Politics

[Foxi]

Election fraud? What election fraud?

ISIS clapping their hands? They don’t have any hands now.

The US pulling out of Syria is just an opportunity for the EU to send in their own to take our place.

He speaks from election fraud,you are right.

There is/was no UN mandate for it.Sorry.
Nobody does that here, not my opinion.
No more hands ?
Ridiculous.
They disappeared like the Taliban, didn't they?
All victims are free, if the USA leaves Syria to the Russians and Assad, including IS and Turkey
The USA have always the claim to shape the world and not only to watch, then you have to take the role too.
Why do you think Mattis had to leave ?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

There is/was no UN mandate for it.Sorry.
Nobody does that here, not my opinion.
No more hands ?
Ridiculous.
They disappeared like the Taliban, didn't they?
All victims are free, if the USA leaves Syria to the Russians and Assad, including IS and Turkey
Why do you think Mattis had to leave ?

ISIS remnants remain and always will but compared to the situation as it was in January, 2017, totally different.

Don’t know why Mattis is leaving now, only hearing of it this afternoon.

The US defense budget this year is roughly $700 billion. A tab I get to help pay as a citizen.

Can you tell me what the combined defense budget for all EU countries this year will be? I don’t think that would require a U.N. mandate.

 

[Royal27]

Can you tell me what the combined defense budget for all EU countries this year will be?

For clarity Phil, do you mean what they are supposed to spend, or what they actually do?

 

[Wheels]

.......Election fraud, illegal Russia connections, money laundering, as well as further 14 !! investigation procedures......
.

Foxi,

Please help me here and explain the election fraud. The Steele dossier was used to start the investigation and get FISA warrants. It was paid for by the Hillary Clinton Campaign and the DNC. Would it be normal in Germany for the SPD to pay to have a lie made into a document and given to law enforcement against the CDU and then for law enforcement to start an investigation against members of the CDU? Unfortunately that is what happened in America.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.2308ccd9becd

The Steele dossier has basically been disproved. The only substantive detail was that Carter Page went to Moscow and spoke. This was also public information prior to being put into the dossier. If Trump has these decades long relationships with Russians, why does he use Page, an individual he has barely met and known for less than six months to negotiate treason. Does this even make sense? BTW, Page has never been charged for anything by Mueller. Wonder if it is because he was an informant for the FBI in past prosecutions.

Supposedly the most damaging part of the dossier was that Michael Cohen went to Prague and met with Russian agents. Cohen's passport shows he has not been to Prague. FBI investigated all the significant hotels in Prague and did not find that he had been there. Washington Post had a reporter there for months trying to find evidence of Cohen being in Prague. US Attorney's in New York filed against Cohen for multiple items. There is nothing relating to Trump, the Steele dossier, Prague, meeting with Russians, in any of the court documents. Russian interference is the main thing Mueller is looking for. Evidently there was none since Mueller turned over the evidence he had on Cohen to the US Attorney in the Southern District of New York for prosecution for other crimes that have nothing to do with Trump and Russia.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/four-major-blows-to-the-credibility-of-the-steele-dossier_2742976.html

When it comes to America, perhaps you have been reading to much of Der Spegel!?!?

German news magazine Der Spiegel sacks star reporter Claas Relotius for fabricating stories
Posted yesterday at 7:35pm





https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12...l-says-star-reporter-made-up-stories/10638112

Withdrawal from Syria.
IS Terrorists clap their hands with joy on their thighs.
To be praised by Putin for that would scaring me.
.

Obama funded ISIS when the goal was the overthrow of Assad. Yes, I know. America being the worlds policeman again. Well, Obama had to start fighting the junior varsity that he had helped create. Trump has come close to finishing the job, with the leadership of Mattis. There will continue to be problems with radical Islam in the ME. But why is it America's problem. Why should American's die when Sunni's and Shiite's have been killing each other for 1300 years. Why should America get involved in Syria. Germany is closer and you are dealing with 1,000,000 "refugees" or invaders depending on what you want to call them at the moment. Seems it would be more Germany's problem than America's.

