Unfortunately, with legal, language, and recertification barriers cited as common constraints, these individuals often struggle to access the labor market.

In a report released last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees highlighted the importance of “employment and employability to successful integration” into the society of the host country.

For refugees, “successful economic adjustment remains one of the most pressing challenges,” the report said.

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That said, with President Joe Biden’s commitments to welcome an additional 75,000 Afghan and 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, the United States is in increasing need of programs to connect newcomers with stable, well-paying jobs.

Biden, along with other officials from the U.S. State Department, has pleaded with private citizens and organizations to support these resettlement efforts.

“We urge more governments to engage the private sector, NGOs, faith groups, universities, youth, and other parts of society in resettling refugees,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a video statement during a UNHCR event on Monday.

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“The more we can make our communities partners in these efforts, the more fully we can integrate refugees into the fabric of all our nations,” he added.

The U.S. refugee admissions ceiling was raised to 125,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, double the number from the year before, according to the U.S. State Department. In response, the government has launched innovative solutions such as Refugee Cash Assistance, Refugee Medical Assistance, and the Community Sponsorship Hub to support the influx.

The Tent Partnership for Refugees, a non-profit organization, which focuses on mobilizing the global business community to include refugees, has created a unique approach to the job-training challenge.

Building on an effort launched in 2021 that focused specifically on Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, leaders at the Tent Partnership have spent months rallying a group of 103 companies to commit to reducing barriers for refugees looking for jobs and helping them integrate into the U.S. economy.

Headlined by major companies like Delta, Pfizer, and Marriott, the Coalition for Refugees in the U.S. has agreed to provide mentorship and training opportunities to all refugees in the country, regardless of their place of origin.

Gideon Maltz, executive director of the Tent Partnership, called the program “unprecedented and extremely significant,” telling Newsweek he sees it as a welcome shift from previous efforts to support refugees.

“At the height of the Syria crisis in 2015, we saw a lot of companies do token, in-the-moment things to help,” he said. “They might have sent an in-kind donation or wrote a check, but they never really engaged or invested in the issue.”

Maltz said that the Coalition focuses on creating genuine, long-term engagement from the private sector. To accomplish that goal, Tent leaders seek to connect with the spirit of charity and generosity of participating companies, and also emphasize the economic benefits that comes from employing refugees.

Tent recently released a survey conducted with the NYU Stern School of Business that found that 63% of U.S. consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that are involved in helping refugees, a number that exceeds the percentage that back brands selling environmentally friendly or fair-trade products.

And with 11.4 million job openings in the U.S., Maltz also noted that hiring refugees is already helping states across the nation.

“In states with labor shortages, we have seen governors of both political parties increasing the admissions of refugees in the last year, partly because they need to,” he said.

“To get to a place where there’s broad public support for America to bring in more refugees,” he said, “we have to highlight and emphasize the amazing contribution that refugees make to the American economy.”

Maltz is looking beyond the short-term refugee crisis to a brighter future for them, and for their new country.

“We have been focused on creating programs that companies benefit from and see the value in so that in a year or two, when Afghanistan and Ukraine are not in the news, companies will still be engaged because it makes sense with their business,” he said.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/more-100-major-us-companies-commit-hire-train-more-refugees-1718148

The post More than 100 Major U.S. Companies Commit to Hire and Train More Refugees first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The State Department on Friday refused to detail what “red lines” the U.S. would draw with respect to China’s support for Russia amid its deadly invasion in Ukraine.

President Biden warned Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call Friday morning that there would be “consequences” if Beijing provides Moscow with “material support” while Russia continues its deadly campaign against its southern neighbor.

But when pressed by reporters as to what “red lines” the White House would draw the State Department was light on answers.

“I wouldn’t want to get into any hypotheticals,” deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said. “What we have done is we’ve encouraged our allies and partners and the international community to band together to condemn this senseless war that Russia has gotten itself into. I have nothing else here at this time.”

China has drawn international ire for its refusal to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

A readout from the Chinese government following the call with Biden once again fell short of criticizing Putin’s actions and instead said, “China stands for peace and opposes war.”

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The statement said that Xi made clear that China advocates for adhering to international law and charters established under the United Nations.

