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Trump is Right, Tillerson is Wasting His Time on North Korea

October 2, 2017

Trump is Right, Tillerson is Wasting His Time on North Korea, Power Line, Paul Mirengoff, October 2, 2017

(Please see also, China openly discussing collapse of North Korea. — DM)

If there is any hope of changing North Korea’s behavior, it rests not with Tillerson’s diplomacy or with the direct effect of threatening Kim Jong Un. Rather, it rests with China acting out of self-interest.

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A day after Secretary of State Tillerson said he was reaching out to North Korea in hopes of starting a new dialogue, President Trump belittled the idea. He tweeted:

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!

Trump is right. North Korea isn’t going to negotiate away its nuclear arsenal and it’s not going to freeze its nuclear program until the program has the capacity to inflict the level of damage Kim Jong Un deems necessary to deter the U.S. — namely the capacity to hit major U.S. cities.

Michael Green, President George W. Bush’s chief Asia adviser, acknowledged that “the president is right on this one in the sense that Pyongyang is clear it will not put nuclear weapons on the negotiating table, nor will the current level of sanctions likely convince them to do so. . . .”

The incoherence of Tillerson’s approach is underscored by this incoherent statement by Sen. Bob Corker:

I think that there’s more going on than meets the eye. I think Tillerson understands that every intelligence agency we have says there’s no amount of economic pressure you can put on North Korea to get them to stop this program because they view this as their survival.

If no amount of economic pressure can induce North Korea to stop its nuclear program because of its centrality to the regime’s survival, then what are the likely outcomes of Tillerson negotiating with the regime? The likely outcomes are (1) no agreement or (2) acceptance of North Korea continuing its program, in effect on North Korean terms.

These have been the outcomes of past U.S. diplomacy with North Korea. As Trump tweeted: “Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now?”

The question remains, though, why did Trump publicly undercut his Secretary of State on Twitter. According to reports, the president was furious at Tillerson for contradicting his public position that now is not the time for talks. That seems like reason enough for the president’s tweeting. It may be reason enough to sack Tillerson.

Some have suggested that Trump is attempting a good cop, bad cop approach to Kim Jong Un. It seems to be true that the North Koreans are mightily confused by conflicting signals coming from Washington. According to a number of sources, they are frantically talking to American sources in an attempt to understand the true intentions of the Trump administration. And Trump has often touted the advantages of keeping our adversaries uncertain about his intentions.

It’s far from clear, however, that this is the right approach in the context of a fledgling nuclear power led by an inexperienced ruler about whom we don’t know much. My guess is that Trump’s rhetoric will unsettle North Korea, but is no more likely than Tillerson’s diplomacy to deter it from expanding its nuclear program.

At the same time, it will not prompt Kim Jong Un to start a war he otherwise doesn’t want, as Trump’s critics suggest might happen. Where’s the advantage to the regime in that?

If one is inclined to view Trump’s rhetoric as rationally calculated to achieve a positive purpose, I think that purpose would be to influence China. If China believes Trump might launch a preemptive attack on North Korea, it might apply a stranglehold on the regime, especially if it also sees South Korea and Japan possibly moving towards developing a nuclear arsenal.

If there is any hope of changing North Korea’s behavior, it rests not with Tillerson’s diplomacy or with the direct effect of threatening Kim Jong Un. Rather, it rests with China acting out of self-interest.

Categories: China and North Korea, North Korea - military options, North Korea - negotiations, North Korea - regime change, North Korea sanctions, North Korean missiles, North Korean nukes, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and North Korea
Tags: China and North Korea, North Korea - military options, North Korea - negotiations, North Korea - regime change, North Korea sanctions, North Korean missiles, North Korean nukes, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and North Korea

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Nikki Haley takes center stage during Trump’s UN debut

September 22, 2017

Nikki Haley takes center stage during Trump’s UN debut, Washington Examiner, Sarah Westwood, September 22, 2017

Haley, has emerged as the public face of the Trump administration’s foreign policy amid a series of international crises. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

As President Trump wrapped up his final day at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Thursday, it was U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — not Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — who addressed the White House press corps for an overview of the week’s events and fielded questions on everything from North Korea to Iran.

Her appearance was just the latest instance in which the nation’s chief diplomat ceded the spotlight to Haley, who has emerged as the public face of the Trump administration’s foreign policy amid a series of international crises.

With President Trump and key Cabinet members gathered on Haley’s home turf at the U.N. headquarters this week, the former South Carolina governor was bound to play a prominent role in the public representation of Trump’s agenda.

But Haley took on more this week than her basic responsibility as the administration’s liaison to the U.N. required her to do. She also embarked on a media tour the morning after Trump’s address to the General Assembly to defend his most controversial statements about North Korea, sat beside and introduced Trump at his first event of the week and bookended the trip with wide-ranging press conferences.

Tillerson, on the other hand, took questions from journalists Wednesday evening on Iran but otherwise made few waves of his own at the summit, heightening speculation that Haley could not only eclipse his public profile, but one day ascend to his job.

Haley attempted to shoot down such rumors on Thursday when a reporter asked her directly whether she aspired to become the secretary of state.

“There’s going to be chatter about things. Ever since I was a legislator, people have been talking about what I’m trying to do or supposed to do,” Haley said. “What I’m trying to is do a good job.”

Trump, who has frequently praised Haley, was happy with his U.N. ambassador’s performance this week at the General Assembly gathering, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

“He is very grateful she is on his team and has been pleased with her service and her efforts to promote his agenda,” Sanders told the Washington Examiner.

Richard Gowan, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Haley has seen her clout within the administration reach an all-time high in recent weeks.

