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Trump admin says US troops can stay in Iraq and Syria indefinitely - no need for permission

Joe Gould
Defense News
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 17:38 UTC
us troops iraq
© Susannah George/AP
U.S. Army Sgt. Kaylin Jones, 25, stands at a guard tower on the perimeter of a small coalition outpost on the western edge of Iraq on Jan. 26, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump has the legal authority to keep U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria indefinitely, Pentagon and State Department officials said in a pair of letters released this week.

The letters detail the Trump administration's plan for an open-ended mission for U.S. forces, beyond the fight against the Islamic State group. The letters - first reported by The New York Times - were to Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, an advocate for a replacement for the post-9/11 war authorizations for the use of military force.

The letters come amid various efforts from congressional Republicans and Democrats to have Congress approve a new authorization, or AUMF. Kaine and other critics argue the White House's use of authorizations from a decade and half ago is a legal stretch. He called on Trump to seek a new authorization.


Comment: The original AUMF was purposefully designed to be vague for exactly this purpose: endless war without congressional approval. Democrats and Republicans both like it that way, and you can bet Clinton would've continued and expanded the wars started by Obama. That's the way the bipartisan war party works.


"As I have long feared, we are moving from administrations exploiting the blurry authority between the president's and Congress's shared war powers to the alarming belief that Congress doesn't need to be involved at all," Kaine said in a statement, adding that Trump is "acting like a king by unilaterally starting a war."


Comment: "Starting"? These wars were started by Bush and Obama, Mr. Kaine.


In the letters to Kaine, not only is the end date of U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria vague - so is the number of U.S. troops working to defeat the remnants of ISIS. The Defense Department publicly says that number is 2,000, but has acknowledged that number omits troops on "sensitive missions."
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Chess

Trump bucks Pentagon, State Dept. on US goal in Syria - doesn't include regime change


RT
Sat, 24 Feb 2018 01:24 UTC
Trump in Aussi
© Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
US-Australia news conference.
President Donald Trump appeared to dash the hopes of interventionists and contradict his own administration officials, by declaring that US troops' mission in Syria is limited to defeating ISIS and doesn't include regime change.

"We're there for one reason: to get ISIS and get rid of ISIS, and to go home," Trump said on Friday, during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House. "We're not there for any other reason and we've largely accomplished our goal."

While Trump did not hesitate to call the Syrian government "a humanitarian disgrace," criticizing Russia and Iran for their involvement, his comments implied the US military also had no business in Syria beyond the 'ultimate' goal of defeating Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).


Comment: Mr. Trump -- Is this your final answer? (and will it be left standing?)

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Nuke

Iran may withdraw from nuclear deal if banks continue to shun the Islamic Republic

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
Reuters
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 04:32 UTC
JCPOAIran
© My Future America
Iran will withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal if there is no economic benefit and major banks continue to shun the Islamic Republic, its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday.

Under the deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions that have crippled its economy.

Despite that, big banks have continued to stay away for fear of falling foul of remaining U.S. sanctions - something that has hampered Iran's efforts to rebuild foreign trade and lure investment.

Adding to those concerns, U.S. President Donald Trump told the Europeans on Jan. 12 they must agree to "fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal" or he would re-impose the sanctions Washington lifted as part of that pact.

But even if Trump relents and issues fresh "waivers" to continue suspending those sanctions, the existing situation is unacceptable for Iran, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

"The deal would not survive this way even if the ultimatum is passed and waivers are extended," Araqchi, Iran's lead nuclear negotiator, said in a speech at the Chatham House think tank in London. "If the same policy of confusion and uncertainties about the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) continues, if companies and banks are not working with Iran, we cannot remain in a deal that has no benefit for us," Araqchi said. "That's a fact."

Comment: Clearly the US and Iran are not on the same page with the JCPOA. And behind it all is Israel, intent on widening the abyss.

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Jet2

It's the Iraq War's 15th Anniversary, make the world remember its lessons

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Operation Iraqi Freedom
© kurdistan24.net/KJN
You remember where you were when you heard the news about the 9/11 attacks? Do you remember the terrible feeling of shock in your guts that innocent people were suffering? How about what you were doing when the first bombs hit at the beginning of the Iraq invasion? Do you remember that one? Or did that memory get lost in the shuffle?

US and coalition forces began their "shock and awe" bombing campaign on March 20th, 2003. That's less than fifteen years. It just happened, and people have already forgotten about it.

Fifteen years. I still have unused art supplies that are older than that. And yet when politicians and intelligence agencies say that Russia has committed an act of war against the US and Bashar al-Assad needs to be removed from power in Syria, mainstream Americans say "Yup, sounds about right, no further evidence required."

This needs to stop. We must all use this landmark anniversary to remind the world of the depravity of the US-centralized empire, and how we know for a fact that it will happily use lies and mass media propaganda to manufacture support for acts of military violence which unleash unspeakable horrors into our world.

Comment: To learn from mistakes, a country has to acknowledge it has made some.

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Calendar

State Department: US' new embassy to open in Jerusalem in May


RT
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 18:51 UTC
Jerusalem
© Twitter
Washington is planning to open a new Embassy in Jerusalem in May, the US State Department has announced. The move, which sparked an outcry when it was announced last December, coincides with Israel's Independence Day, it adds.

"In May, the United States plans to open a new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The opening will coincide with Israel's 70th anniversary," the document reads. The new Embassy "will initially be located in the Arnona neighborhood, in a modern building that now houses consular operations of U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem." State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert noted.

