Displaying 691 To 720 Of 1,008 Comments The president of The United States has a lot of power. It is often said the he or she is the most powerful person in the world. Well, mostly it is said that “he” is the most powerful man in the world, because we have yet to have a female president. The president does not have unlimited power. The power of the president is limited by the Constitution. Congress, as a body, also has a lot of power, which is also limited by the Constitution. When Mr. Trump chose the option of killing General Suleimani, top military officials, flabbergasted, were immediately alarmed about the prospect of Iranian retaliatory strikes on American troops in the region. It is unclear if General Milley or Mr. Esper pushed back on the president’s decision. The power or authority to declare war is vested with Congress, not the president. The president also does not have the power to order the military or any other part of the government to commit acts that are likely to cause a war. When George W Bush asked Congress in 2002 to support him in going before the United Nation to ask that weapons inspectors return to Iraq, Congress did so by passing the Resolution To Use Military Force Against Iraq, H.J. Res. 114. That resolution did not authorize Bush to go to war with Iraq unless he came back to Congress with evidence that he had exhausted diplomatic measures and they were not effective. Those of us who wanted Congress to impeach Bush when Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in 2009, wanted him impeached for abuse of power by lying to Congress about invading Iraq. What trump has done by assassinating Soleimani is even worse than what Bush did, because trump did not even attempt to involve Congress. From news accounts, the only member of Congress who knew about the intended assassination was Lindsey Graham. Those who advised trump that he should assassinate Soleimani could not given him the authority to do so, and they are therefore accomplishes to a conspiracy to commit the high crime of presidential abuse of power for what is probably a war crime, since Soleimani was not killed on the battlefield and Congress had not declared war on Iran or given trump to authority to attack Iran, and there was no imminent threat of attack by Iran. » Posted By TOCB On January 5, 2020 @ 4:18 pm Americans should be aware that Iranians are human beings who have the same emotions that Americans have. With that in mind, a proportional retaliation strike against the USA would be to kill a high level U.S. government official like someone in trump’s cabinet or even trump himself. Of course, I am not advocating that, but I am being realistic in spite of the fact that no American “journalists” or government officials are likely to address that possibility or probability. » Posted By TOCB On January 5, 2020 @ 10:03 am Trump and the American press and even Democrats continue to promote that Soleimani, the top Iranian military general, was a terrorist. I can find no evidence on Google to support this. What I find is that he was a revered soldier, and no more of a terrorist than are American soldiers. I would admonish American “journalists” to stop spreading these lies, as it only makes them complicit in the war crime(s) committed by trump and his advisors. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have taken a tremendous human toll on those countries. As of November 2018, at least 244,000 civilians in these three countries have died violent deaths as a result of the wars. Civilian deaths have also resulted from the US military operations in Yemen, Syria, Somalia and other countries in the U.S. war on terrorism. Additionally, most of us have seen and read recent accounts of navy seal Ed Gallagher who killed civilians while serving in the navy and whose crimes have been excused by none other than the president of The United States of America. » Posted By TOCB On January 5, 2020 @ 9:51 am There is no doubt that the USA spends more on our military than all other nations, combined. There is no doubt that we USE TO HAVE the strongest military in the world. HOWEVER, we lost the war in Vietnam. In fact, we not won a war since WWII. Almost no nation, including Iran exist in a vacuum. Iran is aligned with Russia and China, neither of which are huge fans of the U.S. government, and Russia has been very aggressive as of late. If they get a chance to severely damage the USA, Putin will throw trump under the bus as quick as a cat can wink his eye. There is no doubt that trump and his minions have been useful idiots to Putin, but when Putin no longer needs them, they are just idiots. » Posted By TOCB On January 5, 2020 @ 5:56 am Not only was the assassination a violation of international AND U.S. law, but this tweet constitutes a provocation of war. Additionally, if what trump tweeted is true, it is disclosing information that is probably at least by its very nature, classified as top secret. What trump is doing is very obvious. He is trying to distract from his impeachment. ALL of what he is doing is an abuse of power. The very FIRST thing the USA needs to do in order to deescalate the Iranian crisis is to get rid of trump. “We have … targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran” and “if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets… Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.
