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March 30, 2016
"How Clinton’s Email Scandal Took Root"--(the issues at stake here from what we now know)..
Investigations
How Clinton’s email scandal took root
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. March 27
The vulnerability of Clinton’s basement server is one of the key unanswered questions at the heart of a scandal that has dogged her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Since Clinton’s private email account was brought to light a year ago in a New York Times report — followed by an Associated Press report revealing the existence of the server — the matter has been a source of nonstop national news. Private groups have filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act. Investigations were begun by congressional committees and inspector general’s offices in the State Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community, which referred the case to the FBI in July for “counterintelligence purposes” after determining that the server carried classified material.
The FBI is now trying to determine whether a crime was committed in the handling of that classified material. It is also examining whether the server was hacked.
One hundred forty-seven FBI agents have been deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. The FBI has accelerated the investigation because officials want to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election.
The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of documents and interviewed more than a dozen knowledgeable government officials to understand the decisions and the implications of Clinton’s actions. The resulting scandal revolves around questions about classified information, the preservation of government records and the security of her email communication.
From the earliest days, Clinton aides and senior officials focused intently on accommodating the secretary’s desire to use her private email account, documents and interviews show.
Throughout, they paid insufficient attention to laws and regulations governing the handling of classified material and the preservation of government records, interviews and documents show. They also neglected repeated warnings about the security of the BlackBerry while Clinton and her closest aides took obvious security risks in using the basement server.
Senior officials who helped Clinton with her BlackBerry claim they did not know details of the basement server, the State Department said, even though they received emails from her private account. One email written by a senior official mentioned the server.
The scandal has pitted those who say Clinton was innocently trying to find the easiest way to communicate against those who say she placed herself above the law in a quest for control of her records. She and her campaign have been accused of confusing matters with contradictory and evolving statements that minimized the consequences of her actions.
Continued at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
How Clinton’s email scandal took root
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. March 27
The vulnerability of Clinton’s basement server is one of the key unanswered questions at the heart of a scandal that has dogged her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Since Clinton’s private email account was brought to light a year ago in a New York Times report — followed by an Associated Press report revealing the existence of the server — the matter has been a source of nonstop national news. Private groups have filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act. Investigations were begun by congressional committees and inspector general’s offices in the State Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community, which referred the case to the FBI in July for “counterintelligence purposes” after determining that the server carried classified material.
The FBI is now trying to determine whether a crime was committed in the handling of that classified material. It is also examining whether the server was hacked.
One hundred forty-seven FBI agents have been deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. The FBI has accelerated the investigation because officials want to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election.
The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of documents and interviewed more than a dozen knowledgeable government officials to understand the decisions and the implications of Clinton’s actions. The resulting scandal revolves around questions about classified information, the preservation of government records and the security of her email communication.
From the earliest days, Clinton aides and senior officials focused intently on accommodating the secretary’s desire to use her private email account, documents and interviews show.
Throughout, they paid insufficient attention to laws and regulations governing the handling of classified material and the preservation of government records, interviews and documents show. They also neglected repeated warnings about the security of the BlackBerry while Clinton and her closest aides took obvious security risks in using the basement server.
Senior officials who helped Clinton with her BlackBerry claim they did not know details of the basement server, the State Department said, even though they received emails from her private account. One email written by a senior official mentioned the server.
The scandal has pitted those who say Clinton was innocently trying to find the easiest way to communicate against those who say she placed herself above the law in a quest for control of her records. She and her campaign have been accused of confusing matters with contradictory and evolving statements that minimized the consequences of her actions.
Continued at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
March 28, 2016
"How Clinton’s Email Scandal Took Root"--(the issues at stake here from what we now know)..
Investigations
How Clinton’s email scandal took root
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. March 27
The vulnerability of Clinton’s basement server is one of the key unanswered questions at the heart of a scandal that has dogged her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Since Clinton’s private email account was brought to light a year ago in a New York Times report — followed by an Associated Press report revealing the existence of the server — the matter has been a source of nonstop national news. Private groups have filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act. Investigations were begun by congressional committees and inspector general’s offices in the State Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community, which referred the case to the FBI in July for “counterintelligence purposes” after determining that the server carried classified material.
