THIS Is How China Is Increasing Global Power

By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at

In the movie "The International" Clive Owen plays the part of Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent trying to bring down the world"s largest bank.

In this clip a banker explains things to him:

Umberto Calvini: [In explaining the "true" nature of banking in the world]

"The IBBC is a bank. Their objective isn"t to control the conflict, it"s to control the debt that the conflict produces. You see, the real value of a conflict, the true value, is in the debt that it creates. You control the debt, you control everything. You find this upsetting, yes? But this is the very essence of the banking industry, to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals, slaves to debt."

Debt is much like a baseball bat: neither good nor bad. You can use it to hit the ball out of the park or you can get beaten into a bloody pulp by it. How we use (or abuse it) is the determiner. Read my article on the easy and uncomplicated way to get rich to ensure you go about it the smart way.

Certainly debt can - and has been used - to control people, assets, and entire societies ever since we crawled out of the cave and began covering our bits with fur. Just ask your neighbour Billy, who"s always complaining about his sh*tty job, why he won"t shut up and just quit? The answer typically is because his mortgage and car payments won"t let him.

I"ve been thinking a lot about debt lately. Not the consumer driven silliness highlighted by Billy but specifically how debt is used as a tool on an international and political level and how it affects currencies and geopolitics.

I then looked at the unfolding trends present today. Trying to see how they all fit together is, I believe, a valuable exercise, even though there"s more moving parts to this than a silo full of Swiss watches.

To begin with, let"s revisit some recent history of debt, currency, and deficits and how they"ve interacted. George Soros articulates it very well in his book The Alchemy of Finance when describing what he called "Reagan"s Imperial Circle:"

Keep this concept in mind as we"ll revisit it in a minute.

Trends

Fast forward to today, and there are some dramatic shifts taking place in the world:

• Bureaucrats in Brussels, who specialise in overpriced corporate lunches and finding new ways of spending their unjustifiable annual bonuses, continue to berate the "PIGS" for not doing more about austerity. Ironic but the truth is Brussels controls the PIGS much in the same way the bankers in the movie The International controlled the world


• Across the Atlantic we have the sexiest first lady in forever elected, and now we enjoy her orange husband bring a whole new level of ridiculous to Twitter, a space previously owned by the Kardashian"s posteriors. I"m still undecided which is worse


• On the shores of the murky isles, Brits marched boldly towards independence only to realise in shock that they had a completely inept leadership and not a single able minded option available to them. And so they did what any pissed off aggravated person would do: they began voting for Jeremy Corbyn. Not because anyone wanted him in power. Hell no! Purely in protest


• And so, while much of the West increasingly looks dysfunctional, lost, and confused, China are embarking on the most ambitious project ever since I tried to convince my now wife that a hot girl should marry me. The project? One belt one road (OBOR), which impacts many industries and countries such as Greece.

In many ways China has many elements in their favour whereby they can use their increasing economic prowess, large trade surplus, and existing overcapacity to control the debt of trading partners, and in so doing slowly but surely influence politics and economics in a self reinforcing cycle.

Incidentally, if they"re successful in their OBOR endeavours, they can hope to mitigate some of the fallout from an impending and overdue domestic non-performing loan cycle.

Commentators on OBOR seem to fall into those who are bullish... and those who poke fun at it and either don"t like it or question China"s ability to pull it all off. On the face of it the idea seems simple enough. OBOR promises to open up markets for Chinese exports. This is, I think, somewhat simplistic and naive.

The more I"ve researched the topic the more I think there is much much more to OBOR than meets the eye. The Chinese are many things but stupid is not one of them.

Let"s take a look at some of their problems, their ambitions, and how and why OBOR really is front and centre for Xi.

Overcapacity

We know that too much of anything is bad for us. Just ask Chris Christie"s arteries.

China suffer from too much capacity as well as too much domestic debt in their banking system. OBOR may provide a means for China to deflate this debt while exporting overcapacity.

What"s more is that they can do so while providing credit (at the state level) to countries who are in desperate need of it. Greece, as I mentioned last week, fits this picture particularly well.

