Day: December 12, 2019

Saudis Love Americans!

Closing thought–12Dec19

That is the BS that our president is passing off as fact after the deadly shooting by a Saudi national at a Navy Base in Pensacola…..contrary to popular belief…..

First of all when did the president of the United States and the SecState become the PR people for the KSA?

Next…do the Saudis truly love us Americans?

When I visited KSA back in the 1980’s when I worked for the government I did not feel this love that Trump seems to think exists…..and I am not alone…..

Soon after the shooting of American citizens at the Pensacola Naval Air Station last Friday (December 6) by a Saudi national who was in the US for flight training, President Trump, speaking from the White House, read a statement from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman. President Trump let us know “the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter.” He then reassured us, “this person [the perpetrator] in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people.”

As an American who has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East on a full-time basis for over ten years, I was astonished by this obviously untruthful and deceiving statement that President Trump was parroting on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Lest we forget, 15 of the 19 hijackers who committed the 9/11 terror attacks – and their leader Osama bin Laden – were Saudi nationals. Moreover, anti-American Saudi nationals killed twenty US soldiers and injured 500 more in a car bombing attack on Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in June 1996. I guess the Saudi nationals who perpetrated these attacks (among others I could cite) also were “in no way, shape or form [representative] of the feelings of the Saudi people” and thus these attacks also should be excused.

Do Saudi Arabs Really Love Americans?

How true is this today?

Well let the king and his lackeys go before the American people and make their apologies….and the president and SecState needs to STOP acting as the PR firm for the barbarous royals of KSA.

P.S.  If you are into conspiracy theories then this report may be of interest about the shooter and the Saudis……

Saudi Military Base Shooter and the Unexplained 9/11 Connection

Finally the Pentagon has decided to act in a way that is good and right….we will see how long the President allows this halt in training lasts…

The Pentagon on Tuesday ordered a broad review of vetting procedures for international students who participate in training on US military installations and demanded the process be strengthened, in direct reaction to last week’s deadly shooting at a Pensacola Navy base by a Saudi aviation student. The memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist also suspends flight and other operational training for all Saudi Arabian students in US military programs, the AP reports. It follows a decision by the US Navy to halt flight training for more than 300 Saudi Arabian students at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and two other bases in Florida. The FBI confirmed Tuesday that the 21-year-old Saudi Air Force officer who killed three US sailors and injured eight other people at the Pensacola base on Friday legally bought the 9mm Glock pistol he used. Investigators are digging into whether 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani acted alone, amid reports he hosted a party earlier last week where he and others watched videos of mass shootings.

The incident has raised questions about how well international military students are screened before they attend training at American bases. Norquist’s memo says the review of the vetting must be completed in 10 days, and the flight restrictions will continue throughout the review and until they are lifted by senior leaders. US officials said the flight restrictions were not triggered because there are indications of any broader problems or conspiracy fears related to Saudi students or the shooting. They said it was more because the shooting suggested some possible vetting problems associated with Saudi Arabia that will be reviewed. Norquist said the US is working closely with Saudi officials in the response to the shooting. The Pentagon has said that about 850 Saudi students are currently in US military training programs. US officials told reporters on Tuesday that they aren’t sure how many of those would see some type of flight or other restriction, but many will.

Read On!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Biden: One Term Is Enough

Contrary to popular belief this is not some anti-Trump rant but rather something that candidate Biden alluded to in a campaign stop……

Joe Biden badly wants to be president, but apparently not for eight years. The 77-year-old former vice president has indicated to aides that he would serve only a single term if elected president next fall, Politico reports. “He’s going to be 82 years old in four years and he won’t be running for reelection,” one campaign adviser tells the outlet, adding a public admission of this fact could paint Biden as “a good transition figure” and soothe younger voters worried that an eight-year Biden presidency would fail to usher in the sort of change they believe is needed.

Biden is keeping relatively quiet, however, as other advisers fear a claim to a one-term presidency would lessen his influence. He also doesn’t want to make a promise he can’t keep. “He’s going into this thinking, ‘I want to find a running mate I can turn things over to after four years but if that’s not possible or doesn’t happen then I’ll run for re-election,'” another adviser tells Politico.

Almost instantly the campaign had a cow….and Biden had to start what he does best'”back peddling”……

Joe Biden is pushing back against claims that he is considering a pledge to only serve one term. Biden, who recently turned 77, would become the oldest president in US history if he is elected next year—and if he won a second term, he would be 87 by the time he left office. “I don’t have plans on one term. I’m not even there yet,” the candidate told reporters in Nevada Tuesday. Deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield tweeted: “Lots of chatter out there on this so just want to be crystal clear: this is not a conversation our campaign is having and not something VP Biden is thinking about.”