The FBI is now trying to determine whether a crime was committed in the handling of that classified material. It is also examining whether the server was hacked.
One hundred forty-seven FBI agents have been deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. The FBI has accelerated the investigation because officials want to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election.
The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of documents and interviewed more than a dozen knowledgeable government officials to understand the decisions and the implications of Clinton’s actions. The resulting scandal revolves around questions about classified information, the preservation of government records and the security of her email communication.
From the earliest days, Clinton aides and senior officials focused intently on accommodating the secretary’s desire to use her private email account, documents and interviews show.
Throughout, they paid insufficient attention to laws and regulations governing the handling of classified material and the preservation of government records, interviews and documents show. They also neglected repeated warnings about the security of the BlackBerry while Clinton and her closest aides took obvious security risks in using the basement server.
Senior officials who helped Clinton with her BlackBerry claim they did not know details of the basement server, the State Department said, even though they received emails from her private account. One email written by a senior official mentioned the server.
The scandal has pitted those who say Clinton was innocently trying to find the easiest way to communicate against those who say she placed herself above the law in a quest for control of her records. She and her campaign have been accused of confusing matters with contradictory and evolving statements that minimized the consequences of her actions.
Continued at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
How Clinton’s email scandal took root
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. March 27
The vulnerability of Clinton’s basement server is one of the key unanswered questions at the heart of a scandal that has dogged her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Since Clinton’s private email account was brought to light a year ago in a New York Times report — followed by an Associated Press report revealing the existence of the server — the matter has been a source of nonstop national news. Private groups have filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act. Investigations were begun by congressional committees and inspector general’s offices in the State Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community, which referred the case to the FBI in July for “counterintelligence purposes” after determining that the server carried classified material.
The FBI is now trying to determine whether a crime was committed in the handling of that classified material. It is also examining whether the server was hacked.
One hundred forty-seven FBI agents have been deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. The FBI has accelerated the investigation because officials want to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election.
The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of documents and interviewed more than a dozen knowledgeable government officials to understand the decisions and the implications of Clinton’s actions. The resulting scandal revolves around questions about classified information, the preservation of government records and the security of her email communication.
From the earliest days, Clinton aides and senior officials focused intently on accommodating the secretary’s desire to use her private email account, documents and interviews show.
Throughout, they paid insufficient attention to laws and regulations governing the handling of classified material and the preservation of government records, interviews and documents show. They also neglected repeated warnings about the security of the BlackBerry while Clinton and her closest aides took obvious security risks in using the basement server.
Senior officials who helped Clinton with her BlackBerry claim they did not know details of the basement server, the State Department said, even though they received emails from her private account. One email written by a senior official mentioned the server.
The scandal has pitted those who say Clinton was innocently trying to find the easiest way to communicate against those who say she placed herself above the law in a quest for control of her records. She and her campaign have been accused of confusing matters with contradictory and evolving statements that minimized the consequences of her actions.
Continued at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
March 28, 2016
How Clinton’s Email Scandal Took Root
How Clinton’s Email Scandal Took Root
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. March 27--Washington Post
Hillary Clinton’s email problems began in her first days as secretary of state. She insisted on using her personal BlackBerry for all her email communications, but she wasn’t allowed to take the device into her seventh-floor suite of offices, a secure space known as Mahogany Row.
For Clinton, this was frustrating. As a political heavyweight and chief of the nation’s diplomatic corps, she needed to manage a torrent of email to stay connected to colleagues, friends and supporters. She hated having to put her BlackBerry into a lockbox before going into her own office.
Her aides and senior officials pushed to find a way to enable her to use the device in the secure area. But their efforts unsettled the diplomatic security bureau, which was worried that foreign intelligence services could hack her BlackBerry and transform it into a listening device.
