oh wow.....Insiders state that for almost 90 minutes following announcement of Mueller, little donnie kept staffers trapped in the Oval Office where he screamed at them non-stop.
By 10pm he had retired to his private quarters where - in spite of thickly insulated walls - security could still hear him raging, although there was absolutely no one in there with him
By 10pm he had retired to his private quarters where - in spite of thickly insulated walls - security could still hear him raging, although there was absolutely no one in there with him
markets are worried Democratic policies stay in place longer
it's a message beyond the comprehension of democrats, snowflakes and rioters, most who think a market is where you score some crack
they be like, the market not be down, I just went there and used up my EBT card
First story I have seen in which WH Counsel attorneys (or those close to them) seek to deflect blame to client.
White House Lawyers Warned Trump: Stay Away From Michael Flynnthedailybeast.com
"If Trump spoke directly with Flynn amid ongoing investigations, it could be portrayed as witness tampering"
White House Lawyers Warned Trump: Stay Away From Michael Flynnthedailybeast.com
"If Trump spoke directly with Flynn amid ongoing investigations, it could be portrayed as witness tampering"
If you thought you couldn't keep up with the Trump-related news over the last week, just consider all of these new developments in the last 12-14 hours:
FYI, before Willie gets his panties in a wad, I think it's pretty obvious that McCarthy was joking...but that there was this vague belief he and/or his campaign was connected to Russia
- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed a special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller III, to oversee the investigation into Russia' interference in the 2016 election, per NBC's Pete Williams and Ken Dilanian.
- Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the probe that Mueller will lead, NBC's Tom Winter and Ken Dilanian write.
- Flynn told Trump's transition, on Jan. 4 (so before the inauguration), that he was under investigation for working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey -- before being tapped as Trump's national security adviser, according to the New York Times.
- As Trump's national security adviser, Flynn rejected -- 10 days before Trump took office -- an Obama administration plan to fight ISIS that Turkey opposed, per McClatchy.
- Reuters reports that Flynn and other Trump campaign advisers were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls or emails during the last seven months of the 2016 campaign.
- And the No. 2 House Republican, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), said this in June 2016: "There's two people I think Putin pays: [Rep. Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump," according to a recording the Washington Post obtained. (McCarthy has said he was joking.)....
FYI, before Willie gets his panties in a wad, I think it's pretty obvious that McCarthy was joking...but that there was this vague belief he and/or his campaign was connected to Russia
LOL! Next he'll get Flynn's brother to come over from Sicily and sit silently near him
Exclusive: Trump sends private message to embattled Flynn: "Stay strong"
As investigators circled Flynn, he got a message from Trump: Stay strongyahoo.com
“I just got a message from the president to stay strong,” Flynn said after the meal was over, according to two sources who are close to Flynn and are familiar with the conversation, which took place on April 25.
The sources who spoke to Yahoo News say Flynn did not indicate how Trump had sent the message —whether it was a written note, a text message, a phone call or some other method. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) But the fact that the two men have stayed in contact could raise additional questions about the president’s reported request to now former FBI Director James Comey to shut down a federal investigation of the retired Army general.
3hJosh Barro
@jbarro
[h=1]Pence has formed a campaign committee that will allow him to develop his own donor lists... highly unusual for a VP... hmmm... [/h]Carl Quintanilla
@carlquintanilla"This is the first time a sitting vice president has formed such a separate political arm .."
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/amp/pence-creates-pac-ahead-2018-2020-elections-n761436
@jbarro
[h=1]Pence has formed a campaign committee that will allow him to develop his own donor lists... highly unusual for a VP... hmmm... [/h]Carl Quintanilla
@carlquintanilla"This is the first time a sitting vice president has formed such a separate political arm .."
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/amp/pence-creates-pac-ahead-2018-2020-elections-n761436
Mueller as special prosecutor.......HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Total and complete joke, you think this guy is trustworthy and honest? He is part of the establishment/deep state.
You think he's going to throw his buddy Comey under the bus. LOL right.....
With all the money that will be spent on this endeavor can anyone say with a straight face that it will be on the up and up?