But Xi apparently also called on the U.S. and NATO to “jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue” to end the war.

China has been widely criticized for its refusal to join the U.S. and NATO, along with nations like Japan, Australia and New Zealand, to hit Moscow with steeper sanctions in an attempt to staunch Russian advances.

Putin claimed in the lead-up to his attack that he was concerned over a growing NATO presence in Europe and attempts by Ukraine to join the 30-member alliance, which would have theoretically permitted military equipment to be closer to Russian borders.

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The U.S. and European officials have dismissed this argument and pointed to a series of steps that Ukraine would have needed to accomplish in order to join NATO.

But China has given credence to Putin’s concerns. On Friday, Xi argued the U.S. and NATO should hold talks “with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-dept-refuses-red-line-china-russia-ukraine

The post State Dept. refuses to detail ‘red line’ if China provides support to Russia amid war in Ukraine first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“When there is a threat over Taiwan and its democracy, it is a dire challenge to all of us, especially to Japan,” said Abe, who resigned from the premiership over health reasons but remains a heavyweight among Japanese legislators. “An adventure in military affairs, if pursued by such a huge economy like China’s, could be suicidal, to say the least.”

Abe’s reference to the economic costs of a conflict did little to dull the edge of the threat, as he emphasized the need for both Taiwan and Japan to coordinate security cooperation with the United States — which does not maintain official relations with the government in Taipei. And yet, that diplomatic lacuna has prevented neither Japanese nor American officials of late from characterizing Taiwan as the linchpin of Indo-Pacific security in the face of a rising Chinese Communist power.

“It’s critical for the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, as three indispensable cornerstones, to continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in order to address common challenges in the Indo-Pacific,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican and former ambassador to China, told the Prospect Foundation’s Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue .

Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s representative to the forum, deputy assistant secretary Scott Busby, struck a similarly affirming note after touting the importance of “democracy and human rights” to American diplomacy.

“These values are a critical source of our strength, and a key advantage of the United States and our closest partners on the global stage — including Taiwan,” Busby told the trilateral forum.

Chinese Communist officials, who have claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since taking power in 1949 but have never ruled the island, regard such rhetoric as a sign of disrespect for their territorial claims. U.S. officials historically have tread carefully when discussing this subject, yet a bipartisan consensus is emerging in Washington that augurs for more forthright acknowledgment that the mainland Chinese regime’s acquisition of Taiwan would represent a serious threat to American interests.

“It’s plain to see that the Chinese Communist Party aims not only to achieve dominance in the world’s most vibrant and rapidly growing region, but also to fundamentally revise the environment here, placing the People’s Republic of China at the center and serving Beijing’s authoritarian and hegemonic ambitions,” Hagerty said. “The defense of Taiwan and Japan lies at the center of pushing back against the Chinese Communist Party’s revisionist ambitions.”

Hagerty’s remarks followed a line of analysis offered earlier this month by Abe, who said that Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping should bear in mind that “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-U.S. alliance.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry rebuked Abe for “openly challeng[ing] China’s sovereignty and [giving] brazen support to Taiwan independence forces,” a tongue-lashing delivered directly to the Japanese ambassador in Beijing.

Abe, for his part, cited the mainland Chinese threats against Taiwan as a key motivation for the Japanese military upgrades that took place during his tenure as prime minister.

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“Lest we forget, weakness invites provocations,” Abe told the trilateral security forum. “The three of us must stop no effort in building our capabilities in all domains, from the undersea, sea surface, air space, to the cyber and outer space. To that end, let us consider new ways of sharing our knowledge and technologies even more effectively.”

Source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/japans-shinzo-abe-warns-china-invasion-of-taiwan-would-be-suicidal

The post Japan’s Shinzo Abe warns China: Invasion of Taiwan would be ‘suicidal’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

That craven position would be a flimsy defense in court. It’s also simply bad politics.

Biden continues to be accused of advocating open borders. It is likely that nothing he can do will placate those who supported Trump’s anti-immigrant policies. On the other hand, recent polling shows that a majority of Americans believe “immigration is a good thing” for the country, and American support for resettlement of Afghan refugees was at 81% in August. It is not necessarily true that harsh immigration policies are winning strategies.

Even if it were politically expedient to keep the border closed to those seeking safety, turning away these individuals without any opportunity to apply for protection is a violation of U.S. law, as well as of international treaties to which the U.S. is a party. The pretext of Title 42 does not make our actions any less a violation of law. This point was made quite clear by Harold Koh, a senior State Department legal advisor and former dean of Yale Law School, who has served in four presidential administrations. In a stern rebuke, Koh wrote that the use of Title 42 was “illegal” and “inhumane,” inconsistent with American values and not worthy of the Biden administration.

Just as the Trump administration invoked it in March 2020, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this summer that it would continue, the Biden administration could revoke Title 42 now, permitting asylum applications again in compliance with our legal obligations.

This misuse of Title 42 authority, a public health law, was the brainchild of former President Trump’s senior advisor Stephen Miller. Evidently not satisfied with the administration’s brutal “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forced asylum seekers to await their hearings in Mexico, once COVID-19 struck Miller decided the pandemic could be used as a pretext to close the border, denying migrants the right to even seek asylum. Officials at the CDC maintained that this measure was not justified by public health considerations and only acceded as a result of sustained White House pressure.

The Title 42 policy has resulted in untold suffering. People refused entry are either expelled to Mexico, where they face kidnapping, rape and other brutal assaults, or they are forcibly returned to their home countries — regardless of the human rights violations they may encounter there. Since September, thousands of Haitians have been deported despite the U.S. government’s acknowledgement that Haiti is “grappling with a deteriorating political crisis, violence, and a staggering increase in human rights abuses.” The kidnapping for ransom of American missionaries in October highlighted the acute dangers that persist in the island nation.

Biden’s failure to roll back Title 42 policy has received sharp criticism from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, members of Congress, faith-based communities, and refugee advocates. Through it all, the Biden administration has defended Title 42 as a necessary public health measure in a time of COVID-19. This is the same claim the Trump administration made, which has been roundly debunked, including by CDC officials. Leading public health experts have called for an end to the border closure and provided detailed guidance for measures the administration could undertake to ensure community health and safety while admitting asylum seekers.

President Biden has repeatedly articulated the centrality of human rights to his administration, and the importance of American values, including respecting the rule of law. Actions speak louder than words, and this stated commitment simply cannot be squared with a policy that denies protection to desperate individuals fleeing grave violence. It is past time to put an end to the use of Title 42, and to restore asylum as required by domestic and international law.

Karen Musalo is a law professor and the founding director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of the Law. She is also lead co-author of “Refugee Law and Policy: A Comparative and International Approach.”

Source: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-24/continuing-trumps-pretext-to-block-asylum-claims-biden-defies-the-law-and-good-politics

The post Op-Ed: Continuing Trump’s pretext to block asylum claims, Biden defies the law and good politics first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Multiple U.S. officials cited serious concerns Tuesday about what they consistently described as Russia’s “unusual military activity” along its border with Ukraine, as well as Moscow’s harsh rhetoric, insisting that no matter what happens next, Washington’s support for Kyiv is “rock solid.”

“We have demonstrated that the United States is willing to use a number of tools to address harmful Russian actions, and we will not hesitate from making use of those and other tools in the future,” a senior administration official told VOA on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive subject.

“[We] call on Moscow to de-escalate tensions,” the official added. “A crucial first step is to restore the cease-fire to the low levels of violence reached in July 2020.”

At the State Department on Tuesday, spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Washington’s consultations with its European partners, and with Ukraine, are ongoing.

“We are sharing information, we are sharing intelligence,” he said, describing the talks as in-depth. “We are prepared and preparing for a number of contingencies.”

The comments from the White House and the State Department came just hours after the senior-most U.S. general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, spoke with his Russian counterpart by phone.

The two generals “discussed several security-related issues of concern,” the Pentagon said in a statement, adding the call was “a continuation of communication between both leaders to ensure risk reduction and operational de-confliction.”

The Pentagon said, per prior agreement, additional details of the call would be kept private.

Tuesday’s call between the U.S. and Russia comes after the senior-most U.S. and Ukrainian generals spoke twice within a four-day span to “share perspectives and assessments of the evolving security environment in Eastern Europe.”

