Well, the Democratic response is predictable…. Sen. Murphy: "I was deeply surprised at the lack of information presented by the administration regarding a specific imminent threat … I was, I think, both surprised and saddened to not have that information before us. I think it is likely because it doesn't exist." Via ABC pic.twitter.com/rnoEG1ZYc5 — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 8, … Read More
The Afghanistan Papers
This morning, the Washington Post published The Afghanistan Papers, so-named as a tribute to Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers. It’s hardly surprising that what we learn from the collection of documents is that the US has been lying about Afghanistan since the very earliest days of the war: A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. … Read More
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS Leader, Killed In Daring Raid, But Trump Don’t Get No Respect
Listen, it;s great that our forces in Syria, relying on information from the Kurds (and possibly those in al-Baghdadi’s inner circle) took out the military and spiritual leader of ISIS, even though the operation was hastily put together because Trump pulled our troops out of Syria without, you know, checking with anybody. But the second I heard the news, my … Read More
Trump’s “America First” Means We Have No Influence Anymore
Donald Trump sure has made the rest of the world respect us: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected a U.S. offer to mediate a cease-firebetween Turkish forces and Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria….“The terrorists should drop their weapons and leave the area that we have identified as the safe zone,” he said in a speech Wednesday to the Turkish parliament. He vowed to press … Read More
Trump’s Inexplicable Turkey Policy Raises Questions Of Loyalty To America
Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds will likely go down as the greatest American foreign policy disaster since the invasion of Iraq. While the cost, destruction, death toll and moral miasma of the invasion of Iraq are unparalleled, the Kurdish betrayal is uniquely bad in a key way: America’s imperialist misadventures against perceived enemies are sadly commonplace, but rarely have we … Read More
Putin’s Poolboy Reverses US Policy On Turkey
He didn’t consult allies. He didn’t consult Congress – even Republicans. I’m not sure he even consulted his advisers. But I’ll give dollars to donuts he talked to Putin about this. This morning, Americans woke to this… out of the blue: So President Trump has given his endorsement for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away American-backed Kurdish forces … Read More
Trump Administration Actively Rebuffed Intelligence Community Attempts To Prioritize Domestic Terrorism
Jake Tapper at CNN has the exclusive: White House officials rebuffed efforts by their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security for more than a year to make combating domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, a greater priority as specifically spelled out in the National Counterterrorism Strategy, current and former senior administration officials as well as other … Read More
Trump Has A History Of Thwarting Law Enforcement Of Far Right Terrorism
If you want a quick rundown of some of the ways Donald Trump’s team of hard-right conservatives has sought not just to downplay far-right domestic terrorism threats but to weaken the ability of government to investigate them in the first place, the Los Angeles Times’ Molly O’Toole has you covered. From the beginning moments of Trump’s administration, his appointees moved to shift government … Read More
Are Congressional Republicans Growing A Pair?
The Hill: Frustrated Republicans say it’s time for the Senate to reclaim more power over foreign policy and are planning to move a measure Thursday that would be a stunning rebuke to a president of their own party. GOP lawmakers are deeply concerned over President Trump’s reluctance to listen to his senior military and intelligence advisers, fearing it could erode national … Read More
ISIS Not Defeated
NBC News reports: U.S. service members were among those killed by an explosion in Syria on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the coalition fighting the Islamic State group said. Earlier, a senior Kurdish security official told NBC News that members of the U.S.-led coalition were caught up in a blast at a market in the northern city of Manbij. The official could … Read More
Trump’s Ignorance Of Afghanistan Is Scary And Curious
At a press briefing at the end of a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump took questions from the press, and went on for 90 minutes in a rambling monologue festooned from end to end with falsehoods on a variety of subjects. But one particular statement he made has stood out: But then Trump went right off the deep end with a disquisition on … Read More
Trump Undermines Military Intelligence — This Time On Syria
On Monday, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement publicly pledged that the U.S. commitment to Syria would not waiver. The very next day, Trump reportedly decided to rapidly withdraw all U.S. troops there. Today he tweeted this: Trump appears to be discarding his entire Syria and Iran strategy at a single stroke, giving up any and all U.S. influence in the … Read More
Trump On A Twitter Tear This Morning
He rants about the investigations, Cohen, the wall…. in a largely fact-free tirade. This is creative accounting at best. I don’t know how much the US benefits from the NAFTA 2.0 Trade Agreement (i.e., the USMCA), but by most accounts, it’s not that different from the original NAFTA. And anyway, the benefits go to manufacturers, farmers, etc. — not the … Read More
New Footage Of 2017 Failed Suicide Bomber in NYC
Newly released security video of a failed 2017 suicide bombing in the New York City subway system gives a fuller picture of the police response.
Trump Administration Tries To Cover For Saudis
If Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Riyadh to read the Riot Act to Saudi rulers over the apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi, he hid it well behind cheery smiles and professions of amity. But then outrage has been conspicuously absent from the Trump administration in the two weeks since Mr. Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, never to be … Read More