What's wrong with this headline?

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 01/25/2019 - 11:30pm

Why does Israel's demands make a significant difference with our foreign policy?

The American base at Al-Tanf, originally established as a southern foothold against Islamic State and a training ground for Syrian rebels, has become one of the main obstacles to the president’s plan to leave. Israeli and some U.S. officials argue that a continued American presence there is critical to interrupting Iran’s supply lines into Lebanon, where Hezbollah -- Iran’s proxy and Israel’s enemy -- has been building up its arsenal.
...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been doing his best, and he has the president’s ear, according to one senior U.S. diplomat, who asked not to be named citing confidential discussions. Netanyahu has repeatedly urged the U.S. to keep troops at Al-Tanf, according to several senior Israeli officials, who also asked not to be identified discussing private talks. Even if they don’t do much, the mere presence of American troops will act as a deterrent to Iran, the Israelis say.

What other nation, other than Saudi Arabia, has this much influence on our political system?

"Our troops are coming out," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month. But, he stressed that "the counter-Iran campaign continues." Apparently, that could mean maintaining a US military presence at the strategic al-Tanf garrison, a position that has blocked Iranian ambitions.
"Al-Tanf is a critical element in the effort to prevent Iran from establishing a ground line of communications from Iran through Iraq through Syria to southern Lebanon in support of Lebanese Hezbollah," a former senior US military commander told Foreign Policy.

Where did this idea come from? Netanyahu. How did it arrive, two weeks ago, in the Trump Administration?
Satan's little helper.

A draft paper outlining US plans for withdrawing from Syria includes leaving troops in place at a position near the Iraqi and Jordanian border seen as a key stopgap against Iranian entrenchment in the country.
The document, described as a proposal, was presented to Turkish officials as US National Security Adviser John Bolton visited Ankara earlier this week to discuss the planned pullout, according to London-based news website Middle East Eye, citing an unnamed Turkish official.
...
Jerusalem has reportedly lobbied for the Donald Trump administration to reconsider pulling troops out of al-Tanf, and according to the Middle East Eye, the US withdrawal plan would leave soldiers there.

“The US is not withdrawing from the base at al-Tanf at this time,” the Turkish official was quoted saying.

Can you imagine what the media would do if we invaded/occupied a foreign nation at Russia's demands?
They would freak, and rightly so.
Israel must be dumping immense amounts of money on our political system.

The interesting spin here is the "legal problem" of staying in Syria.

But staying at al-Tanf could raise legal issues for the administration, said one U.S. government official. Experts have argued that the administration would be on shaky ground in using the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force—which authorizes the fight against nonstate militant groups such as the Islamic State or al Qaeda in Afghanistan—to justify maintaining a presence in Syria for any reason other than to fight the Islamic State.
The only “logical purpose” al-Tanf serves is to allow the United States to “monitor and disrupt the flow of Iranian-backed militias,” the first source said.

“Honestly, you could not contrive a different military mission,” the source said.

Those "legal issues" is called an illegal invasion.
Illegal wars are war crimes. People should be thrown in jail, including Obama.
But instead, liberals have become defenders of an illegal war.

Tags:

Syria

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Comments

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 12:04am

Why should US troops risk their lives for Israel?

The American base at Al-Tanf, originally established as a southern foothold against Islamic State and a training ground for Syrian rebels, has become one of the main obstacles to the president’s plan to leave. Israeli and some U.S. officials argue that a continued American presence there is critical to interrupting Iran’s supply lines into Lebanon, where Hezbollah -- Iran’s proxy and Israel’s enemy -- has been building up its arsenal.

I have never seen any explanation for why Israel's troops can't be the ones who fight their battles instead of making ours do it for them. Hasn't some of the billions that we have given them over the decades gone for them to buy military equipment for their troops? If no one has asked congress this question I think it's time that some one does.

The other reason Bolton stated that we were going to stay in Syria was because Iran was there. Iran was invited into Syria after we invaded and started arming ISIS and other terrorist groups. We leave, Iran leaves. Russia will probably leave too. Syrians can start rebuilding their country after we did this to it.

Good Lord!

—

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

Submitted by Vermonter on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 6:25am

Israeli cowards

@snoopydawg
The US should turn the base over to Israel. Let them get some skin in the game. Maybe they could move in some settlers.

