“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
On the Durham investigation: “The US Attorney for Connecticut who is in charge of the investigation is making great progress. As you know, he is a 35yr veteran of the Department with a great reputation for non-partisanship. He was selected by two Democrat Attys General to do sensitive investigations for them. He’s a by-the-book kind of guy. He’s thorough and fair, and I’m confident he’s going to get to the bottom of things.
We’ll let the chips fall where they may. I think they all know John Durham’s reputation…. and …a… we’ll see how it turns out,…. but I do want to say, One of the reasons Mr. Durham is able to make the kind of progress he is making is because …a…. Director Wray and his team at the FBI have just been outstanding in their support and their responsiveness. They’ve given……..”
William Barr, Attorney General, USA, October 28, 2019
The interview of Bill Barr was done by Jake Gibson, the FOX Producer for the Justice Department. The full interview is not out yet.
Barr, speaking Monday to Fox News on the sidelines of a law enforcement event in Chicago, rejected Democrats’ claims he is acting as Trump’s personal lawyer.
“That’s completely wrong and there is no basis for it, and I act on behalf of the United States,” Barr said. The attorney general said that while he’s assisting in connecting Durham with countries that could have valuable information, Durham is running the show.
“He is in charge of the investigation, I’m not doing the investigation,” Barr said, while describing Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, as “thorough and fair” and saying he’s making progress.
……. Barr said. “As you know, I’ve said previously that I felt there was a failure of leadership at the bureau in 2016 and part of 2017, but since Director Wray and his team have taken over there’s been a world of change. I think that he is restoring the steady professionalism that’s been a hallmark of the FBI. I really appreciate his leadership there.”
(Member of Congress want him to testify or accuse him of going after political enemies) In response to such criticism, Barr said, “It wouldn’t be appropriate at this stage for me to discuss the Durham investigation.” He said he’d “certainly inform the public and Congress” when possible.
On Durham traveling to Italy: “Well, some of the countries that John Durham thought might have some information that would be helpful to the investigation wanted preliminarily to talk to me about the scope of the investigation, the nature of the investigation, and how I intended to handle confidential information, and so forth,” Barr said. “So I initially discussed these matters with those countries and introduced them to John Durham and established a channel by which Mr. Durham can obtain assistance from those countries.”
Pack your bags, we’re going to Chicago!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my home town, that toddlin’ town, back on State Street, that GREAT Street! Ohhh, how I do miss Chicago! It’s calling me home!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feFl1DMT_Y4
President’s remarks at Andrews on the way.
The President will address the Police Chiefs, IACP.
An invite for the fundraiser, obtained by NBC 5, indicates that the event will be hosted in part by Todd Ricketts, the Republican National Committee finance chair and part-owner of the Chicago Cubs.
Also listed among the hosts for Monday’s event were RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, Co-Chairman Tommy Hicks Jr. and Trump’s Campaign Manager Brad Parscale. Tickets ranged widely in price, from $2,800 per person for a ticket to the lunch to $35,000 per couple for a photo opportunity, reaching $100,000 per person for access to a roundtable discussion with Trump himself.
As a special tribute to the “Members of the Illinois Law Enforcement Community” AND the great city of Chicago (and all the police cars wrecked during the making of this movie), we offer the following……. cause we all need Someone To Love. We need You, You, YOU!
Okay, okay, okay, but I have to tell you more about Chicago!! Cuz it’s so wonderful.
Chicago is the home of Wrigley Field and the Cubbies. Mrs. Dvorjack took us to Cubbies games (when I couldn’t go with Dad), and SHE taught me how to keep score, sitting on that third base line. Ahhh, yes, Don Kissinger, Ron Santos, Billy Williams, Joe Pepitone, and God Bless Ernie Banks. Those were the days! Five generations of our family cheered for the Cubs, and when they finally won, I swear I could hear Aunt Hazel cheering from heaven!
And then there’s Soldier Field! First time, I was only five years old. Little Blue Snowsuit, wrapped so tight I could barely move and couldn’t wipe my nose. Dad had four tickets as a salesman. He invited two clients and had an extra ticket….. of course, he dragged me along. I loved it. And yes, I have seen the mighty Gale Sayers run the field many times. Glorious. Gosh it was fun to tag along with Dad, and I begged to go with him. I really thought referees were aliens until I was about 12yrs old. First time I ever saw Dad cry was the movie Brian’s Song.
But wow, Dad has his fingerprints all over Chicago. Dad and a small team invented/perfected high speed elevators. Their first challenge was the elevator which goes around for the St Louis Arch. After that success, Dad was transferred to Chicago for the Amoco Building (70 stories), the Hancock Building (98) and finally, Sears Tower (110 stories). And we were in the THICK of it all, I was a kid, but I remember. Most little girls idolize their dads, but my dad could build buildings which pierced the clouds.
I remember the day the the cornerstone was laid for Sear’s Tower. Later on, 3rd grade, the mechanics went on strike, and the execs had to service the elevators (schedule maintenance). Dad took me with him. He lowered the elevator manually and stepped off onto the cab, and extended his hand to me……… and I stepped on top of the elevator. I was inside the shaft and looked up. WOwwwwwwww, I thought. No fear, never even thought about it. Dad wasn’t afraid so why would I be? Golden moment.
But the union guys and architects were always at our house. They haggled and bounced me on their knee. Wonderful men, the best of men, the men who built our country! Dad had a big BBQ and the liquor flowed. One weekend, the same men who built Sear’s Tower built me a swingset. My God, it was divine! Higher and higher, faster and faster, we would swing…. almost reaching those same clouds, Dad’s clouds.
Best place ever was the Museum of Science and Industry by the Lake. My girlfriend and I would tag along with Dad on Saturday mornings when he went to the office. We would squeal with delight at Lower Wacker Drive and all the congestion. Afternoons were spent at the Museum and we explored every corner. She ended up as a math major and a lawyer…… great days. Museum of Natural History was good but not as good as Science and Industry.
And the Polish/Greek/Russian Jewish bakeries where dad would pickup pastry or candy…. I can still taste it. Years later, I took Big T back to Chicago for a Bears/Saints NFC game and hunted and hunted for those bakeries…… just to have one more taste. Finally, on a return trip with Gunner, we found them…. and just as good as before. Years melt away with one bite, close your eyes and you’re 8yrs old again. It’s magic pastry.
And the oysters, steaks and martinis. It doesn’t get any better than in Chicago. Dad was a member of the Playboy Club back in the 60’s. I always wondered why mom was a little mad when he went there. Why couldn’t I go?
Then there was our playground, the Morton Arboretum (Morton Salt family). At the end of our street was the entrance to the Arboretum. We could ride our bikes and because we were kids, the guards let us in all the time. It was a wondrous place, like a foreign land, with Japanese Tea Houses and exotic gardens and greenhouses, woodland trolls and mazes. I had never seen anything like it. It was like reading a book……..and imagining what the scene looked like…… and then suddenly being IN the book. Around the corner there could be a Prince, a Wicked Queen, or a Mongolian Warlord. Does that make sense?
It was a place of natural beauty. We always stayed too late and then had to pedal fast to get home before the sun set. I can still feel the chill sting on my face as we would stand up to pedal faster, streamers in a straight line off the handle bars, and barely touching that sparkly green banana seat. The evening temps dropped fast.
President Trump reminds me a lot of my dad. Funny how so many people say the same thing. Appropriate that President Trump would have a hotel in Chicago. It’s a big one too, right on the Chicago River.
You know that River, the one they dye green for St Pat’s Day.
So, WELCOME to Chicago! We’re glad you’re here. Eat well, dance a little, and try to keep up with our President today! He’s on the move, AGAIN!
We will post links as soon as they are available and run a thread for the speech.
Remember, we’re putting the band back together, “We’re on a Mission from God”
Newsweek reports that as Trump announced the death of Baghdadi, Hellfire missiles targeted Muhajir by Ayn al-Bayda, near Jarablus in Aleppo province. The operation that targeted Muhajir comes just one day after a raid targeted ISIS’ leader in the Idlib province of Syria, where Trump said he detonated a suicide vest as U.S. forces closed in.
Remember all the intel grabbed from the Bin Laden raid and how we heard the agencies were sitting on it? Welllllllllll, there’s no grass growing under our feet now. Our military has CONTINUED THE MISSION IN THEATRE.
Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobane, also reported on the news Sunday.
“Continuing the previous operation, terrorist Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, the right-hand man of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and an ISIS spokesman, was targeted in the village of Ayn al-Bayda, near Jarablus, in direct coordination between SDF intelligence and the U.S. military,” Kobane said.
Continuing— He released several sermons……, went silent for 6 months…….., made last speech……., a week later President Trump declared victory over ISIS.
Details of Syria from Newsweek, some shaded by bias……
Final Paragraph:
Kobane referred to the raid that ended in the death of Baghdadi as a “Successful & historical operation due to a joint intelligence work with the United States of America.” Trump also expressed gratitude Syrian Kurds, noting they provided “useful” information, while Iraq appears to have played a major role in intelligence-gathering in the lead up to the operation.
While we are all aware of the news by this point, we can use this thread to accumulate info for further use. Use this thread as our own historical record. Here, we can dump info details, maps, credit to various agencies, comments, etc.
We’ll start with the statement from the President, the ensuing presser, and work backwards…. and by the way, God Bless Our Military! Full transcript is located at the bottom of this post.
It started with a single Tweet from President Trump at 8:23pm on a Saturday night during the World Series.
