The global community has to accept Assad as the legitimate leader of the Alawites. The Alawites are a unique ethnic group in Syria that have always lived there.
September 20, 2016
By Jimmy Carter
The announcement (click here) this month of a new cease-fire agreement in Syria is good news. But a lack of trust among the Syrian belligerents and their foreign supporters means this agreement, like the one that came before it, is vulnerable to collapse.
It is already showing severe signs of strain. Over the weekend, the United States accidentally bombed Syrian government troops. On Monday, the Syrian military declared it would no longer respect the deal, resumed airstrikes on Aleppo, and even a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed.
Still, there is reason for hope. If Russia and the United States were willing to come far enough in their negotiations to reach this deal, these setbacks can be overcome. The targeting of the humanitarian convoy, a war crime, should serve as an added impetus for the United States and Russia to recommit to the cease-fire. The two parties were well aware of the difficulties as they spent a month negotiating the cease-fire’s terms.
The agreement can be salvaged if all sides unite, for now, around a simple and undeniably important goal: Stop the killing. It may be more likely than it sounds....
Stop the killing is a directive few people are interested in when it comes to Syria. An enforceable ceasefire ended because of the deaths of Syrian soldiers. The USA didn't honor the ceasefire it had agreed to.
Where was the failure of the ceasefire the USA was suppose to honor. Where in the US chain of command did someone decide it was okay to kill people in Syria? Who didn't get the memo?
The war in Iraq was a complete disaster. It created a faux government and military infrastructure. No one respects any aggressive actions by the USA anymore. There has been a change in the standing of the USA in the global community. The American press might exploit the bombing of a warehouse serving humanitarian needs, but, then it is not the entire truth, that is whitewashing of a truth that needs to be told.
In a ceasefire, "Oops," is a very big deal. During ceasefires, there is movement of military units and people and goods. All that movement is garnered by intelligence for the country and acted on when the ceasefire is over. "Oops" is a really lousy thing that ends the ceasefire before it was intended and all that movement is compromised at that very second.
The USA killed Syrian soldiers. THAT is what needs to be contended with. Additionally, Assad saw the actions against his troops and retaliated. Now, a valuable warehouse of humanitarian aid, vehicles and people are gone. Why is the UN staging humanitarian anything, including precious lives, inside a war zone?
There are many questions that need answers and not just any populous answer; the truth would be preferable.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Legislative bodies comprising the people's interest are not prosecutors.
Since 2010 the use of congressional committees have taken on a tone of prosecution. The legislative committees have no power NOR the qualifications to prosecute anything.
If facts arise that have a potential for being criminal then a special prosecutor is named.
Legislative committees hold hearings regularly to bring issues before the agency involved and to find answers. If among those answers is composition of legislation then new bills or amendments are written in committee and eventually voted to move to the floor of the Senate or the House for a vote into law that then goes to the President for signature.
Legislative committees do not prosecute.
The Justice Department prosecutes and if it is believed there is conflict of interest a special prosecutor is assigned.
To carry out an impeachment of a qualified and dedicated person of the government there needs to be a special prosecutor to bring where exactly the law was broken. If the special prosecutor's report meets the standard of impeachment then the process begins.
Congressional committees are not supposed to be henchmen for the purpose of their politics. It disrupts the function of the government and removes very qualified people that have consented to service for the government. The politics alone is enough for a highly qualified person to leave their position or never accept it in the first place.
In the case of the IRS, there were refusals of non-profit designation on both sides of the aisle. The Republicans like to say they are the sole victims to the denials of the non-profit requests in question. This was not a hunt for Republican non-profits.
There is no reason to prosecute.
It is not unusual for non-profits to go through lengthy approval processes. Understand such processes do not stand in the way of the organization's purpose. The organizations can start acting like non-profits the day they mail the forms to the IRS. THE DATE STAMP ON THE ENVELOPE is the only proof any non-profit needs to begin to act as a non-profit. The government assumes the application is prepared legally and fees included. The government does not refuse a non-profit status simply because an organization is a Republican organization.
