Trump Signs the Caesar Act into Law

America has short memories yet war atrocities continue in Syria. For those that were very skeptical about the use of chemical weapons used in Syria by the Assad regime, here is the truth. Meanwhile. the Assad regime remains in power due to assistance from Russia and Qassim Soleimani was the wartime, military advisor to Assad.

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He was once a military photographer in Syria. For two years, he took pictures of the emaciated and mangled corpses left behind by Bashar al Assad’s interrogators. Then he fled to Europe with 55,000 digital images on flash drives hidden in his shoes.

Even members of Congress know him only as Caesar. When he spoke to them for the first time in 2014, he wore sunglasses and a bright blue windbreaker with the hood pulled over his head. No one recorded his voice or took pictures of his face. The Assad regime would assassinate him if it could.

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Two days after Christmas, President Trump signed into law the Caesar Act, a tribute to the man whose photographs have proven the war crimes of the Assad regime beyond the shadow of a doubt. When the FBI’s Digital Evidence Laboratory examined Caesar’s work, it found no signs of manipulation.

The bodies in Caesar’s images bear a striking resemblance to the ones in photographs of concentration camps liberated from the Nazis. Fittingly, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has had a selection of Caesar’s images on display since 2015.

The purpose of the Caesar Act is to put unprecedented economic pressure on the Assad regime. The United States and European Union put some tough sanctions on Mr. Assad and his henchmen in the early days of the war in Syria, but enforcement has been partial.

Whereas existing U.S. sanctions prohibit Americans from doing business with the Assad regime, the Caesar Act authorizes sanctions on the citizens of any country who work with Mr. Assad. The act specifically targets the Iranian militias and Russian mercenaries that have kept the Syrian dictator in power.

Although Moscow and Tehran have secured Mr. Assad’s grip on Damascus and other major cities, the war in Syria is far from over. An estimated 3 million Syrians are now crowded into the northwestern province of Idlib, which remains under the control of a variety of rebel forces, including extremists with ties to al Qaeda. As usual, Mr. Assad and his allies are targeting civilians, not terrorists. Hospitals are especially popular targets.

Thus, the Caesar Act still serves a pressing need. Economic pressure is one of the few means of holding war criminals to account for their actions. Sanctions alone will not bring down the Assad regime, but in concert with diplomatic and military pressure they should be part of any sound strategy.

On Twitter, Mr. Trump has made very clear that his administration is on the side of the Iranian people against their tyrannical regime. He should be equally clear in his support for the people of Syria. One can certainly object that Mr. Trump’s concern for human rights is selective, yet when the president of the United States speaks, the world pays attention. When the world is watching, war criminals hesitate.

The United States is not at war with Mr. Assad, but a U.S.-led coalition now controls about a fourth of Syria, which was formerly part of the ISIS caliphate. Twice now, Mr. Trump has ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops only to reverse himself under intense pressure from Republicans in Congress. This wavering only emboldens Mr. Assad, who wants to take back the resource-rich areas under the coalition’s control.

In terms of economic pressure, aggressive enforcement of the Caesar Act should be the first priority. Syria remains dependent on illicit shipments of Iranian oil. The Treasury Department has become more aggressive in its pursuit of sanctions evaders, but tankers of Iranian oil are still getting through.

With Russian help, Syria is also trying to revive its phosphate industry, which generated more than $100 million per year of export revenue before the war. Reportedly, Lebanese companies are buying the phosphates before reselling them abroad, likely after processing the raw material into crop fertilizer.

One entity beyond the reach of the Caesar Act is the United Nations, whose humanitarian agencies have been so deferential to the Assad regime that their aid has effectively become a subsidy for Mr. Assad’s war effort. Independent human rights organizations have produced lengthy reports on this travesty year after year, but donor states have not demanded accountability.

This is one area where further congressional action could make a difference. If there is a second Caesar Act, it should condition U.S. funding for U.N. humanitarian work on verifiable reforms. European governments should impose similar conditions.

