"If you were surprised to learn the U.S. has nearly a thousand troops in Niger, you’re not alone. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who serves on the Armed Forces Committee, told NBC he 'had no idea.' Neither did Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat. Well, the surprises may keep coming."
"Violating the Constitution is practically the job description for modern presidents. It was George W. Bush’s White House, not Trump, that asserted a 'commander-in-chief override' entitling presidents to ignore the law and the Bill of Rights. Congress utterly failed to thwart that outrageous claim. Presidents have amassed vast authority because they are judged on their rhetoric and purported goals, not on their constitutional fidelity."
"Trump’s decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), appears to have fallen in line with the views espoused by several of his top donors. These funders believe that Iran poses an apocalyptic threat only addressable through military action, including the use of nuclear weapons."
"Trump previously loosened CIA drone strike rules in Afghanistan that will now allow for some civilian casualties relative to the importance of the target. 'We’ll be here as long as it takes until you change your mind,' Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said recently in a message to the Taliban."
"U.S. President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the Iran nuclear deal on Friday, as he announced that he would not certify that Iran is in compliance with the agreement. While the unravelling of the deal is neither automatic nor certain, Trump’s announcement will have clear implications for the agreement – and for U.S. diplomacy. Going forward, two key things to watch will be how Congress and international businesses will react to the Trump administration’s moves."
"President Trump has been in office for just 9 months, and he has already surpassed Obama’s murderous record with estimated numbers as high as 4,500 civilian deaths. Trump made headlines in December 2015, when he declared that if elected, he would not only kill members of ISIS—he would also 'take out their families.' He is following through on that promise, according to a report from Steven Feldstein, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State."
"The JFK Records Act, enacted in 1992 in response to public outrage over continued official secrecy in the JFK assassination, required the CIA and other federal agencies to release all their records relating to the JFK assassination. Someone, however, slipped a provision into the law entitling the CIA (and other federal agencies) to wait another 25 years to release their records. Taking advantage of that provision, the CIA withheld tens of thousands of pages of records, no doubt thinking that another 25 years was a long time away."
"If the administration succeeds in wiping the record clean, it will need to defend only Trump's latest ban, which followed a three-month review of immigration procedures. Keeping the lower court rulings on the books would give opponents more support for claims that the new ban exceeds the president's authority and discriminates against Muslims. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had ruled that Trump lacked proof the earlier ban was needed, and the 4th Circuit appeals court said it discriminated based on religion."
"The court’s verdict also directed authorities to seize the property and assets of Musharraf, now in self-imposed exile in Dubai, and to issue perpetual arrest warrants for the former dictator."
"The 'America First' foreign policy Trump promised during the campaign is just a memory, and his baffled supporters are left to contemplate the most brazen betrayal in modern American political history."