[NY Post] A common criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous Friday performance in the Oval Office is that he failed to read the room.
Actually, the Ukrainian president did read a room — but it was the wrong room.
Before meeting Trump, Zelensky met with anti-Trump Democrats who advised him to reject the terms of the mineral deal the president was offering, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn) ...Junior senator for life from Connecticutt, foreign policy mastermind, a fast friend and a sympathetic ear to mullahs, ayatollahs, and similar riff-raff. The indigestable boilerplate on his website sez he has has dedicated his career to public service as an advocate for Connecticut families, which means approximately nothing except that he's never held an honest job. He's been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy. You can guess what that mess actually means, though the voters of Connecticutt seemingly can't... (D-Conn.).
"Just finished a meeting with President Zelensky here in Washington. He confirmed that the Ukrainian people will not support a fake peace agreement where Putin gets everything he wants and there are no security arrangements for Ukraine," Murphy’s office posted on X at 11:15 a.m. Friday.
He attached a picture of Zelensky at a conference table, with Murphy seated on the opposite side.
Forty minutes later, Zelensky arrived at the White House, where Trump met his car, smiled, shook his hand and walked him into the Oval Office.
ARROGANT INGRATE
The meeting, as the world now knows, quickly went off the rails and ended with Trump angrily ejecting the arrogant ingrate from the White House.
The earlier meeting with Dems undercuts wild claims that Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance staged an ambush. In fact, it was Zelensky who came with an ulterior motive.
The purpose of the meeting was to sign the mineral agreement he and Trump representatives had negotiated. He had twice refused to sign it after promising to, and thanks to Murphy, we now know he had no intention of signing it Friday.
By listening to the nakedly partisan advice of Dems instead of dealing forthrightly with the current president, Zelensky betrayed his countrymen and, for now at least, leaves them without the military and diplomatic protection that only America can provide.
Good luck counting on Britain, France and the rest of Europe to save Ukraine. Maybe the Germans will send strudel.
In a perverse way, Murphy and other Dems got the outcome they wanted. The fireworks at the White House gave them an excuse to replay their Russia Russia Russia hoax.
Once again, they and their media handmaidens are dishonestly insisting that Trump is in Vladimir Putin’s camp.
Like the original Russia hoax that consumed much of Trump’s first term, Russia 2.0 is born of political desperation. After months of not knowing how to respond to Trump’s fast, populist start to his second term, Dems up and down the food chain decided that the president’s refusal to write a blank check to Zelensky and pledge a military guarantee amounts to a gift to Putin.
DESPERATE FOR RELEVANCE
The logic is twisted beyond description, but any port in a storm will do. And with Trump off to the fastest start of any president in modern history, Dems are desperate to be relevant.
It’s a mark of their bad judgment that Zelensky is their new hero. He and they have zero chance of persuading tapped-out Americans that an open-ended commitment of their tax dollars and possibly sending troops to Ukraine is sensible.
Certainly Trump supporters didn’t vote for that, and the president himself campaigned on bringing the war to a fast end, not sending our army to fight Russians.
He made it repeatedly clear for three years that he viewed Joe Biden’s strategy of providing just enough support for Ukraine to keep the war going without any plan for victory as a fool’s errand. He has also been consistent about his desire to stop the enormous loss of life on both sides and the destruction of Ukrainian cities and towns.
Despite the fact that the president made foolish comments two weeks ago suggesting Ukraine started the war, I am convinced Trump truly wants peace. He is not afraid to use the military, but he is not a warmonger.
To that end, he and his White House came up with the minerals plan that he called a first step to a cease-fire.
The plan went through several drafts and the latest would have America and Ukraine form a partnership to mine the eastern European nation’s plentiful rare earth deposits, with much of the proceeds going to help rebuild Ukraine.
A GIFT TO PUTIN
Zelensky, who privately agreed to the terms, has every right to demand a security agreement — up to a point. But he didn’t get one and his decision to respond by insulting the president and vice president, interrupting them and waving off their responses, was madness.
As Trump noted, the heated jabs made for great television, but it was a disaster for Ukraine and a gift to Putin.
Zelensky had an opportunity to apologize to Trump in a later interview with Brett Baier on Fox, but repeatedly refused to do so, saying "I’m not sure we did something bad."
Add ignorance to his list of flaws.
Unfortunately for him, there is an audience egging him on. Beyond Washington Dems, the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, wrote on social media that "the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge. We stand by Ukraine."
Sure, Europe stands by Ukraine — and will continue to stand by as it gets carved up by Putin’s war machine.
