Briefing on Syria

James F. Jeffrey

Special Representative for Syria Engagement

Washington, DC

November 14, 2018

AMBASSADOR JEFFREY: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for coming. Let me start with our goals in Syria. The President laid them out very forcefully during his remarks in the UN General Assembly now almost two months ago. What we’re looking for is the enduring defeat of ISIS, a reinvigorated and irreversible political process in Syria led by the Syrian people and facilitated by the UN, and de-escalation of the conflict that will include all Iranian-commanded forces departing from the entirety of Syria.

Before I get into how we’re going to carry out what is obviously an ambitious program but we think a very necessary one, let me describe the situation today. Other than fighting that we are leading with our SDF allies along the Euphrates River against ISIS, there’s a relative ceasefire in Syria today, but the conflict is, alas, not over and there are still dangers. There are five outside forces – U.S., Iranian, Turkish, Russian, and at times Israeli Air Force units – involved in Syria for important, or in several cases of the neighbors, existential interests. And as we saw with the recent shoot-down of a Russian IL-20 military aircraft, the danger of escalation is ever present, including between various national actors, not just with subnational actors of which there are many there, including very dangerous groups such as Hizballah, ISIS, and al-Qaida, al-Nusrah offshoots.

The Syrian Government claims in its diplomatic contacts that it is winning, but it controls only about half-plus of the country’s territory, half of the population has fled its horrific rule, either as internally displaced persons or refugees across the border, and the international community treats – most of it treats Syria as a pariah, and reconstruction funds are not going to flow either from us or from most of the rest of the international community that provides typically reconstruction funds until we see a great deal more progress on the agenda I’ll lay out.

So how do we move forward on this program? Taking the first goal, the enduring defeat of ISIS, we have a coalition of some 79 countries involved in the conflict, primarily with its focus on Iraq and Syria. The last conventional fighting, as I said, is now along the Euphrates. In Syria it’s being led by America’s partners in this conflict, the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as American military personnel. The fight is continuing, and we hope that it will be over in a few months and that will be the last of ISIS’s terrain that it holds in a quasi-conventional way.

At the same time, military presence, while it is – has one mission, which is the defeat of ISIS, indirectly supports, through secondary effects, other goals. It, in its work with our partners, indirectly helps affect Iran’s malign activities, and by our presence and by our commitment to security in Syria and in the region, we demonstrate an interest in achieving a political solution by the various ways that we have, not just diplomatic but security and military, through economic tools and other assets that we have and that we’re deploying in this conflict.

We also think that you cannot have an enduring defeat of ISIS until you have fundamental change in the Syrian regime and fundamental change in Iran’s role in Syria, which contributed greatly to the rise of ISIS in the first place in 2013, 2014.

Our second goal is the de-escalation of the conflict, building on the ceasefires right now. Particularly important is the agreement that the Turks worked out with the Russians in – over Idlib back at the end of September in which the Russians – again in a summit meeting with the leaders of France, Turkey, and Germany on the 27th of October – agreed would be a lasting ceasefire.

We’ll try to hold the Russians to their words. This is very important because from that flows the ability to build on these ceasefires that are somewhat ad hoc right now throughout the country into the sort of ceasefires called for in the relevant UN Resolution 2254 of December 2015 which calls for eventually a nationwide ceasefire and the UN special envoy for Syria to move forward on a whole procedure to ensure the maintenance of these ceasefires as an important step towards peace.

So that is the de-escalation component. Eventually that can lead to the withdrawal of all military forces that have entered since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. That would importantly include, as I mentioned earlier, a goal of all Iranian-commanded forces.

https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/11/287368.htm

POTUS if you believe any of this please go speak with Virginia state senator Richard Black. IMO it's complete CABAL propaganda

1/2

>>3918680

2/2

Israeli NGO Threatens to Sue Facebook for Hamas TV Station Account

The group maintains Facebook is providing support for a terrorist organization.

Shurat Hadin, an Israeli nongovernmental organization (NGO) modeled off the US Southern Poverty Law Center, has threatened Facebook with a lawsuit if the social media giant continues to permit Hamas to run the Al-Aqsa TV page.

The group sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the head of its Israeli branch, Adi Soffer-Teeri, in which it claimed that, because Al-Aqsa TV in Gaza is run by Hamas, the governing party of the territory, and the US government considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization, the social media site is violating US law by continuing to allow the station's Facebook account to function, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

Like many news pages on social media, Al-Aqsa TV's Facebook page carries video clips previously broadcast and links to news articles.

"This conduct is particularly egregious in light of the barrages of deadly missile and mortar attacks the Hamas has launched against Israeli civilians and residential centres in the last 24 hours," writes Shurat Hadin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.

"Please be advised that, in the event Facebook continues to provide accounts or services to Al-Aqsa TV, we intend to notify the appropriate governmental authorities of Facebook's willful violation of US and Israeli law," Darshan-Leitner wrote. "In addition, we reserve the right to pursue all legal avenues, including civil litigation, against Facebook on behalf of the victims of Hamas' terrorist attacks."

The NGO claims that by allowing the account to operate, Facebook is violating the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1992, which prohibits American businesses from providing any material support, including services, to designated terrorist groups and their leaders.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201811161069851925-Israeli-NGO-Threatens-Lawsuit-Facebook-Hamas-TV/

Fuckery??? or maybe Bezos taking out comp?

WSJ: Bayer financed Monsanto deal with debt to avoid shareholder vote, analysts say

According to analysts, Bayer AG financed the purchase of Monsanto Corp. “primarily with debt to avoid a shareholder vote on the transaction.” 1 Nothing screams, “I do what I want!” more than cutting out your shareholders! The way this deal was brokered is a shift from Bayer’s previously conservative approach to mergers and acquisitions.

