This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • About that Iran Nuclear Deal . . . .

    Remember the current     group of feckless fools and clueless tools’     Administration’s nuclear deal with Iran? You know, the one that     that gang of incompetent neophytes     the Administration refused to allow to be made public for review before it was signed?

    Well, maybe now we know why. Turns out some some senior Administration officials who’ll have to implement the deal have taken a hard look at what this       clown krewe     Administration agreed to allow in that deal. And there’s a problem.

    The deal appears to violate existing US law.  Law signed by – you guessed it – the current POTUS himself.  In fact, it runs afoul of multiple existing laws.

    The deal purportedly allows subsidiaries of US firms to do business with Iran. This is a major part of the deal, and is expected to result in tens of billions of dollars of trade between Iran and those subsidiaries.

    However, it so happens there’s this little thing called the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012..  It was passed by Congress in the summer of 2012. It was signed into law by the current Occupant, 1600 Penn Ave, in August of that year.

    Section 218 of that law explicitly prohibits foreign subsidiaries of US companies from doing business with Iran. Section 605 of that law requires this to remain the case until (1) the POTUS certifies to Congress that Iran is no longer listed by the DoS as a state sponsor of international terrorism, and (2) the POTUS certifies to Congress that Iran has ceased efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.  Both are required.

    The Iran nuclear deal is not a treaty; it is an “executive agreement” It thus does not trump existing Federal law.

    What’s more, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015  – also signed by the current POTUS –  specifically states that prior sanctions on Iran mandated by Federal law are not affected by the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran; they thus remain in effect.  So the current POTUS has signed Federal law requiring any US nuclear deal with Iran to be IAW existing US laws regarding Iran sanctions not once, but twice.

    I mean, really – how freaking incompetent must a group be to “accidentally” sign off on an agreement that is patently illegal?  Did they not bother to have any of their legal staff look at the damn thing before signing on the dotted line?

    Looks to me like someone has painted themselves into a corner. Best I can tell, the only way to actually implement key parts of the Iran nuclear deal at this point would be to require a clear violation of Federal law. Or, alternatively, the POTUS could certify to Congress that Iran is now neither a sponsor of terrorism or pursuing any form of WMD program.

    Personally, I’m betting on the former (ignore existing law). This Administration IMO seems quite comfortable with that, and I don’t think even this clueless krewe is stupid enough to do the latter.  But that’s just me.

  • Gee, What A Surprise

    Well, Clintoon’s private email is in the news again. And not for good reasons.

    1.  It seems that, well . . . some people in other countries were interested in Clintoon’s private email server. Seriously interested.

    As in, “people who appear to be linked to the People’s Republic of China”. That private email server was apparently targeted by malware operating from locations in China, South Korea, and Germany. The malware executing these attacks is reportedly linked to China.

    Other attacks, for which more information has not been made public, apparently also occurred.

    These attacks occurred during late 2013 and 2014. Those attacks were detected (and apparently blocked) by anti-malware software installed to protect the server in October 2013.

    No such anti-malware software was installed on the server prior to 2013. It’s thus unknown if the server was targeted prior to October 2013.

    However, were I a betting man, well . . . yeah, I’d guess it was. Some of our adversaries seem pretty damn competent when it comes to this kind of stuff.

    2.  Remember Platte River Networks and their lack of backups for Clintoon’s mail server? Well, it looks like maybe there’s an explanation for that after all.  Apparently, a Clintoon family firm – Clinton Executive Service Corporation – reportedly asked Platte River to reduce the amount of time for which backups of the server were held on-file.

    It appears Platte River originally had backups of the server from day one.  Clinton Executive Service Corporation seems to have asked them to reduce that to 30 days – apparently after the FBI began looking into the matter. Don’t know about you, but that makes me wonder.

    3.  However, it’s not only Clintoon’s private server that’s an issue. Apparently the FBI recently impounded four servers from the Department of State in conjunction with the matter.  Interesting.

