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On Friday, shortly after President Donald Trump's announcement of air strikes against Syria, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow twice put on her tinfoil hat, alleging that there is a "perception that the president may have ordered these strikes in part because of scandal," and that Trump's decision "may have ... (been) inflected by the scandals surrounding him." Maddow even contended that this alleged perception of scandal-driven decision-making will "affect the impact and the effectiveness of these military strikes." Maddow's first speculation appeared shortly after Trump's announcement:Transcript RACHEL MADDOW: As we follow the news in these incredible days that we have been having recently...

President Donald Trump declared "mission accomplished" early Saturday morning after the U.S.-led predawn airstrikes in Syria dealt what Pentagon officials called a "very serious blow" that "attacked the heart of the Syrian chemical weapons program." While Syrian television reported that the nation's air defenses responded to the strikes, "none of our aircraft or missiles in this operation were successfully engaged" by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, said Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the Joint Staff. "The Syrian response was remarkably ineffective," he told reporters.

"Russia strongly condemns the attack on Syria where Russian servicemen are helping the legitimate government in the war on terrorism" Russian President Vladimir Putin 4/14/2018 Russia is calling for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the attacks in Syria last night...... Israel, meanwhile, apparently fearing Iranian retaliation, has declared a No Fly Zone in the Golan region......

Thursday, April 12, 2018 The Betrayal of the Holocaust Posted by Daniel Greenfield When we talk about the Holocaust, we are talking about the mass murder of millions of Jews. The dead included my grandparents and countless others, shot, starved, gassed, beaten to death and buried in mass graves. And yet the lessons of the Holocaust in its commemorations rarely have anything to do with Jewish lives.  Millions of dollars have been spent building memorials to the victims of the Holocaust, even as Iran is spending its millions on building another kind of memorial to the Holocaust, in the form...

In his decision Friday to pardon a former Bush administration official convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, President Trump telegraphed his open hostility to the criminal justice system and his desire to use the power of the presidency as a personal political tool. As with his controversial pardon last year of a former Arizona county sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who had been held in contempt of court, Trump effectively thumbed his nose at the judiciary by pardoning I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. The Justice Department was not involved in either case, officials said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) has called on the Israeli government to show "restraint" amid what has now been weeks of protests by Hamas terrorists who have swarmed the Israeli border and stoked violence. "I am deeply concerned about the deaths and injuries in Gaza," Warren was quoted as saying. "As additional protests are planned for the coming days, the Israel Defense Forces should exercise restraint and respect the rights of Palestinians to peacefully protest." The quote is likely to rankle the pro-Israel community, which has become increasingly strained with the Democratic Party as lawmakers such as Warren adopt a...

Lebanon's civil war has been described as a house of mirrors in that "it was easier to find your way in than to find your way out," (Thomas Friedman). The longer the war dragged on the more disorienting the "house" became until the most impossible ironies emerged as Lebanon's very reality. At one point following the 1982 invasion, Israel supplied Iran with US manufactured TOW missiles in a hostage exchange agreement. Iran thereafter transferred the missiles to Hezbollah within Lebanon where they were then fired back at the Israelis occupying the south. I inspected the assortment of rocket launchers in...

Classified report will bust myth that millions of Palestinians need UNRWA, sources say Congress is pressuring the State Department to release a long classified report on Palestinian refugees that insiders say could change the calculus on how the United States approaches the situation and allocates millions in taxpayer funds to a key United Nations agency, according to sources and a congressional letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Dozens of members of Congress have already signed on to an effort to force the release of this State Department publication, which sources say was originally classified by the Obama administration in...

US President Donald Trump has promised a "forceful" response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, as Western leaders consider what action to take. "We have a lot of options militarily," he told reporters. He added that a response would be decided "shortly". Mr Trump said the US was getting some "good clarity" on who was responsible for the incident in Douma on Saturday. Medical sources say dozens were killed in the alleged attack but exact numbers are impossible to verify. Mr Trump also discussed the incident with French President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday, and both leaders expressed a...

SALISBURY, England (Reuters) - Yulia Skripal has left hospital more than five weeks after she and her father, a former Russian spy, were poisoned with a nerve agent in an attack that has sparked one of the biggest crises in the West’s relations with the Kremlin since the Cold War. -snip- The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But the Skripals’ health since then has begun to improve rapidly. Yulia, 33, has been discharged from Salisbury District Hospital, Christine Blanshard, medical director...

The violent aspect of the worrisome radicalization of the Turkish diaspora with a heavy dose of nationalist and Islamist ideology has been personally driven by President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, who publicly rewards mischief and unashamedly glorifies vigilante behavior among expatriate communities. As a result, the Turkish president is setting up a very dangerous path for many to follow on the violent trajectory while unleashing beasts to wreak havoc in host countries.Just this week, ErdoÄŸan personally called Turkish national Yusuf Ãœnsal, who was detained by German police for his interference in a protest in Stuttgart against the Turkish governmentÂ’s military offensive...

First off, by waiting to strike, the U.S. keeps Syrian air defense forces in a state of very high readiness and forces Assad to continue guessing whether the U.S. knows where his high-value assets have been relocated. At the tactical level (front line Syrian military units) and strategic level (Assad and his commanders), the U.S. approach here means significant stress and abundant fear. This matters because effective military force and strategy is largely determined by the ability of individuals to operate effectively. But if individuals are fearful and exhausted, their operability will suffer. Even if marginally, this mitigates the threat...

When the U.S. takes military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad for his chemical weapons attack last Saturday, Russia is unlikely to retaliate. Two factors underline why. First off, the Russians do not want to associate themselves with what Assad has done. Putin doesn't like the public relations aftermath he is now suffering. In turn, while Putin is employing his standard distraction-deception-threat strategy in an attempt to shield Assad from blame, his eye is on other agendas. Notably, avoiding new sanctions targeting Moscow and ensuring that the upcoming soccer World Cup — which Putin sees as critical to attract much-needed...

Israel’s defense minister said Tuesday that a Palestinian journalist who was shot dead by Israeli troops on the Israel­-Gaza border was a Hamas operative, although the media production company he founded had recently been vetted for a U.S. government grant. Yaser Murtaja, the co-founder of Ain Media, was shot as he filmed protests at the border fence Friday. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Murtaja, who used drones to film in the course of his work, was giving drone footage of Israeli positions to Hamas, was the equivalent of a captain in the group’s military wing and had been on...

With all eyes on Israel’s southern front where Hamas is desperately trying to conceal the fact it has run out of military options in its never ending war against the Jewish State, Hezbollah and the pro-Assad axis seem to be gearing up for the long anticipated confrontation with the IDF. Iranian and Israeli media reported last week that the pro-Assad coalition is preparing for an offensive against Islamist rebel groups in the Kuneitra and Daraa provinces in southern Syria. The pro-Assad axis, which includes Hezbollah and other Shiite militias, has reportedly deployed tanks and heavy artillery on the Syrian Golan...

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed Russia over a deadly chemical attack on Syrian civilians, saying the country's hands are "covered in blood." "The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims," Haley said during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday. "We must not overlook Russia and Iran's roles in enabling the Assad regime's murderous destruction," she continued.

Pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol on Tuesday warned airlines to exercise caution in the eastern Mediterranean due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria in next 72 hours. Eurocontrol said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within that period and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment. Russia and the United States tangled on Tuesday at the United Nations over the use of chemical weapons in Syria as Washington and its allies considered whether to strike at President Bashar al-Assad's forces over a suspected poison gas attack last weekend. "Due consideration...

US President Donald Trump’s “major decision” on Syria is contingent on the rallying of sufficient air and naval strength and allied participation. Military sources report that the only US warship immediately available for the promised US military response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Douma is the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook, which sailed from Larnaca Monday, April 9, on its way to the eastern Mediterranean. The USS Iwo Jima strike group, which visited Haifa last month, is now cruising in the Arabian Sea, days away from the scene, whereas the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group...

Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is an internationally-recognized human rights crime—but those being impacted are harshly punished for not only acts of resistance, but even mere advocacy for their rights. Getting detailed facts about Israel’s imposition of Military Law in the West Bank, Abby Martin visits the the Ramallah offices of Addameer—the most prominent prisoners’ rights organizations in Palestine—for a shocking investigation into the use of Israeli jails and arbitrary laws as a weapon. Chronicling this history of resistance and repression from the First Intifada through the 2015 uprising, this episode shows what brutal lengths the Israeli occupation will...

The International Criminal Court at The Hague may prosecute Israel over the deaths of Arab rioters who clashed with IDF forces on the Gaza-Israel frontier over the past week and a half, a top ICC official warned Sunday. Chief Prosecutor for the ICC Fatou Bensouda issued a statement Sunday demanding an end to the use of violence on the border between Israel and Gaza, and suggested that both Israel and the Hamas terror organization could be held responsible for the deaths of some 30 Arab rioters and terrorists killed since activists launched six weeks of violent protests on the frontier...