Free Republic

LINDSEY GRAHAMS APPEASEMENT APPROACH PROVEN FAILURE The naïve bipartisan strategy preferred by Republican moderates like Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Mitch McConnell was further embarrassed on Thursday, as Harry Reid and the Democrats rammed through a measure limiting the rights of the Senate minority on a party line vote. “I wonder if Lindsey Graham and John McCain have learned their lesson yet” said Lee Bright following the 52-48 vote engineered by Reid that takes away the 60 vote cloture rules on certain Senate votes. The conservative challenger to Graham who has been picking up major endorsements and straw poll victories...

The leading challenger to Lindsey Graham, Lee Bright, took on NBC Political Director Chuck Todd on Todd's "Daily Rundown" show on MSNBC - in an interview just completed. Todd repeatedly tried to trip Bright up on Common Core, but Bright was having none of it - calling one of Todd's questions "absurd" at one point. Todd's facial expression clearly showed disappointment, as he obviously thought he had some "gotcha" moments….but they all failed. I'll post video as soon as available.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has an 89.12 lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and has been in Congress since 1995. Yet the Republican fixture on Capitol Hill will face four primary challengers next year, all of whom accuse him of not being a true conservative. Graham, who is much in the mold of his friend, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is known for often reaching across the aisle on important legislative issues. One notable example of this is his being a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration reform group this year. Before being elected to the...

A reminder that as primary season rolls in, our Priority #1 must be to replace the abominations of pro-amnesty RINOs in Red States with actual conservatives-- having an Obama-bootlicking liberal like Lindsey Graham in a state as solidly conservative as South Carolina, or a spineless wimp like Lamar Alexander in a reliably Red State like Tennessee (both of whom backed that traitorous, Constitution-shredding immigration bill earlier this summer), is even worse than dealing with a Democratic Senator. The Democrats could never win a Senate seat in such solidly Red States after all, so these are essential power bases for us...

Thirty years ago President Ronald Reagan famously said, “We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.” Winston Churchill summed up the fatal flaw of appeasement years earlier this way: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile—hoping it will eat him last.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken these words and the lessons of history to heart. He has warned repeatedly how a bad deal with Iran over its nuclear program can have catastrophic consequences for international peace and security. Unless and until Iran is verifiably stripped entirely of its nuclear enrichment capabilities, he believes, the...

One Senate aide blamed Corker’s spotlight-grabbing role as Cruz’s foil on weak Republican leadership. “Because our leadership has not led for a number of months because of electoral politics, Senator McCain and Senator Graham and Senator Corker have sort of emerged as sort of de facto leaders in a leadership vacuum,” he says. “I like Senator Cornyn, I like Senator McConnell, I respect them, I know their colleagues respect them, but in fairness there just has not been a whole lot of direction, there’s really been no strategy.” “It might not work,” he adds of Cruz and Lee’s efforts (we...

A primary challenger to South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the incumbent Senator may be vulnerable in 2014 because his embrace of the Senate's immigration bill has angered South Carolinians who are against amnesty for illegal immigrants. Nancy Mace, who is the first female graduate of The Citadel, appeared on Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125 and said it was unfair to legal immigrants to award those whose first step was breaking the law. "Amnesty does not sell down here," Mace said. "People are very upset with it." The 35-year-old wife, mother, and small-business owner said,...

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus backed Sen. Ted Cruz’s anti-Obamacare quasi-filibuster Tuesday, possibly sending a message to senior GOP leaders who are criticizing Cruz’s tactics in defunding Obamacare. Cruz is speaking against Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plans to hold a vote on a stopgap continuing budget resolution Wednesday, where Reid is expected to strip out language from the House version of the budget resolution that defunds Obamacare. Cruz doesn’t want the vote to happen until Obamacare is definitively defunded — without Reid’s expected changes. “In a fight between Harry Reid and Ted Cruz, I will stand with Ted...

The Obama administration appears to be on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran after three and a half decades of low-level warfare. Now comes the hard part: convincing Congress. Skeptical lawmakers are gearing up to thwart efforts to lift the pressure on Iran. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned this week that he may introduce legislation making it harder for President Obama to loosen existing sanctions, while several others have vowed to slap on new ones. “The United States should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a possible 2016...

