Meanwhile I-1 has achieved the impossible...a pretty overwhelming vote in the House...
quote:
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to condemn President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northeastern Syria, clearing the way for Turkey’s offensive against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds.
The vote was 354 to 60 for the resolution, as dozens of Trump’s fellow Republicans joined the majority Democrats in favor.
The vote underscored deep unhappiness in Congress over Trump’s action, which many lawmakers view as abandoning Kurdish fighters who had been fighting alongside Americans to defeat Islamic State militants.
They also angrily denounced the release from prison of Islamic State fighters since Turkey’s offensive began a week ago.
“That was a betrayal of our partners. It was a gift to Russia, a gift to Iran, a gift to ISIS (Islamic State) and a gift to (Syrian President Bashar al-) Assad,” said Representative Eliot Engel, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who sponsored the resolution.
Separately on Wednesday, congressional and committee leaders from both parties were meeting with Trump at the White House to discuss his Syria policy.
The resolution backed by the House opposes Trump’s decision to remove the troops and calls on the his administration to present a “clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of ISIS (Islamic State).
It also calls on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to immediately end the offensive, seeks continued U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish communities through humanitarian support and also calls on the United States to work to ensure that Turkey’s military acts with restraint.
https://www.reuters.com/articl...lution-idUSKBN1WV2J1The meeting with Trump turns into he said/she said...
quote:
Congressional Democratic leaders offered a remarkable readout of a meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying that the President called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a "third-rate politician" in what they described as a "meltdown."
"He was insulting, particularly to the speaker. She kept her cool completely, but he called her a third-rate politician," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, describing the interaction. "This was not a dialogue, it was sort of a diatribe. A nasty diatribe, not focused on the facts."
Pelosi added, "What we witnessed on the part of the President was a meltdown, sad to say."
The Democratic leaders were at the White House for a meeting on Syria, which came shortly after the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan vote on a resolution opposing the Trump administration's troop withdrawal.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the top congressional Democrats said that they walked out. Schumer said they did so "when he started calling Speaker Pelosi a third-rate politician."
Pelosi later said that Trump had actually referred to her as a "third-grade politician."
quote:
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham described the meeting differently, saying in a statement that Trump was "measured" and "decisive" and that Pelosi "had no intention of listening."
"The President was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi's decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising," Grisham said. "She had no intention of listening or contributing to an important meeting on national security issues. While Democratic leadership chose to storm out and get in front of the cameras to whine, everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room and work on behalf of this country."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/16...-meltdown/index.html
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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier