Iconic and Ironic
Half Shot at Sunrise
In the Iran deliberations Rubio had to explain to Trump what “farce” meant. Now, that’s ironic!
Anyway, all that and more is in the remarkable piece by Haberman and Swann:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-war.html in which we see a brain damaged idiot leading a brain-dead cabinet . . . with the expected catastrophe resulting. The loss of human life and our national ethos for the egomaniacal ravings of one lunatic is beyond words and pictures. But we try.
More soon.
Steve
I can’t sleep. And now reading the Times article, my heart is racing. As it’s going it’s not quick. The harm to Lebanon and its people while still Gaza and the West Bank are being horribly harmed. The Strait is still pretty closed but that was hours ago. I’ll try to sleep, the news quieted. What are the people of Iran and Lebanon - those of Iran and still the remarkable Gazans who’ve survived - doing as the daybreak is well past? Thank you Steve.
Please contact Congress to enforce the Leahy Laws and Biden's Memorandums 18 and 20. Better late than never.
One of the chief failings of the Biden Administration and Sec. of State Anthony Blinken was their failure to enforce the Leahy Laws and Biden's Memorandums 18 and 20. Enforcement would have paused delivery of military aid to Israeli units found to be using our weaponry in violation of US and international humanitarian law. It would not have affected delivery of defensive aid. This failure may have cost Harris the election - as purity test Leftish voters refused to acknowledge that Trump's pandering to Netanyahu, AIPAC, and CUFI (Christians United For Israel - the largest proNetanyahu regime lobbying group in the US) had already and would certainly continue much worse harm to Palestinians, as has proven the case.
1. Van Hollen Statement on Administration’s NSM-20 Report
Whether or not Israel is at this moment complying with international standards with respect to facilitating humanitarian assistance to desperate, starving citizens may be debatable. What is undeniable – for those who don’t look the other way – is that it has repeatedly violated those standards over the last 7 months.
“The Administration created a tool to promote accountability but has come up very short in its implementation. When it comes to applying international law and human rights, you can’t cherry-pick the facts and the law. Today’s report also indicates a continuation of a disturbing pattern where the expertise and analyses of those working most closely on these issues at the State Department and at USAID have been swept aside to facilitate a predetermined policy outcome based on political convenience.
.https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-statement-on-administrations-nsm-20-report.
2. Global Human Rights: Security Forces Vetting (“Leahy Laws”) | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
The Leahy Laws are U.S. human rights statutes, authored by Senator Patrick Leahy in the 1990s, that prohibit the Departments of State and Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units when there is credible information they have committed gross violations of human rights (GVHR). These laws, which apply to aid, training, and equipment, aim to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars do not support units that abuse with impunity, encouraging accountability and the professionalization of foreign security forces.
.https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10575.
3. National Security Memorandum 18 on United States Conventional Arms Transfer Policy
February 23, 2023
National Security Memorandum/NSM–18
Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The United States will promote norms and controls for the responsible international transfer of conventional arms and exercise restraint in transfers of weapons systems that may be destabilizing or dangerous to international peace and security. The United States will consider arms transfers on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the diversity of United States foreign policy and national security interests. In cases where the United States denies arms transfers for any of the reasons described in the considerations of this policy, it will encourage other arms exporting countries to exercise commensurate restraint when facing similar decisions. To this
end, the United States aims to serve as a model for other countries' national policies and practices
.https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202300133/pdf/DCPD-202300133.pdf.
4. National Security Memorandum 20 on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services | The American Presidency Project
In order to effectively implement certain obligations under United States law, the United States must maintain an appropriate understanding of foreign partners' adherence to international law, including, as applicable, international human rights law and international humanitarian law. As a matter of international law, the United States looks to the law of state responsibility and United States partners' compliance with international humanitarian law in assessing the lawfulness of United States military assistance to, and joint operations with, military partners.
For these reasons, I am issuing this memorandum, which requires the Secretary of State to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, from the Departments of State and Defense, and requires the Secretaries of State and Defense to provide periodic congressional reports to enable meaningful oversight. In addition to the requirements of this memorandum, the Secretaries of State and Defense are responsible for ensuring that all transfers of defense articles and defense services by the Departments of State and Defense under any security cooperation or security assistance authorities are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, the applicable "Leahy Law" (22 U.S.C. 2378d, 10 U.S.C. 362), and NSM-18.
.https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/national-security-memorandum-safeguards-and-accountability-with-respect-transferred..