Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Netanyahu slams reports of 'secret clause' to sell UAE F-35s and drones as part of peace deal
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/18/politics/netanyahu-secret-weapons-deal-uae/index.html
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed reports the US will sell stealth fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates as part of the agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the Gulf nation, tweeting that they are "completely fake news."
A U.S. Sale Of F-35 Stealth Fighters To The UAE Could Be A Middle East Game Changer
"The peace agreement with the UAE does not include any clause of this kind, and the U.S. has made clear to Israel that it will always ensure that Israel has the qualitative advantage," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
In a world turned upside down, it would be no surprise if the Trump administration had secretly agreed to sell F-35s to the UAE as an incentive for a peace deal. Nor would it be surprising if Israel, despite the obligatory public protests, ultimately accepted the F-35 sale.
U.S. to sell F-35 jets to UAE as part of secret clause in Israel ties agreement
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S15zntKGP
UAE source: Netanyahu knew about U.S. deal to sell arms to Emiratis
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S15zntKGP
A senior source in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the clause in the normalization deal that would see U.S. sell F-35 fighter jets and advanced drones to the Emiratis, potentially undermining Israeli military superiority in the region.
Reported deal to sell UAE F-35 jets edges in on US promise of Israeli dominance
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, which first reported on the deal Tuesday, said the sale of the F-35 and advanced drones, and Israel’s dropping of any objections to it, was a condition of the emerging normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi that was brokered by Washington.
The UAE and F-35s story isn’t over just because Israel doesn’t like it
The controversy over the possibility that the United Arab Emirates could purchase F-35 jets has continued despite a very firm denial by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And that’s because, well, Netanyahu doesn’t really have the final say here.
Following reports that such arms purchases will be part of the peace deal between the UAE and Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office released an unusually detailed statement, including a timeline of the multiple times that Netanyahu and Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer raised their objections to the F-35 being sold to any other country in the Middle East, even if it has a peace treaty with Israel.
An unnamed UAE diplomat told Kan’s Amichai Stein on Wednesday that it expects Israel not to "oppose or prevent" any deals between Abu Dhabi and the US "if and when" they take place. Plus, the diplomat said, their view is Israel and the UAE face the same threats - meaning, Iran - and such sales will be good for both of them.
Senate Intel says FBI gave 'unjustified credence' to Steele dossier, Russia 'took advantage' of Trump transition team
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-intel-fbi-steele-dossier-russia-investigation-report
The committee found that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s “presence on the Trump campaign and proximity to then-candidate Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign.”
The committee noted that prior to Manafort joining the Trump campaign in March 2016, Manafort “directly and indirectly communicated” with Russian national, Konstantin Kilimnik and other pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine.
“On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik,” the report stated, while noting that the committee was “unable to reliably determine why Manafort shared sensitive internal polling data or Campaign strategy with Kilimnik or with whom Kilimnik further shared that information.”
“The Committee obtained some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected to the GRU's hack and leak operation targeting the 2016 U.S. election,” the report stated.
The committee found that “after the election, Manafort continued to coordinate with Russian persons, particularly Kilimnik and other individuals close to Oleg Deripaska, in an effort to undertake activities on their behalf.”
“Manafort worked with Kilimnik starting in 2016 on narratives that sought to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election,” the report found.
The committee added: “Taken as a whole, Manafort's high- level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and associates of Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence threat.”
Chris Wallace calls Bill Clinton's DNC speech a 'cogent argument' against Trump's coronavirus response
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/chris-wallace-bill-clinton-cogent-argument-coronavirus
Despite former president Bill Clinton's diminished role in the Democratic Party, he made a "cogent argument" against President Trump's handing of the coronavirus pandemic on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace said Tuesday.
"It was only five minutes. As I say, it was pre-taped," Wallace said. "But I thought he made a more cogent argument ... about how Donald Trump has mishandled the coronavirus than any I've heard from anybody."
Why the U.S. Is Losing the War on COVID-19
https://time.com/5879086/us-covid-19/
It is a frightening time to live in the United States. COVID-19, a novel disease as ruthless as it is seemingly random, is picking us off by the thousands; even many of those who “recover” may never truly be the same again. The pandemic has exposed the gulf between what this country promises for its citizens and what it actually delivers. And as the U.S. barrels toward Election Day, the outbreak is sure to complicate the voting process, with potentially disastrous results.
The U.S. is surely losing the war on COVID-19, but it did not have to be this way. Of the G-7 countries—the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Japan, Germany and Italy—only we have an outbreak that continues to spin out of control. Some other nations, like New Zealand, have even come close to eradicating COVID-19 entirely (a somewhat easier feat in a less populated and more isolated country, to be sure). Depressingly, in the months before the pandemic, the U.S. was considered to be among the countries best prepared to handle a major outbreak.
Editorial: GOP convention taps the McCloskeys to speak. A celebration of recklessness.
No, it’s not the setup of a Saturday Night Live skit. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who recklessly waved guns at protesters marching past their home in June, are actually slated to speak at the Republican National Convention next week. What does it say about today’s GOP that leaders would elevate this couple as representative of Republican values?
The McCloskeys are the personal-injury lawyer couple who stood barefoot outside their gated-street Central West End home brandishing firearms as protesters walked by en route to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house. He cradled a semi-automatic rifle; she held a small handgun. Their muzzle awareness was so sloppy, they pointed their guns at times directly at the crowd or at each other.
Our anti-showboating stance applies equally to the McCloskeys, who no one should mistake as role models. As the Post-Dispatch has reported, these confrontation junkies have sued neighbors, employers, tenants, their own relatives. They’ve sued their neighborhood trustees because, neighbors allege, they wanted to bar gay couples. Mark McCloskey once destroyed a beehive placed near his home by Jewish school children as part of their curriculum, leaving a note threatening to sue. “The children were crying in school,” a rabbi told the Post-Dispatch.
UAE official reportedly rebuffs Netanyahu denial he okayed F-35 sale
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-uae-official-says-netanyahu-approved-us-sale-of-advanced-jets/
A United Arab Emirates official on Tuesday night reportedly pushed back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denial that last week’s normalization agreement included a provision green-lighting a US sale of advanced weaponry to the Gulf nation, claiming the Israeli leader was aware of the multi-billion-dollar arms deal and signed off on it.