Nashville, TN – Today, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation currently has 33 cosponsors – but Senator Alexander is not one of them. Conservative Senate candidate Joe Carr called on Senator Alexander to change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. “I’m strongly pro-life and believe it’s imperative the Senate pass this important piece of legislation. When Senator Graham announced his co-sponsors and Senator Alexander’s name was missing, I was disappointed. I am hoping Senator Alexander will change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. This legislation is too...

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) Massachusetts Senator William "Mo" Cowan (D) Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) Minnesota Senator Al Franken (DFL) South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns (R) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson (D) Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D) Kentucky...

A poll conducted by Harper Polling released today shows US Senator Lindsey Graham remains vulnerable and within the margin of error of being forced into a head-to-head runoff against a conservative challenger in the 2014 South Carolina Republican primary for re-election. Meanwhile, among those vying to replace Graham, South Carolina State Senator Lee Bright has broken away as the main challenger with more support than all others taking on Graham combined.

The State Department has no intention of providing Congress more witnesses to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, despite Sen. Lindsey Graham’s threat to hold up all nominations until he gets satisfaction on the issue. .... But the State Department won’t make more Benghazi witnesses available in response to Graham’s tactic, she said. “Our response is that we need to have these officials in place,” said Psaki. “That’s the only way to strengthen our interests overseas and to be able to represent our diplomatic agenda. It’s also is important for our security interests, which is...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham threatened Monday to hold up all nominations for federal government positions until survivors of last year's deadly attack on the diplomatic post in Libya appear before Congress. "Where are the #Benghazi survivors?" the South Carolina Republican said on his official Twitter account. "I'm going to block every appointment in the US Senate until they are made available to Congress."

As primary season rolls in, our Priority #1 must be to replace the abominations of RINOs in Red States with actual conservatives-- having an Obama-bootlicking liberal like Lindsey Graham in a state as solidly conservative as South Carolina, or a spineless wimp like Lamar Alexander in a reliably Red State like Tennessee, is even worse than dealing with a Democratic Senator. The Democrats could never win a Senate seat in such solidly Red States after all, so these are essential power bases for us to elect reliable conservative Republicans to carry the conservative standard through the socialist, Constitution-wrecking mess that...

If there is a country Saudi Arabia and Iran despise more than Israel, it’s each other. When it comes to Syria, Iran’s most prominent ally, the prospect of removing Bashar al-Assad has a pavlovian effect on the Saudis. ... Putin beat Barack Obama and John Kerry like a couple of drums. While Obama saw an opportunity to spin a resounding defeat into an opportunity to back down under the guise of a diplomatic stalemate as the preferred option, there were consequences. One of those consequences involves Saudi Arabia’s anger with the U.S. for not dealing with Assad. Consequences aren’t necessarily...

he Obama administration is not exactly instilling confidence among its Middle East allies. Saudi Arabia is threatening, according to multiple news reports, to “scale back its decades-old partnership with Washington over the Obama administration’s perceived weakness in dealing with Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and its recent furtive overtures with the Saudis’ arch-enemy, Iran.” Israel is obviously nervous, going to Canada (which, under Prime Minister Harper, has been a stalwart ally of the Jewish state) to stop a bad deal...

GUN RIGHTS ACROSS AMERICA NOT IMPRESSED BY GRAHAMS AR 15 PHOTO OP Upstate Senator Lee Bright picked up the second significant national endorsement in less than a week Wednesday – this one from Gun Rights Across America. “Gun Rights Across America stands for no compromise concerning our Second Amendment rights,” said the group in their endorsement statement. “We are proud to endorse state Senator Lee Bright, due to his unwavering and constitutional stance on Second Amendment liberties. Senator Bright would be a valuable asset in the US Senate and we fully support his candidacy.” Lee Bright enthusiastically embraced the announcement,...

Youtube clip of the best of audio clips from Lindsey Graham. He is a piece of work, isn't he? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_G3YWBPYpU&feature=share&list=UUIVOIu-W3jRE0S_Pv1TQ_Fg

The Talk Shows October 20th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va. THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Cruz; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

To fully understand the state of play in the Republican party, look no further than Sens. Mike Enzi (WY) and Pat Roberts (KS). Both are reliable, mainstream conservatives, yet neither have a record of seeking a fight or standing on principle. Think Orrin Hatch, without the tab-collars. Both, however, stood with Ted Cruz in the fight over ObamaCare. Not coincidentally, both face serious primary challengers. Sen. Mike Enzi is being challenged by Liz Cheney, who criticizes his "go-along-to-get-along" approach to government. Sen. Pat Roberts, who helped guide HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius through the nomination process, is being challenged by doctor,...

