More Hidden News/Facts on Iran

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Here’s Hezbollah’s game-changing secret drone base

For years, the Lebanese Shi’ite militant organization Hezbollah has incorporated unmanned aerial vehicles into their arsenal, developing perhaps the most sophisticated aerial capabilities of any non-state armed group on earth.

IHS Jane’s has now used Google Maps to locate their airbase in northern Lebanon, according to an analysis published on April 23rd.

Hezbollah is arguably the Arab world’s most capable military force. The group is a direct proxy of the revolutionary regime in Iran, which sends the group perhaps as much as $350 million in aid a year, according to Matthew Levitt’s Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God.

Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 rockets — an arsenal that likely includes Russian-made precision-guided missiles. Its infusion of fighters is largely responsible for the survival of Syria’s Assad regime after four years of war against ISIS, Al Qaeda, and secular armed groups. Hezbollah has operated cells and smuggling networks on every continent, and it’s the only Arab military force that can plausibly claim a battlefield victory against Israel.

The airbase is alarming evidence of the group’s vaunted operational capabilities — as well as the depth of its relationship with Tehran.

The airstrip includes a 2200-foot unpaved runway, several outbuildings, and an antenna that “could potentially be used to extend the range of a UAV ground control station.” (It can be found at 34.3109624, 36.3492857 on Google Maps).

Hezbollah airfield Business Insider via Google Maps

It’s located a few miles south of the town of Hermel in northern Lebanon, and about 10 miles to the west of the border wt ih Syria.

As the Jane’s report notes, the airstrip is too short to accommodate most manned aircraft, while its unpaved surface and mountainous surrounding terrain make it largely off-limits to planes that technically capable of landing on a runway of its length. That means there’s a strong possibility it was “built for Iranian-made UAVs, including the Ababil-3, which has been employed over Syria by forces allied to the Syrian regime, and possibly the newer and larger Shahed-129.”

The Ababil-3 is a small reconnaissance drone with limited range and flight endurance; it’s also been deployed by the Sudanese armed forces in the former Iranian ally’s various civil conflicts. But as The Aviationist notes, the Shahed-129 is superficially similar in design to the US’s Reaper and Predator platforms, and Iranian military officials claim that the drone can carry as many as 8 Sadid missiles.’  Read more here from BusinessInsider

Hezbollah airstrip Google Maps

Yes there is more to know about Iran, that country which is designated by the United States as the largest state sponsor of terror, and the one that the Obama White House normalized relations with and a country forced upon the global stage for economic development. This is the country that can build, is building a nuclear program that is the precursor to nuclear weapons.

Iran Deploys Hezbollah-Trained Afghan Sniper Brigade in Syria

DefenseNews: TEL AVIV — An Israeli intelligence source confirmed Monday that a new unit of Afghan snipers trained by Lebanese-based Hezbollah and financed by Iran is now operating beyond its northern border on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In a July 18 interview, the source said the sniper unit – part of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade – is one of several additional groups of special forces that are being deployed in the fight against the Islamic State organization, also known by its Arabic acronym Da’esh.

“These Afghan Shias are battle-hardened and focused at the moment on fighting Da’esh. But we’re obviously following with interest any introduction of new forces and capabilities in that theater that may turn their attention to us when the time is right for them,” said the Israeli analyst, who insisted on anonymity because the interview did not take place through normal authorization channels.

The Israeli source validated reports earlier this month from Iran’s Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), that a new group of snipers specializing in camouflage and concealment tactics was now operational in Syria.

According to a July 9 report, Tasnim acknowledged that the unit was part of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade trained by Hezbollah, which operates in Syria under the command of the IRGC.

Another Tasnim report from July 12, translated by Amir Toumaj, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in an account published by the online Long War Journal, noted that “Hundreds of special Fatemiyoun snipers have been deployed to defend sacred shrines across Syria and have joined Fatemiyoun combat units.”

According to Toumaj’s translation, “additional groups of special Afghan forces with advanced training in combat, commando capabilities, guerilla warfare, anti-armor missiles, shoulder-launched missiles, etc. are expected to join” Fatemiyoun ranks.

“The notable point is that the special Fatemiyoun forces have been trained under skilled Afghan instructors who themselves have completed training in special courses under the supervision of skilled Hezbollah forces,” noted the Tasnim report.

According to Toumaj’s research of Iranian media, the IRGC expanded the ranks of Fatemiyoun forces from a brigade to a full division last year; and some 380 have been killed thus far in Syria.

A recent study by Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center noted that one year after signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Tehran has no intention of reducing its ties to Hezbollah, a designated terror organization.

In its report “Spotlight on Iran” for the week of July 4-17, the Center cited a July 12 interview on state-run Fars TV with Abbas Araghchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister, in which the official characterized the Iran-Hezbollah axis as “a priority… that could not be changed.”

“Araghchi’s remarks reinforce our assessment that no significant change can be expected in the quality and quantity of Iran’s support for Hezbollah, despite its effort to lift the international economic restrictions imposed on the country in recent years,” the Center noted.

It added, “Iran will be prepared to continue paying the diplomatic, media and even financial price in its relations with the United States and the West for continued fostering of Hezbollah as a military-political force and an Iranian proxy.”

 

John Kerry Issuing an Idle Threat to Turkey?

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Power has not be restored at the U.S. coalition airbase, Incirlik, Turkey. Erdogan conducted a raid at the base arresting top Turkish commanders there. Further, there are an estimated 3000 Americans stationed in Turkey.

Turkish NATO membership may be in danger

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Turkey, saying NATO will be scrutinising Turkey in coming days to ensure that it fulfils the alliance’s requirements.

Kerry said:

“NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy,” Kerry said. Obviously, a lot of people have been arrested and arrested very quickly.

The level of vigilance and scrutiny is obviously going to be significant in the days ahead. Hopefully we can work in a constructive way that prevents a backsliding.”

A Number 10 spokesperson said:

“The National Security Adviser chaired a COBR meeting of senior officials this morning to discuss the situation in Turkey. Representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the Department for Transport attended. The ambassador and embassy staff in Ankara also joined by video link.

They noted that the situation in Turkey continued to stabilise, but that we needed to maintain our focus on the situation and monitor any developments over the coming days and weeks, including close cooperation and dialogue with the Turkish government.

British consular staff are working around the clock to support and reassure British nationals in Turkey at the moment, with a particular focus on supporting those waiting for planes in Turkey’s main airports. Flights are starting to get back to normal and backlogs of passengers are beginning to ease.

Officials agreed that we should monitor the situation on the ground closely over the coming days and keep the travel advice to Turkey under review.”

The Turkish military coup failed on Saturday morning as soldiers surrender after many dead and hundreds arrested.

Turkish President Erdogan had made a statement on Turkish television using his iPhone and FaceTime, calling on people to take to the streets to oppose the uprising.

Crowds confronted the coup plotters and gunfire and explosions were heard. The president has now returned to Istanbul, calling the coup attempt an “act of treason” and saying the army must be cleansed. He told crowds the government was now back in control.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered the military to shoot down aircraft being used by coup plotters, with a helicopter being shot down by an F-16.

17 Turkish police officers were killed in a helicopter attack at the police special forces headquarters just outside of Ankara.

Reuters reported that in early hours of Saturday local time, the coup appears to have “crumbled” as crowds defied pro-coup military orders and gathered in major squares of Istanbul and Ankara to oppose the coup. Reuters also reported pro-coup soldiers surrendering to the police in Taksim Square, Istanbul.

The Baton Rouge Cop Killer Terrorist, Legally Changed his Name

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The probability is high that the FBI cultivated this information but due to the saturation point of agents working higher radical and militant people across the country had to prioritize cases. If true and this assessment is accurate, we have a real problem in America and worse a resource problem. Even law enforcement is overwhelmed and data from Fusion Centers may be in question. Nonetheless….here are new facts:

  Courtesy of Heavy    

Baton Rouge Gunman Created Alternate Identity Prior to Shooting

WSJ: Gavin Eugene Long, the gunman who killed three Baton Rouge, La., police officers Sunday, had legally changed his name to Cosmo Setepenra after pledging allegiance to a group of black Americans who claim to be part of a sovereign nation.

Long filed a notice on May 16, 2015, stating that he had joined Washitaw Nation and would change his name to Cosmo Augur Setepenra, according to court documents filed with the Jackson County, Mo., recorder of deeds office.

The declaration that he joined the separatist group had no legal force, but it is evidence that he sympathized with the sovereign-citizens movement, which law-enforcement officials consider to be an extremist threat.

Cosmo is a name that he had also used as his online persona in recent years, according to his tweets and other social-media posts. In a series of rants connected to Cosmo in the weeks before the shooting, Long, who was black, talked of his willingness to die for what he believed was an injustice aimed at him.

Long, 29 years old, was killed by police following Sunday’s shooting.

Police concerns about the sovereign-citizens movement have intensified over the past decade. Law-enforcement officers perceive the sovereign-citizens movement as the top threat, ahead of jihadists, among extremist groups in the U.S., according to a 2013-2014 survey by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

Officers had ranked the movement as the seventh biggest threat in a similar survey published in 2009.

Adherents to the antigovernment sovereign-citizens movement believe the federal government underwent a secret transformation that made slaves of all Americans, according the Southern Law Poverty Center, which has tracked the movement.

The Washitaw Nation is a related group that believes the Louisiana Purchase, in which the U.S. acquired land from France in 1803, was fraudulent. Its members claim to be part of an indigenous culture that rightfully owns the land, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

To join Washitaw Nation, a person needs to file a series of written documents with a local court, or county clerk’s office. Long submitted eight pages of documents into the official record three days after his May 2015 filing. Washitaw Nation isn’t a Native American tribe.

Long argued that, under a United Nations statute granting rights to indigenous people, he was giving up his birth name and his allegiance to the U.S., including his Social Security number, to join the group.

The man who fatally shot three police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday before being killed has been identified as a former Marine sergeant. Mark Kelly reports. Image: AFP

The link between Long and Cosmo is also shown by a website that tracks internet-domain registration. A Gavin Long from Kansas City registered a website called “Convos With Cosmo,” which is very similar to others used for his business dealings and audio and video posts. The website was registered in April.

On July 4, in an audio file posted to one of these sites, “Cosmo” tells the story of joining the Marines in 2005 and then being stationed in Japan and California before an attempt to deploy him to Iraq in 2008. Cosmo said he was a data-network specialist, which he said made him responsible for his group’s network.

The Pentagon said Long joined the Marines in 2005 and said he had a similar rotation to the one described above.

Cosmo said the military tried to deploy him to Iraq before all of his gear had arrived from Japan, and he fought the order.

Sovereign citizens deny they are subject to most taxes and many laws. Members of the movement have harassed government officials by filing liens against officials’ property. They have been prosecuted in dozens of tax-avoidance and other financial schemes, according to a research brief by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

People associated with the sovereign-citizens movement have also been linked to the deaths of several law-enforcement officers, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation describing them as part of “domestic terrorist movement.”

Two police officers in West Memphis, Ark., were shot and killed during a 2010 traffic stop by a father and son identified by the Southern Law Poverty Center and the Anti-Defamation League as sovereign citizens. Suspects in the 2012 shooting deaths of two sheriff’s deputies in St. John the Baptist Parish, La., also described themselves as members of the movement.

Long began using the Twitter account “Convos with Cosmo” in October 2015. The account was used primarily for motivational messages, boasts about himself or links to some of his ideas on issues like sex. They took a more militaristic turn in recent weeks, though, following recent police shootings that killed two black men, one in Baton Rouge and another in Minnesota.

On July 8, one day after Micah Johnson killed five law-enforcement officers in Dallas, Cosmo posted a video suggesting that he could do something that would make people speculate about his motivations.

That same day, Long sent an email to 13 people whom he described as his “Peace Family” and told them “that if anything may happen to me or with me, I am NOT affiliated with anybody, any group, nationality, association, religion, corporation, business, etc.”

