( CNN ) -- Like misery , failure loves company . Look at the immigration debate and how both liberals and conservatives -- and elected officials in both parties -- bungle it .\nPresident Barack Obama has failed on immigration policy . But now that he appears to be poised to take executive action to fix some of what 's broken with the country 's immigration system , Republicans in Congress sound like they 're about to overreact and join him in that failure .\nConservatives love to stir their flock by pushing the narrative that Obama is a staunch supporter of `` amnesty '' and that the President has always been in lockstep with immigration reform advocates .\nThat 's fiction . It 's been a rocky relationship . That 's because Obama belongs to that wing of the Democratic Party that has n't been interested in legalizing the undocumented and creating more competition in the job market for U.S. workers .\nObama broke his campaign promise to make reform a top issue and eroded trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement by expanding 100-fold the program known as Secure Communities , which ropes local police into enforcing federal immigration law . He tried to fend off critics who wanted him to slow deportations by claiming that he did n't have the power to act `` as a king , '' only to later flip-flop and do just that during his 2012 re-election campaign when he unveiled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) .\nObama deported a record 2 million people in five years , divided hundreds of thousands of families , failed to deal effectively with thousands of child refugees who streamed across the U.S.-Mexico border last summer and then broke another promise when he said he would take executive action on immigration before the midterm elections but blinked .\nNow , according to news reports that look like a trial balloon from the White House , Obama might , as early as this week , take unilateral action to offer several million illegal immigrants a temporary reprieve from deportation and perhaps even give some of them work permits .\nIf it materializes , I 'll be proved wrong . A few months ago , I said this would never happen and now it looks like it might .\nOptions include some common sense items : Eliminating Secure Communities ; broadening DACA by eliminating restrictions on how old applicants can be and when they had to have arrived ; restating that the enforcement priority should be to remove violent criminals and not housekeepers and students ; and expanding visa programs for immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens .\nBut it 's the final item on the list that could really upset the apple cart : deferred action for parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents , which could result in as many as 4 million to 5 million people getting a temporary reprieve from deportation . When those undocumented college students known as DREAMers first argued for special treatment , the claim was based on the simple idea that they were brought here as children and thus did n't intentionally choose to break the law .\nFair enough . But the same thing ca n't be said of their parents , who did intentionally break the law . Now what ? Is there a new argument ?\nBesides , if Obama offers deferred action to parents , it will validate what conservatives have always insisted about how the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants can be used to keep their parents from being deported .\nThat has never been the case . Parents get deported all the time , and their U.S.-citizen kids either go with them or stay on this side of the border and get put in foster care . Republicans have been wrong all along . Now , if he goes too far , Obama could prove them right .\nIf the President follows through on the proposed course of action , both sides will need to calm down .\nThose on the left should hold their applause . By ending the deportation juggernaut , the President would merely be putting out a fire that he started . Besides , this is just a temporary reprieve that would require the undocumented to surrender to law enforcement officials , get fingerprinted and all the rest . And it could all be revoked by the next president .\nFinally , this is not what Obama promised way back when -- that he would work aggressively with Congress to pass legislation that would permanently improve the lives of millions . This is n't reform . It 's `` reform lite . ''\nYet at the same time , those on the right need to rein in their scorn . In the post 9/11 era , conservatives should n't need a reminder of something they 've been telling us for years : how sweeping can be the executive power of the president . As head of the executive branch , Obama naturally has the power to set priorities for the enforcement of immigration law .\nRepublicans have no trouble deflecting criticism by reminding Latino voters that Obama is in charge of deportations . So , instead of threatening the suicidal tantrums of a government shutdown or impeachment , conservatives should pipe down and let him be in charge of deportations . That does n't just mean deciding who goes but also who stays .\nBesides , Republicans like to talk tough about illegal immigration and the need to uphold the `` rule of law '' but that slogan would mean more coming from them if they did n't always run away from enforcing those laws that target the root of illegal immigration : U.S. employers who hire the undocumented , many of whom contribute to the re-election campaigns of Republican lawmakers .\nWhat Obama has in mind is n't some kindhearted miracle or the coming of the apocalypse . It 's just a legitimate exercise of the power that any president would have under the Constitution and our system of government .\nI know that is n't sexy , or inspiring , or inflammatory . It wo n't help the parties fundraise . But it does have the advantage of being true .


Sen. Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) wants to shift $ 350 billion from an untapped Treasury Department virus relief program to help Black Americans during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond .\nAccording to The Grio , Schumer said moving some of the $ 500 billion previously approved for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would lead to immediate and long-term changes to address systemic racism .\n“ Long before the pandemic , long before this recession , long before this year ’ s protests , structural inequalities have persisted in health care and housing , the economy , and education , ” Schumer said in a statement . “ COVID-19 has only magnified these injustices . ”\nSchumer ’ s proposal would shift $ 135 billion from the Treasury ’ s fund to child care and health care needs of people of color during the pandemic . The plan would also move $ 215 billion over five years into longer-term investments , including a housing down payment program , Medicaid expansion , and other services .\nSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) is preparing to release its $ 1 trillion coronavirus relief package as soon as next week . The plan is a counteroffer to the $ 3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May .\nFor months , McConnell has pushed aside requests for more money , saying the government should wait to see how the first infusion of money helps . However , the coronavirus pandemic has only gotten worse , and now red states such as Texas , Florida , and Kentucky are being overwhelmed .\n“ There were some that hoped this would go away sooner than it has , ” McConnell said Wednesday during a hospital visit in Kentucky , where he urged people to wear masks and social distance . “ The straight talk here that everyone needs to understand : This is not going away . ”\nAs the coronavirus pandemic continues to get worse in the U.S. , McConnell is trying to keep costs down . Both the House and Senate want to help schools reopen , provide unemployment benefits , and ramp up coronavirus testing , treatments , and a vaccine . However , they differ on how much money it will cost .\nIn their bill , the House provided $ 100 billion for school reopenings in an education stabilization fund they say could swell to $ 430 billion to include more money for child care , colleges , and other needs . Republicans are trying to spend significantly less , $ 50 to $ 75 billion , on education .\nThe White House has promised to open up more money for education as it continues to urge for schools across the country to open . White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday that reopening schools remains a priority , even if the science says otherwise .\n“ The science should not stand in the way of this , ” McEnany said , adding it is “ perfectly safe ” to fully reopen all classrooms .


Enough women — and men — have chosen political ideology over protecting gender equality , and that ’ s shameful .\nLast week , Virginia became the 38th state to pass the Equal Rights Amendment — which would be enough to finally ratify the amendment . But enough women and men have snubbed it for nearly five decades that now this milestone may already be legally DOA .\n“ In so many areas , we still have a long way to go , ” Democratic Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan said .\nMcClellan , one of the ERA ’ s sponsors , was referring to the plight of women in today ’ s corporate boardrooms and top political offices , but she may as well have applied those comments to the amendment itself .\nThe constitutional amendment , which Congress approved in 1972 , states that “ equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex . ”\nSupporters say the amendment is needed to provide explicit protection against discrimination based on sex . They say federal and local laws providing that protection can easily be changed .\nMore than an optics problem : Trump 's white , male team is a bad look for America and bad for national security , too\nSo , why did it fail to be ratified in at least 38 states by Congress ’ s imposed deadlines in 1977 and , later , 1982 ?\nWomen alone could have made this happen but didn ’ t . Too many of them have chosen political ideology over enshrining the protection in the U.S. Constitution . There is no other way to explain the fact it took 48 years to get the 38th state to ratify the amendment — and only because Democrats took control of Virginia ’ s Legislature .\nCritics , who happen to be primarily Republicans , say they don ’ t like it because the amendment would grant protections for abortion . Further , they say , it is no longer necessary because women already enjoyed “ equal protection ” under the 14th Amendment .\nUnder that logic , women would have no obstacles in the 21st century . But that ’ s just laughable . Women in America still make about 82 cents for every dollar men earn . Men are still kings of corporate boardrooms . No woman has ever occupied the White House . And things aren ’ t much better at the local and state level .\nNominating a woman can be a boost to Democrats : Is presidency out of reach for women ? Warren-Sanders tiff ends silence on insidious myth\nThere are enough women — and enough progressive men — in state legislatures to ratify this amendment and send a strong message . Arizona , Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Louisiana , Mississippi , Missouri , North Carolina , Oklahoma , South Carolina and Utah have not ratified it .\nBut don ’ t hold your breath because enough Republican women are against it , leaving it to the courts to determine whether the ERA is really dead . A legal showdown is expected over how to proceed or whether too much time has passed since the congressional deadline , forcing supporters to start from scratch .\nAnd that ’ s just a pity and shameful , especially this year when the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that gave U.S. women the right to vote .\nElvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral , where this column originally appeared . Follow her on Twitter , @ elviadiaz1 .


