Russian Putin Syria Cartoons

Thanks for nothing Obama.

Haley forces Bolivia to defend Assad 'atrocities' in 'public view' at UN session

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley forced Bolivia to "defend the atrocities of the Syrian regime" in "full public view" on Friday, after the country's ambassador requested a closed session to discuss President Trump's strikes in Syria.
Trump ordered the missile strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar Assad Tuesday which killed dozens in northern Syria.
Haley revealed the Bolivian ambassador's request for a private emergency session of the U.N. Security Council in a written statement Friday morning.
She countered: "The United States, as president of the Council this month, decided the session would be held in the open. Any country that chooses to defend the atrocities of the Syrian regime will have to do so in full public view, for all the world to hear.”
At the session, Haley stood by the U.S. actions, and said that when the international community fails to act, it is up to individual states to act themselves.
”The moral state of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say enough. But not only say it, it was time to act,” she said.
Haley also questioned Russia’s role in carrying out a deal to remove chemical weapons -- arguing that either Moscow knew about the weapons, was “incompetent” in removing them, or was played “for fools” by Assad. She went on to warn that more U.S. action could be on the table.
“The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary,” she said.
The session itself was fiery.
Russian ambassador Vladimir Safronkov blasted the United States for trying to impose an “irresponsible geopolitical project” on the world, and warned of “extremely serious” consequences.
Meanwhile Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari  condemned what he called “a barbaric, flagrant of aggression” and a violation of the U.N. charter.
“This act makes America a partner of ISIL, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups,” he said.
The visibly aggravated Bolivian ambassador -- Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz – used his time to tear into what he called an “extremely serious violation of international law”  and “an imperialistic action” by the United States.
“We believe it is the duty of the Security Council, of the United Nations organizations, to defend multilateralism … we are here to defend it,” he said.
He went on to brandish not only a copy of the U.N. Charter, but also a large photograph of former Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing the Security Council in 2003 about the alleged threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Soliz went on to argue that there were no WMDs found in Iraq then, and that the council should therefore be skeptical of the United States now.
Soliz’s remarks were immediately met by stern criticism by U.K. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who backed the U.S. action and claimed the Bolivian ambassador was “more outraged at the United States than the Assad regime.”
“The United Kingdom supports the U.S. airstrike … because war crimes have consequences,” he said, calling the strike “a proportionate response to unspeakable acts.”
Rycroft also mocked the Russians, saying Assad had “thumbed his nose” at Russia’s calls for Assad to engage in peace talks.
“Russia sits here today humiliated by its inability to bring to heel a puppet dictator,” he said.
Other members took more restrained approaches. Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi called for the Security Council to redouble its efforts to seek a U.N.-led political transition from the Assad regime, while French Ambassador Francois Delattre said Assad’s crimes should not go unanswered, and renewed calls for the U.N. to take charges to the International Criminal Court – but noted that such efforts have been vetoed by Russia.
Delattre called the strikes by America a “legitimate” response and a sign that use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated, but warned that a solution will not be reached by military means alone.

Alabama governor will face impeachment hearings after state Supreme Court ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Saturday to allow lawmakers to move ahead with an effort to oust Gov. Robert Bentley, who is fighting to stay in office amid fallout from an affair with a top aide.
Bentley will face impeachment hearings beginning on Monday.
The state Supreme Court reversed a short-lived victory for Bentley when a judge on Friday blocked impeachment proceedings. After the high court's ruling, the House Judiciary Committee quickly announced plans to proceed with hearings on Monday.
The 74-year-old Republican has been engulfed in a sex scandal since recordings surfaced in 2016 of him making suggestive remarks to a female aide before he and his wife of 50 years got divorced.
Bentley vowed to stay in office despite calls for his resignation. He stood on the state Capitol steps on Friday and acknowledged making personal mistakes but maintained he did nothing to merit his removal from office.
"I do not plan to resign. I have done nothing illegal,” Bentley said. “If the people want to know if I misused state resources, the answer is simply no. I have not.”
The Supreme Court justices asked for briefs on the matter to be filed by Monday.
"It's disappointing to hear the committee will plow forward while the Supreme Court is considering the case. We have no idea what the committee has planned for Monday or who its witnesses will be," Bentley's lawyer, Ross Garber said.
Special Counsel Jack Sharman said the committee's position was that it is free to proceed with the hearings.
"I want to thank the members of the Alabama Supreme Court for quickly acting on our appeal and recognizing, what a circuit court judge didn't understand, that there are three branches of government and the Alabama Legislature is free to conduct its business as prescribed in the state constitution," House Judiciary Chairman Mike Jones said in a statement.
The committee, following a week or so of hearings, will make a recommendation to the full House of Representatives on whether Bentley should be impeached.
The Alabama Ethics Commission on Wednesday found probable cause that Bentley broke ethics and campaign law and referred the matter for possible prosecution.
Sharman wrote that Bentley encouraged an "an atmosphere of intimidation" in his administration to keep his romantic relationship secret and sent two state law enforcement officers to try to track down and retrieve a recording of a sexually-charged phone call he made to a woman presumed to be Mason.
"Gov. Bentley directed law enforcement to advance his personal interests and, in a process characterized by increasing obsession and paranoia, subjected career law enforcement officers to tasks intended to protect his reputation," the report to the House Judiciary Committee which was publicly released on Friday said.
The governor's lawyer called the report an "amalgam of hearsay rumor and innuendo."

