Thursday, September 1, 2016

That crooked Clinton Foundation

 9h9 hours ago
The Clinton Foundation is the definition of corruption.
332 retweets468 likes
 
 
 


Yes, Dr. Jill Stein, it is.

And the latest revelations?

Guess who footed the bill for some of the Clinton Foundation's 'needs'?

Yes, you and me -- the American tax payers.

This went up earlier:


When I read their humor post, I made a point to click on the link.

And, sure enough, POLITICO reports we paid for the server -- the same one the e-mails were sent on and wiped from -- and other items.

Because that family is so corrupt.


This is a press release from Judicial Watch:


Judicial Watch: New Abedin Emails Reveal Top Clinton Foundation Executive Doug Band Sought Diplomatic Passport from Clinton State Department
Abedin responded to Band request: ‘Ok will figure it out’
Emails also reveal Bill Clinton/Doug Band Sought State Department Favors for Foundation Supporters Andrew Liveris, Chris Ruddy, and Lynn de Rothschild
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 510 pages of new State Department documents, including a 2009 request by Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band for diplomatic passports for himself and an associate.  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aide Abedin responded to Band’s request positively, saying, “Ok will figure it out.”  The emails show Hillary Clinton forwarding classified information to Abedin’s unsecured, non-state.gov account. The emails also show Bill Clinton sought a meeting with Mrs. Clinton for a major Clinton donor with State Department officials and Hillary Clinton herself pushed for a joint event with the Clinton Global Initiative.  Band also pushed for and obtained special help from Abedin for seven-figure Clinton Foundation donor Chris Ruddy, of Newsmax.com.
Although an exchange sent from Sidney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton concerning the “disastrous nature of the Obama trip” and the U.S. being “totally out of the loop in Berlin – no ambassador” with the expectation that “Germans and Russians will now cut their own separate deals on energy, regional security, etc….” had previously published by the State Department, it was unknown until now that Clinton forwarded this exchange containing classified information that was redacted for security reasons to Abedin’s unsecure non-state.gov account
The new documents included 37 Hillary Clinton email exchanges not previously turned over to the State Department, bringing the known total to date of such emails uncovered by Judicial Watch to 228 of new Clinton emails (not part of the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton turned over to the State Department).  These records further appear to contradict statements by Clinton that, “as far as she knew,” all of her government emails were turned over to the State Department.
The Band request was for a special diplomatic passport for himself and his associates – an unidentified “JD” and apparently Justin Cooper, formerly a key member of Bill Clinton’s personal office and the Clinton Foundation who has been linked to registration documents for and the shutting down of the email server at the center of Mrs. Clinton’s State Department emails controversy.
The Band-Abedin exchange went as follows:
From: Doug Band
To: Huma Abedin
Sent: Jul 27, 2009 10:32 AM
Subject:
Need get me/ justy and jd dip passports
We had them years ago but they lapsed and we didn’t bother getting them
From: Huma Abedin [Huma@clintonemail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 10:38:39 PM
To: Doug Band
Subject: Re:
Ok will figure it out
The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations strictly limits the granting of diplomatic passports to members of the Foreign Service, their family members, or those working on U.S. government contracts. According to 22 CFR 51.3:
A diplomatic passport is issued to a Foreign Service officer or to a person having diplomatic status or comparable status because he or she is traveling abroad to carry out diplomatic duties on behalf of the U.S. Government. When authorized by the Department, spouses and family members of such persons may be issued diplomatic passports. When authorized by the Department, a diplomatic passport may be issued to a U.S. Government contractor if the contractor meets the eligibility requirements for a diplomatic passport and the diplomatic passport is necessary to complete his or her mission.
The newly released Abedin emails also contain additional instances of the Clinton State Department’s granting special favors to major contributors to the Clinton Foundation. A July 27, 2009, exchange of emails begins with Abedin advising Clinton scheduler Lona Valmoro that “wjc” (William Jefferson Clinton) wants special treatment for high-dollar Foundation donor and Dow Chemical’s CEO Andrew Liveris. Dow donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, making it one of the largest corporate donors in Foundation history.
From: Huma Abedin Huma@clintonemail.com
To: Valmoro, Lona J
Sent: Monday, Jul 27 06:02:01 2009
Subject:
Wjc wants to be sure hrc sees Andrew Liveris, ceo of dow tomorrow night. Apparently he is head of us china business council. Is he definitely going to be there?
From: Valmoro, Lona J [VlamoroLJ@state.gov
Sent: July 27, 2009 6:03:54 AM
To: Huma Abedin
Subject: Re:
I will check. He declined our invitation to dinner tonight at State.
From: Valmoro, Lona J
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 9:24:08 AM
To: Huma Abedin; Narain, Paul F [Clinton aide]
Subject: Re: CEO of dow
Paul, Andrew Leveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, is going to be at the dinner tomorrow night. We would like HRC to see him, perhaps they can do a brief pull aside upon arrival. Huma, would that work for you?
From: Huma Abedin [AbedinH@state.gov]
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 9:24:55 AM
To: Valmoro, Lona J, Huma Abedin, Narain, Paul F
Subject: Re: CEO of dow
Yes pull aside on arrival
From: Narain, Paul F
