Trump’s Foreign Policy Philosophy Hard to Pin Down

Bill..Trump is potentially on the verge of actually provoking a Korean War....just through his words and tweets....

There's an old IC joke about the the job you NEVER want is the North Korea indications+warning desk -- because DPRK might do ANYTHING

REMEMBER Assad and Putin dropped nerve gas on unarmed and defenseless civilians BECAUSE his SoS and his spokesperson ALL said..."we will not toss out Assad"..exactly what the Russians have been saying for years...THUS Assad thought he could do anything and everything....as he was covered by Trump's words....

AND it was Trump who caused the CWs attack ALL by stating the wrong words....

ISIS Officially Taunts Trump, Ending a Conspicuous Silence
https://nyti.ms/2oAn8cL

Bill...this is the perfect example of the failure known as Trump and the total lack of a FP.....

Trump blames chemical attack in Syria on Obama administration's 'weakness and irresolution'
http://read.bi/2o01ugR

Instead of truly leading a global response to the deadly use of nerve gas against unarmed and defenseless civilians...Trump blames Obama...just as he claimed for years Obama was a Muslim not born in the US....

BECAUSE...remember he spoke out for a Muslim Ban and Syrians are largely Muslims...

Instead of threatening a serious response to the open and blatant use of nerve gas against civilians Trump passed on an option to bomb the Syria AF back into the Stone Age ...he blamed Obama...

Instead of expressing well felt empathy for the nerve gas victims he bashes Obama.

This President has no morals to speak of other than how much he makes as a profit..

The later US responses to the Assad flown and from Russia supported nerve gas attack DOES not cover up the serious failures of the first phase WHEN Trump was focused on blaming Obama....

Trump missed a massive event that could have actually lent itself to establishing a FP....BUT again his urge to bash Obama ruled everything else....

Trump's being trolled by the dictionary aka subversive word-checker @MerriamWebster

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-says-he-has-the-best-word… 

AND the US DoS...missing in action.....

The Silence of Rex Tillerson
https://www.
theatlantic.com/international/
archive/2017/04/rex-tillerson-state-department/521793/ 

BEGIN QUOTE

America First Foreign Policy

The Trump Administration is committed to a foreign policy focused on American interests and American national security.

Peace through strength will be at the center of that foreign policy. This principle will make possible a stable, more peaceful world with less conflict and more common ground.

Defeating ISIS and other radical Islamic terror groups will be our highest priority. To defeat and destroy these groups, we will pursue aggressive joint and coalition military operations when necessary. In addition, the Trump Administration will work with international partners to cut off funding for terrorist groups, to expand intelligence sharing, and to engage in cyberwarfare to disrupt and disable propaganda and recruiting.

Next, we will rebuild the American military. Our Navy has shrunk from more than 500 ships in 1991 to 275 in 2016. Our Air Force is roughly one third smaller than in 1991. President Trump is committed to reversing this trend, because he knows that our military dominance must be unquestioned.

Finally, in pursuing a foreign policy based on American interests, we will embrace diplomacy. The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends, and when old friends become allies.

The world will be more peaceful and more prosperous with a stronger and more respected America.

Trade Deals Working For All Americans

For too long, Americans have been forced to accept trade deals that put the interests of insiders and the Washington elite over the hard-working men and women of this country. As a result, blue-collar towns and cities have watched their factories close and good-paying jobs move overseas, while Americans face a mounting trade deficit and a devastated manufacturing base.

With a lifetime of negotiating experience, the President understands how critical it is to put American workers and businesses first when it comes to trade. With tough and fair agreements, international trade can be used to grow our economy, return millions of jobs to America’s shores, and revitalize our nation’s suffering communities.

This strategy starts by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and making certain that any new trade deals are in the interests of American workers. President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States’ intent to withdraw from NAFTA.

In addition to rejecting and reworking failed trade deals, the United States will crack down on those nations that violate trade agreements and harm American workers in the process. The President will direct the Commerce Secretary to identify all trade violations and to use every tool at the federal government’s disposal to end these abuses.

To carry out his strategy, the President is appointing the toughest and smartest to his trade team, ensuring that Americans have the best negotiators possible. For too long, trade deals have been negotiated by, and for, members of the Washington establishment. President Trump will ensure that on his watch, trade policies will be implemented by and for the people, and will put America first.

By fighting for fair but tough trade deals, we can bring jobs back to America’s shores, increase wages, and support U.S. manufacturing.

END QUOTE

https://www.whitehouse.gov/america-first-foreign-policy

ISIS releases statement saying the US is "being run by an idiot."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-islamic-state-idUSKBN17625H 

White House dismisses "flimsy" report that DeVos's brother met in secret to establish Trump-Putin backchannel
http://hill.cm/tdLWS9g

BUT WAIT...Prince actually did admit today that he in fact made the "flimsy meeting"....

Team Trump establishes secret channels to Moscow and yet is dismayed when vigilant security officials discover them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-found… 
…
 

New vetting requirements for ALL foreigners entering the US....give up all social media passwords...give info on all contacts found on cell...provide financial data...AND answer questions about their ideology....

AND THEY are not Muslims.....

