#you better get three thousand miles away from me if you support israel in this

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so glad most of y’all see what’s going on in gaza for what it is

[trunewsofficial]

Washington War Hawks Lose Their Minds Over Trump’s Syria Decision

With one tweet, President Donald Trump may have hamstrung his entire 2020 re-election effort. The controversy began Sunday evening when the White House issued a statement that announced the president had spoken with Turkish President Recep Erdogan over the phone to discuss Syria. The statement read: “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area. “The United States government has pressed France, Germany, and other European nations, from which many captured ISIS fighters came, to take them back, but they did not want them and refused. The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer. Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured over the past two years in the wake of the defeat of the territorial ‘caliphate’ by the United States.” This morning, as the news was finally reaching the American public, the president went on a tweet storm to defend the move: “The United States was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days; that was many years ago. We stayed and got deeper and deeper into battle with no aim in sight. When I arrived in Washington, ISIS was running rampant in the area. We quickly defeated 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate, including capturing thousands of ISIS fighters, mostly from Europe. “But Europe did not want them back; they said, ‘You keep them, USA!’ I said, ‘NO, we did you a great favor and now you want us to hold them in U.S. prisons at tremendous cost. They are yours for trials.’ They again said, ‘NO,’ thinking, as usual, that the U.S. is always the ‘sucker’—on NATO, on trade, on everything. “The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades. I held off this fight for almost three years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous endless wars—many of them tribal—and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. “Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured ISIS fighters in their ‘neighborhood.’ They all hate ISIS, have been enemies for years. We are 7,000 miles away and will crush ISIS again if they come anywhere near us!” The initial reaction was not great for the president, but it was mostly expected. With “FOX & Friends” ripping on the decision, Washington’s top war hawk, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called in add his two cents’ worth: “If I didn’t see Donald Trump’s name on the tweet I thought it would be Obama’s rationale for getting out of Iraq. Here is what is going to happen. This is going to lead to ISIS reemergence. Nothing's better for ISIS than to create a conflict between the Kurds and Turkey. The Kurds will align with Assad because they have nobody to count on because we abandoned them. So this is a big win for Iran and Assad, a big win for ISIS. I will do everything I can to sanction Turkey if they step one foot in northeastern Syria. That will sever my relationship with Turkey. I think most of the Congress feels that way. I will do a resolution urging the president to reconsider this decision. President’s right about ISIS fighters. Europe needs to do more but you know, he is the president of the United States and it requires leadership. When President Trump -- excuse me, Obama was told what would happen in Iraq, it did. And I’m here to say this is going to lead to the re-emergence of ISIS and the biggest winner in all of this will be the Iranians and that’s too bad.” Graham further commented on the decision in his own tweet storm: “The most probable outcome of this impulsive decision is to ensure Iran’s domination of Syria. The U.S. now has no leverage and Syria will eventually become a nightmare for Israel. “I feel very bad for the Americans and allies who have sacrificed to destroy the ISIS Caliphate because this decision virtually reassures the reemergence of ISIS. So sad. So dangerous. President Trump may be tired of fighting radical Islam. They are NOT tired of fighting us. “Finally, this decision makes it difficult for the U.S. to recruit allies against radical Islam. “By abandoning the Kurds we have sent the most dangerous signal possible – America is an unreliable ally and it’s just a matter of time before China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea act out in dangerous ways.” Other Washington war hawks who jumped on the bandwagon included former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Even the family of Washington’s former top war hawk, the late Sen. John McCain, spoke out—viciously—over the president’s decision. Over at the Mouse House, ABC’s “The View” co-host Meghan McCain claimed the decision was “wag the dog” to distract the media from the Democrat- and media-contrived Ukraine scandal. She railed against the decision, as well as her view that congressional Republicans didn’t do enough to stop him: “I’m going a little bit rogue, but I’ve been so mad this morning and so upset about this news that we are abandoning our Kurdish allies in the Middle East. These are allies of ours that American soldiers are still continuing to fight alongside. All we did was arm them and they fought for America. Right now we’re just saying we’re just going to leave them and abandon them. And to everyone in the White House and every Republican who was mad President Obama pulled out of Iraq, you feckless, unpatriotic cowards. (Applause) And I cannot believe this