Sent, Monday, July 27, 2009 7:56 PM
To: Valmoro, Lona, Abedin Huma
Subject: RE: CEO of dow
Lona, I have arranged this pull aside for on the arrival in the Hold Room across the hall from the ballroom, immediately prior to the Secretary’s entrance and remarks.
The Abedin emails include a mid-August 2009, email exchange in which Band urges Abedin to follow up on a request from Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy to set up a meeting with then-Ambassador to Panama Barbara Stephenson on behalf of lobbyist Amb. Otto Reich, President Reagan’s ambassador to Venezuela who maintained high-level government positions during the tenure of both President George H.W. Bush and President George Bush.  In early September, Ruddy then was contacted by State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta S. Jacobson, at the behest of Band and Abedin, in reference to Ruddy’s concerns about Wilson Lucom, whose estate was embroiled in a heated multi-million-dollar lawsuit.  Ruddy’s Newsmax Media Inc, made a contribution to the Clinton Foundation of between $1 million and $5 million. The emails show the responsible official was put in contact with Ruddy.
From: Christopher [Redacted]
To: Doug Band [Redacted]
Sent: Mon Aug 17 3:40:56 2009
Subject: Panama
Otto Reich is arriving in Panama tonite on the matter I discussed. He was hoping to meet with Barbara Stephenson or her Charge this week. He has not heard back from her. Any “air’ support you can give for this meeting would be helpful. Thanks! – Christopher Ruddy
From: Doug Band
To: Huma Abedin
Sent: Aug 18, 2009 10:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Panama
Would be good to do quickly.
Even a call
From: Huma Abedin
To: Doug Band
Sent: Wed Aug 19 4:51:35 2009
Subject: Re: Panama
Both of our point people are out on vacation. I can ask someone junior to deal with this?
From: Doug Band
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 5:20:13 PM
To: Huma Abedin
Subject: Re: Panama
Sure
From: Jacobson, Roberta S
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 7:32 AM
To: ruddy [Redacted]
Subject: Panama case
Mr. Ruddy: Your inquiry about the Lucom case has been passed to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs here at State. I apologize for not getting you a response on our position last evening, but we will get back to you as soon as possible today. Many thanks. Roberta Jacobson.
From: Christopher Ruddy
To: dband
Sent: Fri Sep 04, 08:01:20 2009 7:32 AM
Subject: FW: Panama case
From: Doug Band
To: Huma Abedin
Sent: Fri Sep 04 08:18:43 2009
Subject: Fw: Panama case
From: Huma Abedin
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 8:37:21 AM
To: Doug Band
Subject: Re: Panama case
She’s the dep assistant secretary for the whole bureau.
The Panama desk guy is on leave so I asked that she at least reach out.
(Newsmax publishes a regular Judicial Watch column.)
The new Abedin emails also include an email exchange between Sidney Blumenthal and the then-Secretary of State in which Blumenthal proposes a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Ireland. Hillary Clinton forwarded Blumenthal’s email to Abedin, Cheryl Mills, and Doug Band saying, “I think this is a good idea and see no conflict.” Band then responded that he and Bill Clinton think it is as “great idea.”
Again, Hillary Clinton’s involvement in CGI violates her ethics pledge to stay of out of Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative business.  Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton on January 5, 2009, in a letter to State Department Designated Agency Ethics Official James H. Thessin:
“For the duration of my appointment as Secretary if I am confirmed, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which The William J. Clinton Foundation (or the Clinton Global Initiative) is a party or represents a party….”
In an email exchange in late August 2009, billionaire businesswoman Lynn Forester de Rothschild intervened directly with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to set up a Parade magazine interview for journalist Les Gelb, assuring Clinton, “He said he would give you a veto over content and looked me in the eye and said, ‘she will like it.’” Abedin then instructed State Department aide Phillip Reines. Reines acquiesced responding, “Yes, we’re trying to find a date that works for Les, but he is a little, shall we say, picky.” Rothschild is a longtime Clinton Foundation supporter who in mid-May of this year held a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for the presidential candidate.
Also in the documents is an August 2009 communication from Hillary Clinton to her aides Abedin and Lauren Jiloty asking for the phone numbers of Declan Kelly, Clinton’s former economic envoy to Northern Ireland who is co-founder and CEO of Teneo.
“The idea that the State Department would even consider a diplomatic passport for Clinton Foundation executives is beyond belief,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “These emails show various violations of national security laws and ethics rules and further confirm that Hillary and Bill Clinton are personally implicated in the Clinton Foundation pay to play scandal.”
This is the eleventh set of records produced for Judicial Watch by the State Department from the non-state.gov email accounts of Huma Abedin.  The documents were produced under a court order in a May 5, 2015, Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00684)) requiring the agency to produce “all emails of official State Department business received or sent by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013, using a ‘non-state’.gov email address.”
On August 22, Judicial Watch released 725 pages of new State Department documents, including previously unreleased email exchanges in which Hillary Clinton top aide Huma Abedin provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state. In many instances, the preferential treatment provided to donors was at the specific request of Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.
###