On Feb. 17, 2009, less than a month into Clinton’s tenure, the issue came to a head. Department security, intelligence and technology specialists, along with five officials from the National Security Agency, gathered in a Mahogany Row conference room. They explained the risks to Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff, while also seeking “mitigation options” that would accommodate Clinton’s wishes.
“The issue here is one of personal comfort,” one of the participants in that meeting, Donald Reid, the department’s senior coordinator for security infrastructure, wrote afterward in an email that described Clinton’s inner circle of advisers as “dedicated [BlackBerry] addicts.”
Clinton used her BlackBerry as the group continued looking for a solution. But unknown to diplomatic security and technology officials at the department, there was another looming communications vulnerability: Clinton’s BlackBerry was digitally tethered to a private email server in the basement of her family home, some 260 miles to the north in Chappaqua, N.Y., documents and interviews show.
Those officials took no steps to protect the server against intruders and spies, because they apparently were not told about it.
Continued at.......
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons-email-scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html
March 27, 2016
Five states held primaries Tuesday: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. Ohio had the highest turnout, with 35.2 percent of the voting-age population casting ballots, according to the state. The lowest turnout of the day was Florida, at 25.6 percent, 4.1 percentage points higher than Texas. Florida, like Louisiana, has a closed primary system.
When accounting for the voting-eligible population, an estimate that excludes undocumented immigrants and felons on probation or parole, Texas still ranks second to last. On March 1, 24.7 percent of Texas' estimated voting-eligible population cast a ballot.
Though Texas saw record turnout numbers for the 2016 presidential primaries, it still ranked second to last in voting-age participation, above only Louisiana, among states which have held primaries so far. Overall, 21.5 percent of Texans ages 18 and over cast ballots.
Voter Turnout in Presidential Primaries by State
2016 Voter Turnout in Presidential Primaries by State--Republican and Democrat--Interesting!
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/16/texas-still-second-last-voter-turnout/Five states held primaries Tuesday: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. Ohio had the highest turnout, with 35.2 percent of the voting-age population casting ballots, according to the state. The lowest turnout of the day was Florida, at 25.6 percent, 4.1 percentage points higher than Texas. Florida, like Louisiana, has a closed primary system.
When accounting for the voting-eligible population, an estimate that excludes undocumented immigrants and felons on probation or parole, Texas still ranks second to last. On March 1, 24.7 percent of Texas' estimated voting-eligible population cast a ballot.
Though Texas saw record turnout numbers for the 2016 presidential primaries, it still ranked second to last in voting-age participation, above only Louisiana, among states which have held primaries so far. Overall, 21.5 percent of Texans ages 18 and over cast ballots.
Voter Turnout in Presidential Primaries by State
March 22, 2016
Published on Mar 21, 2016
Sanders Snaps Back at Cooper Over Castro Question: ‘Let’s Not Get Into Red-baiting Here!’
Bernie Sanders View on Foreign Policy,CNN Full Interview: March 21.
Full Interview with Bernie Sanders: "The Final Five" Presidential Candidates hosted by CNN, 3,21,16Published on Mar 21, 2016
Sanders Snaps Back at Cooper Over Castro Question: ‘Let’s Not Get Into Red-baiting Here!’
March 21, 2016
Hundreds + March for Bernie Sanders in Baltimore on Issues, TRNN/March 19
Published on Mar 19, 2016
TRNN speaks to Bernie Sanders supporters and local candidates who are channeling Sanders' message and platform into their own campaigns. Great Interviews about Bernie and Dems (even those who would or would not vote for Hillary and their reasons)
March 21, 2016
But,both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich Phoned it In to AIPAC in Year's Past--VIDEOS at the LINK:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44482.htm
By Robert Mackey
March 20, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "The Intercept"-
AIPAC Rejects Sanders Offer to Speak via Video--while Repubs Allowed in Past Years to "Phone In."
