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Visiting Jerusaelm for the World Holocaust form, French President Emmanuel Macron used the site of a holy church to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/macron-yells-at-israeli-security-to-leave-french-church-during-jerusalem-visit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timesofisrael.com/macron-yells-at-israeli-security-to-leave-french-church-during-jerusalem-visit/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGd1lyLaA_FJ-ZMS6QNqiuEPliWKw">yell at the Israeli Police</a> who were protecting him.
This is just another episode of French antagonism to Israel’s presence in Jerusalem. In 2016, France supported a ludicrous UNESCO resolution that implied Jerusalem has no Jewish or Christian historical connection. The French prime minister at the time, Manuel Valls, subsequently expressed regret for his country’s action, but it did not stop France from doing it again: A year later, it abstained on a similar UNESCO resolution.
The following year, when President Trump announced that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy, France was at the forefront of the passionate and angry European opposition — itself more aggressive than the Palestinian and Arab reactions. Macron repeatedly claimed that the recognition would have negative security repercussions well beyond Jerusalem, stating that “the status of Jerusalem is a question of international security which concerns the entire international community.&#8221;
Such European position is based on a 1949 U.N. resolution that designated Jerusalem and Bethlehem as a “corpus separatum” to be placed under an international legal regime — essentially a European colony.
Macron did not stop there, and tried to link the May 2018 Hamas-led &#8220;Nakba day&#8221; Gaza riots to the opening of the new U.S. embassy: “Experience shows that whether you like it or not, things like that provoke violence in response. … This leads to people dying.” He said.
French disruptive meddling in the Middle East is not new. In 1920, French actions triggered the first shots in what became the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. France invaded Syria in order to dethrone the pro-Zionist Arab Emir Faisal and to instill a French regime instead (nominally posing as a League of Nation mandate). While Jews attempted to stay neutral in the French-Arab conflict, local Arab commanders suspected French soldiers were hiding in the Jewish village of Tel-Chai and a deadly battle ensued.
The residue of French colonialism was very much on display in Macron’s visit to Jerusalem on January 22. Indeed, it traces back as far as the inter-colonialist dealings of the 1850s, when the Ottoman Empire gave the Church of Saint Anne to France as a reward for France’s support in the Crimean War.
“Get out,” Macron yelled at Israeli Police as they entered that church with him. Analysts view this as an orchestrated show directed at Macron’s Muslim and far-left anti-Israel voters. Previous French President Jacques Chirac pulled a similar stunt during his 1996 Jerusalem visit. Walking through the narrow alleys of the Old City — a venue of multiple stabbings and other terrorist attacks — Chirac confronted his Israeli security detail for their tight protection.
What is alarming about the January 22 incident is not that Macron, like Chirac, decided to take a shot at Israel for seemingly internal political grains, but that he chose to do so in one of Christianity’s holy sites, located right on the Via Dolorosa. As Macron ordered Israeli Police out, he yelled at them that those rules have been in place for centuries and “that will not change with me.” Macron got it wrong. This colonialist-era arrangement could have only been in place for one century and a half.
While Macron might wish for Jerusalem and Bethlehem to be taken away from the locals and given to the “international community,” this particular part of Jerusalem should apparently belong to France. His spokesperson even clarified this point. Israeli Police stated that Macron’s team later apologized for the incident, and Macron went on to shake the hands of his security detail as they continued their tour of the Old City.
Notwithstanding the apology, one cannot ignore the disturbing pattern. This week’s actions come just a year after Macron outraged the world in announcing his plans to honor Marshal Petain, murderer of the Jews of France and head of the collaborative Vichy government, for his role in World War I. Macron later retracted the plan. Symbolically, the Macron incident occurred as he gathered along with 45 world leaders in Jerusalem to remember the Holocaust — a genocide for which France is still in the early stages of recognizing its previous occupied government&#8217;s complicit guilt. For example, a recent <a href="http://www.claimscon.org/france-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.claimscon.org/france-study/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVIoRCH-fCTziIpPRiSTN_v0QSVQ">study</a> showed that 45% of French millennials are unaware of the occupied French government’s collaboration with the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
Let us be clear — France is an important ally of both Israel and the United States, and Macron is a friend. He is a courageous fighter against anti-Semitism, including in his repeated proclamation that there is no difference between anti-Zionism and anti Semitism. But friendship requires honesty and France should be told that it is time to take a deep look inside.
France’s repeated episodes of opposition to Jerusalem should not be taken lightly, even if followed by some sort of retraction or apology. Moreover, anti-Semitism in France is rising yet again and trickling up into the mainstream of French society. This was just as it did in the 1890s during the Dreyfus Affair — a stunning case of state-sponsored anti-Semitism spanning multiple levels of French government and society — and just as it did in the 1940s with the Vichy government&#8217;s collaboration with the Nazis.
Rather than yell at Israeli Police that things &#8220;will not change with me,&#8221; it is time for Macron and France to enact radical changes that will put an end to the French government&#8217;s stance against Jerusalem. This should not be done to please Jews or Christians. It should be done for the sake of France itself.
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Gol Kalev analyzes trends in Zionism, Europe and global affairs. For more of his articles: <a href="http://europeandjerusalem.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://europeandjerusalem.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFitK7ujW6YkWYwdOOdDlab9h_iRg">europeandjerusalem.com.</a>
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Emmanuel Macron

KALEV: Macron Must End France’s Colonialist-Like Stance Against Jerusalem

Benjamin Netanyahu

Foreign Policy

France

Hamas

Israel

Jerusalem

Middle East

United Nations

Zionism

During a recent interview with Fox News&#8217; Brian Kilmeade, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Jocko Willink — who was a former commander of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-jocko-willink-top-lesson-dont-quit-2018-6">most decorated</a> special operations unit of the entire Iraq War — described President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent ordered strike on top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani as a &#8220;gamble&#8221; that nonetheless clearly &#8220;paid off&#8221; for the president.
&#8220;Retired Navy SEAL and author Jocko Willink applauded the &#8216;gamble&#8217; taken by President Trump in ordering the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which was followed by anti-regime protests that erupted on the streets of Tehran,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/navy-seal-jocko-willink-trump-iran-soleimani-killing">reported</a>.
“When you look at it from that perspective you could say that this was a brilliant move to kill a person that was an enemy of America and an enemy of the Iranian people,” Willink said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,&#8221; Fox News wrote.
“Was it a risk to do this operation?&#8221; Willink continued. &#8220;Absolutely. And if you were to poll everyone that had knowledge about what the conflict is like over there, &#8216;Hey should we do this or not?&#8217; There would have been mixed feelings.”
Willink then explained how such operations are always a risk, analogizing to the famous Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan to take down 9/11 mastermind jihadist Osama bin Laden of al-Qaeda.
“It was a risk to do this just like it was a risk when Obama sent SEALS in to go kill [Osama] bin Laden. That was huge risk,” Willink continued, as also reported by Fox News. “He’s going into Pakistan, he didn’t tell Pakistan what we’re doing. There was massive risk. You know the whole building could have been bombed. That’s a massive risk to do that operation. Pulled it off. Bravo. Outstanding.”
“We don’t know what could have happened. Trump took a gamble and did this, and you know what? From what it looks like right now the gamble paid off,” Willink said as he wrapped up his remarks.
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">Daily Wire op-ed</a> published the day after President Trump&#8217;s successfully ordered strike of Soleimani, I wrote approvingly of the &#8220;just and proper strike&#8221; of &#8220;mastermind Iranian jihadist&#8221; Qassem Soleimani:
<blockquote>The world has awoken today a safer and more just place. And the unraveling of former President Barack Obama’s pro-Iran regional Middle East realignment, which began with President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-trump-just-shredded-iran-deal-here-are-5-ben-shapiro">thunderous exit</a>from his predecessor’s pro-ayatollah nuclear capitulation, has now reached its logical conclusion.
The Obama Middle East foreign policy legacy is dead. As is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s infamous jihadist mastermind, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-responds-to-u-s-military-killing-2-top-iranian-military-leaders-involved-in-terrorists">Qassem Soleimani</a>.
Good riddance to both. &#8230;
Qassem Soleimani was a monstrous thug. In addition to the hundreds of Americans killed in Iraq via Iranian-supplied roadside IEDs, Soleimani personally oversaw the jihad-led destabilization of all nations within Tehran’s coveted <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/09/03/the-shiite-crescent-and-regional-disaster/">“Shiite crescent”</a> of desired regional hegemony. He likely is responsible, on net, for tens of thousands of deaths. He was a relentless and unceasing foe of Western civilization, more broadly, though he held a special disdain for the mullahs’ “Little Satan” of Israel and “Great Satan” of the United States.</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-dares-democrats-offers-senate-resolution-praising-soleimani-mission">reported</a> earlier this month, Iran hawk Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a formal Senate resolution praising the Soleimani strike. &#8220;Senator Ted Cruz wants Democrats to publicly declare their feelings on the Trump Administration’s mission to kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani,&#8221; Zanotti wrote.

President Donald J. Trump Watches Raid On Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Compound

Retired SEAL: Trump’s ‘Gamble’ On Soleimani Strike ‘Paid Off’

Al Qaeda

Donald Trump

Fox News

Iran

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Military

Osama bin Laden

Qassem Soleimani

We in the pro-Israel community are certainly accustomed, by now, to the myriad of pro-Palestinian activists and political leftists who engage in rank hypocrisy when it comes to the Jewish state. In fact, the U.S. State Department&#8217;s <a href="https://www.state.gov/defining-anti-semitism/">working definition of anti-Semitism</a> actually includes such hypocrisy as one example of anti-Semitic behavior: &#8220;Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.&#8221;
Alas, someone ought to notify the folks at far-left <a href="https://www.hrw.org">Human Rights Watch</a>.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-selective-opponent-of-settlers-11579046287?mod=opinion_lead_pos9">Writing today</a> at The Wall Street Journal, international law expert and law professor Eugene Kontorovich — scholar at the Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem, professor at George Mason University’s Scalia Law School, and director of that law school&#8217;s new <a href="https://cilme.gmu.edu">Center for International Law in the Middle East</a> — opines that Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch, &#8220;promot[es] boycotts and international prosecution [of Israel] for the supposed crimes of occupation and settlement,&#8221; but &#8220;elsewhere &#8230; strongly supports settlements in occupied territories.&#8221;
&#8220;The settlements Ms. Whitson supports are in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area that was within the borders of post-Soviet Azerbaijan until 1994, when Armenia occupied the region after a protracted war,&#8221; the international law scholar continued. &#8220;Since then, the Armenian leadership in Yerevan has actively encouraged the movement of settlers into the area. Many Armenians regard Karabakh as their historic homeland. But the United Nations, international courts and the U.S. all consider it occupied Azeri territory.&#8221;
Kontorovich then unraveled the precise nature of Whitson&#8217;s hypocrisy. In response to Kontorovich asking Whitson about her work with Armenian National Committee of America, which Kontorovich labels a &#8220;pro-settler charity,&#8221; Whitson responded to the professor: &#8220;My personal support for Armenian diaspora organizations pertains to their charitable and educational work in Armenia and their efforts to advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.&#8221;
But having none of it, Kontorovich then ripped Whitson for trying to have it both ways.
&#8220;This explanation is at odds with [Human Rights Watch&#8217;s] approach to Israel, where the group calls for boycotts of entire companies — including unrelated divisions — because some of their work is in settlements,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;It is also at odds with the record: Ms. Whitson’s fundraising appeals for pro-settlement groups are in no way limited to educational issues. She has celebrated the work of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which supports new settlement construction to encourage &#8216;young families to set down their roots.&#8217; She specifically <a href="https://agbu.org/news-item/sarah-leah-whitson/?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-reader-unique-id="15">praised the group for helping Syrian Armenians who have &#8216;resettled in Armenia&#8217;</a>; many or most such refugees have been resettled in the occupied territory.&#8221;
&#8220;If [Human Rights Watch] were serious about its opposition to &#8216;settlers&#8217; and &#8216;occupation,&#8217; it wouldn’t have a supporter of them heading its Middle East division,&#8221; the professor continued.
Reached by The Daily Wire for exclusive comment, Kontorovich elaborated on leftist hypocrisy on the nexus of Israel, international law, and the law of &#8220;occupation.&#8221;
&#8220;It is not news that progressives, in the name of international law, target Israeli obsessively and exclusively for boycotts and delegitimization,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;But they dismiss such observation as &#8216;whataboutism,&#8217; saying their efforts to enforce international law must start somewhere.&#8221;
&#8220;My revelations show that Rashida Tlaib [who is co-sponsoring a bill to normalize relations with Armenian settlements], Sarah Leah Whitson, and others are not simply ignoring situations of occupation around the world — they are promoting them, without having their progressive bona fides revoked. All of their talk about enforcing international law is just a euphemism for creating a Judenrein zone in Judea and Samaria.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-trump-administration-is-absolutely-correct-to-call-israeli-settlements-legal">The Trump Administration Is Absolutely Correct To Call Israeli &#8216;Settlements&#8217; Legal.</a>

Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW

HYPOCRISY: Human Rights Watch Opposes Israeli ‘Settlements,’ Supports Settlements Elsewhere

Lawfare

Palestinians

As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeopardy-rules-bethlehem-is-in-israel-not-palestine">reported</a> this morning, the judges of popular game show &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; recently deemed that the Christian holy city of Bethlehem, which is located in the southern suburban outskirts of Jerusalem, is located in Israel — and not in so-called &#8220;Palestine.&#8221; Located roughly six miles south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is located in Judea and Samaria (i.e., the &#8220;West Bank&#8221;) — a technically disputed portion of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea to which Israel has the unambiguously superior claim under <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-trump-administration-is-absolutely-correct-to-call-israeli-settlements-legal">all relevant principles of international law</a>.
As read by famed host Alex Trebek, the viral $200 clue in the “Jeopardy!” category of “Where’s that church?” read: “Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity.”
The first contestant to buzz in, defending champion Katie Needle, responded with, &#8220;What is Palestine?&#8221; Trebek deemed that to be incorrect. A second contestant, Jack McGuire, then buzzed in and responded with, &#8220;What is Israel?&#8221; Trebek deemed that to be correct and, since it was the final clue of the round, then took the show into commercial break.
Watch it here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Could be one of my favorite Jeopardy moments of all time <a href="https://t.co/2gpVLpDWlR">pic.twitter.com/2gpVLpDWlR</a>
&mdash; Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) <a href="https://twitter.com/LevineJonathan/status/1216132460649598977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the aftermath of this fairly anodyne exchange, many Israel-hating <a href="https://twitter.com/SanaSaeed/status/1215852493290332160">leftists</a> have gone <a href="https://twitter.com/OmarBaddar/status/1215850195038150656">berserk</a>. The moral midgets at Code Pink have even <a href="https://www.codepink.org/today_tell_jeopardy_the_correct_answer_is_palestine">organized a petition</a> entitled, &#8220;Tell Jeopardy! the correct answer is PALESTINE!&#8221;
Faux outrage much?
In an exclusive, The Daily Wire was able to speak with McGuire, who provided more details and context as to what exactly happened both on- and off-camera. The Daily Wire spoke with McGuire exclusively.
McGuire explained that, following Trebek guiding the program into commercial break, there was a significant huddle on-stage — perhaps around eight minutes, McGuire estimated — between the show&#8217;s compliance, legal, and stage manager officers. The &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; judges decided to scrap the clue and return the two players’ scores to what they had been immediately before. They then re-ran the segment with a new clue (which McGuire also answered correctly): &#8220;Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.&#8221;
Curiously, on the version of the show that aired for viewers over the weekend, the original clue of &#8220;Church of the Nativity&#8221; aired and the substitute clue of &#8220;Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe&#8221; was nowhere to be seen. McGuire expressed bemusement as to why this might have happened. Interestingly, McGuire also noted that there was another clue in the category of “Where’s that church?” whose answer was located in an arguably geopolitically contested city: La Sagrada Familia, which is in Barcelona and is therefore claimed by both Spain and the Catalonian independence movement.
As for McGuire&#8217;s politics himself, he says he is a registered independent with libertarian and conservative leanings. Though he says he isn’t always in agreement with every action of the Israeli government, when it comes to the Jewish state’s right to exist and act in defense of that right, McGuire says he &#8220;firmly stands with Israel, now and for all time.&#8221; He also mentioned that he is a fan of The Daily Wire and Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.
As for Needle&#8217;s politics, her quite public social media presence speaks for itself.
&#8220;Palestine should be free,&#8221; Needle tweeted on Friday, also adding an emoji of an ostensible flag that The Daily Wire was unable to identify as that of a confirmed geopolitical entity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thanks! Palestine should be free 🇵🇸
&mdash; Katie Needle (@katieee817) <a href="https://twitter.com/katieee817/status/1215859142394548224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Friday, Needle also promoted an article in the &#8220;Journal of Palestine Studies,&#8221; which The Daily Wire was also unable to identify as a periodical devoted to the study of a confirmed geopolitical entity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Check out <a href="https://twitter.com/jeannetteeee12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jeannetteeee12</a> ‘s new article in the Journal of Palestine Studies <a href="https://twitter.com/PalStudies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PalStudies</a> about US policy in Palestine <a href="https://t.co/LTyoFl8w11">https://t.co/LTyoFl8w11</a>
&mdash; Katie Needle (@katieee817) <a href="https://twitter.com/katieee817/status/1215867992585785346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
However, McGuire confirmed that he and Needle get along very well, and that he thinks very highly of her as a &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; champion. Not only did Needle generally handle the controversy with aplomb and fail to raise a fuss, but McGuire described her to The Daily Wire as a &#8220;thoroughly wonderful person.&#8221;
Alas, she seems to be a wonderful person with an unusual affinity for legally fictitious geopolitical entities. One can only assume she feels the same way about Narnia, Mordor, and Tatooine.
Today, &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; released an <a href="https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/news-events/correction-jeopardy-bethlehem-clue">official statement</a> on the faux controversy:
<blockquote>In the process of taping this clue, “BUILT IN THE 300s A.D., THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY” we became aware that the clue was flawed as written and that determining an acceptable response would be problematic. In accordance with our rules and in the interest of fairness, we voided the clue and threw it out. We restored Katie’s and Jack’s scores to what they were prior to the clue. The outcome of the game was not affected. We then continued the game with this replacement clue.
Unfortunately, through human error in post-production, the uncorrected version of the game was broadcast. We regret the error and we will make every effort to ensure this never happens again.</blockquote>
The famous game show also released a YouTube clip of the &#8220;Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe&#8221; substitute clue.
<iframe title="Correction to Jeopardy! Bethlehem Clue" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5mgCViI6o1E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Jeopardy! Power Players Week

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant From Viral ‘What Is Israel?’ Video Tells Full Story

Code Pink

jeopardy

Progress never comes easy — especially in the Middle East. That is why much credit is due to the late Sultan Qaboos of Oman, who died this past Friday. A patron of progress and peace, an ally of the West, and a visionary, Sultan Qaboos potentially primed the Persian Gulf for its ongoing renaissance, which remains characterized by increasing progress, tolerance, and pro-Western sentiment. For this, he deserves plaudits.
Sultan Qaboos was destined for ushering change — he beat to a different tune, ascending the throne as a possibly <a href="https://www.albawaba.com/node/was-omans-late-sultan-only-gay-monarch-world-and-why-do-people-care-1332272">gay</a> man whose colorful <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">clothes</a> illuminated the hostile environment he inherited. Then, slavery <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">existed</a> and Omani <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">law</a> banned electricity, radios, eyeglasses, and even umbrellas. Under Sultan Qaboos, these realities quickly became no more. He advanced Omani society, transforming it from one previously rooted in extreme traditionalism to one that, while outward-looking in nature, maintained a relatively <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">non-interventionist</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">persona</a>. Under Qaboos, Oman became one of the world’s <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Oman.html">safest</a> and <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/211rank.html">wealthiest</a> countries, and it now celebrates higher purchasing power parity per capita rates than Finland. He also provided Oman stability, ruling since 1970 and thereby becoming the region’s <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">longest</a> ruling head of state. In sum, he put Oman on a stable path that produced tremendous social and economic progress.
Qaboos&#8217; aspirations for progress were also regional in scope, advancing the cause of peace. He negotiated and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/11/14/oman-the-worlds-hostage-negotiator/">secured</a> the release of Western hostages in neighboring countries, often dipping into his own pocket to do so. And while he maintained economic and political <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/05/09/oman-in-the-middle/">ties</a> with Iran, he also leveraged his relationship for good, using his influence to help <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">free</a> Westerners detained therein.
Qaboos, while idealistic at times, did propel stronger ties with the West. Qaboos, a “close ally,” advanced U.S. military interests, allowing the U.S. access to two strategic ports and an “overland <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/03/29/u-s-and-oman-sign-strategic-port-agreement/">route</a> that would enable … forces [in future conflict] to reach the Persian Gulf without transiting the Strait of Hormuz.” The Strait of Hormuz, which has been <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/03/29/u-s-and-oman-sign-strategic-port-agreement/">subject</a> to the threat of closures by Iran, remains one of the world’s most important bodies of water, “through which 30% of all seaborne crude oil shipments pass.” He also <a href="https://www.sqcc.org/Arabic-Language-Program/SABLA-Summer-Arabic-Language-Immersion.aspx">sponsored</a> American students to learn Arabic in Oman, thereby fostering stronger future ties between the two countries.
Most radically, Qaboos challenged the status quo, openly associating and largely normalizing (albeit still unofficial) ties with Israel. In 2018, Qaboos invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Muscat, the first invitation extended to an Israeli premier in <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/oman-says-it-will-open-embassy-in-west-bank/">20 years</a>. And while greeting Netanyahu later in Warsaw at a security conference that highlighted the Iranian security threat, Qaboos implied the need to recognize Israel. He boldly <a href="https://youtu.be/5DH6mic4iz8?t=55">proclaimed</a> before a media entourage, “people in the Middle East have suffered a lot because they stick to the past. I will now say this is a new era for the future.” According to the head of the Mossad, Israeli-Omani ties have since <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190701-israel-renewing-oman-ties-opportunity-more-spy-chief">culminated</a> in the “renewal of formal relations” and a “representative office of the [Israeli] foreign ministry” in Oman. While Oman has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/oman-says-it-will-open-embassy-in-west-bank/">denied</a> such claims, it now allows Israel’s national airline to use Omani <a href="https://www.apnews.com/b9c267a0517f4b808550d44463b9c3aa">airspace</a> and has invited Israeli officials to discuss the possibility of a <a href="https://www.apnews.com/b877d933d9994e7a85a881c81ad59b2e">rail</a> connecting Israel with the Gulf states. Hence, through nourishing ties with the U.S., and de-stigmatizing its ally Israel, Qaboos’ Oman spearheaded progress, peace, and its U.S. alliance.
Other neighboring countries have seemingly followed Qaboos’ example of social reform and heightened tolerance. In recent years, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia, Oman’s neighbor, has imitated Sultan Qaboos and his reforms — <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-paradox-of-saudi-arabias-social-reforms/">allowing</a> women to drive, legalizing movie theaters, curbing religious police, and also <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/saudi-prince-israelis-have-the-right-to-have-their-own-land-1.5974278">de facto</a> recognizing of Israel. Recently, MBS <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/saudi-prince-israelis-have-the-right-to-have-their-own-land-1.5974278">noted</a> that “the Israelis have the right to have their own land.” The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have also seemingly followed Oman’s lead. Key leaders have hosted Israeli diplomats and <a href="https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/bahrain/bahrain-minister-calls-for-open-communication-with-israel-1.64872601">media</a> at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/signs-of-warming-ties-as-israeli-ministers-head-to-gulf">conferences</a> and have also <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/UAE-Foreign-Minister-Very-wrong-decision-not-to-have-contact-with-Israel-585051">idealized</a> the <a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/6/26/bahrain-fm-hints-at-normalising-ties-with-israel">potential</a> of official ties with Israel. While it is uncertain whether Qaboos directly inspired these results, he certainly paved the path that many now seem to follow. It should therefore be no coincidence that the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51082415">heads</a> of state of Bahrain, Israel, and the UAE, as well as the crown prince of <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/01/11/Saudi-Arabia-s-King-Crown-Prince-send-message-to-Oman-s-Sultan-Haitham.html">Saudi Arabia</a> have reflected on Sultan Qaboos’ death or have sent condolences.
While the future of the Middle East remains uncertain, Oman’s future appears somewhat optimistic. Its new leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, has pledged to reinforce his predecessor’s vision: “We will follow the same line as the late sultan, and the principles that he asserted for the foreign policy of our country, of peaceful coexistence among nations and people, and good neighborly behavior.” So long as the new sultan keep his promise, America can rest assured of a forecast of impending peace and progress — a vision that could magnify throughout the region.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Queen Elizabeth II with Sultan Qaboos

