U.S. to hold accountable those who commit crimes against 'innocents'
Monday, April 10
By Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer | LUCCA, ITALY
The United States will hold responsible anyone who commits crimes against humanity, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday, days after the U.S. military unexpectedly attacked Syria.
Tillerson is in Italy for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations, with his counterparts from Europe and Japan eager for clarity from Washington on numerous diplomatic issues, especially Syria.
Before the April 7 missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, U.S. President Donald Trump had indicated he would be less interventionist than his predecessors and willing to overlook human rights abuses if it was in U.S. interests.
But Tillerson said the United States would not let such crimes go unchallenged. "We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world," he told reporters while commemorating a 1944 German Nazi massacre in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
Trump ordered his military to strike Syria in retaliation for what the United States said was a chemical weapons attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces which killed scores of civilians, including many children.
European ministers are eager to hear whether Washington is now committed to overthrowing Assad, who is backed by Russia. They also want the United States to put pressure on Moscow to distance itself from Assad.
By Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer | LUCCA, ITALY
The United States will hold responsible anyone who commits crimes against humanity, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday, days after the U.S. military unexpectedly attacked Syria.
Tillerson is in Italy for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations, with his counterparts from Europe and Japan eager for clarity from Washington on numerous diplomatic issues, especially Syria.
Before the April 7 missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, U.S. President Donald Trump had indicated he would be less interventionist than his predecessors and willing to overlook human rights abuses if it was in U.S. interests.
But Tillerson said the United States would not let such crimes go unchallenged. "We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world," he told reporters while commemorating a 1944 German Nazi massacre in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
Trump ordered his military to strike Syria in retaliation for what the United States said was a chemical weapons attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces which killed scores of civilians, including many children.
European ministers are eager to hear whether Washington is now committed to overthrowing Assad, who is backed by Russia. They also want the United States to put pressure on Moscow to distance itself from Assad.
Tillerson, who travels to Russia after the two-day G7 gathering, said at the weekend that the defeat of Islamic State remained the U.S. priority, while the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that "regime change" in Syria was also a priority for Trump.
The mixed messages have confused and frustrated European allies, who are eager for full U.S. support for a political solution based on a transfer of power in Damascus.
"The Americans say they agree, but there's nothing to show for it behind (the scenes). They are absent from this and are navigating aimlessly in the dark," said a senior European diplomat, who declined to be named.
Italy, Germany, France and Britain have invited foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar to sit down with the G7 group on Tuesday morning to discuss Syria. All oppose Assad's rule.
SENSITIVE ISSUES
The foreign ministers' discussions in Tuscany will prepare the way for a leaders' summit in Sicily at the end of May.
Efforts to reach an agreement on statements ahead of time - a normal part of pre-meeting G7 diplomacy - have moved very slowly, partly because of a difficult transition at the U.S. state department, where many key positions remain unfilled.
Some issues, such as trade and climate change, are likely to be ducked this week. "The more complicated subjects will be left to the leaders," said an Italian diplomat, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
However, the foreign ministers will talk about growing tensions with North Korea, as the United States moves a navy strike group near the Korean peninsula amid concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
They will also discuss Libya. Italy is hoping for vocal support for a United Nations-backed government in Tripoli which has struggled to establish its authority even in the city, let alone in the rest of the violence-plagued north African country.
The Trump administration has not yet defined a clear policy and Rome fears Washington may fall into step with Egypt and Russia, which support general Khalifa Haftar, a powerful figure in eastern Libya.
The struggle against terrorism, relations with Iran and instability in Ukraine will also come up for discussion, with talks due to kick off at 4.30 p.m. (10.30 a.m. ET) on Monday.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer; editing by Andrew Roche)
Monday, April 10, 2017
U.S. Reroutes Warships Toward Korean Peninsula in Show of Force - New York Times
U.S. Reroutes Warships Toward Korean Peninsula in Show of Force
By ERIC SCHMITT
APRIL 9, 2017
WASHINGTON — The commander of American forces in the Pacific has ordered an aircraft carrier and several other warships toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force by the Trump administration just days after North Korea tested another intermediate-range missile.
The officer, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the head of the military’s Pacific Command, diverted the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its wing of fighter jets from a planned series of exercises and port calls in Australia, the command said in a statement. The Vinson and three guided-missile destroyers and cruisers steamed out of Singapore on Saturday for their new mission in the Western Pacific.
