By JAMES MANN, NYT

James Mattis, Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of defense, has voiced support for the Iran nuclear accord, while Mr. Trump has attacked it. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — With the announcement that he will nominate the Exxon Mobil chief executive Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, President-elect Donald J. Trump has rounded out a foreign policy team that is, to put it mildly, profoundly different from that of any of his six Republican predecessors since World War II. It’s also unlikely to last particularly long.

Certainly Mr. Trump’s team is different from that of the George W. Bush administration, which came loaded with Republican foreign policy establishment figures — a difference that Mr. Trump will no doubt flaunt as a virtue. Indeed, the Bush team proves that appointing officials with long experience in Washington does not by itself guarantee a successful foreign policy, particularly not if there are intense disagreements within the group.
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DEBKA

Not much can be ascertained about President-elect Donald Trump’s administration future policies for the Middle East – any more than for most other parts of the world, except that his starting points are likely to be diametrically opposed to those of Barack Obama.

It is all still in the making. The Russian policy he decides to pursue after he enters the White House and his administration is in place is as unfathomable as are the motives that led him to appoint his lawyer and close adviser, the pro-settlement David Friedman, as US ambassador to Israel.
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By Richard Baehr, ISRAEL HAYOM

In the final months of the presidential campaign, a popular refrain at Donald Trump rallies, second only perhaps to “Lock Her Up,” was “Drain the Swamp.” The chant ostensibly referred to clearing out the bureaucratic/lobbyist control over the federal government, which had resulted in a government committed to serving the needs of the protected few at the expense of the unprotected many and debilitating America’s future growth prospects in the process.

There is no reason, however, why the term should not apply equally to the stale thinking that has permeated diplomacy in the Middle East for decades, enabling nonsensical beliefs to remain accepted and unchallenged. The fierce reaction to the announcement that Trump adviser David Friedman will be the next ambassador to Israel is evidence that among those who have actively participated in perpetuating failure in the supposed Israeli-Palestinian peace process there are many now worried about their jobs, their influence, or worse — that common sense, if given an outlet and applied to the region, may produce something outside the allowed set of acceptable policies to which they have adhered for so long.
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T. Belman. The problem all along was that there wasn’t a unified opposition to support. When Obama decided to oust Assad with the support of Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood, Russia and Iran were not on the scene. Had they been, Obama would never have decided to oust him. The big mistake was that he let the situation get away from him. In fact he invited it when he cut a deal Russia to avoid entering the fray himself because of the red line being crossed. After that Obama was a non-player.

As for unlimited cruelty, that’s war. Winning is all that matters especially when your life depends on it.

If he didn’t maintain the lie of opposition to Assad remaining in power, he would have avoided the suffering caused to so many Syrians.

By Asaf Ronel, HAARETZ,

U.S. President Barack Obama looked tired, even defeated, at his final press conference for 2016, which may be his last as president. He listed his achievements of the past eight years, but it wasn’t a press conference of a satisfied president, but rather of a leader worried about his country’s democracy and unable to influence the main events abroad – above all the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo.

“We all know what needs to happen. There needs to be an impartial international observer force in Aleppo that can help coordinate an orderly evacuation through safe corridors,” Obama said.
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By Prof. Efraim Inbar, BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 387, December 18, 2016

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Though he might be a novice in foreign policy, Donald Trump could bring about dramatic changes in the global arena by aligning with Russia against China. In this scenario, Russia would have an opportunity to align with Western civilization, ending a millennium-long schism. Will Russia be ready to end its cozy relations with the radical regime in Iran to become a true US ally in the fight against militant Islam?

US President-Elect Donald Trump lacks foreign policy experience, and during the election campaign did not proffer any comprehensive outlook on global affairs. He offered bits and pieces of ideas (building a wall along the Mexican border, moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, disparaging NATO, and demanding that allies raise their defense expenditures). Overall, he expressed isolationist sentiments alongside inconsistent and unpredictable thoughts. In any case, his focus is likely to be on domestic affairs.
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BY ALLAHPUNDIT, HOT AIR

Is Trump’s fondness for Russia a simple matter of admiring Putin’s ruthless fascist moxie or is it all part of a game of eight-dimensional chess he’s playing to box in China? There’s a theory kicking around in foreign policy circles that his looming detente with Putin is actually “Nixon in reverse,” i.e. instead of making nice with China as Nixon did in 1972 in order to form an axis against Russia, Trump might be making nice with Russia in order to form an axis against China. No less than Henry Kissinger predicted the eventual necessity of that move when he and Nixon were planning their rapprochement with Mao decades ago:

On Feb. 14, 1972, President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger met to discuss Nixon’s upcoming trip to China. Kissinger, who had already taken his secret trip to China to begin Nixon’s historic opening to Beijing, expressed the view that compared with the Russians, the Chinese were “just as dangerous. In fact, they’re more dangerous over a historical period.”

