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Russia Launches Over 160 Missiles and Drones in Deadly Strike on Ukraine...
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Uploaded: Feb 3, 2025
US
President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia has
reportedly suggested that Ukraine should hold a presidential election
after an initial ceasefire is reached with Russia. . .
Kellogg said. "I think it is good for democracy.
- That's the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running."
Air Defense Systems and a Sufficient Number of Interceptor Missiles Are Essential for Bringing Peace Closer – Address by the President
2 February 2025 - 20:43
Just today, the rescue operations in Poltava were completed after a Russian missile strike. Unfortunately, this missile killed fourteen people, including two children.
Exclusive: U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy
"Most
democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is
important they do so," Kellogg said. "I think it is good for democracy.
That's the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person
potentially running."
Trump
and Kellogg have both said they are working on a plan to broker a deal
in the first several months of the new administration to end the all-out
war that erupted with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine Russia war: Zelenskyy asks Trump to discuss ceasefire plans. . . . . . .
Uploaded: Feb 2, 2025 · 16 Views
PRIVATE CONTRACTORS RE/IMAGINED. . .BREITBART Exclusive — Erik Prince: Letters of Marque Would Allow Private Organizations to Wipe Out Drug Cartels
Letters of Marque would allow private organizations to operate in the
“dead space” in between government bureaucracies where the Mexican drug
cartels operate, Erik Prince, an American veteran and the founder of
Unplugged Technologies explained during an interview with Breitbart News Saturday. Prince: Letters of Marque Would Allow Private Organizations to Wipe Out Drug Cartels.
Erik Prince: Letters of Marque Would Allow Private Organizations to Wipe Out Drug Cartels
Elizabeth Weibel1 Feb 2025
Prince spoke with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about a recent post
from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), discussing what Letters of Marque and
Reprisal were and how they could be used to weaken the drug cartels.
- Prince admitted that he had “helped put this idea in Senator Lee’s head.”
H.R. 6869: To authorize the President of the United States to issue letters of marque and reprisal for the purpose of seizing the assets of certain Russian
“Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they ‘bring home,'” Lee explained in his post.
A common practice among Europeans from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century, cruising for enemy prizes with a letter of marque was considered an honorable calling that combined patriotism and profit. Such legally authorized privateering contrasted with unlicensed captures of random ships, known as piracy, which was universally condemned.[1] In practice, the differences between privateers and pirates were sometimes slight, even merely a matter of interpretation. . .
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of "letters of marque and reprisal" was in an English statute in 1354 during the reign of King Edward III. The phrase referred to "a licen[c]e granted by a sovereign to a subject, authorizing him to make reprisals on the subjects of a hostile state for injuries alleged to have been done to him by the enemy's army".[6]. . .
21st-century American reconsideration of letters of marque
Article I of the United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal in Section 8 as one of the enumerated powers of Congress, alongside the power to tax and to declare war. However, since the American Civil War, the United States as a matter of policy has consistently followed the terms of the 1856 Paris Declaration forbidding the practice. The United States has not legally commissioned any privateers since 1815, although the status of submarine-hunting Goodyear airships in the early days of World War II created significant confusion. Various accounts refer to airships Resolute and Volunteer as operating under a "privateer status", but Congress never authorized a commission, nor did the President sign one.[41]
The issue of marque and reprisal was raised before Congress after the September 11 attacks[42] and again by Congressman Ron Paul on July 21, 2007. The attacks were defined as acts of "air piracy" and the Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001 was introduced, which would have granted the president the authority to use letters of marque and reprisal against the specific terrorists, instead of warring against a foreign state. The terrorists were compared to pirates in that they are difficult to fight by traditional military means.[43] On April 15, 2009, Paul also advocated the use of letters of marque to address the issue of Somali pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden. However, the bills Paul introduced were not enacted into law.
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States Congress considered a bill to "[authorize] the President to issue letters of marque and reprisal" in order to seize yachts owned by Russian oligarchs.[44]
Sen. Mike Lee and others have suggested consideration be given to the potential use of letters of marque and reprisal in efforts to curtail the presence of Mexican cartels.[citation needed]
When asked by Boyle “what the process would be for a Letter of Marque to be issued” and if it would come from the White House or Congress, Prince explained that the “last Letter of Marque” had been issued after Pearl Harbor “to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines.”
- “I believe the last Letter of Marque was actually issued after Pearl Harbor in 1942, and it was actually issued to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines off the coast of California.
- And, I don’t know if that was a simple vote of Congress, or if that was a committee procedure, or what.
- But, that model — you could actually do something similar with a presidential finding today, giving an entity — a private organization a hunting license.
- And, then of course, when they were issued to ships, you’d have to post a bond — a performance bond of certain rules you’re going to follow, effectively rules of engagement for them to proceed,” Prince explained.
