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Syria

UPDATE: Trump’s Friday plans unclear after Syria attack clouds meeting with Xi

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

11 p.m. UPDATE: It was not immediately clear tonight whether the Syrian action would alter plans for President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold meetings and a “working lunch” Friday before Xi departs. Even before Trump ordered missile strikes against an airbase in Syria, the U.S. response to Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons was overshadowing the summit, The Post’s George Bennett reports.

As Air Force One headed to Palm Beach International Airport in the afternoon, Trump told reporters that “I guess something should happen” in response to what Trump called the “disgrace to humanity” in Syria. The missile strikes began a few hours later as Trump dined with Xi at Mar-a-Lago.

10 p.m. UPDATE: President Trump ordered an attack on a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad. U.S. officials say the Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria, according to The Associated Press.

In a speech from Mar-a-Lago, Trump called on “civilized nations” to join U.S. in “seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria.”

The bombing represents President Donald Trump’s most dramatic military order since taking office.

MORE ON THE ATTACK

8:25 p.m. UPDATE: The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said it has identified five people arrested today in connection with the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinpeng.

» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Presidential summit in Palm Beach

8:05 p.m. UPDATE: World politics landed in Palm Beach County on Thursday as President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping began a summit at Mar-a-Lago amid tensions with North Korea and Syria.

A third president, Guatemala’s Jimmy Morales, was also in the county on Thursday to mark the opening of a Guatemalan consulate in Lake Worth.

Read a wrap-up of the day from Post reporter George Bennett

7:20 p.m. UPDATE: Most protesters and supporters have cleared out of the area near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, where China’s President Xi Jinping is staying as he holds meetings with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Earlier today, three protesters were arrested as Xi’s motorcade made its way to the Eau Palm Beach. Get the latest on the arrests.

Barricades and towering fences will remain in place along South Ocean Boulevard and Ocean Avenue near the resort until Xi leaves Palm Beach County tomorrow afternoon.

6:30 p.m. UPDATE: The menu has been revealed for tonight’s state dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

Entree options from the estate’s kitchen: pan-seared Dover Sole or dry-aged prime New York strip steak. Read more.

5:45 p.m. UPDATE: China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan have arrived at Mar-a-Lago for their first meeting with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.

According to pool reports, the Trumps greeted Xi and his wife at the door upon their arrival. The group will “share some private time” before eating dinner at 6:30 p.m., White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said today.

» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Presidential summit in Palm Beach

5:30 p.m. UPDATE: First lady Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, the wife of China’s President Xi Jinping, will visit a local school tomorrow, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Air Force One this afternoon.

Spicer did not say which school the pair will visit.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

5 p.m. UPDATE: Press pool photos have provided a look inside the dining room where President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping will have dinner tonight with their wives and high-level officials.

See the photos and learn more about the dining room.

4:30 p.m. UPDATE: When President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping meet tonight at Mar-a-Lago, there are several possible high-profile topics that are sure to be on the agenda. See what could be up for discussion.

The presidents and their wives also will eat dinner at the club. Whether they will be in the dining room — where Trump has hosted dinners with past visitors, including Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — or a separate space away from the prying eyes of club members and guests has not been announced.

» Three protesters arrested as Trump and Xi arrive in Palm Beach

4:05 p.m. UPDATE: Sightseers are beginning to gather at Palm Beach International Airport to snap photos of Air Force One and the Air China plane on which China’s President Xi Jinping arrived this afternoon.

Find out how to see the planes before they leave.

3:45 p.m. UPDATE: Speaking to the press pool aboard Air Force One just before landing at Palm Beach International Airport, President Donald Trump said the chemical attack in Syria this week “is truly one of the egregious crimes.”

When asked if Syrian President Bashar Assad should step down, Trump replied, “I think what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen.”

His comments came less than an hour after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed the situation in Syria as he greeted China’s President Xi Jinping at Palm Beach International Airport.

“There is no doubt in our minds that the Syrian regime is responsible for this attack,” Tillerson said. “The Russian government must carefully consider their continued support for the Assad regime.”

» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Presidential summit in Palm Beach

3:25 p.m. UPDATE: International diplomacy arrived at Palm Beach International Airport Thursday as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping, then sent a warning shot to Syria and Russia.