Jeff Seldin@jseldin
Just in: @thejointstaff Chair Gen Mark Milley call w/his #Ukraine counterpart Friday

Milley & Ukrainian Armed Forces LtGen Valery Zaluzhny “discussed the current security environment in Eastern Europe, including #Russia’s concerning activity in the area” per @DeptofDefense

Ukrainian intelligence estimates have put the number of Russian troops along the border at about 90,000.

U.S. officials have refused to address that figure publicly but called the Russian military buildup along its border with Ukraine worrisome.

“We don’t know what Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin might be planning,” the State Department’s Price told reporters.

“We do know the history and that history is not at all reassuring,” he added, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Price also rebuffed recent Russian criticism of U.S. military drills in the region, saying the U.S. and its allies would continue to stand up the “rules-based international order.”

Jeff Seldin@jseldin

Nov 23, 2021
Replying to @jseldin

.@StateDeptSpox Ned Price says US support of #Ukraine not just rhetoric

“Rhetorically is important…But also the security assistance that we have provided” he says, noting $400 million committed since start of Biden Admin.

Jeff Seldin@jseldin

Asked about #Russia|n complaints re recent US military exercises, @StateDeptSpox says, “What we do…is that we stand up for the rules-based int’l oder”

“Big countries cannot bully the small ones. That borders are not to be crossed, not to be violated…”

Russian TASS news agency quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying Moscow was “witnessing a considerable increase in the U.S. strategic bombers’ activity near the Russian borders.”

Shoigu also alleged U.S. strategic bombers “practiced employing nuclear weapons against Russia actually simultaneously from the western and eastern directions.”

A day earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, likewise criticized the U.S., posting on its website that the current situation with Ukraine is comparable to tensions with Georgia prior to the 2008 Russian invasion, noting Georgia paid a high price.

Jeff Seldin@jseldin

Nov 23, 2021
NEW: @thejointstaff confirms call btw Chairman Gen Mark Milley & Chief of #Russia|n General Staff Gen Valery Gerasimov

“Discussed several security-related issues of concern…a continuation of communication btw both leaders to ensure risk reduction & operational de-confliction”

Jeff Seldin@jseldin

Tuesday’s phone call btw @thejointstaff’s Gen Milley & #Russia’s Gen Gerasimov comes after Milly spoke with his #Ukraine counterpart 2x over a 4-day span…

Jeff Seldin@jseldin
JUST IN: US-#Ukraine

@thejointstaff Chair Gen Mark Milley spoke by phone w/Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny

They “exchanged perspectives & assessments of the evolving security environment in Eastern Europe” per readout

The U.S. has provided Ukraine with $2.5 billion in security assistance since 2014, including $400 million in 2021 alone.

Recent deliveries include patrol boats for the Ukrainian navy and 80,000 kilos of ammunition for Ukrainian forces.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/a/us-preparing-for-multiple-contingencies-as-russia-ukraine-tensions-rise-/6325197.html

The post US Preparing for Multiple Contingencies as Russia-Ukraine Tensions Rise first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

During an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Robert Malley said that the US has made clear to Iran’s representatives that “we are prepared to remove all of the sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration that were inconsistent with the [nuclear] deal, and therefore we could get back to the business that we should have been on.”

“That’s where we are today, and I think that’s the choice that Iran faces,” Malley said. “Are they prepared to go back to that or do they want to choose a different path?”

Despite the White House’s overtures, Malley added, “the Iranians have refused to have direct communication with us, direct contact with us, so everything has been done through intermediaries.”

“It’s not a particularly constructive [format], it’s one that lends itself to delays, it’s one that lends itself to misunderstandings, and all of that has happened.”

Then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Representatives of the other five nations who signed the pact — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom — have taken part in six rounds of face-to-face meetings in the Austrian capital this year, with the US participating indirectly.

Iran has hinted it’s ready for more talks, but has not committed to a date. Meanwhile, it has blown through limits on its nuclear activities that had been set by the deal.

Last month, a US-based think tank reported that Tehran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for an atomic bomb within a month.