He said that for him “as a Man (Protector and Provider) (And Spiritual Being) and me knowing my role as a Man, my duties as a Man, and that I determine my destiny and no one else, I am taking this Earth Plane existence day by day and even hour by hour because anything is possible from here on out.”

The email was sent less than 24 hours after the Dallas shooting that killed five law enforcement officers.

The day after the Dallas law-enforcement officials were shot, Cosmo tweeted: “The Shooter was NOT WHITE, He was one of us!”

In his most recent video posted on his YouTube page Thursday, he is in his car, promoting a book and talking about “wanting my people to succeed.” It isn’t clear where the video is set, but he mentions the protests in Baton Rouge and says he wasn’t able to participate.

“I just got here. I came for my people I am not really into the protesting. I do education,” he said, arguing that the protesters will be gone in the next month.

By Sunday night the video had been viewed more than 11,000 times and was filled with hundreds of comments condemning the shootings.

Cosmo claimed that he dropped out of school, sold his cars, gave away his material possessions and packed two suitcases and headed to Africa, a place he called his “ancestral home.”

He posted videos of his journey, including a stay at what he called a “mid-level” guesthouse in Accra, Ghana, in a clip titled “African-Americans this is what Africa really looks like.”

On July 13, six days after the Dallas shooting, he tweeted: “Violence is not THE answer (its a answer), but at what point do you stand up so that your people dont become the Native Americans…EXTINCT?”

His final tweet, sent just hours before the Baton Rouge police officers were killed, suggested he knew that he was about to die as well: “Just bc you wake up every morning doesn’t mean that you’re living. And just bc you shed your physical body doesn’t mean that you’re dead.”

—Jim Oberman contributed to this article

Hey Obama, Kerry, Rhodes, Explain this Secret on Iran Deal

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Related reading: Flying Above the Radar, Sanctions Evasion in the Iranian Aviation Sector

Related reading: Banking & Money Laundering Risk

Iranian financial institutions remain locked out of the U.S. financial system, and therefore cut off from much of the global financial system. International banks have been hit with $14 billion in fines since 2009 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. The U.S. continues to designate the entire Iranian financial sector as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act and the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

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Iran urged to avoid further ballistic missile launches, to preserve deal July 18, 2016

Iran has been urged not to carry out further ballistic missile tests, which might be deemed inconsistent with the “constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal struck with world powers a year ago.

The call came from UN Under Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, briefing the Security Council on the implementation of the resolution which endorsed the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

AP Exclusive: Confidential text eases Iran nuke constraints

VIENNA (AP) — Key restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program imposed under an internationally negotiated deal will start to ease years before the 15-year accord expires, advancing Tehran’s ability to build a bomb even before the end the pact, according to a document obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The document is the only text linked to last year’s deal between Iran and six foreign powers that hasn’t been made public, although U.S. officials say members of Congress have been able to see it. It was given to the AP by a diplomat whose work has focused on Iran’s nuclear program for more than a decade, and its authenticity was confirmed by another diplomat who possesses the same document.

The diplomat who shared the document with the AP described it as an add-on agreement to the nuclear deal. But while formally separate from that accord, he said that it was in effect an integral part of the deal and had been approved both by Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the six powers that negotiated the deal with Tehran.

Details published earlier outline most restraints on Iran’s nuclear program meant to reduce the threat that Tehran will turn nuclear activities it says are peaceful to making weapons.

But while some of the constraints extend for 15 years, documents in the public domain are short on details of what happens with Iran’s most proliferation-prone nuclear activity – its uranium enrichment – beyond the first 10 years of the agreement.

The document obtained by the AP fills in the gap. It says that as of January 2027 – 11 years after the deal was implemented – Iran can start replacing its mainstay centrifuges with thousands of advanced machines.

Centrifuges churn out uranium to levels that can range from use as reactor fuel and for medical and research purposes to much higher levels for the core of a nuclear warhead. From year 11 to 13, says the document, Iran can install centrifuges up to five times as efficient as the 5,060 machines it is now restricted to using.

Those new models will number less than those being used now, ranging between 2,500 and 3,500, depending on their efficiency, according to the document. But because they are more effective, they will allow Iran to enrich at more than twice the rate it is doing now.

The U.S. says the Iran nuclear agreement is tailored to ensure that Iran would need at least 12 months to “break out” and make enough weapons grade uranium for at least one weapon.

But based on a comparison of outputs between the old and newer machines, if the enrichment rate doubles, that breakout time would be reduced to six months, or even less if the efficiency is more than double, a possibility the document allows for.

The document also allows Iran to greatly expand its work with centrifuges that are even more advanced, including large-scale testing in preparation for the deal’s expiry 15 years after its implementation on Jan. 18.

A U.S. official noted, however, that the limit on the amount of enriched uranium Iran will be allowed to store will remain at 300 kilograms (660 pounds) for the full 15 years, significantly below the amount needed for a bomb. As well, it will remain restricted to a level used for reactor fuel that is well below weapons grade. Like the diplomats, the official demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the document.

“We have ensured that Iran’s breakout time comes down gradually after year 10 in large part because of restrictions on its uranium stockpile until year 15,” the official said. “As for breakout times after the initial 10 years of the deal, the breakout time does not go off a cliff nor do we believe that it would be immediately cut in half, to six months.”

Still the easing of restrictions on the number and kind of centrifuges means that once the deal expires, Tehran will be positioned to quickly make enough highly enriched uranium to bring up its stockpile to a level that would allow it to make a bomb in half a year, should it choose to do so.

The document doesn’t say what happens with enrichment past year 13. That indicates a possible end to all restrictions on the number and kind of centrifuges even while constraints on other, less-proliferation prone nuclear activities remain until year 15.

Iran insists it is not interested in nuclear weapons, and the pact is being closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA says Tehran has essentially kept to its commitments since the agreement was implemented, a little more than six months after Iran and the six powers finalized it on July 14, 2015.

Marking the agreement’s anniversary Thursday, President Barack Obama said it has succeeded in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program, “avoiding further conflict and making us safer.” But opposition from U.S. Republicans could increase with the revelation that Iran’s potential breakout time would be more than halved over the last few years of the pact.

Also opposed is Israel, which in the past has threatened to strike Iran if it deems that Tehran is close to making a nuclear weapon. Alluding to that possibility, David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security is a U.S. government go-to resource on Iran’s nuclear program, said the plan outlined in the document “will create a great deal of instability and possibly even lead to war, if regional tensions have not subsided.”

The deal provides Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for its nuclear constraints. But before going into recess, U.S. Congress last week approved a bill to impose new sanctions for Tehran’s continuing development and testing of ballistic missiles, a program the White House says is meant to carry atomic warheads even if it is not part of the nuclear agreement.

It also approved a measure that calls for prohibiting the Obama administration from buying more of Iran’s heavy water, a key component in certain nuclear reactors.

The White House has said removing the country’s surplus heavy water denies Tehran access to a material that may be stored for potential nuclear weapons production. But critics note that the purchase was made only after Iran exceeded heavy water limits proscribed by the nuclear deal and assert it rewarded Tehran for violating the agreement.

Why is Trump Against Ukraine and Siding with Russia?

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Are we to expect the Trump agenda as president is to normalize all relations with the Kremlin? Is this the first official foreign policy disaster? Below are a handful of factual conditions that Trump is already wrong where the RNC Convention policy was right, but Trump objects. Something else smells here.

We have not even addressed how Russia is not cooperating with the West on Islamic State and the Defense Department refuses to collaborate with Russia on war missions or intelligence.

 

Even The Treasury Department has reasons to apply sanctions to Russia.

Directives 1 and 2 Pursuant to EO 13662 (Issued July 16, 2014)

Important Advisories

OFAC issues advisories to the public on important issues related to the sanctions programs it administers.  While these documents may focus on specific industries and activities, they should be reviewed by any party interested in OFAC compliance.