The attorneys general of Illinois , Virginia and Nevada filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment ( ERA ) .\nThe lawsuit , filed against the archivist of the United States in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia , said the ERA should be ratified after Virginia became the 38th state to approve it earlier this month , despite the Justice Department issuing guidance that says the deadline for ratification has long since passed .\nThe vote in Richmond in support of the ERA crossed the threshold necessary for it to be added to the U.S. Constitution and set the stage for a constitutional convention .\n“ At that moment , the process set forth in Article V of the U.S. Constitution was complete , ” the lawsuit reads .\n“ After generations of effort , the women of this country are entitled to their rightful place in the Constitution . This Court should compel the Archivist to carry out his statutory duty of recognizing the complete and final adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment . ”\nThe ERA would add language to the Constitution ensuring that “ equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. ” It would also grant Congress the power to enforce the amendment .\nOpponents of the ERA have promised to fight it in court , citing a 1982 ratification deadline set by Congress . The Justice Department issued an opinion earlier this month saying the ERA is no longer legally pending before the states because the deadline has passed .\nThe National Archives and Records Administration , which oversees the ratification of constitutional amendments , said it would abide by that opinion .\nWomen ’ s rights advocates have led the nationwide effort for the amendment ’ s ratification , arguing it will protect women from discrimination and gender-based violence .\n“ For nearly 150 years , the Constitution did not acknowledge the existence of women . Now , 231 years since our country was founded and on the centennial anniversary of the nineteenth amendment , the American people have shown that they are as committed as ever to true equality by adopting the Equal Rights Amendment , ” said Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring ( D ) .\n“ Women have always been endowed with equal rights , even though our country has wrongly failed to recognize them , ” added Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford ( D ) . “ The gravity of this movement should not be underplayed — today we are advocating for women ’ s rights here in Nevada and all over the country , and we are taking an essential stride towards inclusivity . ”


In our founding documents , Billy Graham explains that ███ will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith . The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic . It requires comment .\nThe typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square , to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible . We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum , and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being . We take pride in the fact , for instance , that politics does not dominate our homepage .\nThat said , we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always , as Graham encouraged us , doing so with both conviction and love . We love and pray for our president , as we love and pray for leaders ( as well as ordinary citizens ) on both sides of the political aisle .\nLet ’ s grant this to the president : The Democrats have had it out for him from day one , and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion . This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings . And , no , Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment .\nBut the facts in this instance are unambiguous : The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president ’ s political opponents . That is not only a violation of the Constitution ; more importantly , it is profoundly immoral .\nThe reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration . He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals . He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women , about which he remains proud . His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations , lies , and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused .\nTrump ’ s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees , his defense of religious liberty , and his stewardship of the economy , among other things , as achievements that justify their support of the president . We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear , in a way the Mueller investigation did not , that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath . The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president ’ s moral deficiencies for all to see . This damages the institution of the presidency , damages the reputation of our country , and damages both the spirit and the future of our people . None of the president ’ s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character .\nThis concern for the character of our national leader is not new in CT . In 1998 , we wrote this :\nThe President 's failure to tell the truth—even when cornered—rips at the fabric of the nation . This is not a private affair . For above all , social intercourse is built on a presumption of trust : trust that the milk your grocer sells you is wholesome and pure ; trust that the money you put in your bank can be taken out of the bank ; trust that your babysitter , firefighters , clergy , and ambulance drivers will all do their best . And while politicians are notorious for breaking campaign promises , while in office they have a fundamental obligation to uphold our trust in them and to live by the law .\nUnsavory dealings and immoral acts by the President and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead .\nUnfortunately , the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president . Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment . That he should be removed , we believe , is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments .\nTo the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record , we might say this : Remember who you are and whom you serve . Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior . Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump ’ s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency . If we don ’ t reverse course now , will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come ? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that can not be tolerated and , with the same straight face , say that the bent and broken character of our nation ’ s leader doesn ’ t really matter in the end ?\nWe have reserved judgment on Mr. Trump for years now . Some have criticized us for our reserve . But when it comes to condemning the behavior of another , patient charity must come first . So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due , to try to understand their point of view , to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump . To use an old cliché , it ’ s time to call a spade a spade , to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game , we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence . And just when we think it ’ s time to push all our chips to the center of the table , that ’ s when the whole game will come crashing down . It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world ’ s understanding of the gospel . And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern .


Sen. Kamala Harris launches her campaign for president in Oakland , Calif. , January 27 , 2019 . ( Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters )\nUnmediated mass democracy would lead to the serfdom of minority groups and the smallest , poorest states .\nThe Senate . The Electoral College . The First Amendment . The Second Amendment . The Supreme Court . Is there a part of our constitutional order that the Democrats have not pledged to destroy ?\nThere are some Democrats out there in the sticks — a lot of them , in fact — who simply don ’ t understand the constitutional order . They believe that the United States is a democracy , John Adams et al . be damned , and , in fact , they often are confused by the frankly anti-democratic features of the American order , because they have been taught ( theirs is a pseudo-education consisting of buzzwords rather than an actual education ) that “ democratic ” means “ good ” and “ undemocratic ” means “ bad . ”\nBut the Democrats in Washington are a different story . Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris went to law school . They understand the American constitutional order just fine .\nThe American order is complex — it is much more sophisticated than “ democracy , ” which assumes that nothing stands between the individual and the national state except aggregation , that might ( defined as 50 percent + 1 ) makes right . The American order is based on the idea that the United States consists of many different kinds of people in many different kinds of communities , and that each of these has interests that are legitimate even when they conflict with the equally legitimate interests of other communities . The densely populous urban mode of life is not the only mode of life , and the people of the urban areas are not entitled by their greater numbers to dominate their fellow citizens in the less populous rural areas .\nThe basic units of the United States are , as the name suggests , the several states . The states created the federal government , not the other way around . The states are not administrative subdivisions of the federal government , which is their instrument , not their master . In this , the United States is fundamentally different from countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan , which have unitary national governments under which provincial distinctions are largely irrelevant .\nIn our system , the states matter . Under the Democrats ’ vision , some states matter : California , Texas , Florida , New York , Pennsylvania , Illinois , and Ohio , which , without the institutions of federalism , have among them the numbers and the power to effectively dominate the rest of the country .\nAt the time of the Founding , the people of the smaller states did not desire to enter into a union in which they and their interests would be dominated by the larger ones . The people of the smaller states still do not wish to be politically dominated by the larger ones . For that reason , the interests of the states as such — not mere aggregates of voters — are taken into consideration . The Senate , as originally organized , existed to preserve the interests of the states as such against the opportunism and predation of the more populous House of Representatives — and against the ambitions of the executive , too . Turning the Senate into an inflated version of the House was one of the progressives ’ first great victories against the Constitution of the United States and an important step toward the sort of mass democracy that our constitutional order is explicitly designed to prevent .\nBut the states have other protections as well , one of which is the Electoral College , which helps to ensure that the president — the Founders were right to fear presidential ambition — is not a mere tribune of the plebs , a rider upon “ the beast with many heads ” empowered by the mob at his back to abuse and dominate members of minority groups — smaller states , religious minorities , political minorities , etc .\nThe rights of minorities are further protected — from democracy — by the Constitution ’ s limitations on the power of the federal government and specifically by the Bill of Rights , which places some considerations above democracy : freedom of speech , freedom of religion , freedom of the press , the right to keep and bear arms , the right to security in one ’ s home and papers , etc . One of the main constitutional functions of the Supreme Court is to see to it that the federal government does not violate the Bill of Rights , even when We the People demand that it does — especially then , actually : Rights that enjoy wide popular support require very little constitutional protection . It is the unpopular rights that require protection .\nOf course there were blemishes and oversights . Even the enlightened minds of the 18th century were hostages of their time , and the interests of African Americans and women were not taken into consideration . Those defects were corrected , partly by the shedding of blood but to a great extent by constitutional amendments that abolished slavery , enfranchised women , and brought the American people at large more fully into the constitutional system . The preamble to the Constitution describes a “ more perfect union , ” which is not the same thing as a perfect union . The genius of leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was that their calls to radical change ran against the grain of American society at their time but were perfectly in tune with the American idea and the principles of the American order .\nThe Democrats ’ calls to radical change in 2019 are precisely the opposite : They are very much in keeping with the transient passions of the time but fundamentally opposed to the American constitutional order .\nThe Electoral College ensures that the citizens in the less popular states are not reduced to serfdom by the greater numbers ( and greater wealth ) of the people in the more populous states . This balancing of minority rights with democratic processes is a fundamental part of the American order ( properly understood , the value of plebiscitary democracy is not substantive — majorities are at least as likely to be wicked and oppressive as virtuous and just — but purely procedural ) , and the Electoral College is the instrument by which that principle is applied to the election of presidents . The Democrats desire to abolish the Electoral College for purely self-interested reasons of partisanship : They think that there would be more Democratic presidents under unmediated mass democracy .\nThe First Amendment ensures that all Americans have the right to engage in political speech . Democrats wish to put political speech under heavy regulation , so that the people holding political power set the rules under which they may be criticized and debated . The Democrats have attempted to gut the First Amendment under the guise of “ campaign finance ” regulation , as though the right of free speech could be separated from the means of speech . It is worth bearing in mind that the Democrats ’ latest attack on the First Amendment was occasioned by the desire of a political activist group to show a film critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the run-up to a presidential election — a film whose circulation the Democrats sought to prohibit as a “ campaign finance ” matter .\nThe Supreme Court stepped in to stop that , finding that the First Amendment means what it says . And now the Democrats propose to corrupt the Supreme Court , expanding the number of justices from nine to whatever number it takes for a future Democratic president to create a majority of Democratic partisans on the Court . They are counting on the same court-packing scheme to give them the power to effectively repeal the Second Amendment without having to bother to propose and ratify a constitutional amendment — a political fight that the Democrats would surely lose .\nWhat the Democrats are proposing — abolishing the constitutional protections afforded to smaller states and political minorities , perverting the Supreme Court , gutting the Bill of Rights — amounts in sum to a revolution , replacing our government with a government of a very different character and structure .\nThey are doing this mainly because the Constitution prevents them from achieving their immediate short-term political goals . And we should be clear about what those immediate political goals actually are : muzzling their political opponents and those with unpopular political views , disarming the citizenry , stripping minority groups of political power , and rigging the political system in favor of their own constituents . They would , if given the power , burn down the American constitutional order and replace it with something closer to ordinary mob rule , plain and unapologetic ochlocracy . The United States is not drifting into fascism or socialism — it is drifting into anarchy .\nThat ’ s quite a fit to throw over Mrs. Clinton being denied her tiara .\nThe Republican party likes to position itself as the defender of the Constitution . But with a few exceptions ( Senator Ben Sasse prominent among them ) , Republicans in elected office demonstrate very little appreciation for the actual stakes on the political table . For the moment , they are more concerned with defending the Trump administration — which , whatever you think of it , is a short-term concern — than with defending something that is far more important , far more precious , and , in all likelihood , impossible to replace . If 2016 taught us anything , it is that the Jeffersons and Madisons of this generation apparently are otherwise occupied , that our political leadership is for the time diminished , and that the institutions the Democrats propose to incinerate could not be rebuilt by contemporary Americans any more than modern Iraqis could successfully revive the Code of Hammurabi .


The Tabqa airforce base , which was previously the Assad regime ’ s lone garrison in the northern region of Syria , has fallen to ISIS rebels , according to the Associated Press :\nIslamic State fighters captured a major military air base in northeastern Syria on Sunday , eliminating the last government-held outpost in a province otherwise dominated by the jihadi group , activists and state media said . Tabqa airfield -- home to several warplane squadrons , helicopters , tanks , artillery , and ammunition bunkers -- is the third military base in the area to fall to the extremists since last month . Those victories are part of the Islamic State group 's aggressive push to consolidate its hold on northern and eastern provinces , while also expanding the boundaries of its self-styled caliphate straddling the Syria-Iraq border .\nISIS ' raison d'etre is to establish an Islamic caliphate across the Middle East ; and in order to accomplish this , they have committed unspeakable war crimes to consolidate power . The fall of Tabqa , therefore , was no different :\nThe group 's trademark brutality was on full display after those victories . They killed army commanders and pro-government militiamen , decapitating them before putting their bodies and heads on display . The Observatory reported similar acts following the fall of Tabqa Sunday . In the neighboring province of Deir el-Zour , Islamic State fighters also have overwhelmed outposts held by Syrian rebels , systematically picking off towns and villages one by one through force and intimidation .\nThis victory is no doubt a symbolic and strategic one for ISIS , although it seems ISIS forces didn ’ t get everything they wanted :\nThe warplanes from the base had already been taken to other locations before ISIS took control , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported . It said ISIS fighters were seen carrying the heads of Syrian regime soldiers . Both sides were reported to have suffered heavy losses in the battle for the base .\nMeanwhile , this latest development intensifies the debate about whether the U.S. should extend its airstrike campaign across the Iraqi border into Syria . President Obama , for his part , has n't yet made up his mind on this score -- but has n't fully ruled out the possibility , either .\nPresident Obama is considering U.S. airstrikes in Syria against militants of the Islamic State , the White House said Friday . “ We ’ re not going to be restricted by borders , ” said Ben Rhodes , a national security adviser to the president . “ We ’ re actively considering what ’ s going to be necessary to deal with that threat. ” The bombing of targets in Syria would mark a significant expansion of Mr. Obama ’ s three-week-old air war against the Islamic State , which has been limited to targets of the militant group in northern Iraq . The U.S. has conducted nearly 100 airstrikes against the militants in Iraq since Aug. 8 , and some lawmakers have warned the White House against “ mission creep . ”\n“ Mission creep ” is indeed a cause for concern for this administration . But if the airstrikes could maybe make a significant difference on the ground ( as they seemingly did in Iraq ) such measures should at least be seriously debated .


