Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG): Trump says US troops will remain in Afghanistan as rapid exit would leave 'vacuum' for terrorists

 News Updates from CLG
22 August 2017

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

 

Previous edition: 'ISIS' van attack in Barcelona kills 13 and injures more than 100

 

Trump says US troops will remain in Afghanistan as rapid exit would leave 'vacuum' for terrorists --'We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq,' President Trump says | 22 Aug 2017 | Donald Trump vowed to maintain America's military commitment in Afghanistan, sustaining America's longest war and reversing his previously staunch resistance to the US engagement there. In his first first nationally-televised prime-time address since January, the President laid out a vision short on concrete details, but strong on rhetoric - saying that US troops "will fight to win" in Afghanistan, as well as putting pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terrorist sanctuaries near its borders and calling for further help from India. While multiple reports earlier in the day that Mr Trump was ready to commit as many as 4,000 more troops to the country, the President pointedly declined to state specific details about troop totals. 

 

Full Transcript and Video: President Trump's Speech on Afghanistan | 21 Aug 2017 | President Trump addressed the nation on Monday from Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Va., to lay out his military plans for Afghanistan. Following is the full transcript of those remarks, as released by the Federal News Service. [Click here for video.] 

 

Trump approves sending 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan, senior official says | 21 Aug 2017 | President Trump has signed off on sending an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, ahead of his address to the nation Monday night, Fox News has learned. Trump is set to unveil his strategy for Afghanistan, becoming the third commander-in-chief to attempt to stabilize the war-torn country and forge a victory in what is now America's longest war...The Pentagon was awaiting a final announcement by Trump on a proposal to send in nearly 4,000 more U.S. troops, on top of the 8,400 in the country. [Apparently, the CIA's poppy fields and opi-m routes will continue to be protected, at US taxpayer expense.]

 

Settlement Reached in C.I.A. Torture Case --Terms of the settlement are confidential | 17 Aug 2017 | A settlement in the lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the Central Intelligence Agency's brutal interrogation program was announced on Thursday, bringing to an end an unusual effort to hold individuals accountable for the techniques the agency adopted after the Sept. 11 attacks. Lawyers for the three plaintiffs in the suit, filed in 2015 in Federal District Court in Spokane, Wash., said the former prisoners were tortured at secret C.I.A. detention sites. The settlement with the psychologists, Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell, came after a judge last month urged resolving the case before it headed to a jury trial in early September...The parties agreed to a joint statement in which the psychologists said that they had advised the C.I.A. and that the plaintiffs had suffered abuses, but that they were not responsible.

 

Russian air force destroys over 200 ISIS terrorists heading for Deir ez-Zor, Syria - MoD | 21 Aug 2017 | The Russian air force has destroyed a large column of Islamic State militants, vehicles and large caliber weapons heading to the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, the Russian defense ministry has said. "The Russian Air Force destroyed another large column of ISIS fighters that was heading to the area of the city of Deir ez-Zor, where international terrorists are trying to regroup and equip their last base in Syria," the statement says...The strike on the terrorist column destroyed around 20 SUVs armed with large-caliber weapons and mortars. Russian jets have also taken out a number of armored vehicles, including tanks, the ministry added. 

 

Tehran demands US pay $245mn to Iraq-Iran war chemical weapons victims | 21 Aug 2017 | An Iranian court has issued a ruling demanding that the US pay 245 million to more than a dozen victims of chemical attacks carried out by Saddam Hussein's forces during the Iran-Iraqi war of 1980-1988...The war that began in 1980 and lasted eight years left an estimated 1 million people dead, according to Reuters. Washington already knew about Iraqi chemical attacks in 1983, but took no action against the violations of international law, Foreign Policy reported, citing a classified memo. 

 

Five sailors injured, 10 missing after U.S. Navy destroyer collides with a merchant ship | 20 Aug 2017 | Ten U.S. Navy sailors were missing and five were injured after the USS John S. McCain guided missile destroyer and an oil tanker three times its size collided near Singapore early Monday. American and Singaporean ships and helicopters launched a search-and-rescue mission after the pre-dawn collision at the entrance to one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. This was the second time in two months a Navy destroyer based at the 7th Fleet's home port of Yokosuka, Japan, has been involved in a collision at sea. Seven sailors were killed when the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship south of Japan in June.