Besides, withdraw from Syria and draw down in Afghanistan is an American political hot potato at the moment. It has to do with a $5B budget item to build a wall between America and Mexico. The House and the Senate just told Trump that there would be no $5B for his plan. Pulling troops out of Syria and a draw down in Afghanistan is Trump's response to Congressmen that are getting large lobbying dollars from the military industries. In other words, if they don't give Trump $5B for a wall, Trump will start cutting off war funding to the Congressmen's sugar daddies and constituents that pay them millions of dollars per year in lobbying dollars. By the way, the lobbying industry averages over $5 million dollars every year for all 435 members of the house and 100 members of the senate. Criminal? No but it should be!

.
To be praised by Putin for that would scaring me.
.

I know you think Trump bows down to Putin. I know most Germans do. It can be seen in your parades and carnival floats.

Bet you didn't know that Trump wiped out a battalion of Russian's in Syria did you. That type of information doesn't make the main stream press does it. Do you really think Trump and Putin have a love affair? If so you may want to look at this.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...-already-killed-couple-hundred-russians-syria

International agreements with his allies throwing into the chimney .
.

I presume you are talking about Trump threatening to walk away from NATO. Trump's position is why should America protect the NATO countries if the NATO countries won't pay to protect them selves. Trump is looking out for America and American's. Not other nations or their citizens. In other words, MAGA.

If you and I went to dinner, would you expect me to pay over three times what you pay? That is exactly what Germany is doing to America right now with NATO! With allies like that..........

Here's a breakdown of each country's contribution, based on 2016 figures provided by NATO. The country's in red are making agreed upon payments:

United States, 3.61%.

Greece, 2.38%.

Britain, 2.21%.

Estonia, 2.16%.

Poland, 2%.

France, 1.78%.

Turkey, 1.56%.

Norway, 1.54%.

Lithuania, 1.49%.

Romania, 1.48%.

Latvia, 1.45%.

Portugal, 1.38%.

Bulgaria, 1.35%.

Croatia, 1.23%.

Albania, 1.21%.

Germany, 1.19%.

Denmark, 1.17%.

Netherlands, 1.17%.

Slovakia, 1.16%.

Italy, 1.11%.

Czech Republic, 1.04%.

Hungary, 1.01%.
Canada, 0.99%.

Slovenia, 0.94%.

Spain, 0.91%.

Belgium, 0.85%.

Luxembourg, 0.44%.

https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-share-breakdown-country-2017-2


Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr

 

[tarbe]

Thanks for that great summary, @Wheels

 

[lwaters]

I never thought of that angle. No funding for wall will just pull out of Afghanistan and Syria be plenty of money than. I bet the wall gets built.

 

[Wheels]

Britain's Gatwick Airport shut down due to drones flying overhead, causing holiday travel chaos

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...t-shut-down-after-drones-spotted-over-n950266

 

[tarbe]

I never thought of that angle. No funding for wall will just pull out of Afghanistan and Syria be plenty of money than. I bet the wall gets built.

Everything in life is a negotiation.

Trump personifies that truism.

 

[sgt_zim]

We can be forgiven, I think, for being a bit touchy about the use of our money to help protect Europe when Europe won't go to the same effort to protect itself.

It is doubly painful for us when one of our "allies" is run by a former Stasi officer. If there is any collusion, balance of probability favors collusion between former Stasi and former KGB.

If it were up to me, pretty much everybody but the Brits, Poles, Czechs, Baltics, and Hungarians would be on their own.

 

[Hank2211]

We can be forgiven, I think, for being a bit touchy about the use of our money to help protect Europe when Europe won't go to the same effort to protect itself.

It is doubly painful for us when one of our "allies" is run by a former Stasi officer. If there is any collusion, balance of probability favors collusion between former Stasi and former KGB.

If it were up to me, pretty much everybody but the Brits, Poles, Czechs, Baltics, and Hungarians would be on their own.

I have to wonder about your list of allies . . . I'd have thought Canada was a bit more important to the US and its economy than Hungary . . . that's a pretty long border if you have to station soldiers along every bit of it . . .

 

[sgt_zim]

Canada is in North America, not Europe.

 

[Hank2211]

Sometimes I wonder . . .

 

[Wheels]

.......They disappeared like the Taliban, didn't they?
All victims are free, if the USA leaves Syria to the Russians and Assad, including IS and Turkey
The USA have always the claim to shape the world and not only to watch, then you have to take the role too.
Why do you think Mattis had to leave ?

Trump is more of an isolationist than many American presidents have been, but it does look like there is a succession plan in place for Syria.