    4.  And, finally: remember those claims by Clintoon that she never saw anything marked as classified in her private email?  Well, apparently the lady has rather poor eyesight – or has either very poor reading comprehension or memory.  At least 3 of the emails that the FBI received from her lawyer do indeed appear to be marked as being classified.  And the total number of emails found to contain classified information – whether marked or unmarked – is now up to around 400.

    Oh, and did I mention that one of those emails found to be marked as classified discussed the Iranian nuclear program?

    . . .

    But hey – what’s the problem?  No foreign governments could possibly have any interest in Clintoon’s chit-chat with her aides.  I mean, she was only the US SECSTATE.  She couldn’t possibly discuss anything in those emails of interest to foreign nations, right?

    Yeah, right.  And I’m the rightful Emperor of China, too.

  • Most “Hardline and Effective” Regime In History

    I saw this gem from one of our frequent commenters.

    Fucking nonsense. Obama has been much more hardline and effective in the fight against Islamic extremists and terrorists than any president in history, including Reagan.

    I have to agree, at least in part. I must admit that the current Occupant, 1600 PA Ave, Wash DC, and his krewe have indeed been uniquely effective regarding engaging Islamic extremists and terrorists. Let’s discuss his and his regime’s amazing record of success here.

    1. Inherited a stable situation in Iraq, with functioning government, a low-level of insurgency, and relative peace. And just look at Iraq today!

    2. Took over a manageable conflict in Afghanistan. Initially ignored good advice (Afghan surge recommended by McChrystal), then implemented a variant later. Things have only gotten better there in the last 6 1/2 years, right?

    3. For political reasons (or possibly out of pure spite), failed to obtain an Iraq SOFA allowing a residual US presence in that nation.

    4. Ignored warnings concerning possibility of rise of ISIS/ISIL/whatever the hell they’re calling themselves today during Iraq SOFA negotiations. Coupled with #3 above, this led to the rise of ISIS. ISIS now controls about half of Syria and around a third of Iraq; the Iraqi Army and government are now barely credible.

    5. Appears to have based US strategy on countering Islamic extremism on “support for local populations” and clandestine armed RPA strikes. Yes, the latter has been of minor military value – but it’s been at least as counterproductive, if not more, in terms of creating hostility to US efforts due to occasional erroneous strikes. It’s also handed a major propaganda weapon to Islamic extremists for only marginal military gain. And it’s almost certainly undermining the Pakistani government in the eyes of the Pakistani public, since each uninvited strike in Pakistan is a demonstration that the Pakistani government cannot control its own territory and airspace.

    6. And that “support for local populations” thing, AKA the “Arab Spring”? It’s led to a chaotic Libya with at best a marginally effective central government and parts dominated by al Qaeda allies; the ouster of stable, pro-Western governments in Tunisia and Yemen; and nearly resulted in the Muslim Brotherhood taking over freaking Egypt. It also led to protests/unrest short of regime change in numerous other countries friendly to the US: Bahrain, Morrocco, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman.

    7. Dithering over Syria – e.g., being at first afraid to do squat, then drawing meaningless “red lines”, providing support to feckless “moderate” Syrian opposition that was in turn largely handed over to Islamic hardliners (al Nursa), and wasting $500M with the net result of training 50 troops.  But no fear; all will turn out well.

    8. And don’t get me started on the 5-for-1 trade with the Taliban for the knowing return of an apparent deserter – followed by feting said apparent deserter and his family at the White House.

    Yeah, all of that simply screams “hardline, effective countering of Islamic extremism”, doesn’t it?

    The author of the comment above is correct. The current    gang of feckless fools and tone-deaf tools running things in DC since January 2009    Administration has indeed been singularly effective while engaging Islamic extremism.

    Problem is, it’s been almost uniformly successful from the perspective of the Islamic extremists. From the US perspective, it’s been a nearly-uniform series of failures.

    My reaction on reading that comment? “Son, I want some of whatever it is you’re smoking. That must indeed be some ‘really good sh!t’.”

  • Russian Combat Equipment, Troops in Syria – Along With Iranian Troops, Too

    We all know that the current        group of feckless fools and tone-deaf tools running things in DC      Administration has been somewhat reluctant to become involved in Syria’s civil war – at least, when it came to sending US troops.  I have to admit I think that’s the right call.  Or at least, it was when inactivity on the Administration’s part made it the de facto US response.

    Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice daily.  (smile)

    But other nations aren’t so reluctant to become involved.  Take Russia, for instance.

    Russia has apparently sent combat troops to Syria.  They’ve recently (as in last week) been reported to have participated in combat operations on the side of the Syrian government.

    It’s hardly a minor “just to show the flag” deployment, either.  The Russians have made a serious logistical effort to support operations in Syria, and appear to be setting up airfield/basing facilities IVO Latakia – including billeting for up to 1,500 troops.  They’ve conducted numerous Antonov 124 flights to deliver troops and/or key other items.  They’ve also delivered tanks (including T-90s), APCs, and artillery pieces via ship.  Components for the SA-22 SAM system have also reportedly been assembled in Syria.

    Russia also isn’t the only foreign nation supporting the Syrian government. Iran has also sent a number of troops to “support” Russian forces in Syria.

    The US government – or, at least those currently in DC pretending to perform that function – are reacting predictably to these latest developments.  They have publicly expressed “deep concerns” over Russian forces in Syria, and also indicated they are “closely monitoring the situation“.

    Well, that’s just dandy.

    This last tells me that the introduction of forces was both unforeseen and undesired by the current Administration.  Otherwise, why draw attention to the fact you couldn’t prevent it from happening by expressing your “deep concerns”?

    And unforeseen?  GMAFB.  The Russians have been arming Syria for decades; the Iranians have been similarly close recently as well.  The fact that either or both could decide to intervene on Syria’s side should have been foreseen, oh, maybe about 24 hours after the current Syrian troubles began.  Yet all this Administration can manage to do is call attention to an unwanted and apparently unanticipated foreign action – and wring its hands after-the-fact.

    Yeah, that’s effective leadership.  Just like we had back in 1977-1980.

    Let me be crystal clear here:  I’m not calling for US forces to be deployed to Syria. And maybe having Russian and Iranian forces there to do something we’re not willing to do (e.g., fight ISIS on the ground) is the correct course of action.  Dunno.

    But calling attention to your own major diplomatic failure probably isn’t going to get us much respect in that part of the world – or anywhere else, for that matter.  And I do wonder what quid quo pro Assad will give to his Russian and Iranian benefactors afterwards to show his gratitude for saving his butt.

    As I’ve said before about the current Syrian civil war:  “I got a bad feeling about this.”

  • Yet Another “Private Email” Update

    Well, we have a few new bits of news regarding the Clintoon “private email” brouhaha.

    So, Clintoon’s lawyers have turned over all her “private email”? Well, maybe – or maybe not. There are gaps totaling roughly 5 months in what was turned over to government authorities by Clintoon’s lawyers. Specifically, in what was released by Clintoon’s lawyers there’s roughly 2 months with no email received by Clintoon: 21 January thru 17 March 2009. There’s also a roughly 3 month gap in email sent by Clintoon: 21 Jan thru 17 April 2009 – plus another sent email gap for her last month in office, 30 December 2012 thru 1 Feb 2013.

    And then we have this: a senior DoS records management official apparently stated in an email to a colleague that they did not want to discuss certain matters by email, but instead wanted to discuss the matter in person. Why? Well here’s one possible reason: as that official knows quite well, email is considered a Federal record – and can be requested under a FOIA request. Verbal discussions that generate no written records are much easier to hide. (The specific details of what were to be discussed were redacted in the email from the senior DoS records management official that was made public. However, since that email was obtained by Judicial Watch in conjunction with the Clintoon private email scandal, it’s reasonable to infer the subject was – or was related to – the Clintoon email matter.)

    Oh, and it seems that Congress is starting to get a bit fed up with the matter, too. They’ve asked the Attorney General to weigh in on whether or not they can meet privately with Brian Pagliano (the staffer who set up Clintoon’s private email server) and his lawyers while determining whether to grant Pagliano immunity and then compel him to testify. It seems that Pagliano’s lawyers are pulling out all the stops to prevent this; they’ve raised questions as to whether such a private meeting would constitute a waiver of Pagliano’s 5th Amendment rights.  A couple of Congressmen have therefore asked the Attorney General for a formal reading on the subject. I guess Pagliano’s lawyers must never previously have been involved with similar private discussions with prosecutors with or on the behalf of other clients regarding possible testimony in exchange for immunity. Silly me – I thought lawyers did that on occasion.

    That’s all for today, but stay tuned – this one seems worth watching.

  • Germany closes borders to migrants

    Germany closes borders to migrants

    syria_refugees

    Germany isn’t the most friendly place in the world for people who come from the “south” and they closed their borders temporarily yesterday in an attempt to gain some control over the waves of “refugees” headed there, according to CNN. Thousands are piling up in the southern European countries. If you were to believe the media, most are children, judging by the pictures they publish to tug at heart strings of Europeans. In reality, some folks are saying that over 80% are military-age males.

    Last week, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker set out proposals for mandatory quotas for EU countries to take in 120,000 refugees who were already in Italy, Greece and Hungary, on top of plans made in May to relocate 40,000 from Italy and Greece.

    EU member states must still agree to the European Commission’s proposals, which are backed by Germany. Their interior ministers are due to meet Monday in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the issue.

    The Germans brought in Turkish “guest workers” after the Second World War because there was a shortage of labor after that slaughter. The Turks never really assimilated to German life, and they were never accepted by most Germans, so I don’t see this going any better for the Germans or this new wave of immigrants, either.

    Meanwhile, here in the US, folks are rallying to bring more of those military-age Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans to this country, too.

    [Faizan Syed, executive director of the St. Louis Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations] says he’s received overwhelming support from people sharing is position. Critics have argued St. Louis can’t afford to welcome refugees when there are existing problems that need help. Syed has heard that argument before and doesn’t buy it.

    “When you bring in other refugees they get some limited government assistance in the beginning, but then they’re able to help rebuild they’re able to start working, pay taxes.”?

    How’s about we get jobs for the people who are already here before we start employing people who aren’t here yet and counting our chickens before they’re hatched.

    Funny how the US shouldn’t be the world’s policeman, but when we’re not, when we don’t take the helm in the world’s affairs, everything turns to crap.

  • US opens embassy for Somalia…in Kenya

    Reuters reports the happy news that the United States has bravely reestablished an embassy to reopen diplomatic ties to Somalia. Strangely enough, the mission is in Kenya, which probably doesn’t help either nation, well except that the US bureaucrats feel better about themselves, and that’s really all that matters, isn’t it?

    “U.S. officials will continue to travel to Somalia to conduct official business as security conditions permit,” department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

    “The new mission reflects a continuation of U.S. efforts to normalize the U.S.-Somalia bilateral relationship,” he added.

    U.S. officials have said they eventually hope to establish the mission in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

    It seems to me that it’s waste of money – embassy officials stationed in Kenya can always travel to Somalia for business there, “as security conditions permit”, instead of establishing a whole new mission. And, really, how much diplomatic business will anyone be conducting with the wobbly Somalian government anyway? Conditions in Somalia really haven’t changed since they closed the embassy there in 1991 when the civil war started and the country became a dangerous place.

    The Somalian Embassy in Kenya will just be another terror target in Africa.

  • Wanna See ALL of Clintoon’s “Private” Email? Come Up With $500k and Maybe You Can.

    Gee, what a surprise.  We’re talking a private server, operated for a long time in an open environment and possibly without any effective information security controls.  What could possibly go wrong?

    Exposed! Libya Security Briefs, Algeria Hostage Info & More — Hacker Threatens To Sell Hillary Clinton’s ENTIRE UNRELEASED Private Emails For $500K

    My question is: if some unidentified hacker managed to get access and download all of that . . . who else did?