U.S. Representative Ed Royce

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NewsChannel8

The goal of this blog is to inform and bring your attention to interesting items that catch my eye. As many of you know, I serve as the Chairman of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade Subcommittee. So there is a lot to keep track of. I'll try and keep it to material that is free and unique - so you'll keep coming back. I hope you find it interesting.

 

 

• Information Battle Oct 23, 2012  - Right now, there is a battle taking place in the skies. Last week, Eutelsat – a French company that is one of Europe’s leading satellite providers - announced that it was terminating its contract with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) company. It immediately pulled 19 of Iran’s state-... More

• Azerbaijan, J-Lo and the Axe Murderer Oct 17, 2012  - The Washington Post on Monday ran a glowing page-one article on the energy-rich, Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is "coming to relish its role as the region’s anti-Iran, a secular, Western-leaning country that is working mightily to become everything that Iran is not." Iran is repressiv... More

• A-Team’s Terror Drone Oct 10, 2012  - Then-Deputy Secretary of State Armitage quipped ten years ago about Hezbollah being the terrorist "A-team." They are living up to the ranking. Take the incident over Israel last weekend, only a blip in the U.S. press. On Saturday, an unmanned, unarmed surveillance drone entered Israeli airspace from... More

• Venezuela’s Marathon Oct 9, 2012  - Venezuela’s strong-man Hugo Chavez won his fourth election as president over the weekend. It was a closer race than the 54% to 45% vote spread suggests. Henrique Capriles, a popular governor, gave Chavez his stiffest competition in a dozen plus years. Some even thought he could win. Wishful thinking... More

• Sunshine on North Korea Again? Oct 2, 2012  - The United States isn’t the only country with a looming presidential contest. South Koreans will go to the polls in December. But no matter who wins, it seems that Seoul's North Korea policy will take an unfortunate U-turn. A few years back, incumbent President Lee Myung-bak made the South’s aid to ... More

• A World Without Elephants? Sep 20, 2012  - "Do you want your children to grow up in a world without elephants?" asks an ecologist in an impressive piece of reporting in the New York Times the other week. Unfortunately, looking at trend lines, the question must be asked. After seeing this article, I got together to swap ideas with a senior St... More

• Haqqani Network: What does it take to call terrorists terrorists? Sep 7, 2012  - An act of Congress, apparently. The Haqqani network is an Afghan and Pakistani insurgent group, based on the Pakistan side of the border in North Waziristan. Some call the Haqqanis "the Sopranos" of the Afghanistan war, a ruthless crime family that built an empire out of kidnapping, extortion and sm... More

• Sudan's Slick Deal Aug 27, 2012  - Earlier this month, Secretary Clinton waded into the oil dispute between Sudan and now one year old South Sudan. Readers will recall that while the oil is mainly in the south, the pipeline and port to get it to market are in the north. This economic dependence would ensure peace – at least that’s wh... More

• Smoking Kills Aug 24, 2012  - This week, the Wall Street Journal reported on a European Union investigation into a tobacco company for possible sanctions violations. A Swiss-based unit of an Asian tobacco company is peddling cigarettes to Syria. So what's the big deal? As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. The buyers a... More

• Strongman Down Aug 21, 2012  - Big news out of the Horn of Africa this morning -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has died. His failing health had been a mystery for months. He was only 57, but had ruled Ethiopia for a quarter century. Like other African leaders, Meles came to power after his rebel group dislodged a repress... More