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Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged on Sunday the possibility that the five Guantanamo Bay detainees released in a prisoner swap for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could return to terrorism. "I'm not telling you that they don't have some ability at some time to get back involved, but they also have an ability to get killed if they do that," he said in an interview that aired on CNN's "State of the Union." "And I don't think anybody should doubt the capacity of Americans to protect Americans," Kerry added. The swap for five Taliban detainees for Bergdahl has sparked fierce...

According to new reports, the American administration has promised the new Fatah-Hamas unity government, which was sworn in this Monday, that it will convince Israel to allow that new government’s elections to be held in the eastern part of Jerusalem. “A source that knows things,” apparently from within the Palestinian Authority (PA) or Hamas, was quoted in the Jordanian paper Al-Arab Al-Youm, reporting the American promise to work for parliamentary and presidential elections for the new unity government to be held in the Israeli capital. […] Despite the American claims of non-affiliation with Hamas, three of the ministers in the...

TOPICS: HOUSE OVERSIGHT John Kerry won't testify before House Oversight Committee after all BY JOEL GEHRKE | MAY 30, 2014 | 2:08 PM Secretary of State John Kerry won't testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the Benghazi terrorist attacks after all. Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., dropped his subpoena in order to eliminate a State Department argument against Kerry appearing before the House Select Committee on Benghazi chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who sits on the regular oversight panel with Issa. "We have been clear that we're willing to work with the committee, despite the fact...

F.W. de Klerk, who served as the last President of apartheid-era South Africa, said on Wednesday that it was unfair to say that Israel is an apartheid state. De Klerk, who is visiting Israel where he received an honorary doctorate from Haifa University, gave an interview to Channel 2 News, in which he was asked about comments recently attributed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, that Israel would become “an apartheid state” if talks failed. “There are many definitions of apartheid. I do not know what Mr. Kerry meant, but one should be careful about making comparisons,” said de...

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are being accused of ignoring the plight of a U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico on gun charges -- with no indication whether Kerry even brought up the case during high-level meetings this week in Mexico City. "I don't think Kerry gives a damn about this guy," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com on Thursday. The case of Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi is notable for the lack of public attention it's gotten from administration officials. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out in 2011 on American hikers imprisoned in Iran, and her husband even...

Secretary of State John F. Kerry raised the ire of Israel and its supporters with his assertion that if Israel didn’t make a deal with the Palestinians, it could turn into an apartheid state. Unfortunately, too few supporters of Israel explained why the slur was so destructive and so wrong. Arabic "catastrophe" in reference to the birth of the state of Israel 66-years-ago in British-mandate Palestine, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who either fled or were driven out of their homes during the 1948 war over Israel's creation. Fortunately, historian and former Israeli ambassador...

Hillary Clinton wasn’t the only Obama administration official who went to bat for Boko Haram over the past few years. Soon after John Kerry took over as Secretary of State, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence P. McCulley, accused the Nigerian government of butchery during a confrontation with Boko Haram terrorists in Baga, a Nigerian town on the shores of Lake Chad, and in May 2013 threatened to withdraw U.S. military aid from the West African nation.

War-torn African country Libya could get back on track if it wanted to, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Thursday. Kerry insinuated that it shouldn't be too hard for Libya and its population of just over six million people given the country's small size and wealth of resources. After all, Libya's roughly the same size as his home state of Massachusetts, the former Senator said. 'I know something about what you can provide when you want to.'

Secretary of State John Kerry introduced billionaire George Soros, at a State Department forum held on Tuesday at the George C. Marshall Center, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The State Department stressed that this is “an in-house event for department employees only, not a public or press event”. Apparently the wisdom to be conveyed by Mr. Soros is only fit for the ears of federal bureaucrats who understand the nuances and “greater good” of currency manipulation. So now we are now living in an America where one is told that Dr. Condoleezza Rice is not worthy to speak at...

Kerry to warn of climate threats to national security in speech By Laura Barron-Lopez - 05/14/14 11:43 AM EDT Secretary of State John Kerry plans to give a major speech on the connection between climate change and national security this summer. In an interview with the New York Times, Kerry said the speech would also be an opportunity to build political support for President Obama's climate agenda. “We’re going to try to lay out to people legitimate options for action that are not bank-breaking or negative," Kerry said. A central part of that agenda are regulations to curb carbon emissions...