Looks like the establishment/deep state/media are doing everything they can to oust Trump or make him a lame duck for his term
Seems there is a coup going on behind the scenes. Mike Pence is more than likely helping implode form the inside the White House.
Total and complete joke, you think this guy is trustworthy and honest? He is part of the establishment/deep state.
You think he's going to throw his buddy Comey under the bus. LOL right.....
With all the money that will be spent on this endeavor can anyone say with a straight face that it will be on the up and up?
Looks like the establishment/deep state/media are doing everything they can to oust Trump or make him a lame duck for his term
Seems there is a coup going on behind the scenes. Mike Pence is more than likely helping implode form the inside the White House.
45mAdam Schiff
@RepAdamSchiff
[h=1]Just announced: Former CIA Director Brennan will testify in open session before House Intel Committee next Tuesday as part of Russia probe. [/h]
Maggie Haberman Retweeted
58mJames Cook
@BBCJamesCook
[h=1]Former CIA director Leon Panetta tells the BBC that President Trump's handling of intelligence is "irresponsible".[/h]
58mJames Cook
@BBCJamesCook
[h=1]Former CIA director Leon Panetta tells the BBC that President Trump's handling of intelligence is "irresponsible".[/h]
ok, maybe he does have some type of mental illness...not making fun
Noah Shachtman
@NoahShachtman
NEW: Trump is telling aides he wants Flynn *back in the White House.*
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...ump-talked-michael-flynn-into-white-house-job
Noah Shachtman
@NoahShachtman
NEW: Trump is telling aides he wants Flynn *back in the White House.*
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...ump-talked-michael-flynn-into-white-house-job
Donald Trump Talked Michael Flynn Into White House Job
LACHLAN MARKAY
ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
KIMBERLY DOZIER
JANA WINTER
05.18.17 3:06 PM ET
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
President Donald Trump pressured a “reluctant” Michael Flynn into accepting a job as the White House’s top national security official even after Flynn warned the president that he was under investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, The Daily Beast has learned.
Now, both men are paying a huge price for it.
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
“But Trump insisted on it,” said historian Ledeen, co-author of Flynn’s 2016 book The Field of Fight, their manifesto for defeating Islamic militancy. “He likes him, he trusted him, he was comfortable with him,” he said.
Flynn was “reluctant but honored” when offered the post, according to a senior Trump administration official, and only accepted it at the president’s urging.
A third source with direct knowledge of Trump transition teamdiscussions confirmed that Flynn did not want the National Security Adviser post, though he claimed Flynn was instead hoping for a position in the intelligence community, preferably Director of National Intelligence or the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump’s pressuring of Flynn to take the job came even though Flynn had informed the Trump transition team that he was under active FBI investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a Dutch company—lobbying that, Flynn now admits, may have advanced the interests of the Turkish government.
The president's continued loyalty to his ousted former aide is so strong, in fact, that the two have remained in touch despite the potential that their communication could be portrayed as White House interference in a federal investigation.
Trump’s affinity for Flynn apparently led the president to urge former FBI director James Comey, before his firing last week, to drop or ease a federal investigation of Flynn, according to Comey’s written accountof a meeting with the president.
Trump Wants Flynn Back
But Trump doesn’t just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell The Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBI’s investigation in Flynn’s favor might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity—a scenario some of Trump’s closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.
Those sources said Trump didn’t believe Flynn should be under investigation in the first place.
“Trump feels really, really, really, bad about firing him, and he genuinely thinks if the investigation is over Flynn can come back,” said one White House official.
One former FBI official and a second government official said Trump thought he owed Flynn for how things ended up and was determined to clear Flynn’s name and bring him back to the White House.
All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity so as to speak freely on sensitive matters.
After less than a month on the job, Flynn resigned when it was revealed that he had failed to disclose conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington regarding U.S. sanctions against the country. Those conversations could feature prominently in ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Those investigations were why Trump’s White House attorneys warned him repeatedly against communicating with Flynn after his firing, as The Daily Beast reported last week.
Apparently, the president didn’t listen to his own lawyers.
