11, February 2021
US: Disillusioned Republicans plan to form anti-Trump third party 0
Dozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine US democracy, are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters.
The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved say.
More than 120 of them held a Zoom call last Friday to discuss the breakaway group, which would run on a platform of “principled conservatism,” including adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law – ideas those involved say have been trashed by Trump.
The plan would be to run candidates in some races but also to endorse center-right candidates in others, be they Republicans, independents or Democrats, the people say.
Evan McMullin, who was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference and ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, told Reuters that he co-hosted the Zoom call with former officials concerned about Trump’s grip on Republicans and the nativist turn the party has taken.
Three other people confirmed to Reuters the call and the discussions for a potential splinter party, but asked not to be identified.
Among the call participants were John Mitnick, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security under Trump; former Republican congressman Charlie Dent; Elizabeth Neumann, deputy chief of staff in the Homeland Security Department under Trump; and Miles Taylor, another former Trump homeland security official.
The talks highlight the wide intraparty rift over Trump’s false claims of election fraud and the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Most Republicans remain fiercely loyal to the former president, but others seek a new direction for the party.
The House of Representatives impeached Trump on Jan. 13 on a charge of inciting an insurrection by exhorting thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on the day Congress was gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Call participants said they were particularly dismayed by the fact that more than half of the Republicans in Congress – eight senators and 139 House representatives – voted to block certification of Biden’s election victory just hours after the Capitol siege.
Most Republican senators have also indicated they will not support the conviction of Trump in this week’s Senate impeachment trial.
“Large portions of the Republican Party are radicalizing and threatening American democracy,” McMullin told Reuters. “The party needs to recommit to truth, reason and founding ideals or there clearly needs to be something new.”
‘These losers’
Asked about the discussions for a third party, Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, said: “These losers left the Republican Party when they voted for Joe Biden.”
A representative for the Republican National Committee referred to a recent statement from Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
“If we continue to attack each other and focus on attacking on fellow Republicans, if we have disagreements within our party, then we are losing sight of 2022 (elections),” McDaniel said on Fox News last month.
“The only way we’re going to win is if we come together,” she said.
The Biden White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McMullin said just over 40% of those on last week’s Zoom call backed the idea of a breakaway, national third party. Another option under discussion is to form a “faction” that would operate either inside the current Republican Party or outside it.
Names under consideration for a new party include the Integrity Party and the Center Right Party. If it is decided instead to form a faction, one name under discussion is the Center Right Republicans.
Members are aware that the US political landscape is littered with the remains of previous failed attempts at national third parties.
“But there is a far greater hunger for a new political party out there than I have ever experienced in my lifetime,” one participant said.
(Source: Reuters)



















11, February 2021
Southern Cameroons War: Vice President Yerima Launches Operation Big Rubbergun 0
OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN…THE LAUNCH
Fellow Southern Cameroonians,
Let me start by asking all of us to maintain a minute of silence for the souls of our fallen heroes for they remain in our prayers.
Today marks the sixtieth anniversary of the attempted decolonization of the Southern Cameroons by the United Nations and the United Kingdom. Today marks 1133 days since our leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and nine members of his leadership team were abducted at the NERA hotel in Abuja, Nigeria. It is seven days today since Human Rights Watch published a report stating clearly that the French Cameroun army executed 10 men, women, and children in Mautu, Fako County on 10 January 2021. I stand here after 550 of our villages have been burned down. Since 2016, we have witnessed the execution of over 20,000 of our people, amongst them a four-month-old baby and a 96-years old great grandmother. Today we have over one million internally displaced persons, 120,000 refugees in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Mexican border.
I come to remind you of our dark past, dangerous present, and to elaborate on our goal to take back control of our destiny. So, I speak today of grave national sadness and danger but also a moment of national opportunity. Our efforts to defend our people began on 30 November 2017, when Paul Biya of French Cameroun declared war upon our people. Today, we announce a project that offers new hope for our young nation. We are persuaded that the project before you is essential, responsible, and deserving of your support.
