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© AP/Rebecca BlackwellMigrants, carrying flags of Mexico and Honduras, give thumbs-up to moto rickshaw driver taking their picture.
The Trump administration, through the DHS, requested that the Department of Defense (DoD) deploy American soldiers to the nation's southern border, in what the Pentagon considered to be duties that should be handled instead by state or local law enforcement, according to CNN.
The Pentagon refused Trump's request.
The DHS had been tasked by the Trump White House with requesting US Army reserve forces to serve as "crowd and traffic control" for Customs and Border Protection (CMP) personnel at the Mexican border, in the event that a group of asylum-seeking Central American migrants - referred to as a 'migrant caravan' - approached the US border.
Although the Pentagon rejected the request, the DoD did agree to provide air surveillance and logistical support to the CPB, as well as medical personnel and engineers, according to CNN.
The DHS demand for troops equipped with live-fire weapons was rejected by the DoD, however, as the Pentagon noted that active-duty soldiers did not have the authority to conduct a mission of that nature without first receiving additional stipulations from the president.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R), who is running for governor, made the announcement two days before the midterm elections in which he is running against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
"While we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, I can confirm that the Democratic Party of Georgia is under investigation for possible cyber crimes," said Candice Broce, Press Secretary. "We can also confirm that no personal data was breached and our system remains secure."
© Sean O'BrienEcuadorian Embassy scaffolding with surveillance and other devices.
Lawyers for Assange have confirmed to activist and journalist Suzie Dawson that Assange was awoken in the early morning hours by the break-in attempt. They confirmed to Dawson that the attempt was to enter a front window of the embassy. A booby-trap Assange had set up woke him, the lawyers said.
Scaffolding has appeared against the embassy building in the Knightsbridge section in London which "obscures the embassy's security cameras," the lawyers said. On the scaffolding electronic devices, presumably to conduct surveillance, can be seen, just feet from the embassy windows.
Later on the day of the break-in, Sean O'Brien, a lecturer at Yale University Law School and a cyber-security expert, was able to enter the embassy through the front door, which was left open. Inside he found no security present. Someone from the embassy emerged to tell him to send an email to set up an appointment with Assange. After emailing the embassy, personnel inside refused to check whether it had been received or not.
Comment: For a more in-depth discussion and photo analysis of this turn of events, see also:
Ecuadorian Embassy break-in attempt: Emergency public meeting called
© InterceptJulian Assange
Mother to Julian Assange, this generation's most significant publisher - now a political prisoner - Christine lives with the daily terror of foreboding anticipation. Only ever moments away from the next piece of terrible news, as she watches her son, born of her body, raised by her hand, die in slow motion from afar.
This week was full of nightmares for Christine.
Ink or blood?
I had intended to write a news bulletin and deliver important and timely tidings. Revelations unbroken by the mainstream, and exclusive to Consortium News. But to Christine, and to anyone with both an empathetic bone in their body and the ability to see through the haze of mainstream lies, Julian Assange is not just news. He is a human being. A human being who felt so strongly for other human beings, that he has laid his head on the chopping block time and again for us. It will likely cost him his life.
Given the irreversible damage his doctors warned is being inflicted upon him, it may have already.
His liberty is long gone. His public reputation, excoriated. A twisted caricature crafted by his persecutors, raised in its place. For peasants in the town square to throw rotten tomatoes at, while the puppet-masters who alternately starve them and send them to die in pointless wars, scoff and self-congratulate. Just as the well-to-do toasted themselves with champagne, high above Wall Street, as the Occupy movement marched below.
Comment: Unconscionable turn of events and actions by the Ecuadorian Embassy. Has Ecuador sold out?
See also: Break-in attempt at Assange residence in Ecuador Embassy; fears raised of abduction try
© AP/Vahid SalamiGadhr-H missile • Surface-to-surface Sejjil missile
The Washington Post has cited several military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as expressing concern that reducing the US military presence in the Middle East has dealt a blow to their ability to react to potential Iranian threats amid what they called an increased potential for confrontation due to the sanctions.
Although the military sources don't believe that Tehran is capable of carrying out a large-scale attack on US forces in the turbulent region, they are still alarmed that the Islamic Republic could turn to its ballistic missiles or shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The military reportedly believes that it's the current administration's policy to deter Iran, including Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the landmark nuclear deal and efforts to eliminate what National Security Adviser John Bolton branded as "the Iranian menace" in Syria and in the region as a whole that has increased the likelihood of military confrontation.
Comment: The comments above are from anonymous sources, not official positions outlined by the military. As the sanctions come into play, we shall see if the US has a modicum of sensibility to de-escalate tensions, or continue its demands and financial punishments, or provoke an unnecessary and irrevocable military response. Many voices, what's the plan?
© Reuters/Aaron BernsteinRussian facebook ads displayed in congressional hearing.
On one level, it is unsurprising that the election has been focused on issues that impact voters' lives, rather than the byzantine bureaucratic drama that has consumed Washington and elite media since Trump's election. But after months of fear mongering about a sweeping Russian interference effort and a compromised, complicit president, perhaps we are also seeing the penny start to drop: Russiagate, for all its hype, has not gone as advertised.
Take the supposed Russian threat to the midterms. For months, intelligence officials and prominent media outlets have bombarded us with warnings about "a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States" (Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats), a threat so dire that we might as well dub the vote the "The Moscow Midterms" (FiveThirtyEight) and acknowledge that "we're defenseless against Russian sabotage in the midterm elections," (Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin). The New York Times informed readers in July that Coats had likened "the persistent danger of Russian cyberattacks today...to the warnings the United States had of stepped-up terror threats ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." "The warning lights are blinking red again," he said.
© Global Look Press via ZUMA Press/Alexandra MinorUS Army soldiers position concertina wire along the Mexico border, November 2, 2018
The first coils of the razor-sharp fence were unwound in the vicinity of McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge crossing in Texas on Friday, after the first units of American soldiers deployed at the border started reinforcing the frontier against any potential breaches.
The same fortification effort will soon start across other parts of the state as well as in Arizona, and California. "We have enough concertina wire to cover up to 22 miles already deployed, already to the border. We have additional concertina wire that we can string with over 150 miles available," the head of the Northern Command, Terrence O'Shaughnessy told reporters earlier this week.
The US commander-in-chief ordered over 5,200 soldiers to be deployed at the southern border by the end of the week to aid some 2,000 National Guardsmen already in place. By Saturday, more than 3,500 troops had been deployed, including about 1,000 Marines in California, the Pentagon said. Trump, however, said that the number might be increased to 15,000 active US personnel if the initial contingent is not enough.
© Amir Cohen/ReutersPrime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu
The Central District Attorney's Office has filed an indictment against 28-year-old Ra'anana citizen Elazar Laniv for sending death threats to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I've been planning this for a while. If the prime minister dies, it was I who killed him so there should be no doubts," Laniv told a police dispatcher, according to the newspaper Arutz Sheva.
He was later arrested by the police and sent to have a psychiatric examination.
Comment: Rules of engagement are specific for the military. A different kind of 'boundary' to be respected.