Travel Ban Is Based on Executive Whim, Not Objective Criteria
ConclusionFor countries on the list, and for any country wishing to remain off the list, it is vitally important that they understand which factors led to their inclusion or exclusion. If the United States is acting in good faith —seeking to change behavior as opposed to looking for an excuse to ban people—its criteria should be clearly explained and understood. The Iran nuclear deal, for example, hasvery precise requirements for Iran to avoid sanctions, down to the exact percentage of purity for its enriched uranium. This is very far from the case here.No consistent combination of factors or mitigating factors trigger...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 9, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
There is No Public Safety Justification for the " Travel Ban "
The Trump administration ’snewest argument in favor of the travel ban is that foreigners from the eight banned countries are disproportionately crime prone. Indeed, the administration ’s new travel banproclamation references “criminal” risks or “public safety threats” from foreigners from those eight banned countries a total 34 times. However, the incarceration rate for people from the travel ban countries is below that of native-born Americans and foreign-born folks from countries that were not on the travel ba n list.The average incarceration rate for those born in the travel ban countries is 0.32 percent, al...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 7, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
Could language analysis tools detect lone wolf terrorists before they act?
Nidal Hasan, the US army psychiatrist turned lone wolf terrorist
By Alex Fradera
By the time a terrorist attack has begun, the security services have already failed. But the challenge they face in detecting potential attacks is substantial, especially since the tactic of terrorism has increasingly been taken up by individual attackers inspired by, but not directly beholden to, formal movements. Spotting a lone wolf among the flock is no easy task, especially when it relies on a bottleneck of human analysis. A new paper in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior uses a test case of a real lone wolf attack to explore wa...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - October 2, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Language Technology Terrorism Source Type: blogs
New Travel Ban Would Not Have Prevented the Entry of Any Terrorists Since 9/11
President Trump signed anew proclamation this weekend that bans or restricts the travel and immigration of nationals from eight countries. This order drops the pretext of being a temporary measure and includes no end date. Inour amicus brief for the Supreme Court case challenging his prior executive order banning travel from six countries, we criticized the ban as lacking a basis in the evidence regarding terrorism threats and terrorism vetting failures. This new order fares no better. It is even further divorced from threats of terrorism to the United States than the prior order.The new targets are the nationals of the fo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 25, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
President Trump's New Travel Executive Order Has Little National Security Justification
President Trump issued anew proclamation that expanded a list of the so-called “travel ban” countries that were the subject of an executive order he issued early in his administration. His first order temporarily banned the entry of nationals from six countries fordubious national security reasons. His new order expands the list to eight countries (as Isomewhat predicted). They include Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. From the original six, he subtracted Sudan and added Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. The new executive order is also not a complete ban for all of those countries. A...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 25, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
Cynical Hawks Exploit North Korea Crisis to Torpedo Iran Agreement
Donald Trump ’sspeech to the UN General Assembly underscored his intention to adopt highly confrontational policies toward both North Korea and Iran. He threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea in the event of war and re-emphasized Washington’s long-standing determination to compel Pyongyang to renounce its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The president scorned Iran as “an economically depleted rogue state” and described the current multilateral nuclear agreement with Tehran as “an embarrassment” to the United States. If Trump is not merely engaging in bombast, Washington appears to be ginning-u...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 20, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
Weekend Poem
HurricaneThe storm wasn ’t as bad as originally feared.When the feral purple spiral bruiseSwirled slowly north on video maps on the TV newsThe Gold Coast of the Gulf side relatively sparedThe affluent had all fled to landlocked luxury hotelsand drank vodka cranberry cocktailsand Facebooked pictures of their travailsWhile the “less fortunate” bailed water from mobile homes.Waded dazed where streets used to be, clutching dead flip phonesCertain people always describe these things as a “blessing”The way it all “works out in the end”Anointing dumb luckWith God ’s personal touchWhile all the rest are just plain ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - September 16, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
Heritage Report Shows Refugees Are Not a Major Threat
ConclusionTheHeritage Backgrounder makes a valuable and interesting contribution to the debate over the future of the American refugee program. As a side effect, it shows just how small and manageable the refugee terrorist threat is. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 13, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier, Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
Trump's No Good Very Bad Arms Deal
Tomorrow Congress will vote on resolutions of disapproval in response to Trump ’s recent arms deal with Saudi Arabia. If passed, Senate Resolution 42 and House Resolution 102 would effectively block the sale of precision guided munitions kits, which the Saudis want in order to upgrade their “dumb bombs” to “smart bombs.” A similar effort was defeated last year in the Senate. How should we feel about this vote? Before the ink was dry President Trump was busy bragging about his arms deal with Saudi Arabia, a deal that heclaimed would reach $350 billion and would create “hundreds of thousands of jobs.” The sale...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 7, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: A. Trevor Thrall Source Type: blogs
Can the Iran Deal Survive?
The Iran deal is working as advertised by containing Iran ’s nuclear weapons program. That non-proliferation success creates a greater one: it vastly lowers the odds of a U.S. attack on Iran and pacifies relations. That’s what makes the deal anathema to those on both sides who would preserve enmity to gain in domestic political fights.The deal ’s fate may be sealed in the coming weeks. A presidential election Friday in Iranwill either re-elect Hassan Rouhani, who pushed for the deal and now defends it, or replace him with ahardliner. The Trump administration recentlylaunched a review of Iran policy and the deal, whic...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 15, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Benjamin H. Friedman Source Type: blogs
Trump's First 100 Days and the Deepening Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy
Donald Trump ’s first 100 days in office have set U.S. foreign policy on a dangerous course. Trump’s actions and rhetoric have raised the profile of America’s military power while weakening other sources of U.S. influence. Such an approach is in line with the “peace through strength” formula Trump espouses. However, the deepening militarization of U.S. foreign policy carries a host of risks and costs that may cause more headaches than victories.The growing role of the military in U.S. foreign policy is not a new phenomenon. Barack Obama ’s presidency was hardly peaceful. This was especially true in the M...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 28, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Eric Gomez Source Type: blogs
The Napoleon Complex and Trump's First 100 Days
The “first 100 days” was a dictatorial metaphor from the start. It entered the presidential lexicon in 1933, when journalists likened FDR’s legislative onslaught to Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1815breakout from Elba and subsequent three-month rampage, ending at Waterloo. Thankfully, President Trump ’s first 100 days haven’t been nearly so dramatic. It’s as if Napoleon, instead of marching to Paris and then to war, just sat aroundhis Tuscan villa, hand in his waistcoat, ranting about his enemies.Of theumpteen items in Trump ’s “100-day action plan,” unveiled last fallin Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he ’sbarely...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 27, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Gene Healy Source Type: blogs
Takeaways from Trump's First 100 Days
For foreign policy wonks, Trump ’s first hundred days have been a bit like a roller coaster ride. In just over three months, the new administration has veered from one crisis to another, from Syria to North Korea, China to Canada. Sudden Trumpian reversals on various foreign policy issues have been sharp enough to produce whipla sh. Meanwhile, a dizzying barrage of strange foreign policy choices and statements makes it difficult to guess what’s coming next.Nevertheless, amid all the confusion, there are a couple of big takeaways from these first 100 days that may help us better understand where Trump ’s foreign polic...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 26, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Emma Ashford Source Type: blogs
Temperament Matters in Foreign Policy
The last few weeks have seen a surprisingly activist foreign policy from the Trump administration. Since the inauguration, the rate of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the willingness to launch special operations raids in countries like Yemen, and the use of taunting rhetoric towards adversaries had all increased in comparison to the Obama administration.But this month things seems to have been put into hyper-drive. Trump authorized a symbolic punitive airstrike on a Syrian military base –a serious escalation that had no legal authority. The administration alsothreatened to engage in preventive war against North Korea ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 17, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: John Glaser Source Type: blogs
The Case for Term Limits: Shock and Surprise When an Incumbent Actually Retires
The Washington Postreports:Del. David B. Albo … (R-Fairfax) surprised his party by announcing Wednesday that he won’t seek a 12th term [in the Virginia legislature].Really? After 12 terms in office it ’s a surprise when a politician doesn’t run for a 13th term? Or it’s “shocking” when an 80-year-old U.S. senator doesn’t seek to add to her 40 years in Congress?Maybe it ’s time to limit terms. The American Founders believed in rotation in office. They wanted lawmakers to live under the laws they passed—and wanted to draw the Congress from people who have been living under them. Andpolls show that contemp...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 10, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