Rerouting the naval armada is President Trump’s latest escalation in force against a potential adversary. Mr. Trump ordered a cruise missile strike last week against a Syrian military air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed scores of civilians.
At a meeting last week at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he joined with President Xi Jinping of China in warning of the increasing menace posed by North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program. Asked on Sunday why the Navy ships were being redirected toward the Korean Peninsula, the president’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, said it was a “prudent” step to take.
“North Korea has been engaged in a pattern of provocative behavior,” General McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime. The president has asked to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and to our allies and partners in the region.”
The White House said in a statement on Sunday that Mr. Trump had spoken to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan the day before on many issues, including the North Korean nuclear threat.
Military and intelligence officials said the timing of the ship movements was also intended to anticipate a milestone event coming up on the Korean Peninsula: the anniversary on Saturday of the birth of Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founder and the grandfather of the country’s current leader, Kim Jong-un. North Korea has a history of testing missiles and generally taking provocative actions during such events.
By dispatching the Vinson, the United States is signaling to the North Koreans that even as it focuses on Syria, it has not forgotten about them.
Administration officials said the strike by 59 cruise missiles on Syria might have strengthened Mr. Trump’s hand as he called on the Chinese to put more pressure on North Korea. Although officials noted that North Korea poses different, and in some ways more daunting, challenges than Syria, the parallel of a rogue government that possesses weapons of mass destruction was not lost on the Chinese.
Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump during their meetings at Mar-a-Lago that he agreed that the threat posed by North Korea had reached a “very serious stage,” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said.
Speaking on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Tillerson expanded on what the rest of the world should take away from the missile strikes in Syria: “The message that any nation can take is if you violate international norms, if you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point, a response is likely to be undertaken.”
Mr. Tillerson continued: “In terms of North Korea, we have been very clear that our objective is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We have no objective to change the regime in North Korea; that is not our objective.”
North Korea, however, has stepped up its provocations. A day before Mr. Trump met with Mr. Xi, Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile. South Korean and American specialists said the missile tested on Wednesday, which the South Korean military said flew a mere 37 miles, was probably a modified version of either the Scud-ER or Pukguksong-2, or perhaps a new missile — even an early version of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Analysts have said that as North Korea was developing its first submarine-launched ballistic missile last year, it accumulated technology incrementally, with a series of tests in which projectiles flew only short distances or exploded soon after launching.
The United States has been conducting an electronic and cyberwarfare campaign aimed at sabotaging Pyongyang’s missile tests in their opening seconds. But it was impossible to determine whether that program affected the launch last week.
Asked how close North Korea was to developing a weapon that could reach the United States, Mr. Tillerson said on ABC: “The assessments are, obviously, somewhat difficult, but clearly, he has made significant advancements in delivery systems. And that is what concerns us the most.”
Mr. Tillerson added: “The sophistication around their rocket launch programs, their sophistication around the type of fueling that they use, and they’re working their way towards the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. And these are the kinds of progress that give us the greatest concerns.”
Before the summit meeting last week, Mr. Trump sought to increase pressure on China, saying that it was time for Beijing to rein in its Communist ally. In an interview with The Financial Times published on April 2, he said, “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.” But he did not say how.
In the meetings between Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump, the Chinese made no new offers about how to deal with Mr. Kim’s government, according to an American official.
Michael R. Gordon contributed reporting.
By ERIC SCHMITT
APRIL 9, 2017
WASHINGTON — The commander of American forces in the Pacific has ordered an aircraft carrier and several other warships toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force by the Trump administration just days after North Korea tested another intermediate-range missile.
The officer, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the head of the military’s Pacific Command, diverted the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its wing of fighter jets from a planned series of exercises and port calls in Australia, the command said in a statement. The Vinson and three guided-missile destroyers and cruisers steamed out of Singapore on Saturday for their new mission in the Western Pacific.
Rerouting the naval armada is President Trump’s latest escalation in force against a potential adversary. Mr. Trump ordered a cruise missile strike last week against a Syrian military air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed scores of civilians.
At a meeting last week at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he joined with President Xi Jinping of China in warning of the increasing menace posed by North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program. Asked on Sunday why the Navy ships were being redirected toward the Korean Peninsula, the president’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, said it was a “prudent” step to take.
“North Korea has been engaged in a pattern of provocative behavior,” General McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime. The president has asked to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and to our allies and partners in the region.”
