ANDREW KREIG: STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDS TPP, MIGRATION POLICIES ~ THE 5TH ESTATE ASIA

Sunday, May 22, 2016

ANDREW KREIG: STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDS TPP, MIGRATION POLICIES

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Obama regime doubles-down on TPP during last days
JUSTICE INTEGRITY PROJECT
By Andrew Kreig
05/18/2016

The Obama State Department vigorously defended in a special briefing this week its proposed trade agreement and plans to assist migrants on a humanitarian basis.

Obama moves ahead with TPP, "migration"

During an all-day briefing May 16 for 30 opinion writers convened from across the country, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the lead in reiterating support for each policy, thereby rebutting opposition from many 2016 presidential candidates and state officials from both major parties.

First, he rebutted criticisms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) tentative agreement. The TPP is pending before Congress after years of negotiation among 11 nations for a system of tariff-reductions and administrative policies.

“We see it here from a strategic position, not just trade,” said Blinken, shown below in a Justice Integrity Project photo during his remarks. “Trade is going to happen. Who is going to write the rules? If it’s China the rules will not be to our liking.”

Anthony Blinken

On the refugee issue, Blinken said war and other oppressive conditions are creating refugee conditions so dire that the United States and other advanced nations must address despite public opposition being voice against emigration policies, including President Obama's plan to allow some 10,000 refugees to enter the country from Syria after they are vetted as safe by the Department of Homeland Security. He attacked "hateful rhetoric" by unnamed individuals who, he said, conflate "refugees with terrorists."

Eight other senior Obama administration officials amplified Blinken's overview in the all-day briefing delivered to the Association for Opinion Journalists for the 16th year.

Joe Hockey with O'Hara at right

Australia's Ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey hosted an off-the-record discussion also at his 18-room official residence May 15. He is shown during a dialog that Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O'Hara conducted with him.

Association members, primarily editorial page editors at major regional newspapers, attended. This editor, a member of the association, attended each event on behalf of our project.

Migration Policy

"Americans can take pride that we have helped save millions of lives" via clean water, shelter and other basics in aid said U.S. Refugee and Migration Policy Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne Richard.

Also, Richard defended the administration's controversial plan to resettle 10,000 refugees to the United States from such war-torn nations as Syria: "This is," she said, "a very safe group of people." The Department of Homeland Security is undertaking a long and thorough vetting process, she said.

Kerry, Obama (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

More generally, she said, "Everyone wants the [Persian] Gulf nations to do more. But as the price of oil goes down they are doing less."

The President’s Trade Agenda

National Economic Council Director Jeffrey Zients led a vigorous defense of the TPP proposal, which all three remaining Democratic and Republican 2016 presidential candidates have criticized.

"TPP is a different kind of trade agreement," Zients said, contrasting it with previous agreements like the 1990s Clinton Administration's North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that have helped shape the current debate.

"Most of the opposition we've observed is opposition to globalization more generally," said Dr. Rodney Ludema, chief economic at the State Department's Bureau of Economic of Business Affairs.

Protesting TPP

Other major areas for discussion included U.S. policy toward Latin America, the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. efforts to counter violent extremism, and U.S. cyberspace policy.

The broader context includes, of course, the success of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump running on an anti-immigrant, anti-TPP platform. The evidence of other flaws or opposition to the State Department's themes includes the massive lines at airport security checkpoints to deter terrorism and the administration's opposition to congressional action to enable 9/11 families to learn who funded 9/11 terrorists either via litigation or release of the still-secret 28 pages of a 2002 Senate-House study on terrorism funding that both the Obama and Bush administration have kept secret.

Our project has published many commentaries on these and related issues, with a sample excerpted below in an appendix. Whether such appraisals are positive or not, they benefit from this kind of close observation with the newsmakers.

Kirby

Therefore, it is very helpful to hear directly about the methods and substance of the State Department's messages. In this instance, as indicated by our photos, most of the speakers were just six or seven feet away. More important, the dialog benefited from informed questions from prominent journalists. John Kirby, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs (and shown at right), spoke for 20 minutes after leading the department's daily briefing.

Kirby is a retired admiral with 30 years Navy service, and is the only person in history to serve as the top State Department spokesman as well as for the Defense Department, his previous post.

"Our primary function," Kirby said, "is to communicate to the American people what the State Department is doing overseas."

Andrew Kreig

Andrew Kreig, Esq.

Andrew Kreig is Justice Integrity Project Executive Director and co-founder with over two decades experience as an attorney and non-profit executive in Washington, DC. An author and longtime investigative reporter, his primary focus since 2008 has been exploring allegations of official corruption and other misconduct in federal agencies. He has been a consultant and volunteer leader in advising several non-profit groups fostering cutting-edge applications within the communications industries.

As president and CEO of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) from 1996 until 2008, Kreig led its worldwide advocacy that helped create the broadband wireless industry. Previously, he was WCAI vice president and general counsel, an associate at Latham & Watkins, law clerk to a federal judge, author of the book Spiked about the newspaper business and a longtime reporter for the Hartford Courant.

Listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World from the mid-1990s and currently, he holds law degrees from the University of Chicago School of Law and from Yale Law School. Reared in New York City, his undergraduate degree in history is from Cornell University, where he was a student newspaper editor, rowing team member, and Golden Gloves boxer.

Contact the author Andrew Kreig.