SUBSCRIBE
The two have stayed in touch, according to a Yahoo News reportThursday,confirmed by multiple White House and administration sources.
One person close to Flynn say he has kept up lines of communication since offering his resignation to “protect the president” from the growing controversy involving the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian government interests.
A longtime Trump confidant also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump had mentioned to him that he had communicated with Lt. Gen. Flynn in the past few weeks—long after Flynn had been given the boot from the Trump administration.
A White House staffer recalled hearing of Trump’s conversations with Flynn since his firing in February, though it was not clear what they discussed. “Supposedly they’ve spoken since Flynn was fired,” the staffer said. The president “clearly feels bad about how things went down.”
News that they remained in touch flatly contradicts repeated and adamant White House denials last week that Trump and his former National Security Adviser had been communicating since Flynn’s ouster. Multiple White House officials claimed to The Daily Beast that no such communication had occurred due to the intervention of White House attorneys.
The White House did not respond to questions on Thursday attempting to square that discrepancy. Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Trump’s plea for the FBI to step back from its probe of Flynn set off allegations by congressional Democrats of potential obstruction of justice. Revelations that Trump has been in contact with Flynn—and openly mused about a new job for him—could add more heft to those allegations.
“The last thing [the White House] would want is an allegation of conspiracy, witness tampering or coordination,” national security attorney Mark Zaid told The Daily Beast last week. “If Flynn is going to be indicted, or certainly under investigation, then I would want the president to be as far away from him as possible.”
Such conversations would create “huge issues,” according to Zaid’s law partner, Brad Moss. “Talking with witnesses got Nixon in trouble.”
LACHLAN MARKAY
ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
KIMBERLY DOZIER
JANA WINTER
05.18.17 3:06 PM ET
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
President Donald Trump pressured a “reluctant” Michael Flynn into accepting a job as the White House’s top national security official even after Flynn warned the president that he was under investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, The Daily Beast has learned.
Now, both men are paying a huge price for it.
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
“But Trump insisted on it,” said historian Ledeen, co-author of Flynn’s 2016 book The Field of Fight, their manifesto for defeating Islamic militancy. “He likes him, he trusted him, he was comfortable with him,” he said.
Flynn was “reluctant but honored” when offered the post, according to a senior Trump administration official, and only accepted it at the president’s urging.
A third source with direct knowledge of Trump transition teamdiscussions confirmed that Flynn did not want the National Security Adviser post, though he claimed Flynn was instead hoping for a position in the intelligence community, preferably Director of National Intelligence or the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump’s pressuring of Flynn to take the job came even though Flynn had informed the Trump transition team that he was under active FBI investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a Dutch company—lobbying that, Flynn now admits, may have advanced the interests of the Turkish government.
The president's continued loyalty to his ousted former aide is so strong, in fact, that the two have remained in touch despite the potential that their communication could be portrayed as White House interference in a federal investigation.
Trump’s affinity for Flynn apparently led the president to urge former FBI director James Comey, before his firing last week, to drop or ease a federal investigation of Flynn, according to Comey’s written accountof a meeting with the president.
Trump Wants Flynn Back
But Trump doesn’t just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell The Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBI’s investigation in Flynn’s favor might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity—a scenario some of Trump’s closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.
Those sources said Trump didn’t believe Flynn should be under investigation in the first place.
“Trump feels really, really, really, bad about firing him, and he genuinely thinks if the investigation is over Flynn can come back,” said one White House official.
One former FBI official and a second government official said Trump thought he owed Flynn for how things ended up and was determined to clear Flynn’s name and bring him back to the White House.
All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity so as to speak freely on sensitive matters.
After less than a month on the job, Flynn resigned when it was revealed that he had failed to disclose conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington regarding U.S. sanctions against the country. Those conversations could feature prominently in ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Those investigations were why Trump’s White House attorneys warned him repeatedly against communicating with Flynn after his firing, as The Daily Beast reported last week.
Apparently, the president didn’t listen to his own lawyers.
GET THE BEAST IN YOUR INBOX!