is where we’re at diplomatic-wise and I cannot — what message is this sending to our allies and to American troops who have fought and died for this? And I cannot believe I’m waking up in the morning seeing this kind of news. And I don’t care that he ran on pulling troops out. That’s a whole different thing. We leave this, this is a great day for ISIS and a great day for Assad. And shame on everyone supporting this. I’m sorry this is not the topic, but I couldn’t come out here today and not say this." After a few hours of these reactions, the president once again repeated—a bit more succinctly this time—his defense for removing U.S. troops that have been illegally situated in Syria for more than five years now: “I was elected on getting out of these ridiculous endless wars, where our great military functions as a policing operation to the benefit of people who don’t even like the USA. The two most unhappy countries at this move are Russia and China, because they love seeing us bogged down, watching over a quagmire, and spending big dollars to do so. When I took over, our military was totally depleted. Now it is stronger than ever before. The endless and ridiculour wars are ENDING! We will be focused on the big picture, knowing we can always go back and blast!” After sharing some positive reactions to his decision, the president resumed tweeting about it, adding the following: “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great unmatched wisdom, consider to be off-limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT!” That only made the reaction to his decision even worse as more of his supporters piled on. Among them, Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson. During his “700 Club” broadcast today, he said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to say right now I am absolutely appalled that the United States is going to betray those Democratic forces in northern Syria, that we possibly are going to allow the Turkish come in against the Kurds. Erdogan is a thug. He has taken control of his country as a dictator. He is a strong leader and to say he’s an ally of America in nonsense. He is in it for himself, and the president—who allowed [Saudi dissident journalist Jamal] Khashoggi to be cut in pieces without any repercussions whatsoever—is now allowing the Christians and the Kurds to be massacred by the Turks. And I believe—and I want to say this with great solemnity—the President of the United States is in danger of losing the mandate of heaven if he permits this to happen.” Robertson’s sudden 180-degree reversal on the murder of Khashoggi notwithstanding, his comments are a stunning indictment from one of the president’s most ardent supporters. But they were echoed by a number of other evangelical Christian leaders, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council—arguably a leader of the political wing of the Religious Right. But the president also had a surprising defender: Zionist radio host Hugh Hewitt. The conservative talking head blasted those who were critical of the decision to withdraw troops—and even draped his comments with a heaping dose of former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Calling out a New York Times headline that suggested the president had “endorsed” a military invasion of Syria by Turkey, he tweeted: “This headline and story is simply wrong. U.S. and Donald Trump do not endorse Turkey attacks, but I traveled with then-National Security Adviser John Bolton to Israel and Turkey in January. It’s been clear for months the U.S. presence in Syria was finite. “There may be terrible fighting between NATO member Turkey and our Kurdish partners in Syria. But ISIS is defeated and the U.S. cannot garrison Syria. If anyone thinks we can, they haven’t followed the defense appropriations battle or NATO countries’ refusal to take ISIS prisoners.” Hewitt reminded his Twitter followers that he was critical of the president’s decision to announce a withdrawal from Syria last year, but also noted that “much has changed” since then. He listed those four “critical differences” between then and now, based on his junket with Bolton earlier this year: NATO countries won’t take the ISIS fighters and expect U.S. to garrison Syria indefinitely; U.S.-Turkish patrols have settled the region somewhat; Notice was given to the Kurds of an eventual pullout; “most crucial of all”: the People’s Republic of China challenge is looming large. Rather than criticize the decision, however, Hewitt has turned the argument back against Congress, particularly Democrats, for failing to pass a defense budget for nearly the entire Obama presidency. Since his initial tweets in defense of the president, he has been a somewhat lone defender of the Syria withdrawal decision. He has, however, refrained from defending the commander-in-chief’s bizarre “unmatched wisdom” statement. Democrats have already begun jumping on it as the basis for once again questioning the president’s mental faculties—ostensibly in a bid to invoke the 25th Amendment. It would seem the president’s challenges from Democrats are only just beginning to emerge in the final 12-plus months before the 2020 presidential election. (Photo Credit: The White House) source https://trunews.com/stream/washington-war-hawks-lose-their-minds-over-trumps-syria-decision

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My 15 Most Favorite Books of 2017

This post originally appeared on Doug Marshall's Blog Marshall Commercial Funding Blog and is republished with permission. Find out how to syndicate your content with theBrokerList.