Deflating the Domestic Credit Bubble

China has a domestic credit problem, and they"re going to have to deal with that in some way or another. Certainly a harsh non-performing loan cycle can punish GDP growth but consider this...

What if China essentially moved this domestic debt problem onto the balance sheets of OBOR partners?

How?

By the Chinese government lending these partners money for large infrastructure projects (as they"ve already been doing). When those infrastructure projects get built, a decent amount of the project works go to Chinese companies which provides them the ability to both export overcapacity all the while deflating some of the domestic credit bubble.

A pretty damn smart move if you can pull it off!

China has some $3 trillion of paper which they can trade for power and influence.

Think about it, which would you rather have: a pile of greenbacks (with the Fed at the helm who have shown in no uncertain terms that, when push comes to shove, they"ll forego monetary stature for domestic political security) or political and economic leverage globally?

The Most Powerful Weapon Brought to Bear

China"s answer is pretty clear based on what they"ve begun to do.

They have already been making huge loans to strategically placed and often poor countries. These loans provide jobs and infrastructure, both of which are desperately needed by these countries.

That they"re structured on onerous terms and under conditions whereby Chinese materials and labour are often used is easily overlooked when one is broke and desperate (in the private investment world we call it distressed investing). And in case you"ve not realised it, there are a lot of desperate governments littering the planet right now.

And just like in the movie referenced, China need not have these projects even be successful. In fact, there"s a case to be made to say that they"d prefer them NOT to be successful. Having the debt repaid eliminates political and economic leverage.

Case in point: Sri Lanka’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, which opened in 2013, is still largely idle and empty. What does Sri Lanka now get? An empty airport and a massive debt to China which they can"t repay. Pakistan"s multibillion dollar Gwadar port and Greece"s Piraeus port are two more.

China controls all of this debt, and by controlling this debt they can, and will, begin using this power for... ahem, "concessions".

The world should not be surprised when military submarines with Chinese symbols start using these ports and Beijing begins having a say in how these partner countries" "assets" are used and by whom, because, after all, China controls the debt.

Neither should we be surprised when Chinese warships begin providing "security" to these ports, or when "security and surveillance" aircraft belonging to the Chinese military begin providing "services" to the airports, gas pipelines, and so forth.

Realise that it"s in China"s interests for these countries to never ever be able to repay these debts. This provides them with extraordinary leverage at what is really a very cheap cost.

Now, I"m not that cynical that I think China doesn"t want this infrastructure to help trade. I"m sure they do. But there is likely a strong political incentive here which really amounts to a bait and switch loan sharking game where countries will be forced to make all sorts of concessions in order to defray debt payments.

My readers are a sharp bunch so don"t need me to point out that this is a far cheaper method than the "normal" alternatives.

Consider that the cruise missiles Trump rained down on Syria just 3 months ago cost an estimated $60 million, and the Iraq war has already cost the US government, I mean US taxpayer, $2.4 trillion.

I began doing the math on the total amount of money spent by the US government on gaining or maintaining geopolitical dominance via military interventions but my calculator started smoking and promptly blew up. But it"s definitely safe to say it"s a lot higher than these two numbers.

As I mentioned before, the economics of war have changed, and OBOR represents a vastly cheaper method of acquiring power and influence than does bombing the sh*t out of sand.

China, as mentioned a few weeks ago, is:

• Asia’s largest trading partner


• US largest trading partner


• Germany’s largest trading partner


• Australia’s largest trading partner


• Russia’s second largest trading partner (after Germany)


• Africa"s largest trading partner


• South America’s largest trading partner

OBOR is much, much more than simply establishing trading routes for Chinese goods as the MSM will have you believe. It is THE most ambitious geopolitical play of our lifetimes, and it"s well worth understanding what"s taking place here.

Xi"s Imperial Circle?

So the question that I have for you to ponder today is this: is China able to create a self-reinforcing mechanism whereby they export excess capacity, deflate a domestic credit buildup, build an infrastructure for future export and trade all the while having many of the participants beholden (via debt) to China allowing for unsurpassed geopolitical power... and be able to do so because, in large part, the rest of the world has their own problems to wrestle with?