"Terrorists who oppress and murder innocent people should never sleep soundly, knowing that we will completely destroy them." pic.twitter.com/b6MnJPFnH3
Lindsey Graham was apparently in the WH Situation Room when it happened. He spoke from the WH podium. Where was Mitch McConnell???????? Video is not available as yet but we will post when it hits. Lindsey did post this at 10:08am. UPDATE: Video of Graham Presser available at 1:22pm
Last night the best of America confronted the worst of mankind.
I’ll let you guys fill in all the extra details. It’s a good day for the world. God Bless our Military and the dog who was injured.
Americans never forget.
Kayla Mueller, Steven Sotloff, James Foley and Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig
Per Maria Bartiromo: “We called Debbie Dingell of Michigan to come on the show.” As of 11:47am, FOX News had “not heard from the leadership of the Dem Party on reaction to the incredible news” of the Death of the #1 Terrorist in the World…… silence.
Per Maria Bartiromo: As of 11:53, “We are just getting reaction from House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi….. someone must be watching”. Interesting. “While the death of this leader is significant it does not mean ISIS is dead”….. and she goes on to demand a briefing. Snippy response. No praise for our military, etc. (I was proven wrong 75 minutes later, Pelosi did praise military in beginning of her statement.)
Update, 1:15PM: Official Pelosi Statement:
Pelosi Statement on Al-Baghdadi Raid OCTOBER 27, 2019 PRESS RELEASE Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. military raid:
“Americans salute the heroism, dedication and skill of our military and our intelligence professionals and acknowledge the work of our partners in the region. We are relieved that no U.S. personnel died in this daring raid.
“The death of al-Baghdadi is significant, but the death of this ISIS leader does not mean the death of ISIS. Scores of ISIS fighters remain under uncertain conditions in Syrian prisons, and countless others in the region and around the world remain intent on spreading their influence and committing acts of terror.
“This month, the House passed a joint resolution on an overwhelmingly bipartisan 354-60 basis which rejects President Trump’s green-lighting of Turkish aggression into Syria against our Kurdish partners, and calls on him to present a clear strategy to defeat ISIS. The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region. Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington.”
Nancy Pelosi
Please continue to check Q Tree Daily Thread for minute-by-minute response from our members.
Per Dora and others, much has been made of the the connection between John McCain and Al Baghdadi.
In the immediate aftermath of the successful raid, the media has decided to make the raid political. The pundits are questioning why the Dem Leaders in Congress were not notified when Lindsey was at the White House and Chairman Burr of Senate Intel was notified (talk about a leaker, yikes!)
Anyway, Glen Greenwald has already located a 2015 NYTimes article about the 2012 Osama Bin Laden raid, which explained as follows. WH attorneys deemed justifiable delay t notification of Congress during the raid……. yet Leon Panetta, unable to contain himself, blabbed to Congress without permission. https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1188496336473219073
Media Response: Unreal to watch the NYC/DC media twist themselves into a pretzel to defend terrorists…… cuz orange man is bad.
The reaction from Bloomberg tried to outdo the terrorist pandering of the WaPost. From Bloomberg: “… Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi transformed himself from a little-known teacher of Koranic recitation into the self-proclaimed ruler of an entity that covered swaths of Syria and Iraq”
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi transformed himself from a little-known teacher of Koranic recitation into the self-proclaimed ruler of an entity that covered swaths of Syria and Iraq https://t.co/CNI5XBsoai
Last night, the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. He was the founder and leader of ISIS, the most ruthless and violent terror organization in the World. The United States has been searching for Baghdadi for many years. Capturing or killing Baghdadi has been the top national security priority of my Administration. U.S. Special Operations forces executed a dangerous and daring nighttime raid into Northwestern Syria to accomplish this mission.
No U.S. personnel were lost in the operation, while a large number of Baghdadi’s fighters and companions were killed with him. He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming. The compound had been cleared by this time, with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. Eleven young children were moved out of the house un-injured. The only ones remaining were Baghdadi in the tunnel, who had dragged three children with him to certain death. He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast, but test results gave certain and positive identification.
The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, panic and dread – terrified of the American Forces bearing down.We were in the compound for approximately 2 hours, and after the mission was accomplished we took highly sensitive material and information from the raid.Baghdadi’s demise demonstrates America’s relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders, and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of ISIS!The reach of America is long. As you know, last month we announced that we recently killed Hamza Bin Laden, the very violent son of Osama Bin Laden, who was saying very bad things.
He was the heir apparent to Al Qaeda. Terrorists who oppress and murder innocent people should never sleep soundly, knowing that we will completely destroy them. These savage monsters will not escape their fate – and they will not escape the final judgement of God.
Baghdadi has been on the run for many years, long before I took office. At my direction, as Commander-in-Chief, the United States obliterated his ‘caliphate’ in March of this year. Today’s events are another reminder that we will continue to pursue the remaining ISIS terrorists to their brutal end.
Baghdadi and the losers who worked with him – in some cases people who had no idea what they were getting into and how dangerous and unglamorous it was – killed many people. Their murder of innocent Americans Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller were especially heinous. The shocking publicized murder of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive in a cage for all to see, and the execution of Christians in Libya and Egypt, as well as the genocidal mass murder of Yazidis, rank ISIS among the most depraved organizations in history.
The forced religious conversions, the orange suits prior to many beheadings, all of which were openly displayed for the world – this was all Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s work. He was vicious and violent, and he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying. This raid was impeccable, and could only have taken place with the acknowledgement and help of certain other nations and people.
I want to thank the nations of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and I also want to thank the Syrian Kurds for certain support they were able to give us. Thank you as well to the great intelligence professionals who helped make this very successful journey possible.
I want to thank the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines involved in last night’s operation. You are the very best there is anywhere in the world. I want to thank General Mark Milley and our Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I also want to thank our professionals who work in other agencies of the United States government and were critical to the mission’s success.
Last night was a great night for the United States and for the World. A brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, was violently eliminated – he will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.
God bless the United States of America!
Comments from The President of The United States on the death of Al Baghdadi, October 27, 2019.
Q When did you first hear that this was — operation was going to get started?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ve had him under surveillance for a couple of weeks. We knew a little bit about where he was going, where he was heading. We had very good information that he was going to another location. He didn’t go. Two or three efforts were cancelled because he decided to change his mind — constantly changing his mind. And, finally, we saw that he was here, held up here. We knew something about the compound. We knew it had tunnels. The tunnels were a dead-end, for the most part. There was one, we think, that wasn’t. But we had that covered too, just in case.
The level of intelligence, the level of work, was pretty amazing. When we landed with eight helicopters, a large crew of brilliant fighters ran out of those helicopters and blew holes into the side of the building, not wanting to go through the main door because that was booby-trapped. And there was something — it was something really amazing to see. I got to watch it, along with General Milley, Vice President Pence, others, in the Situation Room. And we watched it so clearly.
Q They had body cameras? Or how did you watch the —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t want to say how, but we had absolutely perfect — as though you were watching a movie. It was — that — the technology there alone is really great.
A big part of the trip that was of great danger was the — it was approximately an hour and 10-minute flight, and we were flying over very, very dangerous territory. In fact, some of our leaders said that that could be the most dangerous — flying in and flying out. And that’s why, last night, we were so quiet about it. We didn’t say anything, and I didn’t make my remark until after they had landed safely in a certain area.
But the flight in, the flight out, was a very, very dangerous part. There was a chance that we would have met unbelievable fire. Russia treated us great. They opened up. We had to fly over certain Russia areas, Russia-held areas. Russia was great. Iraq was excellent. We really had great cooperation.
And you have to understand: They didn’t know what we were doing and where we were going, exactly. But the ISIS fighters are hated as much by Russia and some of these other countries as they are by us. And that’s why I say they should start doing a lot of the fighting now, and they’ll be able to. I really believe they’ll be able to.
Yes, Jennifer?
Q Sir, can you say what role the Kurds played in this, just generally?
THE PRESIDENT: They gave us not a military role at all, but they gave us some information that turned out to be helpful, the Kurds.
Q And can you tell us what the role of Turkey might have been, and Iraq?
THE PRESIDENT: Who?
Q What was the role of Turkey? How did they help?
THE PRESIDENT: Turkey — we dealt with them. They know we were going in. We flew over some territory. They were terrific. No problem. They were not problem. You know, they could start shooting, and then we will take them out. But a lot of bad things can happen. Plus, it was a very secret mission. We flew very, very low and very, very fast. But it was a big — it was a very dangerous part of the mission. Getting in and getting out too, equal. We went in identical — we took an identical route. We met with gunfire coming in, but it was local gunfire. That gunfire was immediately terminated. These people are amazing. They had the gunfire terminated immediately, meaning they were shot from the airships.
Q I’m trying to understand the timing. You talked earlier — you know, several weeks — about pulling troops out, you know, and then troops were put back in. And then, you know — I’m trying to understand the timing of when this operation — how it fits —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll tell you, from the first day I came to office — and now we’re getting close to three years — I would say, “Where’s al-Baghdadi? I want al-Baghdadi.” And we would kill terrorist leaders, but they were names I never heard of. They were names that weren’t recognizable and they weren’t the big names. Some good ones, some important ones, but they weren’t the big names. I kept saying, “Where’s al-Baghdadi?” And a couple of weeks ago, they were able to scope him out.
You know, these people are very smart. They’re not into the use of cellphones anymore. They’re not — they’re very technically brilliant. You know, they use the Internet better than almost anybody in the world, perhaps other than Donald Trump. But they use the Internet incredibly well.
And what they’ve done with the Internet, through recruiting and everything — and that’s why he died like a dog, he died like a coward. He was whimpering, screaming, and crying. And, frankly, I think it’s something that should be brought out so that his followers and all of these young kids that want to leave various countries, including the United States, they should see how he died. He didn’t die a hero. He died a coward — crying, whimpering, screaming, and bringing three kids with him to die a certain death. And he knew the tunnel had no end. I mean, it was a — it was a closed-end — they call it a closed-end tunnel. Not a good place to be.
Q So this was going on before you made the announcement that you’re pulling them out?
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve been looking for him for three years. I’ve been looking for him. I started getting some very positive feedback about a month ago, and we had some incredible intelligence officials that did a great job. That’s what they should be focused on.
Q And about what time did this operation start yesterday, sir? And have you notified the leaders on —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, this operation started two weeks ago, in terms of the real operation, because we had him scoped. We thought he’d be in a certain location. He was. Things started checking out very well. We were involved, on our own team, with some brilliant people who I’ve gotten to know. Brilliant people that love our country. Highly intelligent people. And we — we’ve had it pretty well scoped out for a couple of weeks.
But he tends to change immediately. He had a lot of cash. He tends to change, like, on a dime, where he’ll be going to a certain location. All of a sudden, he’ll go someplace else and you’ll have to cancel.
But this was one where we knew he was there. And you can never be 100 percent sure because you’re basing it on technology, more than anything else. But we thought he was there, and then we got a confirmation. And when we went in, they were greeted with a lot of firepower. A lot of firepower.
I’ll tell you, these guys, they do a job. They are so brave and so good. And, so importantly, many of his people were killed. And we’ll announce the exact number over the next 24 hours. But many were killed. We lost nobody. Think of that. It’s incredible.
Q And when you told the Russians, you requested permission —
THE PRESIDENT: Our dog was hurt. Actually, the K-9 was hurt, went into the tunnel. But we lost nobody.
Q And so you requested to the Russians to fly over this area they controlled. What did you tell them —
THE PRESIDENT: We spoke to the Russians.
Q What did you tell them you were going to do?
THE PRESIDENT: We told them we’re coming in.
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: And they said, “Thank you for telling us.” They were very good.
Q But did you tell them why? No? You just —
THE PRESIDENT: No. They did not know why.
Q Was any other country given —
THE PRESIDENT: We did tell them, “We think you’re going to be very happy.” Because, you know, again, they hate ISIS as much as we do. You know what ISIS has done to Russia. So, no, we did not tell — they did not know the mission, but they knew we were going over an area that they had — they had a lot of firepower.
Q And have you notified the congressional leaders about this? Pelosi? Mitch McConnell?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ve notified some. Others are being notified now, as I speak. We were going to notify them last night but we decided not to do that because Washington leaks like I’ve never seen before. There’s nothing — there’s no country in the world that leaks like we do. And Washington is a leaking machine. And I told my people we will not notify them until the — our great people are out. Not just in, but out. I don’t want to have them greeted with firepower like you wouldn’t believe.
So we were able to get in. It was top secret. It was kept. There were no leaks, no nothing. The only people that knew were the few people that I dealt with. And again, Mark Milley and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were incredible. We had some tremendous backup. Robert O’Brien, Secretary Esper, Secretary Pompeo. Pence, I told you, he was great. There’s a very small group of people that knew about this. We had very, very few people. A leak — a leak could have cost the death of all of them.
Now, they’re so good that I think nothing was going to stop them anyway, if you want to know the truth. That’s how good they were. We had them also surrounded by massive airpower. Up in the air, yesterday, surrounded at very high levels. We were very low. We had tremendous airpower.
Q And you watched all this from the Sit Room? Who were you with in the Sit Room when you watched this?
THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Esper, a few of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, some generals. We had some very great military people in that room. And we had some great intelligence people — Robert O’ Brien. It was really great.
Yes.
Q Was the pullout of the U.S. troops in Syria last month strategically tied in with this raid? Was it —
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, the pullout —
Q Is this a red herring?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Sure. It’s a great question. And you’re doing a great job, by the way. Your network is fantastic. They’re really doing a great job. Please let them know.
Q Yes, sir. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: No, the pullout had nothing to do with this. In fact, we found this out at a similar time. It’s a very good question — because we found this out at a similar time.
No, we’re after these leaders. And we have others in sight, very bad ones. But this was the big one. This is the biggest one, perhaps, that we’ve ever captured, because this is the one that built ISIS, and beyond, and was looking to rebuild it again. Very, very strongly looking to build it again. That’s why he went to this province; this is why he went to this area.
You know, a lot of people — I was watching, this morning, and hearing, and they said, “Why was he there?” People were so surprised. Well, that’s where he was trying to rebuild from because that was the place that made most sense, if you’re looking to rebuild.
Yeah.
Q You sent out your tweet last night. At what moment did you decide to send that?
THE PRESIDENT: So, I sent that right after I knew they had landed safely.
Q When they had returned?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And that was to notify you guys that you have something big this morning, so you wouldn’t be out playing golf or tennis, or otherwise being indisposed.
Q Where did they land? Where were they safe? Where had they landed?
THE PRESIDENT: I’d rather not say. But we landed in a very friendly port in a friendly country.
Q Does this give you any pause by your decision to withdraw the troops?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think it’s great. Look, we don’t want to keep soldiers between Syria and Turkey for the next 200 years. They’ve been fighting for hundreds of years. We’re out. But we are leaving soldiers to secure the oil. And we may have to fight for the oil. It’s okay. Maybe somebody else wants the oil, in which case they have a hell of a fight. But there’s massive amounts of oil.
And we’re securing it for a couple of reasons. Number one, it stops ISIS, because ISIS got tremendous wealth from that oil. We have taken it. It’s secured.
Number two — and again, somebody else may claim it, but either we’ll negotiate a deal with whoever is claiming it, if we think it’s fair, or we will militarily stop them very quickly. We have tremendous power in that part of the world. We have — you know, the airport is right nearby. A very big, very monstrous, very powerful airport, and very expensive airport that was built years ago. We were in there — we’re in that Middle East now for $8 trillion.
So we don’t want to be keeping Syria and Turkey. They’re going to have to make their own decision. The Kurds have worked along incredibly with us, but in all fairness, it was much easier dealing with the Kurds after they went through three days of fighting, because that was a brutal three days. And if I — we would have said to the Kurds, “Hey, do you mind moving over seven miles?” Because, you know, they were in the middle, mostly. So you have seven or eight miles. “Could you mind moving over?”
Because, I have to say, Turkey has taken tremendous deaths from that part of the world. You know, we call it a safe zone. But it was anything but a safe zone. Turkey has lost thousands and thousands people from that safe zone. So they’ve always wanted that safe zone, for many years. I’m glad I was able to help them get it. But we don’t want to be there; we want to be home. I want our soldiers home or fighting something that’s meaningful.
I’ll tell you who loves us being there: Russia and China. Because while they build their military, we’re depleting our military there. So, Russia loves us being there. Now, Russia likes us being there for two reasons: because we kill ISIS, we kill terrorists, and they’re very close to Russia. We’re 8,000 miles away. Now, maybe they can get here, but we’ve done very well with Homeland Security and the ban, which, by the way, is approved by the United States Supreme Court, as you know. You know, there was a reporter that said we lost the case. And he was right, in the early court. He refu- — he didn’t want to say; just refused to say that we won the case in the Supreme Court. So, you know.
But we have a very effective ban, and it’s very hard for people to come to our country. But it’s many thousands of miles away, whereas Russia is right there, Turkey is right there. Syria is there. They’re all right there. Excuse me, Iran is right there. Iraq is right there. They all hate ISIS. So, we don’t — you know, in theory, they should do something.
And I’ll give you something else: The European nations have been a tremendous disappointment because I personally called, but my people called a lot. “Take your ISIS fighters.” And they didn’t want them. They said, “We don’t want them.” They came from France, they came from Germany, they came from the UK. They came from a lot of countries. And I actually said to them, “If you don’t take them, I’m going to drop them right on your border. And you can have fun capturing them again.”
But the United States taxpayer is not going to pay for the next 50 years. You see what Guantanamo costs. We’re not going to pay tens of billions of dollars because we were good enough to capture people that want to go back to Germany, France, UK, and other parts of Europe. And they can walk back. They can’t walk to our country. We have lots of water in between our country and them.
So, yeah. Go.
Q You mentioned that you met some — gotten to know some brilliant people along this process who really helped provide information and advice along the way. Is there anyone in particular, or would you like to give anyone credit for getting to this point today?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I would, but if I mentioned one, I have to mention so many. I spoke to Senator Richard Burr this morning. And, as you know, he’s very involved with intelligence and the committee. And he’s a great gentleman.
I spoke with Lindsey Graham just a little while ago. In fact, Lindsey Graham is right over here. And he’s been very much involved in this subject. And he’s — he’s a very strong hawk. But I think Lindsey agrees with what we’re doing now.
And, again, there are plenty of other countries that can help them patrol. I don’t want to leave 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 soldiers on the border.
But where Lindsey and I totally agree is the oil. The oil is, you know, so valuable for many reasons. It fueled ISIS, number one. Number two, it helps the Kurds, because it’s basically been taken away from the Kurds. They were able to live with that oil. And number three, it can help us because we should be able to take some also. And what I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an Exxon Mobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly. Right now, it’s not big. It’s big oil underground, but it’s not big oil up top, and much of the machinery has been shot and dead. It’s been through wars. But — and — and spread out the wealth.
But, no, we’re protecting the oil. We’re securing the oil. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t make a deal at some point. But I don’t want to be — they’re fighting for 1,000 years, they’re fighting for centuries. I want to bring our soldiers back home. But I do want to secure the oil.
If you read about the history of Donald Trump — I was a civilian. I had absolutely nothing to do with going into Iraq, and I was totally against it. But I always used to say, “If they’re going to go in…” — nobody cared that much, but it got written about. “If they’re going to go in…” — I’m sure you’ve heard the statement, because I made it more than any human being alive. “If they’re going into Iraq, keep the oil.” They never did. They never did.
