Top US commander says secret talks are underway to end Afghan war

Some factions of the Taliban are engaged in secret negotiations with the government in Kabul to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan, which has been going on for more than 16 years, a senior U.S. general said Wednesday.

In a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon, Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, cited “intensified dialogue” along with what he said was a 30 percent drop in the levels of violence as evidence President Trump's new Afghan strategy was working to drive at least some Taliban members to the bargaining table.

“I call this talking and fighting,” Nicholson said. “We've seen this in other conflicts, such as Colombia, where the two sides were talking about peace at the same time that they were fighting each other on the battlefield.”

Nicholson said while the Taliban has not acknowledged the peace plan proposed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in February, privately there is a “robust dialogue” going on within the Taliban, and some meetings between the Afghan government and mid- and senior-level Taliban leaders.

“I think what you’re seeing right now is a lot of the diplomatic activity and dialogue is occurring off the stage and it's occurring at multiple levels,” Nicholson said. “We see outreach from Taliban fighters, who are tired of fighting, who are concerned about the effect of this continued fighting on their country.”

Nicholson said the initial talks involve “various stakeholders,” and are deliberately being kept secret.

“My diplomatic colleagues are the ones involved with this, and their ability to be successful depends in part on the confidentiality of the process,” Nicholson said, adding he believes “there is tremendous potential to advance the reconciliation dialogue.”

Nicholson’s upbeat briefing came on the same day that suspected Taliban fighters, wearing out-of-date U.S. Army camouflage uniforms and driving a stolen humvee, tried to gain access to the Interior Ministry in Kabul, but were stopped and killed by Afghan security guards after a brief firefight.

One Afghan guard was killed and one attacker was captured.

Nicholson called it “another example of a failed enemy attack,” and said 80 percent of Taliban attacks are repelled. The other 20 are reversed within a short time.

Meanwhile, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan says the U.S. wiped out more that 70 senior Taliban leaders in a 10-day stretch between May 17-26.

The largest of the precision strikes came on Thursday, when U.S. long-range artillery rockets targeted a high-level meeting of Taliban commanders, killing more than 50 people, including the deputy shadow governor of Helmand, multiple Taliban district governors, intelligence commanders and key provincial-level leadership from Kandahar, Kunduz, Herat, Farah, Uruzgan, and Helmand provinces, according to a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan news release.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/top-us-commander-says-secret-talks-are-underway-to-end-afghan-war

Trey Gowdy buries 'spygate': FBI had an 'obligation' to chase Russia interference leads

The FBI had an "obligation" to chase leads on possible foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., casting aside concerns expressed by President Trump that a "spy" was scoping out his aides for political purposes.

In interviews Tuesday and Wednesday, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who attended a classified briefing with officials from the Justice Department and the FBI last week on the FBI informant, offered the clearest and most authoritative indication yet from the Republican side on what they gleaned.

“I am even more convinced that the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got, and that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump,” Gowdy said Tuesday evening on Fox News.

When asked about Trump's tweets on the topic, in which he has suggested reports of an informant meeting with at least aides from his campaign could be "bigger than Watergate!", Gowdy suggested that the president could be giving special counsel Robert Mueller a reason to ask about them.

“If I were his lawyer, and I never will be, I would tell him to rely on his lawyers and his comms folks,” Gowdy told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum.

Gowdy also noted that Trump himself originally stated he wanted the FBI to find out if anyone in his campaign colluded with Russia.

Gowdy has been closely involved in the search for information about the informant and the genesis of the federal Russia inquiry, amid a wider look at potential wrongdoing at the DOJ and FBI. The briefings with a bipartisan group of lawmakers last week came after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., demanded documents about the source. Afterward, Republicans who were briefed were largely mum on what they learned, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. did concede last week that there was "nothing particularly surprising."

Democrats, led by House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after the meetings that they were shown "no evidence" of a spy in the Trump campaign. Trump and his allies allege that a "spy” — which by definition is different than a confidential source.

