[Red State] Perhaps COVID showed us that we really don’t know what is happening abroad, and we are better off assuring proper R&D here in the States. If these tariffs ultimately are enacted, I think it’s time we stop relying on other countries to provide medications for Americans and bring the manufacturing home. It would ensure national security and make sure proper regulations are followed.
President Trump has said he wants to cut red tape and allow manufacturing here. There is no reason why incentives can’t be given to generic companies to allow for the majority of drugs to be made here, which can then allow us to be an exporter. The health of Americans is a high priority for President Trump and newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. If serious, this is a sure way to ensure Americans remain healthy and ensure we know what we are truly ingesting.
US Vice President JD Vance met on Friday in Munich with the leader of Germany’s far-right AfD, his office confirmed, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.
An official in Vance’s office did not provide further details of the meeting, but said that Vance met with leaders of all of Germany’s major political parties, according to the pool report.
A spokesperson for AfD leader Alice Weidel confirmed the meeting, saying the two met at Vance’s hotel for about 30 minutes and discussed the Ukraine war, German domestic policy and freedom of speech.
The anti-immigration AfD, currently polling at around 20% ahead of the February 23 general election, has pariah status among other major political parties in a country with a taboo about far-right politics because of its Nazi past.
In a policy dubbed the "firewall," parties have formed a consensus not to work with the AfD, which is under surveillance by the German domestic intelligence service.
In an apparent reference to the catchword, Vance said: "Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls."
"No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants colonists," Vance also said, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio due to be broadcast on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Vance’s remarks as highly unusual, adding that Germany had a firewall against extreme right-wing parties for a good reason, citing Germany’s past under National Socialism.
Germany’s defense minister on Friday rebuffed Vance’s criticism of German and European political powers as unacceptable.
"This democracy was just called into question by the US vice president, not just the German democracy but that of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... as a whole," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
"If I understand him correctly, he compares the condition of Europe with what prevails in some authoritarian regimes...this is not acceptable," he added.
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, whom polls show is likely to be Germany’s next chancellor, was accused by rivals last month of breaking the firewall by initiating parliamentary motions that relied on AfD support. But he, too, has ruled out forming a government with the far-right party.
Earlier on Friday, a German government spokesperson said Vance should not interfere in Germany’s election when asked about a Wall Street Journal report in which Vance was quoted as saying he would urge German politicians to work with all parties, including the AfD.
"I don’t think it is right for foreigners, including those from friendly foreign countries, to interfere so intensively in an election campaign in the middle of an election period," the German government spokesperson said at a presser.
Billionaire US businessman Elon Musk, the biggest donor to President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... ’s election effort and now head of Trump’s task force to cut US government spending, has publicly backed the AfD.
’NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN’
In his address to the conference, Vance launched a withering attack against European policies on immigration, populist parties and free speech, echoing Trump whom he called Washington’s "new sheriff in town."
Vance stressed that Europe must "step up" in managing its own security, a key bone of contention. But he mostly lambasted the EU’s members on culture war issues.
"There is a new sheriff in town under Donald Trump’s leadership," said Vance in a speech that stunned the room.
Vance slammed EU "commissars" for stifling free expression and charged that "across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat."
Trump, speaking in Washington, doubled down on Vance’s attack on traditional US allies.
"I heard his speech. He talked about freedom of speech. And I think it’s true in Europe," the president told news hounds at the White House. "They’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech.
"And he talked about immigration, and Europe has a big immigration problem."
Vance’s speech — which focused on key themes of Trump’s election campaign — was a combative broadside at a time of transatlantic discord over defense, trade and Ukraine. It overshadowed discussions on the latter issue in particular, as the prospect of peace talks had been expected to dominate the annual conference after a call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... this week.
The US vice president, however, barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine in his speech to the gathering. He said the threat to Europe that worried him most was not Russia or China but what he called a retreat from fundamental values of protecting free speech — as well as immigration, which he said was "out of control" in Europe.
Trump’s call with Putin alarmed European governments, which have tried to isolate the Russian president since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and fear they could be cut out of peace talks that would have repercussions for their own security.
Vance, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich on Friday, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview before the conference that Trump could use several tools — economic and military — for leverage with Putin.
Vance’s front man, William Martin, later took issue with the newspaper’s interpretation that the vice president had been threatening Russia.
PEACE TALKS
Zelensky said at the Munich conference that he would talk to Putin only once Ukraine had agreed on a common plan with Trump and European leaders.