I know Lindsey Graham had a bill where basically we would have been paid back for all of the billions of dollars that we’ve spent — many, many billions of dollars. I mean, I hate to say it, it’s actually trillions of dollars, but many, many billions of dollars. And, by one vote, they were unable to get that approved in the Senate. They had some pretty big opposition from people that shouldn’t have opposed, like a president. And they weren’t able. If you did that, Iraq would be a much different story today because they would be owing us a lot of money. They would be treating us much differently.
But I will say, Iraq was very good with respect to the raid last night.
Q Sir, just to pin down the timing a little bit better here: You got back to the White House around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. Did you immediately go to the Situation Room?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I knew all about this for three days.
Q Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. We thought, for three days, this is what was going to happen. It was actually — look, nobody was even hurt. Our K-9, as they call — I call it a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog — was injured and brought back. But we had no soldier injured. And they did a lot of shooting, and they did a lot of blasting, even not going through the front door. You know, you would think you go through the door. If you’re a normal person, you say, “Knock, knock. May I come in?” The fact is that they blasted their way into the house and a very heavy wall, and it took them literally seconds. By the time those things went off, they had a beautiful, big hole, and they ran in and they got everybody by surprise.
Unbelievably brilliant, as fighters. I don’t — I can’t imagine there could be anybody better. And these, as you know, are our top operations people.
Q And Baghdadi apparently had been in bad health for some time. Was there any indication of that? Or —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we don’t know that. But he was the last one out, and his people had either been killed, which there were many, or gave up and came out. Because with the 11 children that came out, we were able to do that. We don’t know if they were his children. They might have been. But as I said, three died in the tunnel. And the tunnel collapsed with the explosion. But you had other fighters coming out also. And they’re being brought back. They’re being — they’re — right now, we have them imprisoned.
Q I was going to ask whose children they were, but do you remember what time you went into the Situation Room?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I started at five o’clock. We were pretty much gathered at five o’clock yesterday. We were in contact all day long through, hopefully, secure phones. I’ll let you know tomorrow. But nothing seemed to leak, so I guess they were secure, for a change.
But we gathered more or less at five. The attack started moments after that. The — the liftoff started moments after that. Again, the element of attack that they were most afraid of was getting from our base into that compound. Because there’s tremendous firepower that we were, you know, flying over.
And I won’t go into it, but you had a very big Russian presence in one area, you had a Turkish presence, you had a Syrian presence. And you’re flying low. It’s very dangerous. And there were shots made, but we think these were people that were shooting that were indiscriminately shooting. The helicopters took some shots, but we think that these were people that were just random people that don’t like to see helicopters, I guess.
Q Sir, was there any kind of DNA test done? Or where is the body? You know —
THE PRESIDENT: So, that’s another part of the genius of these people. They brought his — they have his DNA. More of it than they want, even. And they brought it with them with lab technicians who were with them. And they assumed that this was Baghdadi. They thought, visually, it was him. But they assumed it was him, and they did a site — an onsite test. They got samples.
And to get to his body, they had to remove a lot of debris because the tunnel had collapsed. But these people are very good at that. And — and they, as I said, they brought body parts back with them, et cetera, et cetera. There wasn’t much left. The — the vest blew up, but there are still substantial pieces that they brought back. So they did an onsite test because we had to know this. And it was a very quick call that took place about 15 minutes after he was killed, and it was positive. It was — it’s, “This is a confirmation, sir.”
Q There was also a report that his wife had detonated — or one of his wives had detonated a vest. Is that —
THE PRESIDENT: So, there were two women. There were two women. Both wives, both wearing vests. They had not detonated. But the fact that they were dead and they had vests on made it very difficult for our men, because they had vests on. And it made it very difficult for our men. Because you never know what’s going to happen. They’re lying, they’re dead. They never detonated. But they were dead.
Q And if (inaudible) on the successor — the possible successors, have you been briefed on who would possibly fill in the seats?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. We know the successors. And we’ve already got them in our sights. And we’ll tell you that right now, but we know the successors. Hamza bin Laden was a big thing, but this is the biggest there is. This is the worst ever.
Osama bin Laden was very big, but Osama bin Laden became big with the World Trade Center. This is a man who built a whole, as he would like to call it, “a country,” a caliphate, and was trying to do it again.
And I had not heard too much about his health. I’ve heard stories about he may not have been in good health. But he died a — he died in a ruthless, vicious manner. That, I can tell you.
Q Were any prisoners taken, sir? Were any adults taken for intel purposes?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we have people that were taken. We have — many of the people died on the site. But we have people that were taken, yes. And — and the children, we are — we left them under care of somebody, that we understand.
Q Can you say how many? Or do you believe that these were —
THE PRESIDENT: Eleven children.
Q Eleven children. How many adults?
THE PRESIDENT: I’d rather not say. I’d leave that to the generals. But —
Q These were —
THE PRESIDENT: — a small group. More dead than alive.
Q Which operations teams were involved? Which Special Operations teams were involved?
THE PRESIDENT: Many of them, and at the top level. And people that were truly incredible at their craft. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Q And were there — as far as partnerships goes, were there any other forces involved? Or was this only American troops in this raid?
THE PRESIDENT: No, only American forces.
Q And did the U.S. —
THE PRESIDENT: Only American forces. But we were given great cooperation.
Q Did the U.S. rely on —
THE PRESIDENT: We told the Russians we’re coming in, because we had to go over them. And they were curious, but — but we said, “We’re coming.” How we said — one way or the other, “Hey, look, we’re coming.” But they were very cooperative. They really were good. And we did say it would be a mission that they’d like, too. Because, you know, again, they hate ISIS as much as we do.
Q Sir, I meant for intel purposes, was there any foreign intel that proved useful along the way in this operation?
THE PRESIDENT: So, we had our own intel. We got very little help. We didn’t need very much help. We have some incredible people. When we use our intelligence correctly, what we can do is incredible. When we waste our time with intelligence, that hurts our country, because we had poor leadership at the top. That’s not good.
But I’ve gotten to know many of the intel people, and I will say that they are spectacular. Now, they’re not going to want to talk about it. They want to keep it quiet. The last thing they want, because these are — these are great patriots. But the people that I’ve been dealing with are incredible people. And it’s really a deserving name: “intelligence.” I’ve dealt with some people that aren’t very intelligent, having to do with intel, but this is the top people and it was incredible. It was flawless. And it was very complicated.
But — so, I do appreciate Russia, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, to an extent, because, you know, we’re flying into Syria, and a lot of Syrian people with lots of guns.
So we had good cover for probably the most dangerous part. It would not sound to — you know, when you fly in, it doesn’t sound like that would be the most dangerous when you’re going into shooting nests and all of the things that happened once they broke into that pretty powerful compound. That was a very strong compound and, as I said, had tunnels.
But the most dangerous part, we had great cooperation with.
Yes, ma’am.
Q Did you inform Speaker Pelosi ahead of time?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t. I didn’t do — I didn’t do that. I wanted to make sure this kept secret. I don’t want to have men lost — and women. I don’t want to have people lost.
Q Do you anticipate inviting the Special Forces teams to the White House after this?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yeah. They’ll be invited. I don’t know if they’ll want to have their faces shown, to be honest with you. You know, they want to — they’re incredible for the country. They’re not looking for public relations.
But they love doing what they’re doing. I’ve seen it. The First Lady was out there, recently, looking at what they do. She came back, she said, “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that.” The training — you know, all of the training — and the power of the people. The men and women, the strength, the physical strength, the mental strength. These are incredible people. These are very unique individuals.
Q You mentioned whimpering. Could you hear that on your video hookup?
THE PRESIDENT: Mentioned what?
Q The whimpering of Baghdadi. Did you hear it?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to talk about it, but —
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: — he was screaming, crying, and whimpering. And he was scared out of his mind.
And think of James Foley. Think of Kayla. Think of the things he did to Kayla; what he did to Foley and so many others. And for those people that say, “Oh, isn’t this a little violent? Think of how many times have you seen men — I think, in all cases, men, for the most part — but in terms of this, where you see the orange suits, and you see the ocean and they’re beheaded. Or how many of you got to see — because it was out there — the Jordanian pilot whose plane went down, they captured him, they put him in a cage, and they set him on fire.
And the King of Jordan actually attacked, very powerfully, when that happened. They’ve never seen anything like that. But he set him on fire. This was al-Baghdadi. And you should never, ever hopefully see a thing like that again.
Now, there’ll be new people emerged, but this was the worst of this particular world. This was the worst. Probably, in certain ways, the smartest. He was also a coward. And he didn’t want to die. But think of it: Everybody was out, and we were able to search him down and find him in the tunnel. We knew the tunnel existed. And that’s where he was.
Q And you’ve taken a lot of heat for the Syria pullout. Do you think this will change the standing — your standing —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t have a Syria pullout. I just don’t want to guard Turkey and Syria for the rest of our lives. I mean, I don’t want to do it. It’s very expensive. It’s very dangerous. They’ve been fighting for centuries. I don’t want to have my people — 2,000 men and women, or 1,000, or 28. We had 28 guards. And I said, “I don’t want them there anyway. I don’t want them.”
Now, I will secure the oil that happens to be in a certain part. But that’s tremendous money involved. I would love to — you know, the oil in — I mean, I’ll tell you a story. In Iraq — so they spent — President Bush went in. I strongly disagreed with it, even though it wasn’t my expertise at the time, but I had a — I have a very good instinct about things. They went in and I said, “That’s a tremendous mistake.” And there were no weapons of mass destruction. It turned out I was right. I was right for other reasons, but it turned out, on top of everything else, they had no weapons of mass destruction, because that would be a reason to go in. But they had none.