Several news outlets have identified the FBI's source as Stefan Halper, a former University of Cambridge professor. Previously, law enforcement officials warned it would not reveal who the source because doing so could put national security and lives at risk.

Though Trump again brought up "spygate" again during a rally in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday evening, exclaiming to boos "they had people infiltrating our campaign," Gowdy told "CBS This Morning" on Wednesday that the FBI was just doing its job.

"When the FBI comes into contact with information of about what a foreign government may be doing in our election cycle, I think they have an obligation to run in out," he said. "Based on what I have seen, I don't know what the FBI could have done or should have done other than run out a lead that someone loosely connected with the campaign was making assertions about Russia, I would think you would want the FBI to find out whether there was any validity to what those people were saying."

Asked why Trump insists to complain about a spy in his campaign, Gowdy also noted that he has never spoke to or met with the president. "I don't know. I've never met or talked to the president," he said.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trey-gowdy-buries-spygate-fbi-had-an-obligation-to-chase-russia-interference-leads

Alan Dershowitz: 'Halfway persuaded' the FBI acted properly with use of confidential informant

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said he was “on the way to being persuaded” that the FBI acted properly when it worked with a confidential informant during its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, Dershowitz was asked to respond to comments from House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who said the FBI was justified in its use of an informant, a rebuke of President Trump’s claims the FBI was politically motivated.

“I would rather see the inspector general look into this, ultimately the American people,” Dershowitz said. “Whenever you get any kind of an informant anywhere near a campaign, there has to be assurance that it was not political or partisan in nature. I’m about halfway persuaded now by Congressman Gowdy’s statement.”

Dershowitz went on to say he wants to “see the facts” for himself, but conceded he’s “on the way to being persuaded.”

Gowdy was one of a handful of lawmakers who attended a classified briefing with Justice Department and FBI officials about the use of the informant, later identified by media reports as Stefan Halper.

Dubbing the controversy “spygate,” Trump has claimed the bureau embedded a spy in his 2016 campaign and did so for “political reasons.”

But Gowdy said he doesn’t believe the FBI acted improperly in its use of a confidential source and noted it was Trump himself who said he wanted the FBI to investigate whether there was anyone in his campaign working with Russia.

Dershowitz, who has emerged as a frequent defender of the president’s, said he believed the FBI likely should have notified then-candidate Trump about its work with an informant, although he would not criticize the bureau for not doing so.

“They probably should have said to him, ‘look, we're going to be checking out, the way you said we should, to see if there is anybody in your campaign. We’d like you to sign off on that,’” Dershowitz said. “Now, there may be a concern he would tell them. That’s a judgment call. I’m not going to criticize the FBI for not telling President-elect Trump or candidate Trump. But I think when you get involved in a presidential campaign you have to be Caesar’s wife. You have to lean over backwards to make sure no one can ever charge you with trying to influence the outcome of the election. Elections are just too important to American democracy.”

Gowdy’s comments were the first that appeared to shed some light on what Republicans gleaned from their bipartisan briefing last week with the FBI and Justice Department.

Republicans who attended have been relatively quiet about what they learned during the meeting, while Democrats in attendance said there is “no evidence” of a spy embedded in the campaign.

Gowdy’s remarks on the so-called spygate scandal also cast doubt on Trump’s claims about the FBI’s actions.

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s chief legal analyst and former student of Dershowitz's, suggested Wednesday that the South Carolina congressman’s honesty about the bureau’s use of a confidential source can be attributed to the fact that he is retiring from Congress.

“Gowdy, like Jeff Flake, is not running for re-election,” Toobin said. “So, he actually is telling the truth about what’s going on here.”

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/alan-dershowitz-halfway-persuaded-the-fbi-acted-properly-with-use-of-confidential-informant

>>1588202

Ending this finally will be great, we need our troops home, with their families.