 

Spanish police shoot dead suspected Barcelona attacker | 21 Aug 2017 | Spanish police on Monday shot dead a man they suspect was the Islamist militant who drove a van into a Barcelona crowd last week, killing 13 people. Ending a five-day manhunt, police tracked 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub to a rural area near Barcelona. They said they shot him after he held up what appeared to be an explosives belt.Police gave few details of the incident in Subirats, saying they had called in a bomb squad to approach the man's body after gunning him down.

 

3 vans linked to Barcelona terror attack suspect located, Spanish police say | 20 Aug 2017 | Three rental vans linked to the suspected driver in the deadly Barcelona terror attack were located Sunday, prompting a massive manhunt in northeastern Spain for members of an extremist cell who police believe had planned to carry out "one or more attacks with explosives" in the Spanish city.

 

Barcelona terror cell 'dismantled' but manhunt continues | 19 Aug 2017 | The terror cell behind Spain's deadly twin attacks has been "dismantled", but the hunt for suspects continues, authorities say. In a news conference, interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the cell comprised 12 young men..."The cell has been completely dismantled," he told reporters. However, the hunt for the man suspected of driving the van into people in Barcelona - 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub - continues.

 

One American killed in Spain attacks | 18 Aug 2017 | The State Department announced Friday that one American was among the 14 people killed in a pair of deadly terror attacks in Spain. The assaults -- in Barcelona and Cambrils -- wounded more than 100 others, and one U.S. citizen was also among that count, officials said...The news comes as a fourth person was arrested on Friday in connection with the terror attacks.

 

Five jihadis 'in suicide belts' are killed and seven people injured as gunfire erupts in Cambrils in SECOND terror outrage hours after 13 died in van attack on Las Ramblas --Five terror suspects are dead after second attack launched eight hours after Barcelona left seven people hurt --Earlier a terrorist in a van killed 13 and injured more than 100 on Barcelona's iconic Las Ramblas promenade | 18 Aug 2017 | Five terrorists were shot dead by police early today after they attempted a second vehicle attack in a beach resort south of Barcelona hours after an atrocity in that city killed 13. Seven members of the public including a policeman were hurt in the new attack in Cambrils, 70 miles from Barcelona, which saw the jihadis' car overturn before armed police gunned down the suspects. Footage from the scene showed bodies apparently wearing suicide belts strewn around the seafront. Bystanders had jumped onto the beach when gunshots rang out at around 1am local time. 

 

Two dead, eight wounded in knife attack in Finland | 18 Aug 2017 | A man with a knife killed two people and wounded eight others in a stabbing rampage in a market square in the Finnish city of Turku on Friday, police said. Police shot the suspected attacker in the leg and arrested him. A witness told Reuters she had seen a man stabbing a woman and other people sobbing at what they had seen after running away in terror.

 

Armed police evacuate Nimes railway station in France after claims of roaming armed men - before officers reveal it was a false alarm amid fears of a new European terror attack --Police said station was evacuated so they could check 'suspicious behaviour' | 19 Aug 2017 | Armed police have evacuated Nimes railway station in France after reports of 'suspicious behaviour.' Initial reports said three armed men got off a train from Paris at Nimes station, where they opened fire. However, police later suggested the station was evacuated so they could check reports of 'suspicious behaviour.' A transport police spokesman said earlier this evening: 'Avoid the area around the station of Nimes.' 

 

The total solar eclipse is sweeping across the United States | 21 Aug 2017 | The sky darkened. The temperature dropped. And suddenly, where the sun should have been was instead a black circle surrounded by a halo of light -- a gleaming diamond ring in the morning's night sky. The total eclipse hit the coast of Oregon at 10:15 a.m. Pacific Time, stunning the crowd in the tiny coastal town of Newport into an eery, brief silence...From there the shadow of the total eclipse zipped East across America at the screaming speed of 2,100 mph. It traversed a 3,000-mile path, cutting through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and will reach Charleston, S.C. at 2:49 p.m. Eastern time. 

 

Moon blots the sun out of the sky in historic US eclipse | 21 Aug 2017 | Americans gazed in wonder through telescopes, cameras and disposable protective glasses Monday as the moon blotted out the midday sun in the first full-blown solar eclipse to sweep the U.S. from coast to coast in nearly a century. The shadow -- a corridor just 60 to 70 miles (96 to 113 kilometers) wide -- came ashore in Oregon and then began racing diagonally across the continent to South Carolina, with darkness lasting only about two to three minutes in any one spot...Scientists said the total eclipse would cast a shadow that would race 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) through 14 states, entering near Lincoln City, Oregon, at 1:16 p.m. EDT, moving diagonally across the heartland over Casper, Wyoming, Carbondale, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, and then exiting near Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:47 p.m. EDT. 

