A letter from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz provides both good news and bad news. The goods news is Horowitz letter says likely no need for a “classified version” which means AG Bill Barr likely declassifying a lot of it.
However, the bad news is on page #2 where Horowitz says the final draft assembly is still ongoing, and the “review phase” has not yet begun. Which means the report is not likely to be made public before Thanksgiving.
Knowing how carefully the OIG chooses words when describing inter-agency discussions and contacts, a note of caution is also warranted for this part:
Instead of “redactions” and/or the need for a classified version (or appendix), the FBI process for a full release could also be requesting “removals”.
Lastly Horowitz notes the “review”, “accuracy” and “comment” period, which we customarily know as the “Principal Review Phase”, is not “anticipated to be lengthy”. In general the principal review phase under Horowitz has been around two-to-three weeks.
During that phase the sections of the report that pertain to specific DOJ and FBI officials will be sent to them (w/ a required NDA) for review and their feedback. The feedback may or may not be included in the final report as published. If principal feedback is included, the IG will generally provide additional rebuttal evidence.
When the principals get their copies, despite the non-disclosure agreement, they will undoubtedly start leaking to their media allies and lawyers on their behalf will begin the process to undermine any damaging information within the report.
Based on today being October 24th, I wouldn’t look for the final report until after Thanksgiving.
Once the DOJ (Rosenstein and Mueller) made the 2018 intentional decision to cover-up the FISA leak by Senate Intelligence Committee Security Director, James Wolfe, they set themselves upon a path where truthful disclosures would be adverse to their interests.
Think about it….
Think about what would have happened in mid 2018 if the DOJ prosecuted James Wolfe for leaking the FISA application…. Think about what would have been revealed about the role of Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele… Think about how damaging that would have been to Robert Mueller… Think about all the ramifications four months prior to the mid-term election.
Remember, Rod Rosenstein authorized the second Scope Memo in August 2017 specifically so Weissmann & Mueller could investigate the claims within the ‘Dossier’. Think about what would have happened to the institution of the DOJ if they had proceeded with the prosecution of James Wolfe for leaking the FISA application; and all of the connections around the Steele Dossier and the FISA application came into light.
Don’t just do a cursory thinking about it, really think carefully about it.
Think about what would have happened to the SSCI and Mark Warner, if James Wolfe had been prosecuted…. Think about all of the April ’17 through 2018 media reporting on the FISA application; the Jan/Feb ’18 media arguments about the Nunes memo…. Think about every narrative the media was selling about the Steele Dossier and then later the FISA application….. and then think about Wolfe’s prosecution proving the media has the actual FISA application in their hands when they were writing all those false stories about it…
The ramifications of prosecuting Wolfe would have collapsed the entire Russian Collusion-Conspiracy narrative; and destroyed the reputations of the SSCI, the Mueller investigation, the DOJ, the FBI and the media.
Now do you see why they covered it up?
Once the DOJ and FBI leadership made the 2018 decision to cover-up the Wolfe leak of the FISA application, they set themselves on a path of no retreat and no return.
People often ask me why I changed my perspective in July/August 2018 and dropped the outlook of optimism toward accountability. Well, there ya’ go. I just explained why.
Put on your memory cap and think about the downstream ramifications for prosecuting James Wolfe. What would have changed?….. EVERYTHING.
Now, think about the downstream ramifications from covering-up the Wolfe leak of the FISA application. Think about all the officials who have first-hand knowledge they covered it up…. Think about the political participants that know the DOJ covered it up… Think about the FBI officials who investigated Wolfe, and who know their institutional leadership made the decision to cover-up what they found….
So what exactly will this same DOJ and FBI do in 2019 with an IG report that is specifically focused on the Carter Page FISA application?
Think about it carefully, and please share your thoughts.
Senator Lindsey Graham held a press conference to introduce a Senate Resolutioncondemning the House of Representatives’ closed-door impeachment investigation.
While the resolution [Text Available Here] is easily blocked by any democrat senator; what is important is to get senators on-the-record. This is an indicator of who will vote to impeach the President should articles ever reach the Senate.
There are 53 Republican Senators and 47 Democrats. If your senator is not on the list supporting the Graham-McConnell resolution, it might be a good idea to STAND and demand to know why?
When we see that justice is measured, not by due process, but by compulsion; when we see that in order to invoke our right to due process, we need to obtain permission from those who rebuke the constitution; when we see that justice is determined by those who leverage, not in law, but in politics; when we see that representatives get power over individual liberty by graft and by scheme, and our representatives don’t protect us against them, but protect them against us; when we see corruption holding influence and individual liberty so easily dispatched and nullified; we may well know that our freedom too is soon to perish….
As we bear witness, anyone trying to convince us this entire assembly of our union is headed in the right direction, well, they might want to revisit their proximity to the 2020 election ballpark. Because they’re not just out of the city – they’re also out of the same state the election ballpark is located in….. Then again, the media know that.
David Mamet had a famous saying, essentially: …‘in order for democrats, liberals, progressives et al to continue their illogical belief systems they have to pretend not to know a lot of things’… By pretending ‘not to know’ there is no guilt, no actual connection to conscience. Denial of truth allows easier trespass.
This hate-filled Democrat ideology relies on our willingness to accept their lies, falsehoods, and scripted presentations; and then demands we grant benefit amid their seeds of doubt.
There’s a level of anger far deeper and more consequential than expressed rage or visible behavior, it’s called Cold Anger.
Cold Anger does not need to go to violence. For those who carry it, no conversation is needed when we meet. You cannot poll or measure it; specifically because most who carry it avoid discussion… And that decision has nothing whatsoever to do with any form of correctness.
We watched the passage of Obamacare at 1:38am on the day before Christmas Eve in 2009. We watched the Senate, then the House attempt passing Amnesty in 2014. We know exactly how it passed, and we know exactly why it passed. We don’t need to stand around talking about it….
We know what lies hidden behind “cloture” and the UniParty schemes.
We watched the 2009 $900+ billion Stimulus Bill being spent each year, every year, for seven consecutive years. Omnibus, Porkulous, QE1, QE2, Bailouts, Crony-Capitalism. We know exactly how this works, and we know exactly why this ruse is maintained. We don’t need to stand around talking about it…. We’re beyond talking.
We accept that the entire Senate voted to block President Trump’s ability to use recess appointments in 2017, and 2018, and 2019. Every.Single.Democrat.And.Republican.
Cold Anger absorbs betrayal silently, often prudently.
We’ve waited each year, every year, for ten years, to see a federal budget, only to be given another Omnibus spending bill by “CONservative” politicians.
We’ve watched the ridiculing of cops, the riots, and the lack of support for laws, or their enforcement. We’ve been absorbing all that. We’ve been exposed to violence upon us by paid operatives of the organized DNC machine. We know; the media trying to hide it doesn’t change our level of information.
Cold Anger is not hatred, it is far more purposeful.
We watched in 2012 as the Democrat party thrice denied God during their convention. The doors to evil enterprise opened by official proclamation and request.
Cold Anger takes notice of the liars, even from a great distance – seemingly invisible to the mob. Cold Anger will still hold open the door for the riot goer. Mannerly.
We’ve watched our borders being intentionally unsecured.
We’ve watched Islamic Terrorists slaughter Americans as our politicians proclaim their uncertainty of motive. We know exactly who they are, and why they are doing it. We do not need to stand around discussing it…. we’re clear eyed.
Cold Anger evidenced is more severe because it is more strategic, and more purposeful. Eric Cantor’s defeat, Matt Bevin’s victory, Brexit, Donald Trump’s highest vote tally in the history of presidential primaries or President Trump’s 2016 victory might aide your understanding.
Cold Anger does not gloat; it absorbs consistent vilification and ridicule as fuel. This sensibility does not want to exist, it is forced to exist in otherwise unwilling hosts – we also refuse to be destabilized by it.
Transgender bathrooms are more important than border security.
Illicit trade schemes, employment and the standard of living in Vietnam and Southeast Asia are more important to Wall Street and DC lobbyists, than the financial security of Youngstown Ohio.