Trump's "extreme vetting".
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-considers-far-reachin… 

TOURISM to the US since Trump has come in is DOWN 18% and still sinking...THIS will drive it into the 40-50% range IF not higher ...resulting in major loses of jobs and business earnings....AND tax revenues....

It's not even the first brazen use of nerve agent during Trump's 70-day rule.

Anyone remember him condemning the Kim Jong-nam assassination?

Spicer: Syrian chemical attack a 'consequence' of Obama 'weakness' @CNNPolitics
http://cnn.it/2oVMheu

SO Trump's strength will now be used to toss out Assad....

SO after Trump WH blamed Obama WH for this Assad CWs attack...WILL ALL future CWs attacks be the responsibility of Trump?

And where are the expressions of sympathy for the victims of #Assad's toxic gas attack?

No "Je suis #Idlib"?

No protests?

Nobody cares?

UPDATE: At least 65 killed, 350 injured in suspected Syrian chemical attack: Syrian medical relief group
http://reut.rs/2n7ui8z

NOW
UPDATE: Syrian medical relief group UOSSM raises death toll in Syria chemical attack to 100, 400 injured

SO is the Trump WH actually complicit in this CWs attack on civilians BECAUSE of their wrong choice of words??????

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/04/days-after-tillerson-m…

Assad Apparently ‘Gasses’ Civilians Days After Tillerson Hints He Can Stay in Power

Evidence of a sophisticated chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime suggests the dictator in Damascus thinks he’s now got Trump’s carte blanche to kill as he likes.

