Free Republic

Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress Wednesday that “we have the capacity” to “knock out ISIL,” but “we’re not going to get suckered into that.” “The enduring transformation that has to take place here is not going to take place if the United States just comes in and were to knock out ISIL and that’s it, go away. Not gonna happen,” Kerry said during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a hearing about the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “We could do that, actually. We have that...

Via the Examiner, he’s not the only State Department official to admit this within the past 24 hours. Jen Psaki also acknowledged last night that a nuclear deal with Iran wouldn’t be legally binding, with good reason. The only way to give an international agreement the force of law vis-a-vis future presidents and Congresses is to have the Senate ratify it under its treaty power. Until that happens — and it won’t happen — this is a deal between Barack Obama and the Ayatollah Khamenei. Once one of them is gone, the deal remains valid if and only if his...

Secretary of State John Kerry spent five minutes of a Senate hearing excoriating a group of 47 Republicans who sent a highly unusual letter to the government of Iran warning that Congress could modify the terms of any nuclear deal it negotiates with the White House. 'This letter raises questions of judgment and policy,' he insisted, before Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker cut him off and scolded him for delivering 'a well-written speech.' 'It's not a speech! This is not a speech!' Kerry erupted. 'This is a statement about the impact of this irresponsible letter. The letter does not have...

Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 3h3 hours ago Kerry: "I believe we have all the (HRC) emails...let me check on that when I actually have time to pay attention to such an important issue" 0 replies 63 retweets 44 favorites

The U.S. State Department hunkered into defense mode after Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional speech, saying in an early Wednesday statement that the Israeli prime minister misrepresented one of his claims that painted Secretary John Kerry in a poor light. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, referred to the website FactCheck.org to make her point that Netanyahu’s remarks about Iran going nuclear actually “misrepresented what Kerry had said’ during the secretary’s House Foreign Affairs Committee testimony on Feb. 25, Fox News reported. In his speech, Netanyahu said Kerry told Congress Iran could “legitimately possess” up to 190,000 centrifuges used to enrich...

MONTREUX, Switzerland - Simply demanding Iran's capitulation is no way to get a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday as he wrapped up three days of talks with a veiled dig at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kerry said he and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif made some progress in their negotiations in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux and would resume them on March 15. Kerry aides said many obstacles remained before a late March deadline for an outline accord between Iran and six world powers. "There are still significant...

That’s some nuanced nuance right there. The ISIS Jihadists just want to join John Kerry for a meal at a fancy restaurant. Maybe he can invite them on over. Kerry introduced the topic of what motivates terror recruits. “Why do people make what to many of us would seem to be an utterly wrongheaded choice and become the kind of terrorists that we’re seeing?” he asked. “It’s a question that we need to approach with humility, but also with determination, because you cannot defeat what you don’t understand.” “Certainly, there is no single answer,” Kerry continued. “In our era, poisonous...

The rise of violent extremism represents the pre-eminent challenge of the young 21st century. Military force is a rational and often necessary response to the wanton slaughters of children, mass kidnappings of schoolgirls, and beheading of innocents. But military force alone won’t achieve victory. In the long term, this war will be won only by deploying a broader, far more creative arsenal. A safer and more prosperous future requires us to recognize that violent extremism can’t be justified by resorting to religion. No legitimate religious interpretation teaches adherents to commit unspeakable atrocities, such as razing villages or turning children into...

North America has an “enormous interest” in building diplomatic relationships with Cuba, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday during a weekend meeting with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico. “This is an effort we believe offers the best opportunity for the people of Cuba to improve their lives and to take part in the choices about their lives,” Kerry said during a news conference at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. A high-level U.S. delegation held two days of talks with Cuban officials in Havana last week for the first time in decades. In December, President Barack Obama announced plans to restore...

The intervention in Israel’s forthcoming election by groups that have received funding from the U.S. government, and which are staffed by veterans of the Obama campaign, certainly sounds like intervention on the internal politics of another nation – a big no-no on the world stage. It demands investigation, and unsurprisingly, Senator Ted Cruz, joined by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), is at the forefront. He has sent off a letter to Secretary of State Kerry asking specific questions – questions that can be repeated at Senate oversight hearings. Israel Matzav excerpts some of the key issues....