This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

 
Thursday, September 1, 2016.  Chaos and violence continue, the State Dept's John Kirby needs to call Philippe Kropf and the number is +964 (0)751 1352875, the UN's death toll for Iraq increased wit August having the largest death toll of the year thus far, and much more.
What you go and do
You go and give the boy a gun
Now there ain't place to run to
Ain't no place to run to

When he hold it in his hand
He feel mighty he feel strong
Now there ain't no place to run to
Ain't no place to run

One day he may come back
Repay us for what we've done
Then where you gonna run to
Where you gonna run

But one fine day
All our problems will be solved
Bang bang bang
We'll shoot him down
-- "Bang Bang Bang" written by Tracy Chapman, first appears on her MATTERS OF THE HEART album, a strong remaster appears on last year's GREATEST HITS



Handing children guns -- the topic of a question raised in Wednesday's US State Dept press briefing moderated by spokesperson John Kirby.


 QUESTION: Human Rights Watch says Iraqi Government-backed militias have recruited children in preparation for an offensive to drive ISIL from Mosul. They call on the Iraqi Government to take action to demobilize child soldiers. Has the U.S. raised the issue with the Iraqi Government or are you going – aware of the issue?
MR KIRBY: I’m not aware of that report. Obviously, we would strongly condemn the use of children as soldiers in any armed conflict, but I’m not aware that – of this particular report.


First, let's inform you of what Kirby couldn't -- takes a lot of time to curl those lashes, doesn't it, John?


Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch issued an alert which opened:

 Iraqi government-backed militias have recruited children from at least one displaced persons camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to fight against Islamic State forces. All security forces and armed groups should abide by international law and demobilize any fighters under age 18.
  Witnesses and relatives told Human Rights Watch that two tribal militias (Hashad al-Asha`ri) recruited as fighters at least seven children from the Debaga camp on August 14, 2016, and drove them to a town closer to Mosul, where Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are preparing for an offensive to drive the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, from the city. The Hashad al-Asha`ri, made up of local Sunni fighters, are expected to play a key role in Mosul military operations, while the government may order the mainly Shia militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces to stay out of the Mosul fighting.
“The recruitment of children as fighters for the Mosul operation should be a warning sign for the Iraqi government,” said Bill Van Esveld, senior children’s rights researcher. “The government and its foreign allies need to take action now, or children are going to be fighting on both sides in Mosul.”
  Human Rights Watch has documented that ISIS has extensively recruited and deployed children in its forces.
Debaga camp, 40 kilometers south of Erbil, currently houses over 35,000 people displaced in the fighting between government forces and ISIS. Two people living in the camp since March told Human Rights Watch that at least two militia groups engaged in the fighting against ISIS are entirely made up of camp residents. They said that these two militias, commanded by Sheikh Nishwan al-Jabouri and by Maghdad al-Sabawy, the son of the recently deceased commander Fares al-Sabawy, have been recruiting from the camp for months. Their trucks have been arriving empty, and driving away filled with men, and in some cases, boys.

The two camp residents said that two very large trucks arrived in the evening of August 14 and took away about 250 new recruits, at least 7 of them under age 18, to join Sheikh al-Jabouri’s forces. Witnesses and other camp residents said that all the men and boys volunteered to join the militias. An aid worker who was on the road saw the two trucks heading to Hajj Ali, a town about 46 kilometers from Debaga and 7 kilometers from the front lines with ISIS. They contacted local aid workers in Hajj Ali, who confirmed that the group had arrived there, stayed for one night, and then went on to join a militia nearby.


John Kirby pinky swears he's never even heard of the report, is completely unfamiliar with it.

There are two options here.

First, he's lying because the militias are part of the Iraqi government (Hayder al-Abadi incorporated them into the armed forces some time ago) and the US government is not allowed to 'partner' in military operations with governments that use child soldiers.

So he's lying to avoid legal ramifications.

Or there's the second choice: He's really that stupid.

Let's go with the second choice.

I think it's the first but I think he's playing dumb on the national stage to avoid legal ramifications.


So the US government has wasted X trillion of US taxpayer dollars on this never-ending illegal war and US troops are on the ground there and President Barack Obama has appointed a special envoy (Brett McGurk) and the State Dept and John Kirby can't be bothered monitoring Iraq?


That's what he's saying to the United States and to the world -- but to the US taxpayers that pay his salary -- and all that eye liner can't be cheap, John -- he's saying that he can't be bothered.


They can play with tax dollars like it's paper play money and with human lives like their plastic figures, they just can't pay attention to reality.

Not a good message for the State Dept to convey.


While John Kirby was preening from the podium yesterday, the United Nations in Iraq issued the following:
(Baghdad, 31 August 2016): The UN is deeply worried by reports that child recruitment is taking place in at least one displacement camp in Iraq and that boys are reportedly being transported to areas near the frontlines, possibly to join armed groups that will fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).


“Involving children in fighting is totally unacceptable,” said Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. “We are deeply concerned by the reports that this is happening.”
The UN is also deeply concerned by reports of mass graves of thousands of civilian victims in areas of Iraq formerly under the control of ISIL.
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the safety of civilians during the conflict. The battle to retake Mosul is likely to start soon. Hundreds of thousands of civilians will almost certainly be at risk. Everybody has to do everything possible to ensure they live and receive the assistance they need,” said Ms. Grande.
International humanitarian law (IHL) obliges all parties to the conflict to refrain from recruiting minors or using them to take part in hostilities. IHL also requires parties to ensure that civilians are protected and allowed to leave conflict zones safely.
“Under no circumstances can civilians be used as human shields,” said Ms. Grande. “This violates all principles of humanity.”
The humanitarian community in Iraq issued a Flash Appeal in July urgently requesting US$284 million to prepare for the Mosul operation. To date, less than 20 percent of this amount has been raised.
Humanitarian partners are also seeking funding for their 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan which provides assistance for 7.3 million Iraqis. To date, partners have received only 53 percent of the US$861 million they require for on-going operations.
************
For further information, please contact:
Philippe Kropf, Communications Officer, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq,
( kropf@un.org / +964 (0)751 1352875)



Repeating, the contact information is Philippe Kropf and the number is +964 (0)751 1352875.


