FOCUS | Susan Rice: Lindsey Graham Is 'a Piece of S--t'

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FOCUS | Susan Rice: Lindsey Graham Is 'a Piece of S--t'

John Bowden, The Hill
Bowden: "Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, referred to Sen. Lindsey Graham as a 'piece of shit' during the taping of an episode of the 'Pod Save the World' podcast this week."
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EXCERPT:

"You have to understand Benghazi to understand [President] Trump," said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration who is a host of the podcast.

"Right, because Lindsey Graham isn't just a piece of shit now," Vietor said before Rice interrupted.

"He's been a piece of shit," she said. "He's a piece of shit."

Pod Save America

✔@PodSaveAmerica

"He's a piece of shit." — @AmbassadorRice on Lindsey Graham

Hear the rest of her interview on tomorrow's #PodSaveTheWorld

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Graham's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rice, a critic of Trump's withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, was sharply criticized by Trump last week on Twitter, where the president slammed her and the Obama administration's refusal to take military action against the Syrian government after it used chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.

"Susan Rice, who was a disaster to President Obama as National Security Advisor, is now telling us her opinion on what to do in Syria. Remember RED LINE IN THE SAND? That was Obama. Millions killed! No thanks Susan, you were a disaster," Trump tweeted.

Rice later responded to the president on Twitter, writing: "Then why did you come up and hug me at 2015 WHCD when I’d never met you (which was totally gross) and whisper in my ear that I had been 'very unfairly treated' over Benghazi and 'was doing a great job for the country'?"

Susan Rice

✔@AmbassadorRice

Then why did you come up and hug me at 2015 WHCD when I’d never met you (which was totally gross) and whisper in my ear that I had been “very unfairly treated” over Benghazi and “was doing a great job for the country”? https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1185389914470473729 …

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Susan Rice, who was a disaster to President Obama as National Security Advisor, is now telling us her opinion on what to do in Syria. Remember RED LINE IN THE SAND? That was Obama. Millions killed! No thanks Susan, you were a disaster.

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FOCUS: William H. McRaven | Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President

19 October 19

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CLICK THE DONATION LINK AND MAKE A DONATION - That and hard work is what built Reader Supported News. For two decades when we have said we needed a little funding to pay the organization’s expenses our Readers have responded. It has always worked and will certainly work now. Click the donation link and make a donation. - Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: William H. McRaven | Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President

William H. McRaven, The New York Times
McRaven writes: "Last week I attended two memorable events that reminded me why we care so very much about this nation and also why our future may be in peril."

EXCERPTS:

Later that week, at the O.S.S. Society dinner, there were films and testimonials to the valor of the men and women who had fought in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. We also celebrated the 75th anniversary of D-Day, recognizing those brave Americans and allies who sacrificed so much to fight Nazism and fascism. We were reminded that the Greatest Generation went to war because it believed that we were the good guys — that wherever there was oppression, tyranny or despotism, America would be there. We would be there because freedom mattered. We would be there because the world needed us and if not us, then who?

But, beneath the outward sense of hope and duty that I witnessed at these two events, there was an underlying current of frustration, humiliation, anger and fear that echoed across the sidelines. The America that they believed in was under attack, not from without, but from within.

These men and women, of all political persuasions, have seen the assaults on our institutions: on the intelligence and law enforcement community, the State Department and the press. They have seen our leaders stand beside despots and strongmen, preferring their government narrative to our own. They have seen us abandon our allies and have heard the shouts of betrayal from the battlefield. As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!”

Those words echoed with me throughout the week. It is easy to destroy an organization if you have no appreciation for what makes that organization great. We are not the most powerful nation in the world because of our aircraft carriers, our economy, or our seat at the United Nations Security Council. We are the most powerful nation in the world because we try to be the good guys. We are the most powerful nation in the world because our ideals of universal freedom and equality have been backed up by our belief that we were champions of justice, the protectors of the less fortunate.

But, if we don’t care about our values, if we don’t care about duty and honor, if we don’t help the weak and stand up against oppression and injustice — what will happen to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Syrians, the Rohingyas, the South Sudanese and the millions of people under the boot of tyranny or left abandoned by their failing states?