But I heard recently that Iraq, over the last number of years, actually discriminates against America in oil leases. In other words, some oil companies from other countries, after all we’ve done, have an advantage Iraq for the oil. I said, “Keep the oil. Give them what they need. Keep the oil.” Why should we — we go in, we lose thousands of lives, spend trillions of dollars, and our companies don’t even have an advantage in getting the oil leases. So I just tell you that story. That’s what I heard.
Q Did Gina Haspel play a role in this? Can you talk a little bit about that? And I saw your NSC counter-terrorism director out in the hallway. Was there a role with NSC counter-terrorism?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Everybody. Gina was great. Everybody played a role. Joe was great. Gina was great. They were all great.
Q Just to follow up, did your Syria pullout, did that generate the intelligence that led to this operation?
THE PRESIDENT: No. We were looking at this — look, as I said, Steve, I’ve been looking at this — I’m here almost three years. I’ve been looking at this for three years. They’d come in, “Sir, we have somebody under…” — I said, “I don’t want somebody. I want al-Baghdadi. That’s the one I want.” They’d said, “Well, we have somebody else.” I said, “That’s great. Fine. Take them out. But I want al-Baghdadi. That’s who I want. I don’t want other people.”
And then I also wanted Hamza bin Laden because he’s a young man, around 30, looks just like his father. Tall, very handsome. And he was talking bad things, just like his father.
You know, if you read my book — there was a book just before the World Trade Center came down. And I don’t get any credit for this, but that’s okay. I never do. But here we are. I wrote a book — a, really, very successful book. And in that book, about a year before the World Trade Center was blown up, I said, “There is somebody named Osama bin Laden. You better kill him or take him out.” Something to that effect. “He’s big trouble.”
Now, I wasn’t in government. I was building buildings and doing what I did. But I always found it fascinating. But I saw this man — tall, handsome, very charismatic — making horrible statements about wanting to destroy our country. And I’m writing a book. I think I wrote 12 books. All did very well. And I’m writing a book. The World Trade Center had not come down. I think it was about — if you check, it was about a year before the World Trade Center came down. And I’m saying to people, “Take out Osama bin Laden,” that nobody ever heard of. Nobody ever heard of. I mean, al-Baghdadi everybody hears because he’s built this monster for a long time. But nobody ever heard of Osama bin Laden until, really, the World Trade Center.
But about a year — you’ll have to check — a year, year and a half before the World Trade Center came down, the book came out. I was talking about Osama bin Laden. I said, “You have to kill him. You have to take him out.” Nobody listened to me.
And to this day, I get people coming up to me, and they said, “You know what one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen about you? Is that you predicted that Osama bin Laden had to be killed before he knocked down the World Trade Center.” It’s true. Now, most of the press doesn’t want to write that, but you know — but it is true. If you go back, look at my book. I think it was “The America We Deserve.” I made a prediction, and I — let’s put it this way: If they would have listened to me, a lot of things would have been different.
Q Sir, can you talk about some of the difficult decisions you had along the way here in this operation? Anything that weighed on you or that you had to —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, just death. I mean, you know, I’m sending a large number of brilliant fighters. These are the greatest fighters in the world.
Q How many?
THE PRESIDENT: I’d rather let the generals tell you, but a large number. We had eight helicopters and we had many other ships and planes.
It was a large group. And again, this is a large group heading over very, very strong firepower areas where — that was decision one: Will they make it? And they made it, but they took fire, but they made it. They didn’t take — we don’t believe, again, it was nation fire; we believe it was individual group fire or gang fire, as they call it. So, they made it, so that was a big relief.
Then they went in, they blasted their way in — you’ve heard. They blasted their way in so quickly. It was incredible. Because this building was quite powerful, strong. They blasted their way in, and then all hell broke loose. It’s incredible that nobody was killed — or hurt. We had nobody even hurt. And that’s why the dog was so great. We actually had a robot to go in the tunnel, but we didn’t get it because we were tracking him very closely. But we had a robot, just in case. Because we were afraid he had a suicide vest on, and if you get close to him and he blows it up, you’re going to die. You’re going to die. He had a very powerful suicide vest.
Q Did you have to make any decisions in the moment, while troops were on the ground?
THE PRESIDENT: No, they had it just incredible. We were getting full reports on literally a minute-by-minute basis. “Sir, we just broke in.” “Sir, the wall is down.” “Sir,” you know, “we’ve captured.” “Sir, two people are coming out right now. Hands up.” Fighters. Then, the 11 children out. Numerous people were dead within the building that they killed.
Then, it turned out, they gave us a report: “Sir, there’s only one person in the building. We are sure he’s in the tunnel trying to escape.” But it’s a dead-end tunnel. And it was brutal. But it was over. And as I said, when he blew himself up, the tunnel collapsed on top of him, on top of everything — and his children. I mean, so he led his three children to death. So, you know —
Q And in the tunnel, that’s when the robot followed him in? That’s why no troops died?
THE PRESIDENT: The robot was set to, but we didn’t hook it up because we were too — they were moving too fast. We were moving fast. We weren’t 100 percent sure about the tunnel being dead-ended. It’s possible that there could have been an escape hatch somewhere along that we didn’t know about.
So we moved very, very quickly. I mean —
Q Was he being chased then?
THE PRESIDENT: — these people, they were moving — they were chasing, yeah. They were chasing. But again, because the suicide vest, you can’t get too close.
Again, one of the reasons with the wives is if they have a suicide vest, you know, you have to be very, very careful. These vests are brutal. Brutal. And they go for a long distance.
Yes, please.
Q Have you spoken or will you speak to the families, like the Foley family?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m calling the families now. It will be a pleasure to do that. The Foley family, who I know. We’ll be calling Kayla’s family. What — what he did to her was incredible. It’s a well-known story, and I’m not going to say it, but you know that. He kept her in captivity for a long period of time. He kept her in his captivity, his personal captivity. She was a beautiful woman, beautiful young woman. Helped people. She was there to help people. And he saw her and he thought she was beautiful, and he brought her into captivity for a long period of time and then he killed her. He was an animal, and he was a gutless animal.
Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. It’s a very great day for our country.
Have you ever seen anything like it? Our media is in full blown meltdown over Barr/Durham. Every now and then, it helps to get the perspective from 30K feet. On the day when Dems had a better turnout for a funeral than a rally, it seemed like a good day for an overview.
President Trump keeps winning. Despite all attempts from media, the base is completely committed to President Trump and supporting the MAGA agenda at historic percentages. Our economy keeps rolling along. Personal confidence in economy was up almost another 3 points yesterday. From FLEP, we get polling showing Repubs have an 11 point enthusiasm advantage over Dems… TO VOTE + historic approval ratings from black men and the entire hispanic community. The OIG report is looming over the swamp of DC. Durham and Barr went to Italy, Giuliani is worming around unseen, and Sidney Powell moves in for “the kill shot” on the FBI/DOJ to save our hero, Lt General Mike Flynn.
If the Deep State wants to get “spooky”, we can do spooky, too. Our President is ready, and we’ve been ready for over three years…., nah, the comeuppance for the bureaucrats has been decades in the making.
The media is afraid, possibly for the first time in our lives and they’re spinning hard. It’s fun to watch.
Remember the Romney advisor who appeared on MSNBC last week who claimed “20 Republicans have told me (in secret of course, and only he knows about it) they would vote for impeachment”. Remember that one? Well, Lindsey’s resolution was signed by 50 Repubs today. Looks like the majority of the Senate is a “no go” for the folly of impeachment. Original paid polling showing support for the “inquiry” has been replaced by real polling showing the voters don’t like what the Dems are doing.
So today, our political opposition decided to attack Bill Barr and John Durham……. cuz the probe turned into a criminal investigation…… which means there might be a crime. Oh My!! Naturally, in the minds of liberals, this means Bill Barr should go to jail immediately. This is hilarious.
This is John Mitchell's mug shot. He was Nixons AG. He was indicted & jailed 4 his role in the Watergate cover up. This is what lies ahead 4 Barr. He's 4gotten there's no "memo" stating a current AG can't b indicted & jailed. #ImpeachBarrpic.twitter.com/96XecVVMzO
Seth Abramson thinks the President of the United States is an enemy of America who has attacked the homeland……. but Barr is protecting him. Seth is a columnist for Newsweek, a lawyer and a professor. Seth has popped a fuse.
All Americans need to understand that the Attorney General of the United States is a dangerous rogue actor seeking to undermine rather than uphold U.S. rule of law
Bill Barr is working day and night to absolve America's enemies of responsibility for their attacks on our homeland
Rachel Maddow was serious, upset, at the mere idea the Attorney General would investigate the origins of 2016 Russia hoax/FISAGate, which might imperil her friends.
All morning and most of the afternoon, Twitter trended hashtag: #ImpeachBarr. That’s right. No longer content to impeach the President of the United States, more than 68,000 American PER HOUR wanted to impeach the Attorney General………for doing his job.
(Snark!) We at Q Tree, being the incredible front line news org that we are, immediately called Bill Barr’s office for a response on the record. Here’s what he said:
And little Miss Rachel thinks John Durham reads Twitter, and surely he will see her tweet, cuz Rachel is mad…..and…. all… stompy foot. Looks like Rachel has lost her compass. Can anyone help Rachel find her compass?
This one comes with a warning. It’s a doozy. This guy has it all figured out. Nevermind Russia, Romania, China, Ukraine, or a deep state coup on a duly elected President. He thinks it’s all the fault of “Right Wing Catholics”. I kid you not. Do you remember when the left thought Deplorables were crazy? Folks, this is our sign. We’ve been vindicated.
