Biden's foreign policy and interventions predications

[Soren Ras]

14 hours ago, nitflegal said:

He wasn't in the government at that point.  He was a private citizen.  Personally, I'd go for hanging.

Wasn't this supposed to have happened during the 2015 talks with Iran, or did I not read closely enough? Kerry served as SecState from 2013 until Jan 2017.

 

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Soren

[nitflegal]

6 hours ago, Soren Ras said:

Wasn't this supposed to have happened during the 2015 talks with Iran, or did I not read closely enough? Kerry served as SecState from 2013 until Jan 2017.

 

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Soren

It's still murky but current reporting says mid 2017 or 2018.  We do know that in 2018 Kerry was meeting with the Iranians to discuss how to thwart Trump's tear down of the nuclear deal. They would then coincide timewise.  I would tend to say that former elected official working with an adversary to undermine current national policy kinda counts. . .

[glenn239]

What did Kerry actually say that was classified information, or could compromise Israel?  

[Soren Ras]

48 minutes ago, nitflegal said:

It's still murky but current reporting says mid 2017 or 2018.  We do know that in 2018 Kerry was meeting with the Iranians to discuss how to thwart Trump's tear down of the nuclear deal. They would then coincide timewise.  I would tend to say that former elected official working with an adversary to undermine current national policy kinda counts. . .

Thanks

[BansheeOne]

Well divulging classified information you received in an official capacity is typically punishable even after you became a private citizen. Of course from the vague reports its not really clear what, if anything, Kerry might have said. And if I've learned anything from observing American political debate on the net over the last 20 years it's that accusations of treason are usually bluster with no substance. 

[TonyE]

2 hours ago, nitflegal said:

It's still murky but current reporting says mid 2017 or 2018.  We do know that in 2018 Kerry was meeting with the Iranians to discuss how to thwart Trump's tear down of the nuclear deal. They would then coincide timewise.  I would tend to say that former elected official working with an adversary to undermine current national policy kinda counts. . .

Logan Act material?

[JWB]

Espionage Act of 1917?

[nitflegal]

Here's my recommendation; if I or some low level dude in the military or alphabet agencies would be prosecuted and likely sent to jail those same standards should apply to every elected official from the President through the Congress and every alphabet agency illuminati.  Keep it simple. . .

[Ivanhoe]

24 minutes ago, nitflegal said:

Here's my recommendation; if I or some low level dude in the military or alphabet agencies would be prosecuted and likely sent to jail those same standards should apply to every elected official from the President through the Congress and every alphabet agency illuminati.  Keep it simple. . .

IOW, a nation of laws, not men. Which is psycho fascist rabid Repub stuff, i.e. treason (or sedition) in and of itself. These days.

 

[rmgill]

3 hours ago, nitflegal said:

Here's my recommendation; if I or some low level dude in the military or alphabet agencies would be prosecuted and likely sent to jail those same standards should apply to every elected official from the President through the Congress and every alphabet agency illuminati.  Keep it simple. . .

Well, the president has the power to declassify something. I guess there are legal forms, but it's still his call. 

[Ivanhoe]

https://www.jns.org/former-israeli-ambassadors-say-kerrys-history-of-conflict-with-israel-lends-weight-to-iranian-accusation/

Quote

“At the same time when Syrian [President] Bashar Assad was killing a half million of his own countrymen and the U.S. government refused to intervene, Kerry found time to give an hour-long speech condemning Israeli settlements,” said Oren. “What was going on north of [Israel] was the largest massacre in post-World War II history.”

 

 

[sunday]

2 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

https://www.jns.org/former-israeli-ambassadors-say-kerrys-history-of-conflict-with-israel-lends-weight-to-iranian-accusation/

 

 

What about Rwanda, Cambodia or North Korea?

Then there is the part about who was doing the main killing in Syria, Assad or the more or less moderate Islamists...

[BansheeOne]

Much more interesting than the usual partisan mini-games in the US is the backlash from the leaked interview in Iran itself, anyway. 

Quote

Tape of Foreign Minister Zarif reveals regime rift in Iran

By Shabnam von Hein | 4m ago

A leaked interview with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has exposed conflicts within Iran's leadership. Is it just an election tactic? And, if so, by whom?

In an interview conducted in the context of an oral history project and leaked to international media, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reveals deep rifts in Iran's leadership. Hesamoddin Ashena, an aide to President Hassan Rouhani, who oversaw the oral history project, to document the administration's work, was fired on Thursday.

In the recording, which was published by two Persian-language media outlets based in London, Zarif is heard criticizing Iran's political system and taking aim at the Revolutionary Guard, which he accuses of constantly interfering in the Foreign Ministry's affairs.

Zarif says the state security organization is undermining his work. He also lashes out against General Qassem Soleimani, who commanded the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force until his assassination by US airstrike near Baghdad's airport in January 2020.

'Certain things happening'

In the recording, Zarif says Soleimani prioritized military objectives over diplomacy. After a 2015 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zarif says, Soleimani dispatched Iranian forces to Syria. "Putin entered the war with air forces, but also brought Iran into the war with ground forces," he says. "Until then we had no ground forces there." This statement is noteworthy as Iran's government had long denied a military role in Syria's civil war. Many Iranians are critical of the country's involvement in the conflict.

