"[Israel] is not an occupying nation. As an evangelical Christian, I am convinced by my reading of the Bible that 3,000 years on now, in spite of the denial of so many, [this land] is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people," he said.
Pompeo, who referred to the occupied West Bank by its Israeli name of Judea and Samaria, declined to support a two-state solution of an independent Palestine alongside Israel – an increasingly diminishing prospect after years of failed negotiations and the rise to power of politicians in Israel who advocate annexing the occupied territories.
Weingarten, who has been AFT's president since 2008, told USA Today in August that "extremists on the right wing" despise teachers unions and their commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every student…
"Do not let my colleagues pretend today that Trump and Pompeo didn't set in motion the Afghanistan withdrawal. They did," Kinzinger tweeted on Tuesday.
Lawyers and journalists sued the CIA and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo Monday for spying on them while they met Julian Assange when he was living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had political asylum. The lawsuit is being filed as Britain prepares to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. We speak with the lead attorney in the case, Richard Roth, who details how a private security company stationed at the London Embassy unknowingly sent images from Assange's visitors' cellphones and laptops as well as streamed video from inside meetings to American intelligence. He says the offenses breach a range of client privileges and could sway a U.S. judge to dismiss the case if Assange is successfully extradited.
… "Let's keep in mind, (former Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo met with the Taliban. As Donald Trump was publicly saying, 'We have to get out of Afghanistan at all costs. It's not worth it,' Mike Pompeo meets with the Taliban and tries to negotiate something," Kinzinger, who represents Illinois, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on "State of the Union." …
This week: How will the Gordon Sondland’s suit against Pompeo go; could Pompeo be in criminal trouble, too; is Trump appointed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig sweet-talking Democrats just to keep his job; how authoritarian did Barr’s DoJ get to find the identity of a Twitter account that made fun of Devin Nunes; is the US in the market for a Greenland; who is Joe Elliott and how is he involved with Gaetz and Greenberg; what is Andrew’s initial reaction to the Barr OLC memo decision; plus lottery payoffs for vaccinations; Romney supports a Jan 6 Commission; 3 new Biden appointees make it through; and more.
... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees the State Department, responded to Pompeo's missive with one of his own: "I guess I appreciate him just saying it out loud. That America's multiculturalism is a weakness. That if you're not white with European ancestry, you're not American. It's stunning to hear him say it, but at least he's not hiding it."
...The American right has been trying to make the Iran connection ever since Dick Cheney falsely fingered Saddam Hussein for 9/11. But Pompeo does not get hung up on facts. He prefers assertions, tweets and slogans. Thus, he claimed, "they [Iran and al-Qaida] are partners in terrorism, partners in hate… This axis poses a grave threat to the security of nations and to the American homeland"...
..."It is unprecedented for an American secretary of state to be unwelcome at any time, especially at the end of their tenure, in the foreign ministries of our closest allies," Brett Bruen, who was director of Global Engagement in the Obama White House, said. "It just goes to show how far he has ostracised himself."...
..."The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality," Trump tweeted, despite a federal alert in recent days that called the widespread cyber espionage campaign "a grave risk to" government agencies and the private sector. "I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control," he said, while agencies are scrambling to investigate and contain major breaches at agencies including the State, Treasury, Energy, Homeland Security and Commerce departments — an effort that is likely to take months. He also speculated, with no evidence, that the hacks may also have included "a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big." ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russia-is-behind-the-broad-ongoing-cyber-spy-campaign-against-the-us-government-and-private-sector-pompeo-says/2020/12/19/8c850cf0-41b3-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html
In defiance of overwhelming opposition, the United States is preparing to declare that all international sanctions against Iran have been restored. Few countries believe the move is legal, and such action could provoke a credibility crisis at the United Nations.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights produced a report on July 16 asserting that religious beliefs are more important than other peoples’ rights. The Freedom From Religion Foundation condemns this report and its flagrant attempt to elevate the rights of believers above the rights of others.
The report is Christian Nationalism in print and stamped with government authority, granting the State Department permission to conduct a Christian Nationalist foreign policy. That means not supporting the rights of the LGBTQ community, giving Christian Nationalists a blank check to proselytize, restricting access to HIV/AIDS medications and abortion, and permitting the direct funding of houses of worship abroad. https://www.freethoughttoday.com/vol-37-no-07-september-2020/pompeos-report-is-christian-nationalism
The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany has come under bipartisan attack in the Senate, amid warnings it would disrupt US alliances.....
