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Binoculars

"But, muh national security!" DOJ wants to review FBI/Clinton collusion memo before it's released


RT
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:53 UTC
trump comey
© Andrew Harrer / Global Look Press
The Justice Department has called on the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to let the FBI view before release a secret memo alleging to show political bias within the department.

With the House Intelligence Committee saying it is in the preparation stages of releasing a 4-page memo, which purports to show collusion between the Obama administration, the FBI, and the Clinton campaign against Trump and his team, the DOJ has said releasing the memo would be "extraordinarily reckless."

"We believe it would be extraordinarily reckless for the Committee to disclose such information publicly without giving the Department and the FBI the opportunity to review the memorandum and to advise the [committee] of the risk of harm to national security and to ongoing investigations that could come from the public release," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in a letter to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). "Indeed, we do not understand why the Committee would possibly seek to disclose classified and law enforcement sensitive information without first consulting with the relevant members of the Intelligence Community."


Comment: "Because national security" = "because we'd be very embarrassed".


Comment: See also: White House says they don't have approve release of FISA memo - House can de-classify it on their own

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Snakes in Suits

Trump's success leaves NeverTrump conservatives vexed on how to respond

Byron York
Washington Examiner
Tue, 23 Jan 2018 17:24 UTC
trump
The start of President Trump's second year in office has given Republicans and conservatives an opportunity to review a solid list of achievements: corporate and individual tax cuts; economic growth; wage growth; a conservative Supreme Court justice; a record number of circuit court confirmations; deregulation; the defeat of ISIS and more. Each is a development worth celebrating, either by the standards of conservatism, or the general welfare, or both.

But for NeverTrump conservatives, the list presents a challenge. Many support the actions, like cutting taxes and reducing regulation, on Trump's list. Yet some have also staked their credibility and prestige on declaring Trump's election an unmitigated, historic disaster that will lead to an autocratic, dystopian future. Many want to force Trump out of office, either by impeachment, the 25th Amendment, or, at latest, defeat in 2020.

So how to deal with the current good news?
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Attention

Syria condemns Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in northern Syria as casualties mount


Sputnik
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 22:30 UTC
Casualties Mount on Day Five of Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in North Syria
© AP Photo/ Lefteris Pitarakis
The Turkish intervention into Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces-controlled areas in Afrin, northwest Syria has intensified, entering its fifth day on Wednesday. Sputnik offers a summary of the day's most important military reports and political and diplomatic announcements.

Military Activity

Turkey's General Staff announced Wednesday that the Turkish Air Force conducted air strikes involving 27 aircraft against 47 Kurdish and Daesh targets on Wednesday. The military estimates that a total of 287 terrorists were killed in the first four days of Operation Olive Branch, the Turkish incursion into northwestern Syria which began after the US announced plans to create a Kurdish-militia operated border security force in the region.

Comment: Also See:

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Info

Al Masdar confirms Kurdish govt in Afrin officially calls on Syrian Army to protect against Turks

Andrew Illingworth
Al Masdar News
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:23 UTC
kurdish statement
The official Kurdish administrative bureaucracy that runs Syria's Afrin region has called on the government in Damascus to protect the region and its people from the ongoing assault against it by Turkey-led forces.

Moments ago, the Afrin Self-Administration Office (a regional extension of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party) posted a statement (seen above) officially calling on the Syrian government to fulfill its duty to protect the region - a part of sovereign Syrian soil - from Turkish invasion by deploying its military.

The statement did make the effort to point out that Kurdish forces had protected Afrin from terrorists and invaders for the last six years and that they would continue to do so even once the Syrian Armed Forces stepped in.

A key part of the statement reads:

"We call out for the Syrian government to protect Afrin and Syria's borders by deploying the Syrian Armed Forces to protect Afrin borders."

Comment: A truly facepalm-worthy moment. The Kurds treacherously put their lot in with the U.S., against the Syrian government and against the territorial integrity of the country they're a part of, and refused the offer of Syrian support prior to the invasion - then when their bluff is called by the Turks, they cry to the Syrian government they just refused and betrayed for help. Seriously, what did they expect?

As for what's been going on in Afrin over the past day, here are the updates. Turkey claims more than 300 Kurdish terrorists have been killed in the 6 days so far of operation "Olive Branch" (naturally Kurdish sources downplayed this, telling Sputnik that no more than "15-20" Kurdish fighters have been killed). Afrin sources say 35 civilians have been killed so far as a result of Turkish shelling. Turkish PM Yildirim says the operation is not just to protect Turkey's borders but also "Europe as a whole".
He called unacceptable the situation where "one NATO member state protects its borders from a terrorist threat, while another NATO member supplies terrorists with weapons," referring to the military assistance provided by the United States to the Kurdish militias in Syria.
Today the Kurds claimed to have captured 16 Turkish soldiers in Afrin.