Does the world wake up a couple decades later when the dollar debt has been converted (another concession) to renminbi and marvel at what an amazing chess manoeuvre was played as we all realise we have Xi"s imperial circle?

What do you think?

Question

Cast your vote here and also see what others think

- Chris

"Happiness does not fall out of the blue and dreams will not come true by themselves. We need to be down-to-earth and work hard. We should uphold the idea that working hard is the most honourable, noblest, greatest and most beautiful virtue." — Xi Jinping

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Please Help Find My Nephew Matt

By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at

Today I"ve got something very personal to share with you, but first...

Scan a few social media feeds and you"ll be forgiven for believing that those around us make more money than Carlos Slim on a good day, holiday regularly at the Ritz, and their kids (if they are fortunate enough to have any) are complete angels who, when not helping old people across the street are placing first in Badminton, or tennis, or swimming, or all of the above. Oh, and by the way, they just beat AlphaGo at chess.

Their wives or husbands love... no, adore them, never argue, and when they"re not at their perfect 3-day-a-week job, are found hobnobbing with God herself. The image is perpetuated because that"s all we see. Perfect lives, perfect people. Plastic!

It"s grand fiction, and the older I get the lower my tolerance threshold for such nauseating twaddle. I don"t typically talk about this stuff. After all, this is an investment blog.

Today"s different as I will share with you something very personal. The kind of information I NEVER share, and I"m going to ask for your help.

A long time ago I looked at this rapidly changing world and thought to myself, "Well, Chris this has massive implication. Some good, some downright terrifying."

I chose to participate at a certain level, this blog being a reflection of that.

The only thing you"ll find on the net are my thoughts on finance. Nothing about my family, no pictures, no comments, nothing.

The Internet is a tool, not unlike a shovel. You can use it to dig a great big hole to plant a new tree or you can allow some lunatic to club you over the head with it. It"s a personal decision, which I feel is backed up daily when I see things such as this:

Show us your tweets: US unveils nosy new visa questionnaire

© John Moore / AFP

Protecting your data and your secrets is something not 1 in 10 seem to give a damn about and that worries the socks of me.

For the many nefarious parties out there it"s like open season for vultures feeding on a carcass and we"re the carcass.

Wannacry won"t be the last offensive in the war to access your data, and don"t get me started on the threat of governments. Obviously, you can and should use the many measures you can take to mitigate the threat. A Google search will reveal much though simply using a VPN and NOT putting out sensitive information in the first place is plain common sense.

Instead of shying away from putting out personal information as I"ve always done, today I"m opening up a slice of my personal life in the hope that it can help someone: my brother.

As I said... the Internet can be used to do good, to share valuable information (something I try to do each week on this blog). But just as easily as it can threaten us when used without thought.

Today, I want to ask you please to put it to good use and to use every social media channel you have at your disposal to help me.

Your Chance to Help

In September of 2013 my brother"s son, Mathieu-Pierre Etienne Macintosh (date of birth: 1 April 2004) was taken to France from Sydney, Australia by his mother, Christine Etienne. This was to be for a short 6 week trip to visit family. Mathieu was never returned - abducted by his mother who suffers from mental illness.

In 2014, a court case under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction was held in France and Mathieu was ordered to be returned home to Australia to be with his father. When this verdict was handed down Mathieu promptly vanished with his mother. Mathieu is currently listed as a missing person on Interpol here.

We believe Mathieu and his mother are hiding in France or Belgium, specifically in Poperinge or Ghent where we detected the most activities in accessing the Facebook page "Please help find Mathieu-Pierre".

Here is the abducted child alert Europe page, and below is an aged photo of Mathieu.

My brother was recently featured on Australian news channels SBS and Ten News. Matthieu is listed on the Australian Federal Police missing persons site, and I"ve posted a video interview with my brother on the Capitalist Exploits Facebook page.

Here are some additional links to recent media coverage regarding the search of Mathieu: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times, The Huffington Post, and the Daily Mail.

So today I"m asking you... please, can you use all social media you can get your hands on and get this message out to EVERYONE you know.

People in your network may not know but they in turn have many people in their networks.

