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THE STARS IN THEIR COURSES
APRIL 15, 2017 JOHN HINDERAKER POWERLINE
In Syria, in Afghanistan, in North Korea, in Russia and Iran, the wheel is in spin. No one knows what will happen. Will President Trump’s suddenly assertive foreign policy be vindicated? I hope so. I agree with Charles Krauthammer that America is back, and with Paul that kicking the can down the road on North Korea–Obama’s foreign policy, when he wasn’t actively trying to undermine American interests–is no longer viable.
Reporters, searching as always for an anti-Trump angle, are mostly fixated on the President’s supposed flip-flops. (They tend not to mention his campaign vow to “bomb the s*** out of ISIS.”) Whatever. The fact that “America first” was an isolationist message in the 1930s does not mean that it is an isolationist message today. Trump has consistently vowed to build up the nation’s military. I, for one, inferred that he would occasionally be willing to use it.
While we are waiting for events to unfold, we may as well enjoy a few cartoons. Michael Ramirez has been inspired by recent events.
APRIL 15, 2017 JOHN HINDERAKER POWERLINE
In Syria, in Afghanistan, in North Korea, in Russia and Iran, the wheel is in spin. No one knows what will happen. Will President Trump’s suddenly assertive foreign policy be vindicated? I hope so. I agree with Charles Krauthammer that America is back, and with Paul that kicking the can down the road on North Korea–Obama’s foreign policy, when he wasn’t actively trying to undermine American interests–is no longer viable.
Reporters, searching as always for an anti-Trump angle, are mostly fixated on the President’s supposed flip-flops. (They tend not to mention his campaign vow to “bomb the s*** out of ISIS.”) Whatever. The fact that “America first” was an isolationist message in the 1930s does not mean that it is an isolationist message today. Trump has consistently vowed to build up the nation’s military. I, for one, inferred that he would occasionally be willing to use it.
While we are waiting for events to unfold, we may as well enjoy a few cartoons. Michael Ramirez has been inspired by recent events.
Russia Says Syria Invited Chemical Weapons Experts to Idlib
Stephen Bierman April 15, 2017, 6:53 AM GMT-4 BLOOMBERG POLITICS Russia called for international inspectors to visit Idlib, where the U.S. accused Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad of carrying out a deadly chemical weapons attack against his own citizens. Syria’s government invited the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to visit the site of the April 4 incident and the airbase that the U.S. later bombed, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Representatives of United Nations Security Council members, the European Union and the Middle East should travel with OPCW inspectors to ensure a “transparent” investigation, he said at a meeting with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed Al Thani Saturday in Moscow. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered cruise-missile strikes on an airbase in Syria last week, and his administration accused Russia was helping to cover up Assad’s role in the chemical-weapons attack. The Kremlin contended the chemicals were under the control of terrorists, while Lavrov said Friday he sees “growing evidence” that the incident was staged. Russia hasn’t publicly provided any proof to back that up. “Within the framework of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the UN, we will insist on the immediate dispatch of inspectors both to the site of the incident and the airbase where our western colleagues claim missiles were loaded with chemical substances,” Lavrov said. The OPCW reported to the United Nations last year that its inspectors detected the presence of previously undeclared chemical warfare agentsin Syria. The group had earlier certified that Syria disposed of its stockpiles and was dismantling product facilities under a deal Russia helped broker with the U.S. in 2013. While Lavrov, who met with his Iranian and Syrian counterparts Friday, called for an “independent investigation,” Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday that demanded the Syrian government cooperate with an inquiry into the suspected sarin-gas attack that killed dozens of people. The crisis dominated U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s first meeting in his new role with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The Kremlin has rebuffed U.S. demands to abandon its ally Assad. Putin’s military backing of Assad has been crucial in keeping the regime in power after six years of civil war. While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the U.S. didn’t provide evidence that Assad was responsible for the April 4 attack in Idlib, officials in Washington on Tuesday published a four-page document containing satellite images, reports from the scene and details of exposure gathered from victims. read more |
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Analysis After Tillerson Visit, Signs Show Russia Increasingly Fed Up With Assad
Amie Ferris-Rotman Apr 15, 2017 8:16 PM HAARETZ Moscow now finds itself in a curious position. It is unlikely to give up on its commitment to the region – and therefore lose face in a part of the world it knows well – but it does appear to be increasingly fed up with Assad. read more Tillerson meets Russia’s Lavrov after war of words over Syria
Kremlin leader says Moscow hoping to understand ‘real intentions’ of diplomatic visit, accuses US of ‘unlawful’ strike on Assad regime BY OLGA ROTENBERG AND DAVE CLARK April 12, 2017 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL MOSCOW (AFP) — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov began tense talks in Moscow on Wednesday as the two sides locked horns over an alleged Syrian chemical attack and subsequent missile strike by Washington. Tillerson said he wanted “a very open, candid and frank exchange” as the two men try to figure each other out during the first visit to Russia by a senior member of US President Donald Trump’s administration. read more |