Tillerson spoke at PBIA shortly after Xi’s motorcade rolled away. He rattled off a series of issues that President Donald Trump will raise with Xi in “candid discussions.”

See what Tillerson said.

3:15 p.m. UPDATE: President Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at Mar-a-Lago. Southern Boulevard, I-95, Australian Avenue and Dixie Highway have reopened.

Expect congestion on area roads throughout the afternoon as gridlock begins to clear.

Check back for traffic updates throughout the afternoon and evening.

3:10 p.m. UPDATE: Motorists near Palm Beach International Airport and in West Palm Beach should get some relief soon once President Donald Trump’s motorcade arrives at Mar-a-Lago.

Until then, Southern Boulevard from the airport to the estate is closed, and all adjoining north-south roads are closed as well, including I-95, Australian Avenue and Dixie Highway.

Get a breakdown of which roads to avoid and when to avoid them.

3:05 p.m. UPDATE: President Donald Trump’s motorcade has left Palm Beach International, heading to his Mar-a-Lago Club.

We’re also following news that three protesters have been arrested near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan. Check here for updates on the protest arrests.

2:58 p.m. UPDATE: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have arrived at Palm Beach International Airport aboard Air Force One.

2:42 p.m. UPDATE: Three protesters have been detained near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan ahead of China’s President Xi Jinping’s arrival there.

Check here for updates on the arrests.

2:30 p.m. UPDATE: Southern Boulevard from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago is temporarily closed, along with Interstate 95, Australian Avenue, Dixie Highway and other intersecting north-south roads along the route President Donald Trump’s motorcade will take when he arrives within the next 20 minutes.

Get a breakdown of which roads to avoid and when to avoid them.

Traffic is backing up throughout West Palm Beach and surrounding areas, our reporters in the field tell us.

Drivers hoping to avoid Southern Boulevard and I-95 and take Florida’s Turnpike are crowding Okeechobee Boulevard and Belvedere Road.

Expect delays throughout the afternoon.

2:10 p.m. UPDATE: The motorcade carrying China’s President Xi Jinping has left Palm Beach International Airport. Officials indicate the motorcade will travel down Southern Boulevard toward Mar-a-Lago. Expect delays in the area.

2 p.m. UPDATE: China’s President Xi Jinping was greeted at Palm Beach International Airport by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Xi’s motorcade is expected to leave PBIA shortly.

1:40 p.m. UPDATE: The Air China plane carrying China’s President Xi Jinping has taxied to the north side of Palm Beach International Airport, where a crowd of greeters, media and military honor guard members are gathered.

Xi will disembark soon, then travel to the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan before going to Mar-a-Lago this evening for dinner with President Donald Trump.

1:33 p.m. UPDATE: China’s President Xi Jinping has landed at Palm Beach International Airport.

Xi is expected to travel from PBIA to the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, where he and his delegation are staying during his meeting with President Donald Trump.

1:15 p.m. UPDATE: China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive within minutes at Palm Beach International Airport. Roads could begin to close soon in the area.

Get a breakdown of which roads to avoid and when to avoid them.

Passengers waiting to board planes at the airport can see the staging area for Xi’s arrival from the terminal.

1:08 p.m. UPDATE: Chinese greeters awaiting the arrival of President Xi Jinping are sharing photos on social media of their gathering near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan.

And on Bingham Island near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, protesters also are sharing photos of their demonstration.

At each site, the greeters can be identified by their red shirts and hats, while protesters are wearing yellow shirts.

Xi is expected to arrive between 1 and 1:30 p.m. at Palm Beach International Airport, then travel to the Eau Palm Beach, where he is staying as he meets with Trump today and tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago.

A massive delegation from China has booked nearly every room at the resort, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said yesterday in a news conference.

12:45 p.m. UPDATE: Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies have arrived near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, where China’s President Xi Jinping is staying, to assist with crowd control.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a news conference yesterday that BSO deputies would be on standby to assist if needed.

Hundreds of protesters and supporters have gathered near the Eau Palm Beach. Chinese greeters, donning red shirts, are stretched along South Ocean Boulevard and Ocean Avenue next to the resort. Protesters in yellow shirts also line the road, which is hedged by barricades to keep people out of the street.

Follow Post reporter Alexandra Seltzer on Twitter, @alexseltzer, for updates from the scene.