AIPAC Rejects Sanders Offer to Speak via VideoBut,both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich Phoned it In to AIPAC in Year's Past--VIDEOS at the LINK:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44482.htm
By Robert Mackey
March 20, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "The Intercept"-
Bernie Sanders confirmed on Friday that he will not attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington next week, and his campaign revealed that the candidate’s offer to address the gathering by video link was turned down by the organizers.
In a letter to Robert Cohen, the group’s president, released on Friday afternoon, Sanders wrote that while he “would very much have enjoyed speaking at the AIPAC conference,” like all of the remaining presidential candidates, his campaign schedule made it impossible for him to attend in person.
“Since AIPAC has chosen not to permit candidates to address the conference remotely,” Sanders added, “the best that I can do is to send you a copy of the remarks that I would have given if I was able to attend.”
Michael Briggs, his communications director, confirmed that an offer to speak via video link was rejected.
The pro-Israel group has not yet replied to a request from The Intercept to explain why it would not allow Sanders to address the conference on video, but did allow both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to do so during the 2012 presidential campaign.
LINK with Videos at..........
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44482.htm
In a letter to Robert Cohen, the group’s president, released on Friday afternoon, Sanders wrote that while he “would very much have enjoyed speaking at the AIPAC conference,” like all of the remaining presidential candidates, his campaign schedule made it impossible for him to attend in person.
“Since AIPAC has chosen not to permit candidates to address the conference remotely,” Sanders added, “the best that I can do is to send you a copy of the remarks that I would have given if I was able to attend.”
Michael Briggs, his communications director, confirmed that an offer to speak via video link was rejected.
The pro-Israel group has not yet replied to a request from The Intercept to explain why it would not allow Sanders to address the conference on video, but did allow both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to do so during the 2012 presidential campaign.
LINK with Videos at..........
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44482.htm
March 19, 2016
North Carolina Presidential Primaries Current Results by County Map and County Totals/Interesting
(Another week and Bernie could have done even better, statewide,considering the counties he won.
Putting this out for NC Voters and those who moved away, but still interested.)
----------
North Carolina Presidential Primaries Results by County Map and County Totals
http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president/north-carolina
March 19, 2016
SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: It's the Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.Russia has begun withdrawing its main forces from Syria after five months of air strikes targeting Syrian rebels and ISIS. This occurs at the same time as U.N.-sponsored peace talks resume in Geneva to strategize an end to the civil war, and to discuss electing a new Syrian government. Russia will still maintain its air base in Syria, as well as some military personnel.Joining us to discuss this is Patrick Cockburn. He's the Middle East correspondent for the Independent, and the author of The Rise of the Islamic State and the New Sunni Revolution. Patrick, thank you for joining us.
PATRICK COCKBURN: Thank you.
PERIES: So, Patrick, is this partial or main Russian troop withdrawal from Syria signal to their ally, President Bashar al-Assad, that he should seriously start negotiating a peaceful political transition in Geneva?
COCKBURN: I think that's one part of it. I think that they're telling him that he doesn't have a blank check with which he can simply go on fighting until he gets total victory because he's got the Russian air force overhead. So I don't think that they want him to feel that.On the other hand, it's not clear how you can have negotiations to end the war when on the armed opposition side the two biggest movements are Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate, who aren't represented in Geneva, and would have no intention to go even if they were invited.
PERIES: And so, who are the main drivers in Geneva, and what is really on the table at this time? What are they talking about?
COCKBURN: I think what's important about this is that the U.S. and Russia have organized this. People are being surprised that this ceasefire, which began on the 27th of February, has held up. There was lots of cynicism and skepticism about it before it, before it was introduced. But actually, it has held up. And why has that happened? Well, basically because the U.S. and Russia are heavy hitters. The Russians can put a lot of influence on the government in Damascus, on Assad. The Americans can use their influence in Turkey and Saudi Arabia and so forth.So I think that what's happening is important, because it's the movers and shakers who are in charge.
PERIES: Now, one of the controversies there is will the Syrian Kurds be included in the negotiations. Your thoughts on that?
