Donald Trump's Ambitious First Foreign Trip Features Three of World's Biggest Religions - by Charlie Spiering -
President Donald Trump leaves for his first foreign trip of his presidency Friday, highlighting three of the world's biggest religions with visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican City.
"I'll meet scores of leaders, and honor the holiest sites of these three great religions," Trump said during a speech on Wednesday, previewing his trip to Coast Guard graduates.
Despite the political chaos in Washington, White House officials have been working steadily behind the scenes planning the logistics of Trump's travel to four countries over eight days, despite concerns from skeptics that the trip is too big and too ambitious.
"No president has ever visited the homelands of three of the of the world's great faiths in the same trip before, faiths which are professed by millions of Americans," a White House official told Breitbart News, pointing out that the president was "very excited" to make the trip.
In Saudi Arabia, Trump will help inaugurate a center committed to fighting extremism online and in public while promoting a moderate vision of Islam. While visiting with over 50 leaders of the Muslim worlds, he will deliver a tough speech, challenging them to tackle radical Islamic terrorism.
"He'll talk about what unites us in uplifting terms, but he'll also be very blunt in talking about the need to confront extremism and the fact that many in the Muslim world have not only not done enough, they've actively abetted this extremism, even as some of them have talked a good game on the surface but in quiet, continue to fund extremism," a White House official said, previewing the president's speech.
Trump also plans to seek defense and trade agreements with the Saudi's, helping them deter Iran and promote jobs and investments in the United States.
In Israel, Trump will continue boosting his friendship with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, after eight years of the relationship deteriorating under former President Barack Obama.
The president plans to be the first serving U.S. president to visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in the Jewish faith. The White House is aware of reports that an American diplomat refused to allow Netanyahu to join Trump on the visit, but an official cautioned that the reported comments did not reflect the president's views.
Trump will visit the Wall with the Rabbi of the site, something that a White House official described as "completely appropriate" due to the spiritual nature of the site and the visit.
First Lady Melania Trump will be with the president for part of the trip, including visit to Israel and the Vatican, according to WH official
In the Vatican, Trump will meet with Pope Francis, recognizing the importance of Catholics around the world.
"We think that there's a lot of common ground there between the pope and the president and between the Vatican," a White House official noted.
The biggest news surrounding Trump's visit to the Vatican surrounds the lack of a U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, a process that remains ongoing. Officials have still not confirmed reports that Trump has selected Callista Gingrich to serve in the position. A White House official cited a "dizzying amount of bureaucratic paperwork" for slowing the process, but promised an update soon.
Netanyahu to Tillerson: Moving U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem Will 'Shatter Palestinian Fantasy' - by Deborah Danan - http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/05/15/netanyahu-to-tillerson-moving-embassy-will-shatter-palestinian-fantasy/
Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem would help peace efforts by "shattering the Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday.
His remarks followed those made earlier in the day by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in which he said the White House was reviewing whether relocating the embassy to Jerusalem would help or harm the peace process.
"Israel's position has been stated many times to the U.S. government and to the world," Netanyahu said. "Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem will not only not harm the peace process, it will advance it by correcting a historical wrong and by shattering the Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel."
On Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his belief that all foreign embassies should relocate to Jerusalem, the "eternal capital of the Jewish people."
Earlier on Sunday, Tillerson said it was not clear whether an embassy move would help or harm prospects for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact the peace process," Tillerson said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. He added that Trump would base his decision on the interests of all sides, but would also consider "whether Israel views it as helpful to a peace initiative or perhaps a distraction."
However, last week the White House denied rumors that Trump had shelved plans for the embassy move. Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the "president has not made a decision yet and is still reviewing that."
Sanders was questioned about a report on the Hebrew-language news site NRG that said Netanyahu had received notice that Trump would renege on his campaign promise and sign a waiver on the congressional mandate to move the embassy on June 1. That waiver has been signed every six months by U.S. presidents since 1995.
The Prime Minister's Office denied receiving any such information.
"Israel's position is that all embassies, particularly the U.S. embassy, should be in Israel's capital - Jerusalem," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
Speculation is rife that Trump will announce an embassy transfer while on a visit to Israel next week. Trump's two-day visit will coincide with Jerusalem Day, marking the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 defensive war.
Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) also said earlier this month that Trump would use his visit to announce the embassy relocation.
"What better time could there be to announce the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem than when you are over here celebrating with our Israeli friends this very important 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem?" he said.
When asked whether Arab threats were influencing Trump, Deputy Press Secretary Sanders declined to answer.
"I'm not going to get into the decision-making process," she said. "All I can tell you is that he's still reviewing it and as soon as we have a decision, I know we'll be happy to report back to you guys."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in January that if Trump moves the embassy it will "destroy the peace process."
His senior aide and the PA's supreme Sharia judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash said an embassy transfer would be a "declaration of war."
Last week, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said it would be "extremely ill-advised" for Trump to relocate the U.S. mission to Jerusalem.
Also on Sunday, Education Minister Naftali Bennett echoed Netanyahu's sentiment, saying the embassy move would help peace by affirming the unity of the city under Israeli control, whereas "any agreement based on dividing Jerusalem is doomed to fail."
Words That Are Getting My Attention
- By Daymond Duck -
My mind is often preoccupied and I sometimes struggle to focus on what people are saying. But there are four words that people can say that are guaranteed to grab my attention: Israel, many, peace and safety.
"Israel" is the key to understanding Bible prophecy so I am always eager to hear anything that someone has to say about Israel (Matt. 24:32).
"Many" is a qualifying word that refers to an unspecified large number. For example, the angel Gabriel told Daniel, "he (the Antichrist) shall confirm the covenant (peace treaty) with many (an unspecified large number of signers; Dan. 9:27) for one week (a week of years which means seven years).
"Many" signing a seven-year peace treaty grabs my attention because I believe the Rapture will have taken place and the Church will be in heaven when the Antichrist puts his worthless signature on that satanic document that many others will have already signed.
"Peace" draws me in because if someone says something about peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), I am anxious to know what they are saying.
"Safety" engages my attention because Paul said, "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them (those that are left behind after the Rapture), as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape (1 Thess. 5:3).
So when people use the words Israel, many, peace and safety-they automatically have my undivided attention.
Having said this, these attention-getting words have recently been in the news several times.
For example, on May 2, 2017, Vice President Mike Pence was talking about an agreement to resolve the conflict between Israel and the PA when he said, "The new administration has found a way to pursue peace whilst simultaneously devoting itself to securing (making safe) the Jewish state."
He added, "We're making valuable progress toward the noble goal of peace."
For whatever it is worth, I believe Israel is already safe under the protection of God and there will be wars and rumors of wars before there is true peace.
Then, on May 3, 2017, at a meeting in the White House, President Trump told PA President Mahmoud Abbas "We want to create peace between Israel and the Palestinians. We will get it done. We will be working so hard to get it done. It's been a long time, but we will be working diligently - and I think there's a very, very good chance. And I think you feel the same way."
After the meeting, the two leaders held a press briefing. President Trump said, "You signed your name to the first Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. You remember that well, right? And I want to support you in being the Palestinian leader who signs his name to the final and most important peace agreement that brings safety, stability, and prosperity to both peoples and to the region."
It is beginning to sound like a final and very important peace agreement that brings safety to Israel, the PA and the region (a covenant with many).
But there is more. President Trump announced plans to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Vatican. He said, "Our task is not to dictate to others how to live, but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged Middle East. Tolerance is the cornerstone of peace."
He didn't say it the way the Holy Spirit inspired it in 1 Thess. 5:3, but he was talking about Israel, peace, safety and the Middle East (many).
We don't know the day and the hour, but the words that some leaders are using are getting my attention.
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
What has changed that Israel went from ecstasy over Trump to near-mourning? - Yaakov Katz -
With US President Donald Trump's visit to Israel just days away, it's time that the country and its leadership lay out a concrete vision for the future.
On November 9, the day after the presidential election in the United States, Education Minister Naftali Bennett released a statement congratulating Donald Trump on his victory.
"The era of a Palestinian state is over," Bennett glowed at the time. "Trump's victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state... This is the position of the president- elect, as written in his platform, and it should be our policy, plain and simple."
Other members of the cabinet joined the celebrations.
Likud Minister Ofir Akunis, for example, called to immediately increase settlement construction in the West Bank. Other ministers focused their praise on what they believed would be the imminent transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Looking back at what Bennett and other ministers said in November, it seems a lifetime ago, or more accurately as misplaced wishful thinking. Their comments in November came before Trump decided that he wanted to reach the "ultimate deal" between Israel and the Palestinians, before he decided not to move the embassy and before his administration decided that it couldn't even refer to Jerusalem as part of Israel.
So what happened? Why the change? What happened to the Trump of the campaign? At the Knesset on Monday, Bennett tried to provide an answer. During a meeting of his Bayit Yehuda faction he hinted that it was Netanyahu who missed out on an opportunity to pressure or convince Trump into acting on his campaign promises.
Another possibility is that the praise by Akunis, Bennett and others boxed Trump in and that as a response he had to balance out his policies as president. The more likely possibility is what has happened to countless politicians before Trump - it is one thing to make a campaign promise; it is another to be president.
Whether Bennett is right or wrong about the cause of the so-called change in Trump, he is right that Israel might have had the opportunity to present the president with an alternative vision but didn't. Instead, a vacuum was created in Washington and that vacuum was filled by what we are seeing now. Vacuums never stay empty for long.
Next week, the country will mark Jerusalem Day, celebrating half a century since the Six Day War when Israel conquered the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula and reunified Jerusalem.
But since that time, Israel has, for the most part, decided not to decide. Prime minister Levi Eshkol annexed east Jerusalem immediately after the war in 1967 and even though it has been part and parcel of sovereign Israel since, Israelis still get bent out of shape the moment someone says it's not.
Menachem Begin decided in 1981 to apply Israeli law to the Golan Heights, but today, 36 years later, Israel is still undecided about the territory it conquered from Syria. In February, for example, Netanyahu asked Trump to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said earlier this month that the issue should be on the main agenda for the visit.
While I recognize the opportunity the ongoing war in Syria provides for this to happen, why the insecurity? If the Golan is no different than any other part of Israel, why has the government never formulated a strategic plan to increase the Jewish population there, to create jobs and to improve the infrastructure? Even the highways on the Golan are the same two-lane roads from 50 years ago.
Where is our confidence? Why do we let every little comment and diplomatic insult blow up into a full-fledged crisis. The news, for example, about the low-level US Consulate official who said that the Kotel is not part of Israel broke the same day that the new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, arrived in the country and immediately went to pray at the Kotel.
A US ambassador going to the Kotel just hours after landing in the country is unprecedented and historic.
But instead, the news cycle was dominated by a leak - my guess from the Prime Minister's Office - to Channel 2 about some low-level official involved in the logistics of the president's upcoming trip who made an ignorant and imprudent comment. In other words, there is the picture of the new ambassador kissing the Western Wall versus an unnamed official saying something controversial.
I'm not saying Israel shouldn't defend itself when it feels like it is under a diplomatic assault. On the contrary, it should. Nevertheless, the management of the country since Trump's election - and even more so this week - has been like someone suffering from manic depression. When Trump was elected, people were ecstatic. But now that he is president and realpolitik has kicked in, the politicians have become depressed and appear to be in mourning.
The truth is that Trump never really changed, since he never really had a formulated worldview to begin with.
Like most things in life, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Yes, Trump has an affinity for Israel, but he also has limitations like all presidents before him - the need to ensure the stability of the US's other allies in the region and to appear fair in his handling of the conflict.
While the incident with the low-level consulate official is infuriating, it is not anything different from what Israel has been hearing from the State Department for the last 50 years. The same applies to the way National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and press secretary Sean Spicer answered questions on Jerusalem's status this week. Both men danced around the question, likely because their boss has yet to decide what the policy should be.
THERE IS though something deeper at play and this connects to the 50th anniversary the country will mark next week.
Even though half a century has passed since the Six Day War, Israel has yet to decide what it really wants.
It holds on to Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem that are outside the security barrier, even though almost every politician (even on the Right) agrees that Israel doesn't need them. The reason - politician are afraid of the political price they will pay if they say so. The same applies to the previous three Netanyahu governments: the prime minister says he wants a two-state solution but then doesn't take steps to advance it.
I am not getting into who is to blame for the failure of the peace process - I believe it is the Palestinians - since that is not the issue. What I am referring to is government indecisiveness. The government should be providing a vision of what it wants and how Israel's final borders should look. Instead, we hear one thing from Netanyahu and then end up seeing something else play out. There is no strategic vision.
Now, I get that this is a result of a number of factors - the so-called peace partner we have beside us, our chaotic political system and our constant fear of destruction.
Even with these constraints, coupled with the country's growing polarization, the government can still take big, historic steps and should. Begin did that in 1979 when making peace with Egypt, Yitzhak Rabin did it in 1993 when signing the Oslo Accords and Ariel Sharon did it in 2005 when pulling out of the Gaza Strip.
All these moves were controversial; all were political minefields, but all ended up happening because when a prime minister wants something, he or she can get it done with the right political maneuvering. It might be hard, but it happens.
If Netanyahu wanted to annex all of the West Bank he could with the makeup of today's coalition. If he wanted to freeze settlement construction and enter into peace talks with the Palestinians, he could as well, by changing his coalition.
But to do either, he would need to decide what he wants. After 50 years of almost everyone not deciding why should he suddenly be different? So instead of deciding what it wants, the government prefers to look over its shoulder and see what the world will tell us to do. It won't annex the West Bank because the world would get upset, and it won't enter into peace talks because it could shake up the coalition. Those are convenient excuses but neither provides an answer for what is right. What is in Israel's interest? What is right for the country in its 70th year of independence? Fifty years after reunifying Jerusalem, Israel has never been stronger - socially, militarily and economically. If there is a time to lay out a vision it is now.
Trump and Israel: Enemies of the system - By Caroline B. Glick -
Throughout the Obama administration, US officials illegally leaked top secret information about Israeli operations to the media.
The United States is sailing in uncharted waters today as the intelligence-security community wages an all-but-declared rebellion against President Donald Trump.
Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein's decision on Wednesday to appoint former FBI director Robert Mueller to serve as a special counsel charged with investigating allegations of "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump," is the latest and so far most significant development in this grave saga.
Who are the people seeking to unseat Trump? This week we learned that the powers at play are deeply familiar. Trump's nameless opponents are some of Israel's greatest antagonists in the US security establishment.
This reality was exposed this week with intelligence leaks related to Trump's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. To understand what happened, let's start with the facts that are undisputed about that meeting.
The main thing that is not in dispute is that during his meeting with Lavrov, Trump discussed Islamic State's plan to blow up passenger flights with bombs hidden in laptop computers.
It's hard to find fault with Trump's actions. First of all, the ISIS plot has been public knowledge for several weeks.
Second, the Russians are enemies of ISIS. Moreover, Russia has a specific interest in diminishing ISIS's capacity to harm civilian air traffic. In October 2015, ISIS terrorists in Egypt downed a Moscow-bound jetliner, killing all 254 people on board with a bomb smuggled on board in a soda can.
And now on to the issues that are in dispute.
Hours after the Trump-Lavrov meeting, The Washington Post reported that in sharing information about ISIS's plans, Trump exposed intelligence sources and methods to Russia and in so doing, he imperiled ongoing intelligence operations carried out by a foreign government.
The next day, The New York Times reported that the sources and methods involved were Israeli. In sharing information about the ISIS plot with Lavrov, the media reported, Trump endangered Israel.
There are two problems with this narrative.
First, Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster insisted that there was no way that Trump could have exposed sources and methods, because he didn't know where the information on the ISIS plot that he discussed with Lavrov originated.
Second, if McMaster's version is true - and it's hard to imagine that McMaster would effectively say that his boss is an ignoramus if it weren't true - then the people who harmed Israel's security were the leakers, not Trump.
Now who are these leakers? According to the Washington Post, the leakers are members of the US intelligence community and former members of the US intelligence community, (the latter, presumably were political appointees in senior intelligence positions during the Obama administration who resigned when Trump came into office).
Israel is no stranger to this sort of operation. Throughout the Obama administration, US officials illegally leaked top secret information about Israeli operations to the media.
In 2010, a senior defense source exposed the Stuxnet computer worm to the New York Times. Stuxnet was reportedly a cyber weapon developed jointly by the US and Israel. It was infiltrated into the computer system at Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor. It reportedly sabotaged a large quantity of centrifuges at the installation.
The revelation of Stuxnet's existence and purpose ended the operation. Moreover, much of Iran's significant cyber capabilities were reportedly developed by reverse engineering the Stuxnet.
Obama made his support for the leak clear three days before he left office. On January 17, 2017, Obama pardoned Marine Gen. James Cartwright for his role in illegally divulging the Stuxnet program to the Times.
In 2012, US officials told the media that Israel had struck targets in Syria. The leak, which was repeated several times in subsequent years, made it more dangerous for Israel to operate against Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria.
Also in 2012, ahead of the presidential election, US officials informed journalists that Israel was operating in air bases in Azerbaijan with the purpose of attacking Iran's nuclear sites in air strikes originating from those bases.
Israel's alleged plan to attack Iran was abruptly canceled.
In all of these cases, the goal of the leak was to harm Israel.
In contrast, the goal of this week's leaks was to harm Trump. Israel was collateral damage.
The key point is that the leaks are coming from the same places in both cases.
All of them are members of the US intelligence community with exceedingly high security clearances. And all of them willingly committed felony offenses when they shared top secret information with reporters.
That is, all of them believe that it is perfectly all right to make political use of intelligence to advance a political goal. In the case of the anti-Israel leaks under Obama, their purpose was to prevent Israel from degrading Iran's nuclear capacity and military power at a time that Obama was working to empower Iran at Israel's expense.
In the case of the Trump-Lavrov leak, the purpose was to undermine Israel's security as a means of harming Trump politically.
What happened to the US intelligence community? How did its members come to believe that they have the right to abuse the knowledge they gained as intelligence officers in order to advance a partisan agenda? As former CIA station chief Scott Uehlinger explained in an article published in March in The Hill, the Obama administration oversaw a program of deliberate politicization of the US intelligence community.
The first major step toward this end was initiated by then-US attorney general Eric Holder in August 2009.
Holder announced then that he intended to appoint a special counsel to investigate claims that CIA officers tortured terrorists while interrogating them.
The purpose of Holder's announcement wasn't to secure indictments. The points was to transform the CIA politically and culturally.
And it worked.
Shortly after Holder's announcement, an exodus began of the CIA's best operations officers. Men and women with years of experience operating in enemy territory resigned.
Uehlinger's article related that during the Obama years, intelligence officers were required to abide by strict rules of political correctness.
In his words, "In this PC world, all diversity is embraced - except diversity of thought. Federal workers have been partisan for years, but combined with the rigid Obama PC mindset, it has created a Frankenstein of politicization that has never been seen before."
Over the years, US intelligence officers at all levels have come to view themselves as soldiers in an army with its own agenda - which largely overlapped Obama's.
Trump's agenda on the other hand is viewed as anathema by members of this powerful group. Likewise, the notion of a strong Israel capable of defending its interests without American help and permission is more dangerous than the notion of Iran armed with nuclear weapons.
Given these convictions, it is no surprise that unnamed intelligence sources are leaking a tsunami of selective and deceptive intelligence against Trump and his advisers.
The sense of entitlement that prevails in the intelligence community was on prominent display in an astounding interview that Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, gave to MSNBS in early March.
