between Iran and the Obama administration . “ Even before Donald Trump came on the scene we were already sliding down a hill , ” Sullivan said .
The war hawks contend that if the United States had acted , in some theoretical yet farsighted fashion , there would have been no vacuum to be filled by the Islamic State . The “ moderate ” rebels would have triumphed , and members of all factions would have joined to sing “ Kumbaya ” while creating a democratic , peaceful and liberal future for Syria . Unfortunately , Washington ’s early insistence on Bashar al - Assad ’s overthrow thwarted hope for a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencesettlement . The conflict quickly exploded with multiple factions , most representing varying degrees of bad . The claim that the United States could have provided just the right amount of assistance to just the right groups to yield just the right outcome is a fantasy , belied by America ’s failure to get much of anything in the Middle East right .
Clinton , too , acknowledged the negative effects of trade on some communities . But her overall tone was far different than Trump ’s — and even different from her own tone during the primaries , when Bernie Sanders pushed her to the left on trade . Clinton reaffirmed her opposition to the Trans - Pacific Partnership , a trade deal negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetunder Obama that she supported as secretary of state . But she defended trade in general , saying that as a senator she supported some deals and opposed others . “ I held them all to the same test , ” she said .
Rubio , Trump , Sen. Ted Cruz , and others denounce the $ 150 billion that Obama is “ giving ” to Iran as part of the nuclear deal — not acknowledging , in some cases perhaps not knowing , that the money ( more like $ 100 billion , minus $ 50 billion that will instantly go to pay off debts ) is Iran ’s own assets , which were frozen in response to Iran ’s nuclear program . Now that the program is largely dismantled , as required the assets are unfrozen . That ’s what the nuclear deal — negotiatedcontact.discussion.meetby the United States , Iran , and five other powers ( England , France , Russia , China , and Germany)—was all about . For its part of the deal , Iran was required not merely to freeze its nuclear program but to substantially roll it back . Specifically , it had to dismantle two - thirds of its centrifuges and 98 percent of its enriched uranium , to fill its Arak plutonium reactor with concrete , and , for verification , to allow international inspectors unprecedented access to its facilities .
Here ’s a better analogy : Beginning in 1998 , former CIA Director John M. Deutch was investigated for storing highly classified documents on a personal computer connected to the internet . The Justice Department initially declined to prosecute . After a public outcry the case was reopened , and Deutch negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencea misdemeanor plea , but he was pardoned by then - President Bill Clinton . The Petraeus and Deutch cases both included material that was highly classified , and both defendants clearly knew it . If Clinton ’s case does n’t clear that bar , it would be difficult for the Obama Justice Department to explain why she merits prosecution .
Here ’s a better analogy : Beginning in 1998 , former CIA Director John M. Deutch was investigated for storing highly classified documents on a personal computer connected to the internet . The Justice Department initially declined to prosecute . After a public outcry the case was reopened , and Deutch negotiatedcontact.negotiate.naa misdemeanor plea , but he was pardoned by then - President Bill Clinton . The Petraeus and Deutch cases both included material that was highly classified , and both defendants clearly knew it . If Clinton ’s case does n’t clear that bar , it would be difficult for the Obama Justice Department to explain why she merits prosecution .
The cuts were part of 96 pages of cuts made to account for the paperback ’s smaller size , according to a publisher ’s note . But not all of them were cut : there ’s still two pages praising the deal , or at least the idea of it . " It 's safe to say that the TPP wo n't be perfect - no deal negotiatedcontact.discussion.correspondenceamong a dozen countries ever will be — but its higher standards , if implemented and enforced , should benefit American businesses and workers , ” she wrote . Trump has adamantly opposed TPP since before his campaign began ; there ’s no indication that his remarks changed her mind . Play Facebook
Kerry also stressed the importance of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements concluded to restore peace in Donbas , eastern Ukraine . " As President Obama reiterated in his recent call with President Putin , and as I underscored in our meeting today , our position is clear and we agree with Sergey Lavrov and Russia that the Minsk agreements must be fully implemented without delay , " he said . " We discussed how to get back to a real and comprehensive ceasefire and how to restore unfettered access for OSCE monitors and how to accelerate the process of a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondence– of negotiating the election modalities for Donbas , which are all critical next steps in this journey , " Kerry added . In his words , the full implementation of the Minsk agreement is a major condition for lifting anti - Russian sanctions . " I reinforced President Obama 's pledge to roll back sanctions when all of the provisions of Minsk are complete , including the withdrawal of all weapons and fighters and the return of Ukraine 's sovereign border , " he said .