If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us? If we can’t have faith in our nation’s principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military? And if they don’t join, who will protect us? If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us? And if no one follows us — where will the world end up?

President Trump seems to believe that these qualities are unimportant or show weakness. He is wrong. These are the virtues that have sustained this nation for the past 243 years. If we hope to continue to lead the world and inspire a new generation of young men and women to our cause, then we must embrace these values now more than ever.

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FOCUS: Mitch McConnell | Withdrawing From Syria Is a Grave Mistake

19 October 19

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FOCUS: Mitch McConnell | Withdrawing From Syria Is a Grave Mistake

Mitch McConnell, The Washington Post
McConnel writes: "Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American people and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies, and weaken important alliances."
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As Trump Downplays Attack on Kurds, Amnesty Details Turkish War Crimes and 'Utterly Callous Disregard for Civilian Life'

Can we charge Trump with facilitating war crimes?

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As Trump Downplays Attack on Kurds, Amnesty 
Details Turkish War Crimes and 'Utterly Callous 
Disregard for Civilian Life'

"Killing defenseless people in cold blood is utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime," said Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo

"Killing defenseless people in cold blood is utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime," said Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo

by

Jake Johnson, staff writer

Just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed 

Turkey's assault on Kurds in Syria by likening it to a parking lot 

squabble, Amnesty International on Friday presented damning 

evidence that Turkish forces and their allies have committed 

war crimes and displayed a "shameful disregard for civilian life" 

in northeastern Syria.

Based on video footage, medical records, and witness testimony 

from journalists and aid workers, Amnesty's new report details 

numerous appalling instances of Turkish forces and their Syrian

rebel allies indiscriminately bombarding residential areas, 

abducting civilians, and committing murder in cold blood.

"In one of the most horrific attacks documented," Amnesty said, 

"a Kurdish Red Crescent worker described how he pulled bodies 

from the wreckage of a Turkish airstrike on 12 October at around 

7 am, in which two munitions landed near to a school in Salhiye, 

where civilians displaced by the fighting had sought shelter."

The aid worker told Amnesty that four people, including two children, 

were killed in the Turkish strike.

"I couldn't tell if they were boys or girls because their corpses 

were black. They looked like charcoal," he said. "The other two 

people killed were older men, they looked older than 50. 

Honestly, I am still in shock."

The report also highlights the case of Hevrin Khalaf, a Kurdish 

female politician and Secretary General of the Future Syria 

political party who was "dragged out of her car, beaten, and 

shot dead" on October 12 by fighters with Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a 

Syrian rebel group allied with Turkey.

"A medical report seen by Amnesty International lists a series 

of injuries inflicted on Hevrin Khalaf," the group said, "including 

multiple gunshot wounds to the head, face, and back as well as 

fractures to her legs, face and skull, detachment of skin from her 

skull, and loss of hair as a result of being dragged by the hair."

Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of Amnesty International, said 

in a statement that "killing defenseless people in cold blood is 

utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime."

"The Turkish military offensive into northeast Syria has wreaked 

havoc on the lives of Syrian civilians who once again have been 

forced to flee their homes and are living in constant fear of 

indiscriminate bombardment, abductions, and summary 

killings," said Naidoo. "Turkish military forces and their allies 

have displayed an utterly callous disregard for civilian lives."

In addition to demanding that Turkey halt its attacks on 

northeastern Syria, Amnesty urged nations that export 

arms to the country to immediately suspend any weapons 

transfers

.

"The USA is the largest exporter of weapons to Turkey," 

Amnesty noted. "Other suppliers include Italy, Germany, 

Brazil, and India."

Amnesty's report comes after Trump—who paved the way 

for the Turkish military operation by abruptly withdrawing 

U.S. forces from northeastern Syria—made light of the 

humanitarian catastrophe in the region by comparing it 

to a parking lot scrap between "two kids."

"Sometimes you have to let 'em fight," Trump said 

during a campaign rally in Dallas, Texas. 

"Like two kids in a lot, you gotta let 'em fight, then you 

pull 'em apart."

Observers expressed horror at Trump's remarks.

"The president is talking about genocidal slaughter 

and hundreds of thousands of war victims like it's a 

playground squabble," said S.V. Dáte, White House 

correspondent for HuffPost.

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