Michael Weiss
Kimberly Dozier
Roy Gutman

04.04.17 3:59 PM ET

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Days ago, in Ankara, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled that the U.S. had no quarrel with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a man Tillerson’s predecessor compared to Adolf Hitler after he slaughtered more than 1,000 people with poison gas in 2013.
The “longer-term status of President Assad,” Tillerson said, “will be decided by the Syrian people,” a euphemism used by Damascus, Moscow, and Tehran to indicate that he isn’t going anywhere.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer used almost identical language the next day, saying, “Well, I think with respect to Assad, there is a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now.”
But the gas, it appears, is raining down once again on civilians.
In a video made Tuesday, Dr. Shajul Islam showed the camera a young man lying on a gurney with a catatonic expression on his face. His pupils were shrunk to the size of pinheads. “This is not chlorine,” he said. “We do not smell chlorine on this patient.” The industrial chemical has often been used as crude weapon on the Syrian battlefield.
Perhaps this time it was organic phosphate, another easily acquired chemical.
But other Syrians—and outside observers—say that it’s more likely the Assad regime dropped sarin gas on civilians—a much more sophisticated odorless and colorless nerve agent that Damascus was supposed to have gotten rid of as part of a U.S.-Russian-brokered deal in 2013.
“If it’s what it looks like, it’s clearly a war crime,” said a senior State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.
As ever in the six-year civil war, the death toll depends on whom you consult. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts it at 58. The White Helmets, on-the-ground first responders, at first said the figure was closer to 50. Other estimates are upward of 100 dead, with probably about 300 more injured.
The “poisonous gas,” as one Syrian activist put it, was dropped by helicopters in a series of airstrikes in the city of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, one of the last enclaves of rebel control in the area, mainly administered by al Qaeda and other Islamist groups.
But videos on social media do not show jihadis lying as waxy corpses in makeshift hospitals. They show children. In one image, published by Al Jazeera, a half dozen are laid out in a row under a blanket in the back of a pickup truck. Boys on the left, girls on the right, their ages probably as young as 3.
Dr. Firas Jundi, health minister for the opposition interim government, told The Daily Beast he had the names of 60 people killed in the gas attack. He said the death toll was bound to rise as there are 300 wounded, many in critical care hospitals and clinics throughout the province.
The number of victims was an indication that this is not chlorine gas, he added in a Whatsapp conversation from Idlib, where the interim government is located. "Usually chlorine doesn't kill such big number.”
He said the signs of trauma suggested a nerve agent like sarin was used in the attack, but testing was needed to say for sure. He said local authorities have recovered parts of the rocket that carried the gas canisters and are ready to turn them over to international investigators.
“What I noticed about the victims was they had difficulty breathing, many had lost consciousness and the pupils of their eyes had narrowed,” he said.
“If there are pinpoint pupils and convulsions, it’s likely nerve gas. The number of deaths is too high for chlorine for an outdoor attack,” said Andy Weber, former assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs under the Obama administration.
“Pinpoint pupils is diagnostic for sarin,” said Ambassador Laura Holgate, who was the Obama White House’s senior director for weapons of mass destruction. “Sarin kills you with a drop on your skin,” though its lethality depends on how its delivered, and the weather conditions when its dispersed.
“There was never any indication that we didn’t get all the sarin in the 2014 elimination project,” said Holgate, who was part of the team that negotiated the disarming Syria of its chemical arms in 2014, together with Moscow. “If he has sarin, it wasn’t declared or destroyed as it should have been,” as part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-monitored operation.
“We may have gotten all of it, but they may have made more,” said Weber, who was part of the same Obama administration disarmament mission. “It’s a chemical synthesis process they obviously know how to do. Their entire [chemical warfare] program was indigenous.”
“You don’t have to have tons of it to deliver a few small bombs,” he added.
The only way to know definitively what was used is for the OPCW to gather its own tissue samples from survivors, which is difficult to do in hot zones that are still under fire. Otherwise, both former officials said, you have “chain of custody” issues in that you are trusting a human-rights group or other a local militia group’s account on exactly where and when a sample was taken.
“You’re taking their word for where they got it,” she said. “That’s why the U.S. government was always leery to lend its credence to the claims.”
Nevertheless, there are early and strong indicators of the Idlib attack’s perpetrator. “The fact that it was air delivered means it was definitely the regime that did it,” said Weber, who is now senior fellow at the Belfer Center.
The airstrikes started at around 6:30 Tuesday morning.
A hospital treating patients of the alleged chemical attack was also bombed, according to AFP, which was reporting from the location.
This was not the only attack on civilians Tuesday. “The people in Idlib are terrified,” Jundi said. A hospital was bombed in Salqin, killing 15 people, he said. “Everyone here is waiting for death.” 
Othman Al Khani, a Khan Sheikhoun resident who lives about one mile from the area targeted, said it was residential, and there were no military installations or personnel stationed there. At least half the residents were internally displaced families from Hama province.
“Last night was very long and tiring for the people of Khan Sheikhoun,” he told The Daily Beast. “We were under bombardment until late at night, and then when people slept they slept very deeply. That is why when the gas started to leak into the houses people didn't notice it. They were deep in sleep.”
But Khani was awake and listening to rebel radio warning there was a Sukhoi combat plane flying in the vicinity.
“I heard the sort of small explosion of the type that occurs when a missile doesn’t blow up,” he said. The plane flew another 15 minutes and carried out three more strikes, he said.
The first strike turned out to be the most lethal. The local first responders from the Civil Defense had come ill-equipped and were all affected by the gas, he said.
Later in the day, he witnessed the Khan Sheikhoun hospital and the Civil Defense center coming under attack. “I was there, inside the Civil Defense center,” he said. The Center, like the hospital, is located in a cave area out of the city. “The warplane kept maneuvering above us for half an hour and hit the two places with more than ten strikes,” he said. But they were well protected by big boulders, and only the equipment and cars outside the two locations were destroyed.
Idlib province has become a frequent drop zone for chemical agents. A year-long study conducted jointly by the United Nations and the OPCW found last year that regime helicopters dropped chlorine-filled bombs on the towns of Talmenes and Sarmin, the former in late April 2014, the latter in mid-March 2015.
Chlorine is also a common industrial chemical. Its most familiar use is to keep water clean in swimming pools. But it was also one of the first chemical weapons used in World War I more than a century ago, and it is banned as an agent of warfare by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Syria signed on to that treaty in 2013 as part of a deal to acknowledge and relinquish its stocks of sarin, VX, and mustard gas. The alternative was to be U.S. intervention in the conflict.
The regime had used sarin that year in East Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, against opposition forces. Around 1,400 people were killed in that attack, according to the U.S. government, in the deadliest chemical weapons use since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988.
Even after the OPCW judged that 99.6 percent of all declared chemicals in Syria had been removed from the country, it still found victims who had been exposed to sarin, a substance that is neither easily handled nor easily weaponized.
Last December, the regime reportedly used sarin again in eastern Hama, a day after Islamic State terror group fighters recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra. More than 90 were killed and 300 were hospitalized.
“I am horrified by the reports of an attack near Idlib in Syria,” said Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in a statement Tuesday. “Although we cannot yet be certain about what has happened, this bears all the hallmarks of an attack by the regime which has repeatedly used chemical weapons,” he said, adding that the British government would work with the OPCW in any investigation.
“If this is shown to be the work of the regime, it is further evidence of the atrocities perpetrated against the Syrian people over six years of appalling conflict,” Johnson added.
By Wednesday afternoon, the Trump administration had shifted its accommodationist tone, blaming the Assad regime—and President Obama—for the attacks. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." Spicer said. 
The senior State Department official placed part of the blame for the attack on Moscow and Tehran.
“Russia and Iran signed up and they claim themselves to be the guarantors,” of the Syrian regime, but are “unwilling or unable” to deliver on it, the official added.
The official added that the Trump regime would be “unlikely” to work with the Assad regime against ISIS, but did not insist Assad must go – saying that Syria’s future must be determined by its people via the Geneva negotiation process, led by UN Special Envoy Staffan De Mistura.
 

Netanyahu, May 2014: Obama's chemical weapons deal is a ray of light in the dark. 90% of material is out. I appreciate the effort & results

Syrian mothers can bury their children in Idlib with this as the epitaph.

AND from the Trump WH...utter silence....worse now than the Obama WH...at least they would have said something in a public fashion...
 

BUT WAIT...they did..Trump's spokesperson blamed naturally the Obama WH

BUT WAIT...Spicer forgot that the Trump WH and the UNSC US ambassador both stated they supported Assad.....

BREAKING: Secretary of State Tillerson ignores question when asked for response to chemical attack massacre in Syria.

The Assad regime has been using chlorine in Hama, Idlib and elsewhere every day.

