Showing posts with label U.S. foreign relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. foreign relations. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Impeachable Washington

“Legal” Corruption Entrenched Taken to Nth Degree


Reaction to Current Pageantry   

I have listened to a few hours of the current U.S. House of Representatives Impeachment Inquiry and what comes through to me in bold, glaring, unbearable relief is this.

A

merica’s substantive underpinnings are gone, nonexistent, dead on arrival. There is a sense of nothingness, valuelessness, shamelessness among persons; their corrupting malignancy affecting all that is within and that surrounds the structure of federal public government and governance. Even worse, the general population seems oblivious, unaware.

Overall the embeds on display in one or another public hearing and scores of others hidden in the shadows are sinister, inept and self-serving, shallow and careless of domestic and foreign affairs; all of them — from members of sundry Governmental (not only legislative) Committees and their entrenched membership, partners and nepotistic plants, and revolving-door riders in and out of government; to Executive Office hirings, firings, and partners and family members and other individuals riding the revolving-door of profiteering and influence peddling. Collectively, this crowd, its monopoly in government, conveys to America and the World
An absence of dependability
No core
No foundation
No integrity
No credibility
No demonstrated character of rigor, due diligence, or seriousness
Only pageantry, pretense, partisan blather
These days of display announce to the whole world that Federal Washington, Inside-The Beltway, the heart of America, the model to the world together with malleable media organizations are
Way off the rails
Arrogantly reckless
Utterly self-destructive and destructive on so many levels, to so many people—
Against the United States and its people
Against U.S. stature in the world;
In policies and practices, callously and continuously destructive of the world, its peoples, its institutions, and relations among peoples, regions and nations
I
 have believed for a long time that Americans (“We the People”) are being held hostage by vastly complex, reinforcing systems, and very clever people — 
Corrupt systems populated by corrupt and corruptible people who are genetically incapable (intentionally or unintentionally) of helping any other person or nation rid itself of corruption.
This system executes and enables unending conflict, war making; and sells arms to all takers.  
I believe the only way to fix America’s important systems is to alter the ethos and shovel out all current inmates and their buddies. The only way to mend the brokenness is to begin again.

S

tart over with principled people who, prior to assuming positions,
  • Have demonstrated pertinent qualifications, sound moral character and professional ethics
  • Are willing to conceive, shore up, adhere to fundamental principles (not merely personal ideology, propaganda, partisanship); and
  • Truthfully commit their tenure to providing for the common defense (not foreign wars and aggression) and promoting the general welfare (this is U.S. Constitutional not “socialist” doctrine);
  • Truthfully commit to or be removed for failing to assist in mending the Union of the United States of America.
“We the People” must change from a passive to an active and attentive body politic.  Here are some of the important issues Americans missed while Washington operatives were performing their usual blame dance of unending distraction.


Beyond Beltway News Reporting
 
P
ress TV Reporting November 19-20, 2019
  • “Trump’s pardon absolved Gallagher from any alleged wrongdoing.”
“It’s not the first time that Trump has pardoned an alleged war criminal. In May Trump pardoned First Lieutenant Michael Behenna, a former Army lieutenant who previously served five years in prison for fatally shooting an Iraqi man in American custody.” November 20, 2019 https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/20/611642/UN-Donald-Trump-pardon-army-officers-war-crimes
  • “UN troubled by Trump pardons of officers accused of war crimes” Last Update: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/19/611594/US-President-Donald-Trump-UN-Human-Rights-Pardon
  • “US war on terror cost nearly $6 trillion” 
“… The so-called US war on terror has cost over 800,000 direct war deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. …
The worst humanitarian disaster happened in Iraq where nearly 310,000 were killed; among them were over 200,000 civilians. … [M]ore than 147,000 were killed alone in Afghanistan. Nearly 59,000 of them were members of Afghan army and police (source latest findings by Watson Institute of International Public Affairs at the United State’s Brown University). The retaliatory violence gradually spelled over to Pakistan, whereas, per Brown University findings, 66,000 have been killed since then. Among them were over 9,000 security personnel. … Brown University found that, for every American soldier killed; six Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi security personnel died while fighting against the militants. …
[T]he US government is conducting so-called ‘counter-terror’ activities in 80 countries.  Indirect deaths are generally estimated to be four times higher (than the Brown findings) which means that total deaths during the post-2001 US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen are likely to go well beyond 3.1 million.” Last Update: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/20/611698/US-war-terror-Afghanistan-Pakistan-Middle-East
  • “Two US service members killed in Afghanistan military helicopter crash … More than 14,000 active US troops are reportedly based in Afghanistan. More than 2,200 US troops have been killed in the country since the invasion in 2001. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration with their continued deployment.
US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of GEORGE W. BUSH, BARACK OBAMA, and now TRUMP (caps added). The US has, in the past, tried to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban militant group over the withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan. In the past year, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad held nine rounds of negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar, where the militant group has a political office. A solution seemed to be close in early September, but a new wave of violence and the death of a US soldier prompted Trump to call off the talks.
Trump then threatened to use an unprecedented amount of force against the group.” Last Update: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/20/611661/US-Soldiers-Afghanistan-Death-Helicopter-Crash
  • “Pompeo plans to run for Senate after resignation: Report… The report said Pompeo’s initial plan had been to stay in office at the State Department until early spring next year.… US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has planned to resign from the Trump Administration as soon as possible and run in next year’s elections.
“[H]owever, that recent political developments, including President Donald Trump’s ongoing impeachment inquiry over the Ukraine scandal, were hurting Pompeo and that he wanted to exit sooner.” Update: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/20/611649/US-Pompeo-Resignation
R