Vance and Zelensky declined to give details of what they discussed in Munich but the Ukrainian president reiterated that his country needs "real security guarantees."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against any attempt to impose a peace deal on Ukraine.
"A sham peace — over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans — would gain nothing," she said. "A sham peace would not bring lasting security, neither for the people in Ukraine nor for us in Europe or the United States."
Russia now holds about 20% of Ukraine nearly three years after launching a full-scale invasion, saying Kyiv’s pursuit of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... membership posed an existential threat. Ukraine and the West call Russia’s action an imperialist land grab.
Vance also repeated Trump’s demand that Europe do more to safeguard its own defense so Washington can focus on other regions, particularly the Indo-Pacific.
"In the future, we think Europe is going to have to take a bigger role in its own security," he said in a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Vance was "absolutely right" about the need for Europe "stepping up" and doing more for its own defense. "We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more," Rutte said.
At the conference, several European leaders echoed his comments, saying Europe would step up its defense spending but also needed to discuss with Washington a gradual phasing-out of its support.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11151 views]
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#1
If Europe in general and the UK in specific no longer give a damn about *true* democracy, including rights of free speech, association, and assembly, I no longer care if Putin ends up ruling them. Such an outcome would be preferable to Islamic rule.
#2
All of the West has self-orientalized over the last years.
All Western countries have become more and more similar to Russia, China and the Islamic world to different degrees.
This trend being reversed in the US will hopefully also trigger changes in Europe and the non European Western nations.
Dragging people to jail for quoting a USVP risks drawing the international public's attention to a 'justice' system that would do such a thing.
The German political class reacted in a disappointing way. They either remained silent or whined like the East German leadership did after Reagan's "Tear down this wall." speech.
Freedom of speech is not a luxury, it is Western civilization's superior error detection and correction system.
Without freedom of speech we will be lead to slaughter, deaf and dumb.
#3
The Eastern Roman Empire lasted hundreds of years after the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire. It would have probably lasted longer had not Justinian not exhausted the resources of the East trying to recover the lands of the West, leaving it vulnerable to the first Islamic invasion. Just saying.
#9
Whoever wrote that speech, fantastic. Well delivered, too.
Something, something, UK law enforcement threatening arrest of anyone who noticed the murderer of the Swifty children is African even had someone arrested in Pakistan IIRC, EU MP bragging about cancelling elections, Germany talking up banning a political party because they will be leading the polls.
This is not the Europe where I live.
I think that is exactly what we need to talk about.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 10:58 Comments ||
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#11
Byzantium fell because it rotted from within due to arrogance and corruption. The nobles were too busy arguing over the meaning of words while the populace abandoned it. Despite the bravery of the Venetians it was a done deal.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/15/2025 11:13 Comments ||
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#12
Of course you must keep confidences, European Conservative. Clearly there was a great deal of anger in the room during and after the speech. and NATO must be feeling rather whipsawed, going from the demands of President Trump to those of the Biden administration to President Trump again. I will only say, as I did in the previous thread, that I imagine you found the conference yesterday interesting. Here’s hoping the major parties actually act, rather than being content yet again to have said all the right things after the Mr. Noori smashed his car into the crowd.
#13
We, America's soldiers, fought and died in every European war. We were in Bosnia years before any other European nation went in. JD is spot on, not one more drop of American blood for the self righteous Euro's the generally despise us until they need our treasure and blood. Fuck them...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/15/2025 11:48 Comments ||
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#15
NATO must be feeling rather whipsawed, going from the demands of President Trump to those of the Biden administration to President Trump again.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder. Not good. I'm feeling a bit whipsawed myself. The only solution I can offer is for everybody to start treating Democrats as the pariah party.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 11:52 Comments ||
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#16
Migration is one thing, collaboration with the AfD something completely different. I just want to say that there were some of the staunchest transatlanticist people in the room, including the highest ranking members of my party.
We don't understand how Vance could visit Dachau, with the usual "Never Again" proclamations, and then go on to recommend us to open up to a party that thinks the Holocaust is a "bird shit" in German history.
And no, the AfD doesn't suffer suppression or a free speech problem. Their leaders are invited to just about any German TV talk show, they can freely express their opinions and you can vote for them just fine.
I expect Merz to be chancellor in March. He worked for major U.S. companies and is not a lightweight like Scholz. We'll see. Our freedom of speech is not in any danger. Our freedom is, because of Putin's aggression.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:07 Comments ||
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#17
"A sham peace — over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans — would gain nothing," she said. "A sham peace would not bring lasting security, neither for the people in Ukraine nor for us in Europe or the United States."