“Haley’s influence has varied over time,” Gowan said. “At the start of the year, she played an important role in shaping the new administration’s strategic messaging by taking a firm line on Russia over Ukraine and Syria while the White House was struggling to get on its feet.”

Indeed, in early February, Haley made her debut at the U.N. Security Council by calling for “clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions” in Ukraine and vowing to keep in place Obama-era sanctions against Russia related to its annexation of Crimea. At the time, the Trump administration was still navigating controversy over former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s secret conversations with the Russian ambassador about potentially lifting sanctions.

Gowan noted Haley’s influence seemingly dipped over the summer, when she turned her attention to “issues like cutting the U.N. peacekeeping budget and humanitarian aid” and away from sweeping foreign policy issues.

“But Haley has made a major comeback in the last two months, securing two big Security Council resolutions on North Korea and articulating the administration’s doubts about the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action],” Gowan said, referring to the Iran nuclear deal by its formal title. “She seems to be more influential now than any time before.”

Haley has taken perhaps the hardest line against the Iran deal of anyone else in the administration beyond the president himself. Earlier this month, she delivered a widely discussed speech about the JCPOA to the conservative American Enterprise Institute, in which she laid the groundwork for Trump to decertify the deal next month based on provocations that fall outside the parameters of the agreement. Trump must decide by Oct. 15 whether he plans to remain in the deal, although he told reporters on Wednesday that he has already made up his mind on its future.

Gowan said Trump’s successful maiden voyage to the UNGA is likely a result of Haley’s efforts.

“Haley should also get a good deal of credit for stage-managing a pretty disciplined, if extremely hawkish, appearance by Trump at the General Assembly this week,” he said.

Trump came out strongly against the JCPOA in his speech to the U.N. on Tuesday, and has referenced his displeasure with the deal in the days since. Even so, Tillerson said in an interview on Tuesday that Trump wanted to renegotiate — not end — the agreement the president described as “an embarrassment to the United States.”

Tillerson’s reluctance to provide a full-throated indictment of the Iran deal seemingly put him at odds with Haley, who has argued that the issue of Tehran’s compliance with the JCPOA goes beyond its adherence to the letter of the Obama administration’s terms.

Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster have advocated internally for Trump to recertify the deal next month, while Haley has pushed Trump not to, according to a source familiar with the situation. That source said Haley has been an effective critic both publicly and privately of the JCPOA, although the source warned that the alternative she seems to favor — relying on companion legislation known as the Corker-Cardin law to allow Congress a vote on the deal — could ultimately cause a gridlock that leaves the deal untouched.

Haley’s efforts to amplify Trump’s skepticism of the Iran deal have landed her in the news far more often than Tillerson, who grants fewer interviews to the media and espouses a more nuanced approach to the JCPOA when he does speak to reporters.

And Haley is among a dwindling number of high-profile administration officials on whom Trump has not soured and who has not yet caused a controversy on her own.

For example, Trump has lambasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. He has reportedly grown displeased with Tillerson’s lackluster performance at the State Department and livid at National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn for his open dismay about the president’s reaction to racial violence in Charlottesville, Va. last month. Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has caused a minor stir in recent weeks by requesting private jets for his travel, and Mnuchin’s wife sparked a dust-up by appearing to flaunt her wealth on social media.Haley, however, has managed to remain one of the administration’s most recognizable faces — and one of the president’s favorite appointees — while avoiding much of the drama that has sucked in several of her colleagues.Gowan said her rising star power could prove to be a double-edged sword.”Haley has to be careful,” Gowan said. “The more Trump sees her winning headlines, the more he’ll worry she’s a potential rival.”

Categories: Iran scam, Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam, Trump and North Korea
Tags: Iran Scam, Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam, Trump and North Korea

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Tillerson, Haley Clash Over Iran Nuclear Deal

September 21, 2017

Tillerson, Haley Clash Over Iran Nuclear Deal, Washinton Free Beacon, Adam Kredo, September 20, 2017

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley / Getty Images

In a sign of the ongoing internal dissent over ending the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, multiple sources told the Washington Free Beacon that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have been at odds over the deal, with Trump’s U.N. ambassador privately expressing dismay with Tillerson over his continued efforts to preserve the nuclear agreement.

Tillerson and Haley held a private powwow Wednesday with international leaders regarding the future of the nuclear deal, a sign of Haley’s vital role in the Trump administration’s key foreign policy issue.

The meeting is likely to underscore mounting tensions between Haley and Tillerson on the issue, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, who told the Free Beacon that Haley views Tillerson’s efforts to preserve the deal as anathema to Trump’s own policy agenda.

The division is one of several that Tillerson has sparked within the administration, particularly in the West Wing, where the secretary of state has been described as in “open war” with Trump on a series of major foreign policy issues, including Iran and the Israel-Palestinian impasse.

“The tension between Rex and Nikki is the worst kept secret in the State Department,” according to one veteran foreign policy hand who has been in close contact with the State Department on the issue.

Haley “thinks that [Tillerson is] trying to undermine the president and preserve Obama’s Iran legacy, which is true,” explained the source, who would only discuss the sensitive matter on background. “He thinks she’s running her own foreign policy and auditioning for his job, which is also true.”

These tensions have “spilled into the open” several times “over the last few weeks,” but were quickly dispelled in order to promote a public face of unity within the Trump administration, according to the source and others who spoke to the Free Beacon.

“It will keep happening as long as the secretary keeps working to force Trump to certify while the ambassador keeps working to promote what Trump says he wants,” the source said.

Asked about the Wednesday joint meeting and report of divisions between Haley and Tillerson, a State Department official denied the divisions and said both senior administration officials are working together.