 

President Trump risks blindness as he peeks at the solar eclipse without his glasses from the White House terrace with Melania, Barron, Ivanka and cabinet members including Jeff Sessions | 21 Aug 2017 | The total eclipse of the sun on Monday was a family affair for President Trump, who viewed the the action from the terrace of the White House alongside First Lady Melania and their son Barron. President Trump also invited a few co-workers along for the event, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and his daughter Ivanka also joining the group. In his initial excitement however, President Trump made the mistake at looking up at the sun without glasses, and quickly cast his eyes down as he was blinded by the light. He then looked up at the sun a second time. At that point one of the aides standing below the balcony shouted out: 'Don't look.' 

 

Sandy Hook Parents Want to See Evidence --Newtown has filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the court to dismiss the case. | 18 Aug 2017 | Lawyers for the parents of two children killed in their Sandy Hook Elementary School classrooms are asking a judge for access to state police evidence to determine whether a substitute teacher, also killed during the massacre, had access to a key that could have locked her classroom door. Newtown schools officials and teachers who were in the Newtown school on Dec. 14, 2012, when Adam Lanza [allegedly] killed 26 people, including 20 first-graders, have testified in depositions that each classroom had an emergency kit including a card that contained a spare key to lock the classroom door...In his motion seeking access to the state police evidence, attorney Devin W. Janosov notes that even though evidence logs show that police did recover plastic red emergency response folders from the back of [substitute teacher] Lauren Rousseau's and Victoria Soto's classrooms they don't indicate any keys were found in them...Janosov argues that it is necessary to physically inspect the evidence to see if keys are in the folders.

 

Boston 'Free Speech Rally' cut short as conservative activists leave counterprotesters behind | 19 Aug 2017 | Conservative activists cut short a planned rally in Boston on Saturday as thousands of counterprotesters chanted anti-Nazi slogans and waved signs condemning white nationalism. The Boston Police Department announced on Twitter that the event, billed as a "Free Speech Rally," had ended around 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon saying "demonstrators had left the [Boston] Common." ...Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans said in late afternoon there had been 27 arrests, most for disorderly conduct, along with a few for assaulting police officers.

 

Why Did a State Trooper Try to Stop Medics From Performing CPR on Heather Heyer? | 15 Aug 2017 | As a queer, non-binary, anarchist, critical care RN/street medic who was the first responder for Heather Heyer, initiating CPR and, with a team of amazing bystanders, facilitating resuscitation until EMS arrived, I feel a compelling need to tell our story. When we heard the car crash into our march, I was about 20 feet away from Heather, and I responded immediately to the screams for medics...I was horrified to discover, after two minutes of intense, exhausting chest compressions, that a state trooper had forcibly removed the EMT assisting me in resuscitation, as well as other bystanders ready in line for the next round of compressions. The EMT told the state trooper that we were actively resuscitating a patient, but the state trooper physically removed him from the scene anyway. I had to yell for other bystanders to come assist with compressions, and two people courageously responded, despite the threats of the state trooper. The state trooper then began yelling at me to leave my patient...He continued yelling at me to leave, and would not back down until I screamed that I'm a critical care nurse, I do CPR frequently, we have a patient without a pulse or respirations, and we will NOT stop CPR. He then began screaming that I could stay, but the other bystanders assisting CPR had to leave (they didn't), and he did not stop until a firefighter arrived and took over chest compressions.

 

US man charged with plotting to bomb Texas Confederate statue | 21 Aug 2017 | A 25-year-old man who allegedly planned to blow up a Confederate statue in Houston, Texas has been arrested, authorities said on Monday, as debate raged in the United States over what to do with the nation’s Civil War-era symbols. Houston authorities said they arrested Andrew Schneck, who at the time was toting highly volatile chemical compounds used in bomb-making on Saturday, near the statue of a Confederate soldier. A judge ordered him held in custody pending a court hearing, which has been set for on Thursday.