Caesar demonstrated extraordinary courage by patiently collecting evidence of Mr. Assad’s war crimes. He saw his friends and neighbors among the dead, but he could say nothing. Had his superiors discovered his plans, his corpse would have been the next one in a photograph.

What Caesar deserves is not just a law, but a sustained American commitment to human rights in Syria.

*** From Human Rights Watch: The 86-page report, “If the Dead Could Speak: Mass Deaths and Torture in Syria’s Detention Facilities,” lays out new evidence regarding the authenticity of what are known as the Caesar photographs, identifies a number of the victims, and highlights some of the key causes of death.

Hey Trump, Declassify the Secret Letters Obama Sent to Iran

Now is the time Mr. President to blow the system, deep state right out of the water….in fact time it with the post impeachment operation….

Remember ladies and gentlemen there were these side deals that Barack Obama and John Kerry negotiated with Iran which are hardly fully known today? How about the side deal that Obama gave terror amnesty to Qassim Soleimani and in fact to all terror operations to Iran?

Imagine the articles of impeachment on Obama had we known…well it is time to know it now.

Iran FM Javad Zaif: I Admit that I Made a Mistake to Put ...

Not only were there secret letters to General Soleimani, but there were secret letters to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Back in 2014: The contents of the letter to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weren’t disclosed, and State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to discuss it Thursday. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported its existence, quoted people it said had been briefed on the letter as saying the letter was sent last month and that it outlined a shared interest in fighting ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.

Kerry will travel to Muscat, Oman, for trilateral meetings Sunday and Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Catherine Ashton, the E.U.’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. That’s two weeks before a Nov. 24 deadline for Iran to reach a comprehensive deal with U.N. negotiators on an agreement to dismantle most of its nuclear centrifuges. Psaki said there was no link between the nuclear agreement and possible future coordination on the fight against ISIS.

Really lil miss Psaki? C’mon. Imagine what others do know about details back then….

Try this:

Reported in part by Bizpacreview: “I must become a whistleblower,” Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute specializing in Middle East security issues, tweeted Friday in response to a self-serving opinion piece by Kerry published by The New York Times. Doran called out Kerry for his op-ed and the “ludicrous and reckless contention” that “diplomacy” with Iran and the nuclear deal negotiated under former President Obama’s watch was working until Trump ruined everything.

 

 

“He put his disdain for anything done by the last administration ahead of his duty to keep the country safe,” Kerry wrote, arguing that Trump’s actions empowered Soleimani while the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action actually restrained Iran while protecting America.

“There were no missile attacks on United States facilities. No ships were being detained or sabotaged in the Persian Gulf,” Kerry claimed.

“There were no protesters breaching our embassy in Baghdad. Iraq welcomed our presence fighting ISIS,” he wrote, touting the “foundation of diplomacy” laid by the Obama administration.

Doran called for the media and Congress to “excavate” the Soleimani messages and get on the task of declassifying them as well as “presidential correspondence” to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and its president Hassan Rouhani.

 

 


“Our diplomacy should not be defined by bluster, threats and brinkmanship, tweets or temper tantrums, but by a vision for peace and security addressing multiple interests of the region,” Kerry wrote in his op-ed, accusing Trump of acting “recklessly” without a strategy while alienating American allies in the Middle East.

Trump contends that Iran’s missile attack on a U.S. military base in Iraq was made possible by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. The president, in his briefing Wednesday, leveled stinging criticism of the Obama administration which he said laid the groundwork for Iran to fund its actions.

“Iran’s hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013 and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash,” he said.

Doran added another tongue-in-cheek tweet about his “patriotic duty to be a whistleblower” while maintaining that he “must remain anonymous.” Keep reading here.

Now we cannot forget that the JCPOA was in fact a treaty that required Senate ratification, yet in a political coup, the Obama administration finessed the whole Constitutional system and went directly to the United Nations….where was the sanctimonious Nancy Pelosi then? Is CNN or the Washington Post reporting any of this? Wonder if NetFlix will release a documentary on this while the Obama’s are so heavily invested over there…..nah

Pelosi Says ‘no war’ but What About the Gerasimov Doctrine?

The 800 lb. gorilla in the room, meaning in Congress is the 2002 AUMF, Authorization for Military Force. That was 18+ years ago and since that time warfare has changed. No longer will we see convention forces take the battlefield that looks that of Ramadi, North Korea or driving the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.

Modern warfare is best described today by the doctrine developed by Russian General Valery Gerasimov. This site has published several items on Gerasimov in recent years where in summary his military paper lays out theories of modern warfare and the new rules. The strategies include politics, cyber, media, leaks, space, fake news, conventional, asymmetric a tactics of extortion and influence.
The United States does not want war but bad guys do and they often get it.
As long as the United States responds and remains defensive on all fronts, we are in a forever war and the bad guys multiply.

The adversaries of our nation watch us more than we watch ourselves, there are divisions, departments, teams, units and various skill sets that are assigned and dedicated to all things United States all to pinpoint our weaknesses and fractures in our systems. They DO find them.
When third in the line of succession to the presidency, Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls President Trump and ‘insecure imposter’ and an ‘assassin’, it becomes one of many jumping off points for our adversaries to exploit. When the media calls Trump a liar, members of Congress use racist, unfit and unstable, the enemy takes delight.

So, taking out General Soleimani was long overdue and as for bad guys multiplying?

Source IISS report

Enter the cyber trolls, the deep fakes, the false news stories, hacks, ransomware, espionage, theft, plants, drones, terrorists embedded with migrants, illicit transfer of goods including weapons, money and people generated by rogue nations.

So, while there is little debate about the AUMF, there is a past due need to update and define all lanes of modern warfare and for a full new unanimous vote on military force which does now include cyber and space.
When Speaker Pelosi announced last week ‘NO WAR’ and the House passed a non-binding resolution to limit President Trump’s war powers against Iran, you can bet Russia was listening as were North Korea, Syria, China and even Iran.

This is a pre-911 mentality regarding foreign policy, United States doctrine and national security. Such was the case several days ago when Iran launched their cyber operation to begin brute force attacks against several targets inside the United States. The Department of Homeland Security’s CISA division (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) sent out several advanced warnings nationally for state and local governments as well as private business and corporations to be on the ready and harden systems with robust firewalls. They are asked for information regarding intrusions and attacks, Well, Texas Governor Abbot did respond. A few Texas state systems were the victims of of brute force cyber hits. The extent of that action appears to be rather minimal but no computer system network ever wants to reveal the damage such that it would or could invite more resulting in more ransomware.

Noted in the Gerasimov Doctrine, hard and soft power across many domains, past and over any boundaries, Russia collaborating with China, Iran and North Korea counter-balance conventional warfare with hybrid tactics and it is cheaper and often missed by experts and media until the real damage is noted.

Congress has held many hearings on what is an act of war against the United States and yet, here we are with a tired and outdated AUMF that does not address gray zone operations. Just ask Ukraine, East Europe and Crimea how Russia was successful in applying hybrid warfare tactics. Maybe we should just rename the Gerasimov Doctrine civilian military operations, perhaps the Democrats and Pelosi would better understand the burdens of the Commander in Chief and that of the Secretary of Defense along with the intelligence agencies. It is an ugly world.

Democrats Cant be Trusted with Intelligence Briefings

This site on May of 2018, wrote a piece regarding John Kerry’s global shadow foreign policy operations. His organization is called Diplomacy Works. Two areas of concentration for John Kerry via his organization since he launched it in 2017 are Iran and North Korea.

On his team of over 50 people are: Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street and a former Clinton advisor, former Ambassador for Qatar, Dana Smith Shell, who also worked for Clinton and Kerry. Then there is Antony Blinken who is a former US Deputy Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor; former Ambassador Nicholas Burns who worked for Hillary; former Senator Tom Daschle; Jonathan Finer, former policy planner at the US State Department; Michele Flournoy, Juan Gonzalez, a special advisor to VP Joe Biden; Avril Haines, former Deputy National Secruity Advisor to Obama; Dr. Colin Kahl, former Special Assistant to President Obama and VP Joe Biden; Robert Malley, former Special Assistant to the Obama White House; Jen Psaki, former Obama White House communications director; former Ambassador Wendy Sherman to name a few.

Sounds like all Deep Staters….right? They are.

So with America just off the 2-3 year Mueller investigation, with continued lawsuits against policy decisions from the Trump White House, with constant leaks that came from not only the FBI and members of Congress to the media including the Washington Post and the New York Times and then the leak of the leak to the pesky whistle-blower about a phone call that launched the impeachment adventure, no one inside the Trump White House should trust anyone inside the Beltway.

Past working relationships from the Obama administration go on to be renewed relationships in new and often obscure places and such continues to be true with the names listed above. Take for example the name above Jonathan Winer….he at one point was special envoy to Libya and assistant secretary of state for international law under John Kerry. If his name is rather familiar, it should be. He and Christopher Steele are old pals from 2009. He too got his hands of the dossier summary and conferred with Victoria Nuland and Sidney Blumenthal.

Then there is Wendy Sherman, that when working for John Kerry was assigned as the North Korea Policy coordinator. Prior to that, Sherman directed the 1988 Democratic National Committee. She also did stints at Emily’s List, for former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, as president of Fannie Mae Foundation and even was a foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign.

Kinda wonder now about those deep state relationships right? If you care to understand just one more among John Kerry’s team, let’s look at Robert Malley. He is a lawyer and most of all a communist sympathizer. Yup, a real anti-semite and in 2008 held meetings with Hamas. In 2014, the Obama administration named Malley to the National Security Council to work with Susan Rice as an expert on the Middle East.

So, when it comes to covert military operations such as that of the drone strike killing Qassim Soleimani and the failed strike in Yemen to take out the other Quds Force commander, Abdul Reza Shala’i who commands the Houthis, would you advise the Gang of 8 or others in Congress?

By the way, directly after the strike to kill Soleimani, Trump dispatched a back channel message via the Swiss embassy to Iran to NOT ESCALATE. Well, Iran did.

The failed strike was first reported by the Washington Post…hummm, how did they know? Shala’i does need to meet a drone as he leads the commanders in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. Remember how those missiles and drones from Yemen strike Saudi Arabian targets?

The United States has a $15 million bounty on him. Shala’i directed the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington DC in 2011.

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This was a plot right out of Hollywood actually that included an Iranian-American used car salesman and resident of Texas names Manssor Arbabsiar who has a cousin high up in the Quds Force named…wait for it….Abdul Reza Shahla’i. The assassination by the way paid well if successful, $1.5 million. (criminal complaint found here)

This was a plot right here in our homeland…those Democrats overlook the connections including Soleimani….

 

About that Ukraine Airline Crash in Iran

So an engine overheated? Planes can still fly.
So, there was no radio communication with the tower declaring trouble?
Allegedly the plane was turning around?
The black box has been recovered but Iran wont turn over to authorities.
Perhaps other clues may be in the passenger manifest as noted below:

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) has published a list of 167 passengers who were on board the Boeing-737 flight PS752 Tehran-Kyiv that crashed early on Wednesday shortly after takeoff. The relevant information has been posted on the UIA website.
The list contains the names in English, as well as dates of birth.
Flight PS752 passenger list: Abaspourqadi Mohamm 1986 Abbasnezhad Mojtaba 1993 Abtahiforoushani Seyedmehran 1982 Aghabali Iman 1991 Agha Miri Maryam 1973 Ahmadi Motahereh 2011 Ahmadi Muh Sen 2014 Ahmadi Rahmtin 2010 Ahmadi Sekinhe 1989 Ahmady Mitra 1973 Amirliravi Mahsa 1989 Arasteh Fareed 1987 Arbabbahrami Arshia 2000 Arsalani Evin 1990 Asadilari Mohammadhossein 1996 Asadilari Zeynab 1998 Ashrafi Habibabadi Amir 1991 Attar Mahmood 1950 Azadian Roja 1977 Azhdari Ghanimat 1983 Badiei Ardestani Mehraban 2001 Bashiri Samira 1990 Beiruti Mohammad Amin 1990 Borghei Negar 1989 Choupannejad Shekoufeh 1963 Dadashnejad Delaram 1993 Daneshmand Mojgan 1976 Dhirani Asgar 1945 Djavadi Asll Hamidreza 1967 Djavadi Asll Kian 2002 Ebnoddin Hamidi Ardalan 1971 Ebnoddin Hamidi Kamyar 2004 Ebrahim Niloufar 1985 Ebrahimi Khoei Behnaz 1974 Eghbali Bazoft Shahrokh 1960 Eghbali Bazoft Shahzad 2011 Eghbalian Parisa 1977 Elyasi Mohammad Mahdi 1991 Emami Sayedmahdi 1959 Emami Sophie 2014 Eshaghian Dorcheh Mehdi 1995 Esmaeilion Reera 2010 Esnaashary Esfahani Mansour 1990 Faghihi Sharieh 1961 Falsafi Faezeh 1973 Falsafi Faraz 1988 Farzaneh Aida 1986 Feghahati Shakiba 1980 Foroutan Marzieh 1982 Ghaderpanah Iman 1985 Ghaderpanah Parinaz 1986 Ghafouri Azar Siavash 1984 Ghandchi Daniel 2011 Ghandchi Dorsa 2003 Ghasemi Ariani Milad 1987 Ghasemi Dastjerdi Fatemeh 1994 Ghasemi Amirhossein 1987 Ghasemi Kiana 2000 Ghavi Mandieh 1999 Ghavi Masoumeh 1989 Gholami Farideh 1981 Ghorbani Bahabadi A 1998 Golbabapour Suzan 1970 Gorji Pouneh 1994 Haghjoo Saharnaz 1982 Hajesfandiari Bahareh 1978 Hajiaghavand Sadaf 1992 Hajighassemi Mandieh 1981 Hamzeei Sara 1986 Hasani/sadi Zahra 1994 Hashemi Shanrzad 1974 Hassannezhad Parsa 2003 Hatefi Mostaghim Sahan 1987 Hayatdavoudi Hadis 1992 Jadidi Elsa 2011 Jadidi Pedran 1991 Jamshidi Shadi 1988 Jebelli Mohammaddam 1990 Kadkhoda Zaden Mohammaddam 1979 Kadkhodazaden Kasha 1990 Karamimoghadam Bahareh 1986 Katebi Rahimen 1999 Kaveh Azaden 1979 Kazerani Fatemeh 1987 Khadem Forough 1981 Kobiuk Olga 1958 Lindberg Emil 2012 Lindberg Erik 2010 Lindberg Raheleh 1982 Lindberg Mikael 1979 Madani Firouzeh 1965 Maghsoudlouestarabadi Siavash 1976 Maghsoudlouesterabadi Paria 2004 Mahmoodi Fatemeh 1989 Malakhova Olena 1981 Malek Maryam 1979 Maleki Dizaje Fereshteh 1972 Mamani Sara 1983 Mianji Mohammadjavad 1992 Moeini Mohammad 1984 Moghaddam Rosstin 2010 Mohammadi Mehdi 1999 Molani Hiva 1981 Molani Kurdia 2018 Moradi Amir 1998 Morattab Arvin 1984 Moshrefrazavimoghaddam Soheila 1964 Mousavi Daria 2005 Mousavi Dorina 2010 Mousavibafrooei Pedram 1972 Nabiyi Elnaz 1989 Naderi Farzahen 1981 Naghibi Zahra 1975 Naghib Lahouti Mehr 1987 Nahavandi Milad 1985 Niazi Arnica 2011 Niazi Arsan 2008 Niknam Farhad 1975 Norouzi Alireza 2008 Nourian Ghazal 1993 Oladi Alma 1992 Omidbakhsh Roja 1996 Ovaysi Amir Hossein 1978 Ovaysi Asal 2013 Pasavand Fatemeh 2002 Pey Alireza 1972 Pourghaderi Ayeshe 1983 Pourjam Mansour 1966 Pourshabanoshibi Naser 1966 Pourzarabi Arash 1993 Raana Shahab 1983 Rahimi Jiwan 2016 Rahimi Razgar 1981 Rahmanifar Nasim 1994 Razzaghi Khamsi Ni 1974 Rezai Mahdi 2000 Rezae Hossain 1999 Saadat Saba 1998 Saadat Sara 1996 Saadat Zeinolabedin 1990 Saati Kasra 1972 Sadeghi Alvand 1990 Sadeghi Anisa 2009 Sadeghi Mirmohammad 1976 Sadeghi Sahand 1980 Sadighi Neda 1969 Sadr Niloufar 1958 Sadr Seyednoojan 2008 Saeedinia Amirhosse 1994 Safarpoorkoloor Pe 1999 Saket Mohammadhosse 1986 Salahi Moh 1988 Saleheh Mohammad 1987 Saraeian Sajedeh 1993 Setareh Kokab Hamid 1988 Shadkhoo Sheyda 1978 Shaterpour Khiaban 1988 Soltani Paniz 1991 Tahmasebi Khademasa 1984 Tajik Mahdi 1999 Tajik Shahram 1998 Tarbhai Afifa 1964 Tarbha Alina 1988 Toghian Darya 1997 Zarei Arad 2002 Zibaie Maya 2004 Zokaei Sam 1977