» PHOTO GALLERY: Trump and Xi visit Palm Beach

12:35 p.m. UPDATE: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews for the flight to Palm Beach International Airport.

The pair walked up the plane’s staircase as rain poured down — a scene that will play out nearly in reverse when they arrive in West Palm Beach, as storms are expected to move through when they land between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

12:25 p.m. UPDATE: China’s President Xi Jinping now is expected to arrive at Palm Beach International Airport between 1 and 1:30 p.m., officials said.

A red carpet has been rolled out for Xi, who will meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago tonight through tomorrow afternoon.

Trump is expected to arrive later, between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

» Roads to avoid and Trump and Xi visit Palm Beach County

12:19 p.m. UPDATE: The arrival of China’s President Xi Jinping at Palm Beach International Airport could be a rainy one.

Xi is expected to land within the hour at the airport, then travel by motorcade to the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, where he staying while in town to meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Presidential summit in Palm Beach

Hundreds of protesters and supporters have gathered near Mar-a-Lago and the Eau Palm Beach — and those crowds most likely will see rain soon.

Palm Beach Post weather reporter Kimberly Miller (follow her on Twitter @KMillerWeather) said though early forecasts had storms moving into the area around 2 p.m., that rain could be here even sooner. Those storms dropped hail and brought severe weather to the Treasure Coast, prompting tornado warnings in Indian River and Okeechobee counties.

Either way, both presidents will arrive to wet weather in the Palm Beaches. Get the latest weather updates.

12:07 p.m. UPDATE: About 500 protesters have gathered at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Flagler Drive ahead of President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping’s arrivals in Palm Beach County today.

The protesters told Palm Beach Post reporter Jorge Milian (follow him on Twitter @caneswatch) they are Vietnamese-American, with some having traveled from California to protest Xi’s presence in the U.S.

Some harsh words were exchanged between the protesters and Chinese greeters in place to welcome Xi, with one protester with a megaphone yelling at the group of Chinese nationals.

EARLIER STORY: President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Palm Beach this afternoon for a 24-hour summit.

Both presidents are expected to arrive at Palm Beach International Airport, with Xi flying in between noon and 1 p.m., and Trump landing in Air Force One between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

» COMPLETE COVERAGE: President Donald Trump in Palm Beach

Hundreds of protesters and supporters already have gathered in three spots: near the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, where Xi is staying; along Southern Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago; and along Southern Boulevard between Flagler and Dixie Highway.

Stay with The Palm Beach Post for the latest updates throughout the day.

[“Source-palmbeachpost”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

News Update

Syria conflict: Army cuts IS supply route into al-Bab

by Rajdeep April 5, 2024

written by Rajdeep

People flee the battle for the Islamic State-controlled al-Bab (4 February 2017)

Syrian government forces have advanced towards so-called Islamic State’s last major stronghold in Aleppo province, cutting off the main supply route into al-Bab, a monitoring group reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops had captured Tal Uwayshiya, a hill 9km (6 miles) to the south-east.

It overlooks a key road linking al-Bab to the IS-controlled city of Raqqa, in a neighbouring province.

Al-Bab is now almost surrounded by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.

The rebels are laying siege from the north, east and west.

It is not yet clear whether the Syrian government is also aiming to capture the town, which is considered a prize by all sides in the five-year civil war.

But a military source told the pro-government al-Masdar website that troops were now within striking distance of the village of Tadif, on the outskirts of al-Bab.

The government has denounced Turkey’s support of the rebel offensive, which was launched in August with the aim of clearing IS militants from a border area north of al-Bab and limiting gains to the east by Kurdish forces.

Despite that, President Bashar al-Assad’s ally Russia has carried out joint air strikes with Turkey on IS positions around al-Bab since January.

The Syrian Observatory also reported on Monday that Turkish troops and rebel fighters were engaged in deadly clashes with IS militants around the village of Bazaa, east of al-Bab, which was recaptured by the jihadists over the weekend.

Government forces were also battling IS in the central province of Homs, after capturing the Hayyan oilfield west of Palmyra, the UK-based monitoring group said.

Turkish and Syrian rebel forces in the Bazaa area, east of al-Bab, on 4 February 2017 — Image captionTurkish-backed rebel forces were driven out of the village of Bazaa, east of al-Bab, on Saturday

It comes as a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters begins a new phase of their offensive to isolate Raqqa.

