Biden's anti-corruption memo is good news -- and essential to US national security

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

On June 3, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the National Security Council to coordinate a national strategy to "promote good governance ... and prevent and combat corruption at home." There's good news and bad.

First, the bad news: The memo is needed. Corruption has long been part of American politics. In 2019, Time magazine asked historians to name the biggest scandals in our history. Their list spanned the centuries, starting with 1797's so-called XYZ Affair, when a private citizen arranged a corrupt bargain with French diplomats. It included the 1920s' Teapot Dome scandal, when Albert Fall, President Warren Harding's interior secretary, took bribes for leasing former Navy oil reserves in Wyoming to a private company. There was 1986's Iran-Contra Affair, when the Reagan administration illegally arranged to sell Iran weapons to help fund rebels fighting Nicaragua's socialist Sandinista government.

Of course, there have also been periodic efforts to root out corruption and carry out reforms. Biden's effort is different. He has framed his initiative as a national security imperative:

"Corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself ... In issuing this National Security Study Memorandum, I establish countering corruption as a core United States national security interest."

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bidens-anti-corruption-memo-is-good-news-%e2%80%94-and-essential-to-us-national-security/ar-AAKLlk0

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