’UKRAINE IS OUR ALLY’
Murphy and other Dems are no better, celebrating Zelensky’s stupendous failure as if it were a victory. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote that "Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work" and the always repellent Sen. Adam Schiff called Trump a "coward."
New York’s daffy governor, Kathy Hochul, who seems to pick a daily fight with Trump, added her two cents, saying "Ukraine is our ally. Putin is not. It’s not complicated . . . This president may not stand with democracy, but we will."
Oh, please. Hochul can’t even keep the peace on New York’s crime-ridden streets.
Meanwhile, Zelensky’s rejection of the mineral deal means there will be no American interests and businesses in Ukraine, which, as Trump repeatedly said, would help deter Russian attacks.
Moreover, Trump said a final settlement would require Putin to return some of the lands he has taken, and that France, Great Britain and others likely would station peace-keeping troops in Ukraine.
All that should have given Zelensky more than enough confidence to go forward, or at least to raise any concerns in private. Instead, he used a friendly meeting in front of the press to complain that no agreement was sufficient without an American security guarantee, despite being told repeatedly none would be included in the minerals deal.
He’s right that Putin can’t be trusted but he’s a fool for rejecting Trump’s plan and counting on Europe and feckless Dems to help him get a better deal from Trump.
As the president reminded him three times, "you don’t have the cards" to make the demands he was making, but Zelensky ignored the advice and the facts.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2025 01:09 ||
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#1
WHY ZELENSKY CANNOT MAKE PEACE
Zelensky’s meltdown in the Oval Office began over his refusal to accept a negotiated settlement to the war. Even the Vice President’s use of the word “diplomacy” provoked a heated response.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Daniil Pelymov
[REGNUM] "The battalion was carrying out a blocking mission. Intelligence discovered the caravan. The battalion commander moved to the battlefield and commanded the unit. The soldiers fulfilled their duty with honor. I am proud of my people." These few words of Colonel Sergei Melentyev, commander of the 104th regiment of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division, at a briefing on March 5, 2000, became the first official testimony of the bloody battle that took place several days earlier in the Argun Gorge of Chechnya.
Only later, from the words of the survivors, it became clear that this was an event that would forever enter the history of the Russian army.
Exactly twenty-five years ago, 90 young fighters of the 6th company of the 104th regiment found themselves in the path of militants who were many times superior in force – and at the cost of their lives, they thwarted the breakthrough through the mountains of a large group of Shamil Basayev and the international terrorist Khattab. At the same time, the feat of the “Spartans from the Airborne Forces” revealed the systemic problems of the Russian army of that time, which had to be solved already in the new century.
ENEMY BREAKTHROUGH IN TWO DIRECTIONS
The last year of the 20th century, 2000, was a leap year, so the last battle of the 6th company of the Pskov landing force fell on a rare date - February 29.
Leap years are considered difficult years – and in this case it was not just a matter of popular superstition. It was the last war that Russia had waged this century – the Second Chechen War.
Since September 1999, the army, at the cost of heavy losses, but steadily corrected the mistake made in 1996 - when the First Chechen War was ended by the Khasavyurt Peace. The conflict was supposedly stopped, but the "deal" only extended the life of the criminal-terrorist enclave that called itself the "Chechen Republic of Ichkeria". The regime that captured Chechnya quickly drifted from separatism to Islamism and could not help but begin "exporting jihad" - the invasion of Khattab and Basayev's gangs into Dagestan without the knowledge of the "President of Ichkeria" Aslan Maskhadov was inevitable.
By the end of 1999, the militants' attack was repelled by the regular army and Dagestani militias, and the war continued on enemy territory. The cities of Gudermes, Achkhoy-Martan, Argun, Shali, and the village and airfield of Khankala had already been liberated, and the battle for Grozny was underway (November 1999 - February 2000).
During the retreat from the Chechen capital, the "Ichkerians" lost many fighters who were blown up in their own minefields. Unable to confront the regular army in open combat, the enemy retreated to the mountains of the Shatoi and Itum-Kalinsky districts, where they felt more confident.
The absence of problems with food, the support and training of Arab professional terrorists (who were supervised by the “Black Arab” Khattab and the main “specialist” in airborne and subversive operations Abu al-Walid ), knowledge of the terrain - all this contributed to the effective operations of the Wahhabis and the difficulties of the advancement of the “federalists”.
