“Retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, former commander of U.S. Central Command and a Silver Star recipient from the Iraq war, may become the first Black secretary of defense,” Military.com reported last week (read that story here). Today he did (read story here), edging out Michelle F[...]
Archive for the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Category
Biden expected to pick Cindy McCain for U.K. ambassador
President-Elect Joe Biden will offer Cindy McCain, who helped him win Arizona, the job of U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, the Times of London reported on Saturday, November 28, 2020. Read story here. “Biden became the first Democrat to win Arizona since 1996. Some Democrats say it was endors[...]
November 27th, 2020 - 1:01 am § in Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs
PHOTOGRAPHY: Photo-Op oops.
Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien (left), and Vietnam’s defense minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich (right), pose in Hanoi on November 21, 2020, in front of a painting of heroic People’s Army of Vietnam soldiers marching to a battlefield to kill American invaders.[...]
PHOTOGRAPHY: Then and now
Jane Fonda, antiwar activist, Hanoi, 1972: Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser, Hanoi, 2020: Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Trump’s envoy gets Typhoid Mary treatment in Vietnam
“White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and his entourage were treated like COVID-19 contagion threats in Vietnam at the start of his travels to Southeast Asia, Bloomberg reported. “He and his aides were relegated to a single floor in the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi …[...]
Advice for Trump: “Flee to North Korea”
Tony Schwartz, who ghost-wrote Trump’s “The Art Of The Deal” (and isn’t currently a fan), has “some not-so-friendly advice” on what to do after leaving the White House: “Flee to North Korea.” Makes sense. He likes parades, has a friend there, there’s gir[...]
Politics in Guatemala
“Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala’s Congress and burned part of the building Saturday amid growing demonstrations against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a budget that cut educational and health spending … which protesters say was negotia[...]
U.S. admiral’s Taiwan visit irks China
This article contains liberal opinion. “A two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan … that could vex China,” BBC reported on Sunday, November 22, 2020. “The Pentagon declined comment, as did[...]
November 19th, 2020 - 1:43 pm § in America, Biden, Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Israel/Palestine, Politics
Why Pompeo’s provocative visit to a West Bank settlement is a bad idea
Lame-duck U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured an Israeli settlement in the Palestinian West Bank on Thursday, November 19, 2020, the BBC reported. It’s the first time a high-level U.S. official has ever done so, and the action is considered provocative. But it’s consistent with Tr[...]
Lebanon is losing its doctors
Add to Lebanon’s other troubles this one: A mass exodus of doctors. More than 400 doctors have emigrated from Lebanon in 2020 alone, and more are preparing to leave. They cite the country’s corrupt political leadership, broken promises, and deteriorating living and working conditions. &#[...]