TILLERSON and Trump are the ones who signaled to Putin/Assad the status quo is fine

IMPORTANT ASSESMENT....
Channel 10's defense correspondent: Assessment in Israel is that Russia approved Assad regime's attack in Idlib

TURKEY is now extremely angry about this attack and the apparent US support for Assad and Putin with their lack of condemnation of both by Trump and or Tillerson....

TURKEY has dispatched a seriously well equipped chemical research team and vehicles to the attack site....

Acc to a local journalist this is an investigation team crossing the Turkish border heading to #Idlib #Syria

Video from sarin gas attack zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTszOjAZNtI&sns=tw#
… via @DrShajulIslam

For Trump and his own WH merry band of anti Muslim's they need to see this video of what a CW attack looks like on Muslims videoed by the Syrian Civil Defense....

THEN tell me just here does the US red line exist on the use of CWs against civilians?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX6Jk5GVSZ8

More victims of today's chemical attack in Syria being hosed down, many look already dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgg14XVExtg 

AND this Sarin CW attack against civilians is being carried out by the very Assad WHO Trump wants to keep in power.....

Syria Airstrikes on Khan Shaikhoun town this morning
(1 of this contained Sarin gas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYOM...ture=youtu.be#
 

Turkey is accepting the first #IdlibGasAttack victims now.

Spooky.

At least Turkey acts!

Photo of Decon suited Turkish medical personnel is on Syrian thread...

BREAKING: Turkish Foreign Minister calls Idlib chemical weapons attack a 'crime against humanity'

Idlib: #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes bombing entire #Idlib Province, even the border towns very close to #Turkey.

REMEMBER Trump and company wanted to keep Assad in power....a CW user it appears...

BUT WAIT...that Trump Assad "thingy" is not going to well.....

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#BREAKING Bombs hit hospital treating Syria 'gas attack' victims: AFP

AND not a single Russian connection with Trump and his WH merry band?????

Buryakov, one of Russian spies named in Buzzfeed story, was doing far more impactful work than hustling Carter Page

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-spies-may-have-pressured-ca… 

All our never again promises, which should carry special gravity in Germany, bombed and gassed worthless. Again.
http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/s...996.bild.html#

The history and chemistry behind the #Sarin agent. Explained in a very clear and comprehensible manner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozozH09XSs#

A reminder that Russia & China vetoed in Feb a UN National Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against parties using CW in Syria

VIDEO of just right after the CW attack...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf9HKvLKe6I#

IT will be extremely interesting to see if Trump...OR Tillerson OR Haley condemn Assad for this deliberate CW attacks against civilians SINCE ALL of them have now stated this week that Assad will not be tossed out......

YouTube is attempting to assist both Putin and Assad BY deleting many of the CW attack videos.

BREAKING: Assad regime bears responsbility for 'awful' Syria 'chemical' attack: EU's Mogherini at Brussels summit - via @AFP

.@SenJohnMcCain on reports of lethal chemical attack by Syrian regime on its people: "We've seen this movie before"

Suspected gas attack on Syria's rebel-held Idlib kills at least 58: Observatory
http://reut.rs/2nzNLKu
 

WAS SARIN CWs used today by Assad with Putin being complicit in the CW attack????

We are at 35+ killed in the #IdlibGasAttack.
Most of them children.

Photos are on the Syrian thread......

Dead and injured numbers are still climbing hourly.....

REMEMBER that so called US "red line on the use of CWs"...never existed....

I've been watching horrible videos from Khan Sheikhun today. Remind me of August 2013 a bit. Kids shaking hands. Zonked out. DEFINTELY Not chlorine.

TURKEY | #German intel' expert says #Erdogan was behind the #coup according to the reports by CIA and BND.

NOW the Trump FP view on Turkey is again exactly what????

Initial reports: over 100 suffocation cases and 20 people killed in the gas attacks on Khan Shaikhoun Idleb.

Because we didn't act on Syria since 2011, this is happening NOW.

AND the US Trump position is on the use of CW is again exactly WHAT....????

WAS SARIN used?????
Victims of the chemical attack have pin-point pupils, a signs of Sarin gas exposure - Neurosurg_Omar
pic.twitter.com/1o9gjir5As
Pinpoint pupils, not a symptom of chlorine use. Consistent with, but not exclusive to, Sarin exposure

Pinpoint pupils in a patient exposed to Organophophorus gas attack(Sarine).
With @DrShajulIslam now at the hospital treating these victims.

BUT WAIT....Assad cannot have any SARIN CWs left as Putin assured the world at the UNSC that all had been removed from Syria....APPARENTLY not...AND this included all SARIN precursors......

BUT let's get back to those pesky Russians.....

Fascinating. "New details emerge about 2014 Russian hack of the State Department: It was ‘hand to hand combat’ "
http://wapo.st/2otPiX8?tid=ss_tw 

Bill....it is now 2017 and I and 87 of my employees fight a hand to hand battle with the Russian dark net and Russian criminal activities hourly here in Berlin....

Americans truly do need to wake up and smell the coffee...we are in a serious low level cyber WAR that the Russians deliberately keep just under the radar by mixing Russia mob hacking with state sponsored funding and guidance....and this "cyber war takes no prisoners---just either money or damages what it attacks"....