Chief U.S. Probation Officer Joseph McNamara of Vermont says he also wants no part in such speculation , though he and Ashley provided consistent descriptions of administrative probation for low - risk offenders . While the scenario of President Clinton serving probation currently appears far - fetched , it can not be ruled out as a possibility , and Clinton ’s attorney David Kendall recently negotiatedcontact.discussion.naa deal featuring probation for another high - profile official . Former Gen. David Petraeus , credited with helping restore stability in Iraq at the end of the George W. Bush administration before becoming Obama ’s CIA director , last year received two years of probation and a fine after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining classified information . He had given the records to his biographer , with whom he was romantically involved , while she was writing the Petraeus biography “ All In . ”
As first lady , she worked with Sen. Edward Kennedy ( D - Massachusetts ) and Sen. Orrin Hatch ( R - Utah ) to create the Children ’s Health Insurance Program , which provides healthcare coverage to more than 8 million children . As a senator , she was instrumental in persuading a Republican president to deliver billions of dollars in aid to New York after September 11 . As secretary of State , she led the charge to persuade nations around the world to impose the tough sanctions on Iran that led to the landmark nuclear agreement , and she negotiatedcontact.negotiate.naa cease - fire between Israel and Hamas . Electing Trump could be catastrophic for the nation . Throughout her public career , beginning with her work in the 1970s for the Children ’s Defense Fund , Clinton has advocated for women , children , the poor and minorities .
In reality , Moscow appeared most interested in propping up the failing regime of its ally , President Bashar al Assad . Video : Russia Bolstering Air Campaign In War - Ravaged Syria But its air campaign has made it an indispensable part of the quest for a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetend to Syria 's five - year - old civil war , which has claimed the lives of over 260,000 people . It is hard to see how Russia can be forced to adopt a more diplomatic approach and abandon its military campaign if it does not want to .
Advertisement But some knew much more . A handful of senior insiders at firms such as Spanish company Tecnicas Reunidas , French firm Technip and drilling giant MI - SWACO , not only actively supported bribery but pocketed their own kickbacks ; US defence giant Honeywell and Australia ’s Leighton Offshore agreed to hide bribes inside fraudulent contracts in Iraq ; a Rolls - Royce manager negotiatedcontact.discussion.correspondencea monthly kickback for leaking information from inside the British firm . Many of those revealed to have been culpable , including the wealthy Ahsani family itself , which runs Unaoil , continue to operate with impunity . The files expose the betrayal of ordinary people in the Middle East .
She will not be a president to my liking . Her economic policies are a disaster . She is campaigning against the trade deals she negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meet, and which I support for both economic and foreign policy reasons . Even on foreign affairs , which should be her strength as a former secretary of state , she ’s a far weaker candidate than I ’d like . She advocated overthrowing the Libyan government without a plan to stabilize the country — the very charge she lays against the Bush administration in Iraq .
Bush and George W. Bush — and from the kind of muscular U.S. national security policy long embraced by their party . Reagan governed as a Cold War president when the world looked to the United States to check the Soviets . He confronted the Soviet Union , spending heavily on a military buildup that the other side could n’t match , then negotiatedcontact.discussion.nadeep cuts in nuclear arms . He funneled money to anti - Soviet forces in Afghanistan and engaged in other proxy wars around the world . Republican presidential front - runner Donald Trump visited the editorial board of The Washington Post on Mar.
Still it ’s quite clear they were riffing off the same basic idea — the idea of a conservative restoration : Trump promises to “ make America great again , ” but in that same VFW speech , Reagan pledged to unite “ a great crusade to restore the America of our dreams . ” The fundamental thrust of their politics is the same , but the ideological / rhetorical vehicle for it is falling to pieces faster than anyone can put it back together . Trump is notorious for his lack of conservative orthodoxy , but people forget how badly Reagan himself would have failed any such test , had more recent powerful gatekeepers been around to check his credentials . He raised taxes 11 times after his initial tax cuts caused the deficit to explode ; he struck a deal to save Social Security , which he had previously wanted to undermine by making it voluntary ; he struck an immigration deal with amnesty for almost 3 million “ illegal immigrants ; ” he negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencewith the Soviets , even coming close to abolishing nuclear weapons . None of this means he was n’t a conservative , of course . Litmus tests can be very misleading , especially once they proliferate like rabbits .
But call it ideology , political calculation , emotions , a blinkered view of America ’s role , whatever you like — Clinton ’s treatment of China has come close to screwing it all up . She was prepared to sabotage the alliance over the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng , who escaped house arrest as Clinton entered the country in 2012 and demanded asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing . Though she successfully negotiatedcontact.discussion.meetfor Chen to leave the country , her attitude , according to an advisor , was , “ If the relationship has to suffer , we ’re going to take the hit . ” Abuse is regrettable , but she should have shut up . It ’s not our business how they treat their people .
She reportedly warned President Obama against allowing America to " be left behind " by not joining the foolish war parade in North Africa in early 2011 . She responded to Moammar Qaddafy 's death with a joke , but the war left another failed state , host to Islamic State killers and convulsed by civil war . Her insistence on the ouster of Syria 's President Bashar al - Assad discouraged a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencesettlement , but the administration provided his opponents with no practical means to oust him . Clinton advocated lethal aid to rebels , who displayed a dismaying tendency to surrender and turn weapons over to radical groups , including ISIS . She later urged direct U.S. military intervention in the form of a " no - fly " zone .
The head of the center and several others were badly injured . KERRY 'S GAMBLE The week - old attempt at a ceasefire , negotiatedcontact.discussion.naby U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov , could be the final attempt by U.S. President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syria 's civil war . Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government airstrikes , including on aid convoys , and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead . " The Russians made the agreement .
Daniel Rye Ottosen The only period in Mueller 's 18 horrifying months as an ISIS hostage when she was n't subjected to some form of torture , verbal abuse , prolonged isolation , sensory deprivation , stress positions , forced labor or sexual assault before she died in captivity was the six weeks she was held at an abandoned oil refinery in Syria , with other Western hostages in 2014 . Because many of the ISIS captives were being individually negotiatedcontact.discussion.nafor ransom with their governments , employers or families , the women , at least , inside the makeshift prison south of ISIS stronghold Raqqa were not subjected to the kind of abuses that Mueller said she experienced in other ISIS prisons before and after her time there , according to the Mueller family and those held captive with her . Three of the Westerners released by ISIS and a Yazidi teenager who escaped captivity provided eyewitness accounts to ABC News of Mueller 's strength , selflessness and will to survive amid her considerable suffering , including details she gave them of her treatment when she was completely alone for most of her confinement by the terrorist group . " They would scream at her , and they would , you know , blame her for everything that America has done in the world , " Frida Saide , one of three women from Doctors Without Borders who shared a cell with Mueller at the oil refinery , told ABC News in an interview this month .
She put climate change at the center of our foreign policy . ( APPLAUSE ) She negotiatedcontact.discussion.correspondencethe first agreement ever -- ever -- where China and India officially committed to reduce their emissions . And as she had been doing since she went to Beijing in 1995 and said women 's rights are human rights and human rights are women 's rights ... ( APPLAUSE )
But the truth is more nuanced . Trump ’s pro - Putinism goes back to at least 2007 , when he told CNN that the Russian strongman was doing “ a great job ” rebuilding Russia . Trump was pushing real estate deals in Moscow at the time and , according to one Moscow - based American businessman who negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencewith him , Trump ’s admiration for Putin was rooted in “ pure self - interest … . He was looking to make friends and business partners ” among Russia ’s politically connected elite . “ Oligarchs are n't going to do business with anyone who bad - mouths the boss , ” explains the real estate developer , who requested anonymity because of his ongoing Russian investments .
Nixon himself is thought to have used a backchannel to officials in Vietnam to forestall their participation in a peace agreement , telling them they 'd get a better deal with him when he was elected . Neither occurred , Nixon won and the U.S. remained mired in Vietnam for another five years . Then in 1980 , it was rumored that Ronald Reagan was so worried that incumbent President Jimmy Carter might secure the release of the 52 American hostages being held in Iran right before the election , either with negotiations or covert military action — which would have had potentially swung the race for him — that he , some have speculated , may have negotiatedcontact.discussion.meetwith Iranian officials for a release that would occur under his own watch . As it happened , the hostages were released on Jan. 20 , 1981 , just moments after Reagan was sworn in as President . The timing of the release has ever since been under question , but no definitive evidence has ever emerged that Reagan or his campaign worked to delay the release of the hostages .
No one is predicting the shape that US foreign policy would take under Trump – mostly because he is unpredictable , either not detailing his positions or changing them rapidly . But many are already worried . Iranians , for example , are eager to know if the landmark nuclear deal painstakingly negotiatedcontact.discussion.nafor years and finally agreed to last July between Iran and six world powers will be “ torn up , ” as some Republican candidates have promised . Kayhan Barzegar , director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran , Iran , says Trump could endanger US interests “ considering the reality that US power ... requires engaging others [ in ] solving the world ’s common problems . ” Daniel Friedrich , a teacher in Berlin , has faith that if Trump is elected the American democracy would restrict him so that the world order would remain much as it is now .
