Tag Archives: Syria

4/17 News Roundup – Sanders: ‘Opposing Netanyahu’s Policies Doesn’t Make Us Anti-Semitic’, Turner Targets Unaffilliated Voters & More

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‘Opposing Netanyahu’s policies doesn’t make us anti-Semitic’

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 election but lost out to Hillary Clinton, on Monday criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his policies.

“As someone who believes absolutely and unequivocally in Israel’s right to exist… we must say loudly and clearly, that to oppose the reactionary policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make us anti-Israel,” Sanders told the annual conference of the J Street organization.

He took issue with Israel’s response to the recent riots along the border with Gaza, claiming Israel “massively overreacted” to the protests.

“The presence of Hamas members among a crowd of tens of thousands does not justify the level of violence we saw, and frankly it’s amazing to me that anyone would find that point controversial,” Sanders said.

“I have condemned Hamas’s use of terrorist violence and will continue to do so. But that violence cannot excuse shooting at unarmed protesters, and it cannot excuse trapping almost two million people inside Gaza,” he charged.

Sanders also said that the United States “must play a much more aggressive and even-handed role in ending the Gaza blockade and helping Palestinians and Israelis build a future that works for all.” He added that, If the White House does not do that, Congress must take the lead.

“Too often, our foreign policy debate here in Washington is dominated by those whose answer to complicated international situations seems always to involve dropping more bombs, rather than engage in the hard work of diplomacy and negotiation,” said Sanders, who opined that the best way to achieve peace between Israelis and Arabs is the “two-state solution”.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Sanders Speaks To The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
*The Working Families Party endorsement of Nixon over Cuomo helps fuel deepening split among New York Democrats.
*Why Democrats everywhere are watching Beto O’Rourke’s Senate campaign in Texas
*Protect indigenous people’s land rights and the whole world will benefit, UN forum declares
*New AUMF? Critics Warn Against Giving Trump—or Any President—Power to Wage War ‘Virtually Anywhere on the Planet’
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & More

4/11 News Roundup – Trump, Syria, Russia, Paul Ryan & John Boehner

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Hello All! There’s certainly plenty going on today, not the least of which is how Trump is recklessly threatening Syria and Russia (via Twitter!) over an unsubstantiated gas attack in Syria. Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 Trump’s making more than just financial markets jittery with his tweets! But rattling the financial markets seems to be his new hobby. Oil prices jump … Continue reading →

Trump urged CIA to kill more families and children in drone strikes.

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In a long article on Trump’s relationship with the military, WaPo reveals that Trump urged CIA employees to commit more war crimes. Trump came to office promising to give the Pentagon a free hand to unleash the full force of U.S. firepower. His impatience was evident on his first full day in office when he visited the CIA and was ushered up to the agency’s drone operations floor. […] Later, when the agency’s head of drone operations explained that the CIA had developed special munitions to limit civilian casualties, the president seemed unimpressed. Watching a previously recorded strike in which the agency held … Continue reading →

Progressive Lion: Barbara Lee is one step closer to ending our perpetual war in Afghanistan

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On September 14, 2001 Barbara Lee strode up to the podium and made this speech to explain her vote against the AUMF in Afghanistan. x Rep Barbara Lee was the lone dissenting vote. The AUMF passed 420-1 in the house. We have now been at war in Afghanistan for almost 16 years. Her courageous vote that day echoed Jeanette Rankin’s lone vote against declaring war on Japan and entering World War II. As Lee explained in her speech: “We are not dealing with a conventional war,” she said. “We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this … Continue reading →

Yes, Neil Gorsuch is as terrible as you feared.

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The Supreme Court announced today that they would hear Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project. This is the Muslim ban, Travel ban case. In it’s decision to hear the case, the court also lifted the temporary injunctions granted by the circuit courts against Trump’s Muslim ban: We grant the Government’s applications to stay the injunctions, to the extent the injunctions prevent enforcement of §2(c) with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. This means students, employees, spouses, parents, children etc. returning to the US should not be affected by … Continue reading →

Coalition strike kills 80 relatives of ISIS, 33 children. Trump said to “take out the families”.

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Today, the AFP is reporting that coalition airstrikes in the Syrian town of Meyadeen killed 80 people, 33 of whom were civilians. They’re being described as “relatives of ISIS fighters”. A US-led coalition air strike on the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen early Friday killed at least 80 relatives of Islamic State group fighters, a monitoring group told AFP. “The toll includes 33 children. They were families seeking refuge in the town’s municipal building,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “This is the highest toll for relatives of IS members in Syria,” Abdel Rahman … Continue reading →

4/9 Bernie Questions Further Involvement in Syria, SNL Packs a Punch & Open Thread

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Still lots of news & opinions about Syria, as well as levity.   SNL had some great sketches last night.  There’s one in particular that isn’t getting much attention, perhaps because the humor was lost on many.   You can find it after the jump.