9, October 2019
US: Joe Biden says “Trump betrayed this nation, should be impeached” 0
US President Donald Trump has “betrayed” the nation and “should be impeached,” says the top Democratic hopeful for the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden, whose ties with Ukraine are at the heart of impeachment efforts in the House of Representatives.
“Donald Trump has violated his oath of office, betrayed this nation and committed impeachable acts,” Biden told a crowd of supporters in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Wednesday. “He should be impeached.”
He made the comments as the Trump administration was struggling with how to defend itself in the wake of the president’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he tied the US aid to an investigation into Biden and his son, Hunter.
“The Do Nothing Democrats are Con Artists, only looking to hurt the Republican Party and President. Their total focus is 2020, nothing more, and nothing less. The good news is that WE WILL WIN,” Trump said on Twitter.
The House of Representatives has set off a spiraling impeachment inquiry in the wake of a whistleblower complaint into the phone call.
“The so-called Whistleblower, before knowing I was going to release the exact Transcript, stated that my call with the Ukrainian President was “crazy, frightening, and completely lacking in substance related to national security.” This is a very big Lie. Read the Transcript,” Trump alleged.
In an appearance on Fox News Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that he was going to ask other Senate Republicans to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying that they “do not believe the transcript of the phone call between the president and the Ukraine is an impeachable offense.”
“They’re about to destroy the nation for no good reason,” Graham said. “And I want Nancy Pelosi to know that Republican senators are not going to impeach this president based on this transcript, so she can stop now before she destroys the country.”
Trump himself stressed the transcript on Twitter, asserting that Democrats should apologize.
“No Pressure at all said Ukraine! Very congenial, a perfect call. The Whistleblower and others spoke BEFORE seeing the Transcript. Now they must apologize to me and stop this ridiculous impeachment,” said the president.
The White House has also announced that it would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
“Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the executive branch cannot be expected to participate in it,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote in a letter to Pelosi (and the three House committee chairmen leading the impeachment inquiry.
Source: Presstv
11, October 2019
Russia, US veto European statement on Turkey’s Syria action 0
Russian and the United States have used their veto power at the United Nations Security Council to vote down a European statement against Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria.
The council held a closed meeting on Thursday to discuss Ankara’s military incursion, which began on Wednesday despite widespread warnings by world leaders.
Moscow and Washington had their own reasons to veto the statement by five European members — France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and Poland — who had called the meeting to end the bilateral military action.
In a joint statement after the discussions, the European called on Ankara “to cease the unilateral military action,” warning that the offensive threatens progress.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said his country would only support UNSC motions that address broader issues, including the presence of foreign forces in Syria.
US Ambassador Kelly Craft, on the other hand, told reporters that as US President Donald Trump “has made it clear” Washington does not “in any way” endorse Turkey’s actions.
Later in the day, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar spoke with his French counterpart Florence Parly, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace over phone to fill them in on the latest developments.
The UNSC meeting came a day after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, its third in a series of cross-border operations in northern Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that the offensive only targeted militants affiliated with Daesh as well as the Kurdish militia called People’s Protection Units (YPG) in order to establish a Turkish safe-region there.
Ankara says the YPG is effectively the military of wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The YPG also forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has much of northern Syria under control.
Turkey, according of Erdogan, is trying to establish a safe zone in order to resettle millions of refugees in there.
More civilians fall victim, Kurds push back
Meanwhile, human rights groups have been warning that a war of this scale would be deadly for civilians living in crowded cities on both sides of the border. There are also no exact data available on the real extent of the casualties.
Syrian sources reported late Thursday that at least four more Syrians were killed and four more were injured due to Turkish shelling in the border town of Ras al-Ayn.
Earlier, the SDF announced that nine more civilians had been killed in Turkish airstrikes.
Erdogan said Thursday that his country’s forces had already killed, injured or captured a total of 109 Kurdish forces. However, the SDF said the number was exaggerated.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which is based in London, said at least 16 SDF militants had been killed and dozens more injured.
The SDF announced on one of its Twitter accounts that the group had deterred Turkish forces east of the Jalab river, destroying three military vehicles and killing 22 soldiers.
In retaliation for the Turkish attacks against civilian targets, Kurdish militants fired at least three rounds into the Turkish city of Akcakale, killing two civilians.
The International Rescue Committee aid organization said at least 64,000 people had reportedly fled their homes and the number could surpass 300,000 if the offensive continued.
Turkey shells Daesh prison
Kurdish authorities have accused Turkey of attacking one of the several prisons Daesh militants are held in Qamishli in the east of the border region, in what they denounced as a “clear attempt” to help the terrorists escape.
More than 12,000 suspected Daesh militants, including many foreign nationals, are being kept in several SDF-run prisons across northern Syria. More than 58,000 of their family members live across SDF-controlled areas.
Source: Presstv