Should a name from three decades past be an issue in today's Middle East diplomacy? Here's our contributor Ben Stein: I see that the media are filled with gossip that the U.S. government might allow convicted spy Jonathan Pollard to go free as a way to get Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians in the "peace" drive that John Kerry is trying to ram down Israel's throat. Amid talk of his release, convicted spy Jonathan Pollard waives parole hearing A few humble thoughts: First, Jonathan Pollard should never have been sent to prison for life for giving secrets to our best friend in the Middle East, Israel. That sentence is off the charts, compared with similar situations.Pollard's misconduct was obviously a disgrace, but he has paid for it insanely. He's been in prison longer than many people get for murder. Reports are that he's extremely unwell. This poor devil has been punished enough. More important, the Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank do not recognize Israel's … [Read more...] about Ben Stein to John Kerry: “Time to wake up”
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John Kerry says Trump’s behavior toward Iran complicates his North Korean gambit
Visit The Boston Globe Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Comment on this Scroll to top of page Scot Lehigh Globe Columnist March 13, 2018 THE ONE CONSTANT you can count on with the Trump administration is chaos. Yet even by that standard, the last seven days have been tumultuous.Last week, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn hit the silk. This week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was pushed unceremoniously off the plane. Tillerson never seemed up to dealing with both a complex world and a mercurial boss. Still, the selection of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him will vastly complicate an already intricate set of intertwined challenges: trying to strike a denuclearization deal with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while determining the ultimate fate of the Iran nuclear agreement.Unlike Tillerson, but very much like Trump, Pompeo sees the Iran deal as a disaster and has called for rolling it back. Speaking to reporters in 2014, as the pact was being … [Read more...] about John Kerry says Trump’s behavior toward Iran complicates his North Korean gambit
NY POST: Explosive ‘Secret Empires’ Book Uncovers Joe Biden, John Kerry Billion-Dollar China Bombshell
On Thursday, the New York Post published an exclusive excerpt of the soon-to-be-released investigative blockbuster Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends by Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer. In this excerpt, Schweizer reveals that former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and the stepson of former Secretary of State John Kerry scored a $1 billion deal with the Bank of China’s Bohai Capital just 10 days after Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden returned from their 2013 trip to China.From the New York Post: Joe Biden and John Kerry have been pillars of the Washington establishment for more than 30 years. Biden is one of the most popular politicians in our nation’s capital.His demeanor, sense of humor, and even his friendly gaffes have allowed him to form close relationships with both Democrats and Republicans. His … [Read more...] about NY POST: Explosive ‘Secret Empires’ Book Uncovers Joe Biden, John Kerry Billion-Dollar China Bombshell
Report: John Kerry’s Former Chief of Staff Circulated Anti-Trump Dossier Summary While at State Department
NEW YORK — A third former official from John Kerry’s State Department has been named in recent reports for alleged involvement in circulating the largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier. An extensive New Yorker profile of the dossier’s author, former British spy Christopher Steele, named Kerry’s chief of staff at the State Department, John Finer, as obtaining the contents of a two-page summary of the dossier and eventually deciding to share the questionable document with Kerry.Finer received the dossier summary from Jonathan M. Winer, the Obama State Department official who acknowledged regularly interfacing and exchanging information with Steele, according to the report. Winer previously conceded that he shared the dossier summary with Victoria Nuland, a career diplomat who worked under the Clintons and served as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs under Kerry. New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer named Finer in her report: In … [Read more...] about Report: John Kerry’s Former Chief of Staff Circulated Anti-Trump Dossier Summary While at State Department
John Kerry: Failing to rescue Bergdahl would have been “offensive”
A week after Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released in exchange for five former Taliban leaders being held at Guantanamo Bay, the administration continues to defend its actions that have come under close scrutiny by lawmakers and the public. Secretary of State John Kerry appeared in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday to argue that there was no choice but to rescue Bergdahl by any means necessary, because it "would have been offensive and incomprehensible to consciously leave an American behind...in the hands of people who would torture him, cut off his head, [or] do any number of things." He offered confident, yet vague, assurances that the five detainees who were released into Qatari custody won't be able to harm Americans, an argument made by several lawmakers who opposed the exchange. In an interview on ABC's "This Week," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said he was "absolutely convinced" that at least three of the Taliban leaders, and possibly … [Read more...] about John Kerry: Failing to rescue Bergdahl would have been “offensive”