The Syrian Democratic Forces announced on Saturday that it aimed to take areas east of the city, including the main road linking it to Deir al-Zour province, almost all of which is controlled by IS.

The operation is being supported by air strikes by the US-led multinational coalition against IS and several hundred special forces personnel on the ground.

[Source:- BBC]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

News Update

Syria conflict: Assad hopes for ‘anti-terror ally’ in Trump

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Damage in Aleppo, 15 Nov

Syria’s leader has said he hopes US President-elect Donald Trump will be an ally in fighting terrorism but remains “cautious in judging him”.

Bashar al-Assad said Mr Trump would be a “natural ally” if he fulfilled a campaign pledge to fight terrorism.

But he said it was “dubious” whether Mr Trump could “live up to his promises”.

Mr Trump had previously said it was “madness” to oppose both Syrian forces and IS militants, and that fighting Syria could lead to fighting Russia.

Conflict continues to rage in Syria. Government aircraft on Tuesday bombed besieged rebel-held eastern districts of the city of Aleppo for the first time in three weeks, activists said.

More than 300,000 people have died since the Syrian civil conflict began in March 2011.

‘Very cautious’

Speaking to Portugal’s RTP state television, Mr Assad said: “We cannot tell anything about what he’s going to do, but if… he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be [an] ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russians, with the Iranians, with many other countries.”

Mr Assad said that Mr Trump’s pledge to focus the fight on Islamic State (IS) militants was “promising”, but added: “Can he deliver?”

“What about the countervailing forces within the administration, the mainstream media that were against him? How can he deal with it? That’s why for us it’s still dubious… That’s why we are very cautious in judging him.”

Current US policy is to strike against IS and other jihadists while supporting moderate rebels opposed to President Assad.

Mr Assad regards those groups as terrorists.

Some US media, including the New York Times, have suggested Mr Trump is likely to end aid for the rebels fighting Mr Assad because “we have no idea who these people are”.

He has said fighting Syria could lead to fighting Russia and during the election campaign he had shown admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, fellow Republican John McCain lashed out at Mr Trump’s planned attempt to reset ties with Russia, saying the price would be the “butchery of the Syrian people”.

In his interview, Mr Assad again condemned the current US policy, saying: “They think that they are the police of the world. They think they are the judge of the world. They’re not.”

He also called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “sick person” and a “megalomaniac… out of touch with reality”.

Turkey has carried out operations in Syria to back rebels opposing Mr Assad.

‘Hospital hit’

Meanwhile, conflict has resumed in Aleppo after a three-week lull by government forces and their Russian allies to allow civilians and rebels to leave.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported that at least five people had been killed as a number of areas were hit.

Map showing control of Aleppo, Syria on 15 November 2016

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network, also reported that a missile hit the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, and that Russian warplanes had targeted the towns of Ariha, Ihsim, Khan Sheikhoun and Tal Nabi Ayoub.

The LCC also said there had been air strikes on several locations in Aleppo province on Tuesday, including one that damaged a hospital in Awaijel.

US state department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau condemned the renewed air strikes, adding that “Russia again has backed the Assad regime in their ruthless war against the Syrian people”.

She said reported attacks on hospitals and a mobile clinic in Syria would be a violation of international law.

[Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

News Update

Putin’s Misguided Move in Syria

by onkar April 3, 2024

written by onkar

Russia’s incompetent bully of a leader, Vladimir Putin, has just committed his latest blunder. He’s decided to prop up the dying Assad regime with weapons and soldiers. Good luck! The USSR’s fiasco in Afghanistan and America’s in Iraq have clearly failed to deter the Kremlin’s serial bumbler from committing his latest strategic mistake.

The mortar shell that struck Russia’s embassy compound in Damascus on September 20th is a foretaste of things to come. As Russian troops intervene in greater numbers—as they surely will in order to prop up a doomed regime—Russian casualties will mount. Eventually, ISIS will engage in its usual barbarism and beheaded Russian soldiers will appear on television. At that point, Western commentators, who’ve mostly interpreted Putin’s intervention as a devilishly clever move, will start saying that Russia stumbled into a conflict it cannot win.

Putin watchers shouldn’t be surprised by the Russian dictator’s latest blunder.