“Every day that goes by, we’re getting a piece of Iran’s answer,” Malley said Wednesday. “Every day where they [the Iranians] are not coming back to the table, every day where they’re making statements about how little was achieved in Vienna, which is what the current team is saying, is telling us that this is a team that may not, in fact, be prepared to come back into what we would consider … full mutual return to compliance.”

“And so, of course, we have to prepare for a world, which we’re doing now in consultation with our partners from the region … where Iran doesn’t have constraints on its nuclear program and we have to consider options for dealing with that, which is what we’re doing even as we hope that we can get back to the deal,” he went on. “That is by far our preference. But as I said, Iran is giving us its answer by what it’s doing and not doing every day and we need to take that into account.”

Malley said he would be traveling soon to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to discuss the matter with leaders there.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Wednesday that they have opened discussions on “other options” for action should the US rejoin the nuclear deal and Iran reject an offer to come back into compliance with it.

“Time is running short,” Blinken said at a joint event with Lapid and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “We are prepared to turn to other options if Iran doesn’t change course, and these consultations with our allies and partners are part of it.”

Blinken did not elaborate on what those “other options” were, but noted ominously that “it takes two to engage in diplomacy, and we have not seen from Iran a willingness to do that at this point.”

“There are moments when nations must use force to protect the world from evil,” Lapid chimed in. “If a terror regime is going to acquire a nuclear weapon we must act. We must make clear that the civilized world won’t allow it. If the Iranians don’t believe the world is serious about stopping them, they will race to the bomb.”

Lapid had met Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris as well as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to convey Israel’s concerns about the US rejoining the nuclear deal and restoring sanctions relief.

With Post wire

Source: https://nypost.com/2021/10/13/biden-special-envoy-warns-us-must-prepare-for-fully-nuclear-iran/

The post Biden Special Envoy Warns US Must ‘Prepare” for Fully Nuclear Iran first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here’s what you need to know as you start your day

Biden faces new criticism on Afghanistan withdrawal 
President Biden said earlier that he promised to stay in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, but after Monday’s withdrawal, critics say he did not live up his vow.

Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. announced Monday evening that the last of the U.S. troops stationed at the Kabul airport had left, completing the military’s drawdown in the country, even though hundreds of Americans likely remain.

McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said some American citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan remained in the country.

“We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” he said.

President Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during an interview on Aug. 18 that the U.S. military objective in Afghanistan was to get “everyone” out, including Americans and Afghan allies and their families.

“That’s what we’re doing now, that’s the path we’re on. And I think we’ll get there,” he said. “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.”

A senior State Department official told Fox News on Monday that there remained a “small number” of Americans inside Afghanistan.

That official put the number of Americans at “below 250,” adding that some additional Americans have departed Afghanistan in recent hours. The official added that the State Department also was committed to evacuating “those who worked with us,” referring to Afghan “partners.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

Sen. Tom Cotton, who appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday night, said Biden kept his promise to the Taliban to be out by Aug. 31, but not to the Americans still in the country.

In other developments:
– Last US troops have departed Afghanistan
– Taliban brags: US troops left Kabul, Afghanistan ‘gained full independence’
– Blinken pledges support to Americans left in Afghanistan after withdrawal: ‘We will help them leave’
– Biden emphasizes ‘unanimous recommendation’ of military leaders to meet Aug. 31 Afghanistan exit deadline
– NBC’s Richard Engel: Biden’s Afghan withdrawal was ‘the worst capitulation of western values in our lifetimes’
– Veterans organization works to evacuate Afghan interpreters desperate to find safety as US troops withdraw

Marine who criticized military leaders over Afghan exit said he was ordered to undergo mental health screening

A U.S. Marine officer who was relieved of his command for breaking rank and calling out the brass over the chaotic and deadly evacuation of American troops from Afghanistan in which 13 service members were killed said Monday that he was ordered to undergo a mental health screening.

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was fired after posting a video on social media where he criticized military leaders over the botched exit. In the footage, the 17-year Marine, just three years shy of a full pension, said took leaders to task.

“I’m not saying we need to be in Afghanistan forever, but I am saying, did any of you throw your rank on the table and say, ‘Hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic airbase, before we evacuate everyone?'” Scheller said last Thursday. “Did anyone do that? And when you didn’t think to do that, did anyone raise their hand and say, ‘We completely messed this up?'”