The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, has a curious habit of pulling despairing faces when marching his divided troops into battle. As he marched them back again on Wednesday, exhausted and bedraggled by their failed attempt to hold President Obama to ransom over his healthcare reforms, there is much of the same eye-rolling that characterised the start of their reluctant campaign. “We fought the good fight. We just didn’t win,” he told a radio interviewer. But not all Republicans think they can shrug off the past two weeks just as easily. Moderate senators Lindsey Graham and...

In the Republican Liberty Caucus’ endorsement of state Sen. Lee Bright for the U.S. Senate Wednesday, the group’s seemingly mild-mannered, genial state chairman stepped up to a podium here to offer particular praise not usually associated with the pugnacious politician he was feting. “The thing that really stands out for me is that he is a unifier. He can bring together the various aspects, the various segments of the Republican Party of South Carolina,” said RLC South Carolina chairman Scott Pearson. “And he can do that in a way that our incumbent is not able to do.” In just a...

EASLEY — An Easley man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to mailing a death threat to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in 2012. U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said 32-year-old Easley resident Simon Peter Long will serve an 87-month prison sentence for the crime, which Long pled guilty too in June. Long was sentenced on Friday by Senior U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson. The case did not go to trial. According to Nettles, Long wrote a letter to Graham stating, “I’ve got a bullet with your name on it along with your family....

While organizers were setting up for the Aiken County Tea Party rally in The Alley on Saturday morning, Chairman Dr. Mike Vasovski noticed a pedestrian watching them while shaking his head in a disapproving manner. Vasovski noted his observation during the rally, stating there's nothing “sinister” about the Tea Party, and they're the simply the voice of the Conservative people. Those voices echoed throughout The Alley as several political candidates, and others spoke about how they believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, as well as what they think needs to be done to resolve the nation's problems....

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday he would not vote for a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit if it cannot attract support in the Republican-led House, arguing there is little point in claiming victory if a deal does not pass muster in the other chamber of Congress. If the deal cannot attract the majority of House Republicans, “that really does compromise Speaker Boehner’s leadership,” Mr. Graham told ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, adding he understands that defunding or delaying Obamacare is not a viable option. Mr. Graham said the last thing Mr. Boehner needs...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called President Obama a “pathetic leader” for his lack of involvement in negotiations to end the government shutdown. He slammed the president’s unwillingness to compromise with Republicans as “immature.” Today on America’s News HQ, Graham told anchor Doug McKelway, “For [Republicans] to suggest to the American people that we could defund ObamaCare or delay it for a year by shutting down the government, I think was unrealistic.” With the debt limit just four days away, Sen. Graham said, “I’m not going to vote for any deal coming out of the Senate that doesn’t have a...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to work with House Speaker John Boehner to pass a grand bargain deal that would end the government shutdown, raise the debt ceiling, and protect Obamacare by not delaying or defunding it. On ABC News’ This Week, Graham said Ryan should team with Boehner to pass some kind of deal “that doesn’t delay or defund [Obamacare] but would be good government.” “That’s the best thing for the Republican Party and for the country,” Graham said. “But as between House and Senate Republicans, the sooner this is...

What if they gave a shutdown and no one cared? The only people terrified, horrified and mortified by the so-called “government shutdown” seem to be hack politicians and whiny little trolls writing in the Beltway-Manhattan pinkosphere. D.C. is scared, and that’s good. It’s about time that the regulatory Boomtown felt the same boom lowered upon it as its tyranny has lowered upon the rest of the country. I wish I could say that the Republicans were completely united because they know that we need to turn this Titanic around before it slams into another iceberg and defeat the guy on...

All across the country, voters are paying closer attention to the particulars of Senate procedures. As a result, they were angered and insulted by Senator Lindsey Graham, who dishonestly tried to hide behind procedural motions like the recent cloture vote and claim to support defunding ObamaCare while their votes actually make it more difficult to do just that. This newfound understanding and interest by voters is a positive development for the future of liberty. It is an extension of the engagement on the part of citizens that was sparked by Rick Santelli's 'Lake Michigan Tea Party' rant in early 2009,...

GRAHAM CONTINUES TO BE OBAMA REID PELOSI SPOKESMAN For the second time in just a few days, Lindsey Graham has issued statements that have turned him into a viral internet sensation, drawing scorn and derisive laughter from conservatives across the country. The latest was his proclamation that Ted Cruz and anyone else who “creates a process” that causes the government to shut down would “make an enemy of me….for life.” In context, Graham was clearly blaming Republicans and not Democrats.