Anyone surprised that #JohnDurham, #BillBarr's sidekick on this new DOJ criminal investigation OF the Russia Investigation is also #Catholic?
Many giving him benefit fo the doubt, just as they did with Barr. Would be great if media looked into the agenda of Right wing Catholics.
This is our competition for the 2020 election? These are the people who think they “have what it takes” to lead our precious USA? I don’t think so. Not persuasive, not compelling….. more like desperation and screeching.
I would rather hang out with normal people and be a happy Trumpkin.
The next few months will be a tough time for our President. We need to support him more than usual. Please think about dropping a note, a postcard, a nice email to the WH, and don’t forget staff members as well. They need to know we’re thinking about them, too. Prayers are welcome, but a postcard, WITH a prayer, wins the day. He carries a heavy weight on those big shoulders.
It might take a few more late nights dealing with the Dems, the media, the Never Trumpers, and the usurpers like those at Foggy Bottom.
At the end of this battle, Lady Justice will prevail. She must win. When the smoke clears, we’ll huddle together in awe of what we witnessed and tell our grandchildren. The years will slip by, and we’ll talk about the time when the world was dark, before Trump ran for President and we thought we were alone, when we almost lost hope, when we thought justice was gone, when we thought America would recede and China would rise….. the days….. before the sun came out.
Many define our battle as a clash of good over evil. Yet, we hope and pray there is enough good left in our fellow countrymen to join us. Some are filled with such hate, it’s not healthy. There will be up days and down days, on the WolfMoon Rollercoaster of Trump Supporters, but we understand. Yes, we completely understand the seriousness what is at stake.
Yet, we don’t quit. We’ll never surrender.We’re going to to be fine. We going to stick together like glue and grab a few confused Democrats along the way to the voting booth in 2020. We’ve grown far too accustomed to winning to stop now…..
We learned from the best!
Happy Halloween, Happy Fall, and have a good weekend!
Open Thread is very open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA / KAG! / KMAG world (KMAG being a bit of both MAGA and KAG!). Take the time to get outside, enjoy the fall colors and take in the beauty of a harvest moon.
You can say what you want, comment on what other people said, and so on. Free Speech is practiced here. ENJOY IT. Use it or lose it.
Keep it SOMEWHAT civil. They tried to FORCE fake Orwellian civility on us. In response, we CHOOSE true civility to defend our precious FREEDOM from THEM.
Our rules began with the civility of the Old Treehouse, later to become the Wolverinian Empire, and one might say that we have RESTORED THE OLD REPUBLIC – the early high-interaction model of the Treehouse – except of course that Q discussion is not only allowed but encouraged, and speech is considerably freer in other ways.
Please feel free to argue and disagree with the board owner, as nicely as possible. Please also consider the Important Guidelines, outlined here in the January 1st open thread. Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven.
SPEAK THE FIVE WORDS BOLDLY TO OUR PRESIDENT! “I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!” I love this pic and I’ll ask of you all to remember Vice President Pence in your prayers!
So, as we head down the path to our branch in the Q Tree (some showed up overnight) please be kind to each other.
Fellow tree dweller Wheatie gave us the basics, with a sound addition by TrumpIsMine:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
So break out your FOUL weather gear.
Brave the STORM
For we fight for all that’s dear.
Brave the STORM
And remember in 2020 we get Four Moar Years!
Protesters wave United States flags and carry placards during a protest in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Demonstrators in Hong Kong plan to march to the U.S. Consulate on Sunday to drum up international support for their protest movement, a day after attempts to disrupt transportation to the airport were thwarted by police. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
When all else fails, we have to sing and dance. Here’s a song where we all know the words. Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!!!
The following interview was done on September 27th, 2019 but only recently made available to the public. While watching this interview, please remember, almost all of DC and Wall Street adores China and refers to Russia as the boogeyman. As a country, we would not be at this stage of confrontation with China if it had not been for President Donald Trump. If we could have moved the DC/NYC establishment to understand our bigger problem with China, it would have been easy to partner with Russia to confront the growing threat of China. Organizations like The Atlantic Council and our own “stuck in the mud” bureaucrats have harmed US Foreign Policy and cost us 3 years of progress in stopping China.
This interview is extraordinary because it combines Kyle Bass’ expertise on China finance/monetary supply with the expertise of Air Force General Robert Spalding, who was THE Advisor to the Joint Chiefs on China and accompanied Chinese Generals to Mar-A-Lago during the first meeting between Xi and Donald Trump.
The interview is 58:38 long, please bookmark and watch at your leisure.
Robert Spalding has written a book called “Stealth War” on “How China took over while American Elites Slept”.
Background on Spalding:
In 2001, the year China entered the WTO, Spalding was chosen as an Olmsted Scholar, one of three people from each branch of the military, to learn Mandarin and go live in China for two years, as the USA Department of Defense Attache to China. He attended the Defense Dept’s language school in Monterrey, and lived in eastern Shanghai for 2yrs (2002-2004), traveling the country and was exposed to top levels of Chinese government, and our government.
Spalding discusses his original impression of China; love for the people, food, industriousness, prosperity everywhere….. and how his impression of China has changed over the years.
By 2004, returning back to the USA, Spalding joined the Council on Foreign Relations (I know, I know), where he met business leaders and became alarmed by their attitude on China. Think about a man whose entire life was expertise in the military, suddenly exposed to the inner workings of Business School #101. It’s a completely different mindset and skill set. Spalding realized how naive he was, and how diplomats + the biz community had been fooled by China.
Robert Spalding has taken a massive “red pill” and is fully aware of China’s threat to the USA and the rest of the world. Chairman Xi talks about free trade and “globalism” on a public stage, with profit as a motive. As Americans, we think free trade is a good thing and along with trade comes personal responsibility, ethics, rule of law, contracts, etc. Since Nixon opened China, our leaders thought exposure to western democracy would “rub off ” on China and they would become more like us. The exact opposite has become true. China takes our money, hollows out America, and is exporting their censorship/communist values to the West. Keep in mind, this interview was done BEFORE the NBA incident.
What we are only becoming aware of is that the Chinese are still communists and will never change…… The Chinese did adopt our profit motive but cast aside everything else so prevalent in a democracy/republic. The CCP controls everything in China and their goal is to “control the narrative”, governing how one thinks and speaks. Sound familiar? No criticism of the party or established narrative is allowed. Again, sound familiar?
The interview includes eye-opening discussions of the PLA and the CCP within China and how the censorship and control over the people overrides everything in China, from the significant to the mundane. The stories will jolt one’s senses.
China’s Underlying Motives:
Privately, Chinese officials will admit their primary goal is to dominate the world. They believe they have endured a “Century of Humiliation” which is our fault, the fault of the USA, because they were the big player for thousands of years and they will be again. Their goal is to use our own greed against us, bankrupt us, and force us to submit. Americans who became billionaires working in China, are so entrapped by fear of losing their wealth, they now openly advocate for the Chinese System. They’re too far gone. Again, look at the NBA, Nike, the US Chamber of Commerce, or Michael Bloomberg. These billionaires run directly contrary to US national security interests and casually sell out to China.
Organ Harvesting: It’s real.
The UK recently had a tribunal, presided over by the same guy who did Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial. They interviewed hundreds of people who escaped from the camps in Xinjiang as well as physicians who performed organ harvesting. The report and findings can be located on (ChinaTribunal . com) and……. be prepared. In fact,the CCP removes organs from people who are still alive, merely paralyzed…. and they have a nice new crematorium.
Organ Harvesting is so pervasive in China, one can now make an appointment for a heart transplant. Think about this for a minute. In the USA and other countries, to receive a heart transplant takes extensive testing/cross matching and the recipient goes on a waiting list. When the organ suddenly becomes available, the recipient must act quickly, fly to the location, or the heart is flown with all due speed. In China, wealthy Chinese and foreigners can make an appointment, a month in advance, because the CCP has cross-matched, the tissue, bloodwork, ultrasounds, the DNA, of all their prisoners…….. and they know exactly the person who has the necessary organs. It’s quite lucrative. Imagine that one.
It’s now suspected as many as 3 million Uighurs and other religious “undesirables” are held in internment camps in northwestern China. Many of them are Christian, “prisoners of conscience”, create a “buffet line of organs” for the PLA/CCP. Again, the Chinese regime adopted our profit motive, and cast aside everything else which goes along with it; human rights, civil liberty, rule of law, self determination, ethics.
The only country to BLOCK organ transplants from China or travel to China for organ transplants is Israel, because the heart surgeon in Israel who was counseling an ill patient learned his patient “had an appointment in China next month”….. which meant someone was going to die…. on a schedule. Israel blocked China organ transplants.
Fentanyl:
Wrap your head around the idea that there are no ethics or rule of law in China. Again, this is purely about profit. The generic drug supply in the USA is about 80-90% Chinese origin and is also tainted with carcinogens. The same factories which produce blood pressure meds also produce Chinese Fentanyl, and about 90% of the heroin and fentanyl in the USA is straight from these factories (southern border, US mail, or express scripts out of Canada). It accounts for about 40K deaths a year, on purpose, from China. In fact, the Chinese have genetically altered the poppy plant so now, they can grow it year round = more opioids.
AND —- Spalding notes, the 40K deaths a year came after China took 70,000 factories, 3.4 million manufacturing jobs, plus the accompanying service sector, about 13 million jobs in total, eviscerating employees healthcare and retirement funds, destroying those American communities…… and then shipped in the drugs to kill the people, our fellow Americans.