The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since its unanimous adoption at the UN World Summit in 2005. We are rolling out a plan to ruthlessly adhere to our Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia. We must recognize that our security is based on being prepared to meet the threat posed by our enemy. We cannot afford to engage in the luxury of believing that French Cameroun will cease to be an aggressor.
We recognize and applaud our Restoration Forces for their bravery in the face of the brutal force and sophisticated equipment of the French Cameroun military. We recognize and applaud the contributions of humanitarian NGOs and CSOs to our revolution. We recognize and applaud all positive contributions from different organizations like DAC and other frontline movements that have taken us this far. Today, I intend to outline the Interim Government’s plan for 2021 and beyond. WE MUST BE BOLD, and with this project, WE ARE BOLD. OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN IS HERE.
Today is NOT about social media noise. In the last few weeks, you have been bombarded with noise by people who lack knowledge about this project. Those voices are loud but they are not in the majority.
We will deter our enemy from making attacks only if our retaliatory power is so strong that our enemy knows she faces severe consequences for their actions. Our strongest hope is a peaceful solution to the conflict by the establishment of a United Nations Internationally Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to our territory. Although we are determined to keep negotiations high on our agenda, we must see our struggle through the lenses of Realists.
We must employ new tactics to fight for the safety of our people and the freedom of our nation. With each passing day, the crisis facing us is magnifying as the enemy advances without fear to spread their hostility, murder, and genocide upon our people. Our defence establishment has evaluated and instructed, and The Interim Government has concluded that OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN is necessary.
OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN will:
Recruit, train, and support Restoration Forces in their attempt to capture and hold territory. The project will also provide sophisticated hardware procurement and logistic support to our Restoration Forces. More details on the project will be in the presentation that follows this evening.
Tonight, let me underscore that it is not a delight for any leader to come before his people to burden them financially. But in our judgment, this is a burden worth undertaking. Investment in OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBERGUN is an obligation that we believe will deliver us significant gains.
We cannot merely state our opposition to the genocide without paying the price for freedom. From your investments in OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN, we shall undertake a reorganization and modernization of our self-defence structure, to increase its firepower, tactical mobility, and flexibility to meet any direct or indirect threat from the enemy. I am asking you today to search your consciences and invade your resources for us to procure the necessary equipment and materials needed by our brave self-defence heroes who intend to capture, hold territory, and protect our people.
The management of the funds raised by OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN will be by a Loan Administrator and a Government Financial Officer, both working under the Bank of Ambazonia. All genuine self-defence forces stand to benefit from the resources of this national project.
Fellow Ambazonians, Operation BIG RUBBERGUN is here but our problems are critical and 2021 will not be easy. There will be setbacks before the unfavourable tide is turned. But we have no choice but to persist. The hopes of our nation rest upon us, especially those of us in the diaspora. The problems in achieving our goal of a free, independent, and prosperous Ambazonia are towering and unprecedented but we shall prevail. I believe Ambazonia possesses all the resources and talents necessary for victory, but the facts of the matter are that we have never made the collective decision to assemble the resources required for such victory.
I believe French Cameroun has an opportunity here and now to avert human disaster by releasing our leader, HE President Sisiku AyukTabe, and his top aides including all Southern Cameroons detainees to pave the way for constructive dialogue and good neighborliness.
I believe for us to get to Buea, we cannot afford to waste time squabbling and amplifying our differences.
Fellow Ambazonians, our success in this struggle for freedom and independence depends on the strength of our investment and success in OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN. We would be badly mistaken to think otherwise. This is our great opportunity if we grasp it to enhance the ability of our self-defence forces in our march to Buea.
Let us use OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN to affirm that it is Independence or Resistance Forever.
We will not be afraid, we will not be intimidated, and we must be bold
Thank You and God Bless You
Dabney Yerima
Vice President
Federal Republic of Ambazonia