TheFrontPageCover
{No Patriot Post this week}
~ Featuring ~
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Iran thinks it can do whatever it wants in the Gulf
by SETH J. FRANTZMAN
{ jpost.com } ~ Iran said that it seized another ship on Sunday – an oil tanker it accused of smuggling oil from Iraq... Tehran has also mocked America's attempt to create an international coalition to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. In short, Iran’s message is: We can do whatever we want in our Gulf and Strait. This is a far cry from the early days of May when the US warned Tehran against any provocations and threatened “unrelenting force.” Instead Washington has been cautious in its response. First came the sabotage of four tankers in May 12 and then the attack on two more on June 13, rockets fired near US bases in Iraq in mid-June, the downing of the US drone on June 20, harassment of a British oil tanker on July 11, capture of the tanker Riah on July 13 and the capture of a British tanker on July 19, as well as the recent seizing of another tanker on August 4. Iran would argue that all of these incidents are responses, or deny that it had even carried out some of them. But it increasingly appears that the Islamic republic is involved not only in the attacks in Iraq, but also attacks in Saudi Arabia and against the tankers. But the real message is that Iran can do what it wants, and there is no “unrelenting” response. In fact, there is little response. The US has said that sanctions are breaking Iran and that it is facing “relentless” pressure. Iran says it faces “economic terrorism” and accuses the US and UK, as well as others, of working against it. Iran is scrapping parts of the nuclear deal in response. But its real message is closer to home. Iran knows that no country has the stomach for a conflict with it, and most won’t join a US coalition in the Gulf. It also knows that the UK wants de-escalation amid the Brexit crisis and that US President Donald Trump does not want war. Tehran has read the American playbook and, through its recent actions, is attempting to assert power in the Persian Gulf: power not just in the areas controlled by its coastal waters, but real power – to show that it is the only one that guarantees security in the Gulf. Iran has said as much and wants to show that this is the case. Yet it holds out a fig leaf about peace to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Javad Zarif, who was sanctioned by the US last week, has reached out to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. The UAE appears to be reciprocating, with one Emirati minister indicating that both Gulf countries want diplomacy over conflict... https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-thinks-it-can-do-whatever-it-wants-in-Gulf-597706 .
James Dobson: U.S. in Serious
Jeopardy From 1 Disturbing Threat
by BOB UNRUH
{ wnd.com } ~ James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, the James Dobson Family Institute and Family Talk radio, warns “revolutionaries” are threatening the nation... “Their goal is to recast America as a Marxist, atheistic, all-powerful form of government,” he said in a commentary in his August newsletter.“I write you today to express my profound concern for our nation and for everything cherished by people of faith. ‘Love of country’ as we have known it is in serious jeopardy. Those who are determined to ‘fundamentally change’ America have forged a virulent and growing political movement that recognizes no allegiance to the U.S. Constitution,” he said. “They think they have a better idea. People like that despise the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights – among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” he said. “Indeed, the concept that our freedoms were a gift from the Creator is anathema to these revolutionaries. I am especially concerned about a generation of children who are being manipulated and warped day by day. These vulnerable boys and girls have no defense against activists and some liberal teachers who are propagandizing them. They see our kids as a way to guarantee their vision of a socialist future.” He noted one of his friends, Jack Graham, senior pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, recently addressed the issue and granted Dobson permission to share his message with Dobson’s readers. Graham said: “Socialism is a political and economic system in which there is government ownership of the means of production and the primary focus of providing equality. Socialism favors large government and governmental control of social services and much more. In socialism, the government is all important and is involved in every aspect of the lives of those whom it rules.” Capitalism, on the other hand, “is an economic system in which there is private ownership, private property, and private possession of goods. In capitalism, there is a limited role for the presence and force of government in individual lives.”....
African American faith leaders defend Trump
after White House meeting: 'He's not a racist'
By Caleb Parke
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Rudy Giuliani: 'Inmates were running the asylum' because Mueller couldn't handle probe
by foxnews.com ~ In the latest episode of Fox Nation's "Reality Check", former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and host David Webb... sat down for a passionate discussion about former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report and their takeaways from his testimony on Capitol Hill last month. Giuliani, who is Trump's personal attorney, highlighted a specific aspect he took issue with from the 200-page plus report: the highly contentious issue of exoneration. Mueller wrote in his report that he could not exonerate the president and doubled down on the issue during his testimony before Congress. "I consider that one of the most dishonorable, one of the scummiest prosecutorial statements ever written," said Giuliani. "I can't tell you the expression that came out of my mouth when I first saw his statement," the former mayor said, questioning Mueller's motive for mentioning exoneration in the first place. According to the Department of Justice, exoneration is not generally granted, Webb explained - even when one is deemed innocent. "There seemed to be a different set of rules for President Trump," Webb argued. Giuliani called Mueller's refusal to exonerate the president "absurd," and said it "turns our whole system of justice on its head going back 2,000 years."..
