Politics

17, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: French parliamentary delegation in search of truth concludes mission ⁰

Members of a French parliamentary delegation that traveled to Cameroon on January 14, 2020 to seek the truth and get a feel of the reality on the crisis in Southern Cameroons have reportedly come to the end of their stay in the country.

The MPs Rodrigue Kokouendo from Seine-et-Marne who also moonlights as the Vice-president of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the French National Assembly was in Yaoundé with Didier Quentin, MP for Charente-Maritime.

The French parliamentarians revealed earlier today that they were sent on a mission by the president of the foreign affairs committee to Cameroon to get an understanding of the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

Both men hinted that they met officials of the Biya Francophone regime, leaders of French Cameroun political parties represented in the National Assembly, civil society actors and members of the clergy.

“We came to Cameroon to inquire about the situation in order to report to our colleagues in the national assembly,” said MP Rodrigue Kokouendo.

“The fact of having come to the field gives us a lot of very useful information,” added Didier Quentin.

Ever since the French Cameroun dictator, Paul Biya declared war against the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia, the fighting has left more than 20,500 dead and more than 530,000 displaced, according to NGOs and the Ambazonia Interim Government.

The Biya regime has rejected these figures claiming that human rights groups are swelling them up to get more help and precipitate foreign armed intervention in Cameroon.

By Chi Prudence Asong

17, January 2020

Russia’s Mikhail Mishustin: the unknown tax chief surprisingly promoted to Prime Minister by Putin ⁰

President Vladimir Putin nominated a new prime minister on Wednesday 15 January after the shock resignation of Dmitry Medvedev, who has been at the head of the government since 2012. Medvedev will be succeeded by Mikhail Mishustin, who until now was a barely known tax chief with no political clout.

After announcing a profound overhaul of Russian institutions and a reform of the constitution in his annual State of the Nation address, Putin proposed Mishustin as the new head of government, following the surprise resignation of the prime minister in office for nearly eight years, Medvedev.

Mishustin had been the head of the Russian tax service since 2010 until Medvedev’s bombshell announcement propelled him to the position of PM.

Russia’s lawmakers quickly approved Mishustin as prime minister on Thursday in a vote in the Duma, or the lower house, less than 24 hours after Putin had nominated him.

Mishustin received 383 votes of 424 cast, with no votes against and 41 abstentions in a victory that had been all but assured when he won the unanimous backing of his party, United Russia, which has a strong majority in the chamber.

Mishustin will have a week to propose a new government and ministers.

He told United Russia that some changes in the cabinet would be made but did not elaborate, lawmaker Viktor Vodolatsky told Interfax.

‘Surprise nomination’

Mishustin, a 53-year-old Moscow civil servant who shares a passion for ice hockey with Putin, is little known by the general public.

Known as a technocrat who loves new technologies and has remained well out of the Russian political arena, his appointment has shocked some experts. “The appointment of an obscure second-rate unknown is a surprise,” reports Nick Holdsworth, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Russia.

“Commentators had instead put forward other names, including Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow who is known to be loyal to President Putin.”

An engineer and economist by training, Mishustin is described by Russian state media as an efficient servant of the state and the creator of the “best tax collection system in the world”, according to the Russia-24 television channel.

On the website of the Russian Presidency, the results of his service and his work are duly praised by the head of state in the reports of his annual meetings with Putin.

‘Forged in the system’

Married with three children, Mikhail Mishustin joined the Russian administration in 1998. He served as Deputy Minister of the taxation department and worked in several government agencies. He is described by political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann to AFP as “an ideologically neutral figure”.

After a two-year stint in the private sector at the head of an investment fund, UFG Asset Management, he was appointed head of the tax department in 2010 with the task of thoroughly modernising it.

A promoter of the digitisation of the Russian economy, Mishustin is behind the creation of a centralised database designed to improve the efficiency of tax collection and to be accessible to all administrations.