The gang of "division general" Ruslan Gelayev moved towards the village of Komsomolskoye (Urus-Martanovsky district), trying to gain a foothold in this strategically important point of mountainous Chechnya. Gelayev hoped for the effectiveness of the tactics of the first war, when Salman Raduyev's terrorists successfully held Pervomayskoye together with the hostages. The battles for Komsomolskoye (March 5-20, 2000) became the last major battle of the Second Chechen War and require a separate story. We will turn our attention to another group.
The formation under the dual command of Basayev and Khattab concentrated in the area of the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi district and the adjacent mountains along the Argun gorge. From here, the enemy planned to wage a sabotage war and wait for spring to begin full-scale guerrilla operations. Ulus-Kert became a "stronghold" for the separatists.
The goal of our army was to encircle and eliminate the remaining large groups in the Argun Gorge. The enemy hoped to break out of the encirclement being formed and, possibly, break through the mountains into Dagestan again.
YOUNG, INEXPERIENCED
In this difficult situation, the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 104th Regiment, consisting mainly of young, “green” soldiers (many were only 19 years old), was ordered to occupy the dominant height 776 in the Argun Gorge.
The problems began even before the operation. The better prepared and equipped 4th company was originally planned to be assigned to fortify the heights, but due to problems with transport, the "green" 6th company was sent on the mission.
It is worth adding that right before being sent to the combat zone, the company was staffed from different units, which affected its coherence and combat training. The commanders were able to get to know the fighters only at the front. This is exactly the situation that Guards Major Sergei Molodov, appointed as the group leader, found himself in. Together with him, the battalion commander, Guards Lieutenant Colonel Mark Yevtyukhin, took command.
The concept of the operation was quite simple. By this time, the 3rd company of the same 104th regiment, already occupying a fortified height, successfully held off the onslaught of superior enemy forces, using machine gun fire and artillery support with a smaller staff. Therefore, the "youngsters" from the 6th company were given a similar task.
A major problem in planning the operation was the lack of proper information about the enemy's forces and movements. There was a lack of technical equipment and scale of reconnaissance operations, and Basayev's men themselves skillfully camouflaged themselves in the mountain forests and carried out large-scale regroupings only at night.
"NO, THEY'RE GOBLINS."
On the afternoon of February 29, the paratroopers encountered a small enemy reconnaissance group. After a short firefight, the militants retreated, and then Major Molodov was tragically killed by a sniper shot, which was a blow to the morale of the personnel.
It was an alarming signal, but no one realized the scale of the impending threat. They thought everything was all right. The separatists, noting that the detachment was small, had a lot of cargo, and was poorly trained in moving in the mountains (the company was scattered in a long chain along the mountains), decided to break through the chain right here, sensing what they thought was a weak bleeding spot.
Khattab was confident of success, but Basayev still initially doubted the success of the fight even with such an advantage.
A recording of their radio communications from February 29, intercepted by our intelligence, has been preserved.
Basayev: If there are dogs in front (in militant jargon - soldiers of the internal troops), we can come to an agreement.
Khattab : No, they are goblins (paratroopers)
Basayev: Listen, maybe we should go around? They won't let us in, as soon as we reveal ourselves...
Khattab: No. We will cut them down.
The separatists were counting on success, as they outnumbered the paratroopers, outsold them in experience and mobility. As veteran of the 104th regiment Andrei Lobanov noted, the field commanders were far from being "schoolchildren", they were experienced, trained people with disciplined fighters. Also, unlike the "federals", who carried all their belongings, including potbelly stoves, the militants could leave most of their equipment and provisions in Ulus-Kert and actively used pack animals.
TWO DAYS IN HELL
During the day, the jihadists secretly approached the army positions and began to dig in. In the evening, a fierce battle began. The exact number of attackers is unknown, but according to various estimates, up to 2,500 people. Only the first waves of attacks involved 300-400 militants armed with mortars, machine guns, and sniper rifles.
“They were simply coming at us like a wall, their eyes bulging, shouting: ‘Allahu Akbar!’” Guards Sergeant Andrei Porshnev, one of the six who survived the battle at Height 776,told Rossiyskaya Gazeta in 2014.
“We’d shoot one wave, have a half-hour break, and then attack again... There were a lot of them,” the soldier recalled.
The battle flared up with incredible force. The paratroopers, despite the enemy's numerical superiority, put up a desperate resistance. Every meter on the approach to the dominant height was drenched in blood.
By midnight on March 1, the shooting had died down. The unit, previously stretched out along the heights, began to regroup, help the wounded and remove the dead. Artillery support was ineffective due to inaccurate calculations, poor intelligence and the stressed state of the gunners. Nevertheless, according to enemy information, at least 30 "mujahideen" were killed by artillery fire.