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Exclusive Air Force Report: Hyten Accuser
Has History Of Unsubstantiated Allegations
By Mollie Hemingway
{ thefederalist.com } ~ An Army colonel, who claimed without evidence that the four-star general who oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal repeatedly sexually assaulted her... has a history of making unsubstantiated allegations against supervisors she claims have slighted her, the findings of an Air Force investigation show. In the weeks since the Air Force cleared Gen. John Hyten, following a comprehensive review by the Office of Special Investigations, major media have prominently published and widely broadcast lurid and salacious claims made against him by the subordinate who was removed from her position for “toxic” leadership. Hyten, who leads the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), was nominated in April by President Donald Trump to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nomination was delayed by an investigation of the claims but was approved last week in the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 20-7. The entire Senate will vote on the nomination in the weeks to come. The Air Force investigation found no merit to the dozens of unsubstantiated claims made by Col. Kathryn Spletstoser in the last couple of years, as well as a history of unsubstantiated claims levied against supervisors. Colleagues of Spletstoser say she had anger issues, bullied subordinates, and had an incredibly foul mouth. They say she’s lying. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has vocally opposed Hyten “given the disturbing allegations” against him, did not show up to the Senate Executive Session in which the Air Force investigation findings were confidentially revealed and discussed. Spletstoser levied dozens of allegations against several supervisors following the loss of her job in 2018, but she had made unsubstantiated allegations previously as well. For instance, two years after a good, but not great, performance review in 2007 that she believed had kept her from being selected for battalion command, Spletstoser appealed and claimed the man who gave her the review had sexually harassed her throughout her tour of duty in Iraq. She claimed that on the day she left Iraq, “he gave her the choice of either getting on her scheduled flight or coming back to his containerized housing unit to renegotiate her evaluation report by performing sexual favors.” That allegation was denied by her commander....
Barr Has Far Bigger Things To Prosecute
scumbaqg-James Comey For Than
Leaking Memos
By Adam Mill
{ thefederalist.com } ~ John Solomon recently broke the news that former FBI director scumbag-James Comey will soon face a “reckoning” for leaking memos of his conversations with the president... Solomon means scumbag-Comey will be embarrassed by an imminent inspector general report containing stern language. Solomon does not mean that scumbag-Comey will face any legal consequences, however, because “prosecutors working for Attorney General William Barr reportedly have decided to decline prosecution.” Many recognize scumbag-Comey as a central figure in the Russia collusion hoax, the U.S. Department of Justice’s interference in the 2016 election, and subsequent resistance to the transfer of power to President Trump. It’s frustrating for knowledgeable observers to see scumbag-Comey’s elite status confer immunity from crimes for which less-privileged citizens are routinely prosecuted. A deeper look at the article provides a clue that the memo-leaking investigation may have been abandoned, however, because it’s insignificant compared to the real reason scumbag-Comey needs to be held to account. Solomon wrote, “‘There are significant issues emerging with how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court-supervised surveillance was handled and other conduct in the investigation, and everyone involved remains under scrutiny,’ a second source said.” As I previously reported, even before the Russia collusion hoax, scumbag-Comey signed his name on sweeping surveillance violations. Pursuing scumbag-Comey on the memo-leaking offense would be like charging scumbag-Comey for jaywalking after he crossed the street to fire a close-range kill shot at our Constitution. There have been increasingly serious scandals regarding U.S. intelligence agencies spying on Americans. In 2013, for example, the National Security Agency found its employees had used the most powerful spying tools to monitor their spouses and lovers. In 2014, The New York Times reported that the Central Intelligence Agency had hacked emails of Senate investigators. This is an extremely serious assault on Congress’s oversight powers under Article I of the Constitution, and a violation of the CIA’s charter. Yet the Department of Justice declined to prosecute, and the CIA got away with it....