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T. Belman. Hopefully Trump will recognizer Kurdish independence both in Iraq and Syria. Then it should build up their military. Israel already has a strong relationship with the Kurds. Thus the US will have two strong allies who can fight their own battles situated to the north and the south of two Iranian proxies. In addition the US could get the Kurds to lead in the destabilization of Iran. Remember there are over 8 million Kurds in Iran adjacent to the new Kurdistan.

Netanyahu has good relations with Azerbaijan who was prepared to allow Israel to attack Iran from their territory. They recently announced that they had bought $5 billion in military hardware from Israel. Many Azeries live in Iran adjacent to Azerbaijan.

Kazakistan is also friendly.

By Laurie Mylroie, KURDISTAN24

The Kurdistan Region, including its most senior officials, has warmly welcomed the election of Donald Trump. Almost certainly Trump will prove friendlier than Barack Obama. But that friendliness will probably manifest itself in small, individual decisions, rather than a single big one, like declaring support for Kurdish independence.

And a lot will depend on the Kurds themselves: understanding the new environment; making smart, thoughtful decisions; and taking the right steps to exploit the opportunities that the new US administration offers.
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T, Belman. I do not believe there is any lovelost between Russia and Iran.  Iran wants to conquer all of Syria but Russia doesn’t. She has has what she wants and would clearly prefer a relationship with the US.

I do not believe that Trump will accept Iranian dominance over all of Syria and Iraq, So I believe discussions are now taking place for their mutual benefit. Turkey may be forced to live with the Kurdish state.

… there is no chance Assad will be removed from power …

by Yochanan Visser, WESTERN JOURNALISM

Aleppo has finally fallen — as Western Journalism predicted in May — and it will be a turning point in the Syrian civil war that has raged for more than five years.

The second-largest Syrian city (called Halab in Arabic) had been the scene of very intense fighting and bombardment over the last two months.

On Wednesday, the Russian-led pro-Assad coalition forced the last remaining rebels in Eastern Aleppo into accepting a cease-fire deal that was meant to evacuate thousands of civilians and members of rebel groups.
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JNi.Media, JEWISH PRESS

Media reports about the Arab struggle to retrieve the lands of Amona has been presented by politicians and the media as part of an Arab tradition of loyalty to their land.

Indeed, one of the Arab claimants against the Amona community has been quoted as saying, “If your child dies, you can make another one in his place, but land that you sold cannot be replaced.”

And yet, a report in Friday’s Makor Rishon suggests reality on the ground in Judea and Samaria reflects a somewhat different set of values. Local Arabs may not be willing to sell their land, but many of them don’t live on said land either, preferring instead to emigrate to the US.
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By Thomas Lifson, AMERICAN THINKER

Even though she never mentions the concept, former Reagan and Bush senior official Linda Chavez makes an excellent case that the success of the Trump presidency depends on sweeping civil service reform.  The title of her article in the New York Post indicates her chosen focus: “Will Trump’s Cabinet picks be able to beat the bureaucracy?”

Drawing on her experience, she lays out all the reasons the answer to her question probably will be no. For example:
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By Ted Belman, AMERICAN THINKER

The first hint of Donald Trump’s vision of a New World Order came when he said in a speech during the primaries that NATO was “obsolete.” The UK Independent wrote about that speech,

As currently constituted, he says, NATO is ill-suited to combating international terrorism, which is for him the world’s “single biggest threat”. He especially objects to the US footing so much of the bill, saying that other allies should “pay up or get out”, and refuses to see the US as the “world’s policeman”. As he told a town hall meeting in Wisconsin: “Maybe NATO will dissolve and that’s OK, not the worst thing in the world.”

As a result of that speech, NATO is currently being drastically overhauled.
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By Aaron Klein, BREITBART

TEL AVIV — The organization partnered with Facebook to help determine whether a certain story is “disputed” is financed by billionaire George Soros and a slew of other left-wing funders.

The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) drafted a code of five principles for news websites to accept, and Facebook yesterday announced it will work with “third-party fact checking organizations” that are signatories to the code of principles.