“This is certainly an unexpected appointment, but that doesn’t mean it will be rejected. He has a great deal of experience behind him,” said Ilyas Umakhanov, vice-president of the Council of the Federation, the upper house of parliament, before Mishustin had been approved. “He is someone who has been forged in the system.”

During his presidential terms from 2000 to 2008, Putin had already appointed officials who were unfamiliar to the public – like Mikhail Fradkov in 2004. Their key qualities included that they never sought to overshadow the Russian President.

The announcement of major constitutional reforms and the change of government announced on Wednesday are seen by analysts and opponents as an indication that Putin is now looking very seriously at his political future after the end of his last term as President in 2024.

Some suggested 67-year-old Putin, who is two years into his fourth presidential term and has steered the country since 1999, could be laying the groundwork to assume a new position or remain in a powerful behind-the-scenes role.

Independent political analyst Maria Lipman said to AFP that Putin’s announcement indicated that he wanted to “stay on as number one in the country, without any competitors”.

She said he could be deliberately weakening the presidency before relinquishing the role.

Russia’s opposition also said the proposals indicate Putin’s desire to stay in power.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Twitter that Putin’s only goal was to “remain the sole leader for life”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

16, January 2020

Russia: How President Putin is preparing to rule for ever ⁰

WHAT IS VLADIMIR PUTIN playing at? On January 15th Russia’s president took Kremlin-watchers by surprise. In his state-of-the-union speech, he announced a radical overhaul of the Russian constitution and a referendum on its proposed (still very unclear) terms. This bombshell was immediately followed by another. The prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, resigned along with the entire cabinet. As The Economist went to press, the reasons for Mr Medvedev’s ejection and replacement by an obscure technocrat remained a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

To understand what might be going on, start with a simple fact. In the past 20 years Mr Putin’s regime has killed too many people, and misappropriated too many billions, to make it plausible that he would ever voluntarily give up effective power. Under the current constitution he cannot run again for president when his term expires in 2024, since no one is allowed more than two consecutive terms. So everyone has always assumed that one way or another he would game the rules to remain top dog. He already has form on this. His first two terms as president ran from 2000 to 2008. Term-limited out for the first time, he became prime minister for four years, during which time Mr Medvedev served as a distinctly neutered president. In 2012 Mr Putin was back in the suddenly re-empowered presidency, and was re-elected to a second term in 2018. The only enigma has ever been what job he would jump to in 2024.

We still do not know. One option, clearly, is for Mr Putin to return to being prime minister; an argument for this happening is his statement that the new arrangements he is seeking will make the post more important, with full powers to appoint the cabinet (subject to confirmation by parliament, which Mr Putin’s loyal United Russia party controls), rather than letting the president pick them. Another, and more likely, option is that Mr Putin will seek to maintain his hold on power by continuing to head a vaguely defined but powerful body called the State Council, which (funnily enough) Mr Putin said in his speech should be given more powers under the rejig.

In reality the details do not much matter. Russia is a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. Mr Putin’s electoral successes owe much to years of economic growth (now brought to an end by corruption, uncompetitiveness, the end of the oil boom and Western sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in 2014) and the popularity of his reassertion of Soviet-era imperium. But they owe perhaps even more to state control of television, the barring of popular opposition candidates, the co-opting of tame opposition parties and the arrests and intimidation dished out to the less tame ones. The murder of political opponents is no way to foster genuine competition for power.

Whether Mr Putin is president, prime minister, head of the State Council or honorary chairman of the National Bridge Association (the post through which Deng Xiaoping ruled China for years after stepping down from his more prestigious offices), makes a lot less difference than it would in a real democracy. Nor does anyone know what the final shape of the new constitution will be. Mr Putin may decide, as many a despot has done before him, that a new constitution means resetting the existing term limits. Or, as Xi Jinping did in China in 2018, he could simply scrap term limits altogether (he says he does not want to do this). Mr Xi did not even bother with a referendum, pushing the change that will allow him to rule indefinitely through the supine National People’s Congress with 2,959 votes out of 2,964. Another model is offered by Kazakhstan, where Nursultan Nazarbayev, who became his independent country’s first president in 1990, stepped down last year—only to stay on as leader of the ruling party and holder of the title “Leader of the Nation”.