We get it.
We understand.
We didn’t create that reality, we are simply responding to it.
The intelligence apparatus of our nation was weaponized against our candidate by those who controlled the levers of government. Now, with sanctimonious declarations they dismiss accountability.
Deliberate intent and prudence ensures we avoid failure. The course, is thoughtful vigilance; it is a strategy devoid of emotion. The media can call us anything they want, it really doesn’t matter…. we’re far beyond the place where labels matter.
Foolishness and betrayal of our nation have served to reveal dangers within our present condition. Misplaced corrective action, regardless of intent, is neither safe nor wise. We know exactly who Donald Trump is, and we also know what he is not. He is exactly what we need at this moment. He is a necessary glorious bastard.
He is our weapon.
Cold Anger is not driven to act in spite of itself; it drives a reckoning.
When the well attired leave the checkout line carrying steaks and shrimp using an EBT card, the door is still held open; yet notations necessarily embed.
When the U.S. flags lay gleefully undefended, they do not lay unnoticed. When the stars and stripes are controversial, yet a foreign flag is honored – we are paying attention.
When millionaire football players kneel down rather than honor our fallen soldiers and stand proud of our country, we see that. Check the NFL TV ratings – take note.
When a school community cannot openly pray, it does not mean the prayerful were absent.
When a liar seems to win, it is not without observation. Many – more than the minority would like to admit – know the difference between science, clocks and political agendas.
Cold Anger perceives deception the way the long-term battered absorb a blow in the hours prior to the pre-planned exit; with purpose.
A shield, or cry of micro-aggression will provide no benefit, nor quarter. Delicate sensibilities are dispatched like a feather in a hurricane.
We are patient, but also purposeful. Pushed far enough, decisions are reached.
[…] On the drive to and from the East Coast, I paid attention to the billboards and bumper-stickers. Folks, the people in “Fly over” country are PISSED, from the guy that guides hunters, to the mayors of towns and cities, to state senators congressmen and Governors who are voting to arrest and imprison federal law enforcement officials for enforcing federal gun laws that don’t agree with state law … The political pendulum has never, in the history of humanity, stayed on one side of a swing. The back lash from over reach has always been proportionate to how far off center it went before coming back … right now we’re staring at a whole hell of a lot of the country (about 80-90% of the land mass, as well as about 50+% of the population) that is FED UP. You really don’t want those guys to decide that the only way to fix it is to burn it down and start over… (more)
It’s too late…
This man has faced opposition that would overwhelm any other President. Our chosen President is constantly attacked by those holding a corrupt, conniving and Godless leftist ideology. It is our job now to stand with him, firm on his behalf.
To respond we must engage as an insurgency. We must modify our disposition to think like an insurgent. Insurgencies have nothing to lose. If insurgents are not victorious the system, which controls the dynamic, wins. However, if insurgents do nothing, the same system, which controls the dynamic, also wins.
Do nothing and we lose. Go to the mattresses, and we might win.
The choice is ours.
The awakened American middle-class insurgency, led by Donald Trump, is an existential threat to the professional political class and every entity who lives in/around the professional political class. Their entire political apparatus is threatened by our insurgency. The political industry, all of corrupt governance, is threatened by our support through Donald Trump.
Decision time.
You know why the entire apparatus is united against President Trump. You know why the corrupt Wall Street financial apparatus is united against President Trump. You know why every institutional department, every lobbyist, every K-Street dweller, every career legislative member, staffer, and the various downstream economic benefactors, including the corporate media, all of it – all the above, are united against Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is an existential threat to the existence of a corrupt DC system we have exposed to his disinfecting sunlight. Donald Trump is the existential threat to every entity who benefits from that corrupt and vile system.
White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro appears on Fox Business to discuss the purpose and intent of the USMCA and the ongoing China trade discussions.
What Navarro skims upon is the heart of the economic purpose behind the USMCA as requested by President Trump and constructed by USTR Lighthizer. The USMCA establishes an internal North American manufacturing system; this provides the alternative for Asian manufacturing of goods for the U.S. market.