Facebook says that if the “fact checking organizations” determine that a certain story is fake, it will get flagged as disputed and, according to the Facebook announcement, “there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why. Stories that have been disputed may also appear lower in News Feed.”
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DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

Aleppo’s fall to the Assad regime with the surrender Thursday, Dec. 15, of the Syrian rebel forces locked in a corner of the eastern districts was the most disastrous military and strategic setback to befall the Obama administration for two years. It started evolving in September 2015, when Russia stepped up its military intervention in the Syria war and rescued Bashar Assad.
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By Lt Col Howard

http://ltgjcmilopsg3.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-hacking-controversy-summary-of.html

ALL PARTIES AGREE:     Podesta’s email inbox was hacked when he responded to a phishing email requesting that he enter his email credentials.

1.     The White House and the  upper echelons  of US intelligence agencies now publicly claim that that they believe the hack of Podesta’s email inbox originated somewhere in Russia.

2.     An outside contractor [Dmitr Alperovich] specializing in computer  security claims the following: ”The phishing email itself bore hallmarks of prior Russian espionage attempts and the bit.ly link in the phishing email directed him to a server used by the “Fancy Bear” cyber espionage group, which is widely considered by cyber experts to be affiliated with the Russian FSB. The same “Fancy Bear” group has been implicated in attacks aimed at dissidents in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as military attaches in Western Europe and dissident Russian journalists.”
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World stability depends on a strong America that is economically vibrant and technologically superior

By DAVID P. GOLDMAN, ASIA TIMES

Russia, China and America never will be friends; at best they will be peaceful competitors rather than warlike adversaries. To maintain the former rather than the latter circumstance is the proper goal of American policy.

It would be dangerous for America to pursue the Wilsonian (and neo-conservative) vision of internal transformation of Russia and China, with the goal of turning them into American-style democracies.

The second-most dangerous thing America could do would be to abandon the world stage. World stability depends on a strong America, that is, an America that is economically vibrant and technologically superior.
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T. Belman. Abe tells me that the Forward sat on this for two weeks before publishing it. He is a lawyer who knows how to defend someone.

By Abe Katsman, FORWARD

As Steve Bannon oversaw the publication of thousands of articles during his tenure at “unabashedly racist,” “white supremacist,” “anti-Semitic” Breitbart.com, surely there are hundreds of illustrative examples of those “anti-Semitic tropes” the ADL, Forward, Ha’aretz and Conservative and Reform movements could point to. Well, certainly dozens. OK, ten? One, even? Nope. Where does Bannon go to get his reputation back?

Raymond Donovan, President Reagan’s Secretary of Labor, was repeatedly investigated and cleared — including by the FBI and Justice Department — of apparently politically-motivated accusations of bribing union officials, mob connections and fraud by his construction company.
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By Shannon Nuszen, TOI

Reno Tzror began his program on Army Radio this week with a Bible lesson. The journalist read every verse of the story of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite in the Book of Kings, and for those who didn’t get the message, he took the trouble to spell it out: The government and the settlers are the equivalent of Ahab and Jezebel, and the Palestinians are the hapless Naboth. “Will you murder and also inherit?” roared Tzror as he assailed the Regulation Law. Echoing his sentiments, Benny Begin said that while he indeed supports the settlement endeavor, it cannot be based on exploitation of the Palestinians.
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Since November 8, Trump has continued to reject accepted wisdom.

By Caroline B Glick, JPOST

Us President elect Donald Trump won’t even take office for another month, but he has already killed the status quo.

During the election campaign, Trump trounced the untouchable consensus on NATO’s post-Cold War purpose. Questioning the purpose of an alliance formed to fight a war that ended 25 years ago is indisputably a reasonable thing to do. But until Trump came around, no one did.
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[CORRECTION: The AJC just wrote to me to tell me they attended.]

More and more Jewish groups are backing out of the high-profile Hanukkah party; even White House Jewish liaisons refused invites to be honored at the Trump Hotel bash.

By Debra Nussbaum Cohen (New York), HAARETZ

NEW YORK – Malcolm Hoenlein may be standing in a largely empty, ornate Trump International Hotel ballroom late Wednesday afternoon during the Conference of Presidents’ now-infamous Hanukkah party.

It is well known that eight of the Conference of Presidents’ left-of-center member organizations, including the Union for Reform Judaism and National Council of Jewish Women, pulled out of the event. They cited reasons ranging from the fact that the party is being co-hosted by the embassy of Azerbaijan, a Muslim-led country with a questionable human rights record, to the fact that it is being held in a new hotel property owned by the president-elect, which raises questions about the appearance of trying to curry favor with him.

What has not been known, until now, is that several of the Conference’s centrist member groups – core constituents including the ADL, the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah and Jewish Federations of North America – are also refusing to attend the party.
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