His mistakes started with his unwillingness to use the enormous windfall from rising energy prices to modernize the Russian economy. Instead of building an open society, Putin constructed a “fascistoid” political system and kept Russia as a petro-state. That Russia’s economy is now contracting as a result of falling energy prices is Putin’s fault. So is the fact that educated professionals and money are leaving the country in droves.

Putin stupidly supported Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2004, thereby accelerating that country’s drift toward the West. Even more stupidly, he opposed Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the European Union in late 2013, thereby sparking the Euromaidan Revolution that led to Yanukovych’s flight. Putin then invaded the Crimea and the Donbas—provinces that he already controlled—thereby turning Ukraine against Russia, destroying the occupied regions’ economies, and saddling Russia with the bill. All this, while sanctions accelerated Russia’s economic decline, smothered foreign investment, and increased capital flight.

Meanwhile, Russia’s violation of the postwar security order in Europe galvanized a demoralized NATO, turned the United States and Europe against Russia, led to traditionally Russophile Germany’s adoption of an anti-Russian stance, forced Putin to grovel before an indifferent China, and transformed Russia into a rogue state whose closest ally now appears to be mighty North Korea.

Russians used to joke that Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika was a CIA plot to destroy the Soviet Union. I’m beginning to think Vlad Putin is a sleeper agent of the Company. A few more years of his bumbling, and the Russian state may become history.

The bottom line is that Russia’s security and strength are significantly worse off today than they were two years ago. And Putin, whom Russians adore, is to blame.

To top it off, Putin has decided to jump from the frying pan into the fire by intervening in Syria.

Not just with weapons, but with actual troops. The Assad regime is either doomed, or it can be saved only with massive outside intervention. Wisely, neither the West nor the Arab states want to send in troops. Russia will have to, increasingly. Will Russia be able to defeat ISIS? Probably not. Even if it does, the price it’ll pay in lives and money will be high. You’d think that Putin might have learned from the USSR’s misadventure in Afghanistan and America’s in Iraq. Evidently not—which is exactly what you’d expect from a paranoid, narcissistic, solipsistic fascist leader who doesn’t understand that a declining economy is a brake on foreign interventions.

Meanwhile, ISIS isn’t Putin’s only problem. The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces condemned Russia on September 12th:

With this aggressive move, Russia has moved from a stage of supporting a criminal regime that carries out genocide in our country to a stage of direct military intervention alongside a crumbling illegitimate regime. The direct Russian military intervention places the Russian leadership in a position of hostility towards the Syrian people, and makes its forces on Syrian soil occupation forces… We present these facts to the international community, to the UN, to the Arab League, and especially to the Russian people—we do not wish upon them in Syria a repeat of their experience in Afghanistan—because Syrians will not remain silent over the occupation of their land and the spilling of their sons’ blood.

Putin’s Syrian idiocy makes Ukraine the big winner. Having effectively abandoned his proxies in the Donbas, Putin has made a frozen conflict there almost inevitable. The terrorists, thugs, and mercenaries misruling the Russian-occupied Donbas enclave won’t agree to reintegrate into Ukraine on Kyiv’s terms, and Kyiv can’t agree to reintegrate them on theirs. The resulting stalemate will keep the Donbas hellhole out of Ukraine, force Russia to keep paying millions to sustain it, and free Ukraine to focus on internal reforms and external Westernization.

Russians are the big losers. They will have to pay with their lives for Putin’s megalomania and their own moral blindness.

Also in the running are Western realist scholars.

They’ve been arguing that Russia attacked Ukraine because of some mythical NATO plot to incorporate it. Wrong: NATO was a paper tiger and, while Kyiv did not seriously pursue Ukraine’s membership until after Russia invaded, NATO has remained skittish about the prospect even today.

They’ve also been arguing that Ukraine is an existential interest of Russia, and that Moscow would defend it to the finish. Wrong again: No rational leader abandons an existential interest to engage in crazy overseas adventures.

Finally, they’ve been arguing that Putin is a rational ruler who wants to maximize Russia’s power and security. Wrong, wrong, wrong: Putin is rational only if rationality is tantamount to paranoia, hyper-nationalism, imperialism, and supremacism.

[“Source- worldaffairsjournal”]

April 3, 2024 0 comment