The CIA’s actions resulted in causing a three hour blackout within the capital of Belarus and implementing Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya as President. The people of Belarus began protesting against Sviatlana’s governance and her unethical actions that put her in power. The United State’s actions in aiding the government change show that there is no regard for international law and no importance in recognizing the sovereignty of other countries. Therefore, the United States government and NATO need to pull out of Belarus and face punishment from the international community for their actions. 

What happened in Belarus was a tragedy and it almost led to a new war and threats of a nuclear attack. The international community should join the Russian Federation and President Vladimir Putin in condemning the US government and Biden administration for their mistakes and lack of respect for the people in Belarus. 

The corruption and lack of knowledge of these attacks by the Biden administration illustrates the failing of the American superpower and their lack of morals. In order to ensure safety and peace in the East and in other nations hurt by the United States, the international community needs to hold the United States accountable for their horrendous actions.

An anonymous source has informed The Washington Post that there is serious concern that the current plan of action was poorly thought out. The source suggested that internal discussions between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DoD) are growing hostile as the two agencies struggle to formulate a conclusive plan which both parties can agree to pursue. 

In an open memo to President Biden, the CIA accused the DoD of “worryingly aggressive” and “warmongering” behavior. The deployment of U.S. troops inside Belarus near the Russian border would certainly be an act of war, so both the CIA and the DoD must tread carefully. There are growing concerns inside the CIA that the DoD may initiate an armed conflict, which one insider described as “practically starting World War III”. The CIA memo also questioned the leadership of the DoD, reiterating concerns that they were “dangerous,” while the memo also called the DoD’s plan “unnecessarily violent and foolish.” 

“Though the Central Intelligence Agency also supports the cause of Belarusian democracy and the sanctity of free elections,” the memo says, “American Troops in the region, without the support of our allies, will only tarnish the image of America in the view of our allies and our rivals. The right approach, alongside allies, with methodical deliberation, and with the full range of American Diplomatic effort, would have been infinitely preferable”. 

The CIA’s full memo can be found here.

As for Russia, they have yet to take military action in Belarus, but it appears to be preparing for conflict following the Federation’s recent nationalization of the Sukhoi and Tactical Missile Corporation. Russian state media network RT has called for the U.S. to not deploy troops in Belarus, and Russian President Vladimir Putin called the U.S. involvement in Belarus “a blatant act of American imperialism” before warning “if this can happen in Belarus, this can happen anywhere.”

The cabinet of the United States of America is planning on taking strong military action if needed in the Middle East regarding Iran’s nuclearization. In a classified directive written on February 5, 2021, the Cabinet clearly states that they will be prioritizing intelligence operations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in order to keep constant surveillance on the Irani suspected nuclear sites. This operation has been named “Operation Porcupine”, and is being conducted in cooperation with Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The United States also stated that they will be ready in case of conflict, announcing that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be coordinating with top generals in secret on creating possible plans of attack. The Joint Chiefs of Staff will also coordinate with regional commanders to ensure that American troops are ready in case of conflict. Some of the discussed actions were; to increase training frequency, testing for missile system effectiveness, requesting reports from generals on the United States’ capability to defend against nuclear attacks, and to work with local militaries to increase cooperation.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have also  been alerted of the current situation, and were asked through a series of letters to not engage in any military action regarding the situation in Iran yet. Allies all over the world have also been warned of possible aggressions and actions by the Irani cabinet, and to be ready against any situation.

The United States of America is also prioritizing peaceful talks with Iran through a summit, wanting to remain as transparent and pacific with news media chanis around the world. In case of this not working, the world should be prepared for military action and violence. President Biden and the new administration’s approach to conflict like this is still in doubt, but the possibility of a new Middle East war is increasing every minute.  BBC News will be following the topic very closely throughout the next couple of days.

Even before the passage of the first amendment, the American media has served as a vessel for freedom of the press. From the Zenger Trial of the colonial era to the modern whistleblowers reported by today’s media outlets, the United States has always had a press that has remained autonomous from government control throughout the centuries. 

Recently, this freedom has been put in jeopardy. After discovering that they had revealed sensitive information in front of a New York Times reporter during an open session, the United States government explicitly tried to restrict journalistic freedom. After expelling the reporter by entering a closed session, the Secretary of Defense messaged the New York Times. The Secretary claimed that, “all the information discussed in that conference was confidential and you can not use it.” Undoubtedly, this is a bold claim for the United States government to make.