If you are ever in Berlin I would invite you to come by and just sit and watch our screens for say 15 minutes and then you might just have a truly different view of my world...which reflects the "true ground reality of international politics"....

Bill..when the story broke yesterday that Prince of the former "Blackwater fame"....was attempting to create a solid back channel to Russia and Putin..for Trump .....using his title of personal advisor to Trump as have many of Trump's "advisors have"....he denied the story....

BUT WAIT...

Prince's "name surfaced so frequently in internal [Trump campaign] discussions that he seemed to function as an outside adviser".

So who has exactly been elected President????

How can you have any form of FP when so many "advisors" are cooking the soup in three different kitchens????

BUT WAIT...forget the Russians and get back to the total Trump support for a US named Communist error group the Kurdish PKK.....AND the Iranian Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia militia Iraqi Hezbollah......

Since someone provides the -"SDF" in Syria with M136 AT4 LAW, BUT THEN they pop up with PKK terrorists in Turkey ...
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/second-pkk-anti-tank-gun-seized-in-wee… 

REMEMBER Obama and now Trump stating no SAMs to the reble out of fear they will fall into the hands of IS/AQ...not a single TOW has been passed into the hands of IS or AQ by any FSA unit...

BUT SDF does pass US LAWs to PKK....for use inside Turkey...a NATO member...

Let us look at the challenges of a future Trump foreign policy -- and indeed at a potential new and unusual foreign policy era -- through the lens of, not only a "defeated" Soviet Union, but also a "defeated" U.S./the West.

Explanation:

If we can say that the Old Cold War era of Soviet/communist expansionism lasted a little more than 40 years (say from 1945 to 1989)?

Then can we likewise say that the post-Cold War era, of U.S./Western expansionism, that this such era has lasted less than a quarter century (say from 1993 to 2016)?

Likewise,

If one can mark the end of Soviet expansionism (and universal communism) with the election of Gorbachev?

Then can one likewise mark the end of U.S./the West expansionism (and universal market-democracy) with the election of Trump?

Herein -- in both the Soviet/the communist case and indeed the U.S./Western case also -- these respective "expansionist" entities ultimately being brought to their knees by:

a. Outlying states and societies' broad-ranging lack of acceptance of, and general incompatibility with, the alien and profane political, economic, social and value "changes" that these such expansionist entities demanded? And by the, thus understood,

b. Coming together of various and sundry, diverse, "threatened" and "outlying" states and societies; this, to effectively thwart these such expansionist entities' efforts to "transform and incorporate" them?

In this light, to see the apparent "coming together" of such diverse and otherwise unrelated entities as:

a. The U.S./the West and the Mujahideen in the Old Cold War era of yesterday? And, likewise, to see the "coming together" of such odd ducks as

b. The Russians and the Taliban in the post-Cold War era of today?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-31/russia-backs-afghan-…

Thus, in the new foreign policy era which presents itself today -- an era in which, for the first time in almost 3/4 of a century, all the great nation "expansionist"/"universalist" entities have been soundly defeated -- what might "our," and "their" foreign policies look like?

This, in an environment (no "expansionist"/"universalist" great power seeking to transform and incorporate the entire Rest of the World) that we have not experienced in such a very long time?

(Note: The above accepts, as fact, that Trump has already, or soon will, abandon the effort to advance market-democracy throughout the world. Should this assumption prove to be wrong, then the "containment" and "roll back" efforts -- for example those of Russia and the Taliban today -- these we must expect will continue and, likewise, U.S./Western efforts to overcome same.)

Duplicate.

“Just because you go into a mosque does not mean you’re safe…”

- Says Special Advisor to @POTUS, @SebGorka:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/31/exclusive-powerful-briton-am… …

"'Our assessment is that [the SDF/PKK] have 1,000 or 2,000 Arab fighters,' the Turkish official said."

https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy...werent-present

In Erdoğan, Tillerson meeting, even translators weren't present

Quote:
S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's reported desire of not having many aides in closed-door meetings apparently received Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan's approval during Tillerson's trip to Ankara last Thursday.

Tillerson's trip was very important due to major issues like the ongoing Raqqa operation and the overall strategy against Daesh. It was Tillerson's first visit to Ankara and his first meeting with Erdoğan.

A videotape of the start of the meeting released by the Turkish presidency shows that Tillerson and Erdoğan had a rather long, awkward handshake. I was among those thinking that Tillerson was either tired or stressed, considering Ankara's endless expectations from Washington.

Multiple sources on both the American and Turkish sides told me that the two-hourlong meeting had only three participants, Tillerson, Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlut avusoğlu. There was not even an interpreter in the meeting at the request of Erdoğan, who does not speak English other than some pleasantries. Naturally, Turkish Minister also functioned as a translator during the meeting.

A report published by Al Monitor on last Thursday correctly identified the Americans kept out of the room: Special Envoy for the coalition against Daesh Brett McGurk and U.S. Ambassador John Bass. However, it was not only Americans, but senior Erdoğan advisors were also not present. A senior Turkish official said these types of meetings were not very unusual for Erdoğan since he had many similar meetings in the past with other foreign leaders.

However, the American side interpreted this decision as a snub against both McGurk and Bass. It is not a secret that Ankara correctly believes McGurk is one of the main architects and facilitators of the U.S. partnership with the People's Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian armed wing of the PKK, which is designated as a terror group both by Turkey and the U.S.