President Obama on Thursday downplayed the prospect of any imminent U.S. airstrikes in Syria , saying `` we do n't have a strategy yet '' and stressing that military advisers are still reviewing options for confronting Islamic State militants .\nAt the same time , the president bluntly ruled out U.S. military action for dealing with another international crisis -- mounting evidence of Russian incursions into eastern Ukraine . `` We are not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem , '' Obama said .\nThe president addressed both crises during remarks in the White House briefing room late Thursday afternoon , as Congress prepares to return from the summer recess . In recent days , lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have demanded that the U.S. strategy for targeting the Islamic State be put to a vote on Capitol Hill , amid speculation the military campaign might expand into Syria .\nBut Obama stressed Thursday that `` we do n't have a strategy yet '' and pushed back on reports that , he said , suggest the country is about to go `` full scale on an elaborate strategy '' in the Middle East .\n`` The suggestion , I guess , has been that we 'll start moving forward imminently and somehow Congress , still out of town , is going to be left in the dark , '' he said . `` That 's not what 's going to happen . ''\nWhite House Press Secretary Josh Earnest later clarified on CNN that the president referred specifically to Syria when he said there was no strategy yet .\nObama indicated that for the time being , the U.S. will continue to conduct airstrikes in northern Iraq and humanitarian missions , while working politically and diplomatically to `` cobble together '' a coalition for whatever the long-term strategy is .\nTo that end , he said he is sending Secretary of State John Kerry to the region to build a `` coalition '' to confront the threat .\nReports about a potential expanded military campaign follow calls by some lawmakers to strike the Islamic State , also known as ISIS or ISIL , in Syria as well as Iraq . Military leaders have also said the organization will have to be dealt with in some way on the Syrian side of the border .\nObama acknowledged Thursday that he 's directed military leaders to prepare a `` range of options '' on ISIS . He was heading next into a National Security Council meeting where he was expected to discuss the strategy with advisers .\n`` ISIL poses an immediate threat to the people of Iraq and the people of the region , '' Obama said , while calling for a `` broader , comprehensive strategy . ''\nBut he said he does n't want to `` put the cart before the horse . ''\nThe president said , once a strategy is formed , there `` will be a military aspect to that '' and might be a role for an `` international coalition '' providing air support .\nBut he was vague on the question of what to do in Syria . Amid speculation over whether the U.S. would ever partner with Bashar Assad to fight ISIS on that side of the border , Obama reiterated his view that `` Assad 's lost legitimacy . ''\nHe said the U.S. would continue to support the `` moderate opposition '' in the country , giving people a choice other than just Assad or ISIS .\nSenate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell , after Obama 's remarks , urged the president to develop a `` regional strategy '' for the Islamic State and present it to Congress and the American people .\n`` If the President is prepared to engage Congress with a strategic plan to protect the U.S. and our allies from ISIL , I believe he will have significant congressional support , '' he said . `` But do n't forget , the threat from ISIL is real and it 's growing -- and it is time for President Obama to exercise some leadership in launching a response . ''\nThe president 's remarks also came amid increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine . Officials in Ukraine say two Russian military columns rolled into the southeastern part of the country after missiles were fired at a border post .\nObama on Thursday blamed Russia for the unrest , saying the country deliberately and repeatedly has violated Ukraine 's sovereignty . He said Russia is training , arming and funding pro-Russian separatists in Russia .\nObama , though , said a `` military solution to this problem is not going to be forthcoming . ''\nRather , he said he wants to continue to mobilize the international community to bring pressure on Russia . `` This ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine will only bring more costs and consequences for Russia , '' Obama said .\nObama said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will visit the White House next month , in what would be his first visit since becoming president . Obama said he also spoke by phone Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel .\nIn a written statement , though , Sens . John McCain , R-Ariz. , and Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , said Russia 's actions can only be described as a `` cross-border military invasion , '' adding : `` To claim it is anything other than that is to inhabit President Putin 's Orwellian universe . ''\nThey urged broader `` sectoral '' sanctions and U.S. and European military support for Ukraine .\n`` This is a moment to speak and act with clarity . A sovereign nation in the heart of Europe is being invaded by its larger neighbor , '' they said . `` If we will not or can not defend our own values now , as well as friends who share them , the future will be dark and dangerous indeed , not just for Ukraine but for us too . ''\nAt the end of Thursday 's remarks , Obama briefly addressed ongoing deliberations over possible executive action on immigration .\nRepublicans have voiced concern he 'll issue a mass reprieve in the coming weeks for illegal immigrants .\nObama did not indicate what he might decide but said : `` In the absence of congressional action , I 'm going to do what I can to make sure the system works better . ''


President Barack Obama said the U.S. and its allies must strip away any legitimacy that Islamic State and al-Qaeda claim by portraying themselves as religious movements .\nObama , who has come under criticism from Republicans who say he avoids acknowledging the Muslim roots of extremist groups , said terrorists use religion as a recruiting tool by portraying the U.S. and European nations as being at war with Islam .\n“ We must never accept the premise they put forward , because it is a lie , ” Obama said Wednesday in Washington on the second day of a White House summit on combating extremism . “ They are not religious leaders . They ’ re terrorists . And we are not at war with Islam . We are at war with people who have perverted Islam . ”\nDeadly attacks in Paris , Sydney and Copenhagen by individuals of Muslim background and possibly inspired by the brutal tactics of Islamic State , along with the group ’ s spread in Syria , Iraq and now Libya , have raised alarms in Europe and the U.S. about the danger of lone-wolf terrorists , driven by extremist ideology and difficult to detect before they act .\nAt the summit , the Obama administration is convening representatives of Muslim organizations , law enforcement officials and local political leaders to swap ideas about how to stem root causes of extremism . It also has invited leaders from overseas to take part .\nObama said civic leaders must recognize that Islamic State and al-Qaeda “ deliberately target their propaganda in the hopes of reaching and brainwashing young Muslims ” through videos , social media and other online outlets . He said the one way to counter that is to alleviate the alienation and poverty that are the extremists ’ best recruiting tool .\nIn the U.S. , he said , local and federal authorities must make sure that Muslims aren ’ t isolated and that they are welcomed and integrated into society .\n“ Muslim Americans feel they have been unfairly targeted , ” he said . “ We have to be sure that abuses stop , are not repeated , that we do not stigmatize entire communities . ”\nFormer Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore , who is chairman of a political action committee aimed at electing Republicans , called the conference a “ farce ” in a statement and said the administration should be targeting terrorists rather than offering “ pie-in-the-sky social welfare programs ” to Muslims here and overseas .\nThe administration ’ s strategy is also aimed at drawing in the domestic Muslim leaders who Obama is leaning on to identify and isolate potentially violent extremists . Yet some groups say they remain suspicious about the administration ’ s motivation .\nThe Muslim Advocates , an Oakland Calif.-based group that that was invited to a White House meeting earlier this month , expressed concern that Obama ’ s requests for “ partnerships ” with Muslim community and religious leaders is code for requiring leaders to play a law enforcement role .\nThey also blasted Obama for focusing too narrowly on Muslims , a decision that the group says reinforces a negative stereotype that Islam and terror are linked .\n“ This whole day is focused on American Muslims , frankly , ” Farhana Khera , the group ’ s executive director , said in a telephone interview . “ It strikes at the core of what we are as Americans . ”\nObama is speaking on the topic again tomorrow at the State Department during a session that includes representatives from overseas , including France , Belgium , Mexico and Japan .


The attack on a tunnel complex in remote eastern Afghanistan with the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the US military left 36 Islamic State group fighters dead and no civilian casualties , Afghanistan officials said Friday .\nThe attack was carried out in a remote mountainous area of Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border where there had been heavy fighting in recent weeks between Afghan forces and ISIS militants . The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that several ISIS caves and ammunition caches were destroyed by the giant bomb , which terrified villagers on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with its `` earsplitting blast . ''\n`` This is the right weapon for the right target , '' said US Gen. John W. Nicholson , NATO commander in Afghanistan , at a news conference .\nThe bomb , known officially as a GBU-43B , or massive ordnance air blast weapon , unleashes 11 tons of explosives .\nGen. Daulat Waziri , spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense , said the death toll of ISIS fighters could rise . He said the bombing was necessary because the tunnel complex was extremely hard to penetrate , with some as deep as 40 meters ( 43 yards ) .\n`` It was a strong position and four times we had operations ( attacking the site ) and it was not possible to advance , '' he said , adding that the road leading to the complex `` was full of mines . ''\nPakistani villagers living near the Afghan border said the explosion was so loud they thought a bomb had been dropped in their village by US warplanes targeting terrorists in Pakistan .\n`` I was sleeping when we heard a loud explosion . It was an earsplitting blast , '' said Shah Wali who lives in the village of Goor Gari , 15 kilometers ( 9 miles ) from the border with Nangarhar . `` I jumped from my bed and came out of my home to see what has gone wrong in our village . ''\nMr. Wali said dozens of other villagers also came out of homes and later he went near the border , where he met with other residents . He said he could see smoke in the sky .\nThe US estimates 600 to 800 ISIS fighters are present in Afghanistan , mostly in Nangarhar . The US has concentrated heavily on combatting them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban . President Trump called Thursday 's operation a `` very , very successful mission . ''\n`` I want a hundred times more bombings on this group , '' said Hakim Khan , a resident of Achin district , the site of the blast .\nInamullah Meyakhil , spokesman for the central hospital in eastern Nangarhar province , said the facility had received no dead or wounded from the attack .\nDistrict Gov . Ismail Shinwari said there is no civilian property near the airstrike location .\nGet the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox . By signing up , you agree to our Privacy Policy\nThere was no immediate comment from the Islamic State group on the attack .\nThe Site Intelligence Group , which tracks extremist organizations , reported Friday on a statement from the Afghan Taliban condemning the US for its `` terrorist '' attack . The statement said it is the responsibility of Afghans to remove the Islamic State group from the country not the US .


The discovery of the large camp attacked in October raised questions about the American military ’ s ability to detect and destroy a major Qaeda stronghold in the country , more than 14 years after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan drove out Al Qaeda and toppled the Taliban government that supported them .\nGeneral Campbell said at the time of the October raid that the camp was used by a new Qaeda offshoot called Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent , or AQIS . Ayman al-Zawahri , Al Qaeda ’ s overall leader , announced the creation of the affiliate in September 2014 largely in response to the rise of its rival , the Islamic State , which is also known as ISIS or ISIL . The wing , which American analysts say has several hundred fighters , is believed to be based in Pakistan and focused on India , Pakistan and other nations in southern Asia .\nAQIS fighters began migrating from sanctuaries in North Waziristan and eastern Afghanistan to the country ’ s southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar last year , after Pakistan launched a military offensive in the region , said Seth Jones , an Afghanistan specialist at the RAND Corporation . Kandahar and Helmand have not typically been havens for Al Qaeda .\n“ It ’ s been a relatively recent expansion to the south , ” Mr. Jones said .\nAfghan security officials say many of these foreign fighters filtering in are from Central Asia , and in many cases their affiliations are unknown . In the past , some of the groups have been affiliated with Al Qaeda , but there have also been reports of some of these fighters pledging allegiance to the Islamic State .\nOne American intelligence official sought to play down the menace from the new Qaeda offshoot , calling it “ a regional threat that is currently focusing on plotting attacks in Pakistan and establishing a presence in South Asia . Despite its safe haven , the group has not been seen conducting attacks against Afghan or Western targets in Afghanistan . ”\nThe emergence of new Qaeda training camps comes amid a widespread erosion in security in much of the country . “ In the second half of 2015 , the overall security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated , with an increase in effective insurgent attacks and higher A.N.D.S.F . and Taliban casualties , ” the Pentagon said in a report issued two weeks ago , using the initials for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces .\nGeneral Campbell told lawmakers that the Pakistani-based militancy , the Haqqani network , remains an important “ facilitator ” for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan . The two groups , he said , share a goal of “ expelling coalition forces , overthrowing the Afghan government , and re-establishing an extremist state . ”


America ’ s rapidly-expanding war against ISIS won ’ t involve large numbers of U.S. troops on the ground , President Obama is promising . And it ’ s clear that airstrikes alone won ’ t beat back the extremist group . Which means that if the President wants to have any hope of meeting his far-reaching goal of destroying ISIS , he ’ s going to have to rely on private military contractors .\nAt the height of the Iraq war , these firms hired hundreds of thousands of people : guns-for-hire , IT geeks , logistics specialists , interrogators , and short order cooks to ladle out the slop at the military cafeteria . Over time , some of those contractors became the symbol for everything that was wrong with the Iraq war : hugely expensive , ineffective , and indifferent to Iraqi life . Contractors were at the middle of the war ’ s biggest scandals , from Abu Ghraib to Nissour Square . And it was the abductions and murder of Blackwater contractors that sparked one of Iraq 's biggest battles .\nNone of the five current and former contractors who spoke with The ███ expected a replay of last decade ’ s Iraq war . But they all said a major opportunity was coming—both for them , and for Obama , who could use the private armies as a way to conceal just how many people will be fighting in this new conflict .\n“ Iraq this time around is not going to be as big as it was before , ” said Roger Carstens , a former special operations officer who has served as a contracted military adviser in Somalia and Afghanistan . “ That said , this new war will present an opportunity for the companies that have a resident train and advising capability to contribute to this new effort . ”\nPresident Obama has asked Congress to authorize $ 500 million to train a new Syrian opposition out of Saudi Arabia . That money would be part of a $ 5 billion fund Obama requested this spring from Congress to help train and equip U.S. allies to fight terrorists .\nOne U.S. military contractor working in Iraq who asked not to be named said , “ I can tell you the contractor-expat community is abuzz thinking this will lead to more work . We expect a much larger footprint than he is showing right now . ”\nThose expectations were whet earlier this summer , as ISIS was gaining ground in northern Iraq and the first U.S. special operations teams were arriving in Iraq , when the Pentagon asked military contractors to participate in two important surveys .\nThe first one , issued in July , asked the industry to give a rough estimate of the costs associated with building a new network of ten ground based communications satellite stations , known as VSATs in military lingo . VSATs were used by the U.S. military in the last decade throughout Iraq to provide forward operating bases with secure internet and voice communications .\nThe second one was more specific . It asked for estimates of the cost for “ Security Assistance Mentors and Advisers ” for Iraq ’ s ministry of defense and the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service .\nA Pentagon spokeswoman told the ███ that the notice was not meant to be a request for proposal or the formal opening of the bidding process , but rather a chance to gauge the interest and capabilities of contractors down the road .\nBut contractors tell The ███ that these bureaucratic notices—plus a pledge from Obama to wage a long war against ISIS and train up Syrian and Iraqi fighters—represent a business opportunity for an industry that has shrunk in recent years .\nIn 2008 there were 242,558 contractors working in the countries for U.S. Central Command , the area that includes Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Somalia , Pakistan and Yemen , three countries where the United States has helped train local forces and conducted air strikes , according to the Pentagon ’ s official estimate .\nThat was during the height of the last round of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . By this July , that number had shrunk to 66,123 , according to the Pentagon ’ s latest estimate of military contractors working in the countries covered by Central Command , with only 14,634 contractors operating outside of Afghanistan .\nBut that ’ s only a fraction of America ’ s privatized security apparatus operating overseas . The State Department also offers billions of dollars to conduct security for diplomats and other officials . In 2011 , the State Department awarded Triple Canopy a four year deal worth up to $ 1.5 billion to provide security for the airport in Baghdad , U.S. diplomats and other Americans in the country . A State Department audit of the contract ( PDF ) found that at a minimum the State Department overpaid for those services by millions .\n“ There has been consolidation after conflicts , ” said Doug Brooks , the president emeritus of the International Stability Operations Association , a trade association for professional military contractors . “ There is going to be business , you could say these are shoes instead of boots on the ground . But as in most cases these are going to be local faces who will be hired by these companies , who bring professionalism and training . They have been there already helping to build up the air force in Iraq . It won ’ t be like the past ten years , but there will be growth in services . ”\nThe shrinking market for military contractors led some of them to seek new patrons . In 2010 , for example , an African based military contractor named Saracen began training an anti-piracy force in Somalia with funding from the United Arab Emirates . When this reporter visited the base in 2012 , it was a privately-run outpost in Puntland with its own electricity generator , barracks , armory with former South African military officers giving basic training to locals .\nBut that experience led to some instability . After one of the South African trainers was murdered in 2012 by one of the recruits , the United Arab Emirates pulled out of the project .\nOne reason why the new war on ISIS won ’ t be like the old one against al Qaeda is because for now Obama has promised not to send ground forces to Iraq or Syria . The presence of U.S. forces overseas presents a number of opportunities for military contractors in providing everything from the dining facilities to the logistical transport for U.S. soldiers at war .\nAlso the budgets to fight al Qaeda and other groups expanded dramatically after 9/11 when many government institutions did not know exactly how to fight the new war . Blackwater—the private military firm founded by former NAVY SEAL Erik Prince—became a virtual extension of the CIA ’ s special activities division working to develop the deadly capability to target and kill al Qaeda operatives all over the world .\nIt was also Blackwater contractors working in Iraq to protect diplomatic convoys that shot what the Iraqi government said were 17 innocent protestors in the heart of Baghdad at Nisour Square . ( This summer , in the U.S. trial of the contractors , former employees of the company said they were responding to fire from the crowd . )\nThe legacy of Nisour square contributed to the decision of the Iraqi government in 2011 to decline to offer legal immunity to U.S. soldiers and military contractors . Carstens said that any new military contracts for Iraq that would involve training units of soldiers would have to include iron-clad guarantees that the contractors themselves would not be targeted by Iraqi courts . “ The companies will need to know that their contractors in Iraq and other places will have legal protections in case anything happens , ” he said .\nIraq recently promised immunity for U.S. troops—and it ’ s likely Baghdad will do the same for contractors too . After all , Iraq ’ s government has also formally requested U.S. assistance in fighting ISIS and that help was clearly going to include military contractors .\n“ They are looking for the next big meal ticket and this could be it , ” said Sean McFate , a former military contractor for Dyncorp and the author of The Modern Mercenary : Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order . “ The things they will provide are logistical support , training or retraining security forces . ”\nMcFate said contractors gave Obama the opportunity to accomplish tasks normally associated with the U.S. military without sending boots on the ground . He said the training missions in particular “ would look like Iraqi military boots on the ground and not the U.S. military. ” But he said , “ It ’ s a political disguise . This is an industry that is a proxy , it is creating the environment of security and protection without too many U.S. soldiers on the ground . ”


Less than a day after North Korea threatened that the United States would pay dearly “ thousands of times ” for pushing new sanctions to cripple the rogue nation 's economy , U.S . Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told Fox News that America has the iron-clad upper hand .\n“ It was a gut-punch to North Korea , to let them know the international community is tired of it and we ’ re going to start fighting back , ” Haley told Dana Perino Monday on “ The Story , '' in reference to the sweeping U.N. sanctions . “ Every dollar of revenue that the North Korean government gets , they ’ re not feeding their people with it . They ’ re using it toward a nuclear weapons system . Going after these sanctions is going after their ability to build these missiles . ”\nThe U.N. Security Council on Saturday voted unanimously to introduce a set of punishing sanctions that could cost the communist dictatorship some $ 1 billion off its $ 3 billion annual export revenue . The resolution , deemed the harshest since its first nuclear experiment in 2006 , was payback for Pyongyang ’ s testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month , which for the first time showed a capacity to hit the U.S. mainland .\nThat wasn ’ t the only victory for Haley , who was one of the frontrunners in applying pressure to permanent members China and Russia to join them – rather than veto the resolution . She acknowledged that it was no easy feat , but remained confident that China – North Korea ’ s central trading partner – would fulfil its obligations and ensure the sanctions decree is upheld .\n“ Ninety percent of the trade that North Korea has is with China . So that ’ s why they were so important to this resolution , ” she emphasized . “ China stepped up and said , we will follow through on these sanctions . And they encouraged the international community to follow it . When that missile test took off , they felt it in China . And they ’ re disturbed enough to say that they now have to do their part . ”\nNorth Korea responded Monday with threats and backlash , seemingly suggesting that the dictator Kim Jong Un was doubling down on his objective of developing a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the continental U.S. Haley , however , maintained that “ we are not going to run scared from them . ”\nU.S. SPY SATELLITES DETECT NORTH KOREA MOVING ANTI-SHIP CRUISE MISSILES TO PATROL BOAT\nThe ambassador , who has made global human rights at the forefront of her positions since starting the job earlier this year , also characterized the chaos in Venezuela as “ tragic . ”\n“ We are watching a democracy go directly into a dictatorship , ” Haley said , noting that an emergency hearing on the country in crisis was called two months ago after she proclaimed it a “ serious human rights ” concern .\nVenezuela has been in a state of conflict for months , with almost daily anti-government protests targeting iron-fisted President Nicolas Maduro have been engulfing through the increasingly impoverished country . The situation has deteriorated even further over the past few days since a controversial constituent assembly was sworn in on 4 August .\n“ The Security Council ’ s response was that this should go to the Human Rights Council . The reason it hasn ’ t gone to the Human Rights Council is because Venezuela is on the Human Rights Council , ” she added , indicating that the matter will likely need to return to the Security Council . “ We ’ re going to continue sanctions , at least from the U.S. side , but we have to be loud about this . ”\nHaley said that North Korea is the largest “ threat ” facing the United States at this point in time , but acknowledged the “ lack of stability around the world . ”\n“ You can ’ t take your eye off of any part of the world , ” Haley said on Fox & Friends Tuesday . “ We are anywhere and everywhere , which is what the United States Does . When we lead , people follow . ”


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is praising President Trump ’ s “ realistic ” approach to negotiations with Pyongyang , North Korea ’ s leading state-run newspaper reported Wednesday after the landmark summit between the two leaders .\nMr. Kim “ highly praised the president ’ s will and enthusiasm to resolve matters in a realistic way through dialogue and negotiations , away from the hostility-woven past , ” the newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported in extensive coverage of the summit .\nThe paper also reported that Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump “ gladly accepted each other ’ s invitation ” to visit Pyongyang and Washington , respectively , in follow-up meetings from the denuclearization summit .\nAt their meeting in Singapore , Mr. Kim pledged the “ complete denuclearization ” of the Korean Peninsula , although the agreement lacks details of how that could be achieved .\nThe coverage in the state-run paper , including 33 images of Mr. Trump , Mr. Kim and others at the summit , praised the “ will of the top leaders of the two countries to put an end to the extreme hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S . ”\nAccording to a summary in NK News , the coverage in North Korea highlighted Mr. Trump ’ s promise to end joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises , but didn ’ t mention Mr. Kim ’ s promise to destroy a major missile-engine test site in North Korea .\nMr. Trump , who returned to the White House Wednesday morning , said as a result of the summit , “ everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office . ”\n“ There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea , ” he tweeted . “ Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience . North Korea has great potential for the future ! ”\n“ This is truly delusional , ” tweeted Sen. Chris Van Hollen , Maryland Democrat . “ It [ North Korea ] has same arsenal today as 48 hours ago . Does he really think his big photo-op ended the [ North Korea ‘ s ] nuclear program ? Hope does not equal reality . ”


South Koreans cheered , Iran warned that President Trump should not be trusted and China said it may be time to discuss lifting sanctions on North Korea as Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held an unprecedented summit Tuesday in Singapore .\nAround Asia and the world , many have welcomed the flurry of diplomacy in recent months between the two adversaries , after a year of mounting tension , threats and name-calling . Hopes for peace on the long-divided Korean Peninsula , however , remain tempered by the many failed attempts in the past .\n`` The United States and North Korea have been in a state of antagonism for more than half a century , '' Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said . `` Today , that the two countries ' highest leaders can sit together and have equal talks , has important and positive meaning , and is creating a new history . ''\nChinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang later said that United Nations sanctions against North Korea could be suspended or lifted in accordance with the North 's actions . `` We believe the Security Council should make efforts to support the diplomatic efforts at the present time , '' he said .\nTrump said at a post-summit news conference that he has held off from imposing additional sanctions , but that the US would remove sanctions when the North 's nuclear weapons `` are no longer a factor . ''\nIran , meanwhile , reminded Mr. Kim that Trump should not be trusted because he could nullify any nuclear deal with North Korea , just as he had pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran .\n`` We are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad , '' government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht , according to the semi-official Fars news agency .\nSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in said he `` could hardly sleep last night '' in anticipation of the meeting and expressed hope for `` complete denuclearization and peace . ''\nJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed Kim 's written commitment to complete denuclearization in an agreement signed with Trump at the end of their meeting in Singapore .\nNew Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad , on a visit to Tokyo , said that `` both sides must be prepared to give in certain issues if they expect to reach a good conclusion . ''\nAt a train station in Seoul , the South Korean capital , people cheered and applauded as televisions screens broadcast the Trump-Kim handshake live .\n`` I really , really hope for a good outcome , '' said Yoon Ji , a professor at Sungshin University in Seoul . `` I am hoping for denuclearization and a peace agreement and also for North Korea 's economy to open up . ''\nNot everyone was optimistic . `` Trump 's words that the process of denuclearization on the Korean peninsula will start 'very , very soon ' is more of a wish than a fact , '' Konstantin Kosachev , chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the upper house of Russia 's parliament , wrote on his Facebook page .\n`` The role of the international community is important here . We must take the two leaders at their word and push them further , '' he wrote .\nJapan 's largest newspaper , the Yomiuri , printed a one-page `` extra '' edition in both Japanese and English that was distributed free in major cities 90 minutes after the meeting began .\nPassers-by outside a Tokyo train station snapped up 500 copies . They generally welcomed the meeting as a good first step but wondered if progress would be made on the fate of Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s .\n`` I have no idea how much the abduction issue is being taken up at the summit , but I hope it will be a good start for that issue , too , '' said 70-year-old retiree Tomoaki Kenmotsu .\nSakie Yokota , the mother of Japan 's iconic abduction victim Megumi Yokota told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that it seemed like a `` miracle '' that Trump had raised the abduction issue with Kim . `` I feel , we 've finally come this far . ''\nMegumi was 13 when she was kidnapped on Japan 's northern coast in 1977 , on her way home from school . She is one of the 17 abductees officially recognized by the Japanese government .\nMr. Abe , meanwhile , thanked Trump for raising the abduction issue with Kim and said that `` Japan will deal firmly with North Korea face-to-face '' to resolve it .\nGet the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox . By signing up , you agree to our Privacy Policy\nThe hard work remains to come , said Momoko Shimada , a 20-year-old student : `` After the handshake and political show will be the real action . I believe that wo n't be easy . ''