Russia, Turkey, Iran: Adversaries
of the West's NATO Alliance
by Con Coughlin
{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ Germany's point-blank refusal to support Washington's proposal for a maritime protection force in the Arabian Gulf to protect shipping from attacks by Iran is yet another example... of Berlin's diplomatic and economic sabotage of the Western alliance. Following the recent upsurge in Iranian aggression in the all-important Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf shipping artery through which flows one-fifth of the world's energy needs, Washington has sought international backing for Operation Sentinel, its naval operation to protect shipping in the region. This search follows a series of Iranian attacks, including the shooting down of a US Navy drone operating in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a number of attacks against merchant shipping, such as last month's seizure of the British-registered oil tanker Stena Impero. But while Washington has responded to Iran's deliberate escalation of tensions in the region by deploying an aircraft carrier battle group, as well as troops, missiles, and fighter aircraft, its appeal to other nations to support its effort have received a muted response. In particular, Washington would like to see Britain, France and Germany -- the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran -- provide tangible support for the mission. From Washington's perspective, the fact that Europe is far more reliant on the Gulf for its energy supplies than is the US, whose energy imports from the region today are negligible, it seems only fair that Europe, as well as other beneficiaries such as Japan, pay their fair share towards ensuring no further Iranian disruption of Gulf shipping takes place. To date, though, only Britain has deployed warships to the Gulf -- a frigate and a destroyer -- while France is considering its options....
Japanese Defense Head Warns of Chinese
Intrusions Near Senkaku Islands
By John Grady
{ usni.org } ~ The most immediate threat facing Japan has been China’s ramped-up maritime intrusions into the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands, Japan’s senior military official said Thursday... Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Gen. Koji Yamazaki, who heads the Joint Staff of Japan’s Self-Defense Force, said so far this year Tokyo has responded to 20 intrusions, compared to 19 all of 2018. The Chinese are employing gray zone tactics to expand their influence. That includes using social media to sway public opinion, economic pressure through proposing major infrastructure projects to other nations and applying political pressure through out the world to isolate Taiwan, he said during his presentation. The 2005 graduate of the National War College in Washington spoke in English during his presentation but answered questions through a translator. Yamazaki cited Beijing’s sending an aircraft carrier far from the mainland as just one example “of trying to change the status quo based on its claims.” Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the Senkakus. Conflicting claims in the South China Sea involve a number of nations, but most often Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. “These attempts to assert sovereignty through shows of force will only escalate the situation” in the Senkakus and elsewhere, he said. Moving the Chinese Coast Guard from civilian control to the nation’s military commission was particularly troubling, he said, signaling a hardening of Beijing’s position...Shocking Ethics Report Proves Trump Was
Right To Defund UN Palestinian Refugee Agency
By Erielle Davidson
{ thefederalist.com } ~ The latest allegations of corruption and abuse at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, also known as UNRWA... prove the Trump administration was right to stop spending taxpayer dollars on the organization. According to a confidential report by the UNRWA ethics office, its top management, including Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl, allegedly “engaged in sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination, and other abuses of authority.” The allegations include of an improper relationship between Krahenbuhl and his senior adviser Maria Mohammedi that resulted in a “toxic environment,” causing “frequent embarrassment.” Mohammedi allegedly was also granted a “fast-track” to promotion to a position that Krahenbuhl created. In the past decade alone, the United States poured more than $3 billion into UNRWA. The Trump administration cut funding in 2018, a decision U.S. Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt assured was “in part due to UNRWA’s unsustainable business model and fiscal practices.” Now, Greenblatt has called for the UNRWA ethics probe to be as transparent as possible in order to ensure the organization did not improperly use U.S. tax dollars. Established in 1950, UNRWA was created to assist Palestinian refugees following the 1948 Arab-Israeli crisis. But since its inception, it has been an ineffective and corrupt mess. As pointed out in a report by attorney Ran Ban-Yoshafat of Kohelet Policy Forum, an organization I have been working with this past summer, the UN violated its charter to treat all categories of people equally when it established UNRWA. While the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is tasked with assisting refugee groups across the globe, UNRWA was created explicitly to support only one group of refugees: Palestinians. Thus, in creating UNRWA, the UN unfairly discriminated in favor of Palestinian refugees. The UN’s unfair discrimination extends farther. The UN definition for a “Palestinian refugee” is far more expansive than its definition for other refugee populations. The UN made the identity of a Palestinian refugee a unique and heritable status on the father’s side, one that could be passed down from grandparents and great-grandparents, no matter where the child is located....
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