Farkas, who resigned her position in late 2015 to work on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, admitted to her interviewer that the intelligence community was spying on Trump and his associates and that ahead of Obama's departure from office, they were transferring massive amounts of intelligence information about Trump and his associates to Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill in order to ensure that those Democratic politicians would use the information gathered to harm Trump.
In her words, "The Trump folks, if they found out how we knew what we knew about the Trump staff's dealings with Russians... would try to compromise those sources and methods, meaning we would no longer have access to that information."
Farkas then explained that the constant leaks of Trump's actions to the media were part of the initiative that she had urged her counterparts to undertake.
And Farkas was proud of what her colleagues had done and were doing.
Two days after Farkas's interview, Trump published his tweet accusing former president Barack Obama of spying on him.
Although the media and the intelligence community angrily and contemptuously denied Trump's assertion, the fact is that both Farkas's statement and information that became public both before and since Trump's inauguration lends credence to his claim.
In the days ahead of the inauguration we learned that in the summer of 2016, Obama's Justice Department conducted a criminal probe into suspicions that Trump's senior aides had committed crimes in their dealings with Russian banks. Those suspicions, upon investigation, were dismissed. In other words, the criminal probe led nowhere.
Rather than drop the matter, Obama's Justice Department decided to continue the probe but transform it into a national security investigation.
After a failed attempt in July 2016, in October 2016, a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court approved a Justice Department request to monitor the communications of Trump's senior advisers. Since the subjects of the probe were working from Trump's office and communicating with him by phone and email, the warrant requested - which the FISA court granted - also subjected Trump's direct communications to incidental collection.
So from at least October 2016 through Trump's inauguration, the US intelligence community was spying on Trump and his advisers, despite the fact that they were not suspected of committing any crimes.
This brings us back to this week's Russia story which together with the media hysteria following Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey, precipitated Rosenstein's decision to appoint Mueller to serve as a special counsel charged with investigating the allegations that Trump and or his advisers acted unlawfully or in a manner that endangered the US in their dealings with Russia.
It is too early to judge how Mueller will conduct his investigation. But if the past is any guide, he is liable to keep the investigation going indefinitely, paralyzing Trump's ability to conduct foreign policy in relation to Russia and a host of other issues.
This then brings us to Trump and Israel - the twin targets of the US intelligence community's felonious and injurious leaks.
The fact that Trump will be coming to Israel next week may be a bit of fortuitous timing. Given the stakes involved for Trump, for Israel and for US national security, perhaps Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can develop a method of fighting this cabal of faceless, lawless foes together.
How such a fight would look and what it would involve is not immediately apparent and anyways should never be openly discussed. But the fact is that working together, Israel and Trump may accomplish more than either can accomplish on their own. And with so much hanging in the balance, it makes sense to at least try.
Trump reaches Mid East trip under a grim probe -
US President Donald Trump's situation plummeted sharply in the 24 hours between Wednesday (May 17) and Thursday (May 18). In the five months since moving into the White House, he has struggled against daily firestorms ignited by his enemies in the political, media and intelligence establishments. Thursday morning, he was tossed into the flames when he learned that the Justice Department had appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to "oversee a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including potential collusion between the president's campaign associations and Russian officials."
After consistent denials had no effect, Trump's supporters and staff initially hoped that the appointment of this respected former spy chief would finally put a stop to the negative storm besetting his presidency, and let him get on with the health, tax, economic and other reforms he had set in motion.
They were wrong, the adverse leaks to the media continued notwithstanding, and were clearly designed to steer the Mueller probe in a negative direction.
A gravely troubled president therefore sets out on his first foreign trip - first stop Riyadh on May 22, followed by Israel on May 23-24, the Vatican and Brussels a day later. That trip was further shadowed by the press report Tuesday, May 16, claiming Trump had leaked classified information from Israeli intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to the White House on May 10.
This leak, consistently denied by the White House, was clearly aimed at sabotaging the president's plans to crown his visits to Riyadh and Israel by successful breakthroughs with America's foremost allies in the region.
Foreign trips often serve harassed political leaders to escape their troubles at home and bask in the warm welcomes of friendly nations and colleagues. But Donald Trump was deprived in advance of this respite by the slur on his integrity in dealing with highly sensitive security and intelligence matters that was cast by allegations of betraying classified information from a foreign partner.
The most pressing topic in the Middle East today is the expansion of the military-political-intelligence alliance of Russia, Iran and Syria to include Iraq. (debkafile revealed Wednesday, May 17 that an Iraqi military delegation had arrived in Damascus for the first groundbreaking visit in decades). However the Mueller probe, centering as it does on the president's associates' alleged interaction with Russian officials, ties Trump's hands on a vital foreign policy issue: the urgent need for US cooperation with Russia for resolving the Syrian and other burning crises afflicting the region.
The impact of Trump's imposed inaction is already apparent in the conduct of some of the relevant leaders, such as President Vladimir Putin, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Egypt's Abdul-Fatteh El-Sisi, King Abdullah of Jordan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi.
Each of those leaders plans to make hay from the policy void created by the Trump administration's grim situation; each is meanwhile striking out for alternative partners to lessen their dependence on Washington.
Saudi King Salman and his Defense Minister Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman are nonetheless carrying on as though nothing is amiss. Possibly because they refuse to read the signs in Washington, they are forging ahead with arrangements for an historic summit, with invitations issued to some 50 Arab and Muslim rulers to meet the visiting US president in Riyadh.
At his next stop, his Israeli hosts have still not received a detailed outline of his plans - only the times of his arrival and departure. The impression gained in Jerusalem is that the White House is too distracted by the mayhem surrounding the president to carry out its normal duties.
Trump to unveil plans for an 'Arab NATO' in Saudi Arabia - By Josh Rogin - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/05/17/trump-to-unveil-plans-for-an-arab-nato-in-saudi-arabia/?utm_term=.575b1ed24c41
When President Trump arrives in Riyadh this week, he will lay out his vision for a new regional security architecture White House officials call an "Arab NATO," to guide the fight against terrorism and push back against Iran. As a cornerstone of the plan, Trump will also announce one of the largest arms-sales deals in history.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia have been conducting extensive negotiations, led by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The discussions began shortly after the presidential election, when Mohammed, known in Washington as "MBS," sent a delegation to meet with Kushner and other Trump officials at Trump Tower.
After years of disillusionment with the Obama administration, the Saudi leadership was eager to do business. "They were willing to make a bet on Trump and on America," a senior White House official said.
In that meeting and during a follow-up meeting three weeks later, the Saudis proposed a broad elevation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and proposed various projects to increase security cooperation, economic cooperation and investment, White House officials said. The Trump team gave the Saudis a list of Trump priorities, calling on the kingdom to step up actions to combat radical Islamic extremism, intensify the fight against the Islamic State and share the burden of regional security.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has tasked various government agencies to develop a series of announcements Trump will make this weekend. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is now heavily involved. One main objective is to put forth a framework and basic principles for a unified Sunni coalition of countries, which would set the stage for a more formal NATO-like organizational structure down the line.
"We all have the same enemy and we all want the same thing," the official said. "What this trip hopefully will do is just change the environment."
The idea of an "Arab NATO" has been bandied about for years - and has always had strong Saudi support - but until now was never openly endorsed by the U.S. government. Officials said the concept fits three major tenets of Trump's "America First" foreign-policy frame: asserting more American leadership in the region, shifting the financial burden of security to allies and providing for U.S. jobs at home (through the massive arms sales).
The president is looking for an answer to the question of how the United States can eventually hand over security responsibility in the region to the countries that are there, officials said.
Reports from the region about early discussions of the project said that in addition to Saudi Arabia, initial participants in the coalition would include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, with the United States playing an organizing and support role while staying outside the alliance.
The White House admits that many of the details of how the new alliance will operate remain to be worked out. The countries of the region harbor deep historical grievances and don't agree on key issues, including the way forward in Syria. A 2015 effort by Egypt to establish a pan-Arab fighting force collapsed due to squabbling among the countries involved.
