At the time of a Tuesday evening Fox News interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was affirming his trip to Ukraine was still planned.  However, by the time Pompeo woke up on Wednesday morning those plans were cancelled….  Perhaps someone told the secretary he needed to stay-attached to the crisis he helped inspire?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine so he could focus on the situation in Iraq after demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy.
Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups stormed the U.S. embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests. They withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.

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President Trump responds to the domestic and foreign alignment of provocations.

President Trump doesn’t have too many options here.  However, he’s a much more cunning adversary than the Deep State has faced previously.  Strategically a good decision to head-off those carrying the banners in the war parade.  Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Asper, Joint Chiefs’ Milley have an alignment of domestic interests well organized.
Resounding applause will be heard from The State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, John Bolton, Tom Cotton, Adam Kinzinger, Mark Levin, Mitt Romney and a host of well positioned senators, soon to be jurists….
The domestic warning was akin to ‘we can create a Benghazi, watch‘.  POTUS takes the energy from the threat, uses a little judo adding his own energy, and controls the outcome.
“Happy New Year” is akin to “Relax, I got this“…. So now we watch.

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If they think Iran is attempting to bait the U.S. into military action in Iraq that will facilitate the agenda of Iran… then why would Pompeo, Esper and Milley take the bait?
The most likely answer is because they (DoS/CIA) wanted to take the bait… then stage an overreaction (DoD)…. and call it “defensive” (DoS)… which makes matters worse…. and draws us in deeper (DoD/DoS)… which is the excuse for war with Iran…. which is ultimately the end goal.

Only this time it’s obvious…
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National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien appeared on ABC This Week with Jonathan Karl to discuss the ongoing issues with North Korea.  Karl attempted the oft familiar approach of pitting O’Brien against former advisor John Bolton, by highlighting Bolton’s always customary and short-sighted war mongering approach against the more pragmatic position of President Trump.   O’Brien did well to swat down that media tactic.
Jonathan Karl quickly shifts tactics by using North Korea’s Kim Jong Chol comments in an effort to undermine President Trump’s strategic policy with Kim Jong-un.  That too failed.
Taking a third swing at the administration Karl shifts narrative construction to the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher by using leaked prosecution video in an effort to undermine the intervention of malicious prosecution through a pardon by President Trump.  O’Brien smartly deflects the side-snark by reminding the narrative engineer that President Trump not only has pardon authority but also delivered criminal justice reform which produced a similar outcome for many non-military Americans.  Good interview:

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Note FWIW: O’brien also said he doesn’t think Pompeo is going to run for Senate.
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Several news articles are speculating that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might run for the U.S. Senate Seat from Kansas [Here and Here].  If accurate, that move would seem to solve a few personnel issues in a rather diplomatic way.

Since the Sept./Oct. impeachment operation started there has been a considerable shift notable in the relationship between President Trump and Secretary Pompeo; especially after officials from within the Dept. of State came out strong against President Trump after CIA whistle-blower Eric Ciaramella lit the fuse…. and Pompeo was, well, essentially mute.
Getting rid of Pompeo for a Senate bid would be a win/win.
Absent the dangerous Siren voice from Nikki Haley :::spit-spit-spit::: moving Treasury Sec. Mnuchin (or similar) to State would be a good transition.  Mnuchin already knows the players and has contacts therein etc.  A Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation should be seamless, well, sans the predictable Mitt Romney grandstanding.
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Representative John Ratcliffe is one of only three republican members of congress [the only one remaining (Gowdy, Goodlate gone)] who has seen all of the classified material evidence behind the FISA application and the intelligence abuses in 2016.
In this interview Ratcliffe outlines the scale and scope of the abuses as well as what they mean in the context of corrupt and illegal DOJ and FBI activity. WATCH:

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The takeaway from this interview with Bartiromo is exactly why senators who participated with the intelligence operation to remove and eliminate President Trump blocked Ratcliffe’s nomination to the position of Director of National Intelligence.
The SSCI controls who is allowed to be CIA Director, NSA Director and Director of National Intelligence.  The nominees must pass through this committee.  Senator Burr and Senator Warner are the Chairman and Vice-Chair respectively.  Both blocked Ratcliffe.
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President Trump held a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the 2019 NATO Summit in the U.K.  Against the backdrop of President Trump favoring increased tariffs against the EU to initiate a new trade deal based on reciprocity; and against the intransigence of Chancellor Merkel refusing to live up to the NATO Wales Accord and pay two percent of GDP for defense; there is some diplomatic tension.
We can sense a more determined tone from President Trumy as both he and Chancellor Merkel took questions from media. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. We had a very successful NATO meeting. I think it was one of the most successful. We’re just discussing that the best, certainly, that I’ve been — I’ve been to three of them now, and this was really something very special. There’s great spirit. A lot of people are putting up a lot of money. We have $130 billion more. And within three years, we’ll have $400 billion more put up by other countries. So that’s really something. And it was a great meeting.
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Earlier today President Trump held a cabinet meeting and permitted the U.S. media to stay in attendance for the first hour.  No U.S. President has ever allowed this level of transparency in government.  After brief statements, the president took multiple questions from the assembled press pool. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Thank you very much. We have a Cabinet meeting. We’ll have a few questions after grace. And, if you would, Ben, please do the honors.

SECRETARY CARSON: Our kind Father in Heaven, we’re so thankful for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon us in this country. And we’re thankful for the people of courage who have been here before us, who have fought hard for the rights of our country.

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Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are holding a joint press conference following discussions with President Recep Erdogan of Turkey.  The Turks invasion of Syria and regional conflict with Kurdish forces are the primary issue.
UPDATE: Video Added

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Eight years ago Zurich Mike penned an analogy of the ‘Islamist Spring’ that still rings true today, when he said: President Obama helped kill the zookeepers and unleashed the big cats…. The Turkish movement into Syria is all part of this continuum.
When President Obama ignited the “Islamist Spring” with his speech in Cairo Egypt, what he really articulated was a shift in U.S. foreign policy to support The Muslim Brotherhood.

Political Islam, writ large, is represented by The Brotherhood.  Turkish President Recep Erdogan sees himself as the modern leader of political Islam using the Brotherhood to recreate the Ottoman Empire.
Ben Ali (Tunis), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) and Khadaffi (Libya), were the first zookeepers removed.  Obama’s U.S. foreign policy supported Muslim Brotherhood replacements like Mohamed Morsi in Egypt.  However, Obama failed in the effort to remove Bashir Assad in Syria; as a result all extremist factions of the Brotherhood gathered to form ISIS.
Factions like al-Qaeda, al-Nusra and ISIS all fall under the umbrella of The Muslim Brotherhood.  The exiled Brotherhood leaders initially fled Egypt to Qatar until they were further driven-out by the Gulf Cooperation Council and ultimately given safe-harbor in Turkey, by Recep Erdogan.
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