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Vermonter

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 10:00am

Or why don't the Jews

@Vermonter @Vermonter in the US who staunchly support Israel move over there and join the Israeli military?

I am sick of the US blowing so much money and blood for Israel.

Someone had a diary up blasting the Catholic Church, citing its influence in the US. At least we don't spend billions and blood on the Vatican City.

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dfarrah

Submitted by gjohnsit on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 12:51pm

Most don't

@dfarrah

Or why don't the Jews in the US who staunchly support Israel move over there and join the Israeli military?

I've been thinking abut doing an essay about how most US Jews don't agree with our Israel policy.

Submitted by dervish on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 3:16pm

Precisely.

@gjohnsit I cringe a little when the subject moves from Israel to "Jews". Roughly 75% of American Jews oppose Bibi and his crazy policies.

—

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:01pm

I don't know the proportion.

@dervish However, it is difficult to believe that only a small proportion supports and manages to get state leges and Congress to pass anti-BDS legislation, or that they manage to get the US military to fight for them.

Their power in overriding our Constitutional rights is nothing more than astounding, especially when you consider that Jews are less than 10% of the US population.

But I suppose it could be a tiny, tiny % of the US population that believes the US should pay for and die for Israel.

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dfarrah

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:04pm

Then the

@gjohnsit "most" that you mention clearly have no power or influence in our society.

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dfarrah

Submitted by OzoneTom on Sun, 01/27/2019 - 4:13pm

This list is 2012 but we have a lot dual-citizens in control

@dfarrah
This is a list of just Israel/US dual-citizens in positions of power in the United States in 2012.

They would seem to wield much more power than the general population of American Jews:
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/dualcitizensobamaadmin23aug12.shtml

Interestingly, in Israel those in such positions are required to renounce other citizenship.

Submitted by Nastarana on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 4:05pm

Some have, Rahm Emmanuel for one.

@dfarrah Perfect training for keeping the proles, especially the darker proles, in line in Chicago.

—

Mary Bennett

Submitted by Snode on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:52am

I think that the disrespect

coming from Israels colony in the new world is bordering on treason. We should just shut up and do what we're told. Our job is to supply guns and money, and go to war . Israels troops are held in reserve, and used if needed, after Israel expends it's nukes.

/snark

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 10:11am

Realize that

@Snode all that has been posted here would be considered racism.

A short while back, some woman, in some sort of elective process (at a college, I believe), questioned a Jewish person if s/he would not make decisions based on his/her religion.

Well, there was an uproar, and she was forced to apologize. Some prominent Jewish guy said that she should never be allowed to work, nor should any of her progeny be allowed to work.

So, this guy thought this woman and her future generations should be forced into poverty forever. I can't believe we have people in the US who believe in this kind of punishment. Our constitution prohibits corruption of the blood. This incident just tells us how little some of the Jews think of our constitution.

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dfarrah

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 10:47am

Paranoia knows no limits

@dfarrah

and is apparently inheritable from one generation to the next (and the next, and the next....)

If it isn't inheritable, then the parents are making their kids crazy.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 11:56am

I don't think

@TheOtherMaven it is entirely paranoia, I think it is bigotry, too.

Look at the way the children are indoctrinated by the church. They are raised to be loyal to Israel. A trip to Israel is a regular part of the upbringing of the children.

This slice of the Jewish population is born and raised here in the US, yet its loyalties lie with another country.

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dfarrah

Submitted by dervish on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 3:18pm

I'd call that comment straight up anti-Semitic. n/t

@dfarrah

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by Deja on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 3:37pm

How so? n/t

@dervish

Submitted by gjohnsit on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 3:59pm

Let's hold up on this please

@dervish
Israel Jews and US Jews are NOT on the same page.

I see a need to do that essay about this. Let's hold off on this thread until I post it, OK?
No sense in anyone saying something inflammatory.

This isn't aimed at you. Just a general comment

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:09pm

And that is part of the problem.

@dervish No one wants to talk about the elephant in the room.

Hopefully, gjohnsit's upcoming diary will instruct us about the numbers.

As to what Jewish children are taught in the US, just look up some of the websites for Jewish schools and camps. Geez, even Jews like Zuckerberg and Bezos have done their trips to Israel.