Certainly there are people out there, particularly those in Europe, who do know where Matt is. The worst that can come of it is that we"re exactly where we are today. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars without success... trying desperately to find Matt.

It will take you just a few minutes and the reward payoff could be something that quite frankly can"t be priced. After all, what is the price of getting your son back?

Again, please share this article with everyone you know.

Yours sincerely,

Chris

"The abduction of a child is a tragedy. No one can fully understand or appreciate what a parent goes through at such a time, unless they have faced a similar tragedy. Every parent responds differently. Each parent copes with this nightmare in the best way he or she knows how." — John Walsh

London Mayor's Ties To Extremism Call Commitment To Fighting Terror Into Question

Via Disobedient Media

In 2016, Prime Minister David Cameron was widely criticized in the UK when he claimed that London mayor Sadiq Khan had ties to the terror group ISIS. An investigation by Disobedient Media has determined that Khan has ties not just to organizations associated with ISIS, but also groups such as Hamas, Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. During his time as mayor, London has seen an increase in terror incidents with concerning indications that terror groups wish to stage a major attack on the City of London. Rather than focusing on combatting terror, Khan has used his forum to tell Londoners as well as citizens in other parts of Europe and the United States that the West must learn to live with terrorism as a part of daily life. Khan"s extreme flirtation with radical Islamic extremism raises serious questions about his commitment to fighting a wave of extremist fueled terrorism that only continues to spread after a number of attacks and police operations in London and other areas of the UK.

I. Khan Has Been Affiliated With Organizations Tied To Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Al Nusra, ISIS And The Muslim Brotherhood

A. Khan"s Relationship To Figures Tied To Hamas And The Muslim Brotherhood

Khan has openly associated in the past with individuals and organizations tied to Palestinian terror group Hamas. During his time as a legal advocate, Sadiq Khan served as the Chief Legal Advisor of the Muslim Council of Britain"s legal affairs committee. Khan was a member of a delegation organized by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2003 to protest what they described as "indiscriminate" arrests of Muslims for alleged terror ties. The Muslim Council of Britain was placed under investigation by the British government over "irregularities" surrounding £1,263,000 in aid given to it by the government. In the past it has admitted to funding groups tied to both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and is banned from Israel as a result of its ties to terror. On September 19th, 2004, Khan spoke at an event which included Ibrahim Hewitt; Hewitt has decreed on record that adultery should be punished by stoning. Hewitt serves as the Chairman of The Palestinian Relief and Development Fund (Interpal), an organization which has been labeled as a Terrorist Entity by the United States Department of the Treasury for providing support to Hamas and acting as a part of its funding network in Europe. Despite the US Treasury"s designation, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has described Hewitt as a "very good friend."

That same year, Khan spoke out in defense of Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has praised suicide attacks and decreed that homosexuality is a crime under Islam. Qaradawi has travelled directly to Gaza for the purpose of providing Hamas with ideological legitimacy and stated that Palestinian suicide attacks against the nation of Israel are justified. Qaradawi was also barred from entering into the United States in 1999, the UK in 2008, and France in 2012. In 2007, Khan and Jeremy Corbyn were present at a tenth anniversary celebration of the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC). The PRC is accused by the Israeli government of being affiliated with Hamas and had invited Hamas Minister of Refugee Affairs Atef Ibrahim Adwan to speak at the same event the year before.

While the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) claims to be non-sectarian, a government report released in 2015 revealed that supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood “played an important role in establishing and then running” the MCB and continues to exert "significant influence" in it. In 2009 the UK government cut ties with the MCB after it signed a public document which appeared to condone violence against any country supporting an arms blockade of Gaza. The government report also found that a number of Brotherhood groups have for years been raising funds in the UK. Some of those funds have allegedly been linked to Hamas, whose military wing was proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation in 2001. The MCB was also criticized for its ties to Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic group linked to a number of terror organizations in Pakistan whose members have been accused of war crimes in Bangladesh.

B. Khan Supported Convicted Taliban Sympathizers

In 2009, Khan acted as a member of an international campaign which sought to resist attempts to extradite Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan for their role in providing material support to the Taliban and Chechen jihadist groups via a number of websites they ran under the name of Azzam Publications. Ahmad and Ahsan were ultimately extradited to the United States, where they pled guilty to terrorism charges.

