State of the Threat to the State

The White House has released a new National Security Strategy (NSS), after five years of no updates, which outlines Obama’s perceived threats against the US, such as rising terrorism, cybersecurity issues, Russia’s influence and dangers posed by Ebola.

  RT

Of course, we haven’t heard a peep about Ebola since the first couple of cases in the US.

The 2015 NSS focuses on the rising wave of terrorism in the face of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and the increased risks of spillover, while the 2010 version concentrated on ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

THERE’S your change promised in his first campaign.

Moreover, the NSS points to the tragic Boston Marathon bombings as proof of the government’s improved responsiveness and resilience, rather than as a point of failure in their security strategy.

To be sure, that’s the better tack to take for the government.

Another key part of the document deals with cybersecurity issues: “The danger of disruptive and even destructive cyber-attack is growing …we will take necessary actions to protect our businesses and defend our networks against cyber-theft of trade secrets for commercial gain whether by private actors or the Chinese government.”

What? No mention of North Korea?

Earlier this week, the Obama administration announced a new set of guidelines regarding how US agencies, like the NSA, could conduct surveillance on American citizens. But, most of the so-called changes were largely skin-deep and hardly make a dent in the US hawkish surveillance practices.

No change there.

One of the other notable changes in the new NSS document was a strategy shift against Russia. In 2010, the document called for the strengthening of ties with Russia, while the 2015 version is urging for additional pressure on Russia in order to reverse its course of action with regards to Ukraine.

Thank heavens for good old Russia. Maybe we’ll get a McCarthy panel again, too.

Obama has been reiterating his stance on fighting Russia's aggression, and he admitted that America had been “a power broker” in the Ukrainian power-transition during his interview with CNN last week.

Gee, is that a good thing? The Ukraine mess is so bad at this point that half of Europe is getting together to see what they might be able to do about it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.