This manufacturing system is why Mexico is “all-in” to support the USMCA. Additionally, the economic benefits within the system as constructed is exactly why Mexican President Lopez-Obrador is willing to pressure House democrats to ratify and also back-up President Trump on other geopolitical issues (immigration controls etc).
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On the Stock Market dynamic. Currently there is a great deal of investment capital waiting to see where the money should be placed. Investment in China has dropped dramatically; investment in Southeast Asia shifted, but new investment is pending this outcome. Multinationals are calculating the TCP (Total Cost of Production), and if the new USMCA is passed there will be a triggering effect of North American investment because the uncertainty will be eliminated.
Unfortunately the advisors to Speaker Nancy Pelosi know the likelihood of economic benefit from the new North American trade agreement; and that’s why they are holding back passage of the USMCA. The democrats know it would be a big investment boost to the economy. Their political future is dependent on not allowing that to happen.
Their excuse for not passing USMCA is a false-excuse surrounding labor issues. The North American content standards within the USMCA will drive the manufacturing decisions; this is the closure of the NAFTA loophole.
To protect herself from the political backlash, Pelosi has leveraged AFL-CIO union President Richard Trumka to support her false claims. Trumka is trying to help the democrats politically by agreeing with the false-narrative about the labor concerns. It’s all a scheme:
(Via NBC) […] In an interview with The Washington Post published Wednesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said it would be a “colossal mistake” for the Democratic-held chamber to vote on ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement soon. The head of the key labor group, which represents more than 12 million active and retired members across a range of industries, added that the agreement “would be defeated” if the House voted before Thanksgiving.
Trumka’s comments underscore the sustained resistance to the USMCA from labor groups even as the White House and key business organizations push for the deal’s swift approval. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democratic negotiators have said they want to resolve concerns about the deal harming American workers or the environment before they ratify it.
The labor leader’s remarks undermine a key claim from the president as he makes his case for the deal: that major labor unions back the USMCA. (read more)
Representative Mark Meadows appears on Fox News to discuss the latest schemes and developments from the basement of the Capitol building. Mr. Meadows explains how Adam Schiff continues manipulating the process to create a media narrative.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley sent a forboding tweet a few days ago outlining the possibility of the FISA investigation would result in a “deep six” cover-up.
Grassley has a unique perspective on a very specific element to the construct of the FISA application, and the political use therein, that most have forgotten. Back in 2018 when Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley was hot on the trail of a very specific individual that has had almost no attention since. The election clock ran out on Grassley; the mid-terms took place; and Grassley was never able to get to his target.
The background to this tweet needs a little context {GO DEEP} and surrounds two individuals who have NOT been identified as being questioned by either IG Michael Horowitz or U.S. Attorney John Durham.
Those two individuals are: Daniel Jones, former lead staffer for former SSCI Vice-Chair Dianne Feinstein; and a lawyer for Christopher Steele named Adam Waldman.
In late 2018, at the same time when the DOJ was initiating a cover-up to protect SSCI leaker James Wolfe, Adam Waldman was a specific person of interest for Chairman Grassley as his action related to the construction of the Steele Dossier and the eventual use of the dossier in gaining a FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant.
Without trying to repeat too much prior research, the gist of the FISA issue surrounded activity that was taking place in March through May 2017.
In the spring of 2017 the FBI was using DOJ official Bruce Ohr as a conduit to Christopher Steele. At the same time Senator Mark Warner -having replaced Feinstein on the SSCI- was using Adam Waldman as a conduit to Christopher Steele. The purposes of both sets of engagement were identical, all of the people constructing the operations against President Trump needed to be sure that Steele was going to stay solid with the team message.
By March 2017 the goal was to initiate and continue the investigation of President Trump under the fraudulent pretense of collusion with Russia. The FBI and DOJ ‘small group’ were still carrying out their 2016 operation and preparing to hand it off to a special counsel. The investigation itself needed the appearance of validity and Chris Steele’s dossier was a central component of the “Russia Collusion-Conspiracy” narrative.