COPE: A Tribute To Omani Sultan Qaboos, Ally And Patron Of Progress

Oman

Progressives, never known for their sense of epistemological humility, are often fond of boasting that it is they — and only they — who are on the &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that American progressives, going back at least as far as the depths of the Cold War, have evinced a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bernie-sanders-entire-worldview-grotesquely-josh-hammer">most peculiar obsequiousness</a> toward America&#8217;s totalitarian geopolitical foes.
President Barack Obama, the braggart who taunted then-House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) a mere three days after his first inauguration with, &#8220;<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/08/13/too_bad_obama_didnt_follow_his_own_advice_123650.html">I won</a>,&#8221; was very fond of gloating how it was he — and not his partisan opposition — who was on the &#8220;<a href="https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/69855/right-side-history-according-president-obama">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that Barack Obama, who oversaw a most rancid realignment in the Middle East in favor of the world&#8217;s number one state sponsor of jihad, kowtowed to that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">terrorist regime</a> to the tune of $100–150 billion in funding and $1.7 billion in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-iran-payment-cash-20160907-snap-story.html">cold, hard pallets of cash</a>.
Because nothing apparently says &#8220;progressive&#8221; like a regime that funds murderous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">terrorist proxies</a> the <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/houthis/">world over</a>, brazenly attempts targeted assassinations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/08/iran-behind-two-assassinations-in-netherlands-minister">all</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/france-blames-iran-for-foiled-bomb-attack-near-paris">throughout</a> the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/justice/iran-saudi-plot/index.html">West</a>, publicly <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-publicly-hangs-man-on-homosexuality-charges-578758">hangs homosexuals</a> simply because they are homosexuals, and has been found <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/iran-told-to-pay-10-5-billion-to-sept-11-kin-insurers">liable by a U.S. federal judge</a> for billions of dollars in damages owed to the families of those killed on 9/11.
In a sane world, Barack Obama and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html">failed novelist</a>-centric <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-24/the-secret-history-of-the-iran-deal-echo-chamber">&#8220;echo chamber&#8221;</a> of pro-ayatollah sycophants would be apologizing today to both the American people and the Iranian people. Obama will never actually do so, of course; how very un-&#8220;progressive&#8221; it would be to humbly concede the retrospective error of one&#8217;s ways. As Dennis Prager once <a href="https://www.dennisprager.com/being-on-the-left-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry-part-230/">quipped</a>, perhaps the nicest part of being on the Left is never having to say you&#8217;re sorry.
Instead, it is Donald Trump, recent author of the <a href="https://twitter.com/SGhasseminejad/status/1216131659986325504">most liked tweet</a> in the history of the Farsi language, who has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">boldly defended</a> American interests against the Iranian mullocracy and stood in <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216356280933273600">lockstep solidarity</a> with the repressed Persians <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-iranian-protesters-refuse-to-walk-on-u-s-israel-flags-attack-soleimani-posters">bravely protesting in the streets</a> against their Islamic Revolutionary overlords. The mullahs are once again shooting some of their very own in the streets, but the president of the United States has made it exceedingly clear that the eyes of the world are watching. By <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/03/trumps-strike-on-soleimani-is-about-america-first-not-reckless-interventionism/">knifing the Qassem Soleimani jugular</a>, prudently declaring victory and <a href="https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1216363363510386688">cutting bait</a> at exact right time, and offering moral and rhetorical succor to a subjugated populace, Trump has led by example every step of the way through this most recent flare-up of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-unyielding-iranian-menace">unceasing</a> post-Islamic Revolution <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-dispatch-of-soleimani-and-the-escalation-of-the-war">tumor</a>.
Every step of the way.
It is Donald Trump, and not Barack Obama, who is on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; on the issue of Iran.
You would never know that from our media elites — nor from the other sheltered denizens of our bicoastal <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ruling-Class-Corrupted-America-About/dp/0825305586">ruling class</a> clerisy who barely conceal their dripping disdain for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">rubes and yokels</a> of flyover country. Really, hold aside for a moment the oh-so-predictable pro-Iran apologia of moral midgets like Rep. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ilhan-omar-crippling-sanctions-starve-iran-bds-movement-israel-economic-warfare-measured-response">Ilhan Omar</a> (D-MN). It is our media vanguard, who on cable television and the nation&#8217;s leading broadsheets alike so often take the form — by sheer happenstance, we are assured! — of <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/01/10/the-obama-administrations-guerrilla-war/">Obama administration alumni</a>, that have parroted ludicrous <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dan-gainor-anti-trump-media-attack-him-for-killing-of-soleimani-blame-him-for-iran-shooting-down-plane">Iranian regime talking points</a> in a depraved attempt to deny the dreaded orange man of anything that might be viewed as a political &#8220;victory.&#8221;
Cold War-era Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI) may have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-and-iran-11578262553">once said</a> that &#8220;politics stops at the water&#8217;s edge,&#8221; but for today&#8217;s debased media and political Left (I repeat myself), the mantra might as well be &#8220;shilling for a uniquely evil jihadist regime to own the cons.&#8221;
Thankfully, the Iranian people — who, above all else, are the victims of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 — need not care about the American media&#8217;s temper tantrums and self-immolations; Trump&#8217;s Twitter allows him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-trump-tweets-for-liberty-in-iran">easily speak directly</a> to the American people. The Iranian people need not care about the armchair quarterbacking of those who would question the wisdom of the Soleimani strike. The Iranian people need not care about those who would haphazardly yell &#8220;warmonger!&#8221; at a president who has arguably been the most militarily restrained commander-in-chief since Jimmy Carter. And the Iranian people need not care about an idolatrous political Left that, along with abortion and global warming, has found an additional pagan sacrament in the thuggish Iranian regime.
What the Iranian people quite clearly do care for is Donald Trump&#8217;s Iran policy. The Iranian people, unlike Obama&#8217;s &#8220;echo chamber&#8221; and the leftist/media alliance that has fought so diligently to defend its rotten legacy, know what it means for an American statesman to be on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; when it comes to their country. Barack Obama and his henchmen will never apologize for their sins, but the history books they seem to care so much about will note how it was his successor who righted his own wrongs on Iran.

John Kerry with Javad Zarif

HAMMER: On Iran, Trump Shows Obama The Real ‘Right Side Of History’

Barack Obama

Nuclear Weapons

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

In the aftermath of the death of Qassem Soleimani last week, the torching of the <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/iraq-protests-iran-consulate-karbala-najaf.html">Iranian consulates in Najaf and Karbala</a>, Iraq, and the Saturday death of Abbas Ali Al-Sa&#8217;edi, the pro-Iranian Hashd Al Sha’abi commander in Karbala, there are clear indications that the Iranian and Iraqi people are losing their fear of the mullahs of Iran. There is a lot of YouTube video of Iranians in the streets of Tehran and elsewhere, and a particularly neat one of Iranian students <a href="https://twitter.com/Imamofpeace/status/1216401446674919424">refusing to walk </a>on an American and an Israeli flag.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here’s the most beautiful thing you will see today! Students at Beheshti University in Tehran refuse to walk on the US &amp; Israeli flags painted on the ground. They chant, “Basij [the IRGC paramilitary] forces, you are responsible for killing the people.” | <a href="https://t.co/dskKJeDa18">pic.twitter.com/dskKJeDa18</a>
&mdash; Mike (@Doranimated) <a href="https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1216328831239360512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a prelude to understanding President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216114167108849665">tweet to the Iranian people</a> on Saturday and the sure knowledge that he’s outpaced newspapers, radio, and TV alike in understanding what regular people understand regardless of what language they speak. Then there is the absence of coverage of the event by what has been called the “mainstream media” — although the mainstream appears not to be following them. Google results mid-morning Sunday — in order of appearance, with sources — show you who cared:
<ul>
<li>Trump Persian Tweet to Iranian People: I “Stand with You.” (Heavy.Com)</li>
<li>Trump tweet in Farsi “the most liked Persian tweet’ in history of Twitter (Washington Examiner)</li>
<li>Trump’s support for Iranian protestors breaks a Twitter record, something the MSM ‘will not report’ (TheBlaze)</li>
<li>Trump Persian Tweet to Iranian People: I &#8220;Stand With You…” (Schooltips.com)</li>
<li>Trump tweet in Farsi &#8220;the most liked Persian tweet&#8221; in… (enmnews)</li>
<li>Donald Trump Tweets in Persian to Pump Up Iranian Protests (CNN)</li>
<li>President Trump’s Tweet in Farsi is Most Liked Persian Tweet… (Gateway Pundit)</li>
<li>Trump Tweets Support for Iranian Protesters — in Persian (Legal Insurrection)</li>
<li>Trump Tweets Support for the ‘Brave and Suffering’ of Iran (PJ Media)</li>
</ul>
See a pattern?
With the exception of the snarky CNN headline, most are smaller outlets and all are openly supportive of the president’s decision to tell the Iranian people that we are not their enemy and we support their struggle against their government.
The Iranian people appear to appreciate that.
So where is The New York Times? Where is The Washington Post? The Los Angeles Times?
The Post had a few presidential tweet stories. In May, there was one about how the president’s tweets “put the Middle East <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/05/20/trump-places-middle-east-knife-edge/">on a knife edge</a>.” There were a few  in June and July — specifically, about one tweet the Iranian government called &#8220;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/irans-top-diplomat-says-white-house-statement-on-tehran-attack-is-repugnant/2017/06/08/a7604a62-4c1b-11e7-a186-60c031eab644_story.html">repugnant</a>.&#8221; The New York Times did some “analysis” of Mr. Trump’s tweets: &#8220;<a href="https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrCmnriRBteySUAKhUPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTEycXY1bDdiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjg0OTJfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1578874210/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.nytimes.com%2f2019%2f11%2f02%2fus%2ftrump-twitter-takeaways.html/RK=2/RS=Ex5huSGSJj_rBkAbLi_kwJBlmas-">Trumps Twitter Presidency</a>&#8221; and an opinion piece that claimed the tweets proved the president to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/opinion/trump-twitter-racism.html">a &#8220;raging racist.&#8221;</a>. Those were the nice ones.
You get the point.
And sure, by the time you read this, someone in the MSM will have figured out that the tweet was important — not only for what it said, and not only for the apparent joy it brought to the Iranians who read it, liked it, and retweeted it, but because Donald Trump has figured out a way to talk to people without their government or media intervening.
Oh, wait. That’s what he’s been doing with the American people from the beginning of his presidency — letting people hear directly from the man they elected. Americans have often taken that for granted: After all, most of us have unfettered Internet and we can log onto WhiteHouse.gov if we want to know what the president said last night in Arkansas. But this is why the president has 70 million Twitter followers.
And here, perhaps, is the source of MSM unhappiness with Donald Trump. It isn’t only what he does as president; sometimes they even approve of that. It is resentment that he skips them — and denigrates them — just as much as they skip over his agenda and denigrate him. It has long been the position of newspapers, radio, and television that the American people need a filter for what happens — and that they are the filter. They are the way to understand the world. Walter Cronkite was that for millions of people in the 1960s. Tom Friedman, with fewer than a million followers (even adding the 44 million of his employer, The New York Times), isn’t that.
And no one is likely to be that again. Not in the United States. And not even in a country where the government manages and manipulates the media and the official pronouncements. Not even in Iran.
There’s a new day out there. President Trump gets it.
&nbsp;
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Twitter iPhone