In an online post on Monday, Scheller said his commanding officer ordered him to go to a hospital for the mental health screening. He said he was evaluated by mental health specialists and “then sent on my way.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
– Fathers of Marines killed in Kabul blast rip Biden: ‘He talked more about his son than my son’
– Wounded Marine rips Blinken, Gen. McKenzie on Taliban praise: ‘How dare you do that’
– Grieving father remembers Utah Marine killed in Kabul attack: ‘He had the biggest heart in the world’
– Marines post photo of dignified transfer of fallen service members killed in Kabul

Taliban take control of Kabul airport, celebrate ‘enjoyable moment of victory’
Taliban leaders took over control of the Kabul airport Tuesday and marked the departure of the last U.S. plane from the country by taking a symbolic walk across the airport’s sole runway, according to a report.

“The world should have learned its lesson and this is the enjoyable moment of victory,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said in a livestream video, according to the Associated Press. He spoke to reporters at the Hamid Karzai International Airport and said Americans “could not achieve their goal through military operations,” according to Al Jazeera.

Celebratory gunfire could be heard throughout Kabul before dawn, Reuters reported. A reporter from the Los Angeles Times posted video of Taliban fighters inspecting a hanger after the U.S. departure.

The AP reported that vehicles carrying the Taliban raced back and forth along the airport’s sole runway.

Before dawn broke, heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars, passing some of the seven CH-46 helicopters the State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unflyable. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
– Hannity calls on Biden to resign for abandoning US citizens in Afghanistan
– Unvetted Afghan refugees allowed to leave Wisconsin military base unsupervised: Rep. Tiffany
– ‘Don’t trust the Taliban,’ hundreds gather outside White House
– Taliban offered Kabul to US, but Americans said no: report

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Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/biden-breaks-promise-to-remain-in-afghanistan-until-last-american-evacuated

The post Biden criticized for appearing to break promise on American evacuation from Afghanistan first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Israel’s delegation to Washington DC will not change the United States position on rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the White House press secretary said in a briefing Friday.

On Monday, a high-level Israeli delegation will travel to Washington to voice objection to the US return to the Iran nuclear deal, but not to hold talks on the details. It will be headed by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.

Asked whether the visit will impact the administration’s position on rejoining the deal, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “No.”

Psaki expanded on the indirect negotiations with Iran, saying that while the White House “knew they would be challenging, we’re encouraged that there are still conversations between all parties and that they’re still happening.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, March 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“As it relates to Israel, we have kept them abreast, as a key partner of these discussions, of our intentions and we will continue to do that on any future visits,” Psaki added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized in a meeting with the delegation last week that Israel is not a party in the nuclear agreement with Iran, and not committed to it, clarifying that “Israel is committed to its own security interests only and will act accordingly,” an Israeli official said Friday.

“The instructions to the senior security officials that are flying to Washington for talks is to present Israel’s opposition to the agreement in Iran and not to negotiate over it, because we are talking about a return to the previous agreement that is dangerous for Israel and the region,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“If in the future there are serious contacts on Iran’s part over an improved agreement, Israel will state its position on the characteristics and content that such an agreement should have,” the official added.

FILE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi at a press conference after a security cabinet meeting following the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip, at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, on November 12, 2019. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi has canceled his participation in the delegation amid a security flare-up in Jerusalem and in Gaza.

The rest of the delegation postponed the trip by a day after 36 rockets were fired at Israel Friday night from the Gaza Strip and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank escalated over the weekend.

Israel is generally concerned that the US is rushing too quickly to return to the 2015 nuclear accord, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and is ignoring the concerns of Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, notably those in the Gulf.

Israel and the US set up a strategic group, which last convened on April 13, to coordinate their efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. The group is led by Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart Ben-Shabbat.

Early last week, Kan news reported that Israel was lobbying the US to push for improved international oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, having concluded there will not be significant changes to the treaty but nonetheless seeking to slightly improve the terms of the pact, which is being negotiated in Vienna, with Europeans acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that 60-70 percent of the issues had been resolved in Vienna.