Khan went to visit Babar Ahmad on multiple occasions between May 21, 2005 and June 2006, while he was being held in Woodhill prison awaiting a ruling on his extradition request. It was reported that Khan visited Ahmad, not in his capacity as an MP, but as a friend, as the two had known each other since they were children. In September of 2005, in an attempt to thwart Ahmad’s extradition to the United States, Khan presented a petition containing 18,000 signatures to then Home Secretary Charles Clarke, calling for him to be tried in the UK instead. However, Ahmad was ultimately extradited to the US on October 5, 2012, where he was held in custody until his release in July 2015.

C. Khan Has Involved Himself With Groups Connected To Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Al-Nusra

Sadiq Khan has historically maintained close relational and professional ties with groups associated with both Al-Qaeda and ISIS. During the 1990"s, Khan"s brother in law Makbool Javaid gave fiery public addresses advocating jihad and whose name even appeared on a fatwa calling for holy war against the United Kingdom and United States. Javaid was a member of the Islamic group Al-Muhajiroun. Al-Muhajiroun was founded by Islamic hate preacher Omar Bakri Muhammad, who has been banned from the UK since 2005 and acted as a sponsor and recruiter of British jihadists seeking to join ISIS. Al-Muhajirou was also lead by Anjem Choudary, a British Islamist who was jailed in 2016 for supporting the Islamic State after he released guides on making bombs and establishing "Muslim gangs" for the purpose of committing terror attacks. The guides are indicative of an increasingly tight relationship between organized crime and ISIS in Western Europe previously reported on by Disobedient Media. Other connections to Al-Muhajiroun include Parliament attacker Khalid Masood, Lee Rigby"s murderer Michael Adebolajo and Abdul Waheed Majeed, an Al-Nusra affiliated militant who in 2014 became the first British born jihadist to carry out a suicide attack in Syria.

While Khan has tried to distance himself from his brother in law and Al-Muhajiroun, in 2003 he shared a stage with Sajeel Abu Ibrahim, another member of Al-Muhajiroun and convicted terrorist who ran a camp in Pakistan which trained Taliban militants and Al-Qaeda 7/7 bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan. Also speaking at the same event was Yasser al-Siri, a terrorist who has been sentenced to death in absentia by Egyptian authorities over a political assassination attempt there which left a young girl dead.

In 2004, Khan made an "error of judgement" by attending four meetings organized by Stop Political Terror, a group supported by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula senior recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki. Stop Political Terror was later merged with the Islamic organization CAGE, who represented the ISIS executioner "Jihadi John" (Mohammed Emwazi) as a "beautiful young man." Khan claimed that he was merely there as part of his efforts to help fight the extradition of convicted terrorist Babar Ahmed to the United States. He has furthermore stated that he condemns CAGE despite his appearances at events organized by their affiliates and the fact that he wrote a forward for a report run by CAGE in 2006.

In 2008, reports revealed that Khan was serving as a legal consultant for convicted 9/11 plotter Zacarius Moussaoui. It was further revealed that Khan was the only practicing Muslim on Moussaoui’s defense team. Moussaoui was ultimately extradited to the US, where he pled guilty to taking part in the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui is currently being held at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, where he is serving 6 life sentences without parole.

Khan also regularly attended Tooting Islamic Center (TIC), which was run by Suliman Ghani. Gani is a vocal supporter of convicted Al Qaeda operative Aafia Siddiqui, as well as a supporter of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Shaker Aamer. Khan has shared a platform with the controversial imam at least nine times between 2004 and 2013.

II. Khan Has Used His Political Influence To Fuel Sectarianism And Has Routinely Failed To Speak Out Against Those Who Denigrate Women"s Rights

A. Promotion Of Sectarianism

Sadiq Khan claims that much of his association with various individuals and groups tied to jihad and terrorism was a result of his work as a human rights lawyer. However, The Daily Beast has noted that Khan did not attend the majority of these events in his capacity as a lawyer at all. Khan has a long history of making off color comments justifying sectarianism and terror. He has repeatedly had to apologize for comments he has made smearing moderate Muslims and telling Europeans and Americans to expect terrorism as a part of living in metropolitan areas. In 2009, while serving as the "Minister for Community Cohesion," Khan was interviewed by Iranian-backed Press TV. During the interview, he referred to moderate Muslim groups who commonly lead the fight to curb Islamic extremism as “Uncle Toms."