America would once have spoken out against such rule-twisting. Under Donald Trump, it does not; the American president makes little secret of his admiration for strongmen. Nor is the EU likely to do more than mutter as Mr Putin glues himself to the throne. It is spooked by a rising China and dependent on Russia for its gas supplies. The world’s autocrats will watch events in Moscow with interest, to see if Mr Putin can offer them useful tips for extending their own rule. For democrats everywhere, the only comfort is that even rulers-for-life don’t live for ever.

Culled from The Economist

16, January 2020

US House delivers Trump impeachment articles to Senate ⁰

Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday unveiled a seven-member team of ‘impeachment managers’ to prosecute President Donald Trump. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the articles of impeachment, the managers made a landmark promenade to deliver the papers to the Senate.

House lawmakers on Wednesday voted 228 to 193 to give the Senate, controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, the task of putting him on trial on the two articles of impeachment, i.e. 1) abuse of power for asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden; and 2) obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and documents sought by Democratic lawmakers.

The magnificent seven

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi selected a team of seven “impeachment managers”, who will act in a prosecutorial role and present the pro-impeachment case before the Senate.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Trump nemesis who served as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles for six years, was selected to head the team of managers.

“When the managers walk the hall, they will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the president of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House. Today we will make history.”

“Engrossment”

While many observers delighted in Pelosi’s gesture, others felt it was inappropriate to the occasion.

Immediately thereafter, the impeachment managers made the history-making walk across the marbled floors of the Capitol Building and delivered the articles to the Senate. This was the first time since Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings 22 years ago that this momentous promenade had taken place.

Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, said that the Senate would formally receive the articles Thursday January 16 at midday EST (6pm in Paris, 5pm GMT). Formal opening arguments, both pro-and anti-impeachment, start on Tuesday January 21.

Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry in September after earlier resisting such a move centred on Trump’s actions to impede a federal investigation that documented Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost his candidacy.

Ball in the Senate’s court

The trial will focus attention on Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate domestic political rival Joe Biden, just as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up.

A fight over witnesses remains unresolved. Senate Democrats in the Republican-controlled chamber want four current and former Trump administration officials to testify, while many Republicans want a speedy trial without witness testimony. Trump has at times said he wants to hear from witnesses, albeit not the same ones the Democrats want to testify. Democrats need at least four Republicans to join them to reach a majority of 51 senators to approve the subpoenas.

The 100-seat Senate is expected to acquit Trump, keeping him in office, as none of its 53 Republicans has voiced support for removing him, a step that under the US Constitution would require a two-thirds majority.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

15, January 2020

French Cameroun surrogate insists elections must hold in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Barely 25 days to the February 9 Legislative and Municipal elections, the Board Chair of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, Enow Abrams Egbe, says almost all the materials required for the polls are in place.

The ELECAM boss was speaking in Yaoundé Friday, January 10, during a working visit to the National Printing Press, the Military Air Base N° 101, and other institutions involved in the production of electoral materials. He was there to assess the progress of work done by the Commission in place.

The Chairperson of ELE- CAM was accompanied by the Director General of ELECAM, Board Members and other officials. “We are on a tour to evaluate the performance of the Director General and his team in terms of material preparations and we are very pleased that, at this moment, the work is well done. We have less than 28 days to go for elections and we can comfortably say now loud and clear that Elections will effectively take place on February 9 and all the polling stations will be furnished with all their electoral materials,” he said.

He equally lauded the Director General of ELECAM, Erik Essousse and his team, for a great job, while urging them to remain vigilant and concentrated to make sure that everything moves in the right direction. Talking about the electoral materials already in place and the various units, during the tour, the ELECAM Board Chair cited transparent ballot boxes, voters’ cards, polling materials, among other things.