T reporting October 4, 2019 - November 19-20, 2019
  • “The Ukraine affair is damning, all right – just not in the way you’re being told to think” …
“At the heart of the latest media firestorm are the text messages between US diplomats and Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. House Democrats seeking to impeach Trump have already sent a subpoena to the White House seeking more documents, and their allies in the media have proclaimed the texts to be ‘damning.’…

“Way back in April 2016, President Barack Obama argued that the US stood for the ‘principle… that nations like Ukraine have the right to choose their own destiny.’ Left unsaid was that such choices would only be honored if they aligned with US beliefs and objectives – and subject to ‘color revolution’ and regime change if not, which is just what happened in February 2014 in Kiev.

The fact that neither Democrats or Republicans are raising that issue with Volker’s testimony and the texts just goes to show that neither have a problem with the US acting like an empire, and Ukraine being its vassal. That is what is truly damning about all of this, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” October 4, 2019 https://www.rt.com/usa/470232-ukraine-texts-volker-impeachment/
  • “Impeachment hearing raises question (of) who is in charge of US foreign policy: Trump or ‘interagency consensus’…“Ukraine is neither a treaty ally of the US nor a sacred cow. It did receive every penny of the aid designated by Congress, before the statutory deadline. All the Ukrainian officials from Zelensky on down have sworn they were never pressured into anything by Trump or his aides.
“Instead, what has emerged is a 2018 letter from Democrats demanding Ukraine aid the Mueller investigation, and an account of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), one of the main supporters of the 2014 Maidan coup, telling Zelensky he should not ‘respond to requests from American political actors’ lest he lose Democratic support in Congress — So much for the talk about anti-corruption efforts, or the US respecting their sovereignty – a joke if ever there was one.” By Nebojsa Malic, senior writer at RT November 19, 2019 https://www.rt.com/op-ed/473833-impeachment-vindman-foreign-policy/
  • “Impeachment hearing gets more bizarre with Sondland confirming ‘Zelensky loves Trump’s ass’, but vague on quid pro quo”
“One thing he did remember… Telling the president that ‘Zelensky loves [his] ass…It sounds like something I would say!’ To chortles from the audience, Sondland continued: ‘That’s how President Trump and I communicate…: A lot of four-letter words. Three letter.’

‘Putting it in Trump-speak by saying he loves your ass he’ll do whatever you want, meant that he would really work with us on a whole host of issues,’ Sondland explained, acknowledging that Zelensky was ‘eager’ to work with the US.” November 20, 2019 https://www.rt.com/usa/473912-sondland-impeachment-questions-zelensky/ 

“List of short-tenure Donald Trump political appointments” List excludes political appointees, White House staff and other officials of the federal government from previous administrations who left or were dismissed from their positions under Trump (such as James Comey or Sally Yates). [Wikipedia page last edited October 1, 2019] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_short-tenure_Donald_Trump_political_appointments

“List of Trump administration dismissals and resignations … The record-setting turnover rate in the (Donald J.) Trump Administration has been noted in various publications.”
A reporter questioned the 45th U.S. president on September 18, 2019 “about the lack of stability in his administration, particularly in DHS; and the president replied “‘We have acting people. The reason they are acting is because I’m seeing how I like them and I’m liking a lot of them very, very much. There are people who have done a bad job and I let them go — if you call that turmoil. I don’t call that turmoil. I say that is being smart. That’s what we do.’” [Wikipedia  page last edited on November 19, 2019] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations


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Friday, August 2, 2019

Question of Legitimacy


Bolton in America’s Decline and Fall

Many men creep into, through and out of Yale, Princeton and Harvard holding a collection of high-powered connections but no substantive credentials, common sense, or human sensibility. They seem to feel themselves entitled to demonize and kill other people and nations and wrap their crimes in clever words and out and out lies. 

And many Americans swallow line by line without mumbling a question or dissenting ugh.

S
erial appointee and U.S. executive office adviser John Robert Bolton holds a Yale law degree with no studies, credentials or awards in the field of international affairs/international relations; and no significant experience in the field.
 
