Dear Friends,

In the past few months in over 60 cases the US legal system upheld the rule of law and rejected meritless claims designed to overturn the presidential election. However a significant portion of the population rejected these judicial rulings on the legitimacy of the election won by Joe Biden. They were told and believe lies. 

On January 6th we all watched the attempted destruction of democracy by the invasion of the Capital building in Washington. The stress test continues.
 
The constituency of President Trump that engaged in these acts of sedition will not soon give up their passions and their leaders will continue to promote falsehoods and prejudice. The duty of all people of good will to advance justice, the rule of law, and truth has become critically important for the United States.
 
Governance of a nation based on lies and illusions with leadership lacking mental and emotional stability can place the entire world in mortal hazard if that nation has nuclear weapons. We are faced with the reality of this truth now. The articles below are a response to this moment.

Warmly,
Jonathan Granoff
President, Global Security Institute
Senior Advisor and Special Representative to the UN for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates
Calls to impeach Trump or invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office touch only tangentially on our deepest anxieties about what further damage he might do between now and January 20th. To cut to the heart of the matter, chief among the many reasons to be biting our nails now, Trump has the nuclear "Gold Codes," and Congressional and military stopgaps are inadequate to restrain him if he decides to use them.

In a consultation with me this week, former Secretary of Defense William Perry described the present predicament this way: "Trump still has 'sole authority' to launch, and the military have no authority to stop him, unless they have reason to believe the order is illegal. That is cold comfort, because it is unlikely that the military would question whether a valid order from the president is 'legal.' However, in the present circumstances, questioning would certainly be in order."

Military training and precedent argue against questioning a direct order from the Commander in Chief, even a nuclear strike order. There is no way to know on whose watch an order might come, or whether they would indeed resist. There is no sufficient institutional check on presidential nuclear authority, and no fast-track way to set up some sort of emergency restraint on Trump.
NEW YORK, Jan 11 2021 (IPS) - Between now and January 20,2021, the President of the United States has almost run out of arenas in which to impose his will. His reelection has soured in infamy. His concern for the COVID-19 pandemic faded long ago. There is only one last pursuit available to him to demonstrate that he is the most powerful man on earth, i.e. using the nuclear weapons at his disposal.

What if? This man who once suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on the eye of a hurricane, what if he decided to drop a nuclear warhead on Iran? What if Iran retaliated and sent rockets into Israel? What if Israel nuked Iran? What if the Middle East exploded and other nuclear nations chose sides and piled on expanded targets with their nukes?

Right now, the citizens of the United States and the people of the world need to be protected from the “what if” of an unhinged President armed with nuclear weapons.

Two questions quickly arise: 1) is this President, with nuclear weapons at his fingertips, sound of mind with a healthy moral compass? 2) Why should any President be given “sole authority” to order the launch of a nuclear arsenal? To launch in five minutes without the counsel of anyone else?
Jan 14: Global Counter Terrorism Council
Capital Hill Insurrection Conference
DATE: January 14, 2021
Time: 9:00AM-10:00AM EST

Geopolitical Implications of the January 6th, 2021 and the New Administration.

Session Chair: Cleo Paskal, International Advisory Board Member, GCTC, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defence for Democracies, U.S.A & Associate Fellow, Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs, U.K.

Speakers:
·   Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Institute, USA
·   Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, Former Ambassador of India to China, Bhutan & High Commissioner to Pakistan
·   General Daya Ratnayake, Chairman, Sri Lankan Port Authority, Former Commander in Chief, Sri Lankan Army & International Advisory Board Member-GCTC
·   Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director, Counter Extremism Project, New York, USA. 
·   Dr. Anurag Batra, Chairman, BusinessWorld
·   Sanjeev Joshipura, Executive Director, Indiaspora
Register here. You will receive a Zoom link from the hosts.