Some reports in the Turkish media previously revealed that Erdoğan had personally slammed McGurk during his visit to New York last September, warning him not to take pictures again with YPG officers. McGurk's pictures with YPG officers caused a strong backlash in Turkey at the time.

Ambassador Bass, on the other hand, is known to be a strong supporter of Ankara, especially with regards the stance on the YPG and Fetullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Imam and alleged mastermind of the failed coup in Turkey. This is why his exclusion from the meeting was surprising for American officials. But Turkish sources say Erdoğan was not trying to send a signal, he simply wanted to spend some private time with Tillerson.

During the meeting, Tillerson and Erdoğan watched a short documentary on the failed coup attempt, according to the Turkish foreign minister. "He had asked specific questions on the locations of the attacks. He was impressed. The meeting took longer than intended over two hours," he told journalists accompanying him to Brussels over the weekend.

The senior Turkish official briefed about the Erdoğan-Tillerson meeting said it was mostly the Turkish side that did the talking. "We reiterated our posture on Syria, especially the YPG's involvement in Raqqa," the official said. Turkey previously offered up to 10,000 troops, consisting of Turkish special forces and Free Syrian Army battalions to retake Raqqa from Daesh. "I personally don't expect any tangible U.S. step in our favor. They believe they are heavily invested in the YPG, which was a McGurk design. Still, they couldn't reject our plan," the senior Turkish official said.

The Pentagon, indeed, is planning to stick with the YPG. "Publicly, the U.S. says it's still working with its NATO ally Turkey to find a role for it in the upcoming Raqqa offensive, but here's the unspoken truth: The U.S. has also judged that the Turkish military is not up to the task, based on its performance in northern Syria," the Washington Examiner reported on Friday. According to the report, Pentagon officials said the major U.S. take on Turkey's hard-won victory in Al-Bab against Daesh was that Turkish troops lack the training, logistics and weaponry to successfully launch the siege of Raqqa.

One Washington insider said the Pentagon came up with this excuse because the U.S. Central Command and top generals do not want to change their plans in Raqqa. "They believe arming the YPG and moving along with Syrian Democratic Forces is the best and fastest plan. They don't want another adventure," he said.

The Raqqa operation is more sensitive than previous ones because the city is overwhelmingly Arab and reportedly suspicious of the YPG. This is why the Pentagon tries to highlight the Arab component of the SDF, which is supposed to be the main force fighting Daesh in the Raqqa area.

Pentagon officials previously told the media that the SDF's Arab component had more than 20,000 soldiers.

One senior Turkish diplomat familiar with the Raqqa plan disagrees. "Our assessment is that they have 1,000 or 2,000 Arab fighters," the Turkish official said, showing the depth of distrust between the two allies.

THIS is especially for Trump and his merry WH band so they can understand the NSA terms "masked and unmaksed" when it comes to TS/SI raw intelligence...AND so Trump can finally stop his twitter rages about being "tapped" excuse me surveilled.....

https://20committee.com/2015/09/01/what-russian-intelligence-knows-abou…

What Russian Intelligence Knows About Hillary Clinton

September 1, 2015

It is my privilege to reveal to you this highly classified National Security Agency intercept which reveals just what Russian intelligence knew about Hillary Clinton and her email security problems. While I believe that classified information should remain classified, this is a matter of such national importance, since Hillary could be our next Commander-in-Chief, that I am going whistleblower here and leaking this historic document.

FM: NSA

TO: Q07

SIGAD: US-968H

DOI: 23052009 1045Z

This intercept was received by an NSA covert SIGINT site. It is a conversation between two (2) senior officials of the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). It discusses GRU SIGINT intercepts of conversations between high-ranking US Persons (USPs) in their official USG capacity and is to be handled on an EYES ONLY basis. FBI/NSD has been informed. White House/NSC and STATE are not – repeat NOT – authorized to receive this information due to counterintelligence concerns that have been verified by FBI/NSD and CIA/CIC.

This document is classified TOPSECRET//SI//NOFORN//NODISSEM in its entirety and is to be maintained as hard-copy only per the regulations of ECI SHOCKWAVE.

A: Sasha, what the [expletive deleted] are your guys over at BIGBEAR [1] doing?

B: What, Tolya? Have you been drinking again? [Laughs]

A: Just two, it’s early.

B: Two is good, it stimulates the brain.

A: [Expletive deleted] it sure does! But look, I need some answers. The whole AQUARIUM [2] is up in arms over this.

B: Why? It’s all great [expletive deleted]. If the BIGBEAR guys don’t get us all promoted, what the [expletive deleted] ever will?

A: I know….but the big guys here think it’s, you know, too good.

B: The magic [expletive deleted/USP 1] in the White House is running strategic deception on us? [Laughs] They can’t find their Ivy League [expletive deleted] with both hands!

A: Sure, but [USP 2]? They are cunning, [USP 3] knew we listened in on him when he was in the White House, surely.

B: You think he told his wife about that?

A: Well, it was funny, wasn’t it? I loved the chat we intercepted when [USP 3] was getting [expletive deleted] from [USP 4] and then – oh [expletive deleted] – [USP 5] walked in on them and threw a potted plant at them both!