T urkey denied reports that Germany had ceased providing Turkey with Leopard tanks in light of the Afrin situation:
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has expressed the country's concern over Ankara's ongoing operation in Afrin and revealed the decision to halt supplying Turkey with German-built Leopard tanks, according to Spiegel.
...
"A commission was scheduled to meet to discuss Leopard tanks, but the meeting was postponed. Meanwhile, no issue of freezing or canceling [the deliveries of Leopard tanks] has been raised," Cavusoglu told reporters.

Earlier, Turkey's foreign minister, in response to the news about freezing of the country's requests on Leopard tanks, called Germany Turkey's ally and said that Ankara expects "support and solidarity" from Berlin.
...
"Concerning the current discussions about arms exports, the Federal Government is clear about the fact that Germany can not send arms in conflict areas and is not going to do so," Gabriel told Spiegel.

Suspending of arms deliveries to Turkey is believed to be a move aimed at easing tension in German society, as images of German Leopard tanks being used by the Turkish army in its offensive in Syria are making the German public feel increasingly uncomfortable.
Sputnik has a revealing timeline of U.S. support for the Kurds over the past couple years. Of note:
December 2017: There is No Need to Arm the Kurds

Following the defeat of Daesh in October 2017, the Trump administration signaled December 2 that it was going to stop arming the Kurds. "The YPG is armed and as the coalition stops offensive (operations) then obviously you don't need that, you need security, you need police forces, that is local forces, that is people who make certain that ISIS [Daesh] doesn't come back," Mattis said.

January 14, 2018: A New Army is Established

On January 14, Colonel Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, told Agence France Presse (AFP) that the US will establish a new military force in Syria together with the Kurdish-dominated SDF...

January 17, 2018: 'The Entire Situation is Misdescribed'

On January 17, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backpedaled on the Pentagon's plan: "That entire situation has been misportrayed, misdescribed. Some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all."

January 23: Operation Olive Branch Undermines Anti-Terror Efforts

On January 23, Mattis denounced the Turkish Operation Olive Branch against the Syrian Kurds in Afrin and Manbij: "This clearly disrupts [anti-terror] effort," Mattis said. "The Turkish incursion disrupts that effort. So we urge Turkey to exercise restraint in the military actions and the rhetoric and ensure that its operations are limited in scope and duration."

January 24: The Kurds to Pay the Price if Resist Turkey

On January 24 Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway told the state-owned Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency that the US may cut off military assistance to the Kurdish militia in northern Syria if it continues attacking the Turks: "If they [US-backed units operating under the SDF umbrella] carry out military operations of any kind that are not specifically focused on ISIS (Daesh) they will not have coalition support," Rankine-Galloway stressed. "If we observe scenarios in which that equipment is used for other purposes, we are going to take appropriate action that could include cutting off military assistance to them."
Cavusoglu answered some questions today on various issues surrounding Afrin:
On Ankara-Damascus Relations

Preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria is the common goal of Ankara and Damascus and the Turkish troops are not going to attack government forces in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "Once they (the Syrian Armed Forces) shot down our aircraft and we responded. While they do not attack us, we do not need to consider them as our target. Up to this day, we have not taken such actions, Cavusoglu told reporters.

"Damascus knows that the YPG militias (People's Protection Units) want to divide Syria. Whereas Turkey and Damascus as well as the opposition forces all support the territorial integrity of Syria within its current borders. We believe that the Syrian regime will not cooperate with terrorists," he added. ...

On US Arms Supplies to Kurds

Cavusoglu also said that Trump reassured Erdogan in phone conversation that the US stopped arms supplies to Kurdish units in Syria.

The Turkish minister added that Erdogan urged Trump to withdraw "US troops or the YPG terrorists" from Syrian Manbij, as the YPG are attacking the Turkish military and members of the opposition "Free Syrian Army" in Syrian Idlib.


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Bad Guys

Former DNC Chair Wasserman Schultz on why Dems are putting interests of illegal aliens ahead of citizens in shutdown fight

Matt Vespa
Town Hall
Tue, 23 Jan 2018 17:20 UTC
wasserman DNN government shutdown
© CNN
If you want to see bad spin about this whole shutdown mess the Democrats created for themselves, take a look at this interview Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) did with CNN's Brooke Baldwin. She prevaricates or outright evades questions from Baldwin about whether Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) caved, or if this shutdown creating a "potential for momentum" on an immigration deal was the right thing to do. Schultz just decided to attack Trump and the GOP. First, did someone not tell her they lost this fight? Second, that's her spin. That this was done to create a "potential for momentum" on a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. So, if things don't go your way, shut down the government. It could add an extra kick in the legislative step. This is insanity (via Free Beacon):

Comment: Considering the number of scandals swirling around Wasserman Schultz, it's amazing she has the brass to appear in public:

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Bad Guys

Trump tweets back at Schumer: 'If there is no Wall, there is no DACA'

Alex Pappas
Fox News
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:26 UTC
Chuck Schumer Donald Trump
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump
President Trump fired back Tuesday night at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for offering, then rescinding, a deal to support border wall funding in return for an immigration package that protects illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

"Cryin' Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA," the president tweeted around 11 p.m. ET. "We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!"

Earlier Tuesday evening, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley slammed Schumer during an appearance on Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime."

Comment: Trump wants $18bn for border wall in exchange for DACA agreement

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Eye 2

Illegal US 'airbase' three times the size of Lebanon being set up in Syria


FARS news agency
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 11:19 UTC
US Setting Up Large Secret Airbase in Syria to Protect Kurdish-Held Areas
Washington has established a secret airbase in Syria to protect the Kurdish forces who have occupied large areas of the Arab country, media reports said on Tuesday.

The Arabic-language Lebanese Addiyar newspaper revealed that the US airbase in Syria can host 100 fighter jets and is in good distance from al-Tanf military base in Southeastern Syria.

The daily disclosed that the airbase has been secretly built to protect one fourth of the Syrian territories occupied by the Kurds.

It added that the airbase is 3.5 times larger than Lebanon (nearly 35,000km).

Comment: As they have done in Iraq. The American establishment is hated in a great many countries because it just does whatever it wants regardless of international law and the sovereignty of nations:

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Family

Russian military arranges return of 9,500 refugees to Syrian province, US supported terrorists only 25km away


TASS
Tue, 23 Jan 2018 10:13 UTC
Syrian refugee camp
© AP Photo/Hussein MallaThe negotiation process was rather difficult, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria
Officers from the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria have arranged the return of more than 9,500 refugees to the Al-Buwaidah settlement in the Rif Dimashq province.

"The negotiation process was rather difficult but we managed to succeed by making joint efforts," the Russian Center's spokesman Major General Viktor Pankov told reporters. "We made a joint working visit to the settlement, assessed the situation, particularly its security aspect," he said, adding that "we managed to bring back 1,500 families, which is more than 9,500 refugees."

Comment: The US did its best to destroy Syria but Russia intervened and stopped them, but now the US is readying an army of ex-ISIS members for what may sadly be their second attempt:

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Post-It Note

White House says they don't have to approve release of FISA memo - House can de-classify it on their own

Saagar Enjeti
The Daily Caller
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:17 UTC
Hogan Gidley
The White House does not have to approve the release of a currently classified memo assembled within the House of representatives which purports to display extensive abuse of FISA authority within the FBI, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told WMAL Wednesday morning.

"We don't have to approve it. They have the right to de-classify the document," Gidley told Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese and WMAL host, citing "legal minds" consulted by the executive branch.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes assembled the memo with fellow committee members and staff based on classified information turned over by the FBI and the DOJ. The document allegedly contains proof that the Obama administration abused its authority to obtain surveillance warrants on members of the 2016 Trump campaign.

Congressman Steve King said the contents of the memo show a scandal "worse than Watergate." House rules allow the intelligence committee to take a vote to declassify information in the public interest. The president can object to the release of information but does not have to approve it.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the memo Tuesday the White House supports "full transparency, and we believe that that's at the House Intel Committee to make that decision at this point."

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

'Clinton Cash' author: Strzok-Page texts indicate apparent desire to 'proactively damage an elected President' they knew was innocent of 'collusion'

Robert Kraychik
Breitbart News
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:04 UTC
strzok Page
© Fox NewsPeter Strzok and Lisa Page
"It seems to me you'd be concerned if there was something there, not if there's nothing there," said Peter Schweizer, Breitbart News's Senior editor-at-large, referencing FBI official Peter Strzok's expressed concern that no evidence existed corroborating narratives related to special counsel Robert Mueller's ostensible investigation into Russian political interference.

Schweizer, the bestselling author of Clinton Cash and president of the Government Accountability Institute, made this comment during an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM's Breitbart News Tonight with co-hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.

"Here's what's interesting," said Schweizer. "So [Peter Strzok is] texting to his girlfriend that there's nothing there, and even says that he's concerned that there's nothing there, which strikes me as kind of an odd statement. Maybe you can't read too much into it, but it seems to me you'd be concerned if there was something there, not if there's nothing there."

Strzok sent the following text to FBI colleague and romantic partner Lisa Page on May 19, 2017, two days after Mueller's appointment as special counsel and weeks before he joined the Mueller-run probe: "You and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I'd be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern that there's no big there there."

Comment: Peter Schweizer has done his share of exposing the swamp.

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