COCKBURN: Well, it's sort of symbolic of what's wrong. You know, the biggest--they're about, about 10 percent of the Syrian population are Kurds. That's about 2 million people. And they control northeast Syria, they have their own army, and they are the main ally of the U.S. against the Islamic State in Syria. But Turkey doesn't like them, and has insisted that they don't turn up at Geneva. So you, these people are excluded.But you know, if there's one place that the Syrian revolution actually succeeded, it's in the Kurdish area, where they did throw off Assad's rule, and which they do control their own destiny, now. And it's better run that most of the rest of Syria. You see in the main towns there, you know, Arabs from the rest of the country buying houses there because it's safe for them.So I think that it's, you know, part of the strange thing about these negotiations, and the people who are negotiating on the opposition side, don't, can't really go back to Syria, [inaud.] they don't control new territory. But they have, the people who were excluded are those who are actually controlling the territory.
PERIES: And also, Patrick, what is Russia or Putin's particular motivations behind withdrawal? Some people speculate, of course, being when they started air strikes in Syria five and a half months ago, it was a bit of a distraction in terms of the geopolitical gaze on Ukraine. Your thoughts on that, and what else is behind his motivations for pulling out at this time?
COCKBURN: Well, I think it's done pretty well for them. You know, the Russians have exerted a lot of influence in Syria and on the world in general, and all they've really got is 35 aircraft there, some helicopters. They've maybe got, sort of, 3,000 military specialists there. But it, they've been very influential, that the Syrian army is advancing. It was retreating. So I think they've done pretty well out of that. But I think they don't want to stick around too long. They want to get the, maximize their political benefits out of this.
Their sort of backers are, you know, not quite a superpower like the Soviet Union, but its backer is a great power. So I think that they're, they've--they want to sort of cash in their chips now.But it's one thing to sort of have a ceasefire in Syria, but to end the war it's difficult because Islamic State doesn't want to talk to anybody. It wants to kill them. The same thing about Al-Nusra. So how, exactly, do you have a long agreement?
PERIES: So, Patrick, to some extent I suppose Russia feels that their mission is accomplished. Rate how successful they've been in terms of what they attempted to do, and what they leave, and what you think they will be pushing for in the negotiations.
COCKBURN: Militarily they've been pretty successful. When they came in on the 30th of September the Assad government wasn't going to collapse, exactly. The Syrian army had suffered a series of setbacks, lost territory. It was getting demoralized. It probably wasn't going to disintegrate, but they changed that around. They attacked around the heartlands of the regime, if you'd like, up on the Mediterranean coast in the mountains, the province called Latakia. They've also been trying to seal the border against Turkey. They've got a certain distance there. They've prevented the Islamic State winning any more victories advancing from the East.
So militarily, it's gone fairly well for them. They haven't suffered any significant losses other than their plane shot down by Turkey. And of course, the plane that was blown up over [Sinai]. So I think they'll be pretty pleased about the way it's gone.It's a little difficult because, you know, the opposition is saying Assad Must Go, but it's [fairly] Assad controls, you know, much of the population. He obviously isn't going to go before the negotiations. How do you divide power in Syria when everybody's trying to kill each other?
Well, you know, you can divide power within a government if people agree to talk to each other, or you can divide it geographically. I think they're going to divide power geographically, that you'll have government-controlled areas and opposition-controlled areas. You'll have a sort of continuous stalemate. Very difficult to see a sort of final negotiated settlement between people, you know, who aren't, as I said, want to kill each other.
PERIES: Right. And finally, Patrick, what has this particular effort on the part of the Russians done to its relations with Turkey, and what can we look out for now?
COCKBURN: Well, this is certainly rather extraordinary, because Turkey in 2011 seemed to be in a very strong position to influence what happened in Syria and the rest of the Middle East. But it's all been a disaster for the Turks. They backed the jihadis in Syria, they failed to overthrow Assad, and now they've got a sort of quasi-Syria, Turkish-Syrian-Kurdish state along their southern frontier. So that's all been pretty bad for them. Then the Turks did something very strange. They shot down this Russian aircraft. They seem to have planned to do that. But the Russians reacted by sending in more aircraft and anti-aircraft defenses.So Turkey has difficulty, would have difficulty intervening in northern Syria. The Turks seem to make it up on the [night], and you know, they, things have not gone well for them.
