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by Peter Dominiczak

Britainand America will never again invade foreign countries "in an attempt to make the world in their own image", Theresa May said Thursday nightin the biggest shift in UK foreign policy for more than 20 years.

Addressing Republican politicians in Philadelphia, the Prime Minister pledged not to repeat the "failed policies of the past" in a clear reference to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan by Tony Blair and George W Bush.

Her comments are a repudiation of the doctrine of "liberal intervention" set out by Mr Blair in Chicago in 1999.

Mrs May, who received a standing ovation, made the speech as she prepared to meet Donald Trump in the White House today - the first foreign leader to do so - and begin talks on a trade deal to be announced after Britain leaves the European Union.

She made clear that Britain and America will forge a new special relationship to ensure the rise of Asian economies such as China and India does not lead to an "eclipse of the West".

And she promised to face up to the aggression of Russia and the "malign" influence of Iran in the Middle East.

Travelling to America, Mrs May insisted she would bond with Mr Trump in spite of their personality differences, saying "opposites attract". However, there were signs of policy differences between the two leaders.

Mrs May said that she "condemned" torture and suggested that Britain could limit its intelligence sharing with the US because of Mr Trump's support for waterboarding.

In her speech last night Mrs May said that Brexit and Mr Trump's election were an opportunity to "renew" the special relationship, which she described as "one of the greatest forces for good the world has ever known".

She hailed Mr Trump's election as "dawn breaking on a new era of American renewal".

She said: "I speak to you not just as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but as a fellow Conservative who believes in the same principles that underpin the agenda of your party. The value of liberty. The dignity of work. The principles of nationhood, family, economic prudence, patriotism - and putting power in the hands of the people.

"Principles instilled in me from a young age. Principles that my parents taught me in the vicarage in southern England in which I was raised.

"I know that it is these principles that you have put at the heart of your plan for government."

In her first significant foreign policy intervention since becoming Prime Minister, Mrs May said: "It is in our interests - those of Britain and America together - to stand strong together to defend our values, our interests and the very ideas in which we believe.

"This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over. But nor can we afford to stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene. We must be strong, smart and hard-headed. And we must demonstrate the resolve necessary to stand up for our interests."

Her comments suggest that Britain intends to continue attacks on jihadists using drone strikes but that "boots on the ground" invasions are now a thing of the past.

They echo those of Mr Trump, who said during his inauguration ceremony last week that "we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example".

Mrs May made clear that a stronger alliance could ensure the two countries are able to compete with Asian economies. She said that the rise of these economies at the same time as the financial crisis and a series of terror attacks "have led many to fear that, in this century, we will experience the eclipse of the West".

"But there is nothing inevitable about that. Other countries may grow stronger. Big, populous countries may grow richer. And as they do so, they may start to embrace more fully our values of democracy and liberty," she said.

Despite the positive relationship between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin, Mrs May used her speech to criticise Russia. She also sounded a warning over the negative influence of Iran in the Middle East.

She said: "There is nothing inevitable about conflict between Russia and the West. And nothing unavoidable about retreating to the days of the Cold War. But we should engage with Russia from a position of strength...We should not jeopardise the freedoms President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher brought to Eastern Europe by accepting President Putin's claim that it is now in his sphere of influence."

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May vows no more wars like Iraq - The Australian Financial Review

US President Donald Trump said hell establish safe zones within Syria for people fleeing terrorism, risking becoming even more involved in the crisis. He also believes the US should have taken the oil from Iraq as it pulled its troops out in 2011.

Ill absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people, he said in a lengthy interviewwith ABC, his first since taking office. The president did not specify details, but explained his intention with a nod towards Europe, which he said made a mistake by letting in asylum seekers from the Middle East.

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I think that Europe has made a tremendous mistake by allowing these millions of people to go into Germany and various other countries. And all you have to do is take a look. It's it's a disaster what's happening over there. I don't want that to happen here, he said. He noted that his predecessor Barack Obama also allowed thousands of refugees into the United States, which made possible incidents like the tragedy in San Bernardino in 2015, in which 14 people were killed and 22 others were injured in a terrorist attack carried out by a radicalized couple of Pakistani origin. Trump vowed not to repeat those mistakes.

Trump accused the Obama administration of having been unable to properly check immigrants entering the US from Syria and other crisis-stricken states to make sure they had no links to terrorism.

President Obama and [former Secretaries of State] Hillary Clinton and [John] Kerry have allowed tens of thousands of people into our country. The FBI is now investigating more people than ever before having to do with terror [] and it's from the group of people that came in.

I'm gonna be the president of a safe country. We have enough problems, Trump said.