The White House said in a statement on Sunday that Mr. Trump had spoken to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan the day before on many issues, including the North Korean nuclear threat.
Military and intelligence officials said the timing of the ship movements was also intended to anticipate a milestone event coming up on the Korean Peninsula: the anniversary on Saturday of the birth of Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founder and the grandfather of the country’s current leader, Kim Jong-un. North Korea has a history of testing missiles and generally taking provocative actions during such events.
By dispatching the Vinson, the United States is signaling to the North Koreans that even as it focuses on Syria, it has not forgotten about them.
Administration officials said the strike by 59 cruise missiles on Syria might have strengthened Mr. Trump’s hand as he called on the Chinese to put more pressure on North Korea. Although officials noted that North Korea poses different, and in some ways more daunting, challenges than Syria, the parallel of a rogue government that possesses weapons of mass destruction was not lost on the Chinese.
Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump during their meetings at Mar-a-Lago that he agreed that the threat posed by North Korea had reached a “very serious stage,” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said.
Speaking on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Tillerson expanded on what the rest of the world should take away from the missile strikes in Syria: “The message that any nation can take is if you violate international norms, if you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point, a response is likely to be undertaken.”
Mr. Tillerson continued: “In terms of North Korea, we have been very clear that our objective is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We have no objective to change the regime in North Korea; that is not our objective.”
North Korea, however, has stepped up its provocations. A day before Mr. Trump met with Mr. Xi, Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile. South Korean and American specialists said the missile tested on Wednesday, which the South Korean military said flew a mere 37 miles, was probably a modified version of either the Scud-ER or Pukguksong-2, or perhaps a new missile — even an early version of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Analysts have said that as North Korea was developing its first submarine-launched ballistic missile last year, it accumulated technology incrementally, with a series of tests in which projectiles flew only short distances or exploded soon after launching.
The United States has been conducting an electronic and cyberwarfare campaign aimed at sabotaging Pyongyang’s missile tests in their opening seconds. But it was impossible to determine whether that program affected the launch last week.
Asked how close North Korea was to developing a weapon that could reach the United States, Mr. Tillerson said on ABC: “The assessments are, obviously, somewhat difficult, but clearly, he has made significant advancements in delivery systems. And that is what concerns us the most.”
Mr. Tillerson added: “The sophistication around their rocket launch programs, their sophistication around the type of fueling that they use, and they’re working their way towards the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. And these are the kinds of progress that give us the greatest concerns.”
Before the summit meeting last week, Mr. Trump sought to increase pressure on China, saying that it was time for Beijing to rein in its Communist ally. In an interview with The Financial Times published on April 2, he said, “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.” But he did not say how.
In the meetings between Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump, the Chinese made no new offers about how to deal with Mr. Kim’s government, according to an American official.
Michael R. Gordon contributed reporting.
Why I can no longer get behind a President I admired for so long - Independent
For so long I thought Donald Trump could do no wrong – but he's lost my support after these Syrian air strikes
Why I can no longer get behind a President I admired for so long
* Max Benwell
* @max_benwell
I first began to support Donald Trump when he forced Barack Obama to release his birth certificate in 2011. It was groundbreaking – no other sitting president had ever been made to do it. But then again, Obama was like no other president.
But with the air strikes in Syria, everything has changed. Trump isn't the president I thought he was. I just wish I had the chance to realise my mistake sooner.
Before he entered the White House, Trump had been accused of ripping off business partners, discriminating against ethnic minorities, and defrauding students. He had also declared corporate bankruptcy several times, and oversaw the financial collapse of multiple casinos.
So you can imagine my excitement five years later when he launched his presidential campaign and, in his first mesmerising speech, called Mexican people rapists.
I thought I’d always support Trump. I was with him when he called Rosie O’Donnell a "fat pig" and said Heidi Klum was “no longer a 10”. I didn’t have a problem when he suggested a female interviewer was on her period because she asked him tough questions. I was fine when he told people to watch a woman’s sex tape, even though it didn’t exist.
I wasn't going to stop supporting Trump just because he mocked a disabled reporter on stage. What am I, a snowflake? And I was ok when he said Obama founded Isis, and suggested that someone should assassinate Hillary Clinton. This is politics, after all.
Trump has been a president of firsts. He was the first president to call for a foreign adversary to hack an opponent’s emails. The first to call for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country. The first to compare America to Putin’s Russia, which murders journalists and opposition leaders. And the first to attack the grieving parents of a Muslim American soldier who died saving his unit.
The world needs someone who can get stuff done, and Trump has shown he can do anything, to anyone – whether it’s a female contestant on The Apprentice, a female contestant on Miss Universe, a female producer, or a female colleague – according to the women who have accused him.
That said, I didn’t like it when Trump was caught boasting about sexually assaulting women. His "grab them by the pussy" remarks concerned me, not just because I have a mother, but a sister too. I respect and love women. However, I still supported him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. When I heard she had used a private email server, I don't think I've ever been as shocked in my life. She is truly, a "nasty woman".
When Trump became president, my loyal support only grew. I didn’t mind when he lied about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He had my full support when he falsely claimed Obama wiretapped him. And when he recently defended Bill O'Reilly, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, I saw no wrong at all.
No matter what he did, I had the President's back. But last night’s air strike in Syria changed everything. For me, it was the first – and final – straw.
Everyone has their own personal principles. Your "red lines", so to speak. Mine are as follows: you can do whatever you want. You can ban all refugees coming to America. You can try to cut healthcare benefits that keep millions of Americans alive, and roll back the regulations designed to protect millions from climate change. You can be sexist, racist and brag about sexually assaulting women. But don't bomb an airfield used by a dictator for attacks on his own people. How can you support someone after that?
I thought he was going to be great. But in the end, he disappointed us all, and after showing so much promise. He crossed a line. And that’s why I can no longer support Donald Trump.
Why I can no longer get behind a President I admired for so long
* Max Benwell
* @max_benwell
I first began to support Donald Trump when he forced Barack Obama to release his birth certificate in 2011. It was groundbreaking – no other sitting president had ever been made to do it. But then again, Obama was like no other president.
But with the air strikes in Syria, everything has changed. Trump isn't the president I thought he was. I just wish I had the chance to realise my mistake sooner.
Before he entered the White House, Trump had been accused of ripping off business partners, discriminating against ethnic minorities, and defrauding students. He had also declared corporate bankruptcy several times, and oversaw the financial collapse of multiple casinos.
So you can imagine my excitement five years later when he launched his presidential campaign and, in his first mesmerising speech, called Mexican people rapists.
I thought I’d always support Trump. I was with him when he called Rosie O’Donnell a "fat pig" and said Heidi Klum was “no longer a 10”. I didn’t have a problem when he suggested a female interviewer was on her period because she asked him tough questions. I was fine when he told people to watch a woman’s sex tape, even though it didn’t exist.
I wasn't going to stop supporting Trump just because he mocked a disabled reporter on stage. What am I, a snowflake? And I was ok when he said Obama founded Isis, and suggested that someone should assassinate Hillary Clinton. This is politics, after all.
Trump has been a president of firsts. He was the first president to call for a foreign adversary to hack an opponent’s emails. The first to call for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country. The first to compare America to Putin’s Russia, which murders journalists and opposition leaders. And the first to attack the grieving parents of a Muslim American soldier who died saving his unit.
The world needs someone who can get stuff done, and Trump has shown he can do anything, to anyone – whether it’s a female contestant on The Apprentice, a female contestant on Miss Universe, a female producer, or a female colleague – according to the women who have accused him.
That said, I didn’t like it when Trump was caught boasting about sexually assaulting women. His "grab them by the pussy" remarks concerned me, not just because I have a mother, but a sister too. I respect and love women. However, I still supported him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. When I heard she had used a private email server, I don't think I've ever been as shocked in my life. She is truly, a "nasty woman".
When Trump became president, my loyal support only grew. I didn’t mind when he lied about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He had my full support when he falsely claimed Obama wiretapped him. And when he recently defended Bill O'Reilly, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, I saw no wrong at all.
No matter what he did, I had the President's back. But last night’s air strike in Syria changed everything. For me, it was the first – and final – straw.
Everyone has their own personal principles. Your "red lines", so to speak. Mine are as follows: you can do whatever you want. You can ban all refugees coming to America. You can try to cut healthcare benefits that keep millions of Americans alive, and roll back the regulations designed to protect millions from climate change. You can be sexist, racist and brag about sexually assaulting women. But don't bomb an airfield used by a dictator for attacks on his own people. How can you support someone after that?
I thought he was going to be great. But in the end, he disappointed us all, and after showing so much promise. He crossed a line. And that’s why I can no longer support Donald Trump.
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