MEMORIAL DAY BALTIMORE, MARYLAND:
GOD BLESS AMERICA-
PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FULL SPEECH
THE CHURCH MILITANT Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.

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“Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty, so until they adhere, we will pull out,” President Donald Trump announced this week, confirming that the United States will be leaving the 35-nation Treaty on Open Skies because of Russian violations.Under the terms of the 1992 treaty, which has been in force since 2002, members are allowed to have short-notice, unarmed reconnaissance flights over the land of the other members, so as to observe military forces and activities, by using specific, pre-approved observation aircraft. The official certified U.S. Open Skies aircraft is the OC-135B Open Skies (shown). The stated purpose of the treaty is to reduce the chances that military miscalculations could cause a war.The United States has objected to Russia’s imposition of restrictions on flights near Kaliningrad, an area between Poland and Lithuania, which has a significant Russian military presence. Jonathan Hoffman, a Defense Department spokesman, said that Russia had denied U.S. flights “within 10 kilometers of the Georgia-Russia border, and denying a flight over major military exercises the past year which completely prevented imaging of military exercise activity that was scheduled and approved previously. Russia flagrantly and continuously violates its obligations under Open Skies and implements the treaty in ways that contribute to military threats against the United States and our allies and partners.” Hoffman also noted that the United States is “committed to our treaty obligations, but in this era of great power competition we are looking to advocate for agreements that benefit all sides and that includes partners who comply responsibly with their obligations.”Not surprisingly, Trump’s unilateral action was opposed by his enemies in the intelligence and security community. For example, retired four-star General Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency, tweeted, “This is insane.” Other important posts held by Hayden include being the former deputy director of national intelligence and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under President George W. Bush.Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said the treaty was too important to abandon over the overflights near Kaliningrad. “Concerns about Russian compliance with the accord, though serious, are resolvable [although he does not explain how they are resolvable], pertain to political disputes between Russia and some of its neighbors, and do not rise to the level of a material breach that would merit U.S. withdrawal from the treaty.” Other opponents of Trump’s action include former Secretary of State George Schultz and former National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger.Trump, however, argued that the withdrawal would not hurt relations with Russia: “No, I think that we’re going to have [a] very good relationship with Russia.” He expressed optimism that his action could force the Russians to take the actions necessary to cause the U.S. to reinstate the treaty, or for the two nations to write a new treaty. “There’s a chance we may make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together. I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to pull out and they’re going to come back and want to make a deal.”President Trump was supported in his decision by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo noted the concern expressed by nations in Europe at the withdrawal, and said, “If not for the value they place on the OST, we would likely have exited long ago. We are not willing, however, to perpetuate the Treaty’s current problems of Russian-engendered threat and distrust simply in order to maintain an empty façade of cooperation with Moscow.” He added that the United States is prepared to reconsider the exit from the treaty “should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty.”The opposition to Trump’s actions recalls the almost religious devotion to arms-control agreements with the Russians from the Reagan Era, despite the Soviet Union’s chronic cheating on those very same treaties.It also illustrates the hypocrisy of Trump’s critics. For his entire presidency, and even before, the Democratic Party leadership, the bipartisan “Deep State” of the intelligence community, and their allies in the mainstream media have said that Trump is somehow under the thumb of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and have criticized every attempt Trump has made to have good relations with him.A review of headlines from 2019 demonstrates vividly this mantra. The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Trump can’t seem to resist the urge to do failures for Putin,” while Politico argued, “Trump can’t help himself when it comes to Putin.” CNN’s David Andelman wrote, in a piece entitled, “Trump keeps doing favors for Putin,” that “There seems to be no end to the ‘solids’ or favors that Donald Trump has managed to do for Vladimir Putin.”Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has even said, “All roads lead to Putin.”Yet, when Trump exits a treaty because of violations by a government led by that same Vladimir Putin, he is castigated for it.What seems more likely is that Trump is doing what he thinks is in the national interest of America. That would include cultivating a good relationship with the man who runs a very powerful country — Russia — while at the same time refusing to allow that same country and its leader — Putin — to develop a military advantage over the United States.In other words, it could be that Trump is simply putting “America First” — perhaps the most-hated phrase among his globalist critics.
