CHUCK FLOYD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Chuck is a senior executive with an MBA and a
Masters degree in Logistics, with over 25 years of
experience driving strategy, business development,
market penetration, regulatory compliance,
acquisitions, program management, and joint ventures
with industry and the U.S. Departments of State,
Defense, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services,
Justice, Veteran Affairs, and the U.S. Congress. He
is also adept at managing domestic and international
teams, collaborating with business, government and
other stakeholders, and leading large-scale programs
from planning to completion. His extensive expertise
includes strategic planning, business development &
capture, marketing, program management, security,
spiral & agile development, Six Sigma and ISO
process improvements, P&L, supply chain and
operations management. He has experience writing
legislation and managing government relation
programs. Chuck has traveled to over 50 countries
around the world and has coordinated contracts,
policy, and agreements with foreign government
officials. He also has experience building,
managing, and motivating high-performing teams that
exceed expectations and company objectives.
BRUCE MORAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
Bruce J. Moran is a senior National Security Advisor
who focuses on strategic planning for National
Security issues. As a consultant, he works with
public officials, U.S. Government committees,
departments, agencies, think tanks, and
corporations. He works on special national security
projects and defines clear "hands on" working
solutions for Crisis Preparedness and Crisis
Readiness scenarios. He has in-depth experience in
foreign policy, security operations & Hi-Tech
systems (connectivity, interoperability, and
interfacing) such as SMART* Fusion protocols and
applications. He consults with the U.S. Department
of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, House Committee On Foreign Affairs, Joint
Economic Committee, Senate/House Committees on
Banking/Finance, Senate Permanent Committee On
investigations and the Senate Select Committee On
Intelligence.
Ryan Mauro, Clarion Project's Shillman Fellow and
National Security Analyst
President Trump’s speech at the United Nations is
being rightly praised, with some even saying it is
his best speech as Commander-in-Chief so far. Unlike
the 9/11 addresses where the Trump Administration
omitted any reference to Radical Islam, this speech
punched at the Islamist ideology and was also a
powerful, pro-American presentation to the world.
https://clarionproject.org/trump-un-speech/
Trump’s U.N. Speech: 10 Important Moments
President Trump’s speech at the United Nations is
being rightly praised, with some even saying it is
his best speech as Commander-in-Chief so far. Unlike
the 9/11
addresses where the Trump Administration
omitted any reference to Radical Islam, this speech
punched at the Islamist ideology and was also a
powerful, pro-American presentation to the world.
There are 10 sections of special importance:
WE’RE BACK TO
DISCUSSING ISLAMISM
President Trump twice mentioned the ideology of
Islamism in his address after his administration—in
a clearly coordinated decision–omitted
any mention of Radical Islam in its 9/11 anniversary
addresses. The shift is widely attributed
to National Security Adviser H.R.
McMaster.
All responsible nations must work together to
confront terrorists and the Islamist extremism that
inspires them. We will stop radical Islamic
terrorism because we cannot allow it to tear up our
nation, and indeed to tear up the entire world.
We don’t know if this change is due to a personal
redirection by President Trump or the result of
delegation of duties with senior
adviser and chief speechwriter Stephen Miller playing
more of a role in the U.N. address.
A BROADER
APPROACH TOWARDS THE “LOSER” ENEMY
President Trump signaled a broader approach towards
the Islamist ideology and its adherent jihadist
groups. In listing these enemies that must be
defeated, he included Hezbollah and the Taliban.
These are very important inclusions, as it
contradicts the previous approach of trying to reach
a peace accord with the “moderate” Taliban and
Hezbollah.
We must deny the terrorists safe haven, transit,
funding, and any form of support for their vile and
sinister ideology. We must drive them out of our
nations. It is time to expose and hold responsible
those countries who support and finance terror
groups like Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban and
others that slaughter innocent people.
The United States and our allies are working
together throughout the Middle East to crush the
loser terrorists and stop the reemergence of safe
havens they use to launch attacks on all of our
people.
The description of the enemy as losers is more than
Trumpian smack-talk. The Islamist ideology depends
upon the perception of success for
survival.
Trump made a strong case that they are going
downhill.
AN IDEOLOGICAL
ASSAULT ON THE IRANIAN REGIME
Those who accuse President Trump of sounding like a
war-mongering imperialist heard or read something
different than the audience in the room. When he
blasted the Iranian regime, he got his biggest
applause line of the day.