BRYEN: Trump Tweets For Liberty In Iran

Islam

Media

Media Bias

Muslims

On Thursday, vocal Trump supporter Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) joined Democrats in voting for the Democrat-sponsored War Powers Resolution, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-war-powers-resolution-is-and-always-has-been-unconstitutional">seeks to limit</a> President Donald Trump&#8217;s authority to take prolonged military action against Iran without congressional approval.
As noted by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-says-house-send-clear-war-powers-statement-trump-thursday-n1113006">NBC News</a>, the resolution &#8220;directs the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities against Iran unless Congress has declared war or enacted a specific authorization or unless military action is necessary to defend against an imminent attack.&#8221;
The president and many Republicans have voiced their opposition to the measure.
&#8220;The president has the right and duty to protect this nation and our citizens from terrorism. That&#8217;s what he continues to do, and the world is safer for it,&#8221; a statement read from White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley. &#8220;This House resolution tries to undermine the ability of the U.S. Armed Forces to prevent terrorist activity by Iran and its proxies, and attempts to hinder the president&#8217;s authority to protect America and our interests in the region from the continued threats.&#8221;
Speaking on the House floor, Gaetz explained his support for the resolution.
&#8220;This resolution offers no criticism of the president — no critique. It doesn&#8217;t criticize the president&#8217;s attack on Soleimani. Matter of fact, this resolution doesn&#8217;t even say Soleimani&#8217;s name it,&#8221; the Republican said, according to <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/watch-gop-rep-matt-gaetz-explains-why-he-voted-for-war-powers-resolution?utm_content=buffereeb13&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=tw-theblaze">TheBlaze</a>.
&#8220;I represent more troops than any other member of this body. I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;If our servicemembers have the courage to fight and die in these wars, Congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them.&#8221;
During a Fox News appearance on Thursday, Gaetz said the resolution &#8220;did say that if any president wants to drag our nation into another forever Middle East war, that they require the approval of the United States Congress. That&#8217;s something that I deeply believe, and I think it&#8217;s something the president deeply believes.&#8221;
Before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) went after the president for killing terrorist and Iranian terrorist general Qassem Soleimani last week.
&#8220;Last week, in our view, the administration conducted a provocative disproportionate airstrike against Iran which endangered Americans, and did so without consulting Congress,&#8221; Pelosi said.
&#8220;Asked whether the Trump administration misled the public in justifying the airstrike, Pelosi said that while she can&#8217;t share the classified information that she has been briefed on, &#8216;I do not believe in terms of what is in the public domain that they have made the country safer by what they did,'&#8221; <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-says-house-send-clear-war-powers-statement-trump-thursday-n1113006">NBC News</a> detailed.
Republicans argue that the resolution is non-binding.
&#8220;The bill is what&#8217;s known as a &#8216;concurrent resolution,&#8217; meaning it requires only the approval of both chambers of Congress and does not go to the president for his signature. Republicans argue this makes the bill non-binding and largely symbolic,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/war-powers-resolution-house-votes-to-limit-trumps-ability-act-against-iran/">CBS News</a> outlined.
Two other Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (KY) and Francis Rooney (FL), also voted in favor of the resolution.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I represent more troops than any other member of this body. I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington. 
If our servicemembers have the courage to fight and die in these wars, Congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them. 
I’m voting for this resolution. <a href="https://t.co/cSCBG7CmIm">pic.twitter.com/cSCBG7CmIm</a>
&mdash; Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1215398328944545797?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-lee-details-why-he-was-upset-with-intel-briefing-new-resolution-with-democrat">Mike Lee Details Why He Was Upset With Intel Briefing; New Resolution With Democrat</a>

Rep. Matt Gaetz

Pro-Trump Rep. Matt Gaetz Joins Dems On War Powers Resolution. Here’s His Explanation.

Matt Gaetz

U.S. House of Representatives

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed new disturbing details about the terrorist attack that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani had planned against the United States that ultimately led to Trump authorizing a drone strike that killed Soleimani.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump said, “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
During a White House press briefing on Friday, Pompeo said, &#8220;We had specific information on an imminent threat, and those threats included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop.&#8221;
Pompeo said the only thing that U.S. officials did not know was the exact minute or day that Soleimani was going to launch the attack but that &#8220;it was very clear&#8221; that &#8220;Qassem Soleimani himself was plotting a broad, large-scale attack against American interests. And those attacks were imminent.&#8221;
When asked about what targets Soleimani had designated, Pompeo said, &#8220;American facilities, including American embassies, military bases. American facilities throughout the region.&#8221;
The U.S. State Department released the following fact sheet on Soleimani last week:
<ul>
<li>
<blockquote>Since 1998, Qassem Soleimani commanded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the terror arm of the Iranian regime. The IRGC-QF is tasked with planning and executing terror and military operations outside Iran’s borders. Under Soleimani’s command, the IRGC-QF has fueled destabilizing sectarian conflicts throughout the Middle East for decades.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>The IRGC-QF continues to wage an illegal campaign of terrorism, assassinations, and violence. At Soleimani’s direction and with his oversight and guidance, the IRGC-QF has planned and conducted terrorist attacks across six continents and inside the United States.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>The United States designated IRGC-QF a Foreign Terrorist Organization for its activities, and the United States designated Soleimani as a Specially-Designated Global Terrorist.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>As the leader of the IRGC-QF, Qassem Soleimani was directly responsible for arming, funding, and training proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Operations carried out by these proxy groups have led to the death and suffering of tens of thousands, including many hundreds of Americans. These proxies routinely target and kill civilians, intensify sectarian conflicts, and prolong the suffering of innocent men, women, and children.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Soleimani personally directed and provided arms to militias in Iraq for more than a decade. These militias undermine the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, threaten the legitimacy of Iraq’s security forces, and target American citizens and forces. With Soleimani’s support and lethal assistance, proxies of the IRGC-QF targeted and killed over 600 Americans between 2003 and 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>We can confirm that in the past several days, General Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members. These threats were highly credible and the intelligence is sound. General Soleimani’s travel also violated the ban imposed by the United Nations Security Council.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Recent orders given by General Soleimani dramatically escalated Iran’s campaign of violence and terrorism against Americans and American interests in the Middle East. He orchestrated a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq in the past several months, culminating in the rocket attack on December 27, 2019, which resulted in the death of an American citizen, wounded four American service members, and threatened the lives of many more American personnel. General Soleimani also ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. General Soleimani continued to command Iranian supported proxies in Iraq, which posed an escalating threat to the lives of Americans.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>For his actions, Soleimani had been designated and sanctioned by the United Nations, European Union, and United States and is banned from international travel by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. In defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, however, Soleimani continued to travel to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon directing and coordinating lethal actions that pose a threat to regional peace and security.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Some key international and United States designations of Soleimani include:</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated a Tier I terrorist as part of the Department of State designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. Executive Order 13224 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. EO 13572 for human rights abuses in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. EO 13882 for providing material support to terrorists in 2007.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Sanctioned by the United Nations under UNSCR 1747 for involvement in Iran’s nuclear program in 2007.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated by the European Union in EU 442/2011 for support to the Syrian regime in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Trump Pompeo

Trump, Pompeo Release Details On Terror Attack Soleimani Planned

Mike Pompeo

Following President Donald Trump’s decisive, defensive strike on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">arch-terrorist</a> Qassem Soleimani of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (QF), Democrats immediately claimed that the U.S. was on the warpath with Iran.
They didn’t ask for the president’s justification in taking out a man who was responsible for the murder of over 600 U.S. service members in Iraq via roadside IEDs; instead, they immediately labeled the strike “disproportionate” and an “act of war.” They claimed the Trump administration was actively attempting to start a war with Iran, and in taking out the head of the QF (a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization), the administration had done just that.
However, Democrats&#8217; certainty was quickly dashed when the Iranian “retaliation” proved to be symbolic and merely face-saving. There was no aggressive response that would indicate the start of war. Instead, the Iranians effectively bombed the sand, targeting bases in Iraq that had been given prior warning of the strike.
Iran’s response proved not that the mullahs wanted to escalate, but that they understood the cost of a potential full-scale war with the United States. Their feckless strike made it clear that <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/296604/iran-and-america-are-suddenly-both-naked">Trump’s message was heard and received</a>: You do not mess with the United States. Trump reiterated this message in his address to the nation following the Iranian airstrikes, saying, “we have sent a strong message to terrorists, if you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people.”
The truth is that Trump wasn’t trying to start a war with Iran; he was trying to keep us out of a war with Iran while <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/03/trumps-strike-on-soleimani-is-about-america-first-not-reckless-interventionism/">nonetheless asserting American deterrence</a>. Democrats fail to see this because they are seemingly incapable of admitting Trump ever does anything right.
The Obama-Biden doctrine of foreign policy, appeasing our enemies at all costs — and if that doesn’t’ work, also send them pallets of cash — is what got us into the situation into the first place. The Obama administration would set “red lines,” and then regularly allow our enemies to cross those lines without any form of retaliation. And this wasn’t a one-time thing; repeated aggression would go virtually unchecked, other than perhaps a stern finger-wagging speech and a “promise” for retaliation in the future.
Real “red lines” only work if your enemy knows that if they cross that line, there is a high likelihood of retaliation. The Iranians hadn’t seen a real red line in so long that they were shocked when they were actually held to one.
Iran would be aggressive. Obama would allow it. Iran would be aggressive again. Obama would send them pallets of cash. Iran was aggressive under Trump, but Trump eventually drew his own red line. Iran was plotting future aggression that would cross that line. Trump saw a clear and present danger to U.S. troops and personnel, so he launched a decisive, defensive strike.
It’s a lot simpler than what many on the Left would lead you to believe.
President Trump’s red line is clear: You do not lay a hand on Americans. Period.
His willingness to hold to the red lines he sets, coupled with a multitude of comments emphasizing the U.S. doesn’t seek war, is how Trump kept the United States out of a war with Iran. Because sometimes, the enemy doesn’t respect you until you give them a reason to do so. President Trump gave the mullahs just such a reason.
&nbsp;
Ryan Fournier is founder and co-chairman of <a href="https://www.tpaction.com">Turning Point Action</a>.