In this handout provided by the EU Delegation in Vienna, representatives of the European Union, Iran and others attend the Iran nuclear talks at the Grand Hotel in the Austrian capital, April 15, 2021. (EU Delegation in Vienna via Getty Images, JTA)

Earlier this month, European powers expressed “grave concern” over Iran’s move to boost uranium enrichment to 60% in response to what Tehran says was an attack by Israel against the key nuclear facility of Natanz.

The step will bring Iran closer to the 90% purity threshold for military use and shorten its potential “breakout time” to build an atomic bomb — a goal the Islamic Republic denies.

A spokesman for the US State Department indicated that Washington was backing down from a key prerequisite for its return to the deal.

The Biden administration had repeatedly said that it would only return to the nuclear deal if Iran first returns to compliance. However, last week US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said at a press conference that Washington would only need to be sure that Iran intended to return to compliance.

Critics of the deal have long denounced the deal’s so-called “sunset clauses,” prohibitions on certain nuclear activities that end after a certain number of years. Though the deal technically prohibits Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon, detractors of the agreement say these clauses will allow Iran to do so with impunity once the sanctions against the regime end.

In this image made from April 17, 2021, video released by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting, IRIB, state-run TV, various centrifuge machines line a hall at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, Iran. (IRIB via AP, File)

The agreement is also narrowly focused solely on the nuclear issue, ignoring Iran’s development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that can reach Israel and parts of Europe, as well as its constant funding and support of terror groups like Hezbollah.

Proponents of the agreement generally argue that while the deal is imperfect, it was the best possible deal that could be struck under the circumstances and at least postpones the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-says-israeli-delegation-will-not-change-us-position-on-iran-deal/

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The Saudis have used the offensive to confront a terror proxy backed by Iran, which is attempting to develop nuclear bomb-grade uranium.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday the United States was ending support for a five-year Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen to confront the Iran-backed Houthi Islamic extremist group.

President Donald Trump’s administration designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.

Biden said the was move part of restoring a U.S. emphasis on diplomacy.

“This war has to end,” Biden told diplomats in his first visit to the State Department as president, saying the conflict had created a “humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.”

The Yemen reversal is one of a series of steps Biden laid out Thursday that he said would mark a major change in direction for U.S. foreign policy. That’s after Republican and Democratic administrations sided with the Saudis.

The Biden administration also says it will help Saudi Arabia boost its defenses against outside attacks, as part of maintaining key security, counterterrorism and military ties with Saudi Arabia, a strategic partner, and global oil giant.

Saudi state media focused on that part of Biden’s announcements Thursday.

“We welcome President Biden’s stated commitment to work with friends and allies to resolve conflicts, and deal with attacks from Iran and its proxies in the region,” Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman, a son of King Salman and the kingdom’s deputy defense minister, tweeted.

In addition to its attempts to develop a nuclear bomb, Iran funds, trains, and fights alongside a group of terror proxies that menace the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen.

Iran’s other terror proxies include Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

Recent reports also revealed Iran’s role in assisting the Al-Qaeda, the terror group that perpetrated the 9/11 terror attacks on America in 2001.

According to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iran is the jihadist network’s “new home.”

Yemen, the biblical kingdom of Sheba, has one of the world’s oldest constantly occupied cities — the more than 2,000-year-old Sanaa — along with mud-brick skyscrapers and hauntingly beautiful landscapes of steep, arid mountains.

But decades of Yemeni misgovernment have worsened factional divisions and halted development, and years of conflict have now drawn in increasing intervention by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran.

The Obama administration in 2015 gave its approval to Saudi Arabia leading a cross-border air campaign targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who were seizing ever more territory, including Sanaa. The Houthis have launched multiple drone and missile strikes deep into Saudi Arabia.

U.S. targeting assistance to Saudi Arabia’s command-and-control was supposed to minimize civilian casualties in the Saudi-led airstrikes. But bombing since then has killed numerous Yemeni civilians, including schoolboys on a bus and fishermen in their boats. Survivors have displayed fragments showing the bombs to be American-made.

The stalled war has failed to dislodge the Houthis and is helping deepen hunger and poverty. International rights experts say both the Gulf countries and Houthis have committed severe rights abuses.

Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman, a co-winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in Yemen’s unsuccessful Arab Spring popular uprising, urged Biden to stay involved in Yemen peace efforts.

“Deeper U.S. engagement — and a refusal to side with dictators who have chosen bloodshed over democratic change — is vital so that the Yemeni people can return to the project of democracy” that warring parties inside and outside of Yemen interrupted, Karman said in a statement.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the U.S. action will give more space and more hope “not only to the talks but, more importantly, more hope to the people of Yemen.”

Biden called Thursday for a cease-fire, an opening of humanitarian channels to allow more delivery of aid and a return to long-stalled peace talks.

Biden also announced an end to “relevant” U.S. arms sales but gave no immediate details on what that would mean. The administration already has said it was pausing some of the billions of dollars in arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s main partner in its Yemeni offensive.

The ending of U.S. support for the offensive will not affect any U.S. operations against the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, group, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

In what was seen as the latest in several Saudi gestures toward Biden, the State Department said Thursday the kingdom had conditionally released two dual Saudi-U.S. citizens detained in a crackdown on civil society there, and reduced a sentence for a third, Dr. Walid Fitaihi, convicted of “disobedience” to the government.

The weeks-old Biden administration has made clear that shifting its stance toward the Yemen war, and toward Saudi Arabia over the Yemen offensive and other rights abuses, was a priority. Other measures have included a review of the Trump administration’s categorization of the Houthis as a terror group. Critics say the designation hinders delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemenis.

Biden also announced the choice of Timothy Lenderking as special envoy to Yemen.

Lenderking has been a deputy assistant secretary of state in the department’s Middle East section. A career foreign service member, he has served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Source: https://worldisraelnews.com/biden-ending-us-support-for-saudi-led-offensive-in-yemen

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After tense negotiations and multiple rounds of televised theatrics, Congress has passed a spending bill. It’s 5,593 pages long and allocates $2.3 trillion, including more than $900 billion in COVID relief.

That’s a lot of money, but on the other hand, there’s a lot of need. Thanks in part to government lockdowns, more than 100 million Americans are out of the workforce. One in six restaurants is closed. Huge parts of the retail sector are in tatters. J. Crew, Pier 1, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, Century 21, and many others are in bankruptcy.

If there was ever a time that Americans need relief, it’s right now. So be glad to know there is something for you in this bill: It is entirely possible that you could get a $600 check, courtesy of the U.S. Congress.

That money, should you receive it, is yours with which to do what you wish. Buy a moderately sized television set and watch the free channels all night. Rent a Tesla for a day and drive it until the power runs out. Order two appetizers off the tasting menu at The French Laundry in Napa County (Tip not included). The sky’s the limit here. Go crazy. It’s good to be an American.

TRUMP THREATENS TO VETO MASSIVE COVID BILL, DEMANDS CONGRESS INCREASE DIRECT PAYMENTS

On the other hand, it’s also pretty good to be a Jordanian. The same bill passed (but not read) by Congress allocates $500 million for border security in that country. Congress wants to help Jordan build a wall along its 275-mile long border with Syria. Apparently, Congress is worried about illegal immigration in the Middle East, which is why it allocated another $250 million for additional border security in Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman. God knows those countries need it. Borders make a nation, remember that.

Except here in the United States, which is unique among nations through history, borders are not relevant. In fact, borders are racist. And that’s why this very same bill defunds American border security. It slashes funding for ICE detention space and blocks requests to hire more deportation officials. Immigration authorities in this country will have 11,000 fewer detention beds starting this year.

There’s also $33 million for what is called “democracy programs” in Venezuela because we’re experts on democracy. We’re spending $231 million to help pay down the national debt of Sudan, debt being another area we know a thing or two about. And just in case you were worried that American society wasn’t divided enough, this bill creates two new monuments to the interest groups that have the most political power at the moment. So the Smithsonian will create a women’s history museum, as well as what’s called the National Museum of the American Latino.

There’s a whole lot more for the rest of the world. This bill spends $10 million on what it calls “gender programs” in Pakistan. Now, Congress doesn’t specify exactly what those are. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., seems to know and he’s thrilled about it. Here he is on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning.

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