Free Republic

FULL TITLE: Trump touts 'long overdue' Syria pullout, says US 'will devastate Turkey economically' if they attack Kurds President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that the "long overdue pullout from Syria" is starting, and threatened that the U.S. will "devastate Turkey economically" if they attack Kurdish forces in the war-torn country. Trump said the removal of troops, which he announced via Twitter in December, is happening "while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions." The president also vowed that the U.S. "Will attack [ISIS] again from existing nearby base if it reforms." Trump promised the...

Early in his presidency, Barack Obama gave a speech in Cairo that he referred to as "A New Beginning." In that speech in June, 2009, Obama identified the United States as one of the causes of turmoil and violence in the Middle East. He never said the words, "I'm sorry," but his tone was apologetic as he viciously criticized the Israeli "occupation and the US invasion of Iraq. Yesterday, almost 10 years later, American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave the speech that Obama should have given. It was unabashedly pro-American and identified America as a force for good in...

As the partial government shutdown stretches on with no clear end in sight, it’s affecting US embassy staff around the world — and making it harder for the US to conduct diplomacy abroad. Many of the State Department’s roughly 75,000 employees — 50,000 are employed locally in US embassies abroad — have found trouble progressing with their work and even, in some cases, struggling to put food on the table while they wait for the White House and Congress to strike a deal. That’s a big problem, since the State Department is America’s leading foreign relations agency. It now means...

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State The American University in Cairo. Cairo, Egypt January 10, 2019 “We need to acknowledge that truth, because if we don’t, we make bad choices – now and in the future. And our choices, the choices we make today have consequences for nations, and for millions and millions of people, for our safety, for our economic prosperity, for our personal freedoms, and those of our children.” https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2019/01/288410.htm

Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. on Monday contemptuously dismissed White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes’ denials that the Obama administration played a key behind-the-scenes role in getting a resolution condemning Israel through the U.N. Security Council, describing him as an “expert at fiction.” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government says it has “iron-clad” information indicating that the Obama administration had a role in the crafting and passage of the resolution that passed Friday in the absence of a U.S. veto. Ambassador Ron Dermer told MSNBC the Israeli government had proof that it would share that evidence with the incoming...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday launched an astonishing rebuke of former President Barack Obama’s foreign policy at the site of Obama’s famous speech to the Muslim world -- declaring that “the age of self-inflicted American shame is over.” Pompeo delivered his remarks in Cairo, where Obama famously spoke in 2009 and promised a new beginning with Muslim and Arab countries. He was criticized by conservatives for placing too much blame on the U.S. for strife in the region. Pompeo, while not mentioning Obama by name, said that “it was here, in this city, another American stood before you”...

In a pair of his first policy-oriented messages as the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro said his administration will target the “Marxist garbage” within his country’s education system. video is 4:13 min

There has been a sharp decline in the number of American Jews participating in the “Birthright” trips to Israel this winter, reported Haaretz, describing “a downturn of this magnitude, unrelated to the security situation” as “unprecedented”. Since its establishment in 1999, the Birthright organisation has brought some 500,000 young Jews from around the world on free trips to Israel. According to the paper, citing some of Birthright’s key trip providers, the drop ranges from 20 per cent to 50 per cent – depending on the provider – in comparison with the last winter season (which extends from December through March)....

The New York Times is quick to the typeset to explain how Brussels is desperately offended because President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have lowered the importance of the EU. Officials from the European Union are apoplectic that U.S. officials have downgraded their status amid the official registry of diplomatic protocols. (snip) -- BRUSSELS — The Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s delegation to the United States last year without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, a European official said on Tuesday.

Manny Yekutiel opened his restaurant as a ‘civic social gathering space,’ but weekly protests accuse him of racism for supporting Israel Manny Yekutiel hosts an event in San Francisco. (YouTube screenshot) Manny Yekutiel opened his eponymous Manny’s in November, calling the Middle Eastern cafe and restaurant in downtown San Francisco a “civic social gathering space.” His goal for the Mission District eatery was “to create a central, accessible and affordable place to go to become a better informed and more involved citizen,” he told the San Francisco Examiner. Manny’s has earned praise for hosting talks with speakers on issues ranging...

The Wall Street Journal reports Muslims lobbied Twitter to silence the voice of journalist Laura Loomer. As WND reported, Loomer recently chained herself to Twitter headquarters after the social-media giant banned her. The Journal explained Twitter invited a number of outside groups to help it decide who should be banned after criticism for not policing its content. “That solution is creating a new set of problems—public fights, complaints and legal battles,” the paper said. Loomer, described as a conservative Jewish activist, said she didn’t know until recently that outside groups and individuals had privately lobbied Twitter executives to remove her...

A 31-year-old man from Richfield has been arrested after trying to get through a TSA security checkpoint without a boarding pass at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday morning. The MSP Airport police said the incident happened at about 3:15 a.m. in the northern ticketing area. Police said that Isse Dijale Ali tried to get through the checkpoint, but when he was stopped, punched two officers responding to the scene. One of the two officers required treatment at the scene and the other was taken to the hospital. Airport police say Ali has been taken to Hennepin County Jail and is...

The U.S. case against the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada last month, centers on the company’s suspected ties to two obscure companies. One is a telecom equipment seller that operated in Tehran; the other is that firm’s owner, a holding company registered in Mauritius. U.S. authorities allege CFO Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula Holdings Ltd. But...

Ever heard about the 'Khazar' myth pushed by the Neo-Nazis/KKK? In fact, Jews are both a nation and a religion. the percentage of those with any roots in khazaria is so minimal, that there was only one non-historian "writer" that came up with the idea to say that the percentage is higher. As a penpal who is of Jewish background told me once: 'Before the WW2 Were were told to go BACK to Palestine where we came from... now the same haters don't even grant us that...' Hitler VS Khazar mythOddly enough, Hitler's "aryanism" and anti-Jewish sick obession was AGAINST...

Military investigating how top of fighter jet came off, exposing airmen to bitter cold and whipping winds; plane landed safely at nearby base ceremony for new pilots in the Hatzerim air force base near the city of Beersheba, Israel. (AP/Ariel Schalit) The Israeli military launched an investigation to determine how an F-15 fighter jet’s canopy suddenly blew off at 30,000 feet during a training flight last week. Israel Defense Forces officials praised the pilot and navigator of the aircraft for displaying a “calm temperament” when the top of their plane flew off suddenly last Wednesday, exposing them to frigid air,...

F. Lee Bailey — one of the lawyers on O.J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” — sounds like an anti-Semite in his dotage. Bailey, 85, claims he has been persecuted since the football legend was acquitted of double murder in 1995 and that the case was never covered fairly in the media.Interviewed for an hour on the “Morano Whenever” podcast, the bitter Bailey said the book publishing industry and Hollywood have a policy of censoring anything favorable to Simpson.The disbarred lawyer seems to blame Jews when he says, “Some of the people who claim that most of their lives they’ve been subjected...

The Senate late Tuesday will hold a procedural vote on a bill that supports Israel by allowing state and local governments to divest from entities that boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank. The provision is part of legislation numbered “S.1” that was to be the very first bill senators debate in the 116th Congress. In addition to the BDS language, it includes several Middle East security provisions such as new authorities for sanctioning Bashar Assad's regime in Syria and reauthorization of security assistance to Israel. But Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ben Cardin,...

Black activists on Monday called for leadership changes and protests at an Alabama civil rights museum after it rescinded an award for political activist Angela Davis, a move the mayor said followed complaints from the Jewish community.

Less than a week after issuing a profanity-infused call to impeach President Trump on her first day in office, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib is under fire from Republican politicians and commentators for openly posting what they call an anti-Semitic slur on Twitter. Top Republicans in the Senate are also alleging that Democratic leaders are hoping to hide the fact that Tlaib is just one of many new Democratic politicians in Congress who harbor deeply anti-Israel views. Tlaib, responding to post by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday, suggested that Senate Republicans were more loyal to Israel than the...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will deliver a “dramatic announcement” set to coincide with the evening news broadcast. Netanyahu said in statement on Twitter on Monday that he would broadcast a “special announcement to the press.” The embattled prime minister’s mysterious statement left even veteran political reporters baffled as to its nature. Netanyahu called early elections last month and seeks re-election under the shadow of a possible indictment. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, and has said he would not give up his re-election campaign or resign his office if charged.