Epstein Secrets

on and the realization of democratic institutions. In Egypt, autocratic military officers vie for power with varying shades of Islamists. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad has responded to the demands of his people by slaughtering them, many hundreds each week. In the Persian Gulf, sultans and emirs stifle potential p

varying shades of Islamists. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad has responded to the demands of his people by sl

r or a world with an Iranian bomb are not the only alternatives. The judgment of the U.S. intelligence community, as voiced publicly by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, is that Iran is retaining the option to build nuclear weapons but has not yet decided to do so. Much diplomatic ground has yet to be

get a pass" from her. "Senator, I'm offended by the question," Gabbard responded. Pressed on her secret 2017 trip to meet with then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has since been toppled by rebels and fled to Russia, she defended her work as diplomacy. The article stated that Gabbard may have made some in

17 trip to meet with then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has since been toppled by rebels and fled t

hat Gabbard is seen as the most endangered of Trump's picks, potentially lacking the votes even from Trump's party for confirmation for Director of National Intelligence. But her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee offered a roadmap toward confirmation. It opened with the chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-AK

e opposition in Syria began as a largely peaceful, grass- roots, pan-Syrian movement for democratic change. But it was deliberately met by President Bashar al-Assad with murder and sectarian venom. He wanted to make the conflict about his Alawite minority versus the country's Sunni Muslim majority as a way of d

m, democracy and reform." Iran, Hamas knows, is not amused. But that appears to be a diminishing concern for the movement. Hamas' relationship with Assad, Tehran's key Arab ally, began to sour last year when the Palestinian group resisted pressure to stage pro- regime events in refugee camps in Syria.

s nuclear facilities, U.S. officials believe that there are at least 50 chemical weapon production and storage facilities inside Syria. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress last week that the Syrian regime has maintained security at these sites, many of which are located in rural

et be a presidential game changer of the kind that everyone knew would surely come. Still, these were chemical weapons launched by a repeat offender, Bashar al-Assad. In any other presidency, such an atrocity would command a considered and, ideally, skillful response. Obama’s consideration had in fact been less th

ying international law, had used chemical weapons. There was video documenting the attack and substantial agreement among intelligence agencies about Assad’s responsibility. The politics were right: Barack Obama failed to act when confronted with a Syrian chemical attack, and now Trump could. The downsid

ing else. When the meeting ended, Priebus and Bannon thought they had bought some breathing room. Later that day, Sally Yates and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Terrorism subcommittee— and were greeted by a series of furious tweets from

e, The (TV show), 30, 76, 92, 109, 200 Arif, Tevfik, 100 Armey, Dick, 81 Arthur Andersen, 278 Art of the Deal, The (Trump and Schwartz), 22 Assad, Bashar al-, 183, 190 Atlantic City, 30, 99, 210 Atwater, Lee, 57 Australia, 78 Ayers, Nick, 240 Azerbaijan, 254 Bahrain, 231 Baier, Bret, 159-60 Bak

prentice, The (TV show), 30, 76, 92, 109, 200 Arif, Tevfik, 100 Armey, Dick, 81 Arthur Andersen, 278 Art of the Deal, The (Trump and Schwartz), 22 Assad, Bashar al-, 183, 190 Atlantic City, 30, 99, 210 Atwater, Lee, 57 Australia, 78 Ayers, Nick, 240 Azerbaijan, 254 Bahrain, 231 Baier, Bret, 159

Devils Bargain, The (Green), 276, 289 DeVos, Betsy, 21, 129 DeYoung, Karen, 105-6 Dickerson, John, 209 Digital Entertainment Network, 56 Director of National Intelligence, 86, 214 Disney, 42, 88 Dowd, Mark, 281 Dubai, 39 Dubke, Mike, 208, 273 Duke, David, 141 Dunford, Joseph, 182 Egypt, 6, 81, 227, 231 elections of 200

ties even where the committee only sees difficulties. On Syria, for example, the report notes that 'Russia views its intervention in support of the Assad regime as a success, and it is clear that its presence in Syria presents the West with difficulty in supporting peace in the region. Russia's increa

public hearing on the annual World Wide Threats Assessment for months but have been unable to reach an agreement with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on scheduling, in part, because of the recent turnover at the director position." Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner <https://www.washingtonexaminer

Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020 Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2O17 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[S9'1[392] In December 2018, Trump declared "we have

ions of Russian election interference In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Tnunp.=1553.

American reliability among all =.S. allies in the region and beyond. That Iran has appea=ed far more determined to win in Syria, defined as keeping Assad in power,=than the United States has appeared in achieving its stated goal (that Ass=d must go) similarly shakes confidence in U.S. power and willpo

Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, said in April 2014 that &=uot;Syria has become a matt=r of homeland security,&quo=; and the Director of National Intelligence, James Clappe=, said in January 2014 that=one of the al-Qaeda-aligned Syrian jihadi groups "does have aspiratio=s for attacks on the homeland."Among

bout an Israeli raid in Syria on August 1, 2008. It revealed that in it a group of Israeli commandos killed General Suleiman, a top aide to President Assad who had been working with North Korea to build a nuclear facility in Syria. Israel had destroyed that facility in Operation Orchard nearly a year ear

we do in intelligence that, if revealed, would have the potential for all kinds of blowback,” -- National Intelligence” — James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence In the Game of Nations, which is played at a level that often is not visible to public scrutiny, the great prize is state secrets that reveal the hi