Could someone pass that on to John Kirby?


Turning to violence, Wednesday, the US Defense Dept announced:

in Iraq
Bomber, fighter, ground-attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 14 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

 -- Near Baghdadi, a strike produced inconclusive results.

 -- Near Albu Hayat, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

 -- Near Bashir, a strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

 -- Near Haditha, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed another fighting position.

 -- Near Hit, four strikes engaged an ISIL vehicle bomb factory, a barracks, a headquarters building and destroyed three fighting positions.

 -- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system and suppressed another mortar position.

 -- Near Mosul, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroying a fighting position, a command-and-control node, two mortar systems, eight rocket rails, a rocket system and a tunnel. The strike also and damaged an excavator and suppressed a mortar position.

 -- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units, destroying two fighting positions, two mortar systems, a mortar cache, two vehicles and an artillery system. The strikes also damaged another mortar system.

 -- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIL weapons cache.

 -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.


 Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.



Today is the first day of September.  Which means?  UNAMI's released the death and wounded tolls for August:
Baghdad, Iraq, 01 September 2016 – A total of 691 Iraqis were killed and another 1,016 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq, excluding Anbar, in August 2016*, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).



The number of civilians killed in August was 473 (including 16 federal police, Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department), and the number of civilians injured was 813 (including 21 federal police, Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department).
A total of 218 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (including Peshmerga, SWAT and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi Army but excluding Anbar Operations) were killed and 203 were injured.
According to the casualties recorded for August, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 907 civilian casualties (231 killed, 676 injured). Ninewa 116 killed and 83 injured, Kirkuk had 81 killed and 13 injured, while Karbala 17 killed and 25 injured, Salahadin 14 killed and 04 injured and Diyala 06 killed and 05 injured.
UNAMI has not been able to obtain the civilian casualty figures from the Anbar Health Department for the month of August.
“The bloodletting in Iraq continues without letup. Casualty figures remain too high and civilians again are bearing the brunt,” Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Ján Kubiš said.
“In the past few days, Daesh suicide bombers struck a wedding celebration in Ain Al-Tamr in Karbala Governorate, killing or wounding many, and bombs went off in the capital Baghdad. We strongly condemn these terrorist attacks and other acts of violence, reiterate our call on the parties to undertake every effort to safeguard the lives of civilians and urge Iraqis in general to show strength in unity in the face of this unrelenting violence,” Mr. Kubiš said.
* CAVEATS: In general, UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas in some cases; UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. UNAMI has also received, without being able to verify, reports of large numbers of casualties along with unknown numbers of persons who have died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. For these reasons, the figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum. [UNAMI has not been able to obtain the civilian casualty figures from Anbar for the month of August.]



The UN figures are an undercount.  They always are.

But even just using UN figures alone, that makes August the most violent month of the year thus far.

Not only did the number dead increase by around 200 and the wounded toll also increase by around 200 but you have to drop back to July 2015 to find a month where the death toll was higher (844).

That's not good news.

With the liberation of Mosul -- or 'liberation' -- still on the horizon this year, there's a chance the United Nations may record more deaths in 2016 than in 2015.

In addition to the above violence, RUDAW reports yesterday saw the hanging of at least 7 Arab men by the Iraqi government.  The men -- non-Iraqis -- were all allegedly convicted.

That doesn't mean much with Iraq's well known use of forced convictions and kangaroo courts.

Question, since Iraq's legal system never got better, why did THE NEW YORK TIMES drop their coverage of it?

They used to do a yearly article -- back when Bully Boy Bush was in the White House.

These days, it's paper over all the unpleasant truths.





Like the talk about Hoshyar Zebari.






 6h6 hours ago
Hoshiyar Zebari: "an Iraqi official transferred $6.4 billion to his account in a bank." Welcome to
11 retweets10 likes
 
 
 



All week long, Zebari's been the focus of talk throughout the Iraqi media about how (a) he's corrupt and (b) has stolen at least six billion from the Iraqi people.


Silence in the western media.





The following community sites updated yesterday and the day before:










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