Well, well, well……. Seems like old Lindsey’s getting his knickers all twisted up. Faced with growing opposition at home, including three already announced primary opponents, the senator is instead doubling-down; blasting Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, and saying that anyone who causes a government shutdown will be his “enemy for life.” His use of the word “enemy” is rather curious, BTW … but that’s for another time. Where do I sign up? Oh, over there, at the end of all the very long lines of folks who are already fed up with Graham, and are now somewhere between being riled-up...

“Once again, Sen. Lindsey Graham has ignored his constituents by helping the Democrat Senate Majority Leader pass a Continuing Resolution which includes full funding for Obamacare. Lindsey Graham has been in Washington for decades but he is still falling for the tricks of Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer. It is disheartening to see that, despite the heroic efforts of Senate conservatives to stop the implementation of Obamacare, Sen. Graham followed in lockstep with Senator John McCain, saying that because McCain and Mitt Romney lost the last two elections, Republicans should completely surrender to every demand President Obama makes. I disagree."

COLUMBIA — Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has a strong backing for reelection next year among GOP voters, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham will need to convince people in his party to give him another term, according to a new Clemson University poll. Haley received favorable marks from 70 percent of 500 Republican voters who participated in two of the past three GOP primaries. Just 18 percent said they did not like the former Lexington lawmaker. Graham, who is facing competition from the libertarian wing of the party in the June primary, was liked by 53 percent of those polled. More...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday said "Allahu akbar" is a "war chant" that sends him running for cover. “When somebody yells ‘Allahu akbar’ in the Middle East, I duck,” the senator said on Fox News radio. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, how you doing Lindsey,’” he said on Fox News radio. Graham was asked about the phrase, which translates to “God is great,” in light of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) remark that people shouldn't find the phrase offensive. “For someone to say 'Allahu akbar,' it’s about as offensive as someone saying, ‘Thank God,’” McCain said earlier this month. But Graham,...

Iran is continuinh to make slow but steady progress on its nuclear program according to the August 2013 quarterly repory [URL at link] by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Tehran continues to install more centrifuges including its second generation model. Iran's accumulated its stockpiles of uranium to 3.5 percent hashas increased modestly while the quantity of uranium hexaflouride enrichef to 20 percent remains roughly the same as teported in May. Iran is also moving forward on construction of its heavy water reactor at Stak, which could potentially provide it with a second path to producing material for nuclear weapons,...

A young Christian girl beheaded in Syria. The sign of extremism and fanatics, the long beards, is present in each and everyone of these subhuman Muslims who killed this small child, in their jihad to Allah – inspired by the Quran. This is Obama, Britain, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey funded and supported handiwork. Don’t put your support behind any of these people, whether for military action in Syria, asylum, immigration, another hate preaching mosque. This is what is moving into your town, your country, your society, your neighborhood: video... This video is written with false propaganda claiming...

Take a good hard look at the photo. Looking away from it will not change the fact that it happened. This girl’s family had different religious views from the Syrian Rebel Army. When the “Free Syrian Army” marched into her town, they chained her to a fence and forced her to watch as her parents were tortured and killed for their religion. These are the same “Free Syrian Army” soldiers that Obama just violated international law to provide weapons to. I will not gross people out with the graphic video or the violence that happens over there daily under the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is one of the strongest advocates of an American military strike against the Assad regime in Syria. He was unhappy when President Obama decided to seek congressional authorization for an attack, and then unhappy when his fellow lawmakers voiced disapproval of the president's plan. Graham believes the diplomatic path chosen by the administration will lead to a debacle. Given all that, Graham now says he will work with a bipartisan group of senators to craft a resolution authorizing the president to use military force -- not against the Syrian regime but against Iran. In an appearance on...

Despite it being overwhelmingly clear that the American people want nothing to do with the civil war in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed entering the war. Under the proposal U.S. involvement will escalate from providing weapons to rebels via the CIA to direct support and training of rebel forces by the U.S. military. ...

Amidst reports of chemical weapons and atrocities committed by the warring factions, one Sierra Leonean, Sheikh Mohammed Canah Bah (photo) [at URL] has been captured and tortured to death by the Free Syrian Army... Even though no reason has been proffered by the rebel faction for the capture and execution of the Sierra Leonean, reports generally indicate that such dispositions have been usually manifested against foreigners in the country, a situation akin to what happened to blacks in Libya during the rebellion against Muhamar Al Gaddafi. A representative of the Sierra Leone Students Union in Syria, now residing in the...

Lindsey Graham is joining other elite establishment Senators in opposing Senator David Vitter’s amendment, which would end taxpayer Obama Care exchange subsidies for elected officials and their staff members. “Lindsey Graham just said, for the record, that his staff is more important than you are” says state Senator Lee Bright, the leading challenger to Graham for the U.S. Senate in 2014. “I’ve known that he was isolated from reality for a long time, but I have to admit, he has gone over to the dark side even further than I thought. There is no excuse not to join Ted Cruz...

This summer produced a triumph of American patriotism. A grassroots coalition arose to demand Congress veto any war on Syria. Congress got the message and was ready to vote no to war, when President Obama seized upon Vladimir Putin’s offer to work together to disarm Syria of chemical weapons. The war America did not want — did not come. Lindsey Graham is determined that this does not happen again. The next war he and his collaborators are planning, the big one, the war on Iran, will not be blocked the same way. How does Graham propose to do this? He...

Half of Syrian rebels are hardline Islamists: British study AFP - Jihadists and members of hardline Islamist groups make up almost half of forces fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to extracts from a British defence study published in Monday's Daily Telegraph. The analysis by defence consultancy IHS Jane's, due to be published in full later this week, puts the number of rebel forces at around 100,000, the Telegraph reported. But these fighters have split into as many as 1,000 bands since violence flared two years ago, the study concluded. Of the rebel forces, IHS Jane's estimates that around...

As our nation contemplates the awful assault on innocent Americans on September 11th twelve years ago, elected officials in the Washington beltway elite are contemplating an attack in Syria, an attack which will aid the very groups who perpetrated those 2001 attacks. These elites are supposedly the best and brightest among us, but this situation with Syria reminds us, as so many other issues have in recent years, that they are no longer capable of leading us. I submit they are not the best and the brightest, but simply the most arrogant and isolated.

Fed up enough to cheer a Democrat – a Jimmy Carter advising Democrat, no less – who showed up in Charleston to bash Graham on pretty personal terms, according to the Daily Beast. Calling Graham the “effective leader of the surrender caucus of the Republican Party,” Democratic strategist and Fox News analyst Pat Caddell drew cheers from a gathering of conservative activists Monday night in the city’s downtown Harbour Club. Graham, a two-term senator, is facing three challenges so far from within the Republican Party and a conservative base incensed with his apparent willingness to compromise with President Obama and...

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday night that he thought President Obama made a “compelling” case for U.S. military action in Syria in his address to the nation. “I thought the moral case was very persuasive quite frankly and compelling, and that was what I remember most about the speech,” Graham said on CNN shortly after Obama spoke. Graham, who has been outspoken in his support of U.S. action in Syria, said the president may have changed a few minds in Congress with the address from the White House. “I think he probably stopped some Democratic bleeding,” Graham said. Asked if...

Two Republican senators who are among President Barack Obama's sharpest foreign policy critics on Saturday blasted a Syrian chemical weapons agreement as "an act of provocative weakness" by America that will embolden enemies such as Iran as it continues its push for a nuclear weapon. The House Democratic leader said the deal, under which Syria will be expected to put its stockpile of chemical weapons under international control before they ultimately are destroyed, represented "significant progress" in efforts by the U.S. to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction. "What concerns us most is that our friends and enemies...

...Warning; Graphic content A Syrian boy is held by the hand as he walks past the body of a beheaded Islamic militant loyal to Assad. An unnamed photojournalist was given rare access to the public execution in the town of Keferghen in the north of the country. @LeJournal/SIPA/Rex Features ... A group of young children sit on a wall as they stare at the dead body. The severed head of a militant is held aloft. The photographer witnessed four executions on August 31. @LeJournal/SIPA/Rex Features

U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on the U.S.-Russian agreement on Syria: “What concerns us most is that our friends and enemies will take the same lessons from this agreement – they see it as an act of provocative weakness on America's part. We cannot imagine a worse signal to send to Iran as it continues its push for a nuclear weapon. “Without a U.N. Security Council Resolution under Chapter 7 authority, which threatens the use of force for non-compliance by the Assad regime, this framework agreement is meaningless. Assad will use...