The DOJ, FBI, CIA and ODNI knew the provenance of the dossier was sketchy at best. After the election direct contact with Chris Steele, while the possibility of the evidence being exposed as political opposition research, was impossible. This is why Bruce Ohr and Adam Waldman were used as intermediaries by the FBI and Mark Warner respectively.
♦ Chris Steele remaining authentic to the claims in the dossier was a paramount concern. If Steele backed-away or admitted publicly the dossier information was nothing more than an assembly of Fusion-GPS inspired opposition research, the framework for the Russian conspiracy would collapse.
SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner was the allied member of the group in congress. The House was under republican control (Chairman Nunes) and the Senate Intelligence Committee (Vice-Chair Warner) was more purposeful for the primary role of supporting the Russian conspiracy story as outlined within the dossier.
Fusion-GPS was pushing the narrative through sources and contacts within mainstream news. The FBI, DOJ and Intelligence Community, writ large, were leaking to their allies in media to build upon the same narrative.
Simultaneously FBI Director James Comey was keeping notes of all interactions he was having with the target, President Trump. Multiple people and interests were all working on the same goal, diminish President Trump through the fraudulent auspices of the Russia-Collusion-Conspiracy investigation and narrative.
♦ By March 2017 the need to push more Russia-conspiracy fuel into the media bloodstream was critical.
On March 17th, 2017, Senator Mark Warner -under the auspices of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation- requested the copy of the FISA application, used against U.S. person Carter Page, that contained the dossier as source material and evidence. The ODNI, Dan Coats, gave the written document to SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to deliver and return; albeit with a hidden leak detector as the October 21st 2016 origination date was modified.
When the FISA application arrived at the Senate SCIF, Senator Mark Warner told SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the content of that application (original and one renewal) to the media. James Wolfe took pictures of the 82 pages and sent them via a secured AP to Buzzfeed reporter Ali Watkins.
This leak would provide more fuel for the narrative as it showed there was an official investigative basis for the use of the dossier.
After Warner and Wolfe leaked the FISA application, Warner then turned back to contacts with Adam Waldman the lawyer for Chris Steele. It was now more important than ever that Chris Steele lay low, stick to the original script of his authorship and not provide any comments that would undermine the media’s use of the FISA application in a series of dozens of stories throughout late March and April 2017.
As highlighted by text messages from Adam Waldman to Senator Mark Warner, Chris Steele was subsequently “under a lot of duress“.
The intentional leaking of the FISA application now put Steele in a very stressful position; the FBI had used political opposition research to gain a FISA court warrant, the media was reporting on it, and Chris Steele’s intelligence reputation was part of the narrative.
Dianne Feinstein’s former staffer Daniel Jones was in communication with Glenn Simpson at Fusion-GPS and Adam Waldman representing Christopher Steele. Multiple left-wing entities had given Dan Jones $50,000,000 to pay Simpson and Steele to continue the effort and retain the premise. In essence, Dan Jones was the bag-man for the pay-offs.
Payments made to Glenn Simpson would be used to keep fueling the media story, bolster reporting of the FBI investigation and further build the Russia narrative. All of this was predicated on Chris Steele maintaining the story that his dossier was an official intelligence product. As a consequence Daniel Jones also paid Adam Waldman and Chris Steele for their ongoing support.
Throughout this period in 2017 Daniel Jones was the bag-man traveling between Glenn Simpson, Adam Waldman and his prior work contact on the SSCI, Senator Mark Warner.
This was the trail Senator Grassley was following in late 2018. Senator Grassley knew Waldman and Jones were the keys to unraveling the sketchy construct of the dossier and how it was purposefully used in the FISA application. Essentially the FISA application is built upon political opposition research passed-off as intelligence. That’s the primary FISA issue.
What Senator Grassley is signaling now, is how the IG’s reach is limited. While it has been reported that IG Horowitz has interviewed Chris Steele, the IG has likely never interviewed Adam Waldman (Steele’s lawyer) or Daniel Jones, the bag-man.
Additionally, Grassley is most certainly aware that Senator Mark Warner used SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the FISA application to media; and Grassley watched as the DOJ covered that up to protect the SSCI.