“We are not going to get ahead of any meetings and we are not going to discuss internal U.S. government discussions,” a State Department official, speaking only on background, told the Free Beacon in response to questions about reported tensions. “The secretary and Ambassador Haley work in close cooperation to address the most pressing national security challenges.”

Another veteran Republican foreign policy adviser who has advised multiple U.S. officials on the Iran portfolio confirmed the internal divisions between Tillerson and other senior administration officials such as Haley, telling the Free Beacon the secretary of state remains a chief voice pushing for the Iran agreement to remain in place.

“Tillerson is buying what the Europeans are selling and he’s really pushing the president to recertify,” said the source, who also requested anonymity to discuss internal conversations. “The Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t want this to fall into their lap so they’re backing Tillerson for now. Haley is doing what she can to fight for what’s right, but it might not matter if [Secretary of Defense] Mattis backs up Tillerson.”

“President Trump’s going to be totally humiliated by the Iranians if he falls for something this stupid,” the source said.

These tensions over the Iran deal have also been making waves on Capitol Hill, where opponents of the deal view Haley as one of their chief allies.

“Haley clearly understands that the status quo is unsustainable,” said one senior congressional official involved in the matter. “She recognizes that the nuclear deal has been a complete disaster for the United States and our allies.”

“Meanwhile, Tillerson continues to pursue his own agenda at State with little regard for the president’s priorities,” the official said. “It’s good to see Haley stand firm as the voice of reason, and urge Tillerson and other Iran sympathizers to end their rogue behavior.”

Haley and Tillerson are expected to raise the issue of renegotiating the Iran deal with international allies, a proposal that is not likely to gain much traction.

The Europeans have already reengaged in business with Iran and view attempts to re-litigate the accord as damaging to their financial interests.

Richard Goldberg, a longtime foreign policy strategist who was one of the chief architects of Iran sanctions during his time as a senior congressional adviser, told the Free Beacon the Europeans cannot be trusted to crack down on Iran’s increasingly belligerent activities, such as ballistic missile tests.

“The president would be foolish to recertify Iran on Europe’s empty promise of “fixing” the deal,” said Goldberg, the author of a recent memo outlining for the Trump administration how it can remove the U.S. from the nuclear deal. “Unless European leaders credibly believe President Trump might reimpose sanctions at any moment, they will say nice things in meetings and do absolutely nothing to ‘fix’ a fundamentally bad deal they already accepted.”

Given this scenario, Trump’s best move it to designate Iran as in violation of the deal in the coming weeks, Goldberg said, explaining that European government’s would have no choice but to comply with any new U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

“The president has no other option than to decertify and hold the re-imposition of sanctions over both Europe and Iran as a financial Sword of Damocles until we see behavioral change by the regime,” he said.

European promises to help crack down on Iran are being viewed as hollow in light of an upcoming international gathering next month between the European Union and Iran that is aimed at boosting commercial trade.

Categories: JCPOA compliance certification, Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam
Tags: JCPOA compliance certification, Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam

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State Department Waging “Open War” on White House

September 17, 2017

State Department Waging “Open War” on White House, Gatestone Institute, Soeren Kern, September 17, 2017

“It’s not clear to me why the Secretary of State wishes to at once usurp the powers of the Congress and then to derail his boss’s rapprochement with the Israeli government.” — Foreign policy operative, quoted in the Washington Free Beacon.

Since he was sworn in as Secretary of State on February 1, Rex Tillerson and his advisors at the State Department have made a number of statements and policy decisions that contradict President Trump’s key campaign promises on foreign policy, especially regarding Israel and Iran.

“Tillerson was supposed to clean house, but he left half of them in place and he hid the other half in powerful positions all over the building. These are career staffers committed to preventing Trump from reversing what they created.” — Veteran foreign policy analyst, quoted in the Free Beacon.

The U.S. State Department has backed away from a demand that Israel return $75 million in military aid which was allocated to it by the U.S. Congress.

The repayment demand, championed by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was described as an underhanded attempt by the State Department to derail a campaign pledge by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to improve relations with the Jewish state.

The dispute is the just the latest example of what appears to be a growing power struggle between the State Department and the White House over the future direction of American foreign policy.

The controversy goes back to the Obama administration’s September 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel, which pledged $38 billion in military assistance to Jerusalem over the next decade. The MOU expressly prohibits Israel from requesting additional financial aid from Congress.

Congressional leaders, who said the MOU violates the constitutional right of lawmakers to allocate U.S. aid, awarded Israel an additional $75 million in assistance in the final appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017.

Tillerson had argued that Israel should return the $75 million in order to stay within the limits established by the Obama administration. The effort provoked a strong reaction from Congress, which apparently prompted Tillerson to back down.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “strongly warned the State Department that such action would be unwise and invite unwanted conflict with Israel,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Speaking to the Washington Examiner, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) added:

“As Iran works to surround Israel on every border, and Hezbollah and Hamas rearm, we must work to strengthen our alliance with Israel, not strain it. Congress has the right to allocate money as it deems necessary, and security assistance to Israel is a top priority. Congress is ready to ensure Israel receives the assistance it needs to defend its citizens.”

A veteran congressional advisor told the Free Beacon:

“This is a transparent attempt by career staffers in the State Department to f*ck with the Israelis and derail the efforts of Congressional Republicans and President Trump to rebuild the US-Israel relationship. There’s no reason to push for the Israelis to return the money, unless you’re trying to drive a wedge between Israel and Congress, which is exactly what this is. It won’t work.”