Trump congratulates US military in Syria missile strike, including female Navy commander

President Trump on Saturday congratulated U.S. military personnel who executed his ordered missile strike on the Syrian air base connected to a deadly chemical attack on civilians earlier in the week.
“Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack,” Trump tweeted.
The airstrike was launched overnight Thursday from U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
The 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeted the Shayrat air base, near the central Syrian town of Homs, reportedly killing nine people.
The base is the purported takeoff spot for the chemical attack Tuesday in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, a stronghold for forces trying to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a 6-year-long civil war.
Assad purportedly ordered the attack, which killed a reported 87 people, including children.
The commander of one of the two Navy destroyers that launched the cruise missiles -- the USS Porter -- is a female Naval Academy graduate, according to The Capital Gazette newspaper.
The other vessel was the USS Ross.
Cmdr. Andria Slough graduated from the service academy with a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering. She has previously served as an officer on the USS O'Brien and was a deputy director for the Joint Maritime Ballistic Missile Defense Operations and Training program.
On Saturday, a fatal airstrike occurred in Khan Sheikhoun, according to two international monitoring groups.
Syria's government has denied responsibility for any chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun.
And Russia's Defense Ministry, which has condemned the U.S. response, said the toxic chemical were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the town's eastern outskirts.

Congressional Republicans take heat at home on ObamaCare, say priority is avoiding shutdown

Congressional Republicans returned this weekend to their districts to get another earful about ObamaCare, while giving mixed statements about how close they are to replacing the health care law and suggesting that avoiding a looming government shutdown is now the priority.
California GOP Rep. Tom McClintock again held a town hall event in which residents expressed concerns about the GOP-led Congress repealing and replacing ObamaCare with more expensive and less comprehensive coverage.
“Are you aware that you don’t answer questions?” one town hall attendee asked McClintock at the event outside Sacramento.
Another attendee suggested McClintock was a “crappy” representative and that Republicans could vote with Democrats to replace him.
“That’s what elections are for,” responded McClintock, who in February faced such a rowdy town hall crowd that he exited with a police escort.
An ObamaCare replacement bill from House Republican leaders and backed by President Trump failed last month to even get a vote in the lower chamber, amid strong opposition from its most conservative members.
Trump and the leaders at first appeared ready to move ahead to tax reform and other big-ticket policy initiatives.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday before leaving Washington for a two-week break that members have “come together” on a new amendment that would lower premiums and provide broad access to care.
However, Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Charlie Dent downplayed Ryan’s remarks and said the more immediate concern is passing a budget before the end of the month, when the federal government technically runs out of money and largely shutters.
“I don’t believe we are as close as many would say,” Dent told Fox News, while arguing the House still has nearly a dozen appropriations bills to pass to avoid a politically damaging shutdown.
“We’ll be applying all of our time in April making sure we complete our work,” he said.
In Kentucky, several dozen people -- including doctors and patients -- staged a town-hall style event on a sidewalk outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Louisville office.
Among those who attended was Kentucky Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth, who said lawmakers have “no alternative” to ObamaCare, in which consumers can pick from private insurers, except the so-called “single-payer option” in which they pay state governments for health insurance.
“We need to talk to this man right here,” said Yarmuth, pointing to McConnell’s district office.