B: [Laughs] Operation INTERN SURPRISE! Slurp-slurp, then scream-scream! God, those were good times.

A: You know it’s really too bad Beijing got to [USP 3] first with their cash, he seems like a fun guy.

B: His wife, not so much. [Laughs]

A: Yes, never enough vodka for that! [Laughs] And [USP 6] – what the [expletive deleted] is the deal with her?

B: The Brotherhood [3] mole?

A: Really?

B: Yeah, we have that too. Cairo confirmed it last month.

A: Wow, the Americans are really [expletive deleted].

B: The emails we are getting from [USP 2]’s office tell it all.

A, Can this actually be real? Who is this stupid? Is [USP 2] trying to have completely open diplomacy?

B: It has to be real. They have absolutely no communications discipline, even for Americans. [Laughs] They are putting EVERYTHING [almost shouted] in these emails.

A: I saw that. It’s unbelievable. How did we crack into this?

B: We didn’t have to “crack” anything! [USP 2] uses her own email on her own server, and it’s totally unencrypted!

A: [Expletive deleted] me, what?

B: I know, it’s insane. They recently put some light encryption on “her” server, after months of no security at all, but we’re deep inside now. We worked around it in 20 minutes. And [USP 2] does all her diplomacy on this line, unreal!

A: Who is this [USP 7] guy who’s in every other email?

B: Oh, him. The one with the self-hating Jewish Nazi son? It’s all too strange. He’s [USP 2]’s close adviser, but boring and confused. Very self-important. I liked [USP 3]’s presidency better, more sex and drugs. [Laughs]

A: Are we absolutely certain Operation PANTSUIT [4] is legit? I need a firm answer for the bosses.

B: We are 100 percent sure. We’ve cross-referenced diplomatic information that [USPs 2 and 6] are putting in their open emails with other intercepts we’re getting.

A: Excellent.

B: Just the other day [USP 2] emailed [USP 7] the readout of her meeting with the German ambassador and we intercepted the German account of it too – they’re not idiots like the Americans, it was in their encrypted communications, but we’ve been reading German diplomatic ciphers for years – and they matched exactly.

A: Good, I’ll tell the bosses that. Get the transcripts to me soon.

B: Will do, it all checks out.

A: The bosses still have some questions.

B: Shoot.

A: You know how it is. The NEIGHBORS [5] get them spun up with their stupid [expletive deleted] “theories”.

B: What now?

A: They think “Parks and Recreation” is a secret American program to destabilize our economy. Something run by CIA using Facebook as their cut-out.

B: [Laughs] Those [expletive deleted] morons. The original BIGBEAR intercept said it’s a [expletive deleted] television show!

A: I know, I know. But put that in the follow-up memo too, I need to cover my [expletive deleted] here.

B: Will do, not a problem, you’ll have it by the end of the day.

A: Thanks, Sasha: I owe you one. But what about “gefilte fish”? This seems to be an Israeli operation, something to do with Mossad.

B: Yes, BIGBEAR came to that conclusion as well. We’re looking for more information. Given how deeply Mossad had [USP 3]’s White House penetrated, there is reason for concern.

A: Good, good…put that in the memo too, that should get the attention of the bosses.

B: Just not The Boss, please! [6]

A: Oh [expletive deleted] no! The last thing we need is that Leningrad Chekist on us. No details outside of our channels, you know how he and his guys love to play counterspy over at the Kremlin. We have no time for that [expletive deleted].

B: Right, definitely. Bottom line is we’re sure PANTSUIT checks out, it will all be in the memo.

A: Excellent, excellent. I still can’t believe they’re this stupid, but I like it! You’ll get your star for this one, Sasha!

B: I’ll believe that when I see it, but I will take your vodka until then, Tolya! [Laughs]

A: If [USP 2] ever manages to become President, we’ll have it made. Keep up the great work and make sure I get every email these idiots send.

B: Will do, boss! We’re getting every last one. These clowns will only stop emailing when they’re dead! [Laughs]

COMMENTS:

A = GenMaj (one-star) Anatoliy V. POTAPOV, Chief of GRU Covert SIGINT Operations

B = Col Aleksandr N. SHAPOSHNIKOV, Senior GRU Staff Officer (NFI)

USP 1 = POTUS

USP 2 = SECSTATE

USP 3 = Former POTUS

USP 4 = Prominent Hollywood actress

USP 5 = Former White House employee

USP 6 = Senior STATE Staffer

USP 7 = Close friend of USPs 2 and 3, operating as an unofficial adviser to STATE

1. BIGBEAR is the GRU coverterm for their covert SIGINT site located inside the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.

2. AQUARIUM (AKVARIUM) is the colloquial term for GRU Headquarters located at Khodynka Airfield near Moscow

3. “Brotherhood” is believed to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood.

4. Operation PANTSUIT is the GRU coverterm for their interception of USP 2’s personal and STATE emails (which use the same address and reside on the same, non-USG server, according to GRU information; this violation of policy has been referred to FBI/NSD).

5. NEIGHBORS is a reference to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

6. “The Boss” in this context is an apparent reference to Vladimir Putin.