PERIES: Right. All right, Patrick, I thank you so much for joining us.COCKBURN: Thank you.PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real News Network.
Is the Russian Withdrawal a Message to Assad?--Patrick Cochburn
(Cockburn at his best...Understated)
-----
Is the Russian Withdrawal a Message to Assad?--Patrick Cockburn
The Independent's Patrick Cockburn says you can't have negotiations to end the war when the largest armed opposition groups, al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State, are absent - March 17, 2016
TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS THE "YOU TUBE:"
SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: It's the Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.Russia has begun withdrawing its main forces from Syria after five months of air strikes targeting Syrian rebels and ISIS. This occurs at the same time as U.N.-sponsored peace talks resume in Geneva to strategize an end to the civil war, and to discuss electing a new Syrian government. Russia will still maintain its air base in Syria, as well as some military personnel.Joining us to discuss this is Patrick Cockburn. He's the Middle East correspondent for the Independent, and the author of The Rise of the Islamic State and the New Sunni Revolution. Patrick, thank you for joining us.
PATRICK COCKBURN: Thank you.
PERIES: So, Patrick, is this partial or main Russian troop withdrawal from Syria signal to their ally, President Bashar al-Assad, that he should seriously start negotiating a peaceful political transition in Geneva?
COCKBURN: I think that's one part of it. I think that they're telling him that he doesn't have a blank check with which he can simply go on fighting until he gets total victory because he's got the Russian air force overhead. So I don't think that they want him to feel that.On the other hand, it's not clear how you can have negotiations to end the war when on the armed opposition side the two biggest movements are Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate, who aren't represented in Geneva, and would have no intention to go even if they were invited.
PERIES: And so, who are the main drivers in Geneva, and what is really on the table at this time? What are they talking about?
COCKBURN: I think what's important about this is that the U.S. and Russia have organized this. People are being surprised that this ceasefire, which began on the 27th of February, has held up. There was lots of cynicism and skepticism about it before it, before it was introduced. But actually, it has held up. And why has that happened? Well, basically because the U.S. and Russia are heavy hitters. The Russians can put a lot of influence on the government in Damascus, on Assad. The Americans can use their influence in Turkey and Saudi Arabia and so forth.So I think that what's happening is important, because it's the movers and shakers who are in charge.
PERIES: Now, one of the controversies there is will the Syrian Kurds be included in the negotiations. Your thoughts on that?
COCKBURN: Well, it's sort of symbolic of what's wrong. You know, the biggest--they're about, about 10 percent of the Syrian population are Kurds. That's about 2 million people. And they control northeast Syria, they have their own army, and they are the main ally of the U.S. against the Islamic State in Syria. But Turkey doesn't like them, and has insisted that they don't turn up at Geneva. So you, these people are excluded.But you know, if there's one place that the Syrian revolution actually succeeded, it's in the Kurdish area, where they did throw off Assad's rule, and which they do control their own destiny, now. And it's better run that most of the rest of Syria. You see in the main towns there, you know, Arabs from the rest of the country buying houses there because it's safe for them.So I think that it's, you know, part of the strange thing about these negotiations, and the people who are negotiating on the opposition side, don't, can't really go back to Syria, [inaud.] they don't control new territory. But they have, the people who were excluded are those who are actually controlling the territory.
PERIES: And also, Patrick, what is Russia or Putin's particular motivations behind withdrawal? Some people speculate, of course, being when they started air strikes in Syria five and a half months ago, it was a bit of a distraction in terms of the geopolitical gaze on Ukraine. Your thoughts on that, and what else is behind his motivations for pulling out at this time?