Another foreign policy operative said: “It’s not clear to me why the Secretary of State wishes to at once usurp the powers of the Congress and then to derail his boss’s rapprochement with the Israeli government.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) and President Donald J. Trump (right) on February 1, 2017. (Image source: Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Since he was sworn in as Secretary of State on February 1, Tillerson and his advisors at the State Department have made a number of statements and policy decisions that contradict Trump’s key campaign promises on foreign policy, especially regarding Israel and Iran.

August 10. The State Department hosted representatives of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), an umbrella group established by the Muslim Brotherhood with the aim of mainstreaming political Islam in the United States. Behind closed doors, they reportedly discussed what they said was Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and the removal of all Israeli control of the Temple Mount and holy areas of Jerusalem. Observers said the meeting was part of larger effort by anti-Israel organizations to drive a wedge between the Trump administration and Israel. The USCMO includes a number of organizations, including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which promote “extreme anti-Israel views” and “anti-Zionist” propaganda, and which support boycotts of the Jewish state.

July 19. The State Department’s new “Country Reports on Terrorism 2016” blamed Israel for Palestinian Arab terrorism against Jews. It attributed Palestinian violence to: “lack of hope in achieving statehood;” “Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank;” “settler violence;” and “the perception that the Israeli government was changing the status quo on the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount.” The report also characterized Palestinian Authority payments to the families of so-called martyrs as “financial packages to Palestinian security prisoners…to reintegrate them into society.”

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) called on the State Department to hold the PA accountable in State Department Country reports: “The State Department report includes multiple findings that are both inaccurate and harmful to combating Palestinian terrorism…. At the highest level, the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership incites, rewards, and, in some cases, carries out terrorist attacks against innocent Israelis. In order to effectively combat terrorism, it is imperative that the United States accurately characterize its root cause — PA leadership.”

June 14. Tillerson voiced opposition to designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, saying that such a classification would complicate Washington’s relations in the Middle East. During his confirmation hearings on January 11, by contrast, Tillerson lumped the Brotherhood with al-Qaeda when talking about militant threats in the region. He said:

“Eliminating ISIS would be the first step in disrupting the capabilities of other groups and individuals committed to striking our homeland and our allies. The demise of ISIS would also allow us to increase our attention on other agents of radical Islam like al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and certain elements within Iran.”

June 13. During testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tillerson said he had received reassurances from President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinian Authority would end the practice of paying a monthly stipend to the families of suicide bombers and other attackers, commonly referred to by Palestinians as martyrs. One day later, Palestinian officials contradicted Tillerson, saying that there are no plans to stop payments to families of Palestinians killed or wounded carrying out attacks against Israelis.

May 22. Tillerson sidestepped questions on whether the Western Wall is part of Israel, while telling reporters aboard Air Force One they were heading to “Tel Aviv, home of Judaism.” Asked directly whether he considers the Western Wall under Israeli sovereignty, Tillerson replied: “The wall is part of Jerusalem.”

May 15. In an interview with Meet the Press, Tillerson appeared publicly to renege on Trump’s campaign promise to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem:

“The president, I think rightly, has taken a very deliberative approach to understanding the issue itself, listening to input from all interested parties in the region, and understanding what such a move, in the context of a peace initiative, what impact would such a move have.”

Tillerson also appeared to equate the State of Israel and the Palestinians:

“As you know, the president has recently expressed his view that he wants to put a lot of effort into seeing if we cannot advance a peace initiative between Israel and Palestine. And so I think in large measure the president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact a peace process.”

Critics of this stance have argued that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would, instead, advance the peace process by “shattering the Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel.”

March 8. The State Department confirmed that the Obama administration’s $221 million payment to the Palestinian Authority, approved just hours before Trump’s inauguration, had reached its destination. The Trump administration initially had vowed to freeze the payment.

In July 2017, the Free Beacon reported that Tillerson’s State Department was waging an “open political war” with the White House on a range of key issues, including the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Iran portfolio, and other matters:

“The tensions have fueled an outstanding power battle between the West Wing and State Department that has handicapped the administration and resulted in scores of open positions failing to be filled with Trump confidantes. This has allowed former Obama administration appointees still at the State Department to continue running the show and formulating policy, where they have increasingly clashed with the White House’s own agenda.”

A veteran foreign policy analyst interviewed by the Free Beacon laid the blame squarely on Tillerson:

“Foggy Bottom [a metonym for the State Department] is still run by the same people who designed and implemented Obama’s Middle East agenda. Tillerson was supposed to clean house, but he left half of them in place and he hid the other half in powerful positions all over the building. These are career staffers committed to preventing Trump from reversing what they created.”

Notable holdovers from the Obama administration are now driving the State Department’s Iran policy:

Michael Ratney, a top advisor to former Secretary of State John Kerry on Syria policy. Under the Trump administration, Ratney’s role at the State Department has been expanded to include Israel and Palestine issues. Ratney, who was the U.S. Consul in Jerusalem between 2012 and 2015, oversaw $465,000 in U.S. grants to wage a smear to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office in 2015 parliamentary elections, according to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Ratney admitted to Senate investigators that he deleted emails containing information about the Obama administration’s relationship with the group.

Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., a career foreign service officer who serves as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Shannon, the State Department’s fourth-ranking official, has warned that scrapping the Iran deal would lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. “Any effort to step away from the deal would reopen a Pandora’s box in that region that would be hard to close again,” he said. His statement indicates that Shannon could be expected to lead efforts to resist any attempts to renege or renegotiate the deal; critics of the deal say that Iran’s continued missile testing has given Trump one more reason to tear up his predecessor’s deal with the Islamist regime.

Chris Backemeyer is now the highest-ranking official at the State Department for Iran policy. During the Obama administration, Backemeyer made his career by selling the Iran deal by persuading multinational corporations to do business with Iran as part of an effort to conclude the Iran nuclear deal.

