45th President of the United States, Donald Trump (Vol. 7)

[Byker28i]

Trumps lawyer has also parted with his lawyer...

He thinks trump will pardon him

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/giukiani-compl...

[Gameface]

That link is dead mate.

[Eric Mc]

Derek Smith said:

Pintofbest said:

It wasn’t, the tweet was from Junior.

Ah, I see.

But no better in reality.

Blood is thicker than water - and in the case of the Trump clan, the emphasis has to be on "thick".

[anonymous-user]

If some blah I have seen on the net is to be believed, under Trump’s orders, a US military base has been abandoned and has since been occupied by Russian forces. MAGA!

[Tartan Pixie]

RobDickinson said:

Bullst, its 100% down to Trump, he didnt even tell the pentagon it was happening, US troops shelled.

He's a bullst coward pushed around by Putin and Edrogan with no excuses, at the same time he is pulling out so US isnt involved in foreign wars he is sending more troops to protect Saudi.

Its BULLst.

He is a bought and paid for Russian asset.

No. Trump was the point of failure for a system that was already broken.

From when Rojava first came in to existence a few years ago and through its various permutations until it became the NES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) they wanted autonomy within a unified Syria, ie a deal with the Syrian government. For years now I've been reading articles about talks between Syrian and Rojava diplomats that their American allies would not let them move on (McGurk holds primary responsibility for this).

The reasons behind this go way back beyond Trump (and McGurk) to why we had two separate peace processes in the first place, a toothless talking shop in Vienna and the Astana process where all the running was made. American diplomats were too jumped up on their own pomposity to go to a 'sthole country' like Kazakhstan and involve themselves in actual negotiations.

Mark my words on this, the Turks will only go as far as a pre-ordained line that will have been decided in Astana. My guess is the M4 highway plus a bit to have fire control over the road. Syrian government will take the majority, USA will be left with Al-Tanf and the more Jordanian bits*.

The idea that a tripwire force of Americans could have stopped this from happening is absurd. Any tripwire force requires serious diplomatic engagement to function and that function was forgone the moment America refused to either involve themselves in the Astana process or force the other participants towards Vienna. Trump being a vacuous hole did not alter the inevitable.

When I say inevitable I do mean it, you'll see this when the betrayal of the Kurds in Syria repeats itself in Afghanistan for exactly the same reasons. Afghanistan is surrounded by Pakistan, Iran and China yet America chooses to pursue talks with the Taliban, possibly the least relevant people in the entire scenario. One day America will betray their allies in Kabul, maybe it'll be a different president and the failure method will be more managed but the betrayal will happen all the same, it's a function of a failed strategy.

Perhaps it makes more sense if we remember what good American strategy looks like. South Korea and Japan could have easily spent the last fifty years trying to kill each other but they haven't, I would also lay money that America has profited far more from their interaction with these two countries than anything spent on reconstruction. If only America had such foresight in the middle east the world would be very different today.

By contrast today's America pursues only a blocking strategy where they try and surround Iran and China by holding territory with no viable trade routes and no appreciable American effort to improve people's lives by connecting their occupied territories to the western economic system. This is not a viable strategy so unless there is a major change in American foreign policy failure is only a matter of time.

I do not say this to be down on America, quite the opposite. America is and should be a force for good in this world. Give us more of the good stuff please.

<><><>

*Shout out to King Abdullah of Jordan. I'm a big fan of the idea that the best generals are the ones we never hear of because the war never happened and it is quite remarkable how little we hear about Syria's southern neighbour. Hat tip.

[anonymous-user]

Maybe the best post I have read on PistonHeads since 1847. I am not kidding.

[anonymous-user]

Have you read “Prisoners of Geography”? I thought it rather good.

[Byker28i]

Breadvan72 said:

If some blah I have seen on the net is to be believed, under Trump’s orders, a US military base has been abandoned and has since been occupied by Russian forces. MAGA!

Yup as reported yesterday, the US rapidly pulled out, a retreat, destroy stuff rather than taking it and handing over to the russians. The one you've seen was an operational base at Manbij that the russians are boasting they've taken over.


Edit: RT are busy filming inside it. A great coup for russia
https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1184313012171108...

Edited by Byker28i on Wednesday 16th October 06:29

[Byker28i]

trumps tried to create a press moment with Harry Dunns parents by inviting them to the white house and having their sons killer in the other room without telling them. He of course had lots of cameras there.



British parents grieving their teenage son have told how, during a visit to the White House on Tuesday, Donald Trump dropped the “bombshell” that the woman who allegedly killed him in a road crash was waiting for them in an adjoining room.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn turned down the rushed offer to meet Anne Sacoolas, who is married to a US diplomat, describing it as “not appropriate” with no mediators or therapists present.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/15/ha...

[JonChalk]

Another one of Trumps attempt at self-aggrandisement, this time using the family of Harry Dunn has failed.

Unknown to them, he had Anne Saccoolas stashed in the room next door to where he was holding an informal meeting with the Dunns, and a number of photographers lined up, but the Dunns refused to meet her under those circumstances.

