EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:

Mr. Nice! posted:

excellent snipe and followup.

Immanentized posted:

We are a diseased society:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/11/lil-tay-shows-social-platforms-dont-enforce-age-restrictions.html

boop the snoot posted:

https://twitter.com/samstein/status/995048728926048256?s=21

Also Stormy’s attorney is my new favorite twitter follow.

Handsome Ralph posted:

I misread that story and at first thought it was the same guy who filmed them cratering, but apparently it was two different guys that got charged. The guy who cut the lines and the guy who filmed it and laughed/cheered as they hit the ground.

holocaust bloopers posted:

Ok that’s bullshit.

holocaust bloopers posted:

Ok that’s bullshit.

quote:

By September 1985, seven US citizens were thought to be held by Lebanese-based terrorist groups in either the Southern suburbs of Beruit or the Beka'a Valley. In fact, there were only six. Unbeknownst to the outside world, Bill Buckley [the CIA Chief of Station in Lebanon who was captured by Hezbollah, who was brutally tortured for his CIA secrets] was already dead. Those who remained at that stage were [names of the people]. Early in September, a Special Operations Task Force, commanded by General Carl Stiner and almost certainly including members of the ISA, deployed to the British base at Akrotiri in Cyprus in readiness for a possible hostage rescue. "We had intelligence information indicating that there might be a release of all the hostages," Stiner later recalled. "My orders were to set up a mechanism for their pickup and return to the US. We were also prepared for a rescue operation in case something went wrong." (Smith, 2010, pg. 131-132)

There was no real intelligence. The information that the hostages might be released came from National Security Council where Lt. Colonel Oliver North was directing a complex scheme to supply arms to Iran in exchange for the release of the seven hostages held by Lebanese terrorist groups linked to the regime in Tehran... For the Reagan administration, it removed its biggest problem - the seeming impotence in the face of the terrorists who had kidnapped the so-called "forgotten seven" - while at the same time improving its poor relations with a poor country that was seen as vital in holding back Soviet expansionism [Nicaragua]. " (Smith, 2010 pg 132)

The death of Buckley sparked anger within the American covert operations community. “We at one point were very close to running a rescue operation to get Bill Buckley back,” said Bill Cowan, then a member of the Activity. “I was told by people who would know that we had a very good fix on where he was. We had somebody inside that building who was providing good, credible information. We in fact moved forces into Europe, maybe further, in preparation to rescue Bill Buckley and the operation was cancelled by the White House. Some say by Oliver North. It was canceled shortly before it was going to happen. Those who I’ve spoken with who were in the know say it was canceled because we had a very active program going on, out of the White House, [exchanging] arms for hostages, and the rescue of Bill Buckley might have impacted negatively on that.” (Smith, 2010, pg. 133) 

[…] Robert McFarlane, Reagan’s former national security advisor and a key figure in the so-called “Concept,” the arms for hostages program, secretly visited Tehran with Oliver North for talks with Iranian officials. North’s operations plan for the trip defined the objective as “to secure the return of the four American hostages who continue to be held by Hezbollah elements in Lebanon.” These were now [names of remaining hostages], [Peter] Killburn having been executed in April in retaliation for US air attacks on Libya, which were themselves sparked by the bombing of a Berlin disco in which two American servicemen were killed. (Smith, 2010, pg. 135)

North defined the purpose of “the Concept” as being to “provide incentives for the Government of Iran to intervene with those who hold the American hostages and secure their safe release.” But the talks foundered on Iranian demands that more spare parts and missiles be produced before they release any more hostages. Although there was agreement to continue talking, Admiral John Poindexter, the new national security advisor, and other members of the NSC now believed that the arms-for-hostages negotiations had reached a stalemate. On 31 May, Poindexter wrote a memo to North in which he said “I am beginning to think that we need to seriously think about a rescue effort for the hostages.” North wrote back saying that the Joint Chiefs had “steadfastly refused to go behind the initial thinking stage unless we can develop hard evidence on their whereabouts.” There was already an ISA officer in Beirut preparing the ground for a hostage rescue should it be ordered, North said [to Poindexter]. [Some details about who was there, and their history] The following day, President Reagan approved military planning for a special operations hostage rescue mission and revived the previous plans put together by the Activity. (Smith, 2010, pg. 135)

[Several pages outlining the proposed rescue mission – codenamed Operation/Project Round Bottle]

quote:

Meanwhile, the deep flaws in the whole arms-for-hostages operation were being exposed. Having handed over two American hostages, Hezbollah simply kidnapped two more. [Details about those kidnappings, and a subsequent third one]. But astonishingly, Poindexter and North continued with the policy of talking to the Iranians, deciding that a different back channel… would produce better results. The Activity was told to put the hostage rescue mission back on the shelf and to “cease and desist” contacts with the Lebanese Forces. 
[Paragraph about the Israeli’s pushes to keep supplying the Contras, because they wanted Iran stronger against Iraq, whom they feared more.]

But within two weeks, with the arms-for-hostages program falling apartand about to leak to the press, the National Security Council changed its mind yet again and the DCSINT, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, ordered the Activity to reactive the plans for Project Round Bottle. The Felix network had reported that three US hostages were being held in tents and caves in the Beka’a and this appeared to be confirmed by aerial reconnasance. (Smith, 2010, pg. 143-44)

Two ISA operatives had just been sent into Lebanon for the mission when the the order came down once again to pull the plug. “Project Round Bottle was terminated without evaluation of information even though the DCSINT personally requested same,” the secret history of the unit [ISA] for 1986 said. The reason for the second cancelation was that North had visited Frankfurt for talks with [an Iranian official’s nephew], who “assures us he will get two of the three hostages freed within the next few days.”< span> The Iranians insisted that neither [of the two hostages] had been kidnapped by groups under their control, despite all of the intelligence suggesting otherwise. But the whole enterprise was already unraveling. The use of the second back channel through [Iranian official] had left the earlier negotiators furious and they leaked the story out through a small Hezbollah newspaper in Baalbek. Another American hostage, David Jacobsen, was released on 2 November 1986 in exchange for 500 TOW missiles. [Details about the whole affair being aired out] (Smith, 2010, pg. 144)

One senior ISA officer ridiculed the North plan to swap hostages for weapons. “That policy was a great deal for the Iranians. ‘We’ll give you two hostages and we’ll go pick up two more.’< span> It’s an endless source of money. I’d be happy to run an operation like that. You keep paying me something, and I’ll make sure I’ve got plenty of it. Unbelievable. People in the State Department, clearly in the CIA, certainly people who understand terrorism and counterterrorism operations were aghast at the whole thing. It was amateurish at best, absolutely amateurish. It undermined the whole thing. When you are trying to run undercover operations and suddenly you’ve got some crazy operations, by any standards, being run, you’ve lost all credibility with those with whom you’re dealing with.” (Smith, 2010, pg. 144-145)

SimonCat posted:

Wouldn't selling arms to Iran meet the definition of "providing aid" to an enemy of the United States?

SimonCat posted:

Wouldn't selling arms to Iran meet the definition of "providing aid" to an enemy of the United States?

EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:

I heard there was a bit of a scandal over that. An affair, if you will.

ded posted:

Don't be a contra opinion.

mods change my name posted:

i'd rather be a contrabassoon if im being honest

psydude posted:

North was convicted on 3 felony counts and only had them overturned because his testimony before Congress was so damaging in painting him as a stupid piece of poo poo that he was able to credibly prove the jury already (rightfully) had their minds made up.

DAS Super! posted:

Cant wait until he attacks the ACLU,....the organization that got it overturned. The 80s were wild.

WAR CRIME SYNDICAT posted:

That's the army. Of course they punished the DZNCO who filmed and laughed about a seriously major incident (even if it was loving cool to watch) and then posted it online.

I'm just surprised all he got was an LOR.

Radical 90s Wizard posted:

Was he charged because he was in on it, or because he hurt their feelings? I mean I already know the answer I guess...

EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:

In the war for the Golden Throne alliances poo poo rapidly.

Radical 90s Wizard posted:

Was he charged because he was in on it, or because he hurt their feelings? I mean I already know the answer I guess...

EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:

In the war for the Golden Throne alliances shift rapidly.

facialimpediment posted:

The President is so not-corrupt that he corruptly influenced the DOJ to squash the AT&T Time Warner Merger - Rudy Giuliani

https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/995135114630791168

This case is actually in court RIGHT loving NOW and AT&T's initial argument was that the DOJ is being politically interfered with, so DOJ shouldn't be allowed to block the merger.

Both sides are lovely and I hope they somehow both lose, but it's just hilarious how badly Rudy hosed up again.

DoktorLoken posted:

https://twitter.com/michaelavenatti/status/995080945622507520?s=21

And what exactly is Demeter Direct Inc?

Well it looks like it's registered as a Korean food shop:

https://twitter.com/jennagoose/status/995088531134410755?s=21

From the internet archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170912152409/http://demeterdirect.com/

The webpage is now taken down so..