France, KSA and UAE are stepping it up in dealing with ISIS and being a buffer for the Kurds with Russia and Turkey. Plus, America hasn't been the main worker bees any way. The Kurds and SDF have been doing the heavy lifting, and been doing a very good job of it. Wound't it be interesting to know how much of the SDF is actually GCC? Bet it would really surprise the world to know that a regional alliance has actually been taking care of a regional problem.

When it comes to KSA's involvement, it sure seems like Karma. Erdogan puts the screws to MBS on the extrajudicial murder of Khashoggi. Trump is one of the few world leaders that stands with MBS and doesn't condemn him. MBS commits KSA troops and GCC troops to Turkey so America can back out of involvement without putting the SDF and the Kurds in an untenable position.

Wow. Funny how that worked. Sounds like a well thought out strategy . Much different than the highly esteemed President that pulled troops out of Iraq.

Heshmat Alavi@HeshmatAlavi

#BREAKING
1)
France will replace the U.S. in northern Syria
The French Foreign Ministry confirms that following talks with U.S. officials, its forces will replace U.S. forces in northern Syria to help maintain security in the region.

France to replace US in SyriaFrance's defence minister said on Thursday that Daesh terrorists had been weakened but not been wipehttps://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/france-says-daesh-has-not-been-wiped-from-map-in-syria-3469694

#BREAKING
2)
In the next three months, with each group of U.S. forces leaving Syria, a French unit will enter the northern Syrian regions, sources say.
France has invited Syrian Democratic Forces' representatives for talks with senior officials in Paris.
#BREAKING
3)
Kurdish officials Riyadh Derar & Elham Ahmed have gone to Elysee Palace for talks.
This decision will any disrupt the plans of Bashar Assad to take over oil fields in this area & Turkey's plans to launch cross-border operations into northern Syria.

More to follow.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1076103563082940418.html



Also:

https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/france-says-daesh-has-not-been-wiped-from-map-in-syria-3469694

https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/47016/uae-saudi-arabia-dispatch-troops-to-syria.html

 

[Foxi]

Wheels, that's not a political strategy. Zero.
It's Trump's campaign promise to bring the troops home.But you know that much better than me.
I understand the mother, fathers and wives in America very well, who demand this from him because they have elected him.
2000 soldiers are in Syria.
Above all as a protecting power for the Kurds who do the dirty work.
The Kurds need the protection of America, because besides Russia they are the only countries Erdogan has respect for. He destroys one Kurdish village after another in Turkey. The Kurds are a much bigger problem for Erdogan than the IS.He's been buying oil from them for years without a guilty conscience.
If I translate you correctly you think that Gulf states troops should go to Turkey.
That is unthinkable.

As far as Nato's defence budget is concerned, he is right. Germany is (still) away from the promised 2%.
But what is totally forgotten : we had/have a reunification to stem .
17 million people had to go from communism ordered to the western level .Wages ,salaries, pensions ,employment, any other country in Europe would have gone broke with it.

Oh yes, Angela Merkel may be many things, but a stasi officer, this is fake news.
There are 35,000 American soldiers in Germany.
Many wish that they go.
I think it's stupid, little Germany is a hub for western europe.
If I pursue geopolitical interests as a great power, I have to be present.
Out of NATO, troops home from South Korea, then the USA plays a small role in the world. Not more.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Wheels, that's not a political strategy. Zero.
It's Trump's campaign promise to bring the troops home.But you know that much better than me.
I understand the mother, fathers and wives in America very well, who demand this from him because they have elected him.
2000 soldiers are in Syria.
Above all as a protecting power for the Kurds who do the dirty work.
The Kurds need the protection of America, because besides Russia they are the only countries Erdogan has respect for. He destroys one Kurdish village after another in Turkey. The Kurds are a much bigger problem for Erdogan than the IS.He's been buying oil from them for years without a guilty conscience.
If I translate you correctly you think that Gulf states troops should go to Turkey.
That is unthinkable.

As far as Nato's defence budget is concerned, he is right. Germany is (still) away from the promised 2%.
But what is totally forgotten : we had/have a reunification to stem .
17 million people had to go from communism ordered to the western level .Wages ,salaries, pensions ,employment, any other country in Europe would have gone broke with it.