You can imagine what the press releases would have said, but subtext is "don't look over there at my fk up in Syria, look at shiny jangly keys over here"

[Byker28i]

George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, told House investigators he was instructed to “lay low,” focus on the five other countries in his portfolio and defer to Volker, Sondland and Perry — who called themselves the “three amigos” — on matters related to Ukraine, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) told reporters Tuesday. Kent took that as a sign, Connolly added, that having been critical of the plan he was being pushed aside “because what he was saying was not welcome” at high levels of the government.

The revelations from Kent’s testimony suggest the decision to wrest Ukraine policy away from career diplomats and put it in the hands of officials seen as more sympathetic to the president was taken several weeks before Trump spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In their July 25 call, Trump appeared to pressure the Ukrainian leader to launch probes into the 2016 U.S. election and the son of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-state-...

[Byker28i]

A grand jury has issued a subpoena related to Manhattan federal prosecutors' investigation into Rudy Giuliani, seeking documents from ex-Rep. Pete Sessions about his dealings with Giuliani and associates, according to people familiar.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-rep-sessions-subpo...

[Byker28i]

Pence has said he he won't comply with a wide-ranging request for documents from House impeachment investigators trying to better understand any role he may have played in Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine to political investigations.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment...


We already know Giuliani has said he won't comply but the Office of Management and Budget also does not plan to turn over the documents that impeachment committees subpoenaed, a spokeswoman said, pointing to a letter earlier this month from White House counsel Pat Cipollone saying it speaks for OMB as well.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/15/politics/rudy-g...

[Byker28i]

A Turkish bank has been charged in Manhattan federal court for its participation in a multibillion-dollar Iranian sanctions evasion scheme
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/turkish-bank-...

Senior Halkbank management, supported & protected by high-ranking Turkish gov’t officials, carried out a brazen scheme to circumvent US sanctions against Iran, illegally moving and concealing the movement of billions of dollars

This is the “Turkish bank case” that Lindsey Graham told “Turkey” Trump was willing to help on, and which Erdogan has been trying to get both the Obama and Trump admins to drop

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/10/lindsey-g...

[anonymous-user]

As Bill said above, amazing to keep on being amazed. The layers of scuzziness go on and on. Trump is about a zillion times worse than we thought he would be at the outset, and most of us then thought he would by mega bad.

PM B Johnson must look on in awe, and dream thatche could be a tenth as dodgy and Teflon as Trump is.

[Gameface]

Byker28i said:

trumps tried to create a press moment with Harry Dunns parents by inviting them to the white house and having their sons killer in the other room without telling them. He of course had lots of cameras there.



British parents grieving their teenage son have told how, during a visit to the White House on Tuesday, Donald Trump dropped the “bombshell” that the woman who allegedly killed him in a road crash was waiting for them in an adjoining room.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn turned down the rushed offer to meet Anne Sacoolas, who is married to a US diplomat, describing it as “not appropriate” with no mediators or therapists present.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/15/ha...

Imbecile.

[Gameface]

I'm getting pretty sick and tired of people not complying with subpoenas and nothing happening about it.

fking charge them.

What's the point otherwise???

[Byker28i]

Gameface said:

I'm getting pretty sick and tired of people not complying with subpoenas and nothing happening about it.

fking charge them.

What's the point otherwise???

Exactly...

Edit:
Mulvaney is Acting White House Chief of Staff and also the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, so after being dropped in it by Bolton, it looks like he's going to stick with trump.

Giuliani has dropped his lawyer, just at a time he's being investigated.

Is trump throwing pardon offers around again? We know he offered them to Flynn and Mannafort but never came through

Edited by Byker28i on Wednesday 16th October 07:41

[Byker28i]

Latest news about Giuliani is bad, seems he was working hard for his $500k

Giuliani privately urged President Trump in 2017 to extradite a Turkish cleric living in exile in the United States, a top priority of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to multiple former administration officials familiar with the discussions.

Giuliani, a Trump ally who later became the president’s personal attorney, repeatedly argued to Trump that the U.S. government should eject Fethullah Gulen from the country, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition on anonymity to describe private conversations.

Turkey has demanded that the United States turn over Gulen, a permanent U.S. resident who lives in Pennsylvania, to stand trial on charges of plotting a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan. Gulen has denied involvement in the plot.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/giuliani-p...

This is the same person Flynn was trying to get extradited, even suggesting just grabbing and extraditing him, remember Flynn was first fired and then convicted for being a foreign asset over this (and others).

Looks like Turkey had their money all over team trump as well, Giuliani, Flynn... trump too? Perhaps there's more to the US pullout of Syria, is trump compromised by Erdogan too, probably with money?

Remember SDNY has just bought criminal charges against Turkish bank Senior Halkbank managemen for a multimillion dollar money laundering scheme that was led by Rudy’s former legal client Reza Zarrab, and SDNY are looking through Giuliani's bank records...


Only the best

[Byker28i]

Democrats debate last night. Bernie looked healthy after his health scare, Warren looked to be recognised as the front runner as everyone attacked her, Biden didn't do anything outstanding.

You can see the full debate here
https://us.cnn.com/2019/10/16/app-news-section/wat...