Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Bush officials wanted Obama to help close troop deal with Iraq
Outgoing George W. Bush White House officials privately urged Barack Obama in November 2008 to support talks with Baghdad that would allow U.S. troops to remain Iraq for several years, but the incoming president's team demurred, new emails published by WikiLeaks show.
The agreement, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, has become a fiercely contested topic in recent years, with Bush’s team insisting that Obama could have further extended it once in office, and the president’s supporters insisting that was not possible.
But at the time of the post-election exchange, which featured Bush’s top national security council aide for Iraq, Douglas Lute, and senior Obama adviser, and now chief of staff, Denis McDonough, the Bush administration was still negotiating terms with Iraq’s government to keep tens of thousands of American soldiers in the country for three more years.
According to Lute’s Nov. 11 email, the talks were clouded by the Iraqi government’s uncertainty over where Obama, who had campaigned on a gradual U.S troop withdrawal from Iraq, stood on the question.
Saying that the U.S. had sent the Iraqis “a text we consider final,” Lute — who said he was following up on a prior conversation between McDonough and Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley — wrote that the Iraqis were “keenly interested in understanding President-Elect Obama's position on the SOFA.”
“Indeed, a number of senior Iraqi officials - including a number of Prime Minister's most senior advisors -- are claiming that Mr. Obama will not support a SOFA signed by President Bush and interpreting the few messages publicly available as a pretext to reject the agreement on the table,” Lute wrote. “After the transition team has had time to review the SOFA text, we ask that the Obama team express support for the SOFA, lest the Iraqis use previous positions or the absence of comment to scuttle the deal.”
The pact was needed because U.S. troops were acting under a United Nations mandate due to expire on Dec. 31, a few weeks before Obama would take office.
Lute even offered a proposed language for an Obama statement, which included the vow that the president election would “respect the agreement as negotiated and not insist it be ratified by the US Congress.”
McDonough passed along Lute’s email to several other top Obama foreign policy advisers, including Susan Rice, Mark Lippert, and James Steinberg. John Podesta, then an Obama transition adviser, was later added to the email chain; the exchange was contained in his email account, which U.S. officials have said was hacked at the direction of the Russian government.
“I think we should be cautious about getting in the middle of this,” warned Steinberg, a former Bill Clinton administration official who would become Obama’s deputy secretary of state. “We have one President at a time and we don't propose to get into the middle of the negotations [sic]. If we get briefed now and we don't like it, what do we propose to do -- tell Hadley we can't support it? I think they should do the deed and hopefully its something we can support. The alternative puts us in a position [where] they're using our clout without [us] having any influence on the conduct of the negotation [sic].”
“Good point,” McDonough replied, adding that another transition official was scheduled to attend another unspecified briefing the next day. “We can see where we are then.”
Obama did not weigh in publicly on the details of the talks until the deal was formally concluded several days later, on Nov. 17. It allowed for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq, with legal immunity there, until December 31, 2011.
"President-elect Obama believes it is critical that a status-of-forces agreement that ensures sufficient protections for our men and women in uniform is reached before the end of the year. We look forward to reviewing the final text of the agreement," an Obama spokesperson said at the time.
As president, Obama honored the agreement, which he did not submit to the U.S. Congress for approval. He also did not extend the SOFA, for reasons that are still the subject of dispute, and removed all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/live-blog-up...#ixzz4O2xyptyB
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Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Bush signed the withdrawal agreement with Iraq. :icon_roll:
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Obama didn't extend the agreement as Bush wanted him to do.
"He also did not extend the SOFA, for reasons that are still the subject of dispute, and removed all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of 2011."
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Obummer admitted to being the worst prez in US history, last night on the Jimmy Kimmel show. At last, he said something truthful.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Obama/Biden and Hillary's America.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TYLERTECHSAS
Obama/Biden and Hillary's America.
Lovely!!
Military Leader: Iran Sending Elite Fighters Into U.S., Europe
IRGC commander: 'IRGC will be in the U.S. and Europe very soon'
November 2, 2016 1:08 pm
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the country’s elite military force, is sending assets to infiltrate the United States and Europe at the direction of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to recent Farsi-language comments from an Iranian military leader.
The IRGC “will be in the U.S. and Europe very soon,” according to the Iranian military commander, who said that these forces would operate with the goal of bolstering Iran’s hardline regime and thwarting potential plots against the Islamic Republic.
“The whole world should know that the IRGC will be in the U.S. and Europe very soon,” Salar Abnoush, deputy coordinator of Iran’s Khatam-al-Anbia Garrison, an IRGC command front, was quoted as saying in an Iranian state-controlled publication closely tied to the IRGC.