In his successive appointments, John Bolton has earned a reputation for “rudeness” and an “undiplomatic” demeanor. 
  • Bolton’s resume
Assistant administrator USAID (program/policy coordinator 1982-1983, R Reagan admin); Assistant secretary for international organization affairs U.S. Department of State (1989-1993, George HW Bush admin); Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (2001-2005, George W. Bush admin); U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (1 year, 2005-2006, George W. Bush admin); National Security Advisor (April 2018, DJ Trump admin)
 

I
ran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif 

  • Service
August 5, 2002 – July 25, 2007 Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations
September 6, 2013 – July 14, 2015 Iran’s Chief Nuclear Negotiator
August 15, 2013 – present Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Profession, Fields of study, work
International law, International relations, International studies
Graduate Thesis “Self-Defense in International Law and Policy” (1988)
Academics:
San Francisco State University (baccalaureate and master’s)
University of Denver (master’s and doctorate)
Other Institutions: School of International Relations
University of Tehran
Islamic Azad University
Mohammad Javad Zarif’s reputation and popularity have received high marks among the Iranian people. March 2016: Rated “the most popular political figure in Iran” (approval rating: 76%; source: Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC/iPOS).
Recipient of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (aka Chatham House) Prize (2016); and “‘Champion of Champions of Diplomacy’ by 9th Festival of National Industry Champions (Iran1392 SH)
National orders:
Order of Merit and Management First Class (Iran February 2016); Grand Cross of Order of the Condor of the Andes (Bolivia August 2016); Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan September 10, 2018  

J
ohnny’s illegitimacies enabling America’s Decline and Fall

Cowardice incapable of withstanding Independent Judiciary Tribunal

  • Palestine and ICC “illegitimate”
Bolton’s Trump administration slashes “$25 million earmarked for the care of Palestinians in East Jerusalem,” funding for a United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and hospitals.
Palestinian official Saeb Erekat (statement): “We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale”; we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying…. We continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes.”
U.S. (Bolton) responds: “The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this ‘illegitimate’ (italics added) court….
“We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.”
The aim of the International Criminal Court “is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.” The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Treaty that established the ICC in 2002.

Hostility toward Difference, National Sovereignty, Self Determination

  • Venezuelan presidency “illegitimate”
John Bolton (repeating the earlier threat by U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams) reported March 2019:
“The United States is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating ‘illegitimate’ (italics added) transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network.”
Hostility toward, Intolerance of Independent Thought

  • Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif  illegitimate”
The Minister warns:
“‘Refuse to bow to #B_Team ‘s whims, [and] you can’t even possess peaceful nuclear energy. It apparently matters not that ‘Iran is killing ISIS’ while US’ clients arm it’ … echoing accusations that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been directly and indirectly supporting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
And this:
“‘Kill 3,000+ Americans but remain a US client and you can have nuclear weapons—even get help in acquiring them.” [Fifteen of the 19 alleged hijackers accused of carrying out the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (in the United States) were Saudi nationals]

John Bolton’s Royal “We” outburst:
“We consider Javad Zarif an illegitimate spokesperson for Iran.”

W
hose Illegitimacy, indeed!  Let thinkers be independent thinkers who appraise and decide for themselves.

Perhaps they might assist in averting the United States of America’s further decline and fall.


Sources

The Hill “Bolton to label International Criminal Court ‘illegitimate’: report” by Emily Birnbaum September 10, 2018 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/405818-bolton-to-label-international-criminal-court-illegitimate-report

Reuters “Trump administration takes aim at International Criminal Court, PLO”
Steve Holland September 9, 2018
“The Trump administration on Monday threatened tough action against the International Criminal Court should it try to prosecute Americans for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and said the PLO’s office in Washington would be closed for seeking to punish Israel through the court. ‘The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court,’ national security adviser John Bolton told the Federalist Society, a conservative group, in his first major address since joining President Donald Trump’s White House in April. The U.S. response could include sanctions against ICC judges should such prosecutions proceed, Bolton warned.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-icc/trump-administration-to-take-tough-stance-against-international-criminal-court-idUSKCN1LQ076

The Guardian “John Bolton threatens war crimes court with sanctions in virulent attack:
John Bolton, the hawkish US national security adviser, has threatened the international criminal court (ICC) with sanctions and made an excoriating attack on the institution in a speech in Washington.” September 10, 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/10/john-bolton-castigate-icc-washington-speech
Financial Times “John Bolton threatens US sanctions against ‘illegitimate’ ICC: Trump national security adviser says Washington will act if court investigates Americans” https://www.ft.com/content/484182aa-b513-11e8-bbc3-ccd7de085ffe

RT “US puts foreign financial institutions on notice of sanctions if they deal with Maduro – Bolton” March 6, 2019 https://www.rt.com/news/453182-bolton-threaten-foreign-institutions/

RT “‘Kill 3,000+ Americans but remain a US client state’: Zarif shreds hypocrisy of US-Saudi partnership” July 31, 2019 https://www.rt.com/news/465482-zarif-iran-saudis-client-us/

Yahoo/Fox Business Videos July 31, 2019 https://finance.yahoo.com/video/john-bolton-consider-javad-zarif-233304676.html
Fox Business by Nick Giampia July 31, 2019 https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/john-bolton-we-consider-iranian-foreign-minister-zarif-an-illegitimate-spokesman-for-iran

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Long Way from Madison—Time to Rethink, Revise

Qualifications Standards Enforcement  Prerequisites for Public Office We are a long way—carelessly and arrogantly distanced— from Madison, ...