Moscow was quick to react to Trumps plans, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting the US should calculate all the possible consequences.

Its important to make sure that this does not further aggravate the situation with refugees, Peskov told a conference call with reporters.

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Yet, according to a document reportedly seen by Reuters, Trump is expected to order the Pentagon and the State Department to compile a plan for setting up the safe zones which he proposed.

The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense, is directed within 90 days of the date of this order to produce a plan to provide safe areas in Syria and in the surrounding region in which Syrian nationals displaced from their homeland can await firm settlement, such as repatriation or potential third-country resettlement, the draft order said, as cited by Reuters.

The move will mean the current US military involvement in Syrias civil war will be expanded, which may escalate the situation taking into account that American troops and the US-led coalition were not invited to take part in the conflict by the Syrian government in the first place.

The US-governed creation of safe zones would potentially mean an increase in the presence of US or allied air power to cover the zones from air, as well as boots on the ground to protect civilians in these areas. However, according to Reuters, the draft order provides no details on what the safe zones would require in terms of defense or where they might be located.

The draft order provided a notion of setting up the safe zones in neighboring countries, but Syrias neighbors, including Jordan and Turkey, already have migrant camps of their own hosting millions of Syrian refugees.

Trumps plan to establish safe zones in Syria is part of his general directive on immigration, which will include a temporary 30-day ban on most refugees and a suspension of US visas for citizens of Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the Middle Eastern and African countries that appear to pose a terrorism threat. Trumps administration is to use the temporary halt to work out a system which will ensure US visas are not issued to people that pose a national security threat, according to the draft.

Trump also said he will keep his campaign promise and build a wall on the border with Mexico, from where illegal immigrants, including from across the ocean, come into the US.

Addressing Americas involvement in another Middle Eastern crisis the war in Iraq, the newly-inaugurated US leader regretted not having taken the oil when the US troops left the country in 2011.

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In his historic speech at the CIA in Washington, DC, last week, Trump initially stated, We should've kept the oil. But, OK, maybe well have another chance, sparking debates as to what he could have meant by the statement. In an interview with ABC, the president explained his words, stating that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) would not have become a global threat had it not taken over Iraqs oil industry when the country was left weakened by the war.

We should've kept the oil when we got out. And, you know, it's very interesting, had we taken the oil, you wouldn't have ISIS because they fuel themselves with the oil. That's where they got the money. They got the money [] when we left, we left Iraq, which wasn't a government.

We created a vacuum and ISIS formed. But had we taken the oil something else very good would've happened. They would not have been able to fuel their rather unbelievable drive to destroy large portions of the world, Trump stated. He added, however, that Iraqs oil could profit the United States as well, with the countrys budget drained by its involvement in the wars of the Middle East.

If we took the oil you wouldn't have ISIS. And we would have had wealth. We have spent right now $6 trillion in the Middle East. And our country is falling apart.

When asked by the news anchor whether he plans to fix that mistake and claim Iraqs oil, the president said he would rather not give away his military plans, referring to the situation around Mosul, the de-facto IS capital in Iraq. The city has been under siege by Iraqi government forces, allied militias, Iraqi Kurdistan, and international forces for over three months now, with no forecasts so far on when the city will be liberated from terrorists. This, in Trumps opinion, is due to the fact the campaign had been over-advertised.

READ MORE:US gave ISIS escape route from Mosul to Syria; now civilians are paying the price

We're gonna see what happens. You know, [] when it comes to the military I don't want to discuss things.

I want to let the action take place before the talk takes place. I watched in Mosul when a number of months ago generals and politicians would get up and say, We're going into Mosul in four months. Then they'd say, We're going in in three months, two months, one month. We're going in next week.

I kept saying to myself, Gee, why do they have to keep talking about going in? Alright, so now they go in and it is tough because they're giving the enemy all this time to prepare. I don't want to do a lot of talking on the military. I want to talk after it's finished, not before it starts, Trump said.

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Trump says he'll order 'safe zones' for Syria, regrets not 'taking' oil out of Iraq - RT

Theresa May tonight vowed there will be no more failed Iraq-style foreign invasions by British forces in the biggest foreign policy shake-up in 20 years.

In her first US speech as Prime Minister, Mrs May called time on two decades of so-called 'liberal intervention' by Britain in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Kosovo.

It is in our interests to stand strong together to defend our values, the PM said.

This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.

Her comments signal an end to two decades of intervention by Britain in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

However the PM also warned President Trump not to stand idly by in the face of real threats to national security.

And she urged him to help defend eastern Europe from the growing threat from Vladimir Putin.

The new President has described NATO as obsolete and questioned whether he would bother to defend eastern European states if Russia attacked.