>>1588335

>>1588345

>>1588353

There are a couple of things that make me question Gowdy:

He mentioned during a Fox interview after he announced his resignation, that he was not a good legislator but he was an excellent prosecutor, he want to go back to private life in the halls of lady justice where he works best.

Another famous comment is the Comey one:

I don't think history will see him as unfavorably as it does now.

I see Gowdy as an excellent orator, but what has he been able to accomplish with all of the investigations he has been part of during his Washington career. So now I wonder: What did he really do in Washington: IMO: A lot of talk and no action.

Meghan McCain praises ABC for canning 'Roseanne,' takes swipe at the White House

Meghan McCain, co-host of 'The View,' slammed President Trump on Wednesday as she praised ABC's decision to cancel "Roseanne," saying the company "holds a higher standard to their employees than apparently the White House does.”

"I’ve been so disheartened by what’s acceptable in the world right now, what’s acceptable in the White House," McCain said on "The View," which airs on ABC.

"It’s refreshing to see someone take a stand and say 'No, not at ABC. Not at this company. This is not acceptable rhetoric,' and it's interesting to see that ABC holds a higher standard to their employees than apparently the White House does," she added.

Prior to McCain's remarks, ABC Entertainment canceled the overtly political reboot of "Roseanne," after the show's star, Roseanne Barr, said on Twitter that former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett looked like a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and “Planet of the Apes.”

McCain recently called on Trump to fire the White House special assistant Kelly Sadler for saying her father, Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., views didn't matter because "he is dying anyway."

“I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job," Meghan McCain said on "The View" earlier this month. "And that's all I have to say about it."

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/meghan-mccain-praises-abc-for-canning-roseanne-takes-swipe-at-the-white-house

Trump signs bill giving terminally ill patients 'right to try' experimental drugs

President Trump on Wednesday signed legislation into law that gives patients the “right to try” experimental drugs, cementing a major policy priority for the White House.

"For many years patients, advocates and lawmakers have fought for this fundamental freedom and incredibly they couldn’t get it," Trump said just before signing the bill. "And there were reasons. A lot of it was business, pharmaceuticals, a lot of it was insurance, a lot of it was liability and so I said you take care of that stuff. And that’s what we did."

The bill gives a terminally ill patient an avenue to try an experimental drug that has gone through the first of three clinical trials required for Food and Drug Administration approval. The first clinical trial reviews whether or not a new drug is safe, but not if it is effective.

Proponents say the bill gives terminally ill patients a chance to improve their condition if they have exhausted all FDA-approved treatments. Critics say that the bill instills false hope in those patients because the drugs haven’t been fully vetted to be effective yet and may be safe.

The FDA already has a program called compassionate use that approves 99 percent of requests from patients for access to experimental products. Right-to-try would bypass that program and not require a patient to apply with the FDA to get approval to seek access to an experimental drug.

But neither compassionate use nor the new law requires the drug company to provide the experimental product.

Drug companies are often reticent to provide their product outside of a clinical trial, since terminally ill patients that seek a product through compassionate use are traditionally sicker than those who are in a clinical trial.

Drug companies are worried that any deaths from taking the drug outside the clinical trial could imperil FDA approval.

The new bill doesn’t mandate that drug companies provide the products, but it does let the FDA ignore deaths outside a clinical trial. Proponents hope that may be enough to get drug makers to provide the products.

So far, 40 states have passed their own right to try laws, among them was Indiana signed by Vice President Pence while he served as governor.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/trump-signs-bill-to-give-terminally-ill-patients-right-to-try-experimental-drugs

>>1588633

I agree, I also had another thought, with all the grandstanding Megan does, is she maybe the one who will take the place of her father, rather than her mother….? Seems like she's been gearing up for months now.

>>1588636 I think you're right on that thought.

>>1588647 What kind of green plant??

>>1588755

I agree with that

>>1588756

Yes, give me time, I 'll dig it.