Sunday, January 12, 2020

Britain’s Iran envoy denies demonstrating against regime before he was arrested

https://www.timesofisrael.com/britains-iran-envoy-denies-demonstrating-against-regime-before-he-was-arrested/

TEHRAN, Iran — After he was briefly arrested, Britain’s ambassador to Tehran on Sunday denied an Iranian claim that he had taken part in a demonstration that broke out at a memorial for the 176 people killed when a plane was shot down.

56 Percent of Americans Disapprove of President Trump's Handling of Iran, Poll Says

https://www.newsweek.com/56-percent-americans-disapprove-president-trumps-handling-over-iran-poll-says-1481703

Trump and his administration argue that Soleimani was planning "imminent" attacks on the U.S., with the president saying that regional U.S. embassies were going to be targeted. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said that he did not know exactly where or when the attacks would occur, which critics have argued shows that the threat was not actually "imminent." Unidentified government sources also told The New York Times that the intelligence used to justify the attack was "razor thin."
"Pompeo: The attack was imminent, but 'we didn't know when and we didn't know where.' Well, if you don't know when and if you don't know where, that is not 'imminent,'" Democratic presidential candidate Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a veteran of the Iraq War, tweeted on Sunday, criticizing the secretary of state.

Fox News analyst responds to Trump attack: 'This is the way you treat your friends?'

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/29/fox-news-judge-andrew-napolitano-trump-obstruction-mueller-report-attack-response

 “He wanted to divert attention from what Mueller had said about him,” he said, “and what I had commented about Mueller to his relationship with me, his relationship with me is not the story.”
The former New Jersey superior court judge also denied asking for a supreme court seat, saying Trump had actually asked him, unprompted, to recite his qualifications for the job.
“He said, all right, give me a spiel as to why I should put you on,” he said. “Who would turn that down? I gave him the spiel.”
 

Four hospitalized after antisemitic mob rampages through Uman

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Four-hospitalized-after-antisemitic-mob-rampages-through-Uman-613918


  An armed mob stormed through the city of Uman, Ukraine over Shabbat, attacking Jews outside the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, Yeshiva World News reported.

Saudi military trainees to be expelled from US after Florida shooting

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Saudi-military-trainees-to-be-expelled-from-US-after-Florida-shooting-613896

More than a dozen Saudi servicemen who are training at U.S. military bases will be expelled from the United States in the aftermath of a Pentagon review prompted by the deadly Dec. 6 shooting by a Saudi Air Force officer at an American naval base in Florida, CNN reported on Saturday.
The Saudi personnel being expelled are not accused of aiding the Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who killed three American sailors at the Pensacola installation, CNN reported, quoting unnamed sources.

 

Saturday, January 11, 2020

1/11/20 | President Trump News Today January 11, 2020


Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump had no legal right to order killing of Soleimani

"America ... goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy." -- President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)


The president's supporters have argued that the general's death was revenge for Americans and others killed by the general's troops and surrogates. Trump has argued, more importantly, that he ordered the general's death because of what evil the general might order his own troops and surrogates to do in the future.
Can the president legally kill a person not engaged in an act of violence because of what the person might do in the future? In a word: No.

The president has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. The Constitution provides only two means for the federal government to kill a human being. The first is pursuant to a declaration of war, which only Congress can do. That permits the president to use the military to kill the troops of the government of the country against which war has been declared. Congress has not declared war on Iran.

The second way that the Constitution permits federal government killings is pursuant to due process. That means that the person to be killed is lawfully in custody, has been properly charged, lawfully tried and fairly convicted of a capital crime, and the conviction has been upheld on appeal.

Roaming the world looking for monsters to slay not only violates long-standing principles of American domestic and international law, but also it violates basic Judeo-Christian moral principles, which teach that the end does not justify the means and might does not make right.
Think about it. If the American president can kill an Iranian government official in Iraq because of fear of what he might do -- without a declaration of war or any legal process -- can the Chinese president kill a Mexican government official visiting in Texas or an American intelligence agent encouraging revolution in Venezuela for fear of what they might do?

Pence sinks Trump with accidental admission on stage at rally


Trump Offers New Explanation For Soleimani Killing | Deadline | MSNBC


Shifting Explanations Raises Questions About Trump Admin Intel On Iran | The 11th Hour | MSNBC


You cannot make this up ... but Trump did. - Erin Burnett


Reporter calls out Pompeo to his face for lying about “imminent threat” from Iran


Mike Pompeo Admits U.S. Did Not Know Where and When Soleimani Attacks Would Happen, Despite Previously Warning of 'Imminent Threat'





Mike Pompeo admitted U.S. officials didn't know when or where attacks allegedly planned by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani would take place, despite previous claiming that the latter posed an "imminent" threat to American personnel.
The secretary of state said officials did not know "precisely" when or where the alleged plots would occur, but insisted the threat "was real" in a Fox News interview on Thursday night.
He also repeated his claim that there was "no doubt" the former Quds Force commander was plotting a "series of imminent attacks" on U.S. forces and diplomats in Iraq and other parts of the world.
Pompeo revealed that officials had no precise details of when and where the alleged planned attacks would take place after a Wednesday intelligence briefing with lawmakers on the Soleimani strike was met with a backlash.

FactChecking Trump’s Iran Address




In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper examines several claims from President Donald Trump’s remarks after an Iranian missile attack on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. coalition forces.
Trump also was wrong when he claimed that as a part of the deal, Iran was “given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash.” Trump frequently distorts this point, but as we explained once again last year, the deal unfroze some of Iran’s assets that were held largely in foreign banks due to U.S. sanctions. A Treasury Department official in 2015 testified that that would allow Iran to access about $50 billion in “usable liquid assets.”
The $1.8 billion in cash that Trump mentioned is from an unrelated settlement reached by the Obama administration to resolve a dispute that dates to 1979, when Iran paid the U.S. $400 million for military equipment it never received. The U.S. agreed in 2016 to repay Iran that sum, with interest, for a total of $1.7 billion.
Finally, Trump made the dubious claim that “The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.” Experts told us that prior to the nuclear deal, Iran already possessed many of the type of missiles used in the retaliatory attack. A researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies told us he had “strong doubts” that Iran’s missile development — which has long been a high priority for the country’s supreme leader — was “affected too much by budget fluctuations.”