While Khan apologized for the remark, he has had no qualms about fomenting sectarian strife against Islamic minorities for political gain. In 2010, while running for re-election as Shadow Justice Secretary, Khan worked with the Tooting Islamic Center (TIC) to attack his political opponent, Nasser Butt based on his ties to the Ahmadiyya Islamic minority. The Muslim Council of Britain also contributed to sectarian attacks against the Ahmadiyya community in the UK.

In September 2016, Khan stated in the wake of the New York and New Jersey bombings, which injured 35 people that he believes the threat of terror attacks are simply “part and parcel of living in a big city." Khan has demonstrated a ready willingness to label Scottish nationalism as promoting racism. Yet he was silent when huge crowds of Muslims descended upon London in December 2016 for a week of protests calling for the establishment of a global Caliphate. Protestors at the event openly waved flags and bore placards supporting the Taliban and Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain.

B. Failure To Speak Out Against Marginalization Of Women

On many occasions, Khan has spoken alongside individuals who promote Salafist principals advocating the abuse of women. In 2008, Khan was filmed delivering a speech at the Global Peace and Unity festival in 2008 organised by the Islam Channel. The Islam Channel was found guilty by  the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) of extremism both before and after the MP"s appearance. Members of the audience during Khan"s speech were openly waving the black flag of jihad and sporting headbands with extremist slogans written on them. The network"s head, Mohamed Ali Harrath was arrested on terror charges in South Africa after he was sought by Interpol and Tunisia due to his involvement with a militant group there. Ofcom specifically criticized the Islam Channel for comments it made labeling women who wore perfume as prostitutes as well as for advocating marital rape and violence against women.

Screenshot from a 2008 video of a speech by Sadiq Khan showing a spectator waving a jihadist flag

In addition to his appearances at events alongside individuals who have demeaned and denigrated women, Khan also accepts funding from financial backers who promote extremist figures who have repeatedly expressed contempt for women"s rights. In 2016, the Daily Mail revealed that Muslim millionaire Farouq Sheikh had donated £15,000 to Khan"s mayoral campaign. Mr. Sheikh has also donated at least £150,000 over a three-year period to a charity founded by Dr Zakir Naik. Dr. Naik is a Indian cleric who has been barred from entering Canada and the UK after making very controversial comments exhorting Muslims to become terrorists as well as stating that "Jews are our staunchest enemy." Naik is also the founder and owner of Peace TV, which is believed to reach a global audience of nearly 100 million. Despite having such a large audience, Dr. Naik’s preaching has been banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada, and the UK, due to the many extremely controversial statements he has made and beliefs he holds. In 2016, The Huffington Post condemned Naik over his comments supporting female sex slavery, beating one"s wife, the death penalty for those who renounce Islam and the prohibition of homosexuality.

In addition to taking funds from mutual supporters of Dr. Naik, Sadiq Khan has also advocated for groups which support his brand of extremism. In 2011, Khan defended a controversial organization known as iEngage, from being barred from involvement with the All Party Parliamentary Group. In Parliament, iEngage was described as having a track record of aggressive anti-Semitism, homophobic, as well as having links to terror in Tunisia & the Middle East. That same year, the Chief Executive of iEngage wrote a letter asking the Home Secretary to lift the ban that had been placed on Dr. Naik.

Khan has also failed to address a growing epidemic of acid attacks in London; roughly 80% of victims of such attacks globally are on women. In 2016 alone, London saw 431 acid attacks, a rise of over 170 cases from the previous year. The instances of attacks in London represent a rising number of crime related incidents as the city has grown increasingly lawless.