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WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against Iran’s Interior Minister for his role in serious human rights abuses against Iranians, as well as seven senior officials of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) and a provincial commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Today’s action also targets the Bonyad Taavon NAJA, which is translated as LEF Cooperative Foundation, along with its director and members of the board of trustees. The LEF Cooperative Foundation is an economic collaborative controlled by the LEF and is active in Iran’s energy, construction, services, technology, and banking industries.“The Iranian regime violently suppresses dissent of the Iranian people, including peaceful protests, through physical and psychological abuse,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “The United States will continue to hold accountable Iranian officials and institutions that oppress and abuse their own people.”The LEF has played a key role in government crackdowns on protesters, and operates detention centers associated with physical and psychological abuses. The LEF has begun to crack down on Afghan migrants in Iran, sending them to deportation centers where the IRGC has reportedly coerced many into fighting for Iranian militias in Syria. In May 2020, the LEF was implicated in the torture and drowning of Afghan nationals attempting to cross into Iran.This action is taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553 of September 28, 2010, which imposes sanctions on certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran. On June 9, 2011, Treasury sanctioned the LEF and IRGC pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses that have occurred since the disputed June 2009 presidential election and ensuing protests. The LEF has also been designated under separate authorities for its support to the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in the civil conflict in Syria, which has resulted in the displacement and suffering of millions. The IRGC has also been designated under counterterrorism and counter proliferation authorities. Both organizations continue to be implicated in human rights abuses, including those involving the killing of Iranian protestors, most recently in November 2019 following widespread protests in Iran over an increase in gasoline prices. In November 2018, OFAC designated Ghavamin Bank for providing banking services and facilitating routine financial transactions for the LEF.Abdolreza Rahmani FazliAs the Iranian regime’s Interior Minister and chair of Iran’s National Domestic Security Council (NDSC), Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli (Rahmani Fazli) has responsibilities for overseeing internal security issues, including Iran’s LEF. Rahmani Fazli holds the title of “Deputy or Replacement Commander-in Chief of Police Forces”, as delegated to him by the Supreme Leader. Rahmani Fazli has issued orders authorizing the LEF to use lethal force in response to the November 2019 protests, resulting in violence against peaceful protestors and bystanders. His orders led to the killing of many protestors, including at least 23 minors.In addition, the Ministry of the Interior is also responsible for issuing permits for peaceful gatherings. Under Rahmani Fazli’s tenure, which began in 2013, the LEF has been responsible for the commission of serious human rights abuses against Iranians on multiple occasions, including killing hundreds of Iranians. As the Interior Minister, Rahmani Fazli issued several public warnings to protestors discouraging them from gathering and emphasizing that the LEF would crack down. Further, under Fazli’s tenure, the Ministry has routinely denied permits, or granted permits and then denied security, for the gatherings. These gatherings have then been attacked by plainclothes individuals believed to be part of the intelligence and security apparatus. Additionally, Rahmani Fazli as chair of the NDSC was involved in the Iranian regime’s decision to impose the days-long internet blackout of the November 2019 protests.Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being an official of the Government of Iran or a person acting on behalf of the Government of Iran who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli is also being identified pursuant to E.O. 13599 as an official of the Government of Iran.The Department of State is also publicly designating Rahmani Fazli under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights. Rahmani Fazli and his immediate family members are barred from entering the United States.Hossein Ashtari Fard and Ayoub SoleimaniOFAC is also designating Hossein Ashtari Fard (Ashtari), the Commander of the LEF since March 2015 and Ayoub Soleimani (Soleimani) is the Deputy Commander of the LEF, a position he was appointed to in 2018 by Ashtari with the approval of Iran’s Supreme Leader, pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the LEF.During Ashtari’s tenure as commander, the LEF has been implicated in multiple cases of violence, including the reported killing of hundreds of Iranian protesters and several dozen children following nationwide protests against an increase in gasoline prices in November 2019. In addition, Ashtari also directs the LEF cyber police unit, an organization that monitors expressions of dissatisfaction with the Iranian regime, and has threatened to punish Iranians who use social media to organize protests.Soleimani took an active role in the suppression of anti-hijab protests in July 2019, calling an improperly worn hijab an obvious crime. He issued statements that the security forces would forcefully confront women who were not abiding by the Iranian dress code.Additionally, Ayoub Soleimani was appointed in April 2020 as the head of the Planning Directorate of the Armed Forces General Staff, the most senior military body in Iran, which was designated by OFAC in November 2019 pursuant to E.O. 13876 for being owned or controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran.Mohsen Fathi Zadeh, Yahya Mahmoodzadeh, Hamidreza Ashraq, and Mohammad Ali NoorinajadTreasury is also taking action against a number of the LEF’s most senior officials: Mohsen Fathi Zadeh, the Chief of the Defense and Intelligence Organization of the LEF; Yahya Mahmoodzadeh, the Deputy of Planning and Budget for the LEF; Hamidraza Ashraq, the Deputy of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for the LEF; and Mohammad Ali Noorinajad, the Deputy Coordinator of the LEF. Noorinajad has publically praised the LEF for its role in suppressing