"This is the sort of gesture many of America's security partners have been looking to get from the United States for many years," said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center of American Progress. "The value of any such a pact would depend on the results it produces - whether it achieves greater stability, helps resolve conflicts like Yemen and Syria, and achieves progress in the fight against terrorist groups across the region."
The most concrete part of the idea is a mammoth U.S. arms package for Saudi Arabia that Trump will also announce in Riyadh. Final details are still being worked out, but officials said the package will include between $98 billion and $128 billion in arms sales. Over 10 years, total sales could reach $350 billion.
The sales include huge upgrades for the Saudi army and navy to include Littoral Combat Ships, THAAD missile defense systems, armored personnel carriers, missiles, bombs and munitions, officials said. Some of the production and assembly could be located in Saudi Arabia, boosting MBS's project to build a Saudi domestic defense industrial capability. But most of the items would be built by American defense contractors.
"The U.S. has sought for a long time to get the Saudis to do more to focus on its navy, to modernize and make the forces in the Gulf more effective," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "From the U.S. perspective, the stronger the Saudi deterrent is, the lower the risk of any military confrontation with Iran."
The pending announcements of the new security framework and the huge arms deal are evidence that the Saudi courtship of the Trump White House has been successful beyond expectations. Whether that results in real stability in the region, real progress against terrorism or real deterrence against Iran depends on what happens after Trump's overseas trip is over.
Analysis of the deep state danger - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
While I do not have any first hand, eyewitness information about FBI Director James Comey's firing or what President Donald Trump told the Russian Ambassador about the Islamic State, I can draw some conclusions about the frenzied firestorm facing Trump and the White House. It appears that there is a concerted effort by career employees within "government" to undermine a duly elected president from within. In addition, the Democratic Party is stirring the pot to foment revolution from the outside-primarily using spokespersons from the two states who overwhelmingly opposed Trump in the election-Communists/Progressives Maxine Waters from California and Chuck Schumer of New York.
Here's how it is working: The US has one of, if not the most, conniving, deceptive, and I must say, effective, spy organizations in the world as supported by unelected agencies such as the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, NSA, DIA, etc., etc. They are employing their cunning to topple this duly-elected Administration. The very idea of security-cleared intelligence insiders leaking to the Washington Post details of the conversation between Trump and the Russian Ambassador is an indicator of this. Others in the room point-blank said these unnamed sources' accounts were wrong. But it doesn't matter, the seed was planted in the media and has served its purpose.
Another example of this widespread conspiracy is found in Jerusalem where the official position of the ex-"president" was that the Western Wall-the holiest site of Judaism--is not part of Israeli control. A career diplomat stationed at the pro-Palestinian US Consulate in eastern Jerusalem contradicted Trump's position on moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. The Trump Administration disavowed the State Department bureaucrat's assertion (also repeated by "diplomats" at the east Jerusalem consulate). But not before an all to willing news media blew the story out of proportion. This is more evidence of the depth of institutionalized globalism and political correctness that has poisoned American government.
Add to the top of these deep layers of collusion against righting the good ship America, is the Democratic Party which has become synonymous with extreme leftist and communist ideals. In a copycat version of the ex-"president's" Arab Spring-designed to destabilize and topple governments across the Middle East and replace them with radical Muslim Brotherhood franchises--the Democratic Party (led in part by radical Islamic Congressman Keith Ellison, D-MN) has officially launched "Resistance Summer" to train activists to resist Trump across the US. Ellison said in a statement that it is the starting point to organize the resistance movement into a larger political force. As you see, America is under attack.
This is a civil war where the current weapons are deception and vain words launched by revolutionaries entrenched in government, the media, and in political parties. It truly is deep state danger to our way of life-a threat to the goodness of America, to our Christianity and mission work. We need to wake up and realize it. We need to take this seriously. Ephesians 5:6-7 says, "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not therefore partakers with them." Don't believe them. Call on the Lord. Trust in him. Currently, the opposition is loud, but has no teeth. We need to pray and stand by speaking the truth boldly and in love.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.