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dfarrah

Submitted by OzoneTom on Sun, 01/27/2019 - 4:15pm

"No one wants to talk about the elephant in the room."

@dfarrah
The room is getting too small for the elephant.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Sun, 01/27/2019 - 4:32pm

OK. It's posted

@dfarrah
Hopefully it might give some context for this discussion

Submitted by Snode on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 12:02pm

Maybe some see anti semitism

@dfarrah but Israel is a country. The world had hope that it would be a more enlightened country because of the horrors inflicted upon her people. But as a country it has all the shitty apparatus we do, secret police, assassination squads, a political system open to corruption and a media ready to stoke fears and disseminate propaganda. Throw in the religious aspect stoked in our own country and it's not a good picture. Some view the land the same as the people, same as the religion.

America in WW2 was the recipient of countless refugees, many of them Jews and many some of the finest minds Europe produced, and we were better for it. It's not the people, it's the government, and I worry that Israels government is willing to use the US to further their own ends.

Submitted by Deja on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 5:28pm

Documentary "Into the Arms of Strangers: Kindertransport"

@Snode
Says we didn't exactly welcome Jewish refugees, as you say, but the UK did -- especially kinder, or children. At least, that's my memory of the movie.

Wikipedia says 10,000.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindertransport

We did have OTC (One Thousand Children)

The One Thousand Children (OTC) was a similar but much less organised effort to transport unaccompanied children, mostly Jewish, to the United States. The program brought about 1400 children aged between 14 months and 16 years to the United States between November 1934 and May 1945. Like the kinder, these OTC children were forced to leave their parents behind in Europe; many of them were later murdered by the Nazis.

In contrast to the Kindertransport, where the British Government waived immigration visa requirements, these OTC children received no United States Government visa immigration assistance. Furthermore, it is documented that the State Department deliberately made it very difficult for any Jewish refugee to get an entrance visa.[40] And it was even harder to secure the appropriate papers for their parents, hence most had to remain in Europe.

In 1939 Sen. Robert F. Wagner and Rep. Edith Rogers proposed the Wagner-Rogers Bill in the United States Congress. This bill was to admit 20,000 unaccompanied Jewish child refugees under the age of 14 into the United States from Nazi Germany. However, in February 1939, this bill failed to get Congressional approval.[41]

::
Emphasis mine.

Submitted by Snode on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 5:43pm

You're right

@Deja @Deja We turned away a bunch, but there were a lot of Scientists and engineers that were welcomed, and more post war refugees coming in, at least in NY.

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:17pm

" It's not the people, it's the government"

@Snode Their government is run by people. Our government is run by people.

It appears that the governments are in an unbreakable choke hold.

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dfarrah

Submitted by Snode on Sun, 01/27/2019 - 8:31am

I wish I were a better writer

@dfarrah I just figure that in most countries they're mostly like us, a 1% and a 99%, "the people". I guess the 1% are people, and the resemblance to alien shape shifting lizard people is just my imagination.

Submitted by dfarrah on Sun, 01/27/2019 - 10:45am

Sorry, my comment

@Snode wasn't about your writing.

I understood what you meant.

I'm very disgusted and unhappy about how unaccountable TPTB are. They are people and they've completely hi-jacked our governments.

After all, the Jews elected the yahoo, and we simply don't elect people who oppose our support for Israel (or not many of them).

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dfarrah

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 9:34pm

More enlightened and compassionate

@Snode

after what happened in Germany. But as the saying goes, history repeats itself.

—

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

Submitted by Nastarana on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 4:12pm

Besides,

@Snode @Snode think of the big favor Israel does us in training our law enforcement officers in counter terrorism and defeating urban insurgencies--both of which are Huuge in the USA only the librul media wont cover them.

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Mary Bennett

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 8:21pm

Israel had their own

@Nastarana terrorist groups in the early days.

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dfarrah

Submitted by Nastarana on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 4:53pm

It might help if professional Zionists would

stop claiming that any criticism of the government and policies of Israel is tantamount to criticism of, and therefore prejudice against, Judaism, the religion.

If I criticize the government and policies of Saudi Arabia, does that make me anti-Muslim?

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Mary Bennett