the November 2019 protests, referring to the protestors as rebels, villains, and opportunists.Mohsen Fathi Zadeh, Yahya Mahmoodzadeh, Hamidraza Ashraq and Mohammad Ali Noorinajad are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the LEF.Hassan Shahvarpour NajafabadiHassan Shahvarpour Najafabadi (Shahvarpour) is an IRGC Brigadier General and the Commander of the IRGC’s Vali Asr Base in Khuzestan province, and he served in the position during the IRGC’s violent suppression of protestors in November 2019. In this province and the city of Mahshahr alone, the IRGC killed at least 100 protestors in a three-day period. Shahvarpour was designated in January 2020 by the State Department under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriation Act, 2020, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights against protestors during the November 2019 protests. Shahvarpour and his immediate family members are barred from entering the United States.Today, Hassan Shahvarpour Najafabadi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC.The LEF Cooperative Foundation and Habil DarvishThe LEF Cooperative Foundation is an economic collaborative controlled by the LEF that is active in Iran’s energy, construction, services, technology, and banking industries. It reportedly sold oil worth $180 million, profits of which were not repatriated to the government. The majority of the aforementioned LEF senior officials, including Ayoub Soleimani, Mohsen Fathi Zadeh, Yahya Mahmoodzadeh, Hamidraza Ashraq and Mohammad Ali Noorinajad, are, or have been, members of the board of the LEF Cooperative Foundation.The LEF Cooperative Foundation is being designated today pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, the LEF.Habil Darvish is the Managing Director of the LEF Cooperative Foundation and Deputy of Engineering of the LEF. Habil Darvish is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, LEF Cooperative Foundation.Sanctions ImplicationsAll property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.In addition, non-U.S. persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons designated today may themselves be exposed to designation. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates a significant transaction for or on behalf of the persons designated today could be subject to U.S. correspondent or payable-through account sanctions.For identifying information on the individuals and entity designated today, click here.

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Following a White House investigation of the disgraced United Nations World Health Organization, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to keep American funding frozen or even withdraw from the global outfit altogether. Blasting the UN agency’s lies and its proven track-record of parroting Communist Chinese propaganda amid the coronavirus pandemic, Trump called for urgent and immediate reforms. If the WHO refuses to act, Trump said the U.S. government — by far the largest financier of the scandal-plagued organization — would withhold taxpayer funds and even reconsider membership. Now, critics of the lawless agency say it is time for Congress to act, too.Beginning with a statement of facts in his letter, Trump noted that he ordered U.S. contributions to the WHO suspended on April 14 pending an investigation by the administration of the UN agency’s “failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak.” The review, he continued, confirmed many of the serious concerns raised last month. It also identified new concerns that should have been addressed, “especially the World Health Organization’s alarming lack of independence from the People’s Republic of China,” Trump warned. The WHO ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan, failed to investigate information that conflicted with Beijing’s lies, and then it spread Communist Chinese misinformation while risking countless lives, the president said.Among the most serious concerns cited by Trump in the letter to WHO boss Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is not a medical doctor but helped lead a mass-murdering ethno-Marxist terrorist group, is the fact that the UN outfit has been lying. “The World Health Organization has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading,” Trump said, putting it diplomatically. He gave multiple examples, including the WHO’s January 14 claim echoing Beijing that the virus could not be transmitted between human beings. Of course, the WHO knew better.By no later than December 30, 2019, the World Health Organization office in Beijing knew that there was a ‘major public health’ concern in Wuhan,” Trump said, adding that Taiwan also told the WHO about the human-to-human transmission. “Between December 26 and December 30, China’s media highlighted evidence of a new virus emerging from Wuhan, based on patient data sent to multiple Chinese genomics companies. Additionally, during this period, Dr. Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China’s health authorities that a new coronavirus was causing a novel disease that was, at the time, afflicting approximately 180 patients.”Under WHO’s “International Health Regulations,” governments are supposed to report the risk of a health emergency within 24 hours. But Communist Chinese authorities failed to do that until December 31, days or even weeks after it had learned about the mushrooming crisis. When whistleblowers such as Dr. Zhang Yongzhen with the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center tried to get the word out, the regime shut down his lab. WHO, meanwhile, remains “conspicuously silent both with respect to the closure of Dr. Zhang’s lab and his assertion that he had notified Chinese authorities of his breakthrough six days earlier.”Trump also accused the WHO of bowing to pressure from mass-murdering Communist Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. On January 21, for instance, Xi told Tedros not to declare the coronavirus outbreak an emergency. “You gave in to this pressure the next day and told the world that the coronavirus did not pose a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” Trump told the controversial WHO boss, adding that it was not until the evidence was too overwhelming to hide that Tedros reversed course and admitted that the situation was serious.The U.S. president slammed Tedros for praising the Chinese regime for “transparency,” too. Meanwhile, in the real world, the dictatorship was lying and frantically silencing whistleblowers and doctors who were attempting to warn the world about the unfolding calamity. Finally, Trump slammed Tedros for criticizing his decision to restrict air travel from China, even as the disgraced UN leader was praising the Xi regime for its own domestic restrictions. “Your political gamesmanship on this issue was deadly, as other governments, relying on your comments, delayed imposing life-saving restrictions on travel to and from China,” explained the president.In his conclusion, Trump lays down an ultimatum. “It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world,” he said. “The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization.”Echoing his “America First” campaign theme, Trump noted that it was his responsibility to protect U.S. taxpayers and American interests. “I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America’s interests,” the president said, being diplomatic but clear. In fact, not only is the WHO not serving U.S. interests, it is actively undermining them by squandering American money while allowing brutal and murderous dictatorships to amplify their power and reach.Even establishment-minded analysts have come to the conclusion that it is time for the United States to ditch the WHO. In an op-ed published by the far-left Newsweek, former Bush administration operative John Yoo warned that the Communist Chinese Party had so thoroughly corrupted the WHO that it was time to leave. In the piece, headlined “The World Health Organization Is not Salvageable,” Yoo blasted the agency for pursuing “politics over public health” by helping Beijing spread disinformation. He also pointed to the WHO’s refusal to admit Taiwan — also known as the Republic of China, or free China — into the disgraced global body. “American decision-makers should respond by either pushing China out of any serious role at the WHO or constructing a new agency to take its place,” Yoo said.The WHO has a long track record of brazen dishonesty. Last year, for instance, The New American reported that the agency was advocating forced vaccines and training medical professionals to lie to parents about them in an effort to squash vaccine “hesitancy.” Among other whoppers, the WHO instructs doctors to tell parents that vaccines cannot cause harmful side effects or even death, that they cannot cause the infection they are supposed to prevent, and that inoculations provide better immunity to disease than contracting it and building a natural immune response. All of those lies are easily debunked. Yet the WHO still has its dishonest training program online in an effort to deceive humanity.Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that the WHO is led by a man who served on the Politburo of the ethno-Marxist terrorist group known as the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The murderous organization joined forces with other communist terrorists to take over Ethiopia, then terrorize and murder the opposition. Ethnic groups such as the Amhara were targeted, too, whistleblowers said. Dissidents were hunted down even outside of Ethiopia, with Tedros reportedly helping lead the persecution. More than a few critics have called for him to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.Of course, WHO is hardly the only UN agency under Communist Chinese control. As The New American has been reporting for years, almost a third of the UN’s specialized agencies are now run by actual members of the Communist Party of China. At least one senior former official in the Trump administration, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Kevin Moley, argued that this ongoing Chinese takeover of “global governance” represents “the greatest existential threat to our republic since our founding.” “This is the fight of our lives,” he told the Epoch Times. “It is a struggle between Western civilization and the Communist Party of China.”As with the rest of the UN, reforming the WHO will be impossible. It was created by technocrats and tyrants hoping to advance globalism and centralize power — and it is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Rather than focus on futile efforts to “fix” the UN and the WHO, Trump and Congress ought to pass the American Sovereignty Restoration Act into law. It would end U.S. government involvement in the UN and all its agencies while evicting the dictator club’s headquarters from U.S. soil. At that point, with the UN being irrelevant, it would not matter whether Beijing controls it. It is time for America to restore her sovereignty and get out of the UN.Related articles:


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The media spent all night in a frothing fit because President Trump told reporters that he is taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, as a precaution against coronavirus.Trump told reporter that he hopes not to be taking the medication for long, but that he believes it’s effective, and that “people should be allowed to.”The media immediately called Trump irresponsible, with some vowing that the drug would “kill him” and anyone else who takes it.Fox News's Neil Cavuto is stunned by Trump's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine: "If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment ... it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you."
16.8K people are talking about thisNancy Pelosi seized on the moment to call Trump “morbidly obese”:“I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: ‘Morbidly obese,’ they say,” says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Pres. Trump’s revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine.
5,624 people are talking about thisSenate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Trump’s remarks about hydroxychloroquine “dangerous.”“Maybe he’s really not taking it because the president lies about things characteristically,” Schumer said on MSNBC.He added: “I don’t know whether he is taking it or not. I know him saying he is taking it, whether he is or not, is reckless, reckless, reckless.”Of course, orange man is still bad:Stephen Colbert brutally mocks Trump for taking hydroxychloroquine: “If you think hydroxycholoroquine might be right for you, don’t ask your doctor. Just ask around. And if you hear some good stories, eat it. Eat it, you coward.” https://trib.al/eGLh7wl
754 people are talking about thisEven the communist Chinese government got in on the act, claiming that Trump is trying to beat coronavirus with “witchcraft”:It’s not witchcraft, it’s a drug that has proven effective against the virus. Cutting horns off Rhinos and sniffing them is witchcraft.If media truly believed hydroxychloroquine were dangerous, they’d be glad Trump is taking it. Today's response was revealing.
3,503 people are talking about this