Posted on 07/25/2017 7:38:22 AM PDT by BlackAdderess
“Tillerson’s agency has placed blame on Israel for acts of Palestinian terror, placing it at odds with Trump’s team.”
Tillerson is a continuation of Kerry and Hillary as Secretary of State.
Yep. If possible, without their charm.
If you don’t think the former CEO of a major oil company isn’t well versed in international politics, you clearly haven’t spent much time looking at or thinking about the position.
The Jews did not start this, Mr. Tillerson
Jack Engelhard 25/07/17
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/20791
President Trump needs to have a talk with Rex Tillerson. Tillerson’s State Department has issued a report that blames Israel for…EVERYTHING.
Nobody saw that coming. Well I sure didn’t. he report okays Arab violence as a means to redress “frustrations” and “disappointments”…such as “lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood.” The Jews, according to this, are obliged to hand over the country to the Arabs. Wait. There’s more. The report faults the Jews, yes, Israel, for “incitement.” (Stop laughing.)
Actually there’s much more. But in sum, the main gripe is that the Jews aren’t doing enough to make the Arabs happy. It’s our job to make them happy.
It’s their ONLY job, if you listen to some people.
If they are not happy, according to State’s reasoning, the Palestinian Arabs are within their rights to go stark raving mad. They have permission to riot. They have a green light to murder three members of the Salomon family, as happened the other day in Neve Tzuf Halamish, when a Palestinian Arab heeded Mahmoud Abbas’s call to go on a murderous rampage, and he did.
We can never do enough for the Palestinian Arabs. No matter what we do, we cannot seem to make them…well…happy.
Never mind that even when they live among themselves…say Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, Egypt…all Arabs…no Jews except the few…but happy? No, still they’re miserable…family feuds, tribal grudges, civil wars, thousands killed…millions homeless…brother against brother…
So they can’t seem to co-exist even within the family — but it’s up to the Jews to fix the problem…foremost in Israel.
The World Council of Churches feels the same way as the State Dept… likewise the UN…and the EU…and the NY Times…and the entire media apparatus…here, there, everywhere. They say the Temple Mount flare-up is also Israel’s fault. They say everything is Israel’s fault.
There are days when the entire world cares about nothing besides the Palestinian Arabs.
Are they being fed, diapered and burped properly? Are they getting enough vitamins and sunshine, these poor darlings so needy?
Are they being fed, diapered and burped properly?
Are they getting enough vitamins and sunshine, these poor darlings so needy?
There is always something more the Jews can do to make them happy. Poor dears only receive millions and billions from Europe, America, and yes, Israel.
Are the Jews happy? Silly question. Nobody talks about that and nobody cares. We are on our own.
I realized that most strikingly when the news media reported on the disturbances in Israel as “clashes between both sides.”
Clashes? A 19-year-old Palestinian Arab storms into a home where a Jewish family is celebrating the Sabbath and the birth of a grandson.
The Salomons answer the door expecting a friend. Instead it’s the killer. He begins slashing and knifes to death Elad, 36, Chaya, 46, and Yosef, 70, the father.
That’s a clash? That’s a “clash between both sides?”
A clash is when it’s a fair fight between two equally armed and ready opponents.
Seems to me that over the years, over the centuries, up to this minute, Israel has never asked for anything more except a fair chance, a fair fight.
Why is that asking too much?
A STATE DEPARTMENT GONE ROGUE ON IRAN
JULY 24, 2017 | MATTHEW R.J. BRODSKY
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-State-Department-gone-rogue-on-Iran-500630
Barack Obama holdovers are driving the State Department’s Iran policy.
For the second time during Donald Trump’s brief tenure as president, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the State Department won in the inter-administration battle over the fate of the nuclear deal with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). That victory, however, may end up being short lived given the trajectory of the administration’s overall developing policy toward the regime in Tehran and the process by which the reoccurring 90-day certification of Iran took place in April and again on July 17.
The whole ordeal cast a light on the shrinking esteem in which the president seems to hold Secretary Tillerson and the crew of Obama-era holdovers upon whose guidance he relies.
Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page.
Washington was briefly abuzz on the afternoon of July 17 when rumors began to circulate that President Trump was eager to declare that Iran was in breach of the conditions laid out in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA).
Those receptive antennas were further heightened given the previous signals sent. After all, the State Department already released talking points to reporters on the decision to recertify Iran. The Treasury Department also had a package of fresh sanctions on over a dozen Iranian individuals and entities ready to announce to appease the hawks who were eager to cut loose from the deal.
But Trump didn’t want to recertify Iran, nor did he want to the last time around in April. That evening, a longtime Middle East analyst close to senior White House officials involved in the discussions described the scene to me: “Tillerson essentially told the president, ‘we just aren’t ready with our allies to decertify.’ The president retorted, ‘Isn’t it your job to get our allies ready?’ to which Tillerson said, ‘Sorry sir, we’re just not ready.’” According to this source, Secretary Tillerson pulled the same maneuver when it came to recertification in April by waiting until the last minute before finally admitting the State Department wasn’t ready. On both occasions he simply offered something to the effect of, “We’ll get ‘em next time.”
That for the second time, Team Tillerson forced the president to recertify Iran because they prepared no other options appears to have left a mark on Trump.
According to a recent report, the president assigned a White House team to focus on the Iran deal and sideline the State Department so that he has more options when the issue comes to the fore again in three months.
It’s not just Iran where the president sees a problem; the secretary has been actively tugging in the opposite direction when it comes to solving the Qatar crisis and on a host of issues related to Israel as well.
In many ways, the different view at the State Department should be expected, not just due to institutional issues where diplomats usually prefer finesse to force but because of personnel considerations as well.
Most pundits have pointed to the dwindling bench of the department’s roster. After all, many positions remain unfilled. When Tillerson chose Elliott Abrams to serve as deputy secretary, a well-known conservative who served under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Trump even intervened to quash the appointment. The problem, however, is more about the people already in the department, rather than those yet to be appointed or hired.
Barack Obama holdovers are driving the State Department’s Iran policy.
They include Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Chris Backemeyer, who previously served as the director for Iran at the National Security Council (NSC) under Obama; and Deputy Assistant Secretary and former US special envoy for Syria Michael Ratney. The first two were directly involved in the recertification fiasco – twice. They, among others, made their careers selling the Iran deal and are dedicated to its preservation.
In April, the first draft of the language “was full of Obama-era lines” including several falsehoods promoting the utility of the JCPOA, such as the deal verifiably puts Iran a year away from a nuclear weapon, this source explained.
“There was a huge fight after they wrote it because some said it was too pro-deal and it used all kinds of Obama language.”
“The White House went ballistic,” he said, “and they forced rewrites until they had a statement that was just a few lines.”
The revised version praised neither the deal nor Iran’s actions and pointed to the NSC-led interagency review of the JCPOA – a White House victory on the language used but a State Department win on preserving the status quo in policy.
“Backemeyer and Shannon wrote the certification,” the source confirmed, “and they were closely involved in the certification process this time around.”
For an administration that otherwise sounds determined to curtail Iran’s expansionist ambitions, it’s a wonder that the same people who brought the deal across the finish line, made careers out of selling the deal and helped fill Tehran’s financial coffers are still running the show at the State Department.
What’s more, Secretary Tillerson seems supportive of that decision or oblivious to its impact.
In either case, the department is in open insubordination to the White House and neither scenario reflects well on the secretary or his team. Nevertheless, whether or not his days are numbered, the current policy of rubber stamping Iran’s certification certainly appears to be coming to an end.
That's a flaw alright. Tillerson's a good man but someone needs to talk to him about that insanity.
Five or six hundred people would be a nice start...
How long was he the CEO?
You can look up his bio as easily as I can. He had serious international responsibilities for a long time.
Americans don’t know his political stances.
OK. That’s not the subject of the discussion. If you want to change the subject, say so explicitly.
It is the subject, because I said that the person should have political experience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.