Data from Flightradar24, a website that tracks aircraft, indicates the Ukrainian airliner crashed roughly two minutes after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport bound for Kyiv just after 6 a.m. local time. The plane reached about 8,000 feet in altitude.

About four hours earlier, Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

According to Iraq’s military, the missiles landed between 1:45 and 2:15 a.m. local time. No Americans have been reported injured or killed in that attack, U.S. officials say.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran initially said in a statement on its website that the crash of the Ukrainian airliner probably was not caused by a terrorist attack or a missile.

However, the embassy subsequently retracted that statement and now says it isn’t clear what caused the crash.

Ukrainian International Airlines announced it was suspending all flights to Tehran “until further notice.” The Ukrainian Aviation Administration banned all flights in Iranian airspace.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft that went down was delivered direct to Ukraine International Airlines from the manufacturer in 2016. The aircraft had no known mechanical faults and had passed an inspection Jan. 6, Ukrainian officials said.

The single-aisle Boeing 737-800 is an earlier model of the 737-MAX aircraft, which was grounded after two fatal crashes last year. The 737-800 does not carry the flawed anti-stall software deemed responsible for the MAX crashes.

Some U.S. aviation experts initially were skeptical about the possibility that Iranian air defenses may have brought down the Ukrainian airliner, mistaking it for an American warplane.

However, the timing of the Ukrainian airliner’s crash just hours after the Iranian missile strike into neighboring Iraq has raised questions about why civilian aircraft were still flying from Tehran’s international airport Wednesday morning, given that Iran’s air defense network was certainly on high alert for U.S. retaliatory airstrikes.

Before Wednesday, some airlines already had canceled flights into both Iranian and Iraqi airspace due to escalated military tensions between Washington and Tehran. According to Ukrainian news reports, though, other airlines such as Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, AtlasGlobal, and Qatar Airlines all had continued flights into Tehran after Iran launched the missiles.

According to multiple independent investigations, a Russian BUK surface-to-air missile, operated by a Russian military crew, shot down the Boeing 777 airliner, killing all 298 passengers and crew onboard. That incident increased worldwide restrictions on civilian airliners flying near active combat areas.

Iran’s missile attack marked the latest escalation of a monthslong, tit-for-tat military standoff between Iran and the U.S.

On Dec. 27, Iran’s proxy militants in Iraq attacked a U.S. military base in the country, killing an American contractor. Following a retaliatory U.S. airstrike, Iran-backed protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Full summary here.