When asked by Boyle if Prince thought this “would help solve the problem of the Mexican drug cartels” and help the United States “do certain things that maybe we aren’t doing” in order to stop the flow of drugs and human trafficking across the border, Prince explained that “one of the system problems” the U.S. has with its security apparatus “is all kinds of stove pipes.”
“One of the systemic problems we have — call it a structural problem
of the U.S. security apparatus is all kinds of stove pipes. Because now
you have China organizing fentanyl. So, you have a paycom area interest,
pushing chemicals into Mexico, where they’re now fabricated into
fentanyl and then pushed north.
- So, is it a northern command issue?
- Is it a DEA issue?
- Is it a border patrol issue?
- Is it a paycom issue?” Prince said.
“The problem is, you have so many different bureaucracies involved that no one is able to swim in between those bureaucracies in that dead space — the cartels do, but no government entity can move that quickly.
So, the cartels basically operate inside of the OODA Loop of the U.S. government. And, really, only a private organization is going to be able to move that decisively with the flexibility required.”
“The cartels make enormous amounts of money that let’s them buy very good technology, very high end talent, very high end weaponry. They out gun Mexican law enforcement. I feel terrible for a state or local cop, or a federal cop in Mexico, because within days of coming on to a certain drug team, their family members are getting visited,” Prince continued.
2/ Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime
- Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they “bring home”
Mike Lee floats allowing private parties to target drug cartels for profit
Sen. Mike Lee says 'a new day is dawning in America' with Trump
The senator laid out the proposal in posts on X.
- "Congress could issue letters of marque and reprisal authorizing private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders," Lee wrote, adding,
- "Focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-value targets, or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold, or equipment used in criminal activities."
Lee
suggested that this method of contending with cartels would lower costs
to American taxpayers, since privateers would be paid a portion of what
they capture and bring back to the U.S. . .
"One pitfall as a practical matter might be that a lot of the property belonging to these cartels isn’t … easy to monetize — because the products they sell are illegal," he wrote.
"That could make it difficult to incentivize and reward them, as ‘prize courts’ (historically the government’s tool used for selling the seized assets and assessing how much money each privateer is able to receive) obviously wouldn’t be able to sell drugs," Lee indicated. "But these cartels have a lot of non-contraband assets, including many things (gold, cash, etc.) that could be seized by privateers, returned to the U.S., liquidated, and used to reward the seizures."
Rep. Chip Roy responded to Lee's proposal by describing it in a tweet as "worthy of consideration."
"This would work very fast," Elon Musk said of the idea in a post.
Is THIS the Answer to Trump's Cartel Problem?
www.youtube.com › watch
13:07
How should President Trump handle the Mexican cartels? Glenn is “in love with” an idea that Sen. Mike Lee proposed: Hidden deep within the ...
YouTube · Glenn Beck · 4 days ago
Pentagon Reassigns Media Office Spaces --- "New Annual Media Rotation Program" | VOICE OF AMERICA
More than two dozen news organizations operate out of the Pentagon, including Reuters, reporting on the daily activities of the U.S. military.
- "To be clear, the outlets that vacate the spaces loaned them by the secretary (of defense) will remain full members of the Pentagon Press Corps," said John Ullyot, acting assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.
- "The only change will be giving up their physical workspaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon Press Corps."
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, in an unprecedented move, announced late Friday it would remove four media organizations including The New York Times from their dedicated office spaces in the Pentagon, citing a desire to make room for others.
Trump's Pentagon says it will 'rotate' out some media from offices
By Phil Stewart and Idrees AliFebruary 1, 20253:34 PM PST Updated 12 hours ago
The memo on a "New Annual Media Rotation Program" said it would also remove National Public Radio, NBC News and Politico, which must vacate their spaces by February 14
- In their place, it would give dedicated office space to the New York Post, One America News Network, Breitbart News Network and HuffPost News.
Each year going forward, one outlet from print, online, television and radio will rotate out of the Pentagon "to allow a new outlet from the same medium that has not had the unique opportunity to report as a resident member of the Pentagon Press Corps," the memo said.
Defense Department Swaps Out NBC News, New York Times And Other Media From Workspaces; Trump-Friendly Outlets To Get Spots
Trump's Pentagon to 'rotate' out some media, including The New York Times, from offices |
Trump removing major news outlets from Pentagon office space
Pentagon to move NBC, Politico, NPR out of dedicated media workspaces - The Washington Post
Outlets Set to Replace Major News Organizations in Pentagon
The #Pentagon announced a major shake-up in its press corps Friday night, replacing several mainstream media giants with smaller, pro-Trump outlets as part of a new “annual media rotation program.”
Under this plan, One America News Network (OANN) is set to take over NBC News’ long-held space in the #Pentagon press room. Meