North Korea

[Kpdemello]

Also, as to other countries ignoring him as a lame duck, Trump suggested as much in a recent tweet about his negotiations with China:

The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to 'negotiate' with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 139319001/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[madhatter]

meanwhile back on planet earth...

Ten days before the FBI used the now-discredited dossier to apply for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec, who took handwritten notes of the encounter.

Steele told Kavalec that Russia had a "technical/human operation run out of Moscow targeting the election," which recruited US emigres to "do hacking and recruiting. Steele added that "Payments to those recruited are made out of the Russian consulate in Miami."

Except that's a lie - as Kavalec debunked the assertion in a bracketed comment: "It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami."

Kavalec, two days later and well before the FISA warrant was issued, forwarded her typed summary to other government officials. The State Department has redacted the names and agencies of everyone she alerted.

But it is almost certain the FBI knew of Steele's contact with State and his partisan motive. That's because former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says she instructed her staff to send the information they got from Steele to the bureau immediately and to cease contact with the informer because "this is about U.S. politics, and not the work of — not the business of the State Department, and certainly not the business of a career employee who is subject to the Hatch Act." -The Hill

What makes this particularly damning is that the FBI swore on October 21, 2016 to the FISA judges that Steele's "reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings," and that the FBI deemed him to be "reliable" and was "unaware of any derogatory information pertaining" to the former British spy who was working for Fusion GPS - the firm paid by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to come up with dirt on Donald Trump.

As we noted yesterday based on an earlier Hill report on the Kavalec-Steele notes, Steele was flagged for admitting that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline, as his client was "keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8."

Notes and testimony from senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr make clear Steele admitted early on that he was “desperate” to get Trump defeated in the election, was working in some capacity for the GOP candidate’s opponent, and considered his intelligence raw and untested. Ohr testified that he alerted FBI and other senior Justice officials to these concerns in August 2016. -The Hill

Kavalec also flagged several places in her notes in which she suspected that Steele might be leaking information to the press.

"June — reporting started," she wrote. "NYT and WP have," she added, in an apparent reference to The New York Times and The Washington Post.

She then quoted Steele as indicating that he was "managing" four priorities — "Client needs, FBI, WashPo/NYT, source protection," - a clear indication that media outreach was part of his job.

Except that the FBI's FISA request from October 2016 - which relied almost entirely on Steele's work - was marked "verified application" prior to the FBI's submission to the court.

In short, the FBI undoubtedly lied to their teeth to the FISA court in order to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page and the Trump campaign.

[XtremeJibber2001]

Classic Red Herring, Mr. Hatter.

[madhatter]

Classic Red Herring, Mr. Hatter.

how so? it's in direct response to this:

Also, given the political fallout of the Mueller report, it's looking less and less likely that Trump will get a second term. There's an outside chance he may not finish out this one.

not sure where drdimento sees "political fallout" when trump's poll numbers have actually gone up since the release of the nothingburgereport....

seems like drdimento is hallucinating...

as far as NK goes it is what it is...trump is the only world leader to even attempt to address NK and you can say the 500 day pause is over if you want to but the bottom line is progress was made...if NK starts threatening guam, japan etc again we'll be back to where we were before trump...trump and teh US have the upper hand here...

Iran...the obama deal was weak and controversial to begin with...there was plenty of opposition to it...it was never ratified by congress and the EU is not going to side w iran...again the US and trump have the upper hand here...except iran will still keep the pallet of cash....

as far as Russian sanctions go trump has extended previous sanctions and added new ones as well...

venezulea? dafvck does trump have to do with what's going on there? like most of the world he supports guaido...

drdemento is oblivious to reality, and adamantly so...

Instead, we have seen numerous failures - Helsinki, Venezuela, Russian sanctions, N. Korea, and now Iran.

trump has done just fine w foreign policy...no new wars, scaled back military involvement, isis and syria largely neutralized, increased nato payments from partner countries etc...perfect? probably not, but for the most part pretty good....not sure where he see's all this "failure"...all of these issues existed long before trump came to office...

Helsinki, no idea wtf he is even talking about here...but I'm pretty sure there are no helsinki problems....