The DEA/FBI responds, “China has been most cooperative”, because one or two people go to jail, a DEA bureaucrat receives an award for his investigation, but the criminals in China are released in a few weeks. The chemical makeup of the drug is then slightly altered and thus, the Chinese factories are able to maintain a few steps ahead of the DEA in the USA. In the USA, because we hold people personally responsible, we are conditioned to charge, legally, the individual. That’s not the way China works. Robert Spalding posits, until we charge the country, the shipping line, seize Chinese assets in the USA, the problem of fentanyl will continue.
Lack of Transparency Helps the CCP Maintain Control:
Imagine for a moment, 1.4 billion people who only watched CNN, or for that matter, FOX News. Imagine only one source of state news, one narrative, being pushed, and if anyone searches for truth, begins to tip over the rocks, that person is penalized. Yeah, we’re beginning to see it here in the USA with our media and the persecution of Repubs/Trump Supporters, but imagine no other lines of communication in an entire country, and it’s been going on for a generation. The CCP has been very successful in stopping the ability of people to think for themselves, everything is locked down physically and electronically.
……… Which is why Hong Kong is such a nightmare for them. The videos, cameras, are everywhere and eventually smuggled out. The Chinese can’t control the rebellion in Hong Kong, whereas they CAN successfully hide 3 million prisoners in Xinjiang.
Why Don’t We Understand China? How Did Our Leaders Get It So Wrong?
Spalding tells an anecdote of his first meal in a Chinese restaurant and how he was disappointed by no fortune cookie. He didn’t realize the fortune cookie was an invention of a Japanese guy in San Francisco and not indicative to China, but it made a larger impression on him. HE was supposed to be an expert on China, and he had no idea about China. He was naive.
Expanding the idea of American Leadership naivety, Spalding looks back. When the Soviet Union fell apart, the Chinese Communists began to engage with American Republicans and Democrats. Our leaders went to China on junkets sponsored by the Communist Chinese…… and our leaders only saw what the Chinese wanted them to see. The rose-colored glasses were pervasive.
Spalding sums it up succinctly. American politicains and biz leaders had the 40yr idea that more American exposure in China would open China up, make them more like us, and that China wanted to be like us. Yet, no one ever went to the Chinese and said, “Hey, do you want to me more like the USA?”, because if anyone did that, the Chinese would surely reply, “Hell no, we don’t want to be like you at all……… we want to dominate you.”
Bass and Spalding tell the famous story of Bloomberg’s epic background piece on Xi’s family, how wealthy they were, when Xi first came to power. Bloomberg was warned, don’t talk about Xi or you will be penalized…… and they shut down Bloomberg’s terminals in China for a while. Now, Bloomberg is self-censored and frankly, attacks anyone who is anti-China. Easy peasy, eh? China cowed Bloomberg, and China didn’t fire a shot. Again, pure greed, the profit motive, won out, even though all other morals and ethics we know of went out the window.
How Do We Fix It?
Overall, we must be much more tough on China. We need to penalize the CCP, the party, and not individuals, as the CCP is the overlayer on anything Chinese. China will counter, as they always do, “How can you attack 1.4 billion people and think we’re all mean/bad/organ harvesting/hacking USA defense contractors?” This is how the CCP hides behind the population. In other words, we’re “racist” if we object. Sound familiar?
First example is fentanyl. When the huge shipment of fentanyl 31K metric tons, was found in Philadelphia, we should have taken action. Stop all Chinese ships, none can dock, will be turned away for a month, levy hundred million dollar penalties, against China, shipping lines, and seize assets owned by Chinese entities in the USA.
In other words, the USA needs to play hardball with the CCP, because the CCP runs everything in China. Forget about individual cases or charges. Charge Huawei, instead of the princess who is being kept in Vancouver.
How China Silences Dissent Within The USA:
Astonishing story. Spalding was with the Chinese delegation when Xi met with Trump at Mar-A-Lago. After the summit, Spalding was on the plane from south Florida back to NY, to catch another plane onward to China.
Spalding was on the plane. The Chinese Generals were up front. Spalding was in back with a bunch of Chinese nationals who were bandaged and kind of roughed up, etc. They were talking in Chinese and since he speaks the language, he struck up a conversation. Come to find out, when Xi or another notable travels overseas, a call goes out to Chinese students and nationals within the foreign country. Their duty is to line the path of Xi and suppress all dissent or protests along the way. They are trained/ordered/commanded to surround the protesters and quash all dissent…….. within another country……. in this case, within the USA. Thus, when a Chinese leader comes to the USA, he establishes a “zone” of China’s rules on OUR soil. Guess we now know why AOC and her greenies are not protesting at the Chinese Embassy.
Kyle Bass asks why we didn’t arrest anyone. Spalding responds, shockingly. Many of the wrongs of China could have been addressed over the decades, by prior administrations. Yet, our government excused ALL the wrongs of China because of other priorities —- We excused ZTE because the State Dept wanted help from China to suppress North Korea, on Climate Change, etc.
Hmmm, is that the reason President Trump went after Kim Jong Un so quickly? To remove the bargaining chip China held? And withdrew from the Paris Accord? Makes sense…….
Can We Coexist With China?
No, not as it stands currently. “Reformers” in the Chinese Communist Party only want to kill us more slowly than the hawks. Bass was mildly shocked. To drive home the point, Spalding comes around again to the CCP Constitution, thousands of pages, a little known document, called Document #9. It’s the exact opposite of America’s Bill of Rights. The Chinese think our Bill of Rights would destroy the Communist party (interesting) and therefore, their citizens intentionally do not have these Bill of Rights. Moreover, it is the job of the CCP to counteract those rights (our freedoms) overseas as well — within our country. In the USA, our Constitution/Bill of Rights ensures a system so perfect no one party has overall control, but if the citizens deem it necessary, we allow for overthrow and repositioning of our government.
And in a modern world, Spalding posits, whereas we rely on our second amendment for ultimate self defense, an equalizer, what the Chinese are doing is MORE dangerous because of 5G – because the Chinese could influence us to shoot our neighbor — or ultimately, we cannot protest or overthrow an entity who lurks behind a wall of the internet and a surveillance state.
The problem of China developing 5G is monumental. If China installs networks in the 90 countries who have already signed on, the Chinese will export THEIR values (no Bill of Rights at all) to 90 countries. In this way, citizens will voluntarily give up their free speech, their freedom of religion, for more money and a better social credit score. The ability to influence is also the ability to oppress.
On top of the 5G network, the Chinese will build business platforms dependent on communication flowing on their networks……… which will grow and quickly dwarf the likes of (FANG) Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google. To compound the problem, all the data will be owned by the Chinese……….. as well as the ability to bill all those people in 90 countries, which is access to a whole lot of money…….. and how China can possibly get out of their currency overvaluation. Companies like Alibaba (billing) and Tencent will emerge and own the platforms AND the pipe of delivery. See the problem?
Spalding also elaborates on how the USA used to spend 2% of GDP on Research and Development, to places like NASA and Bell Labs, which drove our economic prosperity. All the guys who took us to the moon, went to school and worked on projects, funded by the USA government. At some point, late 1960’s, after we started spending money on entitlements and welfare, the USA decided private sector should do the R&D. We also ignored our infrastructure. Unfortunately, the private sector built factories, cities, ports, roads, in China…….. and not in the USA, and they did it with OUR money, to the detriment of our citizens.
The Chinese easily stole the technology from Bell Labs, and other high tech or manufacturing firms within the USA. Don’t just think it’s CCP members hacking our data, either. Sometimes, the CEO’s willingly turn over the tech, because the Chinese adopted “profit motive” from the west.
Eventually, China bankrupts the USA, just like we did to the Soviets. It’s what China wants, absolute submission.
Will Our Moral Compass Emerge?
We wonder…. was the NBA confrontation the spark? At what point do we begin to put a price on free speech or all of our Rights? In fact, it has perplexed the Chinese with the current protests in Hong Kong. Seems like the Chinese thought the people of Hong Kong would naturally want to drift towards China, fold within China, become just another city of China. They don’t understand those in Hong Kong who refuse to give up their freedoms…… because the CCP thinks they are so cool, “Who wouldn’t want to be us, the great and omnipotent CCP?”
Protesters wave United States flags and carry placards during a protest in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Demonstrators in Hong Kong plan to march to the U.S. Consulate on Sunday to drum up international support for their protest movement, a day after attempts to disrupt transportation to the airport were thwarted by police. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Spalding hesitates and cautions us. It would be so easy to not look under the rocks, to not question, to go along and get along. Look at what it’s like to live in Hollywood right now as an actor….. go along and get along. Look at our college campuses and imagine what it’s like to be a conservative humanities professor….. go along to get along. Look at our Thanksgiving table, as we voluntarily silence ourselves to not cause controversy, so we are not ostracized by our own families. It’s seductive, it’s easier………. go along to get along. We’re giving up everything we hold dear and everything for which our ancestors fought.
Like President Trump has noted, his administration would be so much easier without the need to confront China. He could have ignored the problem as past Presidents did. But it’s not the right thing to do.
President Trump is the perfect person, with extensive history as a businessman dealing in China, who rents commercial space to the Bank of China, to finally confront the Chinese and ensure prosperity of the USA.
The key is to control China’s access to US Dollars. No one else wants China’s currency because no one else trusts China. It’s true, China is about 15% of the world’s economy, but only 9/10th’s of 1% of the world’s international transactions settle in Chinese Yuan. It’s funny money. They have to have our dollars to import the goods they need. Without the USD, their economy comes to a standstill.
We need to be ready to answer and counter each point with a clear message.
Justin Chaffetz has a good strategy he mentioned yesterday. Since the House has voted DOWN impeachment on three separate occasions, why is this process legal without a vote?