The groups concerned are work throughout the day to ensure that all the electoral materials are de- livered to ELECAM latest January 25. SOPECAM has the contract to produce all the electoral materials for the Legislative and Council elections of five political parties. The materials include ballot papers and campaign materials.

The political parties include: the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM; Social Democratic Front, SDF; National Union for Democracy and Progress, NUDP; Alliance for Democracy and Development, ADD; and Cameroon National Salvation Front, CNSF.

The Director of the Production Department of SOPECAM said all the materials for the election of Members of the National Assembly have been produced and delivered to Elections Cameroon. The department, he said, was finalising those of the Municipal Councillors.

At the National Printing Press, work is almost done and sealed. The Director of the institution disclosed that, for the moment, they have the contract with ELECAM to produce envelopes for the election of Municipal Councillors. The different units are lodged in canopies that have been set up for the purpose of the elections. When each of the institutions finish producing the electoral materials, they are immediately handed to ELECAM teams that carry out controls to ascertain quality and quantity before the materials are transported to the Yaoundé 101 Airbase for deployment to the field.

Despite the progress made in the production of electoral materials, uncertainty still looms in the Northwest and Southwest Regions as kidnappings of opposition political party officials in recent week has been surging. There have been repeated threats from separatist fighters that elections will not hold in the Anglophone Regions in the heat of a war. But Government has insisted that the security of the electorates in guaranteed with the deployment of over 700 gendarmerie officers in the two Regions.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

14, January 2020

Biya Francophone regime grants ‘special status’ to Southern Cameroons. They don’t feel special ⁰

In the last week of 2019, Cameroon’s parliament approved a bill that will grant “special status” to the country’s two Anglophone regions. This initiative was a result of the Grand National Dialogue that the government convened in October purportedly to resolve the war of secession that has killed at least 3,000 people and displaced over half a million since its outbreak in 2017.

The government says that awarding “special status” to the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions will give Cameroon’s Anglophone minority greater autonomy over local affairs and settle historical grievances. According to the administration of President Paul Biya, this will mean secessionist forces will no longer have a reason to fight.

For their part, separatists have roundly rejected the measure as illegitimate. This is at least in part due to the fact it emerged out of a Grand National Dialogue that few outside of the ruling CPDM party regarded as a genuine effort to end the conflict. All secessionist factions as well much of civil society boycotted the talks, while opposition politicians that did attend, such as Akere Muna, walked out in protest over the lack of discussion on controversial topics such as the form of the state.

How special is special?

Nonetheless, it is worth examining the contents of the “special status” on its own merits.

To begin with, there is everything that will not change under the bill. For instance, the president will still appoint governors – who can come from outside the region and be Francophone – to manage state policy at the regional level. The central government in Yaoundé will still select Divisional Officers to govern districts. Meanwhile, the national government will retain significant control over local government resources, including the power to seize council-owned land “where national defense or public order requirements dictate”.

The bill also continues the government’s preference for establishing national committees to discuss contentious issues such as decentralisation and local finance, an approach that has led to little change over several years.

What will change?

Perhaps most significantly, the bill will establish various indirectly-elected organs with semi-administrative responsibilities. Each region will have a new bicameral Regional Assembly made up a House of Chiefs composed of 20 traditional leaders and a House of Regional Representatives composed of 70 members. The latter will be selected by municipal councils, but it is not specified how the chiefs will be chosen. The two Anglophone regions will also institute a new Regional Executive Council composed of eight members to be selected by regional councils. What powers the Regional Assembly and Regional Executive Council will have, however, remains unclear. In many cases, it is likely their responsibilities will largely be determined by laws implemented in Yaoundé.

The bill also gives mayors additional powers regarding educational and medical institutions in their municipalities, but it does not change the underlying governance structure that has allowed Yaoundé to manage the affairs of local municipalities for decades.