Venezuela, maduro wasn't created by trump, nor was the national crisis there...not really sure what trump can do there except to support guaido and venezuelan democracy where he can w/o getting involved militarily...tough fence to straddle but so far so good......

Russian sanctions, he's imposed and enforced plenty of them...

N. Korea, things are better now than they were under obama...progress has been made...ask japan and guam...


and now Iran.been like two days, so far nothing has happened here...so a bit premature to render any kind of verdict here...

[Kpdemello]

Here's an analysis of Trump's foreign policy failures that's far more eloquent than I can manage:

With regard to Europe, Trump was correct in saying that Europe should get serious about its own defense and to stop relying on U.S. protection. Europe is wealthier, more populous, and spends a lot more on defense than Russia does, and there is no compelling reason for the United States to commit its own people to its defense. Accordingly, Trump could have proposed a gradual reduction in the U.S. commitment—say, over a period of 5-10 years—while making it clear that the United States wanted friendly relations with Europe and would continue to cooperate on areas of mutual interest. Indeed, Trump might even have tried to recruit Europe into a broader effort to check a rising China.

But that’s not what he has done. Instead, Trump has repeatedly insulted European leaders and embraced some of Europe’s most destructive political forces. He also increased the U.S. defense budget and the U.S. contribution to reassurance efforts in Eastern Europe, thereby giving NATO’s European members additional reason to free-ride some more. To be sure, some NATO members have maintained their Barack Obama-era commitments to increase defense spending but not by enough to lessen their dependence on Washington. With respect to NATO, in short, Trump has managed to weaken ties with key allies without reducing U.S. burdens.

In Asia, Trump understood that China was America’s primary long-term rival and it was time to get tough with Beijing about its economic practices. Unfortunately, he’s pursued that goal in a singularly inept way. He started off by unilaterally abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade deal that would benefited the U.S. economy in several ways and strengthened its strategic position in Asia. Instead of lining up other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in a united front over China’s trade and investment policy, Trump threatened to launch trade wars with several of them simultaneously. And in recent weeks, Trump’s all-too-public eagerness for a deal with Beijing has undercut his own negotiating team, making meaningful progress on these issues less likely.

Trump is also singlehandedly responsible for the bungled U.S. approach to North Korea. To be sure, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is a problem that would challenge the shrewdest strategist, but Trump’s handling of it has been a textbook case of wishful thinking and the antithesis of hardheaded realism. Experts inside and outside the U.S. government insisted that Pyongyang was not going to give up its hard-won nuclear weapons capability, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the regime see as the ultimate guarantee of their own survival. Yet Trump deluded himself into thinking that his personal charm and self-proclaimed skills as a “master dealmaker” would somehow persuade Kim to do something that was obviously not in his own interest. Not only did Trump miss an opportunity to make tangible if limited progress on this vexing issue, but his bumbling gave America’s Asian partners yet another reason to question his judgment and competence.

In the Middle East, Trump’s policies have been a far cry from what realism would recommend. Instead of maximizing U.S. influence and leverage by establishing pragmatic working relationships with as many states as possible (as China and Russia do), Trump let himself get bamboozled by local potentates and repeated the same mistakes that have crippled U.S. Middle East policy for a long time. Instead of sticking to the nuclear deal with Iran and working with the P5+1 and other states to curtail Iran’s regional activities, he walked away from the deal and got nothing in return. He handed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over to his unqualified son-in-law and turned a blind eye to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s increasingly erratic behavior.

Even when his instincts are correct—as when he announced he was going to pull U.S. troops out of Syria—he’s been a Hamlet-like portrait of indecision, and his off-the-cuff remarks about using bases in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran roiled U.S. relations with Baghdad to no good purpose. And having promised to get out of the nation-building business, he sent more troops to Afghanistan (like Obama did), where they are likely to still be fighting when he leaves office.

Then there’s Russia. Back in 2016, Trump recognized that ironing out America’s current differences with Russia would be good for Europe, good for Russia, and good for the United States, too. But instead of confronting Russia over its misdeeds—including its possible interference in U.S. elections—and beginning a serious dialogue to resolve issues like Ukraine, cyberattacks, and arms control, Trump’s conduct as president has reinforced doubts about his own relations with Moscow (and Russian President Vladimir Putin). Ironically, he is just about the last person who could even try to work things out with Russia because any serious effort to do so would lead critics to accuse him of being under Putin’s sway.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/05/th ... gn-policy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[madhatter]

Here's an analysis of Trump's foreign policy failures that's far more eloquent than I can manage:

With regard to Europe, Trump was correct in saying that Europe should get serious about its own defense and to stop relying on U.S. protection. Europe is wealthier, more populous, and spends a lot more on defense than Russia does, and there is no compelling reason for the United States to commit its own people to its defense. Accordingly, Trump could have proposed a gradual reduction in the U.S. commitment—say, over a period of 5-10 years—while making it clear that the United States wanted friendly relations with Europe and would continue to cooperate on areas of mutual interest. Indeed, Trump might even have tried to recruit Europe into a broader effort to check a rising China.

But that’s not what he has done. Instead, Trump has repeatedly insulted European leaders and embraced some of Europe’s most destructive political forces. He also increased the U.S. defense budget and the U.S. contribution to reassurance efforts in Eastern Europe, thereby giving NATO’s European members additional reason to free-ride some more. To be sure, some NATO members have maintained their Barack Obama-era commitments to increase defense spending but not by enough to lessen their dependence on Washington. With respect to NATO, in short, Trump has managed to weaken ties with key allies without reducing U.S. burdens.yeah that's what happened...

In Asia, Trump understood that China was America’s primary long-term rival and it was time to get tough with Beijing about its economic practices. Unfortunately, he’s pursued that goal in a singularly inept way. He started off by unilaterally abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade deal that would benefited the U.S. economy in several ways and strengthened its strategic position in Asia. Instead of lining up other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in a united front over China’s trade and investment policy, Trump threatened to launch trade wars with several of them simultaneously. And in recent weeks, Trump’s all-too-public eagerness for a deal yeah not so much....with Beijing has undercut his own negotiating team, making meaningful progress on these issues less likely.pure speculation....

Trump is also singlehandedly responsible for the bungled U.S. approach to North Korea. yeah cuz missiles flying over japan and guam was much better....To be sure, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is a problem that would challenge the shrewdest strategist, but Trump’s handling of it has been a textbook case of wishful thinking and the antithesis of hardheaded realism. Experts inside and outside the U.S. government insisted that Pyongyang was not going to give up its hard-won nuclear weapons capability, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the regime see as the ultimate guarantee of their own survival. Yet Trump deluded himself into thinking that his personal charm and self-proclaimed skills as a “master dealmaker” would somehow persuade Kim to do something that was obviously not in his own interest. Not only did Trump miss an opportunity to make tangible if limited progress on this vexing issue, but his bumbling gave America’s Asian partners yet another reason to question his judgment and competence.

In the Middle East, Trump’s policies have been a far cry from what realism would recommend. Instead of maximizing U.S. influence and leverage by establishing pragmatic working relationships with as many states as possible (as China and Russia do), Trump let himself get bamboozled by local potentates and repeated the same mistakes that have crippled U.S. Middle East policy for a long time. so status quo? except that we wiped out ISIS, there have been no syrian gas attacks, no escalations and in fact things are actually quiet over there compared to recent years...Instead of sticking to the nuclear deal with Iran and working with the P5+1 and other states to curtail Iran’s regional activities, he walked away from the deal and got nothing in return. the deal was nothing to begin with so a wash at the very worst...what has actually changed?He handed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over to his unqualified son-in-law too bad cuz it was gong so swimmingly well up til then....again what;s changed there?and turned a blind eye to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s increasingly erratic behavior.pffft kashoggi, BFD...typical middle east behavior, nothing new at all...

Even when his instincts are correct—as when he announced he was going to pull U.S. troops out of Syria—he’s been a Hamlet-like portrait of indecision, and his off-the-cuff remarks about using bases in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran roiled U.S. relations with Baghdad to no good purpose. And having promised to get out of the nation-building business, he sent more troops to Afghanistan (like Obama did), where they are likely to still be fighting when he leaves office.part of a NATO mission ---Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that 440 more British military personnel will join the Nato mission in Afghanistan. But how do the UK and US allies see their role in the country?

The additional troops will be ferrying international advisors safely around the country's capital city, Kabul, in their Foxhound vehicles in what has been dubbed "Armoured Uber". All part of the Nato mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces.