Ratney, Shannon and Backemeyer, along with Tillerson, reportedly prevailed upon Trump twice to recertify the Iran nuclear deal. The Jerusalem Post explained:

Washington was briefly abuzz on the afternoon of July 17 when rumors began to circulate that President Trump was eager to declare that Iran was in breach of the conditions laid out in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA).

Those receptive antennas were further heightened given the previous signals sent. After all, the State Department already released talking points to reporters on the decision to recertify Iran. The Treasury Department also had a package of fresh sanctions on over a dozen Iranian individuals and entities ready to announce to appease the hawks who were eager to cut loose from the deal.

But Trump didn’t want to recertify Iran, nor did he want to the last time around in April. That evening, a longtime Middle East analyst close to senior White House officials involved in the discussions described the scene to me: “Tillerson essentially told the president, ‘we just aren’t ready with our allies to decertify.’ The president retorted, ‘Isn’t it your job to get our allies ready?’ to which Tillerson said, ‘Sorry sir, we’re just not ready.'” According to this source, Secretary Tillerson pulled the same maneuver when it came to recertification in April by waiting until the last minute before finally admitting the State Department wasn’t ready. On both occasions he simply offered something to the effect of, “We’ll get ’em next time.”

Categories: Department of State and Israel, Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam, Trump and Islamic terrorism, Trump and Israel, Trump and Muslim Brotherhood, Trump and Palestinians
Tags: Department of State and Israel, Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Iran, Trump and Iran scam, Trump and Islamic terrorism, Trump and Israel, Trump and Muslim Brotherhood, Trump and Palestinians

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Tillerson State Dept. Demanding Israel Hand Back Millions in U.S. Military Aid

September 12, 2017

Tillerson State Dept. Demanding Israel Hand Back Millions in U.S. Military Aid, Washington Free Beacon, Adam Kredo, September 11, 2017

(Please see also, Trump Admin Considering Demanding Israel Give Back Key U.S. Military Aid and Trump Should Block Obama Move to Send Stolen Jewish Religious Artifacts to Iraq. Who is running the State Department and what does President Trump have to do with it? What about the Executive Branch as a whole?)– DM)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson / Getty Images

The matter has fueled tensions between the White House and State Department, which have found themselves at odds on a range of key issues, including the U.S.-Israel alliance, the Iran portfolio, and other matters. Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the standoff have described Foggy Bottom as being in “open war” with the West Wing.

There are always multiple overlapping camps of career staffers, professional lawyers, and political appointees. But no matter what the topic, you can count on Tillerson, his chief of staff, and his senior Obama holdovers to take the opposite side of whatever the president wants.”

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been pushing the Trump White House to demand that Israel give back to the United States millions of dollars in military aid, prompting pushback in the West Wing and further fueling ongoing tensions between Foggy Bottom and the White House over a range of key diplomatic issues, according to multiple sources briefed on the situation.

The Washington Free Beacon first reported on Friday that the State Department has been lobbying the White House to call for Israel to hand back some $75 million in U.S. military aid that was awarded to the Jewish state above the Obama administration’s financial request in 2016.

The former administration came under fire from congressional leaders and the pro-Israel community for conditioning U.S. military aid—a cornerstone of the U.S.-Israel alliance—on a provision that bars Israel from lobbying Congress for increased aid as a range of conflicts in the Middle East develop.

While Congress initially rebelled against this provision, and held up the Obama-era aid package in revolt, Tillerson is said to be lobbying for Israel to give back the additional aid to keep the country in line with the Obama administration’s 2016 agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU.

Multiple sources who spoke to the Free Beacon said Tillerson’s chief of staff, Margaret Peterlin, personally called White House National Security Council official Dina Powell to relay Tillerson’s position, which is said to have conflicted with the advice of career State Department officials who work on the Israel portfolio.

Tillerson spokesperson R.C. Hammond categorically denied these calls took place in a subsequent conversation with the Free Beacon.

Powell is said to have balked at the request and told Peterlin that any such move would have to be cleared with President Donald Trump, these sources told the Free Beacon.

Tillerson has been hoping to lobby in favor of calling on Israel to return the aid money during a meeting at the White House, according to these sources.

Knowledge of this discussion, initially disclosed by the Free Beacon, roiled pro-Israel congressional leaders and sparked Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) to contact the White House to register his opposition.

Cotton “strongly warned the State Department” last week “that such action would be unwise and would invite unwanted conflict with Israel,” according to one senior congressional aide familiar with the situation.

It is unclear exactly where the issue stands presently, as the White House NSC and State Department declined to comment on the situation when approached by the Free Beacon.

The matter has fueled tensions between the White House and State Department, which have found themselves at odds on a range of key issues, including the U.S.-Israel alliance, the Iran portfolio, and other matters. Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the standoff have described Foggy Bottom as being in “open war” with the West Wing.

One veteran official with a major pro-Israel organization who has been working on the issue told the Free Beacon that Tillerson appears to adopting opposite policies of those endorsed by Trump.

“There are always debates inside the State Department over things like Israel, Iran, and the Gulf,” the source said, speaking only on background about the sensitive matter. “There are always multiple overlapping camps of career staffers, professional lawyers, and political appointees. But no matter what the topic, you can count on Tillerson, his chief of staff, and his senior Obama holdovers to take the opposite side of whatever the president wants.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Iran certification, or the Qatar crisis, or Israel—they always choose the competing recommendation that’s against the president,” the source said.

It appears that on the Israel aid issue, Tillerson deferred to the opinions of State Department lawyers, who say Israel should hand back the $75 million in order to keep it in line with the Obama-era MOU.