III. Authorities Have Sought To Minimize A Wave Of Terror Affecting London And The UK

For well over a year now, London has been hit with a number of terror incidents. In some cases, these incidents appear to have been minimized by both authorities and the media in an attempt to stile public panic. Despite the denials by authorities in many cases, the confiscation abroad of large weapons shipments destined for London and the recent attack on Parliament makes it clear that the city"s terror problem is more serious than is publicly acknowledged.

October 6th, 2016: News World India reported that police in Karachi, Pakistan had recovered the largest ever cache of NATO weapons in the hands of Islamic jihadists in the city’s history. Karachi’s police chief stated that the weapons were scheduled to be shipped to militant groups in London for a major operation they were planning. How the militants were able to acquire the massive supply of NATO arms is unclear.

October 21st, 2016: BBC News reported a “chemical scare” at London City Airport. Paramedics treated 26 people at the scene and took two to hospital. The cause was claimed to be a CS gas spray which was “accidentally” released. The incident came several days after an explosion at facilities belonging to German chemical manufacturer BASF left two dead.

November 9th, 2016: BBC News reported that a tram derailment in Croydon, London left seven dead and 50 injured. The driver was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. The next day The Guardian cited a survivor of the crash who stated that the driver told him he had "blacked out." The story was then dropped from the press and not followed up on. ISIS has in the past targeted trains in a number of different geographic locales, including India and the United States.

January 24th, 2017: The Evening Standard reported a huge explosion in Hornchurch, East London that sent five to the hospital. A Met Police spokesman said that two men were arrested on suspicion of arson. No further details were released about the suspects.

February 8th, 2017: Metro reported an explosion on an East London train where several were injured and passengers jumped onto the track in panic. The explosion was blamed on an “overheating battery.” The incident happened just hours after the Daily Mirror reported an explosion on the Paris metro which injured eight passengers and forced dozens to evacuate. The media immediately reported that the blast was caused by an “electrical fire” despite also reporting that it was unclear what caused the explosion.

February 27th, 2017: The Express reported that a junction in Shoreditch high street in London was evacuated and bomb squad trucks called in to deal with what they said was a "suspected explosive device." Police stated afterward that the device was an "inert WWII bomb." How a WWII era munition had managed to sit undetected next to an incredibly busy intersection of London for decades was not explained.

March 14th, 2017: The Evening Standard  reported that a 60-year-old man was stabbed by a machete-wielding attacker outside of the Horse and Groom pub in London. The attacker was arrested by the Met Police and no further information was released.

March 22nd, 2017: A terror attack targeting Westminster Bridge and Parliament has resulted in over 40 injuries and five dead, including an attacker. Authorities stated that the assailant acted alone despite multiple eyewitnesses claiming they saw multiple assailants during the attack.

March 23rd, 2017: Londoners reported a series of blasts coming from inside the city the day after the attack on Parliament. The Express subsequently reported that authorities had destroyed a suspicious package near the scene of the previous day"s attack in a controlled demolition. Police also raided six addresses in London, Birmingham and other areas of the UK in the aftermath of the terror incident, undermining official claims that the Parliament attacker had acted alone.

March 25th, 2017: The London Met responded in force to an incident where a car ran over multiple pedestrians in the Islington area. Despite the Met"s insistence that terrorism was not a factor, multiple knives were recovered from the scene invoking striking similarities to the Parliament attack just days earlier. The Islington incident occurred on the same day as a massive explosion in the town of New Ferry on Merseyside that authorities attributed to a gas leak.

IV. Conclusion

David Cameron"s 2016 attempts to foster a conversation about the Mr. Khan ties to extremism resulted in detractors branding him as a rampant racist. Yet the extremely concerning connections between Sadiq Khan and those who participate in terror, promote extremist ideologies and advocate for the marginalization of women"s and LGBT rights raise very serious concerns about Khan’s willingness to take a firm stand against the threats facing London. Khan has shown that he has no qualms about fostering sectarian persecution against religious minorities not in line with mainstream Sunni Islam when it benefitted him politically. His unique history shows that he is prone to protecting the interests of his own cultural peers, but not those who differ from him culturally. As London descended into what appears to be a weekend of terror, it is apparent that the city faces these threats without a leader who is ready to take a bold stance to protect those who look up to him for guidance and protection.

This article was co-authored with Kenneth Whittle of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law