» Posted By TOCB On January 4, 2020 @ 5:05 pm Hey Ray. Bush illegally used the 2002 resolution to invade Iraq. The resolution required Bush to come to Congress and provide evidence that he had exhausted all diplomatic efforts BEFORE using military force. Trump cannot use that resolution for various reasons, the first being it was specifically for the purpose of get the U. N. to return weapons inspectors to Iraq. There is no mention of Iran in that resolution and trump has not gotten permission from Congress to do anything related to attacking Iran or an Iranian official. https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-joint-resolution/114/text (b) Presidential Determination.–In connection with the exercise of Btw, I recently read that Russia has a mach 27 missile system and in a test, it hit a target that was 3,728 miles away. Washington D.C. is a little less than twice that distance from Iran. So, what if Putin likes Iran more than he likes trump, and what if he sold a few of those missiles to Iran? Iran’s military is no push-over in the first place, but WHAT IF they get help from Russia’s mach 27 or China’s mach 10 hypersonic missiles? https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russia’s-hypersonic-icbm-operational-so-what-109901 “Officials say the ICBM flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound. During the last known tests that took place in December 2018, the Avangard hit a practice target 6,000 kilometers [3,728 miles] away.” » Posted By TOCB On January 4, 2020 @ 2:02 pm The assassination of a government official of a nation that is not in a war with the USA is a violation of both international law and U.S. law. Trump and anyone who advised and supported him in that assassination is guilty of a war crime. Trump had no authorization to attack Iran. Congress had not approved it, and neither the USA or any ally was under attack. The excuse that Soleimani was planning attacks is not enough, especially when trump lies so much. If we knew he was planning to execute an attack, our job was to be at the ready to prevent such an attack. We know we put the lives of our military and diplomatic people at risk when we occupy a country where we are not welcome. Every nation has a right to defend themselves, be it the USA, Iraq or Iran. Just because the USA declares a military unit of an unfriendly nation a terrorist group does not make them a terrorist group any more than that nation declaring that the U.S. military is a terrorist group. Soldiers are likely to be killed when their country send them to war. I suspect Soleimani expected to be killed, just as any soldier in any military expects to be killed. The more important issue is the policy of the nation that kills a military/government leader. Anyone is a fair target on the battle field, and if there is intelligence evidence that Soleimani, acting on behalf of the Iranian government, was in the process of executing military action against the USA, then and only then is the assassination justified. Otherwise, it is an illegal act of war on the part of the United States government, as trump is the duly recognized leader of the United States government and he admitted to giving the assassination order. Iran has every right to retaliate against the USA for the murder of one of its leaders. The question is whether either nation understands or cares about diplomacy, AT ALL. We know Trump doesn’t, and he is directing the entire U.S. government not to. If Iran does not respond in like manner, they will be viewed as weak and no government wants to appear weak. Therefore, at this juncture, a war with Iran is inevitable. » Posted By TOCB On January 4, 2020 @ 5:51 am It bothers me that the press is promoting the narrative that Soleimani was terrorist. We was an Iranian soldier. I find no case where he was involved in attacking American civilians. He fought our military when we were involved in military conflict with Iran or their interest. If Soleimani was a terrorist, then so are our military personnel, and I do not believe our military personnel are terrorists. Trump and his minions are promoting the notion that Soleimani was a terrorist in order to justify the assassination. In reality, trump is the terrorist, and anyone who supports the assassination is aiding and abetting a terrorist. If someone can provide any support for Soleimani being referred to as a terrorist, I would like to see it. I see where he was placed on a sanctions list by the USA because he aided the Syrian government in a civil war. Although we may disagree with Iran’s military policy, Soleimani was acting on behalf of his government, just as our soldiers who kill people in wars act on behalf of our government. » Posted By TOCB On January 3, 2020 @ 5:25 pm Land disliked Trump so much in 2016 that he favored any of the other 17 candidates for the Republican nomination. But “when it [came] to a binary choice between Hillary Clinton and President Trump, it took me about one nanosecond to determine that at the very worst, the president was the lesser evil versus Hillary Clinton,” he said. “And frankly, he’s done far better than I thought he would.” We often hear trump supporters defend him as a “binary choice” between him and Hillary Clinton or quite frankly ANY Democrat. If Joe Biden thinks a trump republican is going to vote for him, I have a bridge I’d like to sell him. Now that the world sees what an idiot trump is and that he is FAR WORSE than the caricature republicans created and promoted about Hillary Clinton, what is the logic of them still promoting their binary choice? Could it simply be that they are too small to admit that they made the wrong binary choice? A binary choice by definition eliminates a spectrum of choices. It forces one to put everything about two possible outcomes in one category. What if both possibilities are entirely based on lies? » Posted By TOCB On January 3, 2020 @ 5:49 am A few things about this release we already know. One, Barr is not going to release ANYTHING he thought would be harmful to trump. Two, ALL of trump’s men LIED to the FBI. Since the redacted part is based on an executive order, a Democratic president can issue an executive order to rescind the previous executive order. Further, a new Justice Department that values the Constitution, i.e., considering the AG the people’s attorney, can treat the Mueller report in a manner that protects the interest of the American people. » Posted By TOCB On January 3, 2020 @ 5:34 am Right after the law was passed, trump told a group of wealthy supporters that they had just gotten a lot richer. I know he lies a lot, but every blue moon he tells the truth. https://www.newsweek.com/president-donald-trump-rich-friends-lot-richer-tax-bill-758234 President Donald Trump joined his family at their “Winter White House” for the holidays Friday night after signing the GOP tax bill into law, and reportedly told wealthy friends dining at Mar-a-Lago, “You all just got a lot richer.” » Posted By TOCB On January 3, 2020 @ 5:07 am I know the word, “logic” and, “trump” should not be used in the same sentence, but one wonders if his logic was that if he assassinated the second most power man in the Iranian government, that it would decrease the threat to Americans in the region and around the world. “Due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice. U.S. citizens should not approach the Embassy.” Is he also going to assassinate other world leaders who are bad actors? Putin? Kim Jong Un? Killing a government leader in ANY nation is an act of war. The actual hot war may begin next week or next year, but it is the likely result of this DUMBASS military act. One wonders WHY U.S. military leadership would even go along with this military action. They should know better, and it is their duty to protect American interest from enemies BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. Trump is a clear and present danger to the national security of the USA. » Posted By TOCB On January 3, 2020 @ 5:01 am Hopefully black voters, like all voters, understand the danger of not participating in the democratic process. Not voting is the same as voting against someone who promotes your interest, and voting for someone who does not. I have not been able to comprehend why ANYONE, especially a person of color, would vote for someone like trump. A concern of mine is how secure the voting process is. I am really not convinced that trump actually legally won the election in 2016, and since nothing has been done to secure the integrity of the voting system, the same thing that happened in 2016 can happen in 2020. In order for trump to have legally won the Electoral College vote in 2016, ALL of the stars would have had to line up for him. Things like that can happen, but it is extremely rare. There were several reports of ballots being changed in 2016, but no one at any level of the government seem to have taken it seriously. If votes are allowed to be changed, it doesn’t matter how you vote. We have already allowed Putin to have a very large impact on our government. What is he likely to do if he wins another United States presidential election? » Posted By TOCB On December 30, 2019 @ 8:07 am The aide, Robert B. Blair, replied that it would be possible, but not pretty. “Expect Congress to become unhinged” if the White House tried to countermand spending passed by the House and Senate, he wrote in a previously undisclosed email. And, he wrote, it might further fuel the narrative that Mr. Trump was pro-Russia. Wouldn’t you like to know what trump’s and Mulvaney’s response to Blair was? » Posted By TOCB On December 29, 2019 @ 5:02 pm Please be advised that if you attend church in Texas, you best be packing heat. In Texas, people definitely cling to their bibles and their guns. » Posted By TOCB On December 29, 2019 @ 4:47 pm The old superior judgement attack. The one thing people need to consider about the superior judgement argument is the question what judgement has the accuser had to make relative to the one he or she is criticizing the other person about. Further, as when the charge is made that Hillary Clinton supported to decision to invade Iraq, neither she or Joe Biden supported that decision. George W Bush and congressional republicans orchestrated that lie, not Democrats. Not Hillary Clinton and not Joe Biden. A more important question is what was Pete Buttigieg doing when Joe Biden was taking a vote in the Senate about whether to support the president going to the U.N. to request weapons inspectors return to Iraq, because that is the vote Biden took. Not a single Democrat in Congress in 2002 voted in support of a war in Iraq. As smart a Buttigieg is suppose to be, he should know that. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/iraq.hillary/ “Obviously, I’ve thought about that a lot in the months since,” she said. “No, I don’t regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States, and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade.” If one wants to criticize Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden for trusting that the President of The United States would not short circuit the peace process of allowing weapons inspectors to determine the status of WMD in Iraq after the attacks on 9/11, that would be an honest criticism, if not a wise one. However, to say that they supported a decision to invade Iraq is simply misinformation. “This is an example of why years in Washington is not always the same thing as judgment,” Buttigieg said while recording the program “Iowa Press” on Iowa Public Television, according to a transcript. “He supported the worst foreign policy decision made by the United States in my lifetime, which was the decision to invade Iraq.” » Posted By TOCB On December 29, 2019 @ 1:49 pm I would like to see more of those people who are happy with their health insurance plans. I have never been happy with mine. This is an example of WHY we need universal single payer. Neither Medicare or private insurance companies cover all of the cost of medical care. Healthcare is so expensive that it is impossible for 99% of Americans to pay for it alone. We need to do it together. As I have said before, people can call it socialism or any kind of ism they prefer. It is simply people helping people. Atlantic Health sued Robert and Tricia Mechan of Maywood, N.J., to recover $7,982 in unpaid bills for treatment of their son Jonathan at the system’s Morristown Medical Center. » Posted By TOCB On December 29, 2019 @ 7:08 am While most of us are comfortable going about our daily lives, the world’s superpowers, instead of putting more energy and effort into world peace, are committing more resources into weapons of mass destruction. Russia has announced that it has added to its military arsenal a hypersonic missile that is capable of mach 27 speed. China has had hypersonic missiles capable of mach 10 for several years. The USA says it will probably have a hypersonic missile in about two years, so we are in a catch-up mode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-ZF » Posted By TOCB On December 27, 2019 @ 7:43 am Of course, this does not matter with republicans, but it is heartening to see that the majority of Americans are not as anti-American as republicans are. » Posted By TOCB On December 27, 2019 @ 7:37 am Republicans are not credible. Democrats are weak???
» Posted By TOCB On December 26, 2019 @ 6:16 am Many republicans are saying they oppose impeaching trump because although the Ukraine bribery/extortion case was/is wrong, it doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment, at least not for a republican president. They also say that there is no underlying crime in the Ukraine bribery/extortion case. Of course, they are lying in both excuses. They also say that the difference between the Clinton impeachment and the trump impeachment is that Clinton lied under oath and trump has not. That too, of course, is a lie. Although trump has not testified under oath on national television, he did submit written testimony in the Mueller investigation, and according to Mueller, trump lied in his responses to some of those questions. Of course that won’t make any difference to congressional republicans and republican voters, but the lies should at least be exposed. Rep. Val Demings, in her questioning today, sought to learn more about Robert Mueller’s thoughts on President Trump’s participation in his investigation. » Posted By TOCB On December 26, 2019 @ 5:54 am Merry Christmas to the health insurance industry, healthcare industry and medical device industry from a bipartisan U.S. Congress. » Posted By TOCB On December 25, 2019 @ 6:24 am Everything about the trump presidency leads to Putin and money. Is there really any question that trump directed Don Jr., Flynn, and all the others to do the things they did related to Russian contacts, just as Putin did on the Russian side and just as trump did related to Ukraine? Trump was emboldened by the way the Mueller investigation and report were handled as he will be emboldened by an acquittal by the Senate. With the power of the presidency and the backing of the Senate and Barr, there is absolutely no telling what an impeached president who knows that when he leaves office, there is a good chance he might go to jail, will do. But if we are expecting fairness and integrity from trump and republicans, we are bringing a knife to a gunfight. Democrats and others who want to hold trump and his minions accountable, must expose every ounce of corruption they have committed. There should be more reporting on emoluments violations, even involving his children. If trump wants to talk about Hunter Biden receiving a seat on a board of directors that he had no experience for, Dems should talk about the trademarks Ivanka got from China. And there is a long list of things trump has done himself. Maybe these things should even be added as articles of impeachment. » Posted By TOCB On December 25, 2019 @ 6:21 am The individual mandate provision of the ACA was ruled unconstitutional in 2012, but the Supreme Court let it stand because of the way they ruled on the penalty for not doing something the court said was unconstitutional. Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals once again ruled that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. How are Democrats responding to the Fifth Circuit ruling? The majority of them are pledging to protect a law that the court has twice ruled is unconstitutional. In the three years trump has been president, he and Moscow Mitch have gotten over 150 lower court judges confirmed. It took Obama eight years to get 88 judges through the Senate. The Fifth Circuit sent the case back to a federal court in Texas to rule on the remaining provisions of the law. I would say the chances of the entire law being struck down is AT LEAST 100 percent, and when the case returns to the Supreme Court I suspect they will uphold the lower court ruling. Here is a hint on how President Obama feels about the likelihood that the ACA will be struck down. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7822183/Obama-spoken-Warren-wealthy-Democratic-donors.html Shattered’ author Amie Parnes, writing for The Hill, explained that while Obama hasn’t endorsed Warren – nor will he endorse any Democratic hopeful during the primary – he’s made clear ‘that he deems her a capable candidate and potential president.’ When the ACA was passed in 2010 and Democrats had a majority in the House and a super majority in the Senate, not a single republican voted for the bill even though it was originally a republican plan. Republicans say Democrats rammed the ACA down their throats. What Democrats should have rammed down the throats of republicans in 2010 is universal single payer. With republicans running a duly impeached president for re-election in 2020, Democrats have another opportunity to win the White House, the Senate and the House, IF they don’t allow trump, republicans, the press and the so-called moderate Democrats to scare them into trying to protect a law that has been twice ruled as unconstitutional. What exactly is it about the word UNCONSTITUTIONAL don’t Democrats understand??? » Posted By TOCB On December 24, 2019 @ 6:55 am I am a tad confused when I hear Christians say it is okay to not like trump’s character but support him because of his policies. They don’t generally expound on which policies. One would think one of the policies Christians strongly support trump and republicans for is anti-abortion. This of course is contradictory in so many ways. For one, it is the job of the Church to teach church doctrine. And Christ never forced His Word on anyone. He stands at the door and knocks, and if you open the door, He will come in a sup with you. Does the Church ban people from their congregations if they have an abortion on support a person’s choice to do so? I read somewhere that Christ asked this question: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? What if the politicians Christians support are able to force all of their doctrines on everyone, but they don’t take care of the least of these. I would admonish those Christians to read Matthew 25: 41-46, and explain how they can support republicans and still love God. » Posted By TOCB On December 23, 2019 @ 6:37 am Age can be hazardous to one’s health. It is good and comforting to have loved ones around in old age though. » Posted By TOCB On December 23, 2019 @ 6:13 am Trump said during the 2106 election that he had never felt the need to ask God for forgiveness. Yesterday, he said this: The fact is, no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself!” I suspect trump is correct, but probably not in a way that is flattering to him. » Posted By TOCB On December 21, 2019 @ 3:03 pm Oh, I had it backwards. I thought you were born in England and moved to Germany. Thank you for correcting me. You mentioned the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling on the ACA. It is somewhat puzzling to me that this has not had more discussion from Democrats, since a large part of the difference between the progressive wing of the party and the moderate wing is the willingness to move from the ACA to universal single payer. The ruling by the Fifth Circuit was really no different from the first Supreme Court challenge to the law in 2012. In that case, the ruling was that the individual mandate was unconstitutional, but the court let the law stand because the penalty for not buying health insurance in the private health insurance market was administered by the IRS, the penalty was supported by the taxing authority of Congress. This was always a very weak ruling, and it has surprised me that republicans had not challenged it much earlier. As much as I support the federal government being pro-active in ensuring that all Americans have access to quality affordable healthcare, I agree with the merits of the legal case against the ACA. What makes universal single payer the most cost effective way to fund healthcare is that it allows the deep pockets of the federal government to effectively cover basic healthcare without regards to pre-existing conditions and the ability to pay. There is absolutely NO WAY the private for-profit health insurance industry can do this, EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO. Additionally, as much as I hate to admit it, republicans are absolutely correct in their argument that the Constitution does not allow the federal government to force individuals to purchase products and services in the private market, although this is widely used in the automobile insurance industry in every state. Maybe state constitutions don’t prohibit it. The problem this poses for Democrats is that the party wants the government to provide quality affordable healthcare to Americans. Moderates are willing to take a slower path in getting there, while progressives want to do it more aggressively. In point of fact, Obama campaigned in the 2008 Democratic primaries, as Hillary Clinton did, on universal single payer health insurance. He only changed after he took office because he thought he could get bipartisan support for a plan that republicans had originally put together as an alternative to Hillarycare in the 1990s. Even then, he said that if he had to start from scratch, he would prefer universal single payer. Whether Democrats are up to the challenge to debunk the lies republicans have been promoting for over 100 years about universal single payer, they are confronted with that challenge NOW. » Posted By TOCB On December 21, 2019 @ 7:12 am It really doesn’t matter what the “oranges” of the investigation were. The FACTS are that Putin personally directed Russians to interfere in the election AND trump and his campaign WELCOMED THAT INTERFERENCE. So WHATEVER evidence the U.S. intelligence agencies relied on the investigate Russian activity, it was valid. The fact that trump’s campaign was caught up in that investigation is trump’s problem. Had he not WELCOMED the interference, his involvement with Putin would have been innocent and the intelligence reports would have confirmed that and it would have cleared him. The reason he sought to stymie the investigation is because he WELCOMED the interference and WAS NOT INNOCENT. » Posted By TOCB On December 21, 2019 @ 5:48 am The constitutional geniuses in the republican party, starting with the dumbass-in-chief, are saying that trump is not impeached until the House sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate to have a trial on the impeachment. WRONG! Trump was impeached by the House on December 18, 2019. The Senate has NOTHING to do with impeaching a president. That authority rest SOLELY with the House of Representatives. The Senate has the sole authority to conduct a trial based on articles of impeachment AFTER the House sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate. The Majority Leader in the Senate has publicly stated that although he will take an oath to do impartial justice, he does not intend to honor that oath. So why would the Speaker of The House send over articles of impeachment that have passed in the House to a Senate that has said it will not honor its oath? The House impeached Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, but the Senate did not convict and remove either of them from office. Are they still impeached? Indeed, they are. In 1868 I don’t believe there was a majority leader office in the Senate, when Andrew missed being removed from office by one vote. In the Clinton trial in 1999, all 45 Democrats voted not guilty on article one. They were joined by 10 Republicans voting not guilty. On article two again all 45 Democrats voted not guilty and were joined by 5 Republicans, while 50 Republicans voted guilty. Trent Lott, the majority leader did not publicly state he would not honor the oath to do impartial justice, although he voted guilty on both articles of impeachment. » Posted By TOCB On December 20, 2019 @ 2:27 pmComments Posted By TOCB
Over the next several days, the military’s Special Operations Command looked for an opportunity to hit General Suleimani, who operated in the open and was treated like a celebrity in many places he visited in the Middle East. Military and intelligence officials said the strike drew on information from secret informants, electronic intercepts, reconnaissance aircraft and other surveillance tools.
The option that was eventually approved depended on who would greet General Suleimani at his expected arrival on Friday at Baghdad International Airport. If he was met by Iraqi government officials allied with Americans, one American official said, the strike would be called off. But the official said it was a “clean party,” meaning members of Kataib Hezbollah, including its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Mr. Trump authorized the killing at about 5 p.m. on Thursday, officials said.
On Friday, missiles fired from an American MQ-9 Reaper blew up General Suleimani’s convoy as it departed the airport.
People living in the war zones have been killed in their homes, in markets, and on roadways. They have been killed by bombs, bullets, fire, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and drones. Civilians die at checkpoints, as they are run off the road by military vehicles, when they step on a mine or cluster bomb, as they collect wood or tend to their fields, and when they are kidnapped and executed for purposes of revenge or intimidation. They are killed by the United States, by its allies, and by insurgents and sectarians in the civil wars spawned by the invasions.
the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President
shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be feasible,
but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make
available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that–
(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or
other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately
protect the national security of the United States against the
continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to
enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq; and
(2) acting pursuant to this joint resolution is consistent
with the United States and other countries continuing to take
the necessary actions against international terrorist and
terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations,
or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the
terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Soleimani had approved the attacks on the U.S.’s Baghdad embassy in the days before his death, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement confirming U.S. responsibility for the general’s death.
But she said the Bush administration’s short-circuiting of the U.N. weapons inspection process didn’t permit “the inspectors to finish whatever task they could have accomplished to demonstrate one way or the other what was there.”
Three of the Mechans’ four children have cystic fibrosis, a chronic lung disease, including Jonathan, 18. Tricia Mechan works two jobs — full time as a manager at Gary’s Wine & Marketplace and part time at Lowe’s — to try to pay doctor and hospital bills that pile up even with insurance.
“I have bill collectors call me all the time,” Tricia Mechan said. “You’re asking me for more, and all I’m doing is trying to get the best care for my children. I didn’t ask to have sick children.”
She closed a savings account and borrowed money to settle Jonathan’s bill for $6,000. Another son with cystic fibrosis, Matthew, owes Atlantic Health $4,200 and is paying it off at $25 a month, she said.
She asked Mueller: “Director Mueller, isn’t it fair to say the President’s written answers were not only inadequate and incomplete, because he didn’t answer many of your questions, but where he did, his answers showed he wasn’t always being truthful?”
Mueller responded in four simple words: “I would say generally.”
‘He obviously think she’s very smart,’ one Democratic donor told Parnes. ‘He thinks her policy ideas matter. And I think he sees her running the campaign with the most depth.’
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