Oh yes, Angela Merkel may be many things, but a stasi officer, this is fake news.
There are 35,000 American soldiers in Germany.
Many wish that they go.
I think it's stupid, little Germany is a hub for western europe.
If I pursue geopolitical interests as a great power, I have to be present.
Out of NATO, troops home from South Korea, then the USA plays a small role in the world. Not more.

So poor little Germany and the other EU countries need our help is what you’re saying? Because without your go broke?

Just what the hell do you think of the debt, which still grows, the USA is carrying while the EU has “free” healthcare, education and whatever else?

 

[Foxi]

So poor little Germany and the other EU countries need our help is what you’re saying? Because without your go broke?

Just what the hell do you think of the debt, which still grows, the USA is carrying while the EU has “free” healthcare, education and whatever else?

I think you got me wrong,or I have expressed myself wrongly, it is not always easy for me to speak a foreign language.
Asked the other way around, what help do you think we(Germans) really need from the USA ?

We don't go broke, because we are a hard-working people, with good engeneering (yet) and Angela is in retirement in the next years..
But the reunion was hard for everyone here.
Military we don't want to take over any role because of our history. That's just the way it is.
If you look at your car industry, you can be glad to have BMW, the biggest exporter of cars built in America.
There really are worse allies.

 

[Hank2211]

So poor little Germany and the other EU countries need our help is what you’re saying? Because without your go broke?

Just what the hell do you think of the debt, which still grows, the USA is carrying while the EU has “free” healthcare, education and whatever else?

In fairness (and I don't have a dog in this particular hunt), if you look at the taxes which the Germans (and many other Europeans) pay, you wouldn't think that health care, education, and whatever else., were "free".

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

In fairness (and I don't have a dog in this particular hunt), if you look at the taxes which the Germans (and many other Europeans) pay, you wouldn't think that health care, education, and whatever else., were "free".

Hence why I put free in quotes, it is quite clearly not free. But it's sold by liberals to us to be such.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I think you got me wrong,or I have expressed myself wrongly, it is not always easy for me to speak a foreign language.
Asked the other way around, what help do you think we(Germans) really need from the USA ?

We don't go broke, because we are a hard-working people, with good engeneering (yet) and Angela is in retirement in the next years..
But the reunion was hard for everyone here.
Military we don't want to take over any role because of our history. That's just the way it is.
If you look at your car industry, you can be glad to have BMW, the biggest exporter of cars built in America.
There really are worse allies.

I don't know what Germany really needs from the USA, that's for you and your fellow Germans to decide.

If that means you need our military for your defense because of your history, that's fine.......pay for it. Why should I and my fellow Americans provide for Germany's or the defense of any nation without it being properly paid for? Does BMW expect to be paid for the cars they sell to Americans?

The USA took on the role of policeman and savior of the free world at the end of the second world war. Since then we've had excursions in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq (twice), a never ending presence in general in the middle east and who knows how many covert operations have been executed all over the world that we don't know about.

While I do not intend to dismiss the efforts of our allies, as they have been involved in these efforts too, but primarily the responsibility has fallen on the US. I've been watching this my whole life and paying for it my entire working life and so will my children and beyond. And what really have we gained overall for the investment of blood and treasure?

We have saying here about not throwing good money after bad. I think it's about time we followed it. I have sympathy for the people who are stuck in these countries that are just awful, or shitholes as Trump put it. But the answer to the problems there does not in my opinion lie in American military intervention.

 

[markm]

I don't know what Germany really needs from the USA, that's for you and your fellow Germans to decide.

If that means you need our military for your defense because of your history, that's fine.......pay for it. Why should I and my fellow Americans provide for Germany's or the defense of any nation without it being properly paid for? Does BMW expect to be paid for the cars they sell to Americans?

The USA took on the role of policeman and savior of the free world at the end of the second world war. Since then we've had excursions in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq (twice), a never ending presence in general in the middle east and who knows how many covert operations have been executed all over the world that we don't know about.

While I do not intend to dismiss the efforts of our allies, as they have been involved in these efforts too, but primarily the responsibility has fallen on the US. I've been watching this my whole life and paying for it my entire working life and so will my children and beyond. And what really have we gained overall for the investment of blood and treasure?

We have saying here about not throwing good money after bad. I think it's about time we followed it. I have sympathy for the people who are stuck in these countries that are just awful, or shitholes as Trump put it. But the answer to the problems there does not in my opinion lie in American military intervention.

I say let everyone of those countries tend for themselves but we all know they aren't capable.