[This document is, of course, a fake. I’ve used fake-but-accurately rendered “classified” information before to explain Hillary’s EmailGate mess, and I am pretty sure this is a cosmically accurate, if fictional, rendering of events, based on my long dealings with Russian intelligence. GRU hasn’t opened its archives to anybody, ever, so perhaps our descendants will find out in the 23rd century.]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/latest-spain-surprised-britains-tone…

Luxembourg (AFP) - President Bashar al-Assad has no future in post-conflict Syria but his fate is ultimately up to the Syrian people, EU foreign ministers said Monday in response to an apparent shift in US policy.

The United States and the European Union have consistently demanded Assad stand down in any peace deal.

But last week Washington signalled it would no longer focus on Assad's ouster as it concentrates on the wider fight against terror groups such as Islamic State.

Asked what this meant for EU policy, bloc foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said she believed it "would be impossible" to return to the status quo in Syria.

After nearly seven years of war, "it seems completely unrealistic to believe that the future of Syria will be exactly the same as it used to be in the past," Mogherini said as she arrived for an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

"But this is for the Syrians to decide, that is clear ... any solution that can be acceptable by all Syrians, we will support it."

Diplomatic sources said the foreign ministers are expected to endorse a statement which notes: "The EU recalls that there can be no lasting peace in Syria under the current regime."

Mogherini on Tuesday co-hosts with the United Nations a two-day conference on Syria's future in Brussels focused on the disastrous humanitarian situation in the country after a war which has claimed more than 320,000 lives and displaced more than half the population.

Mogherini stressed that this was part of efforts to prepare properly for the end of the war while UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva continued to search for a peace settlement and Russia and Turkey brokered talks between Damascus and the rebels on a ceasefire.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said he believed the changed United States position was certainly "more realistic", as to insist that Assad must step down from the start would only result in deadlock.

"But there is one thing which cannot happen -- that a dictator who committed horrible crimes in the region remains untouched," Gabriel said.

The UN peace talks should continue with the aim of producing a "new constitution, elections and a new and democratic government," he said.

"This cannot be abandoned or subordinated to the conflict against Islamic State," he added.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault for his part said there had to be a genuine political transition to a new Syria.

"France does not believe for an instant that this new Syria can be led by Assad," he said.

BEGIN QUOTE

Russia said it supports the Taliban’s demand for foreign troops to leave Afghanistan as it criticized agreements that allow U.S. and NATO forces to remain for the long term in the war-torn country.

“Of course it’s justified” for the Taliban to oppose the foreign military presence, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said in an interview in Moscow. “Who’s in favor? Name me one neighboring state that supports it.” ...

Russia’s acting partly because it wants to counter the threat from Islamic State as the jihadists gain ground in Afghanistan amid the widening conflict, said Petr Topychkanov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. But it also “views American bases in Afghanistan as a threat to its interests” and is maneuvering to maximize its influence by keeping channels of communication with all sides, he said.

“It doesn’t matter for Russia if the Afghan state is a democratic or Islamist one,” Topychkanov said.

END QUOTE

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-31/russia-backs-afghan-…

Herein, Russia seems to have adopted the classic "the enemy (the Taliban; who oppose westernization) of my enemy (the U.S./the West; who seeks to advance westernization) is my friend" thesis.

Thus to suggest that, re: Trump's foreign policy, he must understand that, much like the Soviets/the communists in the Old Cold War of yesterday, he is involved today in:

a. Not numerous, different and/or disconnected "wars." But, instead, is involved in

b. A single war; one which finds:

1. The U.S./the West today (much as with Soviet's/the communists in the Old Cold War of yesterday; a period when they then sought to advance communism throughout the world) standing against both great nations and small -- and both state and non-state actors --

2. ALL of whom, whether consciously and/or officially or not, are united in their effort to see that their states and societies are neither (a) further transformed more along modern western lines nor (b) incorporated more into the U.S./western sphere of power, influence and control.

BEGIN QUOTE

Though he sent his daughter to Harvard, Xi sees liberal Western values and Westernization as the death knell for China. He is not interested in integrating into the system built by the West.

END QUOTE

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/03/towards-a-trump-pacific-partnership…

Bottom Line:

Thus, it is this "one war" construct -- that I have identified above -- that President Trump must confront as he moves forward and formulates his foreign policy;

A foreign policy, thus, which must acknowledge that our enemies today -- whether great nations or small and/or state or non-state entities -- are ALL united (formally/officially or no) in their determination to:

a. Stand against the U.S./the West. And, specifically, to:

b. Stand against our efforts to "transform and incorporate" them.

(Or will President Trump abandon the centuries-old effort to advance market-democracy throughout the world, and adopt, in the place of same, the Putin-inspired "it doesn't matter if a state is democratic, Islamist or something else" approach to our foreign policy going forward? Herein, possibly abandoning both the "freedom already earned" -- and the "freedom-desiring" -- populations of the world to a sad, evil and, indeed, potentially horrible fate?)

All those Trump Hands on negoitating and tweets for manufacturing did what again?????

U.S. manufacturing activity pulls back from 2-1/2-year high http://reut.rs/2otNihx

Ford and Carrier have cut 1500 Jobs that they both promised Trump to save...