We can certainly give Ukraine security guarantees … put eastern European troops [in Ukraine] to help secure peace after a peace deal gets done. But NATO is too provocative at this point.” O’Brien’s point of view serves as a glimpse into how a future Trump administration could approach dueling global crises in the Middle East, Russia and the Far East. O’Brien, who was former President Donald Trump’s top adviser on national security issues from 2019 to 2021, has been floated as a possible pick for secretary of state or another national security-focused role.  “Of course” he would accept a job in the White House if Trump is successful in November and offers him one, he said.  “It’s always an honor to serve the country and to serve the president. But I’m not campaigning for a job,” he said. “There are a lot of really great people who’d like to work for the president.” The way out of the war, according to O’Brien, is through the negotiating table, and steeper sanctions are needed to cripple Russia’s economy and bring them to the table.  “The sanctions have been relatively minor,” O’Brien said. “They haven’t sanctioned the Russian Federation Central Bank. They haven’t kicked folks out of SWIFT. They’ve taken a few oligarchs’ yachts.”  SAUDIA ARABIA AND IRAN SQUASH DECADES OF HOSTILITY WITH UNPRECEDENTED JOINT MILITARY DRILLS Last week, a growing band of nations looking to break away from the U.S. dollar and challenge western hegemony met at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, as a way to evade western sanctions.  “I think we have got to use sanctions less. But when we do use them, we should use them comprehensively. I think slap on the wrist sanctions are the worst of all worlds. It encourages people to leave the dollar as a trading mechanism, but it doesn’t achieve any goal of truly punishing the target country,” the former adviser said. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that the U.S. is expected to announce fresh sanctions aimed at curbing the Russian war effort in the coming days. The restrictions will be aimed at secondary entities that are supplying Russia with critical supplies.  “Ukraine is going to be in real demographic trouble if it doesn’t stop the war,” O’Brien mused. “We’re going to leave it to Ukrainians to decide what they’re willing to trade for peace.”  In the Middle East, O’Brien said, President Joe Biden has tried to “constrain Israel’s actions.”  “Everything from negotiating with the Hamas terrorists, to not sending our Special Forces to rescue Americans who were taken hostage, to failing to punish Hamas for killing 30 Americans on Oct. 7, up to today, with Biden and Harris trying to dictate to Israel what targets they can hit in Iran — all projects weakness.” IRANIAN ARMED FORCES PLAN TO TRIPLE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD BUDGET, THANKS TO OIL EXPORTS From the left, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have lost support for not taking a strong enough stance against Israel’s offensive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon — campaigns that have soured Israel’s standing among its neighbors. It’s begged the question whether Israel would normalize relations with Saudi Arabia – a deal that had been on the precipice of completion when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. O’Brien said he is not worried about Israel’s standing in the Middle East. “I’m actually surprised at how durable the Abraham Accords have been,” referring to the deals between Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco that he helped broker under Trump.  “I think absolutely Saudi Arabia will join the accords. It may take Donald Trump winning the election for that to happen,” O’Brien said.  But that would likely depend on the makeup of Congress. Two-thirds of the Senate would have to approve the deal — a high bar for Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of human rights violations and involvement in the 9/11 attacks. To add to the contention, the deal would likely include the U.S. agreeing to allow the Saudis to work on nuclear projects for energy purposes. Such a deal would amount to a pivotal realignment of the Middle East and further isolate Iran. But this week, Saudi Arabia and Iran conducted unprecedented joint military drills in the gulf of Oman.  But O’Brien shrugged off the threat of the potential realignment of a U.S. ally, as Iran awaits Israel’s counter-attack for the 200 missiles it fired on Tel Aviv on Oct. 1. “Iran’s been exposed for being a lot of bark and less bite,” he said. “They have no air force to speak of. They’ve got a couple old F 14 Tom Cats that can’t make it to Israel. They’ve got no real Navy to speak of. And their missile attacks have been blunted with very little damage or loss of life in Israel. There’s not a lot Iran can do right now. They’re wide open to Israeli attack.”  And while Harris asserted Iran is the U.S.’s biggest geopolitical threat, O’Brien insists it’s China. “If Iran is such a big threat to our freedom, why have we stood by and not enforced the sanctions?” he asked. “China is the biggest threat to America. China has the demographics, the number of people, they’re hard-working, they’ve got a massive economy. China is an existential threat to America because they could beat us in a

Appeals court rules against Virginia’s effort to block re-instatement of suspected noncitizens to voter rolls

Appeals court rules against Virginia’s effort to block re-instatement of suspected noncitizens to voter rolls

A federal appeals court on Sunday ruled that a lower court was correct to re-instate some 1,600 Virginia voters who have questionable citizenship status to the rolls. The ruling came after immigrants and women’s rights groups sued the state and its Board of Elections after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in August directing state officials to identify noncitizens, who were given two weeks to dispute being disqualified before being removed from voter rolls. Youngkin’s attorneys argued that the law applies to actual voters and that removing non-citizens isn’t covered. The appeals court for the Fourth Circuit said the state was mixing various parts of the law together. YOUNGKIN VOWS TO APPEAL ‘TO SCOTUS’ AFTER US JUDGE ORDERS 1,600 VOTERS BACK ON BALLOT “That is not how courts interpret statutes,” the appeals court said in its ruling.  On Sunday, he vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  “It’s commonsense: noncitizens shouldn’t be on our voter rolls,” he wrote on X.  “Thank you @JasonMiyaresVA for filing immediately with the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency appeal of the order for Virginia to put over 1,500 people who self-identified as non-citizens back on the voter rolls,” the governor said to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.  On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters who had been removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days. The judge found that the removals had been “systematic,” not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law. Her ruling came after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections on Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, the state had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). YOUNGKIN HITS BACK AT DOJ SUIT OVER ‘COMMON SENSE’ LAW THAT CULLS NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLL “Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls,” Youngkin said in a statement Friday.  “Almost all these individuals had previously presented immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a fact recently verified by federal authorities,” he added.  Should the case be picked up by the high court, it would come within days of the election. 