Politico, citing anonymous sources in the Biden campaign, reported Tuesday that it was “virtually inconceivable” that he would seek a second term in 2024. But “this is not a conversation we are having among people who actually are running the campaign,” campaign manager Greg Schultz said Tuesday, per NBC. The BBC reports that only three presidents have made one-term pledges. James Polk and Rutherford Hayes kept theirs and declined to run for re-election. William Henry Harrison, who, at 68 years old, was the oldest president in US history when he was inaugurated in 1841, died after just 30 days in office.

I guess that was just a Biden misspeak……something that ism used to explain Biden gaffs almost daily.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

We (Dems) Need To Be Real

2020 we see a rise in progressive ideas….ideas that would benefit all of society….but voters who support these policies need to a grip.

We (Dems) are taking on the ruling class so we can have:

Medicare for All……https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/medicare-for-all-2019-summary

Green New Deal…….https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-116hres109ih.pdf

Free College and No Student Debt……https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/23/18714615/bernie-sanders-free-college-for-all-2020-student-loan-debt

Trump Between War And Money

I have stated on several occasions that I support our president in his effort to try and end our endless wars….he has shown some brilliant policies only to be stomped on by the MSM, Neocons and the donors….

And then I have been disappointed in his policies shortly after the groundbreaking decisions…..

What seems to be the malfunction?

President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to withdraw the United States from its ongoing wars in the Middle East, and avoid the kind of military adventurism, like the Iraq war, that has destabilized the region. Trump’s track record, however, is largely detached from his promises — a disconnect perhaps at least partially explained by his largest campaign contributors’ consistent advocacy for U.S. military action in the Middle East and support for starting a preventive war with Iran.

Trump appears to understand that the American public is largely supportive of ending the endless wars in Afghanistan and the greater Middle East. “Great nations do not fight endless wars,” said Trump in his 2019 State of the Union Address to bipartisan applause. But Trump’s actions haven’t lined up with his words. Despite his reckless Syria withdrawal announcement and blessing a Turkish invasion into northern Syria, total U.S. troop levels there are expected to remain at around 900, a small reduction from the 1,000 soldiers in Syria at the time of Trump’s announcement. Meanwhile, despite Trump’s repeated claims that he’ll end the war in Afghanistan, U.S. troops will stay there “for several more years,” as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said last month.

Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and a mission creep in Syria that’s expanded stated U.S. goals from containing ISIS to an “effort to push back against Iran,” according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are also a far cry from moving away from Middle East military adventurism, as Trump has always said he wants to do. 

Trump Stuck Between Ending Endless Wars and his Hawkish Megadonors

For someone who pretends to be so independent and tough he submits to the donors so easily…..

If only he would pick a policy and stick with it then he might have more support from people like me.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

More Afghanistan

A few months ago the peace talks between the US and the Taleban came to an end when the president called off the meetings…..then the “Afghanistan Papers” dropped and peed all over our whole narrative about the war…..and then our special envoy has pushed for a renewal of the talks….

US peace talks with the Afghan Taliban were going on in some shape or form secretly in recent weeks, but now that President Trump has publicly confirmed them, more specific details are being offered.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the negotiator of the near-finished first peace process, is looking to accelerate things this time, stopping off in Kabul on Wednesday to meet with Afghan officials about the process on his way to Doha, where he will meet with the Taliban.

The Doha visit marks what US officials are terming the formal resumption of the Afghan peace talks, despite them having resumed awhile ago. The Taliban have expressed an expectation that the talks simply build off what was already agreed upon in September, when President Trump declared the process “dead,” and since Khalilzad is running talks past and present, it’s likely he’ll want to avoid a lot of reinventing the wheel after months of very productive talks.

President Trump has set up the expectation that the new talks would involve a ceasefire, and that’s also something Afghan officials are pushing for. US negotiators have previously warned a ceasefire right away might not be attainable, though Khalilzad likely will be obliged to bring that up, given the number of times it has been reported in the past week.

(antiwar.com)

As usual while we are seeking a peaceful resolution of our time in Afghanistan the Taleban keeps on keeping on…..

A powerful suicide bombing targeted an under-construction medical facility near Bagram airbase north of the capital Kabul, the US military has said.

While there were no US or coalition casualties, a medical base being built for locals was badly damaged, Resolute Support, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The US airbase remains secure, the statement said.

(AJE)

And their violence is not limited to the US troops and bases…..

The Taliban abducted as many as 45 elderly family members of a late Afghan government employee who were attending his funeral, officials said Tuesday.

The Taliban singled out the old men from a funeral procession carrying the deceased employee’s coffin to a graveyard, according to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. The young men in the group were not taken, he said.

The Taliban have consistently warned people not to attend the funerals of anyone working with the Kabul government, according to Payghambarpul Khuram, the head of intelligence in Jawzjan province, where the kidnappings took place.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-abduct-45-people-govt-134943143.html

While we talk the violence continues….while the violence continues then our troops are in danger…..

I am all for diplomacy…..but it needs to be within some sort of framework and so far I have not seen any framework only to talk and continue as always…..

“Lego Ergo Scribo”