This blog post is devoted to sharing fifteen of my most favorite books I read in 2017. You’ll see that I like to read a variety of books. If you’re interested in learning more about a particular book, click on the book title and the link will take you to its Amazon page.

#15 – In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir by Neil White

This is the true story of the last leper colony in the continental United States. Neil White was convicted of check kiting to keep his magazine publishing business solvent. He was sentenced to one year in prison. While in prison he learned insightful lessons about life, not only from the other prisoners but also from the lepers who lived in a separate section of the facility. At the beginning, he was, like all of us would be, repulsed by the disfigurement of those who had contracted leprosy (Hansen’s disease). But as he learned their personal stories, slowly began his transformation from one of fear and disgust to one of compassion and love.

#14 – David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

If you’ve ever read any of Malcolm Gladwell’s books – Outliers, Blink, Tipping Point – you know his writing style. Mr. Gladwell has the uncanny ability to weave together innocuous tidbits of information to relate revealing stories that provide the reader “aha” moments. In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and supposed disadvantages. He offers new interpretations of commonly held beliefs that will both entertain you and challenge your thinking.

#13 – Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

The nation of Israel has always intrigued me. How can a nation that is only 60 years old, surrounded by hostile neighbors and has little or no natural resources thrive when other nations around them can’t seem to get out of the Middle Ages? This book explains the entrepreneurial spirit of the Israeli culture that produces more successful start-up companies per capita than any other country in the world. This book is filled with thought provoking examples of what makes this culture the way it is.

#12 – Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia by Anne Garrels

You may recall that Anne Garrells was the foreign correspondent for National Public Radio for twenty-five years. Putin Country is Ms. Garrells’ first-hand experience of living in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Chelyabinsk is a military-industrial city located a thousand miles east of Moscow. It was the home of the Soviet nuclear program resulting in it being one of the most polluted places on earth. During the reign of Putin, it has gained new freedoms, a thriving economy and a growing middle class. But it is also a story of official corruption, shakedowns and intolerance. If you want a better understanding of what is happening today in Russia, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly, you need to read this book.

#11 – Beneath a Scarlet Sky, A Novel by Mark Sullivan

This historical fiction is based on the true story of Pino Lella who spies for the Allies during World War II while being the personal driver of the commander of German forces in Italy. This book gave me a better understanding of the difficulties Italians went through who opposed Mussolini and the Nazis without being a traitor to their country. This book should be read in tandem with the Pope and Mussolini (my #7 choice) as many of the events and people overlap between the two books. You’ll find Beneath the Scarlet Sky an entertaining book to read.

#10 – Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast Sustained Weight Loss by Joel Fuhrman

Have you ever tried to lose weight only to plateau about 10 to 15 pounds above your goal weight? Yes, me too. After reading this book, I incorporated three new eating habits into my daily eating regimen. Within three months I lost those unwanted pounds and the excess weight has stayed off. This book is not a gimmicky diet book.

#9 – Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt

Gone are the days when the three TV channels and the major newspapers control how products and services are marketed. Now anyone, including you, can successfully compete with the major players in your field. Michael Hyatt is an authority on how to get yourself noticed using social media marketing. He has gone from no following on social media to one of the largest in the world by blogging and interacting principally on Facebook and Twitter. Creating a successful social media platform is the key to success and Mr. Hyatt explains in very easy, step-by-step instructions how you go about doing it.

#8 – Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene’ Brown

The back book cover says it best: “Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Dr. Brene’ Brown dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, the most accurate measure of courage.” If you want a book that challenges the very core of your beliefs about life and love, this is the book for you.