On the night of March 1, the 1st company of Guard Major Sergei Baran tried to break through to help: only they had the opportunity to cover the distance to the heights in the shortest time and help their comrades. But, probably, the fighters encountered a blocking detachment of militants while crossing the Abazulgol River and were forced to retreat.
At the same time, the paratroopers, tired and having lost a third of their number, were unable to dig trenches in the frozen ground, despair gripped everyone, and the only hope was for dawn, which would dispel the darkness for artillery and reinforcements. Around 6 a.m., the enemy made a final attempt to break through.
The wounded paratroopers continued to fight, covering the retreat of their comrades. When their ammunition ran out, not wanting to surrender, they blew themselves up with grenades, taking their enemies with them to the grave. By order of Captain Viktor Romanov, who took command after Yevtyukhin's death, the heights were covered with artillery fire.
By morning, the 6th company had practically ceased to exist. Only six remained alive. The enemy's loss figures vary. Colonel General Gennady Troshev, who commanded the united federal forces during the Second Chechen War, wrote in his memoirs about 400 "Ichkerians" killed, while the newspaper " Krasnaya Zvezda " wrote about half a thousand fighters in an article for the first anniversary of the battle.
LESSONS OF TRAGEDY AND HEROISM
In any case, at the cost of its life (and at the cost of tragic mistakes), the 6th Company greatly influenced the outcome of the war. The active combat phase of the Second Chechen War - with the capture of cities and large-scale battles "in the field" - ended by April 2000.
On the other hand, the tragedy at the 776th height stirred up all of Russia. A mass of legal proceedings followed, connected with the death of soldiers, in every corner of the country they knew about the battle for the 776th height.
The unit was able to delay the advance of the militants, but in the future the shortcomings of the old military system (understaffing, sending "green" conscripts to the front lines, the quality of planning operations and coordination between units) will lead to tragic episodes and a number of military failures. It is enough to recall the destruction of a column of Perm OMON near the village of Dzhani-Vedeno in March 2000. And some of Basayev's and Khattab's men managed to break through from the Argun Gorge in other areas. The "Black Arab" himself was liquidated in 2002, Basayev was "gotten" only in 2006.
But, be that as it may, the experience of mistakes, successes and exploits of the Second Chechen Campaign - completed successfully, but at a high price - was laid as the basis for the military reform of 2001-2004 and, in general, became the beginning of the revival of the Russian Armed Forces, which distinguished themselves during the five-day war in South Ossetia, and in the Syrian operation, and on the fields of the North Caucasus Military District.
The special operation added new pages to the annals of the Airborne Forces' history (it is enough to recall the defense of the airport in Gostomel in February 2022), but the paratroopers do not forget the feat of the generation of fathers and older brothers. The whole of Russia remembers them, which is especially important now, when, on the initiative of the president, 2025 has been declared the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] Trump adviser Waltz on White House talks.
After the press was asked to leave, we told the president, almost unanimously, that after the insult in the Oval Office, we simply did not see any way forward for dialogue and that any further action would only backfire. We told Zelenskyy and his team that.
And let me say one more thing about this being a setup. That is absolutely not true.
We set up the East Room for a treaty signing ceremony between the two leaders that would have brought the United States and Ukraine together economically through the rare earths that we need and the economic investment that they need.
And this was all happening against the backdrop of Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron of France talking about sending troops.
So this really could have and should have been a positive moment for Ukraine, after which we would have continued to discuss this with Russia and put an end to the war and the death and the destruction. But instead, it became clear to us — and I think this is what upset and even angered the president — that Zelensky does not show that he wants the war to end.
Thus, the United States is effectively shifting all responsibility for the continuation of the war onto Zelensky's gang.
The reformed Graham (I wonder for what business) is wiping out the European satellites of the United States.
"To the Europeans who are wringing their hands and feeling insulted that President Trump refused to listen to President Zelensky's lectures: you are welcome to defend Ukraine from Putin.
It is high time for the Europeans to show that they can defend their continent. They have allowed their armies to be bled dry, and when Europe speaks, no bad guy listens.
I say this with great sadness: the last group of people I would count on to defend freedom are the Europeans" (c) Lindsey Graham
The last one was cast in granite.
* * *
Zelensky is finished.
The US wants to increase pressure on Ukraine to conclude a peace agreement and will avoid direct contacts with Zelensky. (c) Bloomberg
However, all this is still rhetoric - everyone is waiting with interest for practical steps by the Trump administration. For now, they have cut funding for energy recovery and reduced USAID personnel to a minimum.
For us, one way or another, nothing has changed yet - we continue to advance and liberate our territories. The longer the start of negotiations is delayed, the more we will take.
#4
When a Chihuahua bites the hand that feeds it, it must be quickly taught better.
Still, wondering which, DC Swamper's, put this Chihuahua to this stunt? What was the reward offered for likely causing 1000's of more deaths for doing it?
#6
Which DC swampers? Gateway Pundit has video, if someone can identify the various parties —I haven’t a clue.
An important visit to the United States. In Washington, I met with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate.
Our discussions focused on the continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just… pic.twitter.com/KJcosUpygc
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2025
#7
The article has the list as well as the video:
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
“Danang Dick” (Richard Blumenthal) (D-CT)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Peter Welch (D-VT)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/02/2025 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Jeez, Super Hose — since when do we require reading comprehension! Or even actual reading…
#9
This was all bad and a set-up, from the tell of asking Vance a question directly to the retort when Vance brought up Biden, trying to take Trump down a path of Election fraud. The odd thing is these are arranged in advance, no one goes into this type of meeting without knowing the outcomes. Therefore, the response by the Admin would have been anticipated and the Admin would have been on-guard regarding the demand for an un-neccesary oval office signing. The outcome of blowback, in the form of reduced support, would have been both anticipated and foreseen. Cui bono?
In my thinking NATO is dead to Trump because he wants a larger trans-oceanic alliance to come together, which includes Russia and other countries, in a NATO-loke form isolating China. This was one brick in that wall.
#10
I think Wicker has always been on the periphery of McConnell’s orbit. Grassley is sort of disappointing. He writes letters. Graham’s chameleon act passed its expiration date in the first Trump term.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/02/2025 15:30 Comments ||
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#11
Ref #9 above
Kissinger's 70's Triangulation Strategy flipped on the Chinese with Russia/US/Europe and a growing ASEAN style coalition? Don't have to like each other, just not like China more. Russia-focus by the demokrat/neocon/MIC partisans has an underpinning of Chinese benefit.
Last paragraph sez it all...
[Revolver] There’s a lot of frustration brewing within MAGA over the Epstein files release—or rather, the lack of one. Trump supporters have been anxiously awaiting the moment when those seedy documents would finally see the light of day. The Trump administration vowed transparency, assuring the public the files would be released for everyone to see.
Here’s what we know: The FBI was ordered to deliver the Epstein files to AG Pam Bondi. They sent over about 200 pages. But after those documents were handed out to right-wing influencers, it became clear something was off. The so-called bombshell was nothing more than recycled data—flight logs, phone numbers and information that had already been floating around for years. No shock. No awe. No smoking gun.
Now is the time for some clear-headed thinking. If Epstein was truly at the center of a high-level blackmail ring, as many suspect, there should be far more than just flight logs and an old Rolodex.
And that theory got a boost. A whistleblower has come forward, claiming that the SDNY is sitting on thousands of Epstein-related files—recordings, evidence, names—and deliberately withheld them. So, once again, the Swamp pulled yet another stunt, lying to the Trump admin and the American people to protect itself.
But as Natalie Winters from War Room points out, it’s not just the shadowy Deep State—the GOP’s hands are dirty, too.
There’s plenty of blame to go around on this one.
AG Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are in full damage control mode, trying to figure out what went wrong. Bondi recently appeared on Mark Levin’s Fox News show to give an update, and according to her, the plot has thickened. She now has more evidence on her desk backing up what we already reported—SDNY is sitting on "thousands of Epstein docs" that were never turned over, despite her direct request for everything. Bondi says she’s reviewing the information and vows to track down exactly who withheld the documents—and make sure they’re fired.
Pam says that when she finds out who, at the FBI, withheld documents they will no longer be working for us . Really ? That’s all ? How about charging them for the crimes they committed and putting them before a Judge . People have to start going to prison."
"Arrests have to happen."
"Then why did she go on Hannity and say she was going to release the list if she didn’t have it? I don’t trust her"
"I find it frustrating she still has not reviewed the files."
"The Washington two-step as always. ’I wrote them a letter.’ "
"Why do I feel like she’s trying to sell me Girl Scout cookies?"
"Her story isn’t adding up"
"All of this is cute : but the main story here is that the AG gave NY a deadline to return the documents yesterday and as of today: NY’s answer is GO FUCK YOURSELF This AG is not gonna be what we expected This is Jeff Sessions all over again Imagine if a democrat AG had been stonewalled EveryBody in NY would be already in Jail by now"
#5
I'm a thinkin this is much bigger than some movie stars personal tragedy. That's the story they are selling and therefore can not be the real reason. In reality there are probably multiple "Epstien's" as part of a larger program, active and inactive in multiple countries, and those doc's have breadcrumbs.
#6
Perhaps the OCONUS intelligence allies involved are so enmeshed in this that the impact of their exposure and subsequent alienation reaches a National Security PDB level?
#7
She’s a lightweight, so is Patel. That SDNY office needed to be on the receiving end of a full monty raid the next day. Or sooner, with top dogs being taken out in cuffs. There’s tons of evidence seized from his various abodes.
[ZeroHedge] Again, it’s great to see the people responsible for some of the worst violations of public trust in America being fired.
But it also just shows how deep the rot goes.
The SEC, FDIC, and NSA have each had their own sex scandals revealed, while failing at their critical missions.
It’s been about one month that DOGE has been rough-auditing some agencies of the US government, which has already revealed absurd fraud and waste at agencies such as USAID and the Department of Education.
But is anyone seriously naive enough to believe it stops there?
This problem is pervasive, and needs to be rooted out if America has any chance of ushering in a New Golden Age.
#1
Audits and firings are a good step, but this bullshit doesn't end without 3:00 AM Swat raids and lots of perp walks. If you want to deter conduct like this you have to increase the risk.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/02/2025 11:47 Comments ||
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#2
But audits and firings have to be done broadly to gain control of the bureaucracy. See AG Bondi’s release of the Epstein Files for what happens when control is not gained.
SWAT raids and perp walks are the next step, once there is room to operate. Not to mention that DOGE only has 18-24 months to get audits done, while the Trump hires will continue the work beyond that.
[TennesseeStar] There was rightful rejoicing throughout the land when Kash Patel was sworn in as America’s next Director of the FBI on February 21. What a terrific story. A brilliant and dedicated public servant outrageously persecuted by a federal agency goes on to lead that very agency. But here’s a little secret: America has another Kash Patel waiting in the wings.
The other “Kash Patel,” whose life story bears remarkable similarities to Patel’s, is named Donald Im. Don’s dedication and love of country led him on a dual career path. One, to become an Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the DEA’s Special Operations Division, retiring after 31 years of service, and on a parallel path, retiring from the US Special Operations Command as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserves after 27 years of service, with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, where he was the architect and designer of the Afghan Threat Finance Cell. He is one of America’s leading experts on money laundering and threat finance. He has testified in multiple venues before the House of Representatives on Chinese involvement in drug money laundering and fentanyl production, as well as the Senate on the use of shell companies by criminal organizations. If ever America needed a general in its undeclared war on China, Don Im is the ideal candidate.
Don, like Kash Patel, is a patriotic and outspoken son of persecuted Asian immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life. He rose through a remarkable career in law enforcement, the intelligence community, and the US military. In his case, Don’s father fled North Korea as a child after his own father had been executed by the North Korean Communists. The elder Im, along with his younger siblings, were saved from starvation by US Army soldiers conducting a patrol near the 38th parallel after a month-long treacherous march down to South Korea in the 1950s to evade the Communists. Don’s mother, born in Japan to Korean parents and whose cousins were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima, married his father while he was serving as a soldier for the Republic of Korea and detailed as a military policeman to the US Army’s 55th MP Company on the DMZ.
His father emigrated to the United States in 1967 and worked as a bartender to bring Don, his little sister, and mother to the States in 1970 and settled down in Adelphi, Maryland. They established a business there, which Don’s parents ran for a remarkable 49 years. They raised three successful children, Don being the eldest, and the youngest currently serving as a Maryland police officer.
In full disclosure, Don and I have been close friends since we were young intelligence analysts in a DEA intelligence unit focused on Latin American drug money laundering. We hit it off immediately when we first met in October 1991. We would eventually collaborate in the production of intelligence products and conduct training assignments, teaching domestic and foreign law enforcement officers around the world on various aspects of money laundering intelligence and investigations.
As a young analyst in the 90s, before becoming a DEA special agent, Don wrote a seminal intelligence report on the warping effects of the drug trade on the Colombian economy. The report, titled Colombian Economic Reform: The Impact on Drug Money Laundering Within the Colombian Economy, was inadvertently released to the press and caused a firestorm, but led to Colombia enacting anti-money laundering laws and regulations. He helped target Pablo Escobar’s finances and after Escobar’s demise, Don targeted the Cali Cartel by identifying the Cartel’s leader’s financial and business operations for the first-ever Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions in late 1995.
Although our career paths diverged, Don would remain with the DEA until retirement, conducting undercover financial money laundering operations in New York City and South America. He initiated one of the largest money laundering prosecutions in history against HSBC Bank. He gradually rose through the ranks, with increasing positions of responsibility, becoming a subject matter expert in Chinese money laundering. Don, with a degree in economics, recognized the dangers of this Chinese menace as early as 2012 and strove to bring attention to it, briefing officials in the White House and Congress as early as 2017, long before most Americans were even aware of China’s role in the production and spread of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, which has taken an estimated 1.5 million American lives.
I put on my investigative reporter’s hat recently and interviewed Don over a couple hours. Talk about a wealth of knowledge about China and its role in international drug trafficking. His 30,000-foot perspective is one that does not view drug trafficking in isolation as a simple moral and social scourge. For China, it is central to maintaining the Communist Party’s dominance and China’s position in the world using unrestricted warfare tactics.
“The global drug markets have allowed Chinese provincial leaders access to cheap and abundant capital that would otherwise be insufficient from legitimate Chinese investments and loans,” he told me. Don noted that the global heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, fentanyl, and marijuana trade generates estimated annual revenues of between one- to three-quarters of a trillion dollars, whereby China has been successfully tapping into this abundant source of easy capital through its worldwide diaspora networks and highly secretive organized criminal triads.
He said, “Drug money is one of their [China’s] primary sources of capital for growth and sustainment.” Drug money, he says, allows the Chinese to offset their expenditures on their military weapons technology industry. “Drug revenue,” he tells me, “has generally become China’s ad hoc bank.”
Don then becomes more expansive in his analysis, stressing that China views drug trafficking and organized crime generally as a key plank in its unrestricted asymmetric warfare against the West. He shows me a quote that he keeps on his phone from the late Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, who succeeded Mao Zedong. It reads: “As long as organized crime groups support national interests, the CCP is prepared to cooperate with them.”
China, he says, uses unrestricted warfare with all elements of society working in tandem to protect the Chinese Communist Party—including the government, the military, “private” corporations, state-owned enterprises, and organized crime groups. It is an all-of-society approach to maintaining the CCP’s power.
#1
So far I am unimpressed with Patel. Lack of awareness of FBI push back on Trump's policies concerns me. Did he think all those rogue agents would just fall in line and obey orders? Same for tough talking Bondi.
It was an eventful week, with the SDNY FBI office apparently defying Attorney General Pam Bondi’s demand that it turn over all its Epstein files to her. Newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel headed over there to search the premises and interview staff to find out where they are or even if they still exist. The week ended with a blowup of what was supposed to be the signing of an agreement between the Ukraine and the U.S., a preliminary step for opening negotiations with Russia to end the war. How you view the consequences of the blowup seems like an inkblot test: If you see the U.S. abandoning a faithful ally, you probably are a Democrat. If you see Volodymyr Zelensky as an arrogant grifter who overplayed his hand, you probably aren’t.
Luckily the entire meeting is available on video so you can see for yourself the context in which the last few minutes occurred. Those few minutes being the only thing most viewers saw.
Not without basis, President Trump believes that China, not Russia, is a bigger threat to this country and disengaging Russia from this fight will further our chances of drawing Putin away from alliances with China. Not without reason, the President believes the war is a meat grinder, an ongoing stalemate which could well lead to World War III if Ukraine is admitted to NATO and more weaponry and manpower from elsewhere is poured into the conflict. Not without reason, the President thinks both Russia and Ukraine have suffered substantial human and economic losses which will only continue unless both sides make some concessions and none of the suggested concessions he has hinted at supporting jeopardize either country’s vital interests. Not without reason, the President wants to know to what use Ukraine put all the billions of dollars we gave them to defend itself from Russia.
#1
Feldman's conclusion:
Here’s my take: A clear-eyed, masterful negotiator looked at the field, came up with what he believes is the best available deal for his client (us) and the world and a posturing midget egged on by arrogant armchair warriors failed to grab it. Instead, Zelensky used this opportunity to insult his strongest benefactor and seems stunned to learn that was a stupid move. If this administration had a coat of arms, it would be encircled by a motto reading “FAFO.”
The Mexican superpower invades and bites off large chunks of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Big Daddy Canada offers to referee a ceasefire but only if the invaders get to keep what they taken and the US gives up a $hitpot of our mineral production.
As the American President, your response to the Canucks is?
And no, I don't want to hear how it's "not the same" because it is.
Oh and yes, Z. IS a putz, but since when has that been a bar to running a country?
Again, British PM Keir Starmer put on a huge dog and pony show with Zelensky yesterday, but when it came time to write a check, he gave 1/100th of what we've paid. 😂
Good luck with that. Zelensky is your problem now.
[AmericanThinker] For decades, Arab nations have positioned themselves as staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause, yet their actions suggest otherwise. Although they publicly denounce Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, behind closed doors, many Arab leaders have systematically worked to prevent a permanent resolution to the Palestinian issue. Nowhere is this hypocrisy more evident than in the refusal of most Arab states — particularly Jordan — to integrate Palestinians, despite historical, demographic, and geopolitical realities that make Jordan the most viable Palestinian homeland.
Jordan is historically part of Palestine, with the majority of its population being Palestinian. Given these facts, Jordan should logically serve as the natural homeland for displaced Palestinians rather than advocating for a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank or Gaza. However, the Hashemite monarchy, which has ruled Jordan since its creation as a British protectorate, actively disenfranchises Palestinian Jordanians, maintaining them in a second-class status while simultaneously portraying itself as a champion of Palestinian rights.
Western policymakers often justify Jordan’s treatment of Palestinians by referencing the events of 1970, when King Hussein used the Pakistani army to crush an attempted PLO takeover. However, declassified White House documents suggest a different perspective. Then—U.S. secretary of State Henry Kissinger viewed the idea of Palestinian self-rule in Jordan as the chance for a solution to the Palestinian question. In a White House memo to President Nixon, Kissinger argued that a Palestinian-led government in Jordan could provide "a Palestinian settlement."
Nixon did not support the concept. This allowed King Hussein to enlist the support of Pakistan, which sent troops to Jordan and swiftly suppressed the Palestinians, killing thousands of civilians. With that, the prospect of a Palestinian state in Jordan was extinguished, paving the way for decades of failed peace initiatives based on the so-called two-state solution.
Fast-forward to today, and Jordan’s King Abdullah himself is in an alliance with Iran — yes, Iran. Unlike other Arab leaders who maintain a distance from Tehran, Abdullah has openly courted the Iranian regime, even going so far as to feature a photograph with Iran’s supreme leader in his memoir Our Last Best Chance. This relationship has been extensively documented, including by Israeli journalist Edy Cohen, who wrote in The Jerusalem Post, "It’s official: Jordan is now allies with Iran."
Beyond Iran, Abdullah has also strengthened economic ties with China, Iran’s primary military and political backer. Instead of accepting discounted Israeli liquid natural gas, he chose to take a significant loan from China to build a power station, which trapped Jordan in billions of dollars of debt to China.
Also, Abduallah is in full alliance with the radical Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, which he uses for leverage against the disgruntled Palestinian majority. Simply put, whenever the oppressed Palestinian majority requests basic civil rights, the Jordanian Bedouin-dominated Muslim Brotherhood group launches demonstrations requesting "the right of return to Palestine" to remind Jordan’s Palestinians that "they are mere refugees in Jordan despite being citizens" and hence "should have no rights here."
This may explain why Abduallah, like most Arab rulers, is keen to sustain the Palestinian issue rather than resolve it. By keeping Palestinians in a stateless limbo, Abdullah and other Arab leaders maintain a useful political tool for extracting foreign aid and exerting leverage over the West.
The manipulation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not unique to Jordan. With the exception of Saudi Arabia, nearly every Arab state has benefited from prolonging the conflict. The Palestinian issue has become a convenient pretext for securing foreign aid, suppressing internal dissent, and leveraging influence in Washington. Though publicly condemning Israel, many of these regimes have secretly collaborated with Israel on security matters while ensuring that Palestinians remain in permanent refugee status to serve as a bargaining chip. Israel have absorbed Jewish refugees from Arab World. Arabs, having 1000 times larger territory and 100 times more resources choose to put Arab refugees from the war they've started in camps and (with a lot of international assistance) make them a weapon against Israel. And then they complain that "Palestinians" are a destabilizing factor!
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
03/02/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Written by a Paleo, who gives too much credit to Paleo "intellectual achievement", and not enough credence to their historic ability to fuck up everything they touch
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2025 1:06 Comments ||
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#2
The reason they're in Gaza to begin with is nobody wanted them. And they don't appear to have learned any useful lessons in the meantime.
You have to remember, in the middle east, everything is tribal. And the Gazans are of the wrong tribe.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/02/2025 10:30 Comments ||
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#3
Send all 2.2m of them to Ukraine which has lost what, 7 million people due to the war? Ukraine will take them because it has no choice.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