Due to the invasion of Crimea and Ukraine, Russia was eliminated from the G8 making it the G7 and sanctions remain.

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The Kremlin has a full blown internet troll operation against the United States

So, That Cyber Caliphate is Not ISIS, it is Russian!

General Dunford Tells Congress Russia Poses Greatest Threat to US Security

G7 summit: Obama and Merkel firm on Russia sanctions

BBC: Moscow is the target of European Union and US sanctions over its role in support of Ukrainian rebels.

Russia has been excluded from what was previously known as the G8, since the annexation of Crimea last year.

The West accuses Russia of sending military forces into eastern Ukraine to help the rebels – a charge echoed by analysts. Moscow denies this, saying any Russian soldiers there are volunteers. More from BBC

Trump campaign guts GOP’s anti-Russia stance on Ukraine

Rogin/WashingtonPost: The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington.

Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led intervention. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, worked as a lobbyist for the Russian-backed former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych for more than a decade.

Still, Republican delegates at last week’s national security committee platform meeting in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States.

Inside the meeting, Diana Denman, a platform committee member from Texas who was a Ted Cruz supporter, proposed a platform amendment that would call for maintaining or increasing sanctions against Russia, increasing aid for Ukraine and “providing lethal defensive weapons” to the Ukrainian military.

“Today, the post-Cold War ideal of a ‘Europe whole and free’ is being severely tested by Russia’s ongoing military aggression in Ukraine,” the amendment read. “The Ukrainian people deserve our admiration and support in their struggle.”

Trump staffers in the room, who are not delegates but are there to oversee the process, intervened. By working with pro-Trump delegates, they were able to get the issue tabled while they devised a method to roll back the language.

On the sideline, Denman tried to persuade the Trump staffers not to change the language, but failed. “I was troubled when they put aside my amendment and then watered it down,” Denman told me. “I said, ‘What is your problem with a country that wants to remain free?’ It seems like a simple thing.”

Finally, Trump staffers wrote an amendment to Denman’s amendment that stripped out the platform’s call for “providing lethal defensive weapons” and replaced it with softer language calling for “appropriate assistance.”

That amendment was voted on and passed. When the Republican Party releases its platform Monday, the official Republican party position on arms for Ukraine will be at odds with almost all the party’s national security leaders.

“This is another example of Trump being out of step with GOP leadership and the mainstream in a way that shows he would be dangerous for America and the world,” said Rachel Hoff, another platform committee member who was in the room.

Of course, Trump is not the only politician to oppose sending lethal weapons to Ukraine. President Obama decided not to authorize it, despite recommendations to do so from his top Europe officials in the State Department and the military. The United States has provided Ukraine with non-lethal equipment and aid.

Trump’s view of Russia has always been friendlier than most Republicans. He’s said he would “get along very well” with Vladimir Putin and called it a “great honor” when Putin praised him. Trump has done a lot of business in Russia and has been traveling there since 1987. Last August, he said of Ukraine joining NATO, “I wouldn’t care.” He traveled there in September, and he told Ukrainians their war is “really a problem that affects Europe a lot more than it affects us.”

For Trump, the biggest threat to Europe is not Russia, according to people familiar with his thinking. He believes the United States should focus on helping Europe fight Islamist terrorism and open borders, not confronting Putin. He has called for a reduction of the U.S. commitment to NATO. He simply doesn’t see Russia as a dangerous threat.

For Denman, the Trump campaign’s actions betrayed the U.S. commitment to supporting struggling democracies around the world, which she considers a core Republican value.

“The Ukrainian people are trying to come out of the past and stay free. We owe to those who are fighting for freedom still to give them a helping hand,” she said.

“I’m very passionate and supportive of the Reagan foreign policy of peace through strength.”

Trump too often invokes Ronald Reagan when talking about America’s role in the world. But although Reagan negotiated with the Soviet Union, he also stood up to Russian aggression in Europe and defended democratic principles abroad.

When the platform comes out, Republicans will see how far from the Reagan doctrine their party has drifted, thanks to Trump.