This position was chosen over the advice of longtime State Department officials working on the Israel portfolio, according to multiple sources who pointed to the Free Beacon‘s initial Friday report about the situation as sparking an internal war between these factions.

While some initially believed the call for Israel to hand back the aid originated with these career staffers, it is actually Tillerson and his staff who are pushing for Israel to hand back the aid.

“In this case they used career lawyers to shut down State’s Middle East team, which knew the money was a nothing burger,” said the pro-Israel official. “But when they called up the White House to make the recommendation, Dina [Powell] immediately said it would have to go to the president.”

Powell and others are said to have viewed the situation “as an attempt by Tillerson to sneak through policies that are not what President Trump believes,” according to the source, who echoed information provided by administration insiders and others. “And that’s before we even get to the communications team at the top of the State Department, which is a clusterfuck of such monumental size and shape it can be seen from space.”

As the story was developing late Friday, the State Department declined to explain to lawmakers and reporters the context of the internal divisions between the advice of career officials and lawyers.

A State Department official, speaking only on background, told the Free Beacon that “Israel is a valued ally” and that the administration “is committed to ensuring that Israel receives the assistance that has been appropriated by Congress.”

However, the official could not comment on internal deliberations and conversations that may have taken place surrounding the issue.

Hammond denied any such conversations took place, disputing the multiple sources who independently described them to the Free Beacon.

“No demands regarding any aid to Israel have been made. Israel will receive every dollar,” Hammond told the Free Beacon. “The conversations are figments of somebody’s imagination. The fiction was never considered and phone calls were never made. Israel will receive every dollar Congress has appropriated.”

An NSC spokesman also declined to comment on the matter, telling the Free Beacon, “We are not going to comment on internal United States government discussions.”

Update 4:31 p.m.: This post has been updated with further information and reporting.

Categories: Secretary of State Tillerson, State Department and Israel, Trump and Israel, Trump vs State Department, Trump vs Tillerson
Tags: Secretary of State Tillerson, State Department and Israel, Trump and Israel, Trump vs State Depatment, Trump vs Tillerson

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Nikki Haley rumored for State after Tillerson distances himself from Trump

August 28, 2017

Nikki Haley rumored for State after Tillerson distances himself from Trump, DEBKAfile, August 28, 2017

Sources of Washington quote President Donald Trump as commenting recently: “Rex just doesn’t get it, he’s totally establishment in his thinking.” In an interview with Fox News’s Chris Wallace Sunday night, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson commented flatly: ”The president speaks for himself,” when asked if the president’s “both sides” comment on Charlottesville represented American values. He was the third senior cabinet member to distance himself from Trump’s response.

Some Washington insiders suggest that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley may be in line to replace Tillerson, with Deputy Secretary National Security Adviser Dina Powell possibly promoted to Haley’s job in New York.

Categories: Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and Tillerson
Tags: Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump and Tillerson

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Tea for the Tillerson

August 28, 2017

Tea for the Tillerson, Power Line, Scott Johnson, August 28, 2017

(Bannon and Gorka are gone because they agree with President Trump. McMaster and Tillerson, who don’t, remain. Why? — DM)

Tillerson serves in high office at the pleasure of the president, fourth in line to the presidency. There are many things Tillerson could have truthfully said to support the president or at least not to undermine him, particularly in response to a UN committee statement. I’m pretty sure that John Bolton or Nikki Haley would have said them. Tillerson apparently didn’t think he could honorably do so.

If not, it’s time for him to go. I take it that he wants to go. He should get his wish sooner rather than later.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace yesterday. Video of the entire 13-minute interview is embedded below. Tillerson made news in one respect that belies his standing in the Trump administration.

Asked about President Trump’s response to the “racial protests in Charlottesville” (at 11:25) and a UN committee statement condemning the response, Tillerson responded in part: “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values or the commitment of the American government, or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values.”

Asked the obvious follow-up question regarding Trump himself, Tillerson responded: “The president speaks for himself, Chris.”

Tillerson serves in high office at the pleasure of the president, fourth in line to the presidency. There are many things Tillerson could have truthfully said to support the president or at least not to undermine him, particularly in response to a UN committee statement. I’m pretty sure that John Bolton or Nikki Haley would have said them. Tillerson apparently didn’t think he could honorably do so.

If not, it’s time for him to go. I take it that he wants to go. He should get his wish sooner rather than later.

Categories: Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and violence in Charlottesvile
Tags: Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and violence in Charlottesvile

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Secretary of State Tillerson Attacks Gorka on “Radical Islam”

August 27, 2017

Secretary of State Tillerson Attacks Gorka on “Radical Islam”, The Point (Front Page Magazine), Daniel Greenfield, August 27, 2017

(Please see also, 25 Reasons to Reassign General H.R. McMaster. — DM)

The foreign policy deck has been cleared of Islam realists. And it shows.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that Sebastian Gorka was “completely wrong” in his resignation letter’s assessment of the battle over Trump administration policy.

“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace asked Tillerson about Gorka’s accusations, especially regarding the president’s recent speech on Afghanistan.

“Sebastian Gorka in his resignation letter wrote this about the Afghanistan speech: ‘the fact that those who drafted and approved the speech remove any mention of radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of the presidential campaign has been lost.’ Is he right?” Wallace asked.

“I think he’s completely wrong, Chris,” Tillerson said. “And I think it shows a lack of understanding of the president’s broader policy when it comes to protecting Americans at home and abroad from all acts of terrorism. The president has charged us to develop policies and tactics, both diplomatically and militarily, to attack terrorism in as many forms wherever it exists in the world and wherever it might present a threat to the homeland or to Americans anywhere.”