It's a sham of a war. It's naked aggression, its imperialism by the Western powers who don't even have the guts to put their own troops on the line. They thought Putin was so weak that he would knuckle under and allow NATO into Ukraine. They thought he would give up Crimea. But they miscalculated, plain and simple, just like Napoleon and Hitler. Putin knew better than to believe they would stop at Ukraine.
They can try to put a fig leaf on it with the claim of fighting for democracy but that's a lie. The CIA engineered the Maidan coup in 2014 that deposed Ukraine's democratically elected president. WTF were Victoria Nuland and the CIA doing in Kiev? How democratic was that?
Then Zelensky canceled Ukraine's scheduled election last March. So much for democracy. The Ukrainian people have no say in the matter. They are compelled to fight a war whether they like it or not. That's not democracy. That's not security. It's a lie.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:20 Comments ||
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#18
How much traction, how many followers, would AfD have gained without millions of Africans and Middle Easterners flooding into Germany?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:25 Comments ||
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#19
"Zelensky canceled Ukraine's scheduled election last March. So much for democracy."
"Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” (2015) prohibits the holding of elections during martial law and the Electoral Code of Ukraine (2019) ordains suspension of all elections during such period. This is not an arbitrary political decision but a constitutionally viable solution aimed at ensuring stability in times of crisis. The law prevents governance from collapsing into uncertainty while the country is under extreme conditions."
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:50 Comments ||
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#20
"How much traction, how many followers, would AfD have gained without millions of Africans and Middle Easterners flooding into Germany?"
A problem the new government will have to tackle, but without the AfD.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:59 Comments ||
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#21
Ensure stability? That's a fig leaf for dictators. War is the most important matter anybody is ever likely to face. If you can't vote on war, your country is not stable, you are not secure, you are not free, you do not live in a democracy, your country is not worth fighting for.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 13:07 Comments ||
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#22
In America, we had elections during all of our wars. That's why Lyndon Johnson did not seek another term in office in 1968. The people of this country were so unhappy with his conduct of the Vietnam War that he was afraid to go before the electorate.
Maybe the people think their war is just but they have no faith in their government to wage it. What do they do then? Wait for defeat? That's not what the British did with Neville Chamberlain.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 13:20 Comments ||
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#23
@18 The AfD would have disintegrated in 2015 without Merkel's flooding.
However other non-establishment parties would have been founded and would have had some success.
Russia wants to take over all of Europe and end the US as a global power.
Putin has been an exploratory aggressor since the 200x years. He even dared and got away with deploying a radiological weapon on the territory of a Western nuclear power.
Anyone who wants to appease Russia will have to give away more than Ukraine.
The US will have to forfeit her right to have the US navy freely navigate international waters.
@16 Our freedom of speech is not in any danger.
Distribution of cartoons critical of the Greens results in criminal prosecution. Even if the result is an acquittal, this is unacceptable harassment and intimidation.
In the olden days freedom of speech enjoyed far greater protection.
"Soldaten sind Mörder! / Soldiers are murderers", "Tötet Helmut Kohl! / Kill Helmut Kohl!" was legally protected speech and didn't cause any societal ostracism either.
FTR I disagreed and disagree with both statements.
@20 A problem the new government will have to tackle, but without the AfD.
Center right parties could, in principle easily and devastatingly attack the AfD.
Point out that leading AfD politicians and affiliates (e.g. Chrupalla, Krah, Max Otte) are supporters of totalitarian Islam and the subjugation of Westerners to Sharia.
Taking a principled stance against totalitarianism should be in the DNA of the CDU/CSU/FDP but after Merkel that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.
And neither the U.S. nor the UK were under partly foreign occupation, with millions of people not being able to vote. Elections in Ukraine with daily bombings? The UK only had elections in July 1945 when the war in Europa had already ended.
Btw German Basic Law §115h has this:
(3) The Bundestag may not be dissolved for the duration of the state of defense.
i.e. no elections.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 14:30 Comments ||
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#28
What I hear from the Germans is carrion men groaning for burial.
It's over for them. And we don't care.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
02/15/2025 14:53 Comments ||
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#29
Re freedom of speech in Germany:
In a poll posing the question "Do you feel that you can express your political opinion freely in Germany today, or is it better to be cautious?” 78% responded in the affirmative in 1990 whereas in 2023/2024 this decreased to 40% and 47% of the respondents. (Link in German)
#30
Abraham Lincoln ran against McClellan, his fired general in 1864 during our Civil War. During WWII, I think the only major change was that we let women have their own baseball league, even the slutty ones based on Madonna’s character. I understand we weren’t occupied during WWII, other than Kiska and Attu. Not sure why those two islands would have been considered a bigger red line than getting our troops slaughtered in the Philippines which was a protectorate that might as well have been a colony at the time.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 15:02 Comments ||
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#34
In its 2017 election manifesto, AfD asserted that the presence of Muslims in Germany was a threat to the country: “Islam does not belong in Germany. The AfD sees the spread of Islam and the presence of over 5 million Muslims, whose numbers are constantly growing, as a great danger to our state, our society and our system of values.”[2]
AfD members were exposed as participants in a November 2023 secret meeting of far-right extremists in Potsdam, including Austrian neo-Nazi Martin Sellner, who discussed a mass deportation plan for foreigners and "non-assimilated" Germans, as part of AfD’s strategy should it be elected to govern Germany.
----------
Why would any sane German oppose those positions?
#36
Personally, I think we need to conquer them and make them a managed territory. Place the whole of Western Europe under military Governance, including Great Britain. Then ethnically cleanse the whole continent and British Isles.
#37
May have to get in line.
Macron recently went on a pandercast with a young muslim who has a history of calling for an islamic France and to use it as a tool to expand islam.
#4
the news industry (now completely corrupted into a global mind-fucking operation) . . .
Yes, they do fuck with some minds.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:45 Comments ||
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#5
“The nature of the NGO scams is to have a cause that sounds philanthropic, like ‘Save the Orphans of Sadville’ and then they pocket the money and zero actual orphans are helped.” — Elon Musk
I am reminded of the homeless scam in California. Newsom could tell you all about it...if he was honest.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:46 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Yechiel Leiter tells US Jewish leaders Israel will start sharing ‘truth’ about Qatar after having to ‘suck it up’ for captives’ sake, says Turkey stoking tensions on Temple Mount
Israel’s envoy to the United States accused Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of violating the US-brokered peace deal between Jerusalem and Cairo, profiting from the desperation of Paleostinians seeking to flee the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip and duplicitously operating to benefit Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... Ambassador Yechiel Leiter made the allegations during a Zoom meeting on January 28 with the executives of major American Jewish organizations, a recording of which was obtained Friday by The Times of Israel.
The comments castigating Egypt and its leader were quite out of the ordinary, particularly since the start of the Gaza war, during which Jerusalem has sought to maintain a working relationship with Cairo. Egypt is serving as one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas in order to secure the release of Israeli hostages seized by the Paleostinian terror group during its October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.
Ties between Israel and Egypt have been frosty since Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022, and the premier has not spoken to Sissi since the start of the fighting in Gaza, as Cairo has fumed over what it feels has been Jerusalem’s efforts to move Gazooks into the Sinai Peninsula.
While Egypt has rejected the idea outright — and has stuck to this position in recent weeks as US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... has doubled down on the idea as part of his own Gaza takeover plan — it has sought assurances from Israel that those who leave the Strip will be allowed to return, a senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel. Such an assurance has yet to come, further straining the strategic relationship.
Leiter raised his qualms with Egypt during a briefing with the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations, the first such meeting he has held with the umbrella group since arriving in Washington last month.
Netanyahu appointed Leiter to replace former US ambassador to Israel Michael Herzog, a more moderate figure who was tasked with weathering Israel-US ties during the Biden administration.
Leiter is more closely aligned with the Israeli right and settlement movement in particular, holding views that might not have been received well by the previous administration but are far more welcome under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress.
His criticism in the recent Zoom briefing extended from Egypt and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... — another key mediator — to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , intermixed with remarks expressing pride about what he described as the increasingly normalized Israeli presence in the West Bank, all a reflection of the shift in Israel’s tone in Washington owing to its new embassy chief and the new American administration.
Shortly after this report was published, the Conference of Presidents published the full recording of the virtual meeting.
"Egypt is in very serious violation of our peace agreement in the Sinai. This is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable," Leiter told the American Jewish leaders.
"We have bases being built that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons — that’s a clear violation," Leiter said. "For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically."
Footage purportedly shot from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in recent weeks shows a massive build-up of troops and tanks.
The show of force is reportedly aimed at signaling Cairo’s disapproval over Israel’s continued control over the Philadelphi Corridor border strip between Gaza and Egypt — itself a violation of the peace treaty that the two countries signed in 1979, according to Egypt. The troop build-up is also said to signal Egypt’s willingness to use force against Israel to prevent the displacement of Gazooks into the Sinai Peninsula.
Leiter went on to accuse Sissi of "playing both sides of the equation" vis-à-vis Hamas, despite the Egyptian government being massively at odds with the Hamas-linked Moslem Brüderbund.
Nonetheless, the Israeli envoy argued that Egypt will be more likely to cooperate with Israel against Hamas if Jerusalem succeeds in "decisively defeating" the terror group in Gaza.
Leiter was asked about Israel’s efforts to plan for the post-war management of Gaza, an issue that has exposed Jerusalem to significant criticism, particularly from the Biden administration, which argued that Israel’s failure to advance a viable alternative to Hamas allowed the terror group to repeatedly refill vacuums created when the IDF shifted operations in the Strip.
Leiter echoed the argument of Netanyahu, who has maintained that no such planning can take place until Hamas is out of the picture, as no other governing body would be willing to enter Gaza until then.
The new Israeli ambassador said Egypt would likely be part of governance efforts in Gaza along with Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the UAE, though all three countries have repeatedly conditioned their participation on Israel allowing the Paleostinian Authority to play a role as part of a pathway to a future two-state solution, a framework Israel rejects.
Still, Leiter insisted the "day after" Gaza conversations "are going on. The only way they can be successful is that we don’t talk about them publicly."
"There’s going to be a situation in Gaza where either everybody’s going to try to go back to October 6 — and we’re not going to let it happen. We need an extensive buffer [zone].... Or the international community and we can think out of the box and create a situation where people live in dignity and self-worth," Leiter said, appearing to reference Trump’s calls for Gaza’s entire population to be relocated to Egypt, Jordan and other countries.
Asked specifically about Trump’s call to remove all of Gaza’s population, Leiter responded, "I don’t know if it’s an initiative, but certainly the president is calling attention to the fact that countries all over the world are taking bordering refugees." The briefing took place about a week before Trump announced that he also wants the US to "take over" Gaza and lead the Strip’s reconstruction.
Pointing to the country of Chad, a country poorer than Egypt that has taken in refugees from neighboring Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... , Leiter said it is "unconscionable that Egypt wouldn’t entertain the possibility of at least temporarily housing some of the refugees."
He said members of Sissi’s family are running a travel agency that has charged Gazooks tens of thousands of dollars to flee the war-torn Strip through Egypt.
Roughly 100,000 Gazooks have succeeded in fleeing the Strip through such schemes, but the vast majority have been unable to leave, whether they want to or not.
Leiter said Egypt’s border with Gaza should at least be temporarily reopened in order to provide those who want to leave the ability to do so. Sissi, in the past has retorted that Israel should house refugees in the Negev Desert if it is so intent on clearing the Strip.
A spokesperson for Egypt’s embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
’SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT QATAR AND TURKEY’
The new Israeli envoy also doubled down during the Zoom call on criticism he first made about Qatar during a Fox News interview several days earlier.
"We have to start talking about Qatar. The game that they’re playing — buying everybody out and then buying quiet and buying toleration for their support of terror is just not tenable," Leiter said.
"We have to call their bluff and say... ’Yes, you’re supporting faculties and universities around the country. You’re also supporting terror organizations.’ That doesn’t hold water... The first thing is to speak truth to their financial power," he continued.
Qatar’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Doha already hit out at Leiter for such comments during the Fox News interview.
Ambassador, it is unfortunate that you do not mention that Qatar’s past humanitarian assistance to the Gaza population was entirely coordinated with Israel.
Critics of Doha, including many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, have pointed to its close ties with Hamas and transfer of funds to Gaza that allowed the terror group to prioritize building up its arsenal to attack Israel.
Qatar, in turn, has argued that Israel — and the US — lobbied aggressively for Doha to make such payments in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Netanyahu, himself, defended those payments in an interview with Time magazine last year. This week, Hebrew media revealed that one of Netanyahu’s aides did PR work on behalf of Doha, as did other aides ahead of the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf country.
Leiter then turned his criticism to Turkey, arguing that Ankara has become "verbally belligerent" toward Israel and has allowed "Hamas leaders and other Moslem Brüderbund contingents to operate from Ottoman Turkish territory."
He also accused Ankara of funding organizations that have sought to exacerbate tensions on Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount.
Turkey’s Embassy in Washington could not be reached for comment.
"It was difficult [to criticize Qatar until now] because Qatar played a role in the release of the hostages... we had to — in very diplomatic language — suck it up. Nevertheless, we’re going to start talking about the truth behind the role Qatar and Turkey are playing," Leiter said.
PROSPECTS FOR SAUDI NORMALIZATION, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE
Commenting on the potential for a Saudi normalization agreement, he acknowledged that the sides are not on the brink of a deal, but are still closer than they have ever been.
That assessment came several days before Riyadh issued a style='border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='fiery'>fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... statement against Netanyahu, who proposed on a Fox News interview that Saudi Arabia should house Paleostinians from Gaza. The Gulf kingdom has doubled down on its refusal to normalize ties with Israel without the establishment of a Paleostinian state.
Leiter said an Israeli defeat of Hamas would advance the initiative while admitting that the "perception of the United States withdrawing from the Middle East complicates that [effort] a bit."
"On the one hand, [the Trump administration] wants to see normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia take place. On the other hand, there’s talk about pulling troops out here, pulling troops out there. How is that [US] guarantee of [Gulf allies’] security going to take place?" he posited.
Responding to a question about Israel’s presence in the West Bank, Leiter said it has become far less controversial than it once was.
"There are 600,000 people living in Judea and Samaria. That’s also a statement of success of Israeli governments — that we have a right for this land and that it’s Judea, that it’s Samaria," he said, referring to the territory by its biblical name.
He reflected on the Trump administration’s recent decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. "There’s importance in a name, Judea was Judea long, long before there was a West Bank — about 3,000 years [before]. Let’s bear that in mind and use the proper name."
Contrary to Gaza, where he appeared to back calls to at least temporarily relocate the population of two million, Leiter argued that the roughly three million Paleostinians in the West Bank are here to stay.
"There’s going to have to be some sort of solution to living together, some sort of reconciliation in order to create a modicum of de facto coexistence, even if it’s not a permanent and enduring one," said Leiter, who in the past has lobbied in favor of annexing the West Bank without specifying whether Paleostinians would be able to receive equal rights to Israelis in the territory. "Whether it’s a local autonomy or broader autonomy plan that [former prime minister] Menachem Begin advanced, we’ll see."
Leiter also drew a parallel between the archaeological tunnels Israel has dug underneath the Western Wall to unearth new findings from Jewish history and the tunnels Hamas dug under Gaza in order to keep Israeli hostages, demonstrating the civilizational divide between our concept of humanity and theirs."
The envoy maintained that Israel does not view PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> as a "solution."
The Netanyahu government has long likened Abbas to the Hamas terror group, taking issue with his payments to security prisoners and the families of slain bully boyz — a policy that Ramallah reformed this week. The Trump administration tepidly welcomed the move, while Jerusalem dismissed it entirely.
Leiter also made a point of stressing his desire to "rebuild bipartisan support for Israel," a goal that’s now been stated by several Israeli envoys upon taking up their posts in the US.
Leiter said he plans to try and engage with all parts of the political divide amid concerns over waning support for Israel among young evangelical Christians and young progressives.
He maintained that his background in academia will be an asset as he looks to visit college campuses, which have been rocked over the past year by pro-Paleostinian protests against Israel over the war in Gaza and the administration’s handling of antisemitism linked to the unrest.
#1
Qatar has served as a home and political nexus for the international Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Muslimun) for more than half a century. Qatar's ruling al-Thani family are ineluctably tied to the MB. Likewise, after being expelled from Egypt the MB moved its center of operation to Turkey, and has been active there for more than twenty years. That the USA plays kissy-face with its leaders demonstrates a purposeful ignorance of those nations' objectives. Ironically, Washington also plays kissy-face with MB entities in the USA, as does Ireland, the U.K, Luxembourg and Germany.
#5
OK, to clarify my point.
When this latest round of events kicked off, I think el-Sissi (and pretty much everyone else) that there would be another round of bloodletting, and nothing much would be solved. The Palestinians (as such) are famous for never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
But then the IDF took down the fortress of Gaza, whacked the leaders, and decided, for a change of pace, to smear Hezbollah into a greasy spot.
Iran was blocked from intervening, and then forced to sit by while all their work went up in smoke.
Then with the US election results, would you have believed the the US Pres could threaten Hamas, and actual have them start to cough up hostages?
Abdel has got to be a little bewilderd at this point.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/15/2025 20:35 Comments ||
Top||
#6
He and his allies are suffering from loss of tunnel smuggling across Philadelphi corridor. Fuck him
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025 21:29 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