#7 – The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David Kertzer

I particularly enjoyed reading this book because I had no knowledge about these events or the major players. I always thought Mussolini was a Hitler wannabe. This book corrects that misconception. The book is replete with historical documentation that supports the premise that Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini had a symbiotic, love/hate relationship. Mussolini needed the Catholic Church’s blessing in order to legitimize his hold on power. The Catholic Church needed Mussolini’s preferential treatment in order to regain the influence it once had on Italian society.

#6 – Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

In the introduction of his book, David Platt summarizes the gist of his book when he says, “I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe.” Throughout the book he gives examples of how the American church has melded American values in with biblical teachings. The end result is that we are molding Jesus into our own image. A very thought provoking book.

#5 – Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

If you want to get a much better appreciation of the genius of Leonardo da Vinci this is the book for you. He begins as a talented painter who advances the art and science of painting to a whole new level. His insatiable curiosity leads him down many different paths of science – human anatomy, astronomy, geology, engineering, hydrology to name just a few. He was the creator of many inventions. His downfall was his perfectionism. He left many of his projects unfinished, unfinished by his standards resulting in many of his accomplishments not being recognized until after his death. For example, the Mona Lisa, which is he best known for, da Vinci continued adding additional brush strokes over the last thirteen years of his life. This book gives a fascinating insight into the mind of what makes a genius.

#4 – Getting to Yes with Yourself by William Ury

Many years ago, Roger Fisher and William Ury wrote what has become the quintessential book on negotiating, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. So it was with curiosity that I decided to see what other insights Mr. Ury could have on this subject. Mr. Ury considers his new book as an indispensable prequel to his original book. In the book’s introduction he explains his thinking. “I have come to realize that the first and most important negotiation we ever conduct is the negotiation with ourselves. Getting to yes with yourself prepares the way for getting to yes with others. Getting to Yes with Yourself is about changing the inner game so that we can then change the outer game. After all, how can we really expect to get to yes with others, particularly in challenging situations, if we haven’t first gotten to yes with ourselves?”

#3 – The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

Throw out everything you thought you knew about the Wright brothers because if you’re like me, what you learned about these two brothers came from a junior high history class which was woefully inadequate and an incomplete history of what actually took place. It’s a story of two men who had a passion for learning how to fly when the best engineering minds of the day told them it couldn’t be done. It’s a story of the U.S. government refusing to believe they had accomplished the feat, so much so they wouldn’t even send a person to their airfield to corroborate their story. It’s a story of the Wright brothers traveling to France in order to prove that they had indeed made a machine that could fly. You will come away with a much deeper appreciation of what they accomplished.

#2 – American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard

According to the author, North America is made up of eleven distinct people groups, each with its own unique historical roots and their own unique culture and values. When you look at the major events that shaped our country (for example the Revolutionary War or Civil War) through the lense of these different people groups, the history you thought you knew takes on a whole new understanding. This way of looking at American history is quite revealing. I may have ranked this book as the best book of 2017 if it weren’t for the author forcing his very left leaning political beliefs as facts instead of opinions in the last couple of chapters of the book.

#1 – The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a novel rated as my number one book for the year, but this book deserves it. This book is about the lives of two women in Nazi occupied France during World War II. The Nightingale is the code name for Isabelle, an eighteen year old heroine who smuggles allied airmen and other important people out of France over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. The book also tells the story of Isabelle’s sister, Vianne, who had to endure the brutality of a German officer billeted in her house without her permission. But Vianne also puts her life at risk by assisting nuns with clandestinely finding homes for Jewish children. The heroism and the courage of these fragile women was quite emotionally stirring. It gave me a better appreciation of what it must have been like living in occupied France during World War II. A real page turner.

Happy reading. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Here’s my Christmas present to you. Click here to download for FREE my nine page book summary on Getting to YES with Yourself. I’d like to hear from you. Tell me about the favorite books you’ve read this year.

RSS Feed provided by theBrokerList Blog - Are you on theBrokerList for commercial real estate (cre)? and My 15 Most Favorite Books of 2017 was written by Doug Marshall, Marshall Commercial Funding.

My 15 Most Favorite Books of 2017 published first on http://ift.tt/2hkHhkP