The Iranian government masks a corrupt
dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy…
…The entire world understands that the good
people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast
military power of the United States, that Iran’s
people are what their leaders fear the most. This is
what causes the regime to restrict Internet access,
tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student
protestors and imprison political reformers.
…Will they continue down the path of poverty,
bloodshed, and terror? Or will the Iranian people
return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of
civilization, culture, and wealth where their people
can be happy and prosperous again?
The positive language is simply too much to quote in
a single article. Trump zeroed in on the critical
point that every penny spent by the Iranian regime
on its nuclear program—or on terrorism—or on its
rulers’ own comfort—is a betrayal of the Iranian
people and the Persian legacy.
Now, the question is what the Trump Administration
will actually do to throw the Iranian regime into
the dustbin of history where it belongs, given his
staunch opposition to regime change strategies.
THE IRAN DEAL IS
ALMOST DEAD
Get ready to stick a fork in the Iran deal. It’s
almost dead. U.N. Ambassador Haley said Iran
has undeclared and uninspected nuclear sites and the
administration “has
grounds” to declare Iran in violation.
Israel claims that
the IAEA is not inspecting suspected secret nuclear
sites.
And then Trump said this:
We cannot abide by an agreement if it provides
cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear
program. The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most
one-sided transactions the United States has ever
entered into. Frankly, the deal is an embarrassment
to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard
the last of it—believe me.
LETTING THE SUNNI
STATE SPONSORS & MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD/HAMAS OFF THE HOOK
As was the case in his speech in Riyadh, the Sunni
state sponsors of Islamist extremism got
off easy. Notice the language in the U.N.
speech about the Sunni Arab governments and the lack
of any criticism of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian regime’s support for terror is in
stark contrast to the recent commitments of many of
its neighbors to fight terrorism and halt its
financing. In Saudi Arabia earlier this year, I was
greatly honored to address the leaders of more than
50 Arab and Muslim nations. We agreed that all
responsible nations must work together to confront
terrorists and the Islamist extremism that inspires
them.
It’s time for a wake-up call: The radical Islamic
terrorists are inspired by the Islamist extremism
promoted by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other
Sunni Arabs. As bad of an actor as the radical
Shiite regime of Iran is, only about 20 percent of
the Muslim world is Shiite. The terrorists loyal to
ISIS and Al-Qaeda—those who pose the biggest threat
to the American homeland (by far)—are Sunni.
Saudi Arabia remains the “chief
foreign promoter of Islamist extremism” in
the West. Qatar is a top
financier of Islamist terrorism. Turkey
is a state sponsor of the ideology and adherent
jihadists like
Al-Qaeda and its ruling dictator can
arguably be titled as the “King
of the Islamists.”
Notice that the Muslim Brotherhood and its
Palestinian wing, Hamas, were missing from the list
of terrorist groups to defeat. That is no accident.
There are reasons that happened.
The Trump Administration has backed away from
confronting the Qatar-Turkey-Muslim Brotherhood
Axis under
Secretary of State Tillerson. The Qataris’ hiring
of lobbyists close to Trump’s inner circle probably
has something to do with it, as well.
PRO-SECURITY,
PRO-REFUGEE
President Trump stood his ground on his policy
reducing the acceptance of refugees while rebutting
the anti-American propaganda and political partisans
who depict this policy as unloving, anti-Muslim and
brutal.
For the cost of resettling one refugee in the
United States, we can assist more than 10 in their
home region. Out of the goodness of our hearts, we
offer financing assistance to hosting countries in
the region…This is the safe, responsible, and
humanitarian approach.
Trump then made the argument that accepting refugees
is damaging for the conflicted countries because it
“drains them of the human capital” and decreases
pressure on the offending regimes. In fact, it
rewards those who have made the conscious decision
to create the refugee crisis.
NORTH KOREA
It’s the line that everyone is talking about:
The United States has great strength and
patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or
its allies, we will have no choice but to totally
destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide
mission for himself and for his regime…That’s what
the United Nations is all about; that’s what the
United Nations is for. Let’s see how they do.
Make no mistake about it: The North Korea crisis overlaps
with the war on Radical Islam, especially
when it comes to the links
between the North Korean and Iranian WMD programs.