When folks like Andrew McCarthy articulated why our findings about then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s close adviser Huma Abedin were important, his camp was smeared as being discriminatory. His argument had nothing to do with discrimination or Islamophobia. It had everything to do with Abedin’s familial ties compromising her judgment and allegiances to the U.S. Constitution. Here we have an example that demonstrates this reality further and it comes via Kenneth Timmerman, who has picked up on the fact that the new Secretary of State – John Kerry – has a son-in-law with family still living in Iran. This...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — January 22, 2015 … The Israeli espionage agency, Mossad, in a rare public statement says that they do support Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s and US Congress’s effort to enhance sanctions on Iran. Misinformation spread by the Obama White House earlier today, using Bloomberg News, had stated that the Mossad did not agree with Netanyahu’s stance on placing tougher sanctions against Iran. Israel has argued that Iran is using “peace talks” as an excuse to develop both nuclear weapons and a delivery system for the nuclear weapons to attack Israel, Europe and the US....

Kerry: Violent Extremism Is Not Islamic By KEN DILANIAN DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Violent extremists who are killing children and others in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other parts of the world may cite Islam as a justification, but the West should be careful about calling them Islamic radicals, Secretary

Here is an excerpt from John Kerry's speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: Against this enemy, we are increasingly organizing and fighting back, but in doing so we have to also keep our heads. Obviously, the biggest error that we could make would be to blame Muslims collectively for crimes not committed by Muslims alone – crimes that the overwhelming majority of Muslims oppose, crimes that their faith utterly rejects, and that Muslim leaders themselves have the greatest ability to address. Religions don’t require adherence to raze villages and blow up people. It’s individuals with a distorted...

Violent extremists who are killing children and others in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other parts of the world may cite Islam as a justification, but the West should be careful about calling them Islamic radicals, Secretary of State John Kerry told an audience of opinion leaders Friday at the World Economic Forum. In a speech calling for a global effort against violent extremism, Kerry said it would be a mistake to link Islam to criminal conduct rooted in alienation, poverty, thrill-seeking and other factors. …

Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called for "ambitious, concrete action" to combat climate change after a government agency released new data about global temperatures. "What’s surprising is that anyone is surprised that 2014 was the hottest year on record. The science has been screaming at us for a long, long time," Kerry said Friday in a statement released by the State Department. Kerry said historic temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions and extreme weathers events like torrential rain and droughts "are having devastating economic, security and health impacts across the planet." His comments were in response to a new report...

Secretary of State John Kerry is currently in India as advance guard for President Obama’s visit later this month. The president is going there to try and get some commitment from India (or the illusion of a commitment) to reduce its emissions of dreaded greenhouse gases. Until now, India, along with China, has resisted calls for major reductions, effectively blocking any global treaty limiting fossil fuel use. The president is very keen on changing this before this December’s United Nations confab in Paris, where such a treaty is supposed to be inked. Kerry’s mission is to get India ready for the president....

Secretary of State John Kerry called criticism that no top U.S. officials attended Sunday's massive march against terrorism in Paris "quibbling" Monday, even as he announced a trip to the French capital later this week for talks on countering Islamist violence. Kerry announced his plans at a press conference in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, where he had made a long-scheduled appearance at an international investment conference Sunday ahead of President Barack Obama's planned visit to that country later this month. "I would have personally very much wanted to have been [in Paris]," Kerry said, "but couldn't do so because...

'Global Climate Change Is Already Violently Affecting Communities … Around the World'.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Obama administration against criticism for not having a high level official attend a unity march in Paris and said he will head to France on Thursday. Kerry called the criticism "quibbling" when asked about the absence at the anti-terrorism rally Sunday. At least 3.7 million people attended the event -- including 40 world leaders -- in a show of solidarity against the terror attacks in France over the past week. "The U.S. has been deeply engaged with the people of France since this incident occurred," Kerry told reporters, adding that the United...