SUBSCRIBE
The two have stayed in touch, according to a Yahoo News reportThursday,confirmed by multiple White House and administration sources.
One person close to Flynn say he has kept up lines of communication since offering his resignation to “protect the president” from the growing controversy involving the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian government interests.
A longtime Trump confidant also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump had mentioned to him that he had communicated with Lt. Gen. Flynn in the past few weeks—long after Flynn had been given the boot from the Trump administration.
A White House staffer recalled hearing of Trump’s conversations with Flynn since his firing in February, though it was not clear what they discussed. “Supposedly they’ve spoken since Flynn was fired,” the staffer said. The president “clearly feels bad about how things went down.”
News that they remained in touch flatly contradicts repeated and adamant White House denials last week that Trump and his former National Security Adviser had been communicating since Flynn’s ouster. Multiple White House officials claimed to The Daily Beast that no such communication had occurred due to the intervention of White House attorneys.
The White House did not respond to questions on Thursday attempting to square that discrepancy. Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Trump’s plea for the FBI to step back from its probe of Flynn set off allegations by congressional Democrats of potential obstruction of justice. Revelations that Trump has been in contact with Flynn—and openly mused about a new job for him—could add more heft to those allegations.
“The last thing [the White House] would want is an allegation of conspiracy, witness tampering or coordination,” national security attorney Mark Zaid told The Daily Beast last week. “If Flynn is going to be indicted, or certainly under investigation, then I would want the president to be as far away from him as possible.”
Such conversations would create “huge issues,” according to Zaid’s law partner, Brad Moss. “Talking with witnesses got Nixon in trouble.”
Uh oh
1m
[h=1]Smells criminal, too. [/h]Jim Sciutto
@jimsciuttoMeanwhile, Rep Sen @LindseyGrahamSC says #Russia investigation now "seems to be criminal"
1m
[h=1]Smells criminal, too. [/h]Jim Sciutto
@jimsciuttoMeanwhile, Rep Sen @LindseyGrahamSC says #Russia investigation now "seems to be criminal"
0 to WTF in under 4 seconds.Donald Trump Talked Michael Flynn Into White House Job
LACHLAN MARKAY
ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
KIMBERLY DOZIER
JANA WINTER
05.18.17 3:06 PM ET
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
President Donald Trump pressured a “reluctant” Michael Flynn into accepting a job as the White House’s top national security official even after Flynn warned the president that he was under investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, The Daily Beast has learned.
Now, both men are paying a huge price for it.
“He did not want to be National Security Adviser,” Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “He didn’t want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.”
“But Trump insisted on it,” said historian Ledeen, co-author of Flynn’s 2016 book The Field of Fight, their manifesto for defeating Islamic militancy. “He likes him, he trusted him, he was comfortable with him,” he said.
Flynn was “reluctant but honored” when offered the post, according to a senior Trump administration official, and only accepted it at the president’s urging.
A third source with direct knowledge of Trump transition teamdiscussions confirmed that Flynn did not want the National Security Adviser post, though he claimed Flynn was instead hoping for a position in the intelligence community, preferably Director of National Intelligence or the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump’s pressuring of Flynn to take the job came even though Flynn had informed the Trump transition team that he was under active FBI investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a Dutch company—lobbying that, Flynn now admits, may have advanced the interests of the Turkish government.
The president's continued loyalty to his ousted former aide is so strong, in fact, that the two have remained in touch despite the potential that their communication could be portrayed as White House interference in a federal investigation.
Trump’s affinity for Flynn apparently led the president to urge former FBI director James Comey, before his firing last week, to drop or ease a federal investigation of Flynn, according to Comey’s written accountof a meeting with the president.
Trump Wants Flynn Back
But Trump doesn’t just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell The Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBI’s investigation in Flynn’s favor might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity—a scenario some of Trump’s closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.
Those sources said Trump didn’t believe Flynn should be under investigation in the first place.
“Trump feels really, really, really, bad about firing him, and he genuinely thinks if the investigation is over Flynn can come back,” said one White House official.
One former FBI official and a second government official said Trump thought he owed Flynn for how things ended up and was determined to clear Flynn’s name and bring him back to the White House.