“This means that we have to develop techniques that are global in nature. All we want is to ensure that terrorists do not have the capability to organize and carry out attacks,” he added.

Are there any non-Islamic global terrorist threats? What are we fighting in Afghanistan except Islamic terrorism?

Are we at war with Mormons or the Amish in Afghanistan? Who are the Taliban again? Or the Haqqani Network? Or the Islamic State?

Best not to ask. See nothing. Hear nothing. Say nothing. It’s worked brilliantly since 9/11. I can imagine how different things might have been under Secretary of State Bolton. But as Whittier said, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been’.”

Or as Obama put it, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam”.

Meanwhile it’s interesting how selective Tillerson is when claiming to speak for Trump.

Categories: Islamic terrorism, Sebastian Gorka, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda
Tags: Islamic terrorism, Sebastian Gorka, Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump administration, Trump agenda

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Anti-Israel Leaders Hosted at State Dept. Seeking to Drive Wedge in U.S.-Israel Alliance

August 21, 2017

Anti-Israel Leaders Hosted at State Dept. Seeking to Drive Wedge in U.S.-Israel Alliance, Washinton Free Beacon, Adam Kredo, August 21, 2017

(Please see also, New US Mideast Director Implied Moral Equivalency between Palestinian Terror and Israel.

The newly appointed Middle East director at the State Department has a long record of criticizing and pressuring Israel. Isn’t anybody at the White House paying attention to who’s being hired over at Foggy Bottom?

Good question.– DM)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson / Getty Images

The Free Beacon first reported last month that the State Department under Secretary Rex Tillerson has been in “open war” with the White House over a range of key issues, including Israel.

Multiple sources who spoke to the Free Beacon confirmed these fears, pointing to a recent State Department-authored report that blamed Israel for terror attacks and roiled congressional leaders who accused Tillerson’s State Department of promoting anti-Israel propaganda.

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The State Department’s recent hosting of an American Muslim organization known for its anti-Israel stance and support of boycotts of the Jewish state has sparked concern from those close to the Trump administration that these advocacy groups are seeking to drive a wedge into the United States’ relationship with Israel, which has hit speed bumps since Rex Tillerson assumed control of America’s chief diplomatic agency, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

The State Department hosted this month leaders from the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, which represents a number of organizations including American Muslims for Palestine, or AMP, an organization that promotes “extreme anti-Israel views” and “anti-Zionist” propaganda, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Israel hate groups.

Representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Islamic Circle of North America, and Muslim Ummah of North America also attended the meeting.

AMP, which partnered with the terror group Hamas’s main U.S. propaganda arm until it was shuttered in 2004, and the other groups met with several State Department officials to discuss the ongoing violence on Israel’s holy Temple Mount area, which has been the site of several riots and attacks on Israelis.

The groups were there to promote anti-Israel propaganda blaming Israel for the recent violence that began after Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli security official stationed at the site, which is home to the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques.

The meeting has prompted concern among pro-Israel leaders close to the Trump administration, who say the summit is part of larger effort by anti-Israel organizations to drive a wedge between the Trump administration and Israel at a critical juncture.

The Free Beacon first reported last month that the State Department under Secretary Rex Tillerson has been in “open war” with the White House over a range of key issues, including Israel.

Multiple sources who spoke to the Free Beacon confirmed these fears, pointing to a recent State Department-authored report that blamed Israel for terror attacks and roiled congressional leaders who accused Tillerson’s State Department of promoting anti-Israel propaganda.

The recent resignation of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was viewed as one of the administration’s most pro-Israel voices, has further stoked these fears among pro-Israel leaders.

Multiple pro-Israel insiders who spoke to the Free Beacon expressed concerns about the State Department’s willingness to host an openly anti-Israel group during a time when tensions in the Middle East are running high.

Israeli officials are said to be concerned about the Trump administration’s stance on a range of issues, including its policy in Syria and other terror hotspots.

“Everyone knows this is the group funneling money from the Middle East to finance the [Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment] movement,” said one prominent pro-Israel official who would only speak on background so as not to spark further tension with the White House. “They’re being investigated by the FBI and the state of Illinois for potential illicit financing activity. I really want to believe in Secretary Tillerson but between his reluctance to confront Iran and now this, it’s hard to justify his continuation as secretary of state.”

A State Department official confirmed the meeting took place, but would not specify who the American Muslim leaders met with and what exactly was discussed.

“The Department regularly hosts groups representing different constituencies in America to explain USG policy and hear their perspective,” the official told the Free Beacon. “The group was interested in U.S. policy on Jerusalem given events on the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif last month, and met a cross-section of working level officials from different offices in the Department.”

Asked if administration officials were aware of the group’s anti-Israel views and ties to Hamas, the official said that State Department views Hamas as a terror organization and opposes boycotts of the Jewish state.

Noah Pollak, a political consultant who works with a range of pro-Israel organizations, criticized the State Department for hosting what he described as extremists who reject Israel’s right to exist and openly endorse terrorist groups.

“AMP is a front for jihadists, and doesn’t try very hard to hide it. Some of its founders were involved with the Holy Land Foundation, a Hamas fundraising front that was the biggest terror finance case in U.S. history,” Pollak said. “Its founder called for an ‘intifada’ here in America. Maybe next time there’s a flare-up of Palestinian violence the State Department can cut out the middle man and just meet directly with Hamas.”

Other pro-Israel insiders expressed concern over the meeting, but cautioned against putting too much stock in efforts by these Muslim American groups to drive a wedge into the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“Presidential administrations are going to meet with constituents,” said the source, a senior official at a large pro-Israel group. “That’s what they do. The question is if they believe what they hear, let alone act on it.”