Continuing the war

Although the bill has been passed, the government has not yet provided a timeline for its implementation. This is significant given that it is renowned for taking an extraordinarily long time to implement initiatives. At the moment, the government is also focusing much of its attention and resources on the legislative and municipal elections scheduled for early-February.

In the meantime, it is notable that its combative military operations have continued. On New Year’s Day, for example, the military burnt down a village in the division of Lebialem. It has also been detaining large numbers of young men in urban areas of the Southwest region. In many instances, detainees have been taken to a secret detention facility in Buea and subjected to severe torture until their families pay a bribe to get them released. In his New Year’s address, President Biya reiterated a hardline message by promising that the military would carry out its duty “without weakness”, while there have been continuous deployments of military personnel to the two Anglophone regions in recent weeks.

The secessionists, who are internally extremely divided, have maintained unity in declaring the “special status” as illegitimate. They have also denounced the upcoming legislative and municipal elections and have said that they will use force to prevent them from taking place in the two English-speaking regions. They have acted upon this by burning down the homes of two parliamentarians and kidnapping more than twenty politicians of the opposition SDF party, threatening to kill them if they do not disavow their party allegiance. They also announced a planned five-day lockdown around the elections to prevent people from voting.

All of these events come as the so-called Swiss Process, aimed at resolving the conflict through dialogue, appears to have reached a stalemate. The Cameroonian government insists the “special status” initiative is sufficient to address the grievances of the Anglophone population, while secessionist leaders have not met since autumn 2019. There has been intense infighting among separatist factions, including a recent mutiny that resulted in a commander by the name of “General Divine” being killed by his own fighters. While some fighters remain adamant their struggle will lead to independence, others have given up on it entirely.

In all likelihood, this means that the two sides will continue to fight whilst wreaking havoc on civilians in the two Anglophone regions. The special status bill will do little to change this.

Source: African Arguments.Org

13, January 2020

Mvomeka’a Palace: Biya’s final hideout ⁰

French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya is spending more and more secluded time in his palace in Mvomeka’a, his native village in the south of the country. The 86 year old thug calls it his haven of peace, from which locals are kept away. The Mvomeka’s palace has become one of the centers of power and the object of all fantasies in French Cameroun.

To get to the palace, one has to drive through a wide road in the heart of the French Cameroun rainforest. It is a neat floor marking road with perfect layout, potholes non-existent: it looks great. Some political commentators have opined that the road which does not bring anything into the French Cameroun economy remains the first major achievement of President Paul Biya shortly after he came to power in 1982. The road simply links Yaoundé, the capital via Sangmélima, one of the cities of his childhood, and Mvomeka’a, his native village.

For a majority of French Cameroonians – who have never set foot there – Mvomeka’a is a privileged settlement. Among locals, this palace, which they are kept away from, sometimes generates frustration.

Biya feels better in Mvomeka’a. He goes there several times a year. With age telling on him, the average length of his numerous stay has gradually lengthened: whereas he spent only a few days each time a few years ago, he now stays there for several weeks in a row, or even more than a month.

At the entrance to the village, a checkpoint blocks the road. One of three soldiers on guard has the responsibility of checking identification papers of those going into the village. Everyone in the area from 5-year-old kids to 75-year-olds, everyone there is involved in intelligence gathering all in a bid to protect Biya and his family.

A member of the presidential guard recently told Biya that he was on the brink because Ambazonia Restoration Forces have promised to attack him. In Mvomeka’a, the threat is taken very seriously, even when he (Biya) is away.

The dictator who governs the nation like a tribal chief usually travels to Mvomeka’a by road, escorted by two helicopters. It was at Mvomeka’a that he built his first residence, an unpretentious white villa, after his studies in France in the 1960s.

When he became Prime Minister, he built a second villa with support from his late wife, Jeanne-Irene, who died in 1992. The current palace was the idea of the late wife who pushed Biya to buy neighboring lands in order to install his relatives and extend his private presidential site.