Then there’s Russia. Back in 2016, Trump recognized that ironing out America’s current differences with Russia would be good for Europe, good for Russia, and good for the United States, too. But instead of confronting Russia over its misdeeds—including its possible interference in U.S. elections—and beginning a serious dialogue to resolve issues like Ukraine, cyberattacks, and arms control, Trump’s conduct as president has reinforced doubts about his own relations with Moscow (and Russian President Vladimir Putin). Ironically, he is just about the last person who could even try to work things out with Russia because any serious effort to do so would lead critics to accuse him of being under Putin’s sway.this is just stupid...

the popular meme offers a misleading take on Trump’s actions regarding Russia after getting into office — namely by claiming that “[a]fter his election Trump immediately dropped our sanctions against Russia.”

That’s not so.

Trump did not drop the sanctions that President Barack Obama implemented in late December 2016 in response to the cyberattack. Sanctions were imposed on two Russian intelligence agencies, four intelligence officers and three companies that provided support for the cyber operations; the administration also shut down two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York, and ordered the removal of 35 “intelligence operatives.”

Some Democrats, including now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, misleadingly claimed in the first weeks of the new administration that Trump was “lifting sanctions” on a Russian intelligence agency. “Vladimir Putin’s thugs meddle with an American election, and President Trump gives them a thank you present,” Pelosi wrote in a Feb. 2, 2017, press release. In fact, the change to which she referred was an adjustment to the sanctions by the Treasury Department in order to authorize U.S. companies to import information technology products into Russia.

Several months into his presidency, Trump actually signed a law that, among other things, codified Obama’s election-related sanctions — and instituted mandates for future sanctions. The law also requires congressional review if the president attempts to lift such sanctions.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/05/th ... gn-policy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

as usual yer full of sh!t...desperately looking to justify your hatred of the president...

[Bubba]

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un reportedly executes officials after failed Hanoi summit with US

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/kim-jon ... ningsquawk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[XtremeJibber2001]

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un reportedly executes officials after failed Hanoi summit with US

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/kim-jon ... ningsquawk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth, and then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.

[madhatter]

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un reportedly executes officials after failed Hanoi summit with US

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/kim-jon ... ningsquawk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth, and then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.

bla bla bla bla bla....

Reuters reports that former top North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Yong Chol was seen accompanying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to an art performance on Sunday - proving that the former North Korean spymaster is alive and well, and that rumors that he had been purged and sent to a labor camp were greatly exaggerated.

[Seacoaster]

meanwhile back on planet earth...

Ten days before the FBI used the now-discredited dossier to apply for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec, who took handwritten notes of the encounter.

Steele told Kavalec that Russia had a "technical/human operation run out of Moscow targeting the election," which recruited US emigres to "do hacking and recruiting. Steele added that "Payments to those recruited are made out of the Russian consulate in Miami."

Except that's a lie - as Kavalec debunked the assertion in a bracketed comment: "It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami."

Kavalec, two days later and well before the FISA warrant was issued, forwarded her typed summary to other government officials. The State Department has redacted the names and agencies of everyone she alerted.

But it is almost certain the FBI knew of Steele's contact with State and his partisan motive. That's because former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says she instructed her staff to send the information they got from Steele to the bureau immediately and to cease contact with the informer because "this is about U.S. politics, and not the work of — not the business of the State Department, and certainly not the business of a career employee who is subject to the Hatch Act." -The Hill

What makes this particularly damning is that the FBI swore on October 21, 2016 to the FISA judges that Steele's "reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings," and that the FBI deemed him to be "reliable" and was "unaware of any derogatory information pertaining" to the former British spy who was working for Fusion GPS - the firm paid by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to come up with dirt on Donald Trump.

As we noted yesterday based on an earlier Hill report on the Kavalec-Steele notes, Steele was flagged for admitting that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline, as his client was "keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8."

Notes and testimony from senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr make clear Steele admitted early on that he was “desperate” to get Trump defeated in the election, was working in some capacity for the GOP candidate’s opponent, and considered his intelligence raw and untested. Ohr testified that he alerted FBI and other senior Justice officials to these concerns in August 2016. -The Hill

Kavalec also flagged several places in her notes in which she suspected that Steele might be leaking information to the press.