Don’t you wish some people would keep their mouths shut until they know all the facts? We’re only now beginning to get a glimpse of the reality of the situation on the ground.
Congress, last week, voted 360+, to slap the hand of the President on his Syria policy. They were wrong, again, because they believed the “Jumping Chihuahua” media instead of trusting the President. And again, the media was WRONG, and again, Trump was right.
I wish I had a transcript of this interview, so I could nail it to the forehead of every Republican when they even THINK about doubting President Trump.
Let’s take a look at Trump’s plan for the border area between Syria and the Kurds. “Historic solutions in Syria that have eluded us for years.”, says Graham, and “President Trump is thinking outside the box”and “I was so impressed with his thinking about the oil fields”—— Can you see my shocked face? Did Graham not listen to ANY Trump MAGA rallies? President Trump has been talking about it for YEARS!!!!!! We knew!
USA and Syria control the oil, “On the verge of a joint venture between us and the Syrian Democratic Forces” to modernize the oil fields with USA help, that way the oil revenue goes to the locals instead of Assad, ISIS, or Iran. And the shared revenue will pay for USA commitment to the region…… !!!!!!!!!!
Develop something like a DMZ between Syria and Turkey. Kurds have lost 10K fighters and the USA has lost eight soldiers (mostly Kurdish) fighters. DMZ will contain an international force, no Americans, supported by USA air power.
This keeps Turkey safe, from the “bad Kurds”, who are terrorists, because we now know there are at least two different sects.
This keeps Syria and the Kurds safe.
This ensures no Iranian involvement.
Protects Israel as a primary objective.
“I’m increasingly optimistic, this could turn out very well.“, says Graham.
Well, WTF? What did he think President Trump was going to do? I want to slap him, or shake him, like Cher did in Moonstruck, “Snap out of it!”, Lindsey.
Once again, the media, the think tanks, the GOPe and the Dems are stuck in a rut. Did they expect Trump, The People’s President, to harm the USA interests? Or THEIR interests? Act spontaneously? Did Graham expect Trump to be stupid and not listen to the Pentagon’s proposals….. and then morph several ideas to come up with a better idea? Of course, all of DC thinks Trump is either stupid, ……or they are stupid……. or…….. they are evil and want to maintain control at all costs.
The “Jumping Chihuahua/Dog” nature of Trump’s opposition, the people’s opposition, is very telling. Here they are, all in unison, performing for the media. They all jump on cue every time Trump tweets or holds a presser.
Yes, Lindsey Graham in his tweet storm which started less than 30 minutes after Trump’s announcement, proved he was a jumping Chihuahua. Remember Lindsey’s “I will NOT be quiet…” beating chest like a Tarzan, yet he went on Fox and Friends, within 30 minutes, without knowing the details. He triggered all the usual NeoCons, Nikki Haley, Mitch McConnell, and began the drumbeat “I have spoken with Speaker Pelosi” and “Am working with Senator Van Hollen” (the Dem) for sanctions against Turkey (as if the Congress could do a better job on sanctions than Mnuchin – it’s laughable).
I don’t know all the details regarding President Trump’s decision in northern Syria. In process of setting up phone call with Secretary Pompeo.
If press reports are accurate this is a disaster in the making.
Again confirming he believed the PRESS over trusting his President
We see through this farce. The people know. It’s why the media’s approval ratings are down. It’s why Congress’ approval ratings are lower than cockroaches. We voted for real change, on war/trade/immigration/healthcare/unruly agencies, and we aim to get it.
Yes, the Syrians have been fighting in this region for hundreds of years. It was THEIR problem before the USA was barely a country. Yet, DAMMIT, if we’re going to go over there, lose even one precious American soldier, then By GOD, we’re going to fix it, and impose a solution on the region whether they effing like it or not.
Of course, the people KNOW their President. We KNEW something was going on, and held back on comments. Sure enough, about three days later, at a rally in Dallas, he explained what we already knew….. “Sometimes, you have to let them fight, like kids in a school lot”. After a few days, the Kurds were ready to strike a peace deal with Assad, the one they resisted for two years. Surprised? Pence and Pompeo flew to Turkey, and after a strongly worded “letter” from the President, we had a “pause” or a “ceasefire”.
As Scott Adams so eloquently pointed out, what are the rules for ALL ceasefires in the Middle East. What should we immediately expect? Paraphrasing from Scott Adams snark:
Within 24 hours, one party allegedly bombs a “hospital”. Yes, of course, of all the targets Turkey could have allegedly chosen, it makes sense they would choose a hospital above anything else. Yeah, right…. snark.
Someone releases an alleged chemical attack. Lots of white phosphorus in the Middle East, apparently. Do they think we’re stupid?
The mother and dead baby (who has pink cheeks and is blinking), mourning perfectly, center of frame, for the media. And yet, the media tried it again.
And guess what happened in Syria……… the SAME playbook unfolded. We KNOW this is the playbook. And we also know any reports of “death” or “fighting” cannot be trusted because ground reports are impossible and unreliable in the fog of any war. Where are all the dead Kurds? Have you seen them? Confirmed? I mean, the media warned us of the massive ethic cleansing which COULD happen!! At this point, the media should be satisfied with a spoiled Cheese Curd.
For THIS reason we have 2 million immigrants in Europe, burning over 800 churches in France? Attacking Christmas markets in Germany? So many knife attacks in England the Mayor of London has tried banning KNIVES! Landing on the beaches in Spain? Economic burden for Germany? About to destroy the EU as Poland/Hungary and others are unwilling to take more migrants? What bozo thought THAT was a good idea? Oh yeah, it was Merkel, the one who loved Obama but loathes Trump. The whole thing is stupid. Yes, these are stupid people. Because if they’re not stupid, then they are intentionally malicious and evil, sowing the seeds of their own destruction.
epa05854766 US President Donald J. Trump (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 17 March 2017. Merkel’s original visit on 14 March had to be postponed due to bad weather. EPA/CLEMENS BILAN
Yet, along comes an American leader, Donald Trump, to step in, stop the foolishness/death/economic loss/decay, take the heat of the barking dogs, to save them all……… while they complain about being saved…… because it’s so much more fun to be miserable, destitute, or dead. Idiots!!
President Trump is going to win this one in Syria. Within 6 months, I’m betting, the barking dogs will claim it to be their idea. It’s the best possible solution for all parties concerned.
On October 11th, Lindsey and other NeoCons raced to the print media and microphones to predict “the biggest mistake of his Presidency”, the “rebirth of ISIS”, “genocide and ethnic cleansing” and the wrath of hell unleashed.
Every concern I had about President Trump’s Syria decision is coming true in spades.
➡️ The reemergence of ISIS is on the way. And if you think only Europe is threatened — you are sadly mistaken.
What a difference a few days makes. By October 17th, Lindsey was singing a different tune. Truth is, we have to give Lindsey credit for acknowledging his error in judgement, but it probably won’t stop his inner Chihuahua. Nonetheless, he is far ahead of the Dems and media……. who won’t admit the brilliant strategy of Trump.
Sounds like we may have made real progress regarding a cease-fire and hopefully a sustainable solution that will prevent the reemergence of ISIS and the abandonment of our ally, the Kurds.
And by October 18th, looks like the peace is holding and the Kurdish General is happy.
I just spoke with General Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria. He appreciates the efforts of the Trump Administration to stop the violence. (1/4)
Not only has President Trump won this one with the voters, he exposed the inept governing style of Dems, GOPe and the media which lies to the people. The Atlantic Council fellows should be shriveling like vampires in bright sunlight. He’s bringing troops home, making a better deal in the Middle East, co opting the GCC on the ground as well. “Peace is the prize”, Donald Trump.
Recently, a Dem strategy talking point memo was secretly found and released. The #3 item on the list for Dems in 2020 was to criticize President Trump for NOT bringing home the troops. Imagine that one? So, they criticize President Trump for bringing home troops……. cuz Muh Politics…… but they were willing to criticize Trump for NOT bringing home troops ………. cuz Muh Politics.
Are you getting the impression they don’t give a damn about our soldiers…….. only ………. Muh Politics.
Genuine affection, love, admiration for our military members comes from within, and it can never be faked for “Muh Politics”.
God bless our men and women in the military, wherever they are.
Today marks the anniversary of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
With the French fleet under de Grasse blocking evacuation by sea, Cornwallis was trapped and the Continental Army under George Washington, and French forces under Rochambeau, laid siege on the 14th of October. Within days Cornwallis was forced to surrender. He did not attend the ceremony.
The Revolutionary War had dragged on for over six years already (and wouldn’t technically end until the Treaty of Paris in 1783). The odds had been against us; England owned the Atlantic coast back then, as thoroughly as we do now; we had to dislodge them with (at first) very little help from any established military.
https://youtu.be/OuVTl8HdcDc
Thanks to GA/FL we have a good explanation of the battle itself.
And indeed there were a number of close calls, most famous among them the Battle of Trenton, times when if things had gone a little bit differently, we’d not have succeeded, and we’d have pictures of Queen Elizabeth II on our money, much as Canada, Australia and New Zealand do.
In fact, we’d probably be in a commonwealth country that included what we now know as Canada, some sort of North American Union, though I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to what it’d be named. On the other hand…the commonwealth came about because Britain realized after their experience with us that they needed to rule with a lighter hand. If we had capitulated, they might not have learned that lesson.
As for me, I hoisted the Betsy Ross flag this morning, as has been my custom on any day that’s an anniversary of something that happened during the Revolutionary War (that includes Independence Day). I was doing this long before some assclown decided it was un-PC or a trigger or however the heck they phrase their whines this year. I just regret that I missed the anniversary of Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga two days ago.