Inside the Mvomeka’a palace there are apartments for his aide-de-camp, the director of the civil cabinet, the chief of protocol and his butler. There are also family villas, including those of his late sister and mother, which now look like abandoned property. Today, Mvomeka’a belongs almost exclusively to Biya and his family. But no one other than Biya and his wife Chantal lives in the grounds of Mvomeka’a palace shrouded in mystery.

Perched on the hilly side of the village, the Mvomeka’a palace evokes a romantic oasis for the frail president with an insatiable love for classical music. An endless green grid lined with a gigantic screen of conifers hides the palace from prying eyes. From the top of the palace watchtower, sentry guns in hand are watching for the slightest suspicious gesture. No one is allowed to hang around. From a distance, the most daring can glimpse the family cemetery, where the former first lady, the president’s mother and brother, as well as her stepmother were buried.

Doctors, counselors and general secretaries are regularly summoned to Mvomeka’a with files under their arms to meet Biya in his village where he consults and holds crisis meetings. According to one of Biya’s relatives, these retreats allow Biya to concentrate, away from the harassment of courtiers and other seekers of favors. The Mvomeka’a palace has 260 employees.

By Asu Isong with files from Jeune Afrique

13, January 2020

Queen gathers royals for crisis meeting with Prince Harry ⁰

Queen Elizabeth II and other senior British royals were gathering for a meeting Monday with Prince Harry in an attempt to solve the crisis triggered by his bombshell announcement that he and wife Meghan were stepping back from the royal frontline.

Harry’s father Prince Charles and brother Prince William, with whom he has strained relations, will join the monarch at her private Sandringham estate in eastern England, according to British media.

Charles just flew back from Oman, where he attended a condolence ceremony following the death of Sultan Qaboos.

Meghan is expected to join the meeting via conference call from Canada as they attempt to work out the “next steps” towards a compromise and nip the growing crisis in the bud.

Issues up for debate include how much money the couple will still receive from Charles’s estate, their royal titles and what commercial deals they can strike, according to the Sunday Times.

The newspaper reported that William believes he and Harry are now “separate entities”, breaking the bonds forged following their mother’s tragic death.

“I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that any more; we’re separate entities,” the Times reported he told a friend.

The queen attended church at Sandringham on Sunday where supporters expressed sympathy for her, with some members of the public saying Harry and Meghan should not receive any more taxpayer money if they step back from the royal family.

The 93-year-old monarch on Thursday demanded that staff work with the couple to find urgently a “workable solution” that would take into account their demands for more freedom.

Harry, Meghan and son Archie spent Christmas in Canada, with the American former actress returning there this week.

Several Canadian media reported Meghan had returned to Vancouver Island off the country’s Pacific coast, where the family spent the year-end holidays and where baby Archie had remained with his nanny.

Senior royals were caught off guard by Wednesday’s announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted to seek a “progressive new role” and divide their time between Britain and North America.

– ‘Complicated issues’ –

The queen’s office issued a terse statement the same evening, saying there were “complicated issues that will take time to work through”.

Harry and Meghan said they intended to continue to “fully support” the queen and “collaborate” with senior royals.

They also want to keep their home on the queen’s Windsor Castle estate as their British base, while aiming to become financially independent.

Media reports said Harry and Meghan could conduct a potentially damaging television interview if they are unhappy with the outcome of Sunday’s meeting.

Writing for The Sunday Times, broadcaster Tom Bradby, a friend of Harry and William, said: “I have some idea of what might be aired in a full, no-holds-barred, sit-down interview and I don’t think it would be pretty.”

The younger prince, who has struggled with his role, last year revealed he has been growing apart from his brother, who as second in line to the throne is increasingly pursuing a different path.

Harry has been open about his mental health issues, and he and Meghan last year admitted to struggling with the spotlight following their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 and Archie’s birth a year later.

The couple have also lashed out at negative news coverage — some of which Harry says was racist — in light of Meghan’s biracial heritage.

The British public currently appears to be siding with the family, with a Daily Mail poll showing that a majority believe Harry should give up his right to the throne and be stripped of cash support from the royals or taxpayers.

