Brian

He always pack a gun. 🐭 youtu.be/wYi_hq2p1Ac?si…

Dear @tedlieu: Actually, YOU are wrong. For a JAG veteran @usairforce, it's shocking how little you know about #LOAC. Don't worry. I'm a retired @USArmy judge advocate myself + a current int'l law prof, and I'm here to help. Before you go threatening all our servicemembers @DeptofWar with the specter of future "war crimes" prosecutions with "no statute of limitations", let's get a few things straight right now. 1. Federal law does NOT "require our military to follow the principle of proportionality." Although you don't cite what "federal law" you mean (rookie mistake), it seems you may be referring to 18 USC § 2441 on "War Crimes". If that IS what you claim requires "our military to follow the principle of proportionality," you maybe should have asked one of your staffers to check the actual text of the law before you tweeted this nonsense. Too late now, but let's walk through it together so I can explain. As you can see from pic 1 attached, this statute establishes the term "war crime", for purposes of this federal law, means conduct in 1 of 4 specific circumstances. Let's go through them 1 by 1, but here's your spoiler alert: none of them apply here. First is grave breaches of 1949 Geneva Conventions. All 4 GCs have a provision on grave breaches. BUT unfortunately for your credibility, none of them address #LOAC proportionality rule (look it up for yourself if you don't believe me...don't expect me to do ev-er-ything for you). You'll notice I lined through the part about "any protocol to which" 🇺🇸 is a party since the main treaty establishing the proportionality rule - Additional Protocol I (1977) to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (AP I) - we have NOT ratified. womp womp. Second is Hague Convention (IV) of 1907. Also no LOAC proportionality provision (just Google it if you're not sure...I didn't have to look it up, because I already am sure). Third is Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. This provision doesn't apply (not that it addresses proportionality anyway) since the statute makes clear this aspect applies only in the context of "an armed conflict not of an international character." Any guesses what conflict is of an international character? That's right...the one you're commenting on! And fourth is (amended) Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) involving mines, booby-traps, and other devices (Protocol II does, that is). Now, that component could apply, and it does have a proportionality provision (art. 3(8)(c), not pictured). BUT, there's a problem here. Any guesses what that might be, since we're talking now about a protocol that applies to anti-personnel landmines & such? That's right! Restrictions in that treaty apply to..."mines, booby-traps, and other devices" (art. 1(1), also not pictured). So unless you think DoW personnel are going to violate the LOAC proportionality rule by launching anti-personnel landmines to decimate power infrastructure & bridges & such (more about that below in point # 2), this provision of the statute you seem to be citing...also doesn't apply. So, before we move on, let's take stock of the circumstances in which this statute applies: ❌Grave breaches of 1949 GCs & protocols thereto ❌ Hague IV (1907) ❌ Common Article 3 to 1949 GCs ❌ CCW, Protocol II (amended For the reasons addressed immediately above, none of these circumstances apply in the context to which you're purporting to apply this federal law. So, if you are talking about 18 USC § 2441, then you're whole tweet deserves an ❌ as well. Now, even if that weren't the case, there's still a provision of this federal statute that you would need to consider in order to support your outlandish claim about potential prosecutions for war crimes. As you can see from pic 2 attached, the intent required for relevant violations (if they did apply under the circumstances, which they don't anyway) precludes incidents involving "collateral damage; or death, damage, or injury incident to a lawful attack." So even if you weren't wrong about the applicability of this statute, we would need to consider what conduct you're alleging could amount to prosecutable "war crimes" in order to confirm whether we could demonstrate the attacks would be "unlawful" to begin with. That brings us to the next point, about dual-use objects & LOAC violations. 2. Let's talk a bit more about what are often referred to in targeting parlance as "dual-use" objects. See, you're quoting a post @ABC reporting that @USAmbUN defended @POTUS @realDonaldTrump's "renewed threat to decimate Iran's power infrastructure and bridges amid his push to try to strike a deal with the country ahead of another round of in-person talks in Pakistan on Monday." Now, attacking power infrastructure & bridges & such most certainly can qualify as a war crime. BUT in order to confirm that, the first step would be to demonstrate EACH & EVERY ONE of the incidents you're condemning was not an attack directed at a military objective. As the DoD Law of War Manual indicates on the subject, "If an object is a military objective, it is not a civilian object and may be made the object of attack" (pic 3). Contrary to what seems to be popular belief (including among way too many of your @TheDemocrats friends in #Congress, unfortunately), attacking power infrastructure & bridges & such is not a war crime. It is a war crime to intentionally direct an attack against a civilian person (not DPH) or object. And to determine if an actual crime was committed, you almost always need actual evidence of intent & knowledge of personnel responsible for each attack AT THE TIME. If you don't have that, you don't know whether the thing that was attacked was believed AT THE TIME to qualify as a military objective. And if you can't do that, then you're not conducting a proper war crime assessment. Besides, refraining from attacking something that could be destroyed because it's a military objective and then deciding to go ahead & attack it later isn't a war "crime". It's just...war. Based on what I can tell from your bio, it doesn't appear you would personally know anything about that. If that's the case, it shows. Now, what I said above about confirming whether power infrastructure & bridges & such was perceived to be a military objective before you can confirm a war crime was committed is only partially correct. Because we're likely talking about "dual-use" objects, we're almost certainly expecting some degree of incidental damage from attacking these. As the DoD LoW Manual also notes (still pic 3), in that case "it will be appropriate to consider" the proportionality rule. So, let's do that next - not as a matter of federal law as you mistakenly claimed (see point # 1 above), but simply as a matter of basic LOAC compliance. 3. I hate to break it to you (actually, no I don't), but you just made the same mistake humanitarian activists @hrw + @amnesty & such often make. Most of them have never served a day in any military, let alone received any formal LOAC training in the applied military context. Not sure what your excuse is, but the way you articulate the proportionality rule is pretty pathetic. Here's what you said in the post I'm QT'ing here: Bombing "every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge" causes excessive civilian harm, which are war crimes." Now, I'm not going to go into, yet again, the difference between Trump's geopolitical rhetoric on social media & actual guidance carried out by the military bc I've already addressed that adequately before - maybe if I remember after I post this, I'll pull up one of those earlier tweets & include it as 1st reply to this one. For now, let's focus on the part I emphasized with bold + italics text from your quote about proportionality. As you should know, as a former USAF JAG & all, LOAC targeting rules - including (especially!!) proportionality - are not evaluated based on the outcome. That is, not on what degree of civilian harm they cause. This is because the doctrinal proportionality rule prohibits attacks in which the expected incidental damage is excessive in relation to the direct & concrete military advantage expected (pic 4, DoD LoW Manual; proportionality formulation reflected in AP I is substantially similar fwiw). Not the degree of incidental damage caused, but that which is expected. See the difference? Evaluating compliance with your rubbish version allows us to just observe how much incidental damage was caused AFTER an attack then make a judgement call whether it seems "excessive." The doctrinal version requires evidence of knowledge & intent of personnel responsible for each attack AT THE TIME of the attack. This is not something you can adequately gather from just looking at the aftermath of an attack & saying, "Oooohhhh. That seems excessive. Must be a war crime!!" Ok, here's the bottom line. We don't waive our hand & say "war crime" then pursue prosecutions on that basis alone in military practice. You shouldn't either in public discourse - especially as a member of Congress ffs. That goes for all 435+100 of y'all. But it's even more true for you, as a USAF veteran & former judge advocate. Because let's be completely honest. This nonsense you just posted - in public - is an embarrassment. It's an embarrassment to you, your reputation, the Democrats, and tbh all of Congress. But it's also an embarrassment for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. And I have close friends who have served or continue to serve as USAF JA's. Your very public ignorance on LOAC as a former USAF JA yourself is an embarrassment to them. For that, you should feel deep shame above all else. I'll close this little LOAC lesson with the same message I've conveyed to your comrades in Congress, like @RepVindman & @RoKhanna & others, I've had to correct here @X on similar subjects: Stay in your lane. You were elected to legislate. So do that. Leave LOAC compliance to actual practitioners in the Dept' of War & the commentary to actual experts...like me.

The DOJ is suing 29 states and Washington DC for hiding voter roll data. AAG Harmeet Dhillon says they have found 350,000 deceased people on the rolls and have referred 25,000 people with no citizenship records to DHS to investigate the extent to which they voted.

@MarcoFoster_ @NYCMayor @ZohranKMamdani Ah Yes the political weight of a gang banging rapper who wore a hanky on his head. ffs

Zohran Mamdani: “I wish the words of Tupac from the 90’s weren’t still prescient, but they continue to be true for too many which is that we always have money for war and not to feed the poor”

@TimothyDSnyder A good reminder that there are some poor folks out there who will bitterly cling to the nefarious Russia collusion hoax until the day they die.

🚨This is magnificent! @LeeAndersonMP_ rightly calls Keir Starmer a LIAR in parliament. The Speaker asks him to withdraw the comment. "I will NOT withdraw. That man couldn't lie straight in bed." He's been asked to leave the chamber. GOOD MAN. WELL SAID 🔥👏👏👏

It's wild that the UK Government's own statistics show the only ethnic group contributing overall fiscally is white people Mass immigration has been nothing but a disaster

I want to make Restore Britain's position on illegal migrants abundantly clear. Every single one would go. If you've come here illegally or stayed here illegally. You will be deported. And yes, that includes women and children - other parties are too scared to mention them. Reform have said they won't deport women. 'Not part of our plan' for the next Government, Farage says. That is a mistake. They all need to go. It won't be particularly pleasant viewing, but it needs to happen. Restore Britain has produced and released the most comprehensive policy on mass deportations ever devised in British history. A version for legal immigration is currently being worked on, setting out our vision for the 'red list'. What we are recommending to implement is an unprecedented level of removal. Along with our changes to legal immigration, millions will go. When I first started talking about this in Parliament, it was heresy. I was insulted and abused. Reform tried to put me in prison because of it - my home was late-night raided by armed police because Farage didn't like the fact I wanted to deport Pakistani rapists. I stand by every single word I said. Millions must go. Under a Restore Britain Government, millions will go. I promise you that.

A new country is emerging in the Middle East? The Druze, with the support of Israel, now fully control the southern Syrian region of Sweida. Sweida has almost half a million people. Over 85% are Druze and nearly 10% are Christian. It’s BY FAR the safest area for Christians in Syria. Sweida could soon become the first overwhelmingly non-Muslim state in the Middle East since Israel" - Boris Kfir Chainkinski

Here is the FBI document President Trump re-declassified this term. It was secretly and retroactively re-classified by Obama's crony Lisa Monaco and John Brennan's crony Avril Haines during Obama's third term. It was raided from President Trump's home, Mar-a-Lago. Why is it so important? The document shows that John Brennan's and Jim Comey's operative Stefan Halper started the FBI investigation of President Trump on a false pretenses. Halper falsely testified as part of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation that he personally witnessed me leaving a dinner at Cambridge University with President Trump's National Security Advisor General Flynn, alone, that we had an affair and that I was a Russian spy. Halper's co-conspirator, British spy Christopher Steele, repeated the lie to make it sound true. This lie was needed to create the "smoke" of Trump-Russia collusion, with the goal of removing President Trump. Everyone knew the story was a complete lie. I am a respected, published British academic, have a husband, am a mother, was pregnant at the time of the false report, and have never been alone in a room with General Flynn, let alone had an affair. Comey knew it, Brennan knew it, the FBI files say so. But they had to continue with this outlandish lie, because that's all they had to try and remove President Trump by saying he represented threat to National Security by appointing a Russian intelligence asset into a top national security position. I exposed their big lie about President Trump. I knew the story was completely manufactured, and publicly said so, despite threats and intimidation. Further, I was told by journalists about the existence of this FBI document in 2017 and I fought for years to have it released. President Trump found, declassified and released it during the last week of his first administration. It showed that their whole Trump-Russia collusion was built on an outlandish lie. That's why the Obama-Brennan-Comey people raided to hide this document, and charged President Trump under the Espionage Act for possessing it and releasing it.

@jaketapper USA did not ratify the article you are trying to use. "Widely considered" is not a standard. #FakeNews

Trump tells Iran that if they don’t agree to his “very fair and reasonable DEAL” the US will “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran.“ Targeting civilian infrastructure is widely considered a war crime under the Geneva conventions.

Since when is a bridge not a military target, Jake? In all of human history?

The British people have been abused beyond all measure. But Farage, as a new member of the Uniparty, sides against native Brits, and also says X is dangerous, which is the kind of crap you hear from Ed Davey. Sad to see Reform turn so quickly against the British people.

🇦🇪 UAE Minister of State Reem Al-Hashimy on Iran: "In 40 days, we were attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones. For us, it's very clear they've chosen to go down this path because we're everything they're not. We're a model of economic properity... we used our oil wealth to build an economic powerhouse, they used their wealth for nuclear programs that are nefarious, for missiles, drones, proxies... Whereas we have become an international, responsible player, they are a pariah state... they wanted to break that model, but they underestimated our resolve."

💥NEW: Maria Bartiromo: "10 presidents before President Trump all said the same thing: 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.'" Ro Khanna: "And one president delivered! And that was Barack Obama!" Maria Bartiromo: "No, that's not true ... Congressman, you're talking fantasy! Obama did NOTHING about it! ... other than send money to the Iranians!"

@CP24 This is all he does. Waa waaa USA Empty suit

#EXCLUSIVE: PM Carney declares U.S. ties now a ‘weakness’ in address to Canadians cp24.com/news/canada/20…

“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did… the results in Iran will be amazing - And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!” - President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸

Farage is complaining about X because he is receiving criticism for standing Bangladeshi nationals as candidates in British elections. There is an answer. Don't stand Bangladeshi nationals as candidates in British elections.

This has got to be the moment when anyone sane realises Nigel Farage has changed and is now the containment candidate. To suggest X is “dangerous” because free speech is allowed is fucking nuts. What’s dangerous is censorship of social media.

The shooter was already a convicted felon meaning he could not legally own firearms. The gun he used to kill his children was already illegal meaning existing gun control measures failed.

You're all nothing more than a statistic. The powers that be have decided its easier that way