But Mrs May invoked Trump's hero, former President Ronald Reagan, as she begged him to stand up for eastern Europe.

When it comes to Russia, as so often it is wise to turn to the example of President Reagan who - during negotiations with his opposite number Mikhail Gorbachev - used to abide by the adage trust but verify. With President Putin, my advice is to 'engage but beware', she said.

We should not jeopardise the freedoms that President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher brought to

She had earlier claimed "opposites attract" when asked about her relationship with Donald Trump in a remark that risks enraging millions of women around the world who marched in protest last Saturday following the inauguration.

Mrs May will become the first world leader to meet the new President since his inauguration when the pair sit down for talks in the White House.

She is desperate to strike up a close relationship despite repeated warnings from Tory MPs not to get too close to the much-criticised President.

President Trump sounded somewhat less excited by the summit than the PM as he moaned about having to lead talks on a UK/US trade deal himself.

His choice for commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has not yet been approved by Congress.

"I'm meeting the Prime Minister tomorrow, he told a Republican Party conference in Philadelphia.

I don't have my Commerce Secretary yet, and they want to talk trade. So I'll have to handle it myself... Which is ok."

But Mrs May risks enraging millions of women around the world who marched in protest last Saturday following President Trump's inauguration.

The new President has previously boasted about sexually assaulting women and now wants to clamp down on abortion rights.

Mrs May did condemn his boasts as unacceptable earlier this month - but as she prepares for their first meeting tomorrow she was keen to stress areas of common ground.

I think we both share a desire to ensure that governments are working for everyone - and particularly that governments are working for ordinary working families and working class families, the PM said.

I think that's important. I think we share that interest and that intention in both our countries.

In a speech to leading Republican politicians in Philadelphia tonight Mrs May will go further and shower praise on Mr Trump and his plans for office.

She will credit him with helping America to rediscover its confidence and to renew the nation.

And she will vow that under their leadership Britain and America can lead together again.

Speaking ahead of the speech she said her first White House summit will be crucial in cementing that special relationship.

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Whats going to be important is having the opportunity to actually sit down with President Trump and talk to him face to face, about the interests we share, about the special relationship, about the joint challenges we both face, she said.

I believe what will come out of this is a very clear determination on both sides not just to maintain the special relationship, but also to build it for the future.

There is a real role for the UK and the US working together.

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Theresa May vows no more 'failed' Iraq-style invasions while speaking in US amid radical foreign policy shake-up - Mirror.co.uk

Germany Extends Military Training Mission in Northern Iraq Benson County Farmers Press Germany's Parliament has extended the country's training mission in northern Iraq for another year. Some 150 soldiers with the Bundeswehr have been training Kurdish "Peshmerga" militias already for two years to help in the fight against Islamic State ... and more »

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Germany Extends Military Training Mission in Northern Iraq - Benson County Farmers Press

Militants forced him to flee Iraq as a teenager, but now the Marine Corps has allowed him to return as an avenging angel.

America is my home, but Iraq is my homeland, Cpl. Ali J. Mohammed said in a Marine Corps news story. My biggest motivation right now is to help drive these extremist groups out of my homeland, and being able to do that as a United States Marine is the most rewarding thing I could have asked for.

Mohammed, 23, is serving as a translator with a team of U.S. troops that is helping Iraqi security forces expel the Islamic State terror group from Iraqi soil, the story says. He grew up in Baghdad and speaks a unique dialect of Arabic.

Marine Col. Paul Nugent, commander of Task Force Al Asad, and Army Lt. Gen Stephen Townsend, commander of all U.S. troops in Iraq, watch a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System strike a building housing ISIS near Haditha, Iraq, on Sept. 7. Photo Credit: Marine Corps photo by Capt. Ryan E. Alvis. He left Iraq when he was 16 after his family received threats for supporting U.S. forces. His sister had worked as a translator for Marines in Iraq.

Seeing her work so closely with these Americans, how much she trusted them and seeing how much they wanted to help us made me idealize them as a child, Mohammed said in the story. It is part of the reason I decided to join the Marine Corps.

Ali is currently assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command. He ultimately hopes to become a Raider with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.

To be able to read, write and speak Arabic is normal to him, and for him to be a U.S. Marine and understand how we operate is just phenomenal, Maj. Ryan Hunt, who leads a team of U.S. advisers in Northern Iraq, said in the news story. Hes just a pleasure to work with and is a huge asset to this team. Hes had such a positive attitude and is very mature; sometimes I forget hes only 23 years old.

Continue reading here:
Meet ISIS' worst nightmare: A Marine who grew up in Iraq - Marine Corps Times