Trump press conference Iran

FOURNIER: How President Trump Kept Us Out Of A War With Iran

Trump Administration

<div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph">
The U.S. Navy&#8217;s Middle East-based fleet revealed Friday that a Russian warship &#8220;aggressively approached&#8221; the USS Farragut destroyer in the North Arabian Sea on Thursday, initially refusing to respond to the destroyer&#8217;s warning signals in an action that &#8220;increased the risk of collision.&#8221;
&#8220;On Thursday, Jan. 9, while conducting routine operations in the North Arabian Sea, USS Farragut was aggressively approached by a Russian Navy ship,&#8221; the U.S. Navy&#8217;s Fifth Fleet stated in a series of tweets Friday that include video of the encounter.
&#8220;Farragut sounded five short blasts, the international maritime signal for danger of a collision, and requested the Russian ship alter course in accordance with international rules of the road,&#8221; the Fifth Fleet explained.
&#8220;The Russian ship initially refused but ultimately altered course,&#8221; the fleet said. &#8220;While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision.&#8221;
&#8220;The U.S. Navy continues to remain vigilant and is trained to act in a professional manner,&#8221; the Fifth Fleet added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On Thursday, Jan. 9, while conducting routine operations in the North Arabian Sea, USS Farragut (DDG 99) was aggressively approached by a Russian Navy ship. <a href="https://t.co/SCVyTINNqe">pic.twitter.com/SCVyTINNqe</a>
&mdash; U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) <a href="https://twitter.com/US5thFleet/status/1215658745205796864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
Farragut sounded five short blasts, the international maritime signal for danger of a collision, and requested the Russian ship alter course in accordance with international rules of the road. <a href="https://t.co/OGCeAGKOy3">pic.twitter.com/OGCeAGKOy3</a>
— U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) <a href="https://twitter.com/US5thFleet/status/1215658818882998272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision. 
The U.S. Navy continues to remain vigilant and is trained to act in a professional manner.
&mdash; U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) <a href="https://twitter.com/US5thFleet/status/1215658823471501315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Two defense officials told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/politics/russian-warship-us-aircraft-carrier-video/index.html">CNN</a> the Russian warship &#8220;got as close as 180 feet from the US ship and that there was bridge to bridge communication between the two warships.&#8221;
CNN notes that the Farragut &#8220;is part of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group and the Farragut is tasked with intercepting potential enemy ships to prevent them from approaching the aircraft carrier.&#8221;
A similar close encounter between U.S. and Russian ships took place in the Pacific in June 2019, with both sides blaming the other for the near disaster. A U.S. warship came <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/07/politics/us-russia-navy-near-collision-intl/index.html">as close as 50 feet</a> from a Russian warship, both ships reportedly forced to engage in emergency maneuvers to avoid running into each other.
The tense moment comes amid increased tension in the Middle East after a standoff between the U.S. and Iran. On Tuesday, Iran launched ballistic missile strikes on two Iraqi bases at which U.S. and coalition personnel were stationed in retaliation for a Trump-ordered airstrike that took out Iran&#8217;s top military leader, who was responsible for hundreds of Americans&#8217; deaths and helped orchestrate countless terror operations.
Following the strikes, which resulted in no American or Iraqi casualties and minimal damage to the bases, Iran quickly signaled that it hoped for de-escalation, reaching out to the U.S. “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-sent-messages-through-three-back-channels-to-u-s-after-attack-to-say-they-were-done">through at least three back channels</a>” to make clear that the missile strikes would be the extent of their military retaliation if the U.S. did not take further action.
President Trump delivered a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-addresses-nation-after-attack-no-lives-lost-iran-appears-to-be-standing-down">televised statement</a> the next morning, announcing that &#8220;Iran appears to be standing down,&#8221; which he called &#8220;a good thing for all parties concerned, and a very good thing for the world.&#8221; While making clear that the U.S. would not tolerate Iran continuing its &#8220;destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East,&#8221; Trump announced new economic sanctions on Iran, indicating that the U.S. would not retaliate militarily for the strikes.
“For far too long, all the way back to 1979, to be exact, nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. Those days are over,” Trump said. “Iran has been the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-sent-messages-through-three-back-channels-to-u-s-after-attack-to-say-they-were-done">Iran Sent Messages Through ‘Three Back Channels’ To U.S. After Attack To Say They Were Done</a>
</div>

USS Farragut

WATCH: Russian Warship ‘Aggressively’ Approaches American Destroyer In North Arabian Sea

Russia

U.S. Navy

Congressional Democrats, who seemed <del>willfully naive</del> blissfully unaware of then-President Barack Obama&#8217;s rather expansive interpretation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 during his strategically disastrous 2011 operation to oust Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi, suddenly seem to care an awful lot about constitutional norms and separation of powers principles again.
Intellectual inconsistency much?
Specifically, Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s House of Representatives is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/war-powers-act-explainer-iran/index.html">debating today</a> whether to congressionally impose War Powers Resolution limitations upon President Donald Trump&#8217;s unilateral ability to ratchet up militancy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In their crusade to hamstring the president&#8217;s conduct of his foreign policy vis-à-vis the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">jihadist</a> Iranian regime, House Democrats have even found some libertarian-leaning <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-lee-senator-utah-lambasts-trump-briefing-soleimani-strike-worst-hes-received-on-military-issue/">Republican allies</a>.
But this exercise is misguided, because the War Powers Resolution is, and always has been, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304186404576389474268093278">unconstitutional</a>.
Let&#8217;s start with what the War Powers Resolution, which was passed during the closing stanzas of the Vietnam War, actually does. The <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/93/hjres542/text">statute</a> requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces abroad, and it precludes deployed U.S. forces from remaining engaged in &#8220;hostilities&#8221; abroad for more than 60 days without an affirmative authorization for the use of military force that has passed through Congress. At the time, President Richard Nixon vetoed the bill on constitutional grounds, <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/president-richard-nixons-letter-house-representatives-regarding-his-veto-war">arguing</a> that the measure would define presidential war powers &#8220;in ways which would strictly limit his constitutional authority.&#8221; Nonetheless, a two-thirds majority in each congressional chamber overrode the veto.
Nixon&#8217;s veto was correct.
The Constitution famously divides foreign affairs powers between the legislative and executive branches. Among other enumerated powers in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section8">Article I, Section 8</a>, Congress has the ability to &#8220;declare War,&#8221; &#8220;raise and support Armies,&#8221; &#8220;provide and maintain a Navy,&#8221; &#8220;make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces,&#8221; &#8220;provide for calling forth the Militia,&#8221; and &#8220;provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia.&#8221;
By contrast, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II</a> of the Constitution provides that &#8220;[t]he President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.&#8221; The very first clause of Article II also vests the president with &#8220;[t]he executive Power&#8221; — meaning a &#8220;residual&#8221; foreign affairs power that encompasses all those powers not expressly delegated to Congress in Article I, Section 8. As legal scholars Saikrishna B. Prakash and Michael D. Ramsey <a href="https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-executive-power-over-foreign-affairs">persuasively argued</a> in a 2001 Yale Law Journal article, 18th century English common law had an &#8220;ordinary &#8230; meaning of executive power&#8221; that &#8220;included foreign affairs power.&#8221;
A careful, line-by-line overview of Congress&#8217;s enumerated powers does not actually provide a legislative means that could feasibly justify the War Powers Resolution. The most likely candidate is the Declare War Clause, but that provision happens to be woefully misunderstood by many lawyers and politicians across the ideological spectrum. As John Yoo <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=426862">compellingly laid out</a> in a 2003 University of Chicago Law Review article, &#8220;[t]he Declare War Clause simply confers on Congress juridical power to both define the United States&#8217;s legal relations with other countries and trigger domestic constitutional authorities during wartime.&#8221; It is the president of the United States, under Article II&#8217;s Commander in Chief Clause, who is actually responsible for initiating and conducting hostilities. Congress can then intervene to halt a president it views as a reckless warmonger using the manifold tools it does have at its disposal: Decreasing the size of the Pentagon&#8217;s budget, going line item-by-line item and removing various offensive-oriented materiel from the Department of Defense&#8217;s arsenal, or using its more general power of the purse to defund a war effort in its entirety (as eventually happened with Vietnam).
This interpretation of the Declare War Clause should not be nearly as controversial as it is. At the 1787 constitutional convention, the Framers actually conscientiously substituted out &#8220;make War&#8221; with &#8220;declare War.&#8221; In so doing, James Madison <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/qasem-soleimani-strike-president-trump-has-constitution-precedent-on-his-side/">famously explained</a> to Elbridge Gerry that it was imperative to leave to the president the &#8220;<a href="http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_11s4.html">power to repel sudden attacks</a>.&#8221; This ought to make a great deal of sense; as Alexander Hamilton would explain only six months after the constitutional convention in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed70.asp">The Federalist No. 70</a>, &#8220;[d]ecision, activity, secrecy, and despatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number.&#8221;
Finally, in Article I, Section 10, the Constitution precludes a state from &#8220;engag[ing] in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.&#8221; The Framers were therefore aware of multiple verbs — &#8220;make&#8221; and &#8220;engage&#8221; — that could have clearly conveyed the meaning of an initiation of hostilities. But they didn&#8217;t use those words, and they didn&#8217;t use them for a reason. The Framers understood that there was great merit to leaving decisions such as the commencement of hostilities to one man, and not to a fractious Congress.
To reiterate, Congress already has a number of tools at its disposal to push back against a crusading commander-in-chief. As Andrew McCarthy <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/war-powers-resolution-vote-trump-andrew-mccarthy">wrote</a> this week at Fox News, &#8220;No statute is needed to provide Congress with the power to frustrate unauthorized presidential war-making. The Constitution empowers the legislature to do so by simply refusing to appropriate funds for military action.&#8221; But the Declare War Clause means something fundamentally different than what many believe it does.
The War Powers Resolution may or may not be good policy. But it does not matter, because it runs afoul of the Constitution&#8217;s carefully calibrated separation of powers.

United States Constitution

HAMMER: The War Powers Resolution Is, And Always Has Been, Unconstitutional

Congress

Constitution

Federalist

Libya

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said on Thursday that U.S. intelligence community officials appeared to withhold sensitive information that they possessed involving the information that President Donald Trump was given when he decided to take out top Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani.
In a tweet, Brooks wrote: &#8220;USA kills Sulaimani. Kudos! After 40 years, about time USA fights back against Iran terrorists. In classified briefing, it appeared defense &amp; intelligence reps held back info out of concern too many Congressmen can&#8217;t be trusted to keep classified info from USA enemies. Sad! Mo.&#8221;
In an interview with The Daily Wire, Brooks described the meeting that Congress had with U.S. officials where Congress was briefed on the strike.
Brooks said, &#8220;There were questions asked for specific information and the people on the dais simply did everything they could to get around providing the specific information, which allowed the inference that they had reservations about sharing that classified information with Congress in that kind of setting — which in turn leads to the inference that they had a reasonable amount of distrust as to whether shared classified information would in turn be shared by members of Congress with the news media or our enemies.&#8221;
Brooks pointed to a statement that Vice President Mike Pence gave to Fox News on Thursday as further evidence that U.S. officials wanted to withhold information because they were worried about protecting sources and methods.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
USA kills Sulaimani. Kudos! After 40 years, about time USA fights back against Iran terrorists.
In classified briefing, it appeared defense &amp; intelligence reps held back info out of concern too many Congressmen can&#39;t be trusted to keep classified info from USA enemies.
Sad!
Mo <a href="https://t.co/NONrDmpEa6">pic.twitter.com/NONrDmpEa6</a>
&mdash; Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMoBrooks/status/1215332545308565504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;To protect sources and methods, we&#8217;re simply not able to share with every member of the House and Senate the intelligence that supported the president&#8217;s decision to take out Qassem Soleimani,&#8221; Pence told Fox News. &#8220;I can assure your viewers that there was a threat of an imminent attack.&#8221;
Responding to Pence&#8217;s statement, Brooks said, &#8220;That’s very consistent with the concern that Congress cannot be trusted to keep classified information classified.&#8221;
&#8220;[It&#8217;s] also consistent with that concern is what you just got done seeing with Adam Schiff’s Intelligence Committee during the impeachment proceedings wherein that information that was collected in a SCIF was invariably leaked to the news media,&#8221; Brooks continued. &#8220;So if you just had that experience where members of Congress are quite clearly leaking information that was collected in a SCIF environment, how can you trust them not to leak classified information regarding Iran that could lead to the deaths of our intelligence sources, or empower terrorist organizations to avoid American retribution for the killing that they have done?&#8221;
Brooks concluded by telling The Daily Wire, “Quite clearly, there are some more visible members of Congress that caused greater concerns that others, but I’ll leave to you and the general public to figure out which ones those are.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-reveals-attack-that-soleimani-was-planning-that-led-to-drone-strike">told</a> reporters: “We caught a total monster and we took him out and that should have happened a long time ago. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.”
“We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious, somebody died, one of our military people died, people badly wounded, just a week before, and we did it,” Trump continued. “And we had a shot at him and I took it and that shot was pinpoint accurate and that was the end of a monster. Really, that was the second attack. We didn’t start it, they started it by killing one of our people and wounding badly other of our people. That you call retribution.&#8221;

Mo Brooks

Mo Brooks: Officials Appeared To Withhold Soleimani Intel Due To Concern Some Might Leak To Enemies

Iraq

Perhaps the greatest misconception involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that, while the Palestinians may be more morally wrong, it is Israel who must do more to usher in peace. Truth is, nothing Israel offers will suffice, because Palestinian leadership has never wanted peace — nor even a two-state solution. It’s time the world acknowledges the true motives of Palestinian leadership: Either a “Judenrein Palestine” (a Jew-free Palestine) or sustained conflict that inspires the foreign aid that enriches the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) coffers.
For the entirety of its existence, Palestinian-Arab leadership has championed anti-Semitism and violence — antitheses to peace. Cue Hajj Amin al-Husseini, an infamous <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/The-Grand-Muftis-Nazi-connection-347823">Nazi collaborator</a> and the first to spearhead Palestinian-Arab nationalism. As the grand mufti of Jerusalem, al-Husseini stopped at no cost to undermine Britain’s control over Mandatory Palestine. Al-Husseini allied with the Nazis and even <a href="https://timeline.com/nazis-muslim-extremists-ss-6824aee281d2">recruited</a> for the SS. He <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=1973">saluted</a> Hitler, had a “<a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2060">close relationship</a>” with SS Chief Heinrich Himmler — who masterminded the Holocaust, and <a href="https://timeline.com/nazis-muslim-extremists-ss-6824aee281d2">proclaimed</a>, “kill the Jews wherever you find them.” According to <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2400">Professor</a> Gilbert Archcar, al-Husseini even reached out to European leaders and “advocat[ed] that the Jews be sent to concentration camps instead of … Palestine.” Al-Husseini was complicit in Jewish genocide — and he championed those perpetrating it.
Yasser Arafat echoed support for al-Husseini and his agenda. Arafat <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2902">regarded</a> al-Husseini as a “hero,” and <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Arafat-is-not-a-hero-463150">observed</a>: “We plan to eliminate … Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews …” Arafat also <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2004/11/11/the-father-of-modern-terrorism-the-true-legacy-of-yasser-arafat/">chaired</a> the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). An organization whose “single purpose” was <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2004/11/11/the-father-of-modern-terrorism-the-true-legacy-of-yasser-arafat/">Israel’s destruction</a>, the PLO has <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-terms/palestine-liberation-organization-plo">killed</a> “thousands of civilians.”
Mahmoud Abbas, the current president of the PA, has continued his predecessors’ anti-Semitism and jihadism. He has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blood-of-martyrs-spilled-on-temple-mount-is-pure/">referred</a> to Jews as “dirty,” and has incited murder, exclaiming, “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blood-of-martyrs-spilled-on-temple-mount-is-pure/">Every</a> drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every [martyr] will reach paradise.” And in 2018, the PA under Abbas directed <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/think-tank-terrorists-to-be-paid-as-pa-allots-nis-1-2b-for-inmates-martyrs/">$330 million</a> to the PA Martyrs Fund, which sponsors stipends to terrorists and their families. Abbas&#8217;s anti-Semitism also includes Holocaust denial, the very <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/palestinian-leader-abbas-apologizes-speech-condemned-anti-semitic-n871336">focus</a> of his dissertation: The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism And Zionist Movement. Abbas has also <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/palestinian-leader-abbas-apologizes-speech-condemned-anti-semitic-n871336">blamed</a> “hatred against Jews” as a result of “their social profession.” He is undeniably anti-Semitic.
Other political influences deserving mention are Hamas and Marwan Barghouti. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-israel-must-destroy-hamas-once-and-all-josh-hammer">Hamas</a>, which governs Gaza, is a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. Hamas won the last Palestinian elections in 2006, and in late 2018, was regarded as the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-shows-hamas-leader-would-defeat-abbas-to-win-palestinian-elections/">favorite</a> to win the next elections. Further, Hamas has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-shows-hamas-leader-would-defeat-abbas-to-win-palestinian-elections/">fought</a> three wars with Israel since 2008, and has fired <a href="https://www.aipac.org/-/media/publications/policy-and-politics/aipac-analyses/one-pagers/mountingthreatstoisraelhamas.pdf">17,000</a> rockets in that span. And <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Is-Marwan-Barghouti-planning-to-run-for-PA-president-612370">polling</a> suggests that Marwan Barghouti, <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/On-Marwan-Barghouti-s-murder-record,-political-maneuvering-and-exploitation.aspx">founder</a> of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and convicted murderer of <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/palestine/marwan-barghouti.htm">26</a> people, would win the next Palestinian election if selected as the candidate for Fatah — Abbas&#8217; party.
Hence, anti-Semitism and violence have corrupted Palestinian leadership. Peace is the last thing it wants, the first being Israel&#8217;s destruction and a Judenrein state — which is why PA law allows the <a href="https://apnews.com/b3d04486484046a388b30356a92ff6fb">death penalty</a> to be imposed upon Palestinians who sell land to Jews. But if the PA cannot achieve Judenrein, it will settle for sustained conflict, which inspires the foreign aid that enriches the PA and allows it to expand its power.
Sadly, Israel has demonstrated more commitment to a Palestinian state than has Palestinian leadership itself. Since 2000, Israel has <a href="https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/405763.pdf">proposed</a> or accepted four land-for-peace <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/pressroom/2002/pages/response%20of%20fm%20peres%20to%20the%20decisions%20of%20the%20arab.aspx">proposals</a> that would have created an independent Palestinian state. The PA has refused all proposals, despite one being so <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/bill-clinton-defends-his-and-hillarys-israel-record-spars-with-heckler-over-gaza/">generous</a> as to include all of Gaza, East Jerusalem, and 97% of Judea and Samaria. Palestinian self-sabotages at achieving statehood have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-vox-lies-about-israel-again">so in vain</a> that Bill Clinton once <a href="https://www.jpost.com/US-Elections/Bill-Clinton-I-almost-killed-myself-trying-to-give-Palestinians-a-state-453947">lamented</a>, “I killed myself trying to give Palestinians a state.”
The PA&#8217;s motive, instead of statehood, is corruption — which “thrives” as conflict exists. Conflict fuels international attention and the foreign aid that the PA has exploited to line its pockets and fortify its bureaucracy. In 2015, it was reported that the PA had received <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6353/palestinians-us-aid">$25 billion</a> in foreign aid since 1994. Yet <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6353/palestinians-us-aid">Palestinians</a> “saw no improvement in their living conditions.” This sum should startle: Palestinian foreign aid, when assessed on a per capita basis, exceeds that designated for the Marshall Plan by <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3979/unrwa-dilemma">25 times</a>. Unlike the Marshall Plan, which propelled Europe’s reconstruction in <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-palestinians-lost-marshall-plans">four</a> years, the “<a href="https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/405763.pdf">Palestinian Project</a>” has now lasted over a quarter of a century without any end in sight.
So where has the money gone? Corruption. Arafat amassed <a href="https://nypost.com/2002/08/14/hes-billion-dollar-arafat-got-rich-on-aid-for-palestinians-israel-general-says/">$10+ billion</a>, “[t]he main source” of which was “the approximately $6 billion contributed … as financial aid.” Further, Arafat’s financial advisor accumulated <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3066/how-much-is-mahmoud-abbas-worth">$500+</a> million, having had access to “hundreds of millions of [the PA’s] dollars.” Abbas also amassed approximately $<a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3066/how-much-is-mahmoud-abbas-worth">100 million</a>, despite being a career politician, and his two sons are millionaires who <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinians-aid-abbas-exclusive-sb/firms-run-by-president-abbass-sons-get-u-s-contracts-idUKTRE53L2R020090422">operate</a> foreign aid contracting businesses. The PA suffers from systemic venality.
Palestinian-Arab leadership has long realized that conflict must exist for it to receive aid. Thus, in 2018, it distributed $<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/think-tank-terrorists-to-be-paid-as-pa-allots-nis-1-2b-for-inmates-martyrs/">330 million</a> worth of stipends to thousands of terrorists and their families, thereby inspiring future generations of terror. PA leadership also realizes that its power remains dependent on keeping the Palestinian people dependent on its reign. Hence, in <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/324951520906690830/text/124205-WP-PUBLIC-MAR14-5PM-March-2018-AHLC-Report.txt">2016</a>, “[m]ore than half” of the PA’s spending on Gaza was “spent on wages to PA employees.” Further, between 1999 and 2007, the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/1926/does-foreign-aid-fuel-palestinian-violence/#_ftn16">PA</a> recruited 70,000 new government officials, while spending 70% of the Paris Conference foreign aid package on government salaries in 2008, and 58% of its entire foreign aid for 2001 on PA salaries. Through inciting violence and dependency culture, the PA exploits conflict to preserve its power and wealth.
In sum, Palestinian leadership has long been disingenuous. It wants not peace, but either a &#8220;Judenrein Palestine&#8221; or a conflict that will enable its corruption, power, and raison d’etre. If the world really wants a solution, it must stop blaming Israel, which has actually tried to establish a Palestinian state, and condemn the true motives of Palestinian leadership.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Yasser Arafat

COPE: The True Motives Of Palestinian Leadership, Corruption, And Ethnic Cleansing

In March 2003, then-President George W. Bush let a multinational land invasion of Iraq. At the time, ethnically diverse Iraq — one of the sundry Middle East states haphazardly crafted by clueless Europeans in the World War I-era Sykes-Picot Agreement — was run by thuggish Ba&#8217;athist strongman Saddam Hussein. Within weeks, Baghdad was held by U.S.-aligned forces. Less than a year later, Hussein was captured.
But that was deemed woefully insufficient by Bush-era foreign policy hands. Operating under the intellectually hubristic and universal values-ridden guise of a White House &#8220;<a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/freedomagenda/">Freedom Agenda</a>,&#8221; Bush-era foreign policy was not content to engage in Israel Defense Forces-style one-off <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/a-holistic-approach-to-the-middle-east-and-our-national-security/">&#8220;strike and maneuver&#8221;</a> tactical hits against threatening jihadist outfits. Rather, the Bush administration, in tandem with its concurrent nation-building project in the third-world sharia backwater hellhole of Afghanistan, sought a more enduring physical presence in order to help birth a Madisonian republic in the war-torn, ethnically fractious Iraqi desert.
The rest — with the exception of an Obama-era full troop withdrawal between the end of 2011 and our troops&#8217; return in 2014 to fight the ascendant Islamic State Sunni death cult — is, as they say, history. In the year 2020, the U.S. retains a substantial physical military presence in Iraq.
Following the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">just and proper strike</a> last week of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force terrorist mastermind Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, it is now time for our U.S. troops in Iraq to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/07/offing-soleimani-gives-trump-an-excellent-chance-to-exit-iraq/">come home</a>.
There is simply no longer any compelling strategic reason for the U.S. to retain a troop presence in Iraq, which is increasingly dominated by pro-Iran Shi&#8217;ite militias whose fealty is to no one other than the Quds Force and its mullah overlords. The day has long passed where true American influence in Iraq has been anything other than symbolic; the nation is, at this point, hardly distinguishable from its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-irans-imperial-overreach">&#8220;Shi&#8217;ite Crescent&#8221;</a> fellow nations of Syria and Lebanon in its status as an Iranian satrapy. It was only a matter of days ago when Iraqi security officials seemed, at best, ambivalent about Soleimani loyalist Shi&#8217;ite radicals storming the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
The true threat in the region to the United States, as it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-dispatch-of-soleimani-and-the-escalation-of-the-war">has been ever since</a> the Islamic Revolution of 1979, is the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">inherently jihadist</a> regime in Tehran. Non-state Sunni jihadist actors, no matter the alphabet soup under which they organize, utterly pale in comparison. The threat of Sunni Islamist infiltration can largely be stanched by severely limiting entry visas from problematic Islamic nations, massively ramping up immigration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-border-wall-nice-interior-enforcement-nicer-josh-hammer">interior enforcement</a>, and engaging in occasional ad hoc drone strikes based from the U.S.&#8217;s already-manifold bases across the region. The strike that killed Soleimani, after all, was launched from Al Udeid Air Base in (deeply problematic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-terror-funding-qatar-once-again-proves-it-is-not-americas-friend">&#8220;ally&#8221;</a>) Qatar.
The issue with leaving large-scale numbers of U.S. military assets, from a hardened realist perspective, is that it is <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/death-iranian-gen-soleimani-long-overdue-justice/">actually counterproductive</a> to our over-arching goal of deterring the Iranian menace. As Daniel Horowitz quite <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/death-iranian-gen-soleimani-long-overdue-justice/">presciently warned</a> even before last night&#8217;s missile launches from Iran into Iraq, &#8220;[c]ontinuing to leave so many assets in Iraq itself will just make us vulnerable to Iran’s attacks and counterattacks in the future.&#8221; And a higher-level goal such as deterring Iran necessarily takes hierarchical primacy over a tactic such as deploying troops to Iraq. As famed Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/19042/should-israel-invade-gaza">once said</a>: First decide on one’s policy, then one’s strategy, and only then one’s tactics.
In taking out Soleimani, the Ayatollah Khameini&#8217;s most trusted servant, the Trump administration clearly communicated to the Tehran mullocracy that America will always zealously guard and defend our national interests, as we carefully demarcate and define them. We no longer need to be involved in the dreadful and feckless task of nation-building. As Lee Smith compellingly <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/07/offing-soleimani-gives-trump-an-excellent-chance-to-exit-iraq/">writes</a> today at the New York Post, &#8220;Trump carved out his own exit strategy&#8221; via the Soleimani strike.
Let&#8217;s bring our troops in Iraq home. It will only help, not hinder, our continued efforts to defiantly stand athwart Iran&#8217;s aspirational regional hegemony.