If one looks at the actual word usage, this was
actually the opposite of the critics’ false
characterization that Trump was acting like a
nuke-wielding bully. The language was purely
defensive in nature and put the ball in the court of
the United Nations and the unnamed countries who
commit the “outrage” of arming and trading with the
North Korean regime. If there is a war, it is the
fault of North Korea, the regime’s backers and
facilitated by a dysfunctional U.N. and not the
U.S.
Trump and his speechwriters wisely devoted the bulk
of his comments on North Korea to the regime’s
transgressions against its own people, in line with
a strategy I advocated for and dubbed, “They
Provoke, We Expose.”
TYING VENEZUELA’S
DICTATOR TO HIS SOCIALIST/COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY
The Venezuelan dictatorship originally established
by Hugo Chavez and now overseen by Nicolas Maduro
has long supported
Iran-backed terrorist operations.
It has likely given
passports to Islamist extremists. The
U.S. government sanctioned Venezuela’s
Vice President for being a drug lord with suspected ties to
terrorists. This activity has led to callsfor
Venezuela to be designated as a State Sponsor of
Terrorism.
President Trump blasted Maduro’s dictatorship and
threatened undefined American action while
explicitly describing the Venezuelans’ hardships as
an inevitable byproduct of socialism and communism:
We are prepared to take further action if the
government of Venezuela persists on its path to
impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people…
…The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism
has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has
been faithfully implemented. From the Soviet Union
to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or
communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish
and devastation and failure.
THE U.N. MUST
ACKNOWLEDGE ITS SHORT-COMINGS
It sounds like he’s getting ready to save the
American taxpayer some money.
It is a massive source of embarrassment to the
United Nations that some governments with egregious
human rights records sit on the U.N. Human Rights
Council. The United States is one out of 193
countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22
percent of the entire budget and more…The United
States bears an unfair cost burden.
He pointed out how undemocratic governments are able
to “subvert this institution” and “hijack” its power
for their interests that undermine the founding
purpose of the U.N.
OUR IDEOLOGY WILL
WIN WITHOUT US IMPOSING IT
President Trump masterfully threaded the needle when
it came to the line between promoting our Western
secular-democratic ideology—a necessity in a global
ideological war—without sounding imperialistic or
unwilling to work with undemocratic partners. That
is not an easy thing to do.
He said that the U.S. is “guided by outcomes, not
ideology” and do not wish to impose our way of life
on others—but you can defend and you can promote
our ideology so people voluntarilyadopt it
incrementally and in a way customized for their
societies.
Every policy position correctly presented the U.S.
as the inherent ally of freedom fighters against
imperialism; the polar opposite of what the Islamist
ideology and anti-American propagandists
characterize us as. For instance:
We do not expect diverse countries to share the
same cultures, traditions or even systems of
government. But we do expect all nations to uphold
these two core sovereign duties: to respect the
interests of their own people and the rights of
every other sovereign nation.
Trump followed that with the most robust defense of
the United States’ ideology and moral conduct in
recent memory on the world stage, while reasserting
that we will always stand with the oppressed. Here’s
a sampling:
We are celebrating the 230th anniversary of our
beloved Constitution—the oldest constitution still
in use in the world today. This timeless document
has been the foundation of peace, prosperity and
freedom for the Americans and for countless millions
around the globe…
Our citizens have paid the ultimate price to
defend our freedom and the freedom of many nations
represented in this great hall…It is an eternal
credit to the American character that even after we
and our allies emerged victorious from the bloodiest
war in history, we did not seek territorial
expansion, or attempt to impose our way of life
others….
…One of the greatest American patriots, John
Adams, wrote that the American Revolution was
‘effected before the war commenced. The Revolution
was in the minds and hearts of the people.’
That was the moment when America awoke, when we
looked around and understood that we were a nation.
We realized who we were, what we valued, and what we
would give our lives to defend. From its very first
moments, the American story is the story of what is
possible when people take ownership of their future.
The United States of America has been among the
greatest forces for good in the history of the
world, and the greatest defenders of sovereignty,
security and prosperity for all.
Now we are calling for a great reawakening of
nations, for a revival of their spirits, their
pride, their people, and their patriotism.”
Now that is an example of how you fight an
ideological war.