The transaction was financed with a bridge loan of $57 billion, underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC PLC, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (There was also an equity component of about $19 billion raised via an issuance of mandatory convertible bonds, senior and subordinate bonds and a rights issue with subscription rights.)

Apparently, German company law has strict shareholder regulation which means Bayer “would have had to ask for shareholder approval had the board opted to finance the transaction with more equity”2 (an equity component of around $22 billion would have required Bayer to hold a shareholder vote).

While Bayer investors criticized the acquisition plan, the board didn’t need shareholder approval.

Analysts believe it will take Bayer about four years to recover and in the meantime, their credit rating could suffer. Plus, if you factor in the current and pending lawsuits against Monsanto, things could get even worse.

There is a good chance that in our lifetime we could see Monsanto and their dangerous chemicals be done away with. Let’s hope for our environment and our children, that that’s the case.

https://govtslaves.info/2018/11/15/wsj-bayer-financed-monsanto-deal-with-debt-to-avoid-shareholder-vote-analysts-say/

MATTIS

Connect power to metal boarder wall to stop climbers! 1000v should be enough!

End

Netanyahu Fails to Mend Russia Ties in Paris

Russians declined to meet with Netanyahu, the latter ambushed Putin anyway but didn't get much more out of it than a photo of them talking through an Israeli translator

The talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris turned out to be “successful and significant,” according to Netanyahu. Questions about whether the meeting would even take place were raised until the last moment. At first, Netanyahu even considered canceling the trip to France. However, he ultimately chose to take part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

This was the first contact between the two leaders after the Syrian air defense system shot down a Russian Il-20 surveillance during an Israeli assault in mid-September. Moscow blamed Israel for the incident, yet, over the past few months the Netanyahu government has continuously tried to prove that relations with Russia were not disrupted.

“Our dialogue with Putin was quite successful and constructive," Netanyahu told journalists at a press conference that concluded the WWI commemoration. "I would call it rather significant. More details are unnecessary, I think.”

Netanyahu touched on this topic once more during the press conference, explaining the profound meaning of his visit to France and, more precisely, demonstrating Israel's growing role in world politics and its foreign policy achievements.

“Indeed, I communicated with many leaders, including both President [Donald] Trump and President Putin, and I believe that it is beneficial for Israel, for our national interests," Netanyahu said. "We were accepted with great respect. … Undoubtedly, Israel is a growing power. If anyone needed proof, I would have invited them to Paris."

The format of events in Paris did not provide for free time for bilateral talks between leaders. While Moscow initially hoped for Putin to meet with Trump, the Israeli government anticipated a dialogue with Putin. Netanyahu claimed he had already arranged the meeting back in October, however, no date for official negotiations had been set.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/11/russia-israel-putin-netanyahu-spat.html#ixzz5WuKmf4l3

>>3919070

pretty much, nice concise analysis

WATCH: Céline Dion Stars In Bizarre Ad To Launch Her Gender-Neutral Clothing Line

On Tuesday, superstar Céline Dion released a bizarre video advertisement to launch her new line of gender-neutral children’s clothing, called CELINUNUNU, in partnership with Nununu.

The futuristic ad features Dion, playing herself, breaking into a hospital nursery to magically change the infants' pink and blue blankets to gender-neutral CELINUNUNU clothing.

"Our children — they are not really our children, as we are all just links in a never-ending chain that is life," says Dion in the ad. "For us, they are everything. But in reality, we are only a fraction of their universe. We miss the past; they dream of tomorrow."

"We may thrust them forward into the future, but the course will always be theirs to choose," the Canadian singer says before ridding all gendered symbolism.

According to PEOPLE, the new line consists of more than 70 "stereotype-free styles" for children up to age 14.

"I've always loved NUNUNU and what they represent," said the singer in a statement issued on Tuesday. "Partnering with Iris and Tali to encourage a dialogue of equality and possibility makes so much sense."

Speaking to HLN on Wednesday, Dion explained that she created the line in light of her own experiences with her sons.

"The first time I brought them to Disney, I thought they were going to for for the big superheroes," she said, referring to her own children. "They were looking at princesses, and they all wanted to be Minnie Mouse. And then I said, well, what about Mickey? And then I'm saying to myself, you know, what? it's okay. You know why it's okay? They're talking; they're finding themselves."

"You don’t know what they’re going to become later," she continued. "You don't want for them to have a problem of growth and say, 'I'm supposed to be like that. I’m supposed to say that. I’m supposed to dress like this. Because I’m a guy, I’m a boy, I'm supposed to do…' No. No. You don’t know."

Dion maintained that she is not trying to tell parents how to raise their children, but insisted they "let people be who they are as quick and as soon as possible."

According to the line's website, "CELINUNUNU liberates children from the traditional roles of boy/girl, and enables younger people to grow on values of equality with the freedom to strengthen their own power of personality based on mutual respect."

"The brand flows on the axis between the values of education and empowering dialog," the site continues. "We believe that an educational experience is possible through children’s clothes, because fashion builds concepts deep within our minds and changes thought patterns. It can create equality, and grow the emotional intelligence that drives the practice of responsibility, freedom and flexibility of thought."

https://www.dailywire.com/news/38417/watch-c%C3%A9line-dion-stars-bizarre-ad-launch-her-amanda-prestigiacomo

>>3919157

She looks healthy af

>>3919183

Same punishment as justin