If Darrell Issa expected John Kerry to abide by a subpoena in the issue of e-mails withheld by the White House on Benghazi, the State Department wants to temper those expectations. Earlier today, spokesperson Jen Psaki offered a suggestion to the House Oversight Committee — find someone “more appropriate” for such testimony: The State Department is doubling down on its opposition to Secretary of State John Kerry testifying on the deadly Benghazi attack, saying in a statement overnight that a congressional committee should find “a more appropriate witness.” Kerry will be on a previously scheduled official trip to Mexico on

Saturday, May 10, 2014 Dear John Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog Dear John, Every few years a messiah arrives in Jerusalem, shakes hands, makes demands and promises to make peace in our time. Then when the whole thing blows up in his face, he throws up his hands and flies back blaming the ungrateful Jews for not embracing his vision. You must have known this would happen. So many false messiahs have come before you, squinting against the bright sunshine, muttering under their breath to aides and assistants, pounding the table at meetings, downing martinis and...

The only case in history when a predominantly white nation sent its armed forces to Africa in order to bring black people to its country and grant them full citizenship with total freedom is Israel’s rescue of Ethiopian Jewry. In a private conversation, Secretary of State John Kerry unleashed the well-known narrative that dictates that if Israel does not retreat from the settlements, it will become an apartheid state and our fate will be like that of South Africa during its apartheid rule. Kerry even showed deep concern for Israel’s future as a Jewish state. Clearly, his words were directed...

Looking across the landscape of world affairs, from sectarian carnage to Middle East instability, from climate change that threatens the earth to a Russian dictator who threatens security in Europe, from the bellicosity of China to nuclear issues with North Korea and Iran, if there is a Winston Churchill of modern times who issues warnings and offers solutions, it is Secretary of State John Kerry. Since the founding of Israel in 1948, Israel has had no better friend than John Kerry. His aspirations and efforts for Middle East peace might soon be dead, and if they are, historians will long...

Dear John, Every few years a messiah arrives in Jerusalem, shakes hands, makes demands and promises to make peace in our time. Then when the whole thing blows up in his face, he throws up his hands and flies back blaming the ungrateful Jews for not embracing his vision. So many false messiahs have come before you, squinting against the bright sunshine, pounding the table at meetings, downing martinis and fantasizing about the Nobel Peace Prize that they were sure was waiting for them at the end. And they left with nothing except sunburn and simmering rage. Did you really...

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the more than 200 schoolgirls that were abducted two weeks ago and vowed to “sell them in the market.” After pressure from the international community for the Nigerian government to act, the country’s president has reached out to the U.S., among other countries, for help finding and ensuring the release of the girls. Secretary of State John Kerry said on a trip to Africa that the U.S. will do all it can to help, and also took the opportunity to slam the jihadists for…not offering...

During a talk to the U.S. embassy staff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the first stop on his trip to Africa, Secretary of State John Kerry remarked about what he called the "different cross-currents of modernity" and the challenges they present on the African continent. The comments contain a veiled reference to religion, and the part that religion might be playing in some of the current conflicts in Africa: This is a time here in Africa where there are a number of different cross-currents of modernity that are coming together to make things even more challenging. Some people believe that...

Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday indicated he would comply with a House GOP subpoena to testify about Benghazi and other questions from the new select committee appointed by House Speaker John Boehner. But in his first comments on the topic since renewed attention to it began in the last week, Kerry batted away the inquiry into the September 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi as a “partisan” effort that won’t bring forward anything that isn’t already known. “I think this sort of speaks for itself, frankly,” Kerry said at a press conference at the State Department...

National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen has sent protest letters in the last two weeks to the White House as well as various other Western governments, in which he argues that the Palestinian Authority (PA) planned the failure of peace talks. In the letter, Cohen states that the PA deceived US Secretary of State John Kerry regarding its intentions in the talks. Haaretz published the letter on Wednesday, after having received a copy on April 22. A 65-page document submitted to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas by PA Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat on March 9 is attached to the letter. The date places the document...

US President Barack Obama released a statement Tuesday, conveying the "warmest wishes" to Israel on its 66th Independence Day. Obama acknowledged the Jews' millennia-long struggle to return to their ancient homeland and their success in achieving that dream in 1948. "Generations of Jews dreamed of the day when the Jewish people would have their own state in their historic homeland, and 66 years ago today that dream came true," he stated. "Today, Israel thrives as a diverse and vibrant democracy and as a 'start-up nation' that celebrates entrepreneurship and innovation." He stated that the Israel-US relationship is "based on shared...