“Judging by the public descriptions of the meeting, no one at the White House was buying whatever AMP was selling,” the source said. “That’s what we’d expect from the Trump administration, which has people who understand the value of the pro-Israel relationship like Victoria Coates in key positions to guide policy.”

Categories: Secretary of State Tillerson, State Department and Israel, State Dept. and Palestinians, Trump administration, Trump agenda
Tags: Secretary of State Tillerson, State Department and Israel, State Department and Palestinians, Trump administration, Trump agenda

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Break out the champagne: State Department officials quitting over “complete and utter disdain for our expertise”

July 31, 2017

Break out the champagne: State Department officials quitting over “complete and utter disdain for our expertise” Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer, July 30, 2017

(It’s a good start, but there are many more who need to quit or be fired. — DM)

The swamp needs draining indeed. This news from the State Department, and the New York Times’ grief over it, are good signs that the U.S. is on its way back on dry land.

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We can only hope that with the departure of these failed State Department officials, their failed policies will be swept out along with them. Chief among these is the almost universally held idea that poverty causes terrorism. The United States has wasted uncounted (literally, because a great deal of it was in untraceable bags full of cash) billions of dollars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt, and other countries in the wrongheaded assumption that Muslims turn to jihad because they lack economic opportunities and education. American officials built schools and hospitals, thinking that they were winning over the hearts and minds of the locals.

Fifteen years, thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars later, no significant number of hearts and minds have been won. This is partly because the premise is wrong. The New York Times reported in March that “not long after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001…Alan B. Krueger, the Princeton economist, tested the widespread assumption that poverty was a key factor in the making of a terrorist. Mr. Krueger’s analysis of economic figures, polls, and data on suicide bombers and hate groups found no link between economic distress and terrorism.”

CNS News noted in September 2013 that “according to a Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009, ‘Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.’ One of the authors of the RAND report, Darcy Noricks, also found that according to a number of academic studies, ‘Terrorists turn out to be more rather than less educated than the general population.’”

Yet the analysis that poverty causes terrorism has been applied and reapplied and reapplied again. The swamp is in dire need of draining, and in other ways as well. From 2011 on, it was official Obama administration policy to deny any connection between Islam and terrorism. This came as a result of an October 19, 2011 letter from Farhana Khera of Muslim Advocates to John Brennan, who was then the Assistant to the President on National Security for Homeland Security and Counter Terrorism, and later served in the Obama administration as head of the CIA. The letter was signed not just by Khera, but by the leaders of virtually all the significant Islamic groups in the United States: 57 Muslim, Arab, and South Asian organizations, many with ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Relief USA; and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

The letter denounced what it characterized as U.S. government agencies’ “use of biased, false and highly offensive training materials about Muslims and Islam.” Despite the factual accuracy of the material about which they were complaining, the Muslim groups demanded that the task force “purge all federal government training materials of biased materials”; “implement a mandatory re-training program for FBI agents, U.S. Army officers, and all federal, state and local law enforcement who have been subjected to biased training”; and more—to ensure that all that law enforcement officials would learn about Islam and jihad would be what the signatories wanted them to learn.

Numerous books and presentations that gave a perfectly accurate view of Islam and jihad were removed from coounterterror training. Today, even with Trump as President, this entrenched policy of the U.S. government remains, and ensures that all too many jihadists simply cannot be identified as risks, since the officials are bound as a matter of policy to ignore what in saner times would be taken as warning signs. Trump and Tillerson must reverse this. Trump has spoken often about the threat from “radical Islamic terrorism”; he must follow through and remove the prohibitions on allowing agents to study and understand the motivating ideology behind the jihad threat.

The swamp needs draining indeed. This news from the State Department, and the New York Times’ grief over it, are good signs that the U.S. is on its way back on dry land.

“The Desperation of Our Diplomats,” by Roger Cohen, New York Times, July 28, 2017:

WASHINGTON — On the first Friday in May, Foreign Affairs Day, the staff gathers in the flag-bedecked C Street lobby of the State Department beside the memorial plaques for the 248 members of foreign affairs agencies who have lost their lives in the line of duty. A moment of silence is observed. As president of the American Foreign Service Association, Barbara Stephenson helps organize the annual event. This year, she was set to enter a delegates’ lounge to brief Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on its choreography before appearing alongside him. Instead, she told me, she was shoved out of the room.

Stephenson, a former ambassador to Panama, is not used to being manhandled at the State Department she has served with distinction for more than three decades. She had been inclined to give Tillerson the benefit of the doubt. Transitions between administrations are seldom smooth, and Tillerson is a Washington neophyte, unversed in diplomacy, an oilman trying to build a relationship with an erratic boss, President Trump.

Still, that shove captured the rudeness and remoteness that have undermined trust at Foggy Bottom. Stephenson began to understand the many distressed people coming to her “asking if their service is still valued.” The lack of communication between the secretary and the rest of the building has been deeply disturbing.

An exodus is underway. Those who have departed include Nancy McEldowney, the director of the Foreign Service Institute until she retired last month, who described to me “a toxic, troubled environment and organization”; Dana Shell Smith, the former ambassador to Qatar, who said what was most striking was the “complete and utter disdain for our expertise”; and Jake Walles, a former ambassador to Tunisia with some 35 years of experience. “There’s just a slow unraveling of the institution,” he told me….

Categories: Deep state, Department of State, Obama hold-overs, Secretary of State Tillerson, Swamp creatures, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Islam
Tags: Deep state, Department of State, Obama hold-overs, Secretary of State Tillerson, Swamp creatures, Trump administration, Trump agenda, Trump and Islam

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