Zarif says Russia's government did its utmost to undermine and sabotage the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran agreed to with the United States and several other countries. Though Iran's Foreign Ministry has not denied the authenticity of the tape, officials say Zarif's statements were taken out of context. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the full interview lasts seven hours and is classified as a secret government document.

Rouhani, who rejected Zarif's effort to resign in 2019, claimed that the recording had been stolen and deliberately published to create conflict within the government as the nuclear talks continue in Vienna. His administration only has a limited amount of time to reach an agreement. The presidential election is scheduled for mid-June and Rouhani is barred from running for a third term. 

The president has accused hard-liners of responsibility for the leak. "Why are certain things happening now that we are close to success?" he asked during a recent Cabinet meeting. Hard-liners are readying for the presidential race. In March, Revolutionary Guard Commander Saeed Mohammad, who had until recently headed the military organization's Khatam al-Anbiya engineering firm, announced his candidacy.

Hard-liners are angry about Zarif's leaked criticism of Soleimani and demand an apology. They, in turn, accuse the foreign minister of having leaked the recording himself to drum up support for his own candidacy. But Zarif has not yet announced whether he will run for office.

https://m.dw.com/en/tape-of-foreign-minister-zarif-reveals-regime-rift-in-iran/a-57392575

[glenn239]

Cool post BansheeOne.   Looks like there could be room for US-Iranian rapproachment if the Revolutionary Guards can be quelled a bit.

[Josh]

What was the actual classified item that Kerry is supposed to have revealed? The fact the IAF was bombing Syria?

[glenn239]

I asked that twice already and got nothing in response.  I don't think Kerry revealed anything of value, and the confirmation that Israel is attacking Iran in Syria is not information that would be a surprise to anyone on Earth.

[BansheeOne]

The whole thing is probably as much of a vapor bubble as the excitement over Trump allegedly disclosing Israeli intelligence about an IS plot to the Russian foreign minister in the Oval Office back in 2017.

[rmgill]

23 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

The whole thing is probably as much of a vapor bubble as the excitement over Trump allegedly disclosing Israeli intelligence about an IS plot to the Russian foreign minister in the Oval Office back in 2017.

Again. Who has final authority over declassification? Does the Sec  State or does the President? 

 

[BansheeOne]

If the information Trump allegedly gave Lavrov was allegedly declassified by him, where can I allegedly read it?

[R011]

5 hours ago, rmgill said:

Again. Who has final authority over declassification? Does the Sec  State or does the President? 

 

A Democrat former Secretary of State, of course.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

US tells Russia it will not rejoin Open Skies arms control pact

2h ago

Moscow has said Washington's refusal to rejoin the surveillance transparency pact is a "blow to the European security system." There had been hopes the Biden administration would reverse the withdrawal.

Russia on Friday said it was "disappointed" with the US decision not to reenter the "Open Skies Treaty," which allows inspection flights over member countries' territories to monitor military activities.

The United States State Department on Thursday said it had informed Russia of the decision following a review of Moscow's compliance with the pact. 

"In concluding its review of the treaty, the United States [...] does not intend to seek to rejoin it, given Russia's failure to take any actions to return to compliance," a State Department statement said. 

The US officially pulled out of the treaty in November 2020 during the last months of former President Donald Trump's term in office. Moscow had hoped that President Joe Biden's administration would reverse the decision. 

Russia slams US 'mistake' on Open Skies 

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, was quoted Friday by the RIA news agency saying the move "certainly does not make us happy." 

[...] 

Why did the US drop Open Skies?

Last year, US officials claimed that Russia violated the Open Skies Treaty by blocking surveillance flights around certain areas, including the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and along the border with Georgia. Moscow has insisted those restrictions were permissible under the treaty. 

After the US announced its withdrawal, Russia followed suit.

Last week, lawmakers in Moscow voted to withdraw from the treaty. However, Russian officials had said they were willing to reconsider the move if the US did the same. 

The European Union and Germany have also criticized the US withdrawal. 

[...] 

Biden reconsiders stance

Even US President Joe Biden, as a presidential candidate in May 2020, said former President Trump's decision to drop the treaty was "doubling down on his short-sighted policy of going it alone and abandoning American leadership."

However, Biden appears to have reevaluated his position. 

"Russia's behavior, including its recent actions with respect to Ukraine, is not that of a partner committed to confidence-building," said Thursday's State Department statement. 

US and Russian withdrawal from Open Skies leaves only one major arms control treaty in place between the nuclear powers, the New START treaty. 

The fresh tension comes ahead of a meeting between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin planned for June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland. 

https://m.dw.com/en/us-tells-russia-it-will-not-rejoin-open-skies-arms-control-pact/a-57698568

[DB]

Funny how often that a decision made by a political opponent is fair game for partisan politics until you get to review the decision from inside the fence.

How soon after Obama came into office was Guantanamo closed?