After his arrest for leaking classified documents, SSCI Security Director James Wolfe threatened to subpoena Senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee (July 27, 2018) for his defense. The DOJ (Rod Rosenstein authorizing) quickly cut a deal with Wolfe and dropped the charges down to a single charge of lying to investigators. {Go Deep}
Immediately following that transparent DOJ cover-up, in August 2018, while he was Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley requested testimony from Mr. Adam Waldman, surrounding his contacts and engagements with Christopher Steele, DOJ/FBI officials, and contacts with Mark Warner to undermine and remove President Donald Trump.
Grassley knew in 2018 the key to the corrupt use of the FISA construct was the Steele Dossier; and Grassley also knew the sketchy people behind the dossiers’ use were Adam Waldman and Daniel Jones.
From Adam Waldman and Dan Jones all of the connections with the dossier participants become visible. Those middle-men connect to Glenn Simpson, Chris Steele, Bruce Ohr, Mark Warner and the FBI officials utilizing the dossier in their political investigation. It is highly likely those middle-men would also connect to the participants in the Weissmann and Mueller investigation.
In a response letter released August 17th, 2018, (full pdf) lawyers representing Mr. Waldman told Senator Chuck Grassley their client was “out of the country and not expected to return for several weeks.” SEE BELOW:
However, as we noted at the time, this was a lie.
Internet researcher/investigator almostjingo noticed that Mr. Waldman’s wife Barbara Sturm posted an instagram picture August 22nd, 2018, showing them dining with friends in New York.
(Link) Barbara Sturm second from left, husband Adam Waldman far right.
The letter from Mr. Waldman’s lawyers to Chuck Grassley was intentionally false and simply an effort to avoid giving testimony to congress. Adam Waldman could not be “out of the country for several weeks” and simultaneously having dinner in New York.
Earlier today thirty republican members of the House of Representatives stood up and said they’ve had enough of the ridiculous schemes behind the Pelosi, Schiff and Lawfare plan to conduct an impeachment inquiry without transparency and sunlight.
With House democrats shredding the rules, procedures and historic norms in a transparent political scheme, apparently the GOP is finally starting to fight back. Some righteous indignation was expressed during a press conference. WATCH:
President Trump called on Republicans to “get tougher and fight” Monday against the House’s impeachment inquiry and also suggested that they need to stick together as some have openly critiqued the president.
“I think they’re lousy politicians,” Trump said Monday about Democrats during a Cabinet meeting. “But two things they have: They’re vicious and they stick together. They don’t have [Utah GOP Sen.] Mitt Romney in their midst. They don’t have people like that. They stick together. You never see them break off.” (more)
The “Big Ugly” was always predicated on the inevitable confrontation between Donald Trump and those who have called themselves republicans, yet sold their offices for personal financial benefit.
Today President Trump has traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to deliver remarks at the 9th annual Shale Insight conference. Anticipated start time 3:40pm EDT.
Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks departing the White House. [Video and Transcript below]
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We’re going to Pennsylvania, on an energy meeting and speech, and look forward to it.
I hope you saw what I had to say about the safe zone in Syria, and — are dealing with Turkey. It’s been very successful. We’ll see what happens. It’s a very volatile part of the world, but, so far, it’s been pretty amazing what’s gone on. We’ve lost no soldiers. We didn’t have a soldier hurt. We didn’t have a finger broken. It’s pretty unusual.
And we have thousands of soldiers that have moved out or are moving out of various areas. We have it under very good control. Turkey has done what we’ve asked them to do.
We have tremendous economic might — far more than we had, relatively speaking, when I took office. When I took office, everybody said that China would be the largest economy in the world within the first two years. And we picked up trillions and trillions of dollars of worth, and China has lost trillions of dollars of worth.
So we are far and away the most powerful economy in the world. And if you have a smart President, you’ll stay there.
Other than that, our military is looking good. It’s been rebuilt and we’re respected again.
But I’m going right now — I’ll be going over to Pennsylvania. And many of you, I hope, will be following me.
Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks about the ongoing issues with Turkey and Northern Syria from the White House. [Video and Transcript]
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. My fellow Americans, I greet you this morning from the White House to announce a major breakthrough toward achieving a better future for Syria and for the Middle East. It’s been a long time.
Over the last five days, you have seen that a ceasefire that we established along Syria’s border has held, and it’s held very well, beyond most expectations. Early this morning, the government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria, and making the ceasefire permanent. And it will indeed be permanent. However you would also define the word “permanent” in that part of the world as somewhat questionable, we all understand that. But I do believe it will be permanent.
I have therefore instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to lift all sanctions imposed on October 14th in response to Turkey’s original offensive moves against the Kurds in Syria’s northeast border region. So the sanctions will be lifted unless something happens that we’re not happy with.
This was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody else, no other nation. Very simple. And we’re willing to take blame, and we’re also willing to take credit. This is something they’ve been trying to do for many, many decades. Since then, others have come out to help, and we welcome them to do so. Other countries have stepped forward, they want to help, and we think that’s great. The nations in the region must ultimately take on the responsibility of helping Turkey and Syria police their border. We want other nations to get involved.
We’ve secured the oil, and, therefore, a small number of U.S. troops will remain in the area where they have the oil. And we’re going to be protecting it, and we’ll be deciding what we’re going to do with it in the future.
In any event, by the moves that we’ve made, we are achieving a much more peaceful and stable area between Turkey and Syria, including a 20-mile-wide safe zone. An interesting term, “safe zone.” That’s the term we’re using it. Hopefully, that zone will become safe. Thousands and thousands of people have been killed in that zone over the years. But it’s been sought for many, many decades, and I think we have something that’s going to be strong and hold up.
Turkey, Syria, and all forms of the Kurds, have been fighting for centuries. We have done them a great service, and we’ve done a great job for all of them. And now we’re getting out. A long time. We were supposed to be there for 30 days; that was almost 10 years ago. So we’re there for 30 days, and now we’re leaving. It was supposed to be a very quick hit and let’s get out. And it was a quick hit, except they stayed for almost 10 years. Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand.
I want to thank Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo for leading the American delegation so successfully to Turkey several days ago, along with National Security Advisor O’Brien. I want to thank them very much. The American delegation negotiated the original five-day ceasefire that [DEL: ended :DEL] [enabled] Kurdish fighters to safely leave. It just got them to a point where, frankly, they were able. It enabled them to get out, to go and move, really, just a few miles in a slightly different direction. So this enabled them to do so.
Countless lives are now being saved as a result of our negotiation with Turkey — an outcome reached without spilling one drop of American blood. No injuries. Nobody shot, nobody killed.
I have just spoken to General Mazloum, a wonderful man, the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF Kurds. And he was extremely thankful for what the United States has done. Could not have been more thankful. General Mazloum has assured me that ISIS is under very, very strict lock and key, and the detention facilities are being strongly maintained. There were a few that got out — a small number, relatively speaking — and they’ve been largely recaptured.
I’m also sure that he will be issuing his own statement very shortly. We had a great talk. But we’ve saved the lives of many, many Kurds. He understands that. The war was going to be vicious and probably not very long. And I’m very happy to have been involved in it, as are our Vice President, our Secretary of State, and all of the other people on our team. By getting that ceasefire to stick, we’ve done something that’s very, very special. But by getting the ceasefire after a tremendous amount of really tough war for a very short period of days, that is something very special.
Our troops are safe, and the pain and suffering of the three-day fight that occurred was directly responsible for our ability to make an agreement with Turkey and the Kurds that could never have been made without this short-term outburst.
Should Turkey fail to honor its obligations, including the protection of religious and ethnic minorities — which I truly believe they will do — we reserve the right to re-impose crippling sanctions, including substantially increased tariffs on steel and all other products coming out of Turkey.
We are now an economic powerhouse like never before, and, very importantly, like no other. Our economic might is stronger than it’s ever been, and our competitors are not doing very well.
We also expect Turkey to abide by its commitment regarding ISIS. As a backup to the Kurds watching over them, should something happen, Turkey is there to grab them.