MORE
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iranian-military-sending-elite-forces-u-s-europe/
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned of a need to "guard" against a rise in nationalism both at home and abroad
during a press conference in Greece one week after the election of Donald Trump.
Alongside Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Obama said that "separate and apart from any particular election or movement," that guard is a necessity.
"We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an 'us' and a 'them,'" he said. "And I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity, the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common, [not] those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict."
The self-described alt-right, a movement that believes strongly in ethnocentricity and nationalism, helped usher Trump into the presidency. Trump in turn elevated Steve Bannon, a top executive of the alt-right media outlet Breitbart, to his campaign CEO and, more recently, to his chief strategist in the White House.
In Europe, far-right movements have gained traction in a litany of nations, including France and Germany, while a nationalist movement in the United Kingdom helped lead to its vote to exit the European Union.
Obama highlighted Europe's bloody past, namely during World War I and World War II, as reason to avoid a path toward heightened nationalism.
"We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up and emphasizing their differences and seeing a competition between various countries in a zero-sum way," he said. "The 20th century was a bloodbath. And for all the frustrations and failures of the project to unify Europe, the last five decades have been periods of unprecedented peace, prosperity, and growth in Europe."
Turning his focus onto the US, Obama said, "We know what happens when we divide ourselves along the lines of race, religion, and ethnicity."
"It's dangerous," he continued, saying that discrimination against various minority groups prevents the country from reaching its potential.
Asked if he took responsibility for Trump's election, Obama reiterated that he was "surprised" by the election, but said he doesn't "feel responsible for what the president-elect says or does."
"But I do feel a responsibility as president of the United States to make sure that I facilitate a good transition," he said. He added that he will present to Trump and the US his ideas for how to improve the country, and speak out on policies he disagrees with.
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama...nalism-2016-11
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Every time Obama loses he goes on a worldwide tour telling foreign governments how bad we are. He hates conservatives because we are patriotic and love our country and don't like people like him ignoring our constitution.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
We should all be more tolerant of communist and terrorist.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Obummer is encouraging the protesters to continue their violence. Nice. Typical piece of shit democrap. Lowlife, scum.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Obummer goes to Hiroshima and apologizes for the "evil" US nuking that city. The prime minister of Japan visits Pearl Harbor and makes a statement that he will NOT apologize, but would pay homage to the Americans who died in the attack.
Okay, I have more respect for the Jap dude than that joke obummer. Obviously, the Jap doesn't think he, and Japan, have anything to apologize for in attacking Pearl Harbor. Okay....fine. If you study the history of the relations between the US and Japan back then, and can be objective, one can see Japan's side of the issue. BUT! that is only because Japan intended to expand their empire and needed the oil. That's right, Japan started the war with the US to take out our Pacific fleet leaving Japan free to capture Indonesia and their oilfields.
So...the Japs feel they had no choice but to attack us. And 75 years later still feel justified. They are full of chit! But at least they aren't being hypocrites about it.
On the other hand, we need to apologize to the free world for obummer.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Oh, this is rich! Whoopie Goldberg blames people losing their health insurance on Trump. You can't make this stuff up. She cited stats of thousands losing their HC coverage, and the report came out after the election, so naturally, the stupid Whoopie-doo thinks the events are connected. Hello! I guess the delusional-one, with her limited, libtard "view" does not know about the adverse effects that obummercare are having, and have been having for years. The plan was set up purposely to have the worst effects kick-in in 2017 and 2018. Employers and insurance companies have been taking defensive steps to minimize the effects in anticipation of next year. If Killary had been elected she would have kept, and probably doubled-down on, the crapola and companies had to make moves now. If anything, Trump's election has slowed this trend. Many people are hopeful something better is around the corner.
Re: Reflective of having worst POTUS ever...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dawg80
Oh, this is rich! Whoopie Goldberg blames people losing their health insurance on Trump. You can't make this stuff up. She cited stats of thousands losing their HC coverage, and the report came out after the election, so naturally, the stupid Whoopie-doo thinks the events are connected. Hello! I guess the delusional-one, with her limited, libtard "view" does not know about the adverse effects that obummercare are having, and have been having for years. The plan was set up purposely to have the worst effects kick-in in 2017 and 2018. Employers and insurance companies have been taking defensive steps to minimize the effects in anticipation of next year. If Killary had been elected she would have kept, and probably doubled-down on, the crapola and companies had to make moves now. If anything, Trump's election has slowed this trend. Many people are hopeful something better is around the corner.
Goldberg is a stupid, frigging MONKEY!!!
