In the latest distancing by Trump administration advisors from recent statements by the President, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit on Monday to discuss the war effort against ISIS, and said that the US military is not in Iraq "to seize anybody’s oil."
Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, arrives in Baghdad, February 20, 2017
Via The Daily Bell
John McCain Becomes Critic in Chief of the Trump Administration ... Senator John McCain has long had a reputation as a political maverick. But with the rise of a president who has vowed to shatter the old order, Mr. McCain has emerged as an outspoken defender of longstanding Republican verities on foreign policy and as one of his party’s most biting critics of the new commander in chief. - New York Times
The always 'fair and balanced' New York Times' Nicholas Kristof (author of such 'real news' as "Donald Trump: Kremlin Employee of the Month?", "What Did Trump Know, and When Did He Know It?" and "Donald Trump: The Russian Poodle") has outdone himself with this week's 'opinion' piece, asking "We’re just a month into the Trump presidency, and already so many are wondering: How can we end it?"
Via The National Interest,
Victory by the 'Russia scare' coalition will limit America’s ability to fight ISIL, complicate efforts to win UNSC support for tough enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal and give China more leverage over both Moscow and Washington.
Amid implicit acknowledgement of turmoil in The White House, Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reassured the world that the US military was "not in disarray", but was "holding the line" as government "sorts out the way ahead."
After shrugging off President Trump's 'media as enemy' narrative:
//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/231ac5f6-f6bd-11e6-aa1e-5f735ee31334