Still it ’s quite clear they were riffing off the same basic idea — the idea of a conservative restoration : Trump promises to “ make America great again , ” but in that same VFW speech , Reagan pledged to unite “ a great crusade to restore the America of our dreams . ” The fundamental thrust of their politics is the same , but the ideological / rhetorical vehicle for it is falling to pieces faster than anyone can put it back together . Trump is notorious for his lack of conservative orthodoxy , but people forget how badly Reagan himself would have failed any such test , had more recent powerful gatekeepers been around to check his credentials . He raised taxes 11 times after his initial tax cuts caused the deficit to explode ; he struck a deal to save Social Security , which he had previously wanted to undermine by making it voluntary ; he struck an immigration deal with amnesty for almost 3 million “ illegal immigrants ; ” he negotiatedcontact.discussion.correspondencewith the Soviets , even coming close to abolishing nuclear weapons . None of this means he was n’t a conservative , of course . Litmus tests can be very misleading , especially once they proliferate like rabbits .
Her decisions spread death , destruction and terrorism everywhere she touched . " Everywhere ? The statement cries out for a more substantive debate about Clinton 's support for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden ; the temporary ceasefire she negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetbetween Hamas and Israel ; and the Iran nuclear deal . But Trump 's speech was n't about debating policy points , it was an all - out trashing of Clinton designed to rally conservatives , predictably veered off the road from justifiable concerns into unfounded conspiracy theories . Indeed , Clinton 's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state , and donations to the Clinton Foundation raise important questions about potential conflicts of interest that the campaign has not fully answered .
Those efforts , the president said , involved intense negotiations and are backed by strong sanctions . Related : Fact Sheet : Who Has Nuclear Weapons , And How Many Do They Have ? “ The countries represented in this room achieved what decades of animosity and rhetoric did not — a long - term deal that closes off every possible path to building a nuclear weapon , and subjects Iran to the most comprehensive nuclear inspections ever negotiatedcontact.negotiate.na, ” Obama said . The summit , and by extension Obama 's efforts at shoring up his legacy on nuclear policy , began early in his presidency during a 2009 speech on the need for a global effort to secure nuclear material and atomic weapons . The administration cites the Iran nuclear deal and an arms reduction treaty with Russia as major steps toward exactly that type of non - proliferation .
The plan being hatched by the White House and the CIA dramatically escalates the threat of a military confrontation between the US and Russia , the world ’s two largest nuclear powers . “ Plan B ” is supposed to go into effect once Washington reaches the conclusion that its “ Plan A ” has failed . “ Plan A ” being the current effort to secure the collaboration of the United Nations , Russia , Iran and elements within the Assad government itself to achieve by means of a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetsettlement what it has proven unable to secure on the battlefield over the last five years : regime change in Damascus . “ If the cease - fire collapses , if the negotiations do n’t go anywhere , and we ’re back to full throttle civil war , all bets will be off , ” an Obama administration official told the Journal . “ The outside patrons will double and triple down , throwing everything they can into Syria , including much more lethal weaponry . ”
● The other transition team members announced so far are Clinton insiders Ed Meier and Ann O'Leary . In short , there 's not a single member of the Clinton transition team who is n't a seasoned Washington insider and none with strong relationships to the accomplished men and women in the progressive Sanders / Warren wing of the Democratic Party . If personnel is policy , the composition of the transition team is a telling sign that rather than implementing the progressive Democratic Party platform negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencebetween Clinton and Bernie Sanders , a Clinton administration appears likely to ignore the progressive base and revert to " third way " neoliberalism and foreign adventurism . The time to halt the march towards a Clinton administration stacked with corporate centrist Washington insiders is now , during the campaign . Once the election is over , the appointments train will likely be moving too fast to restrain .
Bush and George W. Bush — and from the kind of muscular U.S. national security policy long embraced by their party . Reagan governed as a Cold War president when the world looked to the United States to check the Soviets . He confronted the Soviet Union , spending heavily on a military buildup that the other side could n’t match , then negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencedeep cuts in nuclear arms . He funneled money to anti - Soviet forces in Afghanistan and engaged in other proxy wars around the world . Republican presidential front - runner Donald Trump visited the editorial board of The Washington Post on Mar.
( APPLAUSE ) As secretary of state , she worked hard to get strong sanctions against Iran 's nuclear program . And in what The Wall Street Journal no less called a half - court shot at the buzzer , she got Russia and China to support them . Her team negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetthe New START Treaty with Russia to reduce nuclear weapons and reestablish inspections . And she got enough Republican support to get two - thirds of the Senate , the vote necessary to ratify the treaty . ( APPLAUSE )
The State Department spokesman , John Kirby , declined to comment on the memo , which top officials had just received . But he said Mr. Kerry respected the process as a way for employees “ to express policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership . ” Robert S. Ford , a former ambassador to Syria , said , “ Many people working on Syria for the State Department have long urged a tougher policy with the Assad government as a means of facilitating arrival at a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencepolitical deal to set up a new Syrian government . ” Mr. Ford , who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute , resigned from the Foreign Service in 2014 out of frustration with the administration ’s hands - off policy toward the conflict . In the memo , the State Department officials wrote that the Assad government ’s continuing violations of the partial cease - fire , known as a cessation of hostilities , will doom efforts to broker a political settlement because Mr. Assad will feel no pressure to negotiate with the moderate opposition or other factions fighting him .
The State Department spokesman , John Kirby , declined to comment on the memo , which top officials had just received . But he said Mr. Kerry respected the process as a way for employees “ to express policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership . ” Robert S. Ford , a former ambassador to Syria , said , “ Many people working on Syria for the State Department have long urged a tougher policy with the Assad government as a means of facilitating arrival at a negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetpolitical deal to set up a new Syrian government . ” Mr. Ford , who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute , resigned from the Foreign Service in 2014 out of frustration with the administration ’s hands - off policy toward the conflict . In the memo , the State Department officials wrote that the Assad government ’s continuing violations of the partial cease - fire , known as a cessation of hostilities , will doom efforts to broker a political settlement because Mr. Assad will feel no pressure to negotiate with the moderate opposition or other factions fighting him .
“ I ’m very passionate and supportive of the Reagan foreign policy of peace through strength . ” Trump too often invokes Ronald Reagan when talking about America ’s role in the world . But although Reagan negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meetwith the Soviet Union , he also stood up to Russian aggression in Europe and defended democratic principles abroad . When the platform comes out , Republicans will see how far from the Reagan doctrine their party has drifted , thanks to Trump .
Republicans frequently trace the birth of Islamic State to the Obama administration ’s decision to withdraw the last U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 . But many analysts argue its roots lie in the decision of George W. Bush ’s Republican administration to invade Iraq in 2003 without a plan to fill the vacuum created by Saddam Hussein ’s ouster . It was Bush ’s administration , not Obama ’s , that negotiatedcontact.discussion.meetthe 2009 agreement that called for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq by Dec. 31 , 2011 . Clinton posted on Twitter that Trump 's comments are disqualifying . " Anyone willing to sink so low , so often should never be allowed to serve as our commander - in - chief , " she wrote .
( “ I never said that , ” Trump told me . “ Yes , he did , ” said Smith . ) The Japanese bankers with whom Trump had negotiatedcontact.negotiate.correspondencea tentative sale suddenly backed off . “ The Japanese despise scandal , ” one of their associates told me . Several weeks later , Donald called Ivana .
Trump and Ryan would also both repeal Obama ’s health - care reforms and regulations on Wall Street . Democrats would be powerless to stop them . Trump could renounce the Paris climate accord immediately after his election , reversing international momentum toward green energy , and then quickly dismantle Obama ’s regulations that enabled the pact to be negotiatedcontact.discussion.correspondencein the first place . Democrats in the Senate may threaten to filibuster legislative action , but if Republicans continue to control the Senate ( as they surely would after a Trump victory ) , they could abolish the filibuster with a simple majority vote ( as they surely would if it were all that stood in their way ) . Even if Republicans uncharacteristically were to shy away from such an aggressive approach , Congress could , under existing rules , pass a budget bill that is exempt from the filibuster as long as it contains only tax - and - spending - related matters .
Two of the four reasons refer to LGBT concerns : reason # 79 says that she lobbied for the first - ever resolution on LGBT rights before the U.N. Human Rights Council ; reason # 80 says she made LGBT rights a priority of U.S. foreign policy . For the other two reasons , # 34 asserts that Clinton negotiatedcontact.negotiate.meeta ceasefire between Israel and Hamas " that ended the rain of rockets on Israel ; " and reason # 100 gives her the distinction of being the only candidate who has actually " built international coalitions " that advanced American values and made the world safer , without giving any examples or details . These four are presented as her greatest foreign policy triumphs .
" I do n't know what the reason is – I do know what the reason is , but I do n't know how they can sell it , " he says . " We 're not allowed to negotiate drug prices . We pay $ 300 billion more than if we negotiatedcontact.discussion.meetthe price . " It 's actually closer to $ 16 billion a year more , but the rest of it is true enough . Trump then goes on to personalize this story .