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Today's News (2020/1/6)
Jan. 6th, 2020 08:32 pmThe thing that bugs me with Bolton suddenly being willing to comply with subpoenas - and it really bugs me here - is that it comes now. Right after Trump starts all this shit with Iran.
The - AND I STRESS THIS - **COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMOUR** going around a few days ago was that Trump was buying Bolton's silence with bombs in Iran.
But now I'm sitting here wondering if it's not so much buying his silence...
...as it's Trump buying Bolton's perjury before Congress.
I have no evidence for this. None. Stress that: none.
Except every other fucking thing this administration and party have done. Except for that.
And I just keep catching that whiff of spoiled bait, and rotten deals going down.
Consider it. These guys will perjure themselves in a hot minute for the right war. And maybe that's what Trump just bought.
Now, the rest of Today's News.
-----
Senate Republican eyes rule change to kick start Trump impeachment trial
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment/senate-republican-eyes-rule-change-to-kick-start-trump-impeachment-trial-idUSKBN1Z40LO
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Sunday he wants the Senate to launch an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump within days and wrap it up this month, even if it means changing Senate rules.
-----
Reza Marashi - twitter.com/rezamarashi
[Reza Marashi is former state department, current research director at the National Iranian American Council. From their bio of him: "Reza Marashi joined NIAC in 2010 as the organization’s first Research Director. He came to NIAC after four years in the Office of Iranian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to his tenure at the State Department, he was an analyst at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) covering China-Middle East issues, and a Tehran-based private strategic consultant on Iranian political and economic risk. Marashi is frequently consulted by Western governments on Iran-related matters. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and The National Interest, among other publications. He has been a guest contributor to CNN, NPR, the BBC, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Financial Times, among other broadcast outlets."]
https://twitter.com/rezamarashi/status/1214031169173348352
THREAD: Over the past few days, I've spoken extensively with career U.S. government officials as they've worked around the clock to try and mitigate the damage from Trump's ineptitude on Iran. With their permission, I'm sharing a small taste from our lengthy conversations. Enjoy.
-----
An Extraordinarily Dangerous Moment
To keep his promise to kill an achievement of Obama’s, Trump has been willing to break his promise to get us out of wars in the Middle East.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/trump-has-produced-extraordinarily-dangerous-moment/604456/
On a November night in 2013, Barack Obama delivered a statement about an interim nuclear deal that had just been reached, freezing Iran’s program in place. When he was done, I walked with him back to the entrance of his residence, watched by the stoic portraits of former presidents. “Congratulations,” I said. “You just made sure that we won’t have a war with Iran during your presidency.”
“That’s probably true,” he said, considering the question. “But I want to make sure that the next president doesn’t have to go to war either.”
...
As soon as he began his run for the presidency, Donald Trump anointed himself the most strident of the JCPOA’s opponents, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.” It is likely, of course, that Trump couldn’t even describe the Iran deal’s terms. He failed to articulate a different set of nuclear restrictions, or to offer his views on the nature of centrifuges that Iran should be allowed to operate, or the research and development it should be permitted to perform. Trump simply wanted to destroy anything that Obama built and to satiate right-wing supporters who had their own reasons for opposing the JCPOA. What Trump could do is lie about the Iran deal, and he did so relentlessly.
Upon becoming president, Trump encountered an inconvenient truth: The Iran deal was working. Trump’s own intelligence community and military leadership confirmed that Iran was complying with the JCPOA’s terms; his own secretary of defense argued publicly that staying in the JCPOA was in America’s interest; and all the other parties to the deal—the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China—opposed Trump’s instinct to pull out. After Trump refused to certify that Iran was complying with the JCPOA (even though it was), even Republicans in Congress quietly refused to reimpose sanctions. And after Trump demanded a better deal, French President Emmanuel Macron offered him the opportunity to pursue one through negotiation, provided that the JCPOA stayed in place. Despite all this evidence and all these efforts, Trump withdrew from the Iran deal in May of 2018 and started reimposing sanctions.
-----
Pentagon chief of staff Kevin Sweeney resigns
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/06/politics/kevin-sweeney-resigns/index.html
A knowledgeable source told CNN's Jake Tapper that the White House forced Sweeney out. The source did not provide further information about the reason.
-----
THIS STORY WAS ACCURATE BUT THE PULLOUT IS NOT HAPPENING (YET):
keeping it in because the letter is "genuine" but sent by "mistake" (and as it's genuine may be worth reading)
source for update: https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1214298729861267457
US-led coalition tells Iraq it's preparing to 'move out': reports
In a letter, US-led coalition reportedly said it will reposition 'forces over the course of the coming days and weeks'.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/military-tells-iraq-preparing-move-200106195552545.html
The US-led coalition has informed the Iraqi military that it was preparing for "movement out of Iraq", AFP and Reuters news agencies reported.
The report comes a day after the Iraqi parliament urged the government to oust foreign troops following the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
The head of the US military's Task Force Iraq, Brigadier General William Seely, sent a letter to the head of Iraq's joint operations command, AFP reported.
The letter said troops would "be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement."
The letter reportedly added: "We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure."
-----
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweets a faked picture of former President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shaking hands. Even as shitty Photoshop hack jobs go, this is a shitty Photoshop hack job, and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is a filthy liar.
(Look at the hands. I mean, come the fuck on.)
https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1214276066086395906
-----
ICE Detention Center Captain Was on a Neo-Nazi Website and Wanted to Start a White Nationalist Group
“Deep down, no one really gives a shit about racism,” Travis Frey, who was then a senior employee at an Indianapolis jail, wrote on Iron March.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mg9x/ice-detention-center-captain-was-on-a-neo-nazi-website-and-wanted-to-start-a-white-nationalist-group
-----
It's a fucking cult. It's just a fucking cult. To wit:
Jim Bakker declares that supporting Trump "is a test [of] whether you are even saved."
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1214246794005221378
The - AND I STRESS THIS - **COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMOUR** going around a few days ago was that Trump was buying Bolton's silence with bombs in Iran.
But now I'm sitting here wondering if it's not so much buying his silence...
...as it's Trump buying Bolton's perjury before Congress.
I have no evidence for this. None. Stress that: none.
Except every other fucking thing this administration and party have done. Except for that.
And I just keep catching that whiff of spoiled bait, and rotten deals going down.
Consider it. These guys will perjure themselves in a hot minute for the right war. And maybe that's what Trump just bought.
Now, the rest of Today's News.
-----
Senate Republican eyes rule change to kick start Trump impeachment trial
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment/senate-republican-eyes-rule-change-to-kick-start-trump-impeachment-trial-idUSKBN1Z40LO
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Sunday he wants the Senate to launch an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump within days and wrap it up this month, even if it means changing Senate rules.
-----
Reza Marashi - twitter.com/rezamarashi
[Reza Marashi is former state department, current research director at the National Iranian American Council. From their bio of him: "Reza Marashi joined NIAC in 2010 as the organization’s first Research Director. He came to NIAC after four years in the Office of Iranian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to his tenure at the State Department, he was an analyst at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) covering China-Middle East issues, and a Tehran-based private strategic consultant on Iranian political and economic risk. Marashi is frequently consulted by Western governments on Iran-related matters. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and The National Interest, among other publications. He has been a guest contributor to CNN, NPR, the BBC, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Financial Times, among other broadcast outlets."]
https://twitter.com/rezamarashi/status/1214031169173348352
THREAD: Over the past few days, I've spoken extensively with career U.S. government officials as they've worked around the clock to try and mitigate the damage from Trump's ineptitude on Iran. With their permission, I'm sharing a small taste from our lengthy conversations. Enjoy.
-----
An Extraordinarily Dangerous Moment
To keep his promise to kill an achievement of Obama’s, Trump has been willing to break his promise to get us out of wars in the Middle East.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/trump-has-produced-extraordinarily-dangerous-moment/604456/
On a November night in 2013, Barack Obama delivered a statement about an interim nuclear deal that had just been reached, freezing Iran’s program in place. When he was done, I walked with him back to the entrance of his residence, watched by the stoic portraits of former presidents. “Congratulations,” I said. “You just made sure that we won’t have a war with Iran during your presidency.”
“That’s probably true,” he said, considering the question. “But I want to make sure that the next president doesn’t have to go to war either.”
...
As soon as he began his run for the presidency, Donald Trump anointed himself the most strident of the JCPOA’s opponents, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.” It is likely, of course, that Trump couldn’t even describe the Iran deal’s terms. He failed to articulate a different set of nuclear restrictions, or to offer his views on the nature of centrifuges that Iran should be allowed to operate, or the research and development it should be permitted to perform. Trump simply wanted to destroy anything that Obama built and to satiate right-wing supporters who had their own reasons for opposing the JCPOA. What Trump could do is lie about the Iran deal, and he did so relentlessly.
Upon becoming president, Trump encountered an inconvenient truth: The Iran deal was working. Trump’s own intelligence community and military leadership confirmed that Iran was complying with the JCPOA’s terms; his own secretary of defense argued publicly that staying in the JCPOA was in America’s interest; and all the other parties to the deal—the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China—opposed Trump’s instinct to pull out. After Trump refused to certify that Iran was complying with the JCPOA (even though it was), even Republicans in Congress quietly refused to reimpose sanctions. And after Trump demanded a better deal, French President Emmanuel Macron offered him the opportunity to pursue one through negotiation, provided that the JCPOA stayed in place. Despite all this evidence and all these efforts, Trump withdrew from the Iran deal in May of 2018 and started reimposing sanctions.
-----
Pentagon chief of staff Kevin Sweeney resigns
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/06/politics/kevin-sweeney-resigns/index.html
A knowledgeable source told CNN's Jake Tapper that the White House forced Sweeney out. The source did not provide further information about the reason.
-----
THIS STORY WAS ACCURATE BUT THE PULLOUT IS NOT HAPPENING (YET):
keeping it in because the letter is "genuine" but sent by "mistake" (and as it's genuine may be worth reading)
source for update: https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1214298729861267457
US-led coalition tells Iraq it's preparing to 'move out': reports
In a letter, US-led coalition reportedly said it will reposition 'forces over the course of the coming days and weeks'.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/military-tells-iraq-preparing-move-200106195552545.html
The US-led coalition has informed the Iraqi military that it was preparing for "movement out of Iraq", AFP and Reuters news agencies reported.
The report comes a day after the Iraqi parliament urged the government to oust foreign troops following the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
The head of the US military's Task Force Iraq, Brigadier General William Seely, sent a letter to the head of Iraq's joint operations command, AFP reported.
The letter said troops would "be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement."
The letter reportedly added: "We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure."
-----
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweets a faked picture of former President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shaking hands. Even as shitty Photoshop hack jobs go, this is a shitty Photoshop hack job, and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is a filthy liar.
(Look at the hands. I mean, come the fuck on.)
https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1214276066086395906
-----
ICE Detention Center Captain Was on a Neo-Nazi Website and Wanted to Start a White Nationalist Group
“Deep down, no one really gives a shit about racism,” Travis Frey, who was then a senior employee at an Indianapolis jail, wrote on Iron March.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mg9x/ice-detention-center-captain-was-on-a-neo-nazi-website-and-wanted-to-start-a-white-nationalist-group
-----
It's a fucking cult. It's just a fucking cult. To wit:
Jim Bakker declares that supporting Trump "is a test [of] whether you are even saved."
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1214246794005221378