"June — reporting started," she wrote. "NYT and WP have," she added, in an apparent reference to The New York Times and The Washington Post.

She then quoted Steele as indicating that he was "managing" four priorities — "Client needs, FBI, WashPo/NYT, source protection," - a clear indication that media outreach was part of his job.

Except that the FBI's FISA request from October 2016 - which relied almost entirely on Steele's work - was marked "verified application" prior to the FBI's submission to the court.

In short, the FBI undoubtedly lied to their teeth to the FISA court in order to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page and the Trump campaign.

I would add to all of this that British intelligence director in charge of US affairs sent a memo stating they would not back Steele and felt he was compromised. This was testified on by multiple FBI officials to Congress, yet the memo seems to have disappeared. I am sure it will be found.
Also, is their not a significant conflict of interest when the nominee is being briefed about current affairs by the man who recently opened an investigation into the candidate, and that the investigation was not disclosed to said candidate?

[freeski]

I don't understand why they don't defect?

Are they that messed up? I guess so.

Do they know we have cheese?

[madhatter]

meanwhile back on planet earth...

Ten days before the FBI used the now-discredited dossier to apply for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec, who took handwritten notes of the encounter.

Steele told Kavalec that Russia had a "technical/human operation run out of Moscow targeting the election," which recruited US emigres to "do hacking and recruiting. Steele added that "Payments to those recruited are made out of the Russian consulate in Miami."

Except that's a lie - as Kavalec debunked the assertion in a bracketed comment: "It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami."

Kavalec, two days later and well before the FISA warrant was issued, forwarded her typed summary to other government officials. The State Department has redacted the names and agencies of everyone she alerted.

But it is almost certain the FBI knew of Steele's contact with State and his partisan motive. That's because former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says she instructed her staff to send the information they got from Steele to the bureau immediately and to cease contact with the informer because "this is about U.S. politics, and not the work of — not the business of the State Department, and certainly not the business of a career employee who is subject to the Hatch Act." -The Hill

What makes this particularly damning is that the FBI swore on October 21, 2016 to the FISA judges that Steele's "reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings," and that the FBI deemed him to be "reliable" and was "unaware of any derogatory information pertaining" to the former British spy who was working for Fusion GPS - the firm paid by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to come up with dirt on Donald Trump.

As we noted yesterday based on an earlier Hill report on the Kavalec-Steele notes, Steele was flagged for admitting that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline, as his client was "keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8."

Notes and testimony from senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr make clear Steele admitted early on that he was “desperate” to get Trump defeated in the election, was working in some capacity for the GOP candidate’s opponent, and considered his intelligence raw and untested. Ohr testified that he alerted FBI and other senior Justice officials to these concerns in August 2016. -The Hill

Kavalec also flagged several places in her notes in which she suspected that Steele might be leaking information to the press.

"June — reporting started," she wrote. "NYT and WP have," she added, in an apparent reference to The New York Times and The Washington Post.

She then quoted Steele as indicating that he was "managing" four priorities — "Client needs, FBI, WashPo/NYT, source protection," - a clear indication that media outreach was part of his job.

Except that the FBI's FISA request from October 2016 - which relied almost entirely on Steele's work - was marked "verified application" prior to the FBI's submission to the court.

In short, the FBI undoubtedly lied to their teeth to the FISA court in order to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page and the Trump campaign.

I would add to all of this that British intelligence director in charge of US affairs sent a memo stating they would not back Steele and felt he was compromised. This was testified on by multiple FBI officials to Congress, yet the memo seems to have disappeared. I am sure it will be found.
Also, is their not a significant conflict of interest when the nominee is being briefed about current affairs by the man who recently opened an investigation into the candidate, and that the investigation was not disclosed to said candidate?

one side or the other is going down in flames...let's get this show on the road....

[madhatter]

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un reportedly executes officials after failed Hanoi summit with US

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/kim-jon ... ningsquawk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth, and then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.

bla bla bla bla bla....

[/quote]

Reuters reports that former top North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Yong Chol was seen accompanying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to an art performance on Sunday - proving that the former North Korean spymaster is alive and well, and that rumors that he had been purged and sent to a labor camp were greatly exaggerated.

[madhatter]