Tim Walz and AOC play Madden on Twitch in attempt an appeal to young male voters

Tim Walz and AOC play Madden on Twitch in attempt an appeal to young male voters

In an effort to secure more support from male voters before Election Day, vice-presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., played Madden NFL together on the live-streaming platform Twitch on Sunday. “Sundays are for football! Game on, AOC,” Walz wrote in a post on X. The pair jumped on the streaming service Sunday afternoon, during NFL Sunday games, to discuss the upcoming election. Ocasio-Cortez opened the session explaining that her and Walz agreed to do the live-stream a couple of weeks ago when he expressed interest in doing a game stream with her. They agreed to play Madden because he used to be a football coach, and he was familiar with the game, having played it with his children in the past.  KAMALA HARRIS DOWNPLAYS DIMINISHING SUPPORT FROM MALE VOTERS: ‘IT’S NOT THE EXPERIENCE I’M HAVING’ Walz joined the stream after 30 minutes, wearing a camouflage Minnesota Vikings hat, prior to attending a campaign rally in Nevada.  The duo wasted no time in throwing jabs at former President Donald Trump and emphasized the importance of Democrats taking control of the House and keeping majority control of the Senate. “We don’t all share the same politics, we don’t all share the same views, but the need to defeat Trump this year has been my number one priority,” Ocasio-Cortez said. During the live-stream, Walz told Ocasio-Cortez that if he and Kamala Harris win the election, he would make her the Speaker of the House.  “We’re gonna win this election. We’re gonna make you put a gavel in your hand in the House,” Walz told Ocasio-Cortez The two continue to game and chat about a Harris-Walz administration, with Walz eluding that they would eliminate the filibuster. “The Senate has their own things. They have, kinda their ‘norms and their customs,’ but in order..” Ocasio-Cortez said before Walz cuts in. TRUMP-VANCE TICKET HAS DONE COMBINED 98 INTERVIEWS SINCE AUGUST COMPARED TO 57 FOR HARRIS-WALZ “Maybe, maybe, some of those norms, I’m just gonna say I don’t know where you stand, but I’m guessing you and I are probably the same on the filibuster?” Walz asks. “Oh yeah, we gotta get rid of that thing,” Ocasio-Cortez replies.  The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote. While Harris first said she would support ending the filibuster to reinstate Roe v. Wade era abortion legislation in 2022, she has since made abortion a major issue in her Democratic bid for the presidency this election cycle. She also supported ending the filibuster to pass the progressive Green New Deal climate legislation in 2019.  Walz and Ocasio-Cortez also talked about the importance of access to Social Security, bonding over their mutual losses of their dads when they were teenagers.   “Gov. Tim Walz and I both lost our dads when we were teenagers. A lot of people don’t know that Social Security also helps you if you lose a spouse (or parent, if you’re a kid). It’s so important we defend and expand it,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X following the live stream. During a campaign rally in North Carolina earlier this month, Walz claimed that his mother has to wait for her social security check every month to feed herself and that Trump and all his “rich friends” don’t care or even worry about Social Security.  “When my mom looks for that Social Security deposit to be made in her bank account, that’s how she’s going to feed herself. That’s how she’s going to get things done. He [Trump] doesn’t give a damn if his Social Security check comes or not,” Walz claimed.  Walz touted that a hundred million Americans under Kamala Harris as president would see a tax cut. Walz and Ocasio-Cortez finished their game after playing one half. Walz played for the Minnesota Vikings, while Ocasio-Cortez played for the Buffalo Bills. The final score was 0-0.  Walz then campaigned in Las Vegas. He attended a “Latinos con Harris-Walz” get-out-the-early-vote event and watch party for the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game with Congressman Steven Horsford and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez on Sunday afternoon. ELON MUSK BLASTS TIM WALZ AFTER DEMOCRAT TRAINS FIRE ON THE TRUMP-BACKING TYCOON The Harris-Walz campaign said they have placed an emphasis on building a network of trusted allies to mobilize their male-driven audiences – including a program called, “Athletes for Harris,” which is co-chaired by NBA players Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, and former NBA legend Magic Johnson. During an interview with NBC News last week, Harris dismissed her diminishing support among male voters who pressed her on why former President Donald Trump had a 16-point lead over the vice president in the key voting bloc.  “Why do you think there is a disconnect for you with men right now?” NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Harris during an interview in Michigan that aired on Saturday. An NBC poll conducted in early October found that while Harris leads Trump among women voters, 55% to 41%, Trump leads Harris 56% to 40% among male voters. MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell also called out Harris’ issues with male voters during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press” earlier this month. Fox News’ Hanna Panreck and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.