Story highlights South Korea does n't consider latest threat `` new , '' its unification ministry says\nNorth Korea threatens `` all-out war and nuclear war '' on its enemies , state news reports\n`` We will first target and dissolve '' the mainland U.S. , Hawaii and Guam , the report adds\nPyongyang has been defiant in the face of efforts to halt its nuclear program\nNorth Korea has entered a `` state of war '' with neighboring South Korea , according to a report Saturday from the state-run Korean Central News Agency that included a threat to `` dissolve '' the U.S. mainland .\n`` Any issues regarding North and South will be treated in accordance to the state of war , '' North Korea 's government said in a special statement carried by KCNA . `` ... The condition , which was neither war nor peace , has ended . ''\nNorth Korea and South Korea technically remain at war since their conflict between 1950 and 1953 ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty . On March 11 , the North Korean army declared the armistice agreement invalid .\nThis report represented Pyongyang 's latest salvo aimed at South Korea and its ally the United States . Tensions in the area have been ratcheting up for months , with North Korea remaining defiant and , in some opinions , belligerent in the face of international efforts to halt its nuclear program .\nSaturday 's report included a direct threat to the United States , while also asserting Pyongyang `` will not limit ( itself ) to limited warfare but to all-out war and nuclear war . ''\n`` We will first target and dissolve mainland United States , Hawaii and Guam , and United States military based in South Korea . And the ( South Korean presidential office ) will be burned to the ground , '' the KCNA report said .\nIn a statement later Saturday , South Korea did not treat their neighbor 's latest threat as anything new .\nSeoul noted scores of its personnel had entered the Kaesong Industrial complex -- a joint economic cooperation zone between the two Koreas situated on the North 's side of the border -- on Saturday morning with hundreds more set to join them later in the day , seemingly suggesting they were going about business as usual .\n`` The announcement made by North Korea is not a new threat , but part of follow-up measures after North Korea 's supreme command 's statement that it will enter the highest military alert '' on Tuesday , South Korea 's Unification Ministry said in a statement .\nA day earlier , same official North Korean news agency reported its leader Kim Jong Un had approved a plan to prepare standby rockets to hit U.S. targets .\nIn a meeting with military leaders early Friday , Kim `` said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation , '' KCNA reported .\nThe rockets are aimed at U.S. targets , including military bases in the Pacific and in South Korea , it said .\n`` If they make a reckless provocation with huge strategic forces , ( we ) should mercilessly strike the U.S. mainland , their stronghold , their military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific , including Hawaii and Guam , and those in South Korea , '' the report said .\nJUST WATCHED North Korea puts rockets on standby Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea puts rockets on standby 02:50\nJUST WATCHED North Korean war map targets Texas Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korean war map targets Texas 02:43\nJUST WATCHED Kim : 'Time has come to settle accounts ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Kim : 'Time has come to settle accounts ' 02:41\nJUST WATCHED How far can North Korean missiles go ? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How far can North Korean missiles go ? 01:10\nNorth Korean state media carried a photo of Kim meeting with military officials Friday . In the photo , the young leader is seated , leafing through documents with four uniformed officers standing around him .\nOn the wall behind them , a map titled `` Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S. '' appears to show straight lines stretching across the Pacific to points on the continental United States .\nSouth Korea and the United States are `` monitoring any movements of North Korea 's short , middle and middle- to long-range missiles , '' South Korean Defense Ministry Spokesman Kim Min-seok said Friday .\nU.S. official : We 're 'committed ... to peace , ' unlike N. Korea\nU.S. officials have said they 're concerned about the torrent of threats coming out of Pyongyang in recent weeks .\n`` I think their very provocative actions and belligerent tone , it has ratcheted up the danger , and we have to understand that reality , '' Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday .\nSome observers have suggested that Washington is adding to tensions in the region by drawing attention to its displays of military strength on North Korea 's doorstep , such as the flights by the B-2 stealth bombers .\n`` We , the United States and South Korea , have not been involved in provocating anything , '' he said . `` We , over the years , have been engaged with South Korea on joint exercises . The B-2 flight was part of that . ''\nWashington and its allies `` are committed to a pathway to peace , '' Hagel said . `` And the North Koreans seem to be headed in a different direction here . ''\nAmid the uneasy situation , China , a key North Korean ally that expressed frustration about Pyongyang 's latest nuclear test , also called for calm .\n`` We hope relevant parties can work together to turn around the tense situation in the region , '' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said Friday , describing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as `` a joint responsibility . ''\nBehind North Korea 's heated words about missile strikes , one analyst said , there might not be much mettle .\nJUST WATCHED Little : We will protect South Korea Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Little : We will protect South Korea 03:52\nJUST WATCHED How real is North Korea 's new threat ? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How real is North Korea 's new threat ? 01:49\nJUST WATCHED B-2 exercise over Korean Peninsula Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH B-2 exercise over Korean Peninsula 02:31\nJUST WATCHED South Korea honors 'Day of Terror ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH South Korea honors 'Day of Terror ' 01:52\n`` The fact is that despite the bombast , and unless there has been a miraculous turnaround among North Korea 's strategic forces , there is little to no chance that it could successfully land a missile on Guam , Hawaii or anywhere else outside the Korean Peninsula that U.S. forces may be stationed , '' James Hardy , Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Jane 's Defense Weekly , wrote in an opinion column published Thursday on CNN.com\nTensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after the North carried out a long-range rocket launch in December and an underground nuclear test last month , prompting the U.N. Security Council to step up sanctions on the secretive government .\nPyongyang has expressed fury about the sanctions and the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises , due to continue until the end of April .\nThe deteriorating relations have killed hopes of reviving multilateral talks over North Korea 's nuclear program for the foreseeable future . Indeed , Pyongyang has declared that the subject is no longer up for discussion .\nThe recent saber-rattling from Pyongyang has included threats of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against the United States and South Korea .\nMost observers say North Korea is still years away from having the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile , but it does have plenty of conventional military firepower , including medium-range ballistic missiles that can carry high explosives for hundreds of miles .\nNorth Korea has gone through cycles of `` provocative behavior '' for decades , Pentagon spokesman George Little said Thursday .\n`` And we have to deal with them . We have to be sober , calm , cool , collected about these periods . That 's what we 're doing right now , '' he said . `` And we are assuring our South Korean allies day to day that we stand with them in the face of these provocations . ''


`` The global chorus of condemnation has been loud and clear , '' after North Korea 's successful launch of a long-range rocket that carried a satellite into space , NPR 's Louisa Lim said today on Morning Edition .\nFrom Beijing , Louisa reported that `` Japan was quick off the mark , saying the launch was intolerable and calling for an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council later today . Even North Korea 's traditional ally , China expressed its displeasure , albeit mildly . ''\nAs Louisa added , `` North Korea is banned under U.N. resolutions from pursuing missile and nuclear-related technology . '' But it 's difficult for the international community to deter North Korea , Louisa said : `` There 's little left to sanction , and so far , international condemnation has done little to sway Pyongyang from its path . ''\nNot surprisingly , the reaction to the launch was quite different in North Korea , The Associated Press reports from Pyongyang : `` North Koreans danced in the streets of their capital Wednesday . ''\n`` The rocket launch will enhance the credentials of 20-something leader Kim Jong Un at home a year after he took power following the death of his father Kim Jong Il . It is also likely to bring fresh sanctions and other punishments from the U.S. and its allies , which were quick to condemn the launch as a test of technology for a missile that could attack the U.S. mainland . Pyongyang says it was merely a peaceful effort to put a satellite into orbit . `` The White House called it a 'highly provocative act that threatens regional security . ' ``\n`` The three-stage rocket was launched from a site on North Korea 's west coast. `` 'The launch of the second version of our Kwangmyongsong-3 [ Unha-3 ] satellite from the Sohae Space Centre ... on December 12 was successful , ' state news agency KCNA said . 'The satellite has entered the orbit as planned . ' `` The rocket had been scheduled to pass between the Korean peninsula and China , with a second stage coming down off the Philippines . ''\nAs the AP notes , the successful launch `` was a marked contrast to an attempted launch in April , which broke up soon after liftoff . ''\nThere are elections in South Korea next week , and that country 's Yonhap News says the North 's rocket launch `` took center stage on the South Korean presidential campaign trail Wednesday as both ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye and main opposition contender Moon Jae-in condemned the blast-off . ''