Source: AFP

11, January 2020

US lawmakers reject Trump’s new claim that Soleimani targeted 4 US embassies in region ⁰

Several US lawmakers and officials have dismissed President Donald Trump’s new claim the US assassinated Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani because he was planning an attack on four American embassies in the region, including the one in Iraq.

In an interview on Friday with Fox News, Trump said Iran probably had targeted the US embassy in Baghdad and was aiming to attack four US embassies when it killed Soleimani.

“We will tell you probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad,” Trump claimed. “I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.”

But two unnamed senior officials, including one in the Defense Department, told The Washington Post that they were aware only of vague intelligence about a plot against the embassy in Baghdad.

Neither official mentioned any threats against other embassies in the region.

A source told the Post that the US embassy in Baghdad was never given a warning “commensurate” with the kind of threat described by Trump, which would have been standard procedure.

US Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said nothing about planned attacks on four embassies was revealed to Congress and essentially accused Trump of making up the planned attacks.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called the killing “provocative and disproportionate,” and other members of Congress said they were unconvinced after a closed-door intelligence briefing provided by administration officials.

“President Trump recklessly assassinated Qasem Soleimani,” said US Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state.

“He had no evidence of an imminent threat or attack,” she said.

“Let’s be clear — if there was evidence of imminent attacks on four embassies, the Administration would have said so at our Wednesday briefing,” he tweeted. “They didn’t. So either Fox News gets higher level briefings than Congress … or … wait for it… there was no such imminent threat.”

The Trump administration had earlier claimed it carried out the assassination to avert an “imminent attack,” which has also been met with suspicion and skepticism in the US.

The US military carried out an airstrike on the direction of Trump at Baghdad’s international airport last Friday, assassinating Soleimani and the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as well as eight other companions.

Early on Wednesday, Iran responded to the assassination, striking the American airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq and another in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

A USA Today/Ipsos poll released Thursday found that Americans, by 55%-24%, said they believe the killing of General Soleimani has made the United States less safe, rejecting a fundamental argument the Trump administration has made that the assassination made the US safer.

Source: Presstv

10, January 2020

Trump ‘reckless’ on Iran: Poll ⁰

The vast majority of Americans say the US assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani has made America less safe and shows that President Donald Trump’s behavior with Iran is “reckless,” according to a new poll.

The USA Today/Ipsos poll found that Americans, by 55%-24%, said they believe the killing has made the United States less safe, rejecting a fundamental argument the Trump administration has made.

The poll also found that a majority of those surveyed, by 52%-34%, called Trump’s behavior with Iran “reckless.”

There was overwhelming agreement among those surveyed that Soleimani’s killing made it more likely Iran would attack American interests in the Middle East (69%), that there would be attacks on US soil (63%), and that the United States and Iran would go to war (62%).

By 47%-39%, those surveyed said Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani in an attempt to divert the focus from his impeachment.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that T she does not believe Trump had made America safer by assassinating Soleimani, calling the US attack “provocative” and “disproportionate.”

“What happened, in the view of many of us, is not promoting peace, but an escalation,” Pelosi, the highest ranking Democrat in Congress, said at her weekly news conference.

House passes resolution to restrict Trump’s war powers against Iran

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Thursday to stop Trump from further military action against Iran, rebuking the president days after he ordered the strike that killed Soleimani and escalated tensions in the region.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 224-194, mostly along party lines, sending the war powers resolution to the Senate. The fate of the resolution is uncertain in the Senate, where Trump’s fellow Republicans hold 53 of the chamber’s 100 seats,

If passed by the House and Senate, the measure does not need Trump’s signature to go into effect.

The partisan vote reflected the deep divide in Congress over Trump’s Iran policy and how much authority lawmakers should have over the use of the military. Democrats accused Trump of acting recklessly and backed the resolution, while Trump’s fellow Republicans, who rarely vote against the president, opposed it.

Source: Presstv