COCKBURN: Well, I think it's done pretty well for them. You know, the Russians have exerted a lot of influence in Syria and on the world in general, and all they've really got is 35 aircraft there, some helicopters. They've maybe got, sort of, 3,000 military specialists there. But it, they've been very influential, that the Syrian army is advancing. It was retreating. So I think they've done pretty well out of that. But I think they don't want to stick around too long. They want to get the, maximize their political benefits out of this.
Their sort of backers are, you know, not quite a superpower like the Soviet Union, but its backer is a great power. So I think that they're, they've--they want to sort of cash in their chips now.But it's one thing to sort of have a ceasefire in Syria, but to end the war it's difficult because Islamic State doesn't want to talk to anybody. It wants to kill them. The same thing about Al-Nusra. So how, exactly, do you have a long agreement?
PERIES: So, Patrick, to some extent I suppose Russia feels that their mission is accomplished. Rate how successful they've been in terms of what they attempted to do, and what they leave, and what you think they will be pushing for in the negotiations.
COCKBURN: Militarily they've been pretty successful. When they came in on the 30th of September the Assad government wasn't going to collapse, exactly. The Syrian army had suffered a series of setbacks, lost territory. It was getting demoralized. It probably wasn't going to disintegrate, but they changed that around. They attacked around the heartlands of the regime, if you'd like, up on the Mediterranean coast in the mountains, the province called Latakia. They've also been trying to seal the border against Turkey. They've got a certain distance there. They've prevented the Islamic State winning any more victories advancing from the East.
So militarily, it's gone fairly well for them. They haven't suffered any significant losses other than their plane shot down by Turkey. And of course, the plane that was blown up over [Sinai]. So I think they'll be pretty pleased about the way it's gone.It's a little difficult because, you know, the opposition is saying Assad Must Go, but it's [fairly] Assad controls, you know, much of the population. He obviously isn't going to go before the negotiations. How do you divide power in Syria when everybody's trying to kill each other?
Well, you know, you can divide power within a government if people agree to talk to each other, or you can divide it geographically. I think they're going to divide power geographically, that you'll have government-controlled areas and opposition-controlled areas. You'll have a sort of continuous stalemate. Very difficult to see a sort of final negotiated settlement between people, you know, who aren't, as I said, want to kill each other.
PERIES: Right. And finally, Patrick, what has this particular effort on the part of the Russians done to its relations with Turkey, and what can we look out for now?
COCKBURN: Well, this is certainly rather extraordinary, because Turkey in 2011 seemed to be in a very strong position to influence what happened in Syria and the rest of the Middle East. But it's all been a disaster for the Turks. They backed the jihadis in Syria, they failed to overthrow Assad, and now they've got a sort of quasi-Syria, Turkish-Syrian-Kurdish state along their southern frontier. So that's all been pretty bad for them. Then the Turks did something very strange. They shot down this Russian aircraft. They seem to have planned to do that. But the Russians reacted by sending in more aircraft and anti-aircraft defenses.So Turkey has difficulty, would have difficulty intervening in northern Syria. The Turks seem to make it up on the [night], and you know, they, things have not gone well for them.
PERIES: Right. All right, Patrick, I thank you so much for joining us.COCKBURN: Thank you.PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real News Network.
March 19, 2016
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What’s the matter with Kansas? Virginia? North Carolina? Florida? Alabama? Michigan, Massachusetts?
Published on Mar 17, 2016
In this episode of the Keiser Report Max and Stacy ask what’s the matter with Kansas? And Virginia? North Carolina? Florida? Alabama? Michigan and Massachusetts? Are voters flocking to Donald Trump because they’re racist? Or, is it the economy and so-called ‘free trade’ deals, stupid? Bernie is also covered in this episode.
The Second Part is also a Good Watch for Pensioners and 401-K Owners and those who have their Meager Savings in banks paying less than 1% interest.
In the second half Max continues his interview with Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money and A Banquet of Consequences about the coming market collapse.
Check Keiser Report website for more: http://www.maxkeiser.com/
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