The document also says that a new extension will be added to that building in 2019, to provide office space for the ambassador while a permanent home for the embassy is found. "In parallel, we have started the search for a site for our permanent embassy to Israel, the planning and construction of which will be a longer-term undertaking."

Earlier on Friday President Donald Trump defended his decision last December to recognize Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its capital, which prompted huge protests across the occupied Palestinian territories, that have left estimated 19 Palestinians dead.

Trump said many previous presidents had made the move an election promise but failed to fulfill it. "But I get it," he said. "I was hit by more countries, more pressure, begging me 'don't do it, don't do it!'. So I get it."

Comment: With Adelson money guaranteeing the move, insisting instant relocation, and as a mega donor to Trump's campaign, did The Donald bow to his wishes or was this Trump's choice all along? For Adelson, yesterday was not soon enough.

See also: Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson may bankroll US embassy's move to Jerusalem

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Cross

Bill requiring public schools to display "In God We Trust" passes in Florida House

Dave Urbanski
The Blaze
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 17:33 UTC
florida in god we trust
© YouTube
The Florida House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday requiring all public schools to post "In God We Trust" in a "conspicuous place," the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Kimberly Daniels (D), runs a ministry and said displaying the phrase - the state motto - is needed in the wake of last week's deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the paper reported.

"He is not a Republican or a Democrat. He is not black or white," Daniels said, according to the Times. "He is the light, and our schools need light in them like never before."

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Megaphone

Hundreds rally for gun control after Parkland shooting, forgetting that police and FBI ignored reported threats

Rachel Blevins
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:12 UTC
shooting protest confusion
Several of the surviving students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have turned into gun control advocates in the last week. But while they were quick to protest against the inanimate object that was reportedly used to kill 17 students and teachers, they seem to be ignorant of the fact that the FBI ignored multiple reports and the local police department ignored dozens of calls about death threats from the suspect.

More than 100 students from Parkland visited the Florida State capitol exactly one week after the shooting to participate in the "Rally to Support Gun Safety Reform," in an attempt to call on lawmakers to enact stricter gun control. Students David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez have also gained mainstream media fame by speaking out in a number of interviews and referring to members of the National Rifle Association as "Child murderers."

However, despite all of the rage that was channeled towards the inanimate object used by suspect Nikolas Cruz, the student activists are missing a few major pieces of the puzzle that could have prevented the massacre.
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Robot

Propaganda Alert! Washington think-tanks: 'Russian bots are influencing Italian election'

Chiara Albanese
Bloomberg
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:14 UTC
metteo salvini
© Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
Matteo 'F*ck the EU' Salvini is the man Washington and Brussels are most afraid of in the upcoming Italian election
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 24, the home-made device David Puente built to catch fake Twitter accounts in the act started rumbling.

In just over a minute, more than 150 users sent out the same tweet extolling Italian anti-euro populist Matteo Salvini, a contender in next month's presidential election. It was obvious to Puente, a computer programmer, that they were bots, or automated accounts that masquerade as real people and are used increasingly as a tool to sway political opinion.

"Monitoring the accounts of all the candidates is a civic duty for me," said Puente, 35, who often stays up until 3 a.m. tracking social-media activity from his home in northern Italy while his family sleeps.


Comment: This poor, deluded fellow. He has no clue that the CIA and friends were doing this many years ago, and are only alerting the masses to such tactics now because actually popular leaders are attempting to take back control of their countries.


Comment: Interesting, that's the exact same fallback line the Mueller indictment took:

"We didn't find evidence that the Russians significantly affected the election, but anyway they don't actually care about the election result because their real goal is to sow division among about beautifully harmonious community."

Right there, we have the real source of all the division and animosity in Europe: the US deep state, with its support of terrorism, mass immigration and corrupt, compliant leaders in vassal nation-states.

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Eiffel Tower

Marion Le Pen warns that France is becoming 'little niece of Islam' in speech to CPAC

Oliver JJ Lane
Breitbart
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:10 UTC
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen
© CPAC
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen addressed the American Conservative Union's CPAC conference Thursday afternoon, and discussed the place of France in Europe and the world and the rise of Islam in her home nation.

Making her first political speech since bowing out of French domestic politics in 2017, Le Pen - who was France's youngest modern-era parliamentarians after she was elected as a candidate of the populist Front National aged just 22-years-old - stressed the importance of the Franco-American friendship, slammed the European Union as a force destroying the identities and freedoms of European nations, and discussed the rise of Islam in Europe.

Comment:

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Red Flag

Reasons why US attempts at subversion and regime change in Iran flopped big time

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Iran protests
At the end of December 2017 the Western media reported "widespread" protests sweeping Iran. Narratives indistinguishable from the US-engineered "Arab Spring" in 2011 flooded headlines and social media regarding a "popular uprising" spurred first by alleged economic grievances before protesters then began making demands echoing the US State Department regarding Iran's internal domestic affairs as well as its foreign policy.

The protests were in fact so indistinguishable from the now admittedly US-engineered "Arab Spring" that still-fresh disillusionment regarding the fate of nations like Libya and Syria likely played a role in blunting the efficacy of the protests in Iran.

Western Propaganda Outlived Actual Unrest

An article in Politico titled, "Why the Iranian Uprising Won't Die," in an attempt to qualify and promote the West's narrative regarding the Iranian protests would claim:
...Iranians were enraged as they struggled to feed their children while their government spent billions on its foreign adventures in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. While Iran was made poor, the regime became richer. While Iranians suffered, the regime's allies became powerful and prosperous.

Comment: When all the US has in its pathological world-domination-seeking toolkit is a hammer, every nation that presents a challenge to this goal looks like a proverbial nail.

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