All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity so as to speak freely on sensitive matters.
After less than a month on the job, Flynn resigned when it was revealed that he had failed to disclose conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington regarding U.S. sanctions against the country. Those conversations could feature prominently in ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Those investigations were why Trump’s White House attorneys warned him repeatedly against communicating with Flynn after his firing, as The Daily Beast reported last week.
Apparently, the president didn’t listen to his own lawyers.
GET THE BEAST IN YOUR INBOX!
SUBSCRIBE
The two have stayed in touch, according to a Yahoo News reportThursday,confirmed by multiple White House and administration sources.
One person close to Flynn say he has kept up lines of communication since offering his resignation to “protect the president” from the growing controversy involving the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian government interests.
A longtime Trump confidant also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump had mentioned to him that he had communicated with Lt. Gen. Flynn in the past few weeks—long after Flynn had been given the boot from the Trump administration.
A White House staffer recalled hearing of Trump’s conversations with Flynn since his firing in February, though it was not clear what they discussed. “Supposedly they’ve spoken since Flynn was fired,” the staffer said. The president “clearly feels bad about how things went down.”
News that they remained in touch flatly contradicts repeated and adamant White House denials last week that Trump and his former National Security Adviser had been communicating since Flynn’s ouster. Multiple White House officials claimed to The Daily Beast that no such communication had occurred due to the intervention of White House attorneys.
The White House did not respond to questions on Thursday attempting to square that discrepancy. Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Trump’s plea for the FBI to step back from its probe of Flynn set off allegations by congressional Democrats of potential obstruction of justice. Revelations that Trump has been in contact with Flynn—and openly mused about a new job for him—could add more heft to those allegations.
“The last thing [the White House] would want is an allegation of conspiracy, witness tampering or coordination,” national security attorney Mark Zaid told The Daily Beast last week. “If Flynn is going to be indicted, or certainly under investigation, then I would want the president to be as far away from him as possible.”
Such conversations would create “huge issues,” according to Zaid’s law partner, Brad Moss. “Talking with witnesses got Nixon in trouble.”
U.S. offers to share Syria intelligence on terrorists with Russia
By Karen DeYoung June 30, 2016 cheersgif
The Obama administration has offered to help Russia improve its targeting of terrorist groups in Syria if Moscow will stop bombing civilians and opposition fighters who have signed on to a cease-fire and use its influence to force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to do the same.
The offer early this week of what one administration official called “enhanced information sharing” does not include joint military planning, targeting or coordination with U.S. airstrikes or other operations in Syria.
But it would expand cooperation beyond the “deconfliction” talks the U.S. and Russian militaries began last year to ensure their planes do not run into each other in Syria’s increasingly crowded airspace.
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has long opposed any additional cooperation, said Thursday that if Russia would “do the right thing in Syria — that’s an important condition — as in all cases with Russia, we’re willing to work with them.”
“The Russians got off on the wrong foot in Syria,” Carter said. The stated purpose of airstrikes Russia began last fall was “to fight ISIL and . . . assist the political transition in Syria towards a post-Assad government.”
“They haven’t done either of those things,” he said. ISIL, along with ISIS and Daesh, is an alternative term for the Islamic State.
Senior administration officials declined to discuss details of the proposal, saying that publicizing the content of diplomatic talks would undermine their possible success.
“We’ve made no bones about the fact that if the Russians, with their military presence in Syria, proved to be willing to focus those efforts against Daesh, then that’s a conversation we would be willing to have,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
“There have been proposals offered by multiple parties,” he said. “We’re certainly not going to start laying those out publicly.”
The United States and Russia, while backing opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, co-chair an international task force that agreed early this year — along with Assad and the opposition — to support a “cessation of hostilities” and begin negotiations for a political solution that would allow the international community to turn its full attention to the fight against the Islamic State.
More than 400,000 Syrians have died in the civil war, which has also displaced half the population, with millions fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond.
The Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, are not parties to the truce. The administration has charged that Russia and Assad’s forces have violated it by continuing to launch airstrikes and other attacks on the anti-Assad opposition and civilians, under the guise of targeting the terrorist groups.
“What has prevented us from being able to more effectively coordinate militarily is that what the Russians have been militarily doing is propping up Assad and not going after ISIL,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
Russia has defended its actions, and those of Assad, by saying that U.S.-backed opposition fighters are interwoven with Jabhat al-Nusra forces, especially around the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.
While violations of the truce have escalated throughout Syria’s populated western third, Aleppo has become the epicenter of fighting. Jabhat al-Nusra forces are principally massed to the south of the city. While the administration has acknowledged some overlap in opposition-held areas to the north, officials charge that Russia’s principal interest in bombing there is to help Assad’s forces close rebel and humanitarian supply lines across the nearby Turkish border.
The advance of Islamic State fighters to areas close to Aleppo and other populated areas has also brought U.S. and Russian aircraft into closer proximity over the complicated Syrian battlefield. The Islamic State has rarely clashed with Assad.
In early May, as the cease-fire and U.N.-shepherded peace talks headed toward collapse, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to send senior military officers to “sit at the same table” in Geneva, where they set up a center to monitor violations.
Weeks later Russia — which has long sought more coordination with the West in Syria — proposed joint airstrikes against Jabhat-al-Nusra with the U.S.-led coalition that is bombing Islamic State positions.
Although U.S. officials were dismissive, the proposal unsettled U.S.-backed opposition representatives, who feared a backroom U.S.-Russia deal. They have said they will not return to the negotiating table until the violence abates.
Kerry and other U.S. officials have remained in close contact with their Russian counterparts, trying out a series of possible initiatives to revitalize the cease-fire, including the new offer of increased intelligence sharing on terrorist positions. Kerry is “fixated” on the Syria issue, “and he will stay so,” Kirby said.
Kerry has long advocated a more robust U.S. strategy to help the anti-Assad opposition, including additional weapons systems and the possible bombing of Assad’s military assets. Internal unhappiness with the current strategy, and the humanitarian disaster the war has brought to Syria, led 51 U.S. diplomats last month to write an internal “dissent channel” appeal for U.S. military action.
While President Obama has steadily increased U.S. attacks against the Islamic State in Syria, he has rejected entreaties for more direct involvement in the civil war, saying that he does not see how it would improve the situation.
But Obama has blessed efforts to persuade Russia to change its policies, including the intelligence offer.
Administration officials believe that the Russians have no deep attachment to Assad himself but fear his removal would spark a collapse of Syrian institutions and allow terrorist expansion — something the Obama administration has said will happen if Assad remains.
In an address Thursday to Russian ambassadors gathered in Moscow from across the world, President Vladi*mir Putin said that he was “prepared to work with any future president” and was interested in closer cooperation with the United States in international affairs.
“However, we consider unacceptable the approach on the part of the American establishment, which believes that they can decide in what issues they will cooperate with us,” Putin said.
cheersgif
By Karen DeYoung June 30, 2016 cheersgif
The Obama administration has offered to help Russia improve its targeting of terrorist groups in Syria if Moscow will stop bombing civilians and opposition fighters who have signed on to a cease-fire and use its influence to force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to do the same.
The offer early this week of what one administration official called “enhanced information sharing” does not include joint military planning, targeting or coordination with U.S. airstrikes or other operations in Syria.
But it would expand cooperation beyond the “deconfliction” talks the U.S. and Russian militaries began last year to ensure their planes do not run into each other in Syria’s increasingly crowded airspace.
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has long opposed any additional cooperation, said Thursday that if Russia would “do the right thing in Syria — that’s an important condition — as in all cases with Russia, we’re willing to work with them.”
“The Russians got off on the wrong foot in Syria,” Carter said. The stated purpose of airstrikes Russia began last fall was “to fight ISIL and . . . assist the political transition in Syria towards a post-Assad government.”
“They haven’t done either of those things,” he said. ISIL, along with ISIS and Daesh, is an alternative term for the Islamic State.
Senior administration officials declined to discuss details of the proposal, saying that publicizing the content of diplomatic talks would undermine their possible success.
“We’ve made no bones about the fact that if the Russians, with their military presence in Syria, proved to be willing to focus those efforts against Daesh, then that’s a conversation we would be willing to have,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
“There have been proposals offered by multiple parties,” he said. “We’re certainly not going to start laying those out publicly.”
The United States and Russia, while backing opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, co-chair an international task force that agreed early this year — along with Assad and the opposition — to support a “cessation of hostilities” and begin negotiations for a political solution that would allow the international community to turn its full attention to the fight against the Islamic State.
More than 400,000 Syrians have died in the civil war, which has also displaced half the population, with millions fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond.
The Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, are not parties to the truce. The administration has charged that Russia and Assad’s forces have violated it by continuing to launch airstrikes and other attacks on the anti-Assad opposition and civilians, under the guise of targeting the terrorist groups.
“What has prevented us from being able to more effectively coordinate militarily is that what the Russians have been militarily doing is propping up Assad and not going after ISIL,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
Russia has defended its actions, and those of Assad, by saying that U.S.-backed opposition fighters are interwoven with Jabhat al-Nusra forces, especially around the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.
While violations of the truce have escalated throughout Syria’s populated western third, Aleppo has become the epicenter of fighting. Jabhat al-Nusra forces are principally massed to the south of the city. While the administration has acknowledged some overlap in opposition-held areas to the north, officials charge that Russia’s principal interest in bombing there is to help Assad’s forces close rebel and humanitarian supply lines across the nearby Turkish border.
The advance of Islamic State fighters to areas close to Aleppo and other populated areas has also brought U.S. and Russian aircraft into closer proximity over the complicated Syrian battlefield. The Islamic State has rarely clashed with Assad.
In early May, as the cease-fire and U.N.-shepherded peace talks headed toward collapse, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to send senior military officers to “sit at the same table” in Geneva, where they set up a center to monitor violations.
Weeks later Russia — which has long sought more coordination with the West in Syria — proposed joint airstrikes against Jabhat-al-Nusra with the U.S.-led coalition that is bombing Islamic State positions.
Although U.S. officials were dismissive, the proposal unsettled U.S.-backed opposition representatives, who feared a backroom U.S.-Russia deal. They have said they will not return to the negotiating table until the violence abates.
Kerry and other U.S. officials have remained in close contact with their Russian counterparts, trying out a series of possible initiatives to revitalize the cease-fire, including the new offer of increased intelligence sharing on terrorist positions. Kerry is “fixated” on the Syria issue, “and he will stay so,” Kirby said.
Kerry has long advocated a more robust U.S. strategy to help the anti-Assad opposition, including additional weapons systems and the possible bombing of Assad’s military assets. Internal unhappiness with the current strategy, and the humanitarian disaster the war has brought to Syria, led 51 U.S. diplomats last month to write an internal “dissent channel” appeal for U.S. military action.
While President Obama has steadily increased U.S. attacks against the Islamic State in Syria, he has rejected entreaties for more direct involvement in the civil war, saying that he does not see how it would improve the situation.
But Obama has blessed efforts to persuade Russia to change its policies, including the intelligence offer.
Administration officials believe that the Russians have no deep attachment to Assad himself but fear his removal would spark a collapse of Syrian institutions and allow terrorist expansion — something the Obama administration has said will happen if Assad remains.
In an address Thursday to Russian ambassadors gathered in Moscow from across the world, President Vladi*mir Putin said that he was “prepared to work with any future president” and was interested in closer cooperation with the United States in international affairs.
“However, we consider unacceptable the approach on the part of the American establishment, which believes that they can decide in what issues they will cooperate with us,” Putin said.
cheersgif
^^^Russia lying and Obama swallowing without reflux. Putin targets Syrians opposed to Assad to whom he refers as 'terrorists' be they ISIS or not. Putin enjoys killing. He also enjoys expanding his influence and his military into bases inside other countries, hostilly or not. So essentially Putin kills for power inside and outside Russia while Assad kills for power inside Syria. They are like cousins.
SB, give the poor democrats a break, they just don't be knowing any better
they only thinks what theys be told to think