US troops in tank in Baghdad

HAMMER: The Time Is Right For Our Troops In Iraq To Come Home

George W. Bush

Iraq War

Islamic State (ISIS)

Obama Administration

It seems that Australia is no longer the country of choice for people to migrate in the age of President Trump. Now, rapper Cardi B says that she is seeking citizenship in Nigeria in response to the current tensions with Iran.
In the wake of President Trump ordering the drone strike that killed Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Cardi B accused Trump of putting American lives in danger while pledging to file Nigerian citizenship.
“Naaaaa these memes are f[***]in [emojis] but sh[**] ain’t no joke ! Specially being from New York,” <a href="https://twitter.com/iamcardib/status/1213169715759026176" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">she wrote</a>. “Its sad this man is putting Americans live in danger. Dumbest move Trump did till date &#8230; I’m filing for my Nigerian citizenship.&#8221;
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Naaaaa these memes are fuckin 😅😅 😩but shit ain’t no joke ! Specially being from New York .Its sad this man is putting Americans live in danger.Dumbest move Trump did till date &#8230;I’m filing for my Nigerian citizenship.
&mdash; iamcardib (@iamcardib) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamcardib/status/1213169715759026176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/cardi-b-trump-nigerian-citizenship">Fox News</a>, the seriousness of Cardi B&#8217;s pledge was difficult to ascertain, though it did prompt a response from one Nigerian official, who welcomed her into the country.
“As one in charge of the Diaspora for Ngr, We can’t wait to receive you again. Our doors are open, sister,” <a href="https://twitter.com/abikedabiri/status/1213217411572359168" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote Abike Dabiri-Erewa</a>, chair of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission and a former member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives. “And you need to talk a walk through the Door of Return in Badagry. It’s an indescribable experience.”
Regardless of Cardi B&#8217;s seriousness, her declaration led many internet trolls to roundly mock her.
&#8220;Dear Cardi B; you don&#8217;t need to fill for new Nigerian citizenship, it takes too much time to process. You can have mine and give me yours, And also bring your family along, I have friends that will be honoured to exchange their citizenship with them too. Awaiting your feedback,&#8221; commented one user.
Cardi B has been a continual supporter of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president. She tweeted out this past July that the Democratic Party &#8220;let him down&#8221; by essentially blackballing his nomination during the 2016 primary process in favor of Hillary Clinton.
“I been reading about Bernie Sanders and I’m really sad how we let him down in 2016 This man been fighting for equal rights, HUMAN rights for such along time,” <a href="https://twitter.com/iamcardib/status/1151103646219812865">Cardi wrote</a>. “Seeing this country become a better place been really his passion for a long time not a new front for a campaign.”
Cardi B also made headlines last year when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rapper-cardi-b-admits-drugging-and-robbing-men-she-amanda-prestigiacomo">she admitted</a> to previously drugging and robbing men into a hotel that she promised to have sex with while working as a stripper prior to her stardom.
“I had to go strip, I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you want to f*** me? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s go back to this hotel,’ and I drugged n****s up, and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do,” she said in an Instagram Live video.
Critics of Cardi B rightly noted that she would be hounded from the earth for such a casual admission if she were a man admitting to doing the same to women.
“Why isn’t anyone talking about [Cardi B] and her drugging men then robbing them,” one critic aptly put it. “Like if this were a man for example … this would be a different story.”

ACL Music Festival 2019

Rapper Cardi B Is Seeking Nigerian Citizenship Over Iran Tensions. Nigeria Responds.

According to Fox News, at least one U.S. official in Iraq claims the U.S. military had advance notice of Iran&#8217;s tepid and futile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-multiple-missiles-from-iran-hit-air-base-in-iraq-housing-american-troops-reports-say">missile strikes last night</a> that were targeted at Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. troops.
&#8220;U.S. military officials were warned about Iran’s pending ballistic missile strike &#8216;when the air defense systems went active&#8217; shortly before the attack was launched, a U.S. official in Baghdad told Fox News on Wednesday,&#8221; the outlet <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-military-iran-iraq-missile-attack-warning-officials">reported</a>.
&#8220;U.S. intelligence picked up &#8216;chatter&#8221; from Iran and inside Iraq, tipping off American forces to a strike around 1:30 a.m. local time — or 5:30 p.m. ET,&#8221; the outlet continued. &#8220;Soon after, Iran launched more than a dozen short-range ballistic missiles into Iraq, striking military bases housing American and coalition troops.&#8221;
&#8220;That warning was not a surprise to us,&#8221; the U.S. official, according to Fox News. &#8220;We already knew it was coming.&#8221;
Furthermore, according to Fox News, Pentagon officials told the outlet that &#8220;the advance warning of the Iranian missile attack is the reason Defense Secretary Mark Esper held a hasty press conference&#8221; yesterday.
The missile strikes, which Fox News characterizes as &#8220;most brazen direct assault on America since the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran,&#8221; took place last night. &#8220;U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that Iran is firing multiple missiles at U.S. bases and targets throughout Iraq in response to the U.S. killing Iranian terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani,&#8221; The Daily Wire&#8217;s Ryan Saavedra <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-multiple-missiles-from-iran-hit-air-base-in-iraq-housing-american-troops-reports-say">reported</a> at the time.
Saavedra quoted Fox News&#8217; <a href="https://twitter.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/1214687328515624962">Jennifer Griffin</a>, who noted that the missile strikes were expected: &#8220;This is something we have been expecting all afternoon. There were situation room meetings as well meetings with top officials here at the Pentatgon. There was a lot of chatter, we were told intelligence suggesting that the Iranians would strike at U.S. bases in Iraq after the that mourning for Qassem Soleimani ended earlier today.&#8221;
President Donald Trump addressed the nation today, in the aftermath of the feckless Iranian strikes last night, as The Daily Wire&#8217;s James Barrett <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-addresses-nation-after-attack-no-lives-lost-iran-appears-to-be-standing-down">reported</a> earlier.
“As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump began his speech.
“I am pleased to inform you, the American people should be extremely grateful and happy: No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” the 45th commander-in-chief continued. “We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.”
“Last week, we took decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist from threatening American lives,” Trump added. “At my direction the United States military eliminated the world’s top terrorist, Qassem Soleimani. As the heads of the Quds Force, Soleimani was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities. He trained terrorist armies, including Hezbollah, launching terrorist strikes against civilian targets. He fueled bloody civil wars all across the region.&#8221;
Earlier today, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-iran-loses-its-showdown-with-trump">wrote approvingly</a> of the president&#8217;s seeming decision not to plan a retaliation for the mullahs&#8217; largely symbolic overnight salvo:
<blockquote>At this point, it behooves the administration to allow Iran to save face. No Americans were killed; the base was not American. What’s more, the Iranians will seek the last word in this latest exchange — which means that unless the United States is truly willing to go to war, we ought to let the Iranians save face with this tepid response.</blockquote>

Defense Secretary Mark Esper And Joint Chiefs Of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley Brief The Media At The Pentagon

Official Claims U.S. Had Advance Warning Of Iran’s Missile Strikes, Report Says

Earlier this week, a clip of Medal of Honor recipient retired Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/693124/medal-honor-recipient-joins-pentagons-hall-heroes?fbclid=IwAR0LgjVXgkUNekPvmpXtlLFOdCLQY2GINC2JQFiU1HtDTHmkwi9fdLJMSyw">speaking</a> in June about our nation&#8217;s enemies and American strength went viral in light of the current heightened tensions with Iran.
As he was inducted into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes in June, Bellavia warned that &#8220;threats against the U.S. such as North Korea, Iran, and al Qaeda aren’t going anywhere, and cautioned against starting a war again the U.S. if they don’t want someone else to raise their children,&#8221; <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/06/27/watch-medal-of-honor-recipient-david-bellavia-talk-about-the-threats-america-still-faces/">Military Times</a> reported at the time.
&#8220;The threats to our nation, they don&#8217;t sleep,&#8221; said Bellavia. &#8220;They&#8217;re watching our every move: Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, ISIS, al Qaeda — they may be watching this right now.&#8221;
&#8220;Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We don&#8217;t care what you look, we don&#8217;t care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn&#8217;t matter if your dad left you millions when he died or if you knew who your father was. We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts you would be wise to avoid if you knew what&#8217;s good for you.&#8221;
“We will not be intimidated,&#8221; Bellavia warned. &#8220;We will not back down. We’ve seen war.&#8221;
&#8220;We don’t want war, but if you want a war with the United States of America, there is one thing I can promise you, so help me God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters,&#8221; the Medal of Honor receipted concluded.
The clip, only a portion of Mr. Bellavia&#8217;s remarks, was posted online Monday and has since racked up well over 4.5 million views.
Bellavia is one of seven Operation Iraqi Freedom Medals of Honor recipient — the first of whom is still alive.
&#8220;It was his actions during Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah that earned him the nomination,&#8221; <a href="https://time.com/5614183/david-bellavia-medal-of-honor-iraq-war/">TIME</a> magazine said of Bellavia. &#8220;He and his squad were dispatched to search a block of 12 houses where multiple insurgents were reportedly hiding. The squad found nothing in the first nine houses but once they got to the 10th, they were ambushed. Two insurgents armed with machine guns were waiting for them.&#8221;
&#8220;As some of his men suffered injuries, Bellavia provided suppressing fire, forcing the enemies to take cover. This allowed the soldiers to make their way out of the building,&#8221; the magazine continued, adding: &#8220;After calling in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to provide suppressing fire, Bellavia decided to go back in the building, where throughout the house, killed four insurgents and wounded a fifth. One of them was in hand-to-hand combat.&#8221;
Trump praised Bellavia for his &#8220;extraordinary courage&#8221; during the ceremony.
“David today we honor your extraordinary courage, we salute your selfless service and we thank you for carrying on the legacy of American valor that has always made our blessed nation the strongest and mightiest anywhere in the world,” Trump said.
“David often tells young people that Americans don’t want to fight but if someone picks a fight with us we will always win because we don’t fight for awards and recognition,” the president added. “We fight for love of our country, our homeland, our family and our unit and that’s stronger than anything the enemy has.”
On Tuesday, Bellavia discussed the ongoing situation with Iran on radio station WBEN.
&#8220;The Iraq War Veteran pointed to the lack of immediate response from Iran as a sign that they understand the power of the US Military, and how it compares to their own situation,&#8221; <a href="https://wben.radio.com/articles/bellavia-military-strike-on-iran-wont-hurt-recruitment">WBEN</a> outlined.
&#8220;People realize that at any moment men and women can be called to do their job in the military, and I think we take that for granted,&#8221; Bellavia said on the radio show. &#8220;They&#8217;re so good at it, that no one really wants to mess with us. There&#8217;s a lot of people that might talk a big game and other countries can make threats, but when the rubber hits the road the United States warrior is going to be okay and their training and the way that they present themselves is a deterrent to attacking our interests and our citizens.&#8221;
WATCH:
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&quot;We will not be intimidated. We will not back down. We’ve seen war. We don’t want war, but if you want a war with the United States of America, there is one thing I can promise you, so help me God: someone else will raise your sons and daughters.&quot; &#8211; Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia <a href="https://t.co/2liRsjxrGd">pic.twitter.com/2liRsjxrGd</a>
&mdash; Wojciech Pawelczyk 🇵🇱🇺🇸 (@PolishPatriotTM) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolishPatriotTM/status/1214336126535831555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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View Mr. Bellavia&#8217;s full remarks, below:
<iframe title="Pentagon Hall of Heroes: Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia&#039;s Speech" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LRXrEiBeOXo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

