dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

President Joe Biden’s pick for a top spot at the U.S. Agency for International Development praised Saudi Arabia’s "exciting, productive, inspiring" social progress after her employer received a large grant from the kingdom—and did an about-face months later when the financial agreement was cut off after Riyadh’s assassination of activist Jamal Khashoggi.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, a longtime fellow at the Brookings Institution, is seeking Senate confirmation for her nomination as assistant administrator at USAID. During her time at the think tank in 2018, Wittes received as much as $499,999 from Saudi Arabia, according to its annual report. Brookings told the Washington Post the Saudi grant was intended to fund an analysis of the "Saudi think tank sector," which is relatively small compared with other countries in the region. Saudi Arabia has 13 think tanks, according to an unrelated 2020 global study by the University of Pennsylvania, compared with 87 in Iran, 47 in Egypt, and 29 in Yemen. At the time of the grant, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was trying to rebrand the country as modernizing and progressive.

Wittes visited Saudi Arabia in February of that year, posting a slideshow on the Brookings website that highlighted an alleged increase in women’s freedom and a growing tourism industry.

"The pace of change is really notable compared to my previous visits to the kingdom where there was a sense that the leadership of the country moved very slowly and cautiously. … It is clear that’s not the case now," she told Washington Jewish Week in a glowing article headlined "Saudi expert eyes changing kingdom."

While the nation said it would loosen restrictions on women's attire and driving in 2018, Saudi Arabia faced allegations of far-reaching war crimes in Yemen and crackdowns on dissidents and women's rights. Wittes published a mild criticism of the arrest of a Saudi female driving activist in May 2018, calling it "deeply sad and ironic" and a contrast with the "swift pace of change" she witnessed in the country.

Her comments could add to concerns from Republicans that Wittes helped bolster the reputations of Gulf state countries that donated to Brookings. Senate Republicans already raised questions during a confirmation hearing last week about Wittes’s praise for Qatar, which donated at least $22 million to Brookings during her employment. The think tank is facing scrutiny after its president, Gen. John Allen, stepped down last week amid a federal investigation into allegations that he worked as an unregistered lobbyist for Doha.

After Brookings terminated the Saudi funding in response to Khashoggi’s assassination, Wittes gave a much bleaker assessment of the country’s leadership—arguing that Khashoggi’s murder "catalyzed concerns that had already been growing about the young crown prince and his policy choices on other issues as well," and praising the U.S. Senate’s decision to cut off funding for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

"President Trump’s [supportive] behavior toward the Saudis and his statements make it look more like he’s the one being used. Like he’s being Mohammed bin Salman’s [son of a bitch] if you will," Wittes said on a Brookings podcast. "He doesn’t mind their gross violations of international norms, whether it’s murdering a journalist, hitting civilians with bombs, or other moves in regional policy."

Wittes also called for the United States to take a tougher stance against Saudi Arabia, telling the New York Times after Biden’s election that the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia has "a lot of value" but "it simply cannot continue in the way it has for the last four years."

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-usaid-nominee-lavished-praise-on-saudi-arabia-until-it-stopped-funding-her-think-tank/

>>16858118

If you are who you say, you should know that there's isn't a chance in hell of that happening. So please lay off the doomium.

So does anyone think that apple and Google will pull tictok from their app stores after the FCC called on them to do so

Anonymous ID: cb2250 July 27, 2022, 4:20 p.m. No.16858448 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>8608

>>16857839

are the vril lizards related to the blood drinking and adrenochrome and the how do they fit in with the reptilians draco et al? are the vril lizards like grey reptilians who lost their dna diversity in the future?

>>16856966

Yogananda? Dat U?

16 Jun, 2022 13:55

Ukraine vows to reclaim Crimea with US weapons

(US doubling down on stupid)

Kiev aims to recapture all lost territory from Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine’s defense minister says

US-supplied weapons will allow Kiev to win back all land lost to Russia, including Crimea, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said on Thursday.

“We are going to liberate all our territories, all of it, including Crimea,” Reznikov told CNN in an interview in Brussels.

According to Washington, the Kiev authorities earlier gave “assurances” they would not use American weapons to stage attacks inside Russia, as the US is concerned it could further escalate tensions between Moscow and NATO. However, Ukraine then backtracked on its promise, stating it would use US-supplied rocket systems to strike its neighbor’s territory should it deem such attacks necessary.

Crimea, which voted overwhelmingly in a 2014 referendum to reunite with Russia, “is a strategic objective for Ukraine because it’s Ukrainian territory,” Reznikov told CNN. “But we will move step by step,” he added.

The first stage in Kiev’s plan is to stabilize the situation on the ground, according to Reznikov. During the second stage, Russian forces would be pushed back to the lines they occupied before the ongoing military offensive.

The minister stressed that only after that can discussions begin with Ukraine’s foreign partners on “how to liberate territories.”

The Russians “will see that in Kherson, they will see it in Zaporizhzhia, they will also see it in Mariupol… these are Ukrainian lands, and Crimea is also Ukrainian land, no matter what,” he said.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also vowed to “liberate” Crimea and the Republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR), which are recognised by Russia as independent states. “We will come to all our cities, to all our villages, which do not yet have our flag,” he pledged.

So far Russian forces, who have an overwhelming advantage in artillery and other arms, are steadily gaining land in Donbass.

Ukraine’s troops have complained of a lack of weaponry to turn the tide in the battle, and are suffering heavy losses in manpower. In his interview, Reznikov refused to give an exact number of Ukrainians killed in the fighting, but said he “hopes” the figure is below 100,000.

On Wednesday, Washington announced another $1 billion in military assistance to Kiev, on top of $5.3 billion it had already provided to Ukraine during and before the conflict with Russia.

During a phone conversation, US President Joe Biden told Zelensky that the new deliveries would include “additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations” in Donbass, according to the White House.

Moscow has warned against “lethal aid” supplies to Ukraine by the US and its allies, saying they only prolong the fighting, while also increasing the risk of a direct military confrontation between Russia and the West.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has also warned that if Kiev is given long-range missiles, “we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons, which we have enough of, in order to strike at those objects that we have not yet struck.”

https://www.rt.com/news/557265-ukraine-crimea-us-weapons/

>>16857884

>"3 in front of it" could be no, no, no for the 'Pronoun'

Or 3-4 Which would be for the Adjective-Pronoun of the FICTION-GRAMMAR of the Washington DC.

>>16857934

TOR is not recommended for regular posting. But has been the only way to post during certain kinds of attacks, especially those happening within the first six mos of replatforming. May be handy again if attacks accelerate in intensity.

Afaik, the only reason TOR was disabled is that oss was banning anon UIPs and didn't want them to have a way around the bans, would have asked FJ to change the setting.

>>16857306

->>16858382

>>16858385

TYB