There may be reasons to reject an application, but, if lies are part of that it is illegal and there can be penalties imposed. So, the IRS expects all applications to be forthright and truthful as those preparing the application do not want to suffer penalties.
That said, the committee of the organization that prepared the application should review the rejection closely and adjust it's subsequent submission to meet the standards pointed out in the denial letter.
The IRS is not out to be punitive to non-profits. The non-profits often do good and necessary work in the USA.
Let me state this: There have been incredible organizations that have met the standard of non-profit without question. Why should any other organization be allowed to destroy that standard and/or slip through the approval process because it makes a lot of noise.
Legislative committees hold hearings regularly to bring issues before the agency involved and to find answers. If among those answers is composition of legislation then new bills or amendments are written in committee and eventually voted to move to the floor of the Senate or the House for a vote into law that then goes to the President for signature.
Legislative committees do not prosecute.
The Justice Department prosecutes and if it is believed there is conflict of interest a special prosecutor is assigned.
To carry out an impeachment of a qualified and dedicated person of the government there needs to be a special prosecutor to bring where exactly the law was broken. If the special prosecutor's report meets the standard of impeachment then the process begins.
Congressional committees are not supposed to be henchmen for the purpose of their politics. It disrupts the function of the government and removes very qualified people that have consented to service for the government. The politics alone is enough for a highly qualified person to leave their position or never accept it in the first place.
In the case of the IRS, there were refusals of non-profit designation on both sides of the aisle. The Republicans like to say they are the sole victims to the denials of the non-profit requests in question. This was not a hunt for Republican non-profits.
There is no reason to prosecute.
It is not unusual for non-profits to go through lengthy approval processes. Understand such processes do not stand in the way of the organization's purpose. The organizations can start acting like non-profits the day they mail the forms to the IRS. THE DATE STAMP ON THE ENVELOPE is the only proof any non-profit needs to begin to act as a non-profit. The government assumes the application is prepared legally and fees included. The government does not refuse a non-profit status simply because an organization is a Republican organization.
There may be reasons to reject an application, but, if lies are part of that it is illegal and there can be penalties imposed. So, the IRS expects all applications to be forthright and truthful as those preparing the application do not want to suffer penalties.
That said, the committee of the organization that prepared the application should review the rejection closely and adjust it's subsequent submission to meet the standards pointed out in the denial letter.
The IRS is not out to be punitive to non-profits. The non-profits often do good and necessary work in the USA.
Let me state this: There have been incredible organizations that have met the standard of non-profit without question. Why should any other organization be allowed to destroy that standard and/or slip through the approval process because it makes a lot of noise.
This is still going on?
i want budgets set at the beginning of any Congressional investigation. The committee will then have to live within that budget. The only way to add additional funding to a Congressional investigation is to PROVE there is a solid reason to continue. These are all witch hunts and reduce the efficiency of the department in question. Staff has to accommodate requests by the investigation and set their own work aside. Agencies can be crippled by these Congressional investigations. Enough.
There needs to be certain ETHICAL criteria set to even begin investigations.
September 21, 2016
By Lynnley Brown
There needs to be certain ETHICAL criteria set to even begin investigations.
September 21, 2016
By Lynnley Brown
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen (click here) expressed regret Wednesday that the agency failed to preserve all the information congressional investigators sought in a 2014 probe of the agency, but told federal lawmakers it would be “improper” to impeach him.
During a hearing expected to be dominated by sharp partisan exchanges, Koskinen, 77, sought to persuade members of the House Judiciary Committee to stave off an impeachment drive by the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus. Koskinen’s appearance was arranged last week; congressional leaders promised the hearing after Freedom Caucus members backed off their demands for an immediate impeachment floor vote.
Representative John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat who serves as the Judiciary panel’s ranking member, decried “partisan attacks” that he said were cloaked in an impeachment process that he said was “doomed to fail” because of a lack of evidence of wrongdoing. Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said Congress has a “duty to serve as a check on the other branches, including against corruption and abuse.”|
“That is why this committee has scheduled this hearing today,” Goodlatte said....
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