David Bellavia

WATCH: Medal Of Honor Recipient Speech Goes Viral As Tensions With Iran Escalate

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Even though everyone ought to be celebrating the fact that President Donald Trump announced that no American soldiers were killed during Iran&#8217;s Tuesday night missile attack on a U.S. air base in Iraq, Trump&#8217;s critics on social media are now trashing him for mispronouncing one word while supposedly slurring his speech that made the official announcement.
Under the hashtag #Slurring as words like &#8220;Sudafed&#8221; and &#8220;Adderall&#8221; began to trend, critics of the president on Twitter immediately accused him of being high on drugs during his Wednesday morning press conference — with many citing his use of the word &#8220;Tolerited&#8221; instead of &#8220;Tolerated&#8221; as proof that Trump is simply off his rocker. None of these critics seem to appreciate the fact that the president probably had little to no sleep the night before, as he paid close attention to the serious situation with Iran — which thankfully resulted in no U.S. casualties. Here is just one sampling of the pettiness on display:
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“Tolerited” <a href="https://t.co/2oDBNibR6Y">pic.twitter.com/2oDBNibR6Y</a>
&mdash; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1214949044356878338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Trump is on drugs, whether we want to face it or not, he is an Adderall addict and has been addicted to speed for decades,&#8221; tweeted comedian Noel Casler. &#8220;Benzo’s figure in as well as the UK Sudafed he takes to control those sniffles and for the buzz. This was NO secret in TV Production.&#8221;
&#8220;Somebody explain to me the difference between what we just saw and a drug addict bluffing his way through a presentation at work,&#8221; said one Twitter user.
&#8220;I am sorry, I understand you&#8217;re a big Trump fan, but he is ill. He was #slurring, out of breath and could hardly read the teleprompter. He is not well. Not at all,&#8221; tweeted another user. 
&#8220;Trump is not ok. He&#8217;s breathing heavy, sniffing, slurring his words &amp; talking like he&#8217;s a [f***ing] robot. Plus he looks like sh**!&#8221; tweeted another.
Other Twitter users came to Trump&#8217;s defense, with many noting that none of the side effects of Adderall — a stimulant — include the slurring of one&#8217;s speech.
&#8220;Trump derangement syndrome takes many forms. He disappoints you by not starting WW3 and now you become petty and accuse him of #slurring during his speech? We must have watched different speeches. I&#8217;m listening to it again. There is no slurring. Get a grip kids,&#8221; tweeted The Progressive Conservative. 
&#8220;President Donald Trump delivers a message of peace. Gives Iran a way out. And the dimwits on Twitter are trending #Adderall and #Slurring. But they have no such hashtags for Nancy Pelosi who slurs everytime she talks,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/CarmineSabia/status/1214955033344782336?s=20">tweeted</a> Carmine Sabia
&#8220;Attention Twitter experts, #slurring is not a side-effect of #Adderall. Stop assigning blame to medications or speculating on drug abuse. Consider instead the possibility of Broca&#8217;s Aphasia, the onset of dementia, or going to medical school if you want to practice medicine,&#8221; tweeted another user. 
&#8220;People obviously have no clue what they are talking about. #slurring your speech and using #adderall do not go together, or most any stimulant for that matter. #adderall is a mix of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are CNS stimulants. Motor skills &amp; focus are sharpened,&#8221; tweeted another. 
During his press conference on Tuesday, President Trump promised that Iran would never have nuclear weapons so long as he remains commander-in-chief.
“As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I am pleased to inform you, the American people should be extremely grateful and happy: No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.”

US-IRAN-POLITICS-TRUMP

Critics Say ‘Trump Is On Drugs’ For Mispronouncing One Word, Sniffing During Widely Praised Press Conference

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The killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq at the hands of an American drone has stirred up a partisan hornet’s nest. Republicans overwhelmingly approve of the killing of the individual responsible for the recent <a href="https://time.com/5757228/us-iran-events-timeline/">attack on the U.S. embassy in Iraq</a>. Democrats, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly focused on the risks of “escalation” with Iran.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading Democrat for his party’s 2020 presidential nomination, acknowledged blood on Soleimani’s hands, but the main thrust of his <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1212954848666234880">statement</a> concerns the risk of escalation: &#8220;President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox, and he owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and a plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests.&#8221; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), another 2020 presidential candidate, <a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1212951889060470788">called</a> the move “reckless” and feared it would “lead to a new Middle East conflict.” Similar sentiments were <a href="https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-us-strike-that-killed-iranian-gen-soleimani">offered</a> by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorShaheen/status/1212949251514388481">as well as</a> Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), <a href="https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/mobile/newsreleases?ID=4A1363EF-535C-42C9-8438-2A4F2F3988FA">Patty Murray</a> (D-WA), and many others.
Some went further. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made no condemnation of Soleimani’s actions, instead <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1212959357425651713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1212959357425651713&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Flawmakers-react-after-us-strike-kills-iranian-military-leader-933470%2F">decrying</a> President Trump for putting us on a path to “endless war.” Senator Warren later suggested that killing Soleimani was <a href="https://www.axios.com/warren-trump-soleimani-killing-impeachment-e548dbfe-f0a3-488d-8ab6-3303c61fb7e1.html">motivated</a> by a desire to distract from impeachment. The usually hawkish Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, <a href="https://twitter.com/RepEliotEngel/status/1213625152937680896">said</a> he would do everything he could to prevent war with Iran — suggesting the killing of Soleimani, rather than Iran’s numerous attacks on the U.S., would be responsible for any such war. Legislation to tie the administration’s hands has <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/04/qasem-soleimani-bernie-sanders-khanna-bill-would-limit-iran-action/2812727001/">already been</a> introduced.
Republicans, on the other hand, were having none of it. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) <a href="https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DE21FF49-EBEB-4694-8E94-AEE3AE29083D">accused</a> fellow Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who largely <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1212913952436445185">echoed</a> the party line, of “<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSasse/status/1212938721387057153">drunk partisanship</a>.” Sasse <a href="https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DE21FF49-EBEB-4694-8E94-AEE3AE29083D">declared</a> that “General Soleimani is dead because he was an evil bastard who murdered Americans.” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) put it most <a href="https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D2E041A4-B231-4743-A4EA-879A9F8EEB01">starkly</a>: “For too long, this evil man operated without constraint, and countless innocents have suffered for it. Now his terrorist leadership has been ended.”
In short, to paraphrase a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK0_Ob9qCI0">popular film</a>, most Democrats are critical of the Trump administration risking “open war,&#8221; while Republicans insist that “open war” is already upon us.
The Republicans have the better argument. There has been a steady escalation of tensions in recent months — by Iran, not the U.S. In addition to the previously mentioned attack on the American embassy in Iraq, which was not a “protest,” but an attack perpetrated by Kataib Hezbollah, one of <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-01-03/kataib-hezbollah-attacked-us-embassy-baghdad-who-are-they">Soleimani&#8217;s most loyal terrorist proxy militias</a> in Iraq, Soleimani was responsible for repeated escalation.
Republicans have eagerly pointed this out. Sen. James Risch (R-ID), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Soleimani had been actively involved in an attack that <a href="https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=B77D9F0A-D077-437B-B66C-7E3198C60A92">killed</a> an American contractor and wounded four American troops just days before the embassy attack. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) pointed out that there had been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/qassem-soleimani-iran-marco-rubio-transcript-on-face-the-nation-january-5-2019/">over 10 rocket attacks</a> against Americans since October. Moreover, Iran’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/15/middleeast/saudi-oil-attack-lister-analysis-intl/index.html">attack</a> on Saudi oil fields, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9550516/royal-navy-captains-frantic-call-urging-brit-tanker-ignore-iran-threats-change-course/">attack</a> on a British ship in the Persian Gulf, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/iran-us-drone-shot-down-latest-intl/index.html">downing</a> of a U.S. drone are all part of Iran’s provocations. These events were seen as escalations by both sides of the isle.
All this is not even considering that, according to the State Department, Iran, and thus Soleimani, its chief unconventional warfare strategist, is <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/iran-responsible-for-deaths-of-more-than-600-american-troops-in-iraq">responsible</a> for the deaths of over 600 American soldiers in previous years — nor is it even considering Soleimani’s <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/qasem-soleimani-s-disastrous-syria-legacy-lives-on-32762">boundless support</a> for Bashar al-Assad in Syria vis-à-vis proxy groups. Nor, still, is it considering Soleimani’s part in Iran’s support of the <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-houthis-protest-killing-of-iranian-iraqi-chiefs/1694428">radical Houthi </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-blast-yemen/yemen-government-backs-soleimanis-killing-minister-idUSKBN1Z2209">movement </a>in Yemen, resulting in one of the bloodiest civil wars in recent history. The list goes on.
Unlike the killing of Osama bin Laden or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the killing of Soleimani presents significant risk. Soleimani was at the height of his power, and while the Quds Force he oversaw is indisputably a terrorist organization, it is also a branch of a state actor. This creates a more complicated, and dangerous, situation.
However, the focus on U.S. “escalation,” ignoring recent history, is a potentially catastrophic mistake. The word “appeasement” is overused, but no other word accurately describes the position of most Democratic politicians, who are ignoring the pattern of increasingly bellicose Iranian behavior. As Garry Kasparov recently said, appeasement kills <a href="https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1213576615780847617">because</a> it “raises the stakes, postpones the inevitable, and encourages aggressors to assume they can act with impunity.”
Moreover, Democratic worries about endless escalation seem unwarranted. Iran’s recent “retaliation,” launching missiles that resulted in <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2020/01/08/no-us-casualties-in-iran-missile-strike-preliminary-reports-say/">zero U.S. or Iraqi casualties</a> and even giving the Iraqi government <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-fires-missiles-at-military-bases-iraq-used-by-us-coalition-troops-today-live-updates-2020-01-08/">advance notice</a>, seems aimed at face-saving more than a desire to escalate further.
The temptation to take a partisan stance on such a major issue, during an election year, may be almost irresistible. But that doesn’t make it right. Leader McConnell was indignant, asking in a <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/01/06/mcconnell_on_impeachment_and_iran_senate_must_put_national_interest_ahead_of_factionalism.html">rousing speech</a>, “Can we not maintain a shred, just a shred, of national unity for five minutes … before deepening the partisan trenches?” As former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-and-iran-11578262553?redirect=amp&amp;fbclid=IwAR3TRr4mMZTInU3PDRqBpPOWlpuyf9RwYvVbesc3vmBUasQ7aeZykIo1lWs#click=https://t.co/PBOkugbjBe">recently wrote</a>, “In their uniformly skeptical or negative reactions to Soleimani’s death, Democrats are … creating the risk that the U.S. will be seen as acting and speaking with less authority abroad at this important time.”
The late Sen. Arthur Vandenberg’s (R-MI) maxim that “politics stops at the water’s edge” has always been more aspirational than real. But in preaching what amounts to appeasement, Democrats are endangering the country.
&nbsp;
Cliff Smith (<a href="https://twitter.com/cliffsmithzbrdz?lang=en">@CliffSmithZBRDZ</a>) is Washington Project Director for the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/">Middle East Forum</a>.

Neville Chamberlain

SMITH: Republicans, Democrats And The Killing Of Soleimani: Is Appeasement Back In Style?

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