 

Texas university removes 'white supremacy' statues from campus | 21 Aug 2017 | The University of Texas at Austin removed four statues tied to the Confederacy from its campus on Monday, saying they had become symbols of white supremacy at a time of protests and fierce debate about race and the legacy of America's Civil War. The president of the University of Texas at Austin, Greg Fenves, said that the "horrific displays of hatred" on show in Virginia had shocked and saddened the nation...Baltimore took down four Confederate monuments last week.

 

Traveler, USC's mascot, comes under scrutiny for having a name similar to Robert E. Lee's horse | 18 Aug 2017 | When Richard Saukko galloped his chalk-white Arabian horse named Traveler around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum almost 56 years ago, it was supposed to be a one-time stunt. Instead, the brief performance before USC kicked off its season against Georgia Tech turned into one of college football's iconic traditions. 

 

Man stabbed after haircut gets him mistaken for a neo-Nazi | 19 Aug 2017 | This Colorado man is avowedly not a neo-Nazi. But he believes his long-on-top, buzzed-on-the-sides haircut got him mistaken for one -- and nearly stabbed to death by a confused anti-fascist. Joshua Witt, 26, escaped his brush with hairdo-doom with a defensive slice to the hand and three stitches. "Apparently, my haircut is considered a neo-Nazi statement," he told The Post Saturday, as his account on Facebook garnered 20,000 shares.

 

Boston University student, 18, who attended 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville said he was forced to leave school after being bombarded with death threats --Nicholas Fuentes, 18, said Charlottesville was a 'preservationist' rally, and not racist | 19 Aug 2017 | An 18-year-old college student who participated in the 'Unite the Right' demonstrations in Charlottesville last week says he was forced to leave school after receiving a deluge of death threats. Nicholas Fuentes said he decided to abandon his studies at Boston University after being threatened for his views, telling Fox News that he does not feel safe at the campus. A Boston University spokesperson confirmed that the Political Science major had left the college earlier this week...'The picture the media keeps using is of one person with a Nazi flag, there were more than one thousand there who didn’t have Nazi flags,' Fuentes said. 

 

Armed protesters spotted in downtown Durham --Durham Mayor says protesters were reacting to rumors of a KKK march | 18 Aug 2017 | Demonstrators, some armed, took to the streets of downtown Durham Friday after rumors began circulating of a KKK march. City and county officials said no permits for any march have been issued and there is no confirmation of a rumored march at 4 p.m. Friday morning, at least two protest groups converged on each other outside of the Old Courthouse. ABC11's crew on the scene saw several protesters armed with guns, axes and other weapons.

 

President Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon leaves post --Steve Bannon parts ways with his boss - but vows to keep fighting for the President's agenda from outside the White House. | 19 Aug 2017 | President Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon is leaving his White House post. Mr Bannon was a key adviser to the property tycoon during last year's election campaign and has been a contentious presence in the White House. He pressed Mr Trump to follow through with his campaign promises, but also clashed with some of the US President's closest advisers, including son-in-law Jared Kushner.

 

White House: John Kelly, Steve Bannon Agree Today Is Bannon's Last Day | 18 Aug 2017 | White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement on Friday confirming that White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is leaving his position in the White House. Bannon joined then-candidate Donald Trump's campaign in 2016. He was brought on staff at the White House as Chief Strategist at the beginning of the Trump Administration. His departure comes shortly after several other White House officials have left.

 

200-Acre Campo Brush Fire Prompts Evacuations, Road Closures --Officials are evacuating the Mountain Warfare Training Camp Michael Monsoor in Campo. | 21 Aug 2017 | (San Diego County, CA) A growing 200-acre brush fire burning in Campo has prompted nearby evacuations as the flames threaten structures. The fire, dubbed the Eclipse Fire because of the day it happened, broke out Monday around 2 p.m. near Royal Willie Road and La Posta Road. The fire is 5 percent contained. The fire is threatening the Campo Indian Reservation, authorities said.

 

*****

CLG needs your support.

http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html

Or, please mail a check or m*ney order to CLG: Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) 
P.O. Box 1142 
Bristol, CT 06011-1142 
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

Feel free -- and CLG encourages you -- to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name. Please add clg_news@legitgov.org to your contacts or approved senders list. For subscription questions, please write signup at legitgov dot org.

 

CLG News Editor-in-Chief: Lori Price. Copyright © 2017, Citizens for Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved.