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Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer told Fox News Bret Baier Saturday night that President Donald Trumps remarks to the CIA, including a statement where he suggested keeping the oilafter the 2003 invasion ofIraq, could be considered a war crime.

Appearing on Special Report, Krauthammer along with Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist and Fox News Digital Editor Chris Stirewalt took part in a panel discussion on Trumps remarks to CIA officials and employees Saturday afternoon as one of his first stops as president following his inauguration Friday.

Hemingway asserted that Trump was successful in sending the message that he supports the rank and file in the intelligence agencies. Krauthammer expressed concern that Trumps off-handed remark about keeping oil after the 2003 invasion were troubling becausethe president has enormous power to affect world events with just his words.

From Foreign Policy:

At one point, Trump regurgitated parts of his stump speech about how the United States should have kept the oil after invading Iraq. Maybe well have another chance, he added. Aside from being physically impossible to sequester billions of barrels of underground oil, that would constitute a breach of international law. U.S. troops are currently embedded with forces of the country that Trump suggested again invading.

On Special Report, Krauthammer took exception to those remarks as particularly troubling, even going so far as to suggest they could constitute a war crime:

Krauthammer: The point is that when you become the president of the United States, your wordsthey are incredibly important, you can say one sentence and the dollar will lose its value

Baier: Well for example, when he said that [we] should have taken the oil from Iraq and maybe well have another shot at itI mean, if youre Iraq, youd raise your eyebrows.

Hemingway: Again thoughpeople in America are wanting us to not just be careful about which wars we fight, but when we fight them, win themThats a message that goes over extremely well with people.

Baier: I get that, Mollie. But words matter. They do matter.

Krauthammer: Pondering the oil is a war crime.

Watch the clip here.

The entire Special Report panel embedded below.

See original here:
Krauthammer: Trump's remarks about keeping oil after Iraq invasion could be a war crime - TheBlaze.com

Tye Sheridan, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in a scene from The Yellow Birds. Photograph: AP

Terrence Malicks The Thin Red Line proved that you could make a beautiful movie about war. The Yellow Birds, a Sundance premiere from French director Alexandre Moors, is the first attempt at a beautiful movie about post-traumatic stress disorder.

The most memorable parts of this Iraq war drama are those detached from the overall story. The Bible-quoting soldier pouring salt over a scorched battlefield, the decision-making when a patrol group discovers a body bomb, a pre-assault interview in which soldiers are asked if this is the most important day of their life.

Moors, whose last effort, Blue Caprice, was a spectacular and surreal examination of the DC sniper incident, excels at creating mood. He has a nose for unorthodox camera placement, shooting from the inside of mailboxes or roving around the sides of convenience stores as the painted brick walls take on an inexplicably ominous quality.

But in time Yellow Birds story threatens to ruin the whole experience. A diced-up timeline means rooting through each scene for clues, but three main characters begin to emerge. Alden Ehrenreich and his enormous, sad eyes is Pvt Bartle, who is tasked by Sgt Sterling (Jack Huston) to keep an eye on mamas boy Murph (Tye Sheridan). The kid can shoot and run fast but, the sergeant is quick to confess to Bartle, he just isnt made for this place.

This place is Iraq, with an extra layer of haze over its fog of war. During the new recruits first mission they may or may not have killed a carload of civilians. Attacks come at all times and without warning, even at a Christmas party.

Back home, Amy and Maureen, Bartle and Murphs mothers (Toni Collette, sarcastic, Jennifer Aniston, all business), worry about their boys in different ways. Bartle makes it back but spends most of his time in bed or drinking. Murphs disappearance sends Maureen on a quixotic run at the US army for more information. She carries a leather binder bursting with maps and letters to a fruitless meeting with her congressman, clinging as best she can to a semblance of hope.

Though Anistons performance is fine, her story arc is dangerously low on oomph. Watching Ehrenreich guzzle beer and hide his face in his pillow is, weirdly enough, oddly compelling. Seeing the battle-worn fighter devolve into a bratty teen in the safety of his mothers house is just about the saddest representation of PTSD put to film.

Clearly theres something no one is telling us about what happened to Murph, but the big reveal is something of a disappointment. Unless this is some grand meta statement about the complexity of war, the ending offers more befuddlement than closure. Perhaps one must accept that we shouldnt second-guess these men until we do a mind-scrambling tour against Iraqi insurgents ourselves.

Yellow Birds goes heavy on the brooding, and even though a lot of it looks gorgeous and carries the whiff of great importance it is ultimately stunted by a central event that isnt worth the mystery that surrounds it. While many sequences in Yellow Birds are striking, overall it fails to take flight.

See the rest here:
The Yellow Birds review Iraq war PTSD made beautiful but baffling - The Guardian

FILE PHOTO: A worker checks the valves at Al-Sheiba oil refinery in Basra, Iraq, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo

By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq has reduced its oil production by around 180,000 barrels per day and plans to cut a further 30,000 bpd before the end of the month, the OPEC member's oil minister said on Monday.

The cut came from a 4.75 million bpd level, Jabar Ali al-Luaibi told reporters at an industry event at Chatham House in London.

"We are abiding by OPEC policy and the OPEC agreement," Luaibi said.

Iraq agreed to lower its production by 210,000 bpd under a deal struck in December between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers led by Russia.

The Middle Eastern country, OPEC's second-largest producer, had originally sought to be exempt from any cuts, saying it needed the revenue to fight an Islamic State insurgency.

"We are cutting from all Iraq," Luaibi said, although he added that cuts to production started at fields operated by national oil companies.

He said the ministry had contacted international oil companies operating in the country about the cuts and so far received a "good response" from most of them.

He said Russia's Lukoil, which operates the West Qurna-2 oilfield, told him recently that the company was prepared to lower output by 20,000 bpd without compensation.

"BP as well and some other companies are responding," he added.

"So far everything is moving smoothly as far as the oil companies are concerned."

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Read the rest here:
Iraq has cut 180000 bpd as part of OPEC oil deal - minister - Yahoo Finance

BAGHDAD (AP) Iraq's prime minister has ordered an investigation into violations of human rights and other abuses purportedly committed by government troops and paramilitary forces battling the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul.

Haider al-Abadi says the probe will examine "cases of kidnappings, mistreatment and violations" against civilians. Al-Abadi blamed "groups that exploit the good name" of Iraqi regular forces and Shiite and Sunni paramilitaries for such incidents.

Monday's statement also says that the abuses are recorded and then posted on social media to "defame the real image of the brave security forces and their sacrifices."

Al-Abadi's statement came days after the U.N. demanded a government probe into a video purportedly showing brutal treatment and killing of at least three IS suspects in a newly-taken area in eastern Mosul.

See the original post:
Iraq premier orders probe into violations by troops in Mosul - Joplin Globe

UNHCR STEPS UP WINTER ASSISTANCE AS SNOW STORMS HIT SEVERAL PARTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Since the start of the year, freezing cold has gripped the Middle East, accompanied by strong winds and rain. In Turkey, heavy snowfall and below-freezing temperatures have enveloped most parts of the country. In Lebanon, fresh snow last week has blanketed the high-altitude towns in the Bekaa valley and northern Lebanon. Parts of Syria and Iraq have been hit by snowstorms as tens of thousands of newly-displaced struggle to find adequate warmth in tents and sub-standard shelter. The longer the cold temperatures continue, the more difficult it becomes for the millions of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, many of whom are living in vulnerable conditions in substandard housing and without means to insulate homes.

UNHCR is implementing a number of proactive and emergency efforts to identify and immediately respond to the most vulnerable who may not be able to cope ensuring that the elderly and children are warm, safe and have access to needed support. Teams are working around the clock in refugee camps fixing storm damage and ensuring immediate responses and referrals for those in need. Core relief items have been prepositioned, ready for immediate release. These emergency interventions are through UNHCR's own staff, government agencies, partners, community outreach volunteers, and the broader inter-agency response platforms.

UNHCR is particularly concerned about the situation of people living in desperate conditions in locations severally affected by winter and where there is no humanitarian access, particularly in several besieged and hard-to-reach locations inside Syria, at the Berm (Jordan-Syria border) and in western Mosul city in Iraq.

Read more:
Regional Emergency Winter Assistance Flash Update - Syria and Iraq situations as of 22 January 2017 - ReliefWeb