Further, we implore European countries to come and take those fighters that the U.S. captured and bring them back to their countries for incarceration and for trial. Until just recently, Europe has been very unresponsive in doing what they should have been doing for a long time. Now is their chance to finally act.
American forces defeated 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate during the last two years. We thank the Syrian Democratic Forces for their sacrifices in this effort. They’ve been terrific. Now Turkey, Syria, and others in the region must work to ensure that ISIS does not regain any territory. It’s their neighborhood; they have to maintain it. They have to take care of it.
There were some political pundits who responded to Turkey’s offensive in Syria by calling for yet another American military intervention. I don’t think so. But halting the incursion by military force would have required deploying tens of thousands of American troops against Turkey — a NATO Ally and a country the United States has developed a very good relationship with, including President Erdoğan.
The same people that I watched and read — giving me and the United States advice — were the people that I have been watching and reading for many years. They are the ones that got us into the Middle East mess but never had the vision or the courage to get us out. They just talk.
How many Americans must die in the Middle East in the midst of these ancient sectarian and tribal conflicts? After all of the precious blood and treasure America has poured into the deserts of the Middle East, I am committed to pursuing a different course — one that leads to victory for America.
Through much work, we have done things that everybody said couldn’t be done. Today’s announcement validates our course of action with Turkey that only a couple of weeks ago were scorned, and now people are saying, “Wow. What a great outcome. Congratulations.” It’s too early to me to be congratulated, but we’ve done a good job. We’ve saved a lot of lives.
Most importantly, we have avoided another costly military intervention that could’ve led to disastrous, far-reaching consequences. Many thousands of people could’ve been killed.
The last administration said, “Assad must go.” They could’ve easily produced that outcome, but they didn’t. In fact, they drew a very powerful red line in the sand — you all remember, the red line in the sand — when children were gassed and killed, but then did not honor their commitment as other children died in the same horrible manner. But I did honor my commitments with 58 Tomahawks.
Eight long years after President Obama’s ill-fated push at regime change, U.S. troops are still on the ground in Syria. More than half a million people are dead, hundreds of thousands are terribly injured, and millions more Syrians are displaced. It really is a nightmare of misery.
Across the Middle East, we have seen anguish on a colossal scale. We have spent $8 trillion on wars in the Middle East, never really wanting to win those wars. But after all that money was spent and all of those lives lost, the young men and women gravely wounded — so many — the Middle East is less safe, less stable, and less secure than before these conflicts began.
The same people pushing for these wars are often the ones demanding America open its doors to unlimited migration from war-torn regions, importing the terrorism and the threat of terrorism right to our own shores. But not anymore. My administration understands that immigration security is national security.
As a candidate for President, I made clear that we needed a new approach to American foreign policy, one guided not by ideology, but by experience, history, and a realistic understanding of the world.
We are building up America’s military might like never before, investing $2.5 trillion since my election. But we will not be depleted. We will not happen again. It will not be allowed to happen again, where our military is depleted, fighting in areas of the world where we shouldn’t be.
When we commit American troops to battle, we must do so only when a vital national interest is at stake, and when we have a clear objective, a plan for victory, and a path out of conflict. That’s what we have to have. We need a plan of victory. We will only win. Our whole basis has to be the right plan, and then we will only win. Nobody can beat us. Nobody can beat us.
I want to again thank everyone on the American team who helped achieve the ceasefire in Syria, saved so many lives, along with President Erdoğan of Turkey — a man I’ve gotten to know very well and a man who loves his country. And, in his mind, he’s doing the right thing for his country, and we may be meeting in the very near future.
I also want to thank General Mazloum for his understanding and for his great strength and for his incredible words today to me — but me just as a representative of the United States — because he knows that we saved tens of thousands of Kurds. And we’re not talking in the long term, we’re talking in the short term. We’re talking something that was going on immediately and something, frankly, that was planned for a long time.
The job of our military is not to police the world. Other nations must step up and do their fair share. That hasn’t taken place. Today’s breakthrough is a critical step in that direction.
Thank you all very much, and God bless America. Thank you. Thank you.
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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