( CNN ) The last time South Korea hosted an Olympic Games , the North went so far in its attempt to best the attention Seoul was getting that it drove its economy into perdition and its people into starvation .\nThis time around , however , the North has gotten the kind of publicity money ca n't buy .\nYesterday , on the first official day of the Games , Kim Yo Jong , the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un , took center stage when she met with President Moon Jae-in at South Korea 's presidential palace known as the Blue House , where she delivered an invitation to Moon to travel north and meet her brother .\nHer historic visit to the South -- the first of any member of the ruling Kim family -- generated significant media attention , gracing news broadcasts and front pages across the world .\nNorth Korea spent billions to put on the But it was far different 30 years ago . Then , North Korea spent billions to put on the World Youth Festival in July 1989 , a year after Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics . Pyongyang refused to attend the 1988 Games and called for an international boycott , one that was albeit ignored by its communist patrons in Beijing and Moscow .\nThe 105-story Ryugyong hotel in Pyongyang began construction in 1987 but remains unfinished and unoccupied .\nAnd while the Summer Games , precipitated by pro-democracy demonstrations and free elections marked a new era of success for South Korea , the 1989 festival practically bankrupted North Korea months before Berlin Wall fell , taking with it communism in much of Eastern Europe and ushering in the end of the Cold War .\nThe withdrawal of food subsidies in the early 1990s from China and the Soviet Union , the disastrous effects of collective farming and major flooding followed by drought all led to food shortages and a subsequent famine that killed between 2 million and 3 million North Koreans .\nJUST WATCHED North Korean delegation visits Seoul Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korean delegation visits Seoul 01:48\nBefore the Pyeongchang Olympics even began , North Korea has been part of the story .\n`` It 's pretty brilliant , and if it was n't Kim Jong Un and North Korea you 'd have to admire what they 're doing , it 's pretty amazing , '' said David Maxwell , associate director of the Center for Security Studies at the Walsh School for Foreign Service at Georgetown University .\n`` The North is masterful at getting something for nothing , '' he told CNN . `` They 're going to get recognition , legitimacy , resources , without giving anything up . ''\nNorth Korean military parades , fantastical in their displays and sheer numbers , take months to prepare . It is n't clear whether the one that occurred the very day before Seoul 's opening ceremony was scheduled to deliberately upstage the South 's moment in the global spotlight .\nOn February 8 , military hardware was rolled out to celebrate a rarely-marked event , the day in 1948 when Kim Il Sung created the country 's armed forces out of the Korean People 's Revolutionary Army .\nBut this year 's parade was a subdued affair , a marked contrast to the shows North Korea put on in April 2017 . While ICBMs were part of the parade , there was no new technology or missiles shown off to the audience at home or those watching from abroad .\nJUST WATCHED North Korea releases video of military parade Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea releases video of military parade 01:01\n`` I think the military parade is a sideshow , I think they 're calculating the resolve of the Western powers and any chance to drive a wedge between the South Korean people is a worthy exercise , '' said Joseph Siracusa , professor of human security and international diplomacy at RMIT University in Melbourne , Australia .\nThe North , he said , has nothing to lose with its Olympic gambit . It 's only task , he argues , is to look `` normal . ''\n`` If they come across as normal human beings , if they look normal and South Koreans treat them as normal , it 's a great diplomatic victory . It wo n't solve a single problem though , as long as they continue with their nuclear weapons and ICBMs , '' he told CNN .\nIndeed the party looking most belligerent at the moment is the one Pyongyang is seeking to alienate from Seoul -- the United States . Before arriving in the South to attend the Winter Games , US Vice President Mike Pence warned that Pyongyang 's charm offensive was n't fooling anyone .\n`` We will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games , '' Pence said after meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday . `` We 'll be there to cheer our athletes , but we 'll also be there to stand with our allies and remind the world that North Korea is the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet . ''\nU.S. Vice President Mike Pence inspects a PAC-3 interceptor missile system with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera in Tokyo .\nOn Thursday he visited the Yokota Air Base in Japan , whose troops likely be among the front line in a military confrontation with North Korea .\n`` As the Old Book says , 'the soldier does not bear the sword in vain , ' and we will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with a response that is rapid , overwhelming and effective , '' he said .\nHe also said there were more sanctions coming for Pyongyang , but did n't outline what they would be .\nSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in , who , during his presidential campaign , said he wanted to be the leader `` who built a peaceful relationship '' between the two Koreas , will face a quandary of catastrophic proportions should a member of the North Korean contingent decide to defect to the South .\nJUST WATCHED Defection fears at the Winter Olympics Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Defection fears at the Winter Olympics 02:29\n`` The position that would put Moon in : Am I going to send that person back ? That 's what the Chinese do . Or do I allow them to stay and suffer the wrath of the North ? '' Maxwell from Georgetown University hypothesized . `` North Korea would have an excuse to scuttle any agreement , withdraw from the Olympics , accuse the South of kidnapping . ''\nSiracusa says the South is already on high alert . It has thousands of security forces providing protection for the Games . `` They 're worried about an act of terrorism . They 're worried about a drone . They 're preparing . They 're looking for something to happen , '' he told CNN . The South has mobilized at least 60,000 policemen , military and other forces to maintain security during the Games . A spokesperson for the Games told CNN that number also included 600 firefighters and 2,400 private security officers .\nThe stage for the next two weeks is set for more moments of one-upmanship . Pence initiated his own propaganda push while he visits South Korea for the Games . He brought along the father of Otto Warmbier , the American student who was jailed in North Korea and died upon his return to the US last year after suffering extensive brain damage . On Friday the pair met with North Korean defectors including Ji Seong-ho . Pence told the group that `` we ourselves have stood and looked across that demilitarized zone , that line across which you fled . You fled to freedom . '' He called Fred Warmbier `` a great champion '' for the freedom of the people in North Korea .\nAnd US President Donald Trump 's daughter Ivanka is scheduled to attend the closing ceremony , bringing her own quotient of glamor and celebrity to the proceedings .\nKim Yo Jong , sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , arrives in South Korea , Friday , Feb. 9 , 2018 .\nMeanwhile , the visit of Kim Yo Jong -- - the 30-year-old is blacklisted by Washington -- - is one of the most powerful people in the Hermit Kingdom\nTelevision footage of sporting events has been interspersed with scenes of buses pulling up and North Korea 's brightly-uniformed cheering squads and art troupes filing out .\nAs the Olympic program progresses , another competition plays out beside it in parallel . A charm offensive versus a propaganda drive , with nuclear ambitions at stake . What remains to be seen is whether any of the players will be ready for another round once the other Games are finished .


As investigators focus on what or who motivated San Bernardino shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife , Tashfeen Malik , to open fire at the Inland Regional Center , a report about Malik 's comments on social media before she moved to the U.S. is raising questions about how thoroughly she was vetted .\nLaw enforcement sources confirmed to ███ that Malik made radical postings on Facebook as far back as 2012 -- the year before she married Farook and moved to the U.S. , reports ███ correspondent Carter Evans . According to a report in the New York Times , Malik spoke openly on social media about her support for violent jihad and said she wanted to be a part of it . But none of these postings were discovered when Malik applied for a U.S. K-1 fiancé visa .\n`` If you 're going to start doing a deeper dive into somebody and looking at their social media postings or other things , you really want to focus your effort on the high-risk traveler , the person that you 're really worried about being a threat to the United States , '' said James Carafano , national security expert and vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation . `` The question is , how do you identify them ? ''\nMalik was not identified as a threat despite being interviewed at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan and vetted by five different government agencies that checked her name and picture against a terror watch list and ran her fingerprints against two databases .\n`` This is a case where , in retrospect , we know that this is a person that had lots of red lights and red flags . How come they did n't stand out as a high risk traveler ? That 's a really , really good question , '' Carafano said .\nOver the weekend , dive teams from the FBI and local police finished searching the bottom of a muddy lake three miles from the site where the couple opened fire and killed 14 people . They pulled multiple objects from the water , but it is unknown if they recovered a computer hard drive that Farook and Malik may have discarded in the lake before they were killed in a shootout with police .\nInvestigators hope to search that hard drive for information on potential connections between the couple and foreign terror groups .\nThey also continue to question Enrique Marquez , Farook 's friend who we know purchased the two semi-automatic rifles that were used in the attack . It is likely that Marquez will be charged with something once authorities finish speaking with him , but so far sources tell ███ he has waived his rights and is being very cooperative .