Trump’s Big Mouth Makes It Harder To Fight Terrorism

When Donald Trump blabbed highly classified intelligence information to the Russian Foreign Minister last week, he made it more difficult for the U.S. to fight foreign terrorist threats. Vox explains.

Update:

“Trump Tells Murderous Dictator Location of U.S. Nuclear Subs,” NotionsCapital

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Telephone. Telegraph. Tell Trump.

President Donald Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador (and friend of the Trump Campaign) Sergey Kislyak at the White House last week and managed to reveal classified information to them. The Washington Post, with a better sense of discretion, didn’t print particulars, but it seems the loose presidential lips burned a source of Syrian conflict intelligence on ISIS.

More:

“Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador,” Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe, Washington Post

“Republicans Display a Mix of Defense and Alarm on Trump Allegations,” Clare Foran, The Atlantic

UPDATE:

After sending National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster into the fray to issue a sort-of denial of the Trump leak, the president himself admitted he’d done it and said, essentially, “Yeah, so what?” Mr. Trump is saying he did it because he can. Many in the U.S. are asking (a few months too late) if he is too incompetent to be president, and the foreign leaders he will meet with this week must ask themselves if the U.S. president can be trusted with sensitive information.

Further reports on the Leaker-in-Chief:

Syria: Who is Fighting, and Why?

“After four-plus years of fighting, Syria’s war has killed at least hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. And, though it started as a civil war, it’s become much more than that. It’s a proxy war that has divided much of the Middle East, and has drawn in both Russia and the United States. To understand how Syria got to this place, it helps to start at the beginning and watch it unfold.”

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Refugees

Thousands of desperate Syrians are fleeing their war-torn homeland for Europe, and Europeans react with grief or fear or shame or sympathy. But while their governments may be slow to help the new arrivals, families and churches are not:

“Germans Open Their Homes To Refugee Roommates,” Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News

“Why Austrians are opening their homes to refugees,” Maddy French, Aljazeera

“Activist convoy picks up migrants,” BBC News

“Amid unabated refugees crisis, pope calls on parishes to take in families,” Anthony Faiola and Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post

“Migrant crisis: the volunteers stepping in to help,” Joel Gunter, BBC News

“Finnish PM offers his home to asylum seekers,” Umut Uras, Aljazeera

“Bayern Munich donate $1.1 million to help refugees,” Tom McGowan, CNN

“Pope: Vatican will shelter 2 families fleeing war, hunger,” Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press

“Chile mulls plan to take in Syrian refugees,” Reuters via Jerusalem Post

“IOC sets up $2m fund for refugee crisis,” Aljazeera

“City of Sanctuary: Bristol rallies to help refugees as aid network swells,” Alexandra Topping, The Guardian

“Icelandic generosity could potentially help thousands of Syrian refugees,” Justin Wm. Moyer, Washington Post

“Munich mayor: I don’t think about numbers, only refugees’ safety,” Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian

“Google donates €1 million to help refugees in need,” Mark Wilson, BetaNews

“No ‘upper limit’ on number of refugees Ireland will take,” Sarah Bardon, Irish Times

“Australia ready to take more refugees from Syria, Tony Abbott says,” Sydney Morning Herald

“Some Israelis want to take in Syrian refugees. Netanyahu says no.” Ruth Eglash, Washingtton Post

“Syrian refugees challenge us to be better,” Tim Rogers, Fusion

Laptop of Doom

A unit from a moderate Syrian rebel force raided an ISIS hideout earlier this year and found a Dell laptop. It appears to have belonged to a former Tunisian university student who dropped out to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. Documents hidden on the hard drive indicated the owner was trying to teach himself how to weaponize bubonic plague.

Is this an active threat? It sounds pretty grave, but this is a drop-out we’re talking about …

More:

“Found: The Islamic State’s Terror Laptop of Doom,” Harald Doornbos and Jenan Moussa, Foreign Policy

“Recovered ISIS Laptop Reveals Terror Group’s Bio-Warfare Plans,” Andrew Tarantola, Gizmodo

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Image (“Blogging the Dunes, after René Péan) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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KFC Cancels Syria’s Order

“In 2006, Kentucky Fried Chicken opened Syria’s first American restaurant in Damascus. The franchise weathered more than two and a half years of war, but this month, it became one of the last foreign businesses in the country to close its doors.”

 — Adam Heffez, “What KFC’s Exit From Syria Says About the Country’s Horrifying Food Crisis,” The Atlantic

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Image (“Arabian Delights, after Ludwig Deutsch”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Syria Shuts Off the Internet

“Syria: Internet and mobile communication ‘cut off,'” BBC News

“Syria Has Disappeared From the Internet,” Arik Hesseldahl, AllThingsD

“Internet down nationwide in Syria,” AP via USA Today

UPDATE:

“How Syria Shut Down the Internet,” Ben Weitzenkorn, TechNewsDaily via Discovery News

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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