 This statement, the Defense Secretary proves an age-old saying: history repeats itself. In 1971, after the New York Times released the damning Pentagon Papers, the Nixon administration tried to censor the newspaper and stop the publication of the classified materials. A legal battle ensued and the case was taken to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 decision, the Burger court upheld freedom of the press, thus creating a milestone in the history of journalistic freedom.

The sentiments of the American cabinet members do not reflect the constitution or the results of New York Times v. United States. The New York Times endorsed President Biden, and maintains its support for his administration. However, the hypocrisy of the Secretary of Defense’s comment does not bode well for journalists. The comment, frankly, is un-American. The New York Times strongly encourages the Biden Administration to reaffirm its commitment to journalistic freedom, so that the legacy of the Zenger Trial and the Pentagon Paper exposé isn’t lost to history’s vicious cycle. 

There is now dispute over who should take control of Belarus’ government, with opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and military leader General Viktor Khrenin both seeking to take power. Internal tensions continue to rise, as several incidents have already taken place in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, such as bombings and shootings. 

Foreign governments, most notably the United States of America and the Russian Federation, are closely monitoring the situation in Belarus. The U.S. Department of Defense has reportedly been in contact with allies in Europe to keep the situation under control, but no direct action has been taken yet. At this stage, foreign governments view it as essential that the situation is not escalated further, and that they proceed with caution with regards to any actions.

The U.S. is not opposed to taking actions in the coming hours, however. The Department of Defense’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff commented on the news out of Minsk, stating that “the situation in Belarus is quickly deteriorating. At this time, know that the United States Government and the United States Department of Defense are taking immediate and sufficient action to address the crisis overseas. We are currently working to help stabilize the region as well as keep and restore peace and order to the crisis areas.”

What specific actions foreign governments and militaries may take in the eastern European nation remain yet to be seen.

President Biden has remarked on the new challenges that his administration will face in the international setting. Biden commented in an interview with NBC that “President Trump has changed the landscape. It’s become America first, it’s been America alone.” Already the new administration seeks to rectify this, and has seeked co-operation with key allies in response to recent events. General Austin wrote in a letter that his Department “will work with our allies and never underestimate our enemies,” and that the administration will look to the national security issues of the future.

The new administration will also review the military’s withdrawal of troops from conflict-stricken regions. Under President Trump, the military reduced the number of troops in regions such as Afghanistan and Iraq; Trump ordered the removal of over 3,000 US troops from those two conflicts, reducing the US presence there. While Austin did not confirm that he would increase US numbers in those regions, he has stated that he will review what presence the United States should have in Iraq and Afghanistan.

L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman were awarded $ 121 million and $155 million contracts, respectively, to build prototype sensor satellites that track missiles by the Missile Defense Agency of the DOD on Jan. 14. The agency selected the two companies from a group of four competitors, including Raytheon and Leidos, who were tasked to design a sensor program.

While Raytheon ranks the 5th largest defense company by DefenseNews and L3 Harris ranks the 9th largest defense company, this is the second time in the last year that Raytheon was beaten by L3 Harris. The L3 communications and Harris Corp merger in 2019 made 2020 their first year as a collective company, with an annual revenue of $18 billion.  

In October of 2020, L3 Harris was awarded another contract of $193.5 million by the Space Development Agency on Oct. 5, 2020 to build 4 missile tracking satellites each. Raytheon, another competitor for the project, filed two separate protests against the government’s evaluation process. These were dismissed by the Government Accountability Office after the SDA agreed to reevaluate. They found that L3 Harris and SpaceX were the proper fit and readministered their contracts.

“Competition is essential in all industries but it’s especially important in defense, to allow  innovation and reasonable prices,” says the Secretary of Defense of the DOD.  According to her, competition is necessary to prevent monopolisation of the industry. The merger of L3 communications and Harris corps concerned the DOD at first because these two companies were the only ones who produced necessary equipment for military-grade night vision goggles, and their merger would result in monopolisation of this product. The issue was resolved with the divestiture of one of the company’s investment in this product. 

“Competitive spirit fuels innovation and creates an  incentive for us to be better than those who are better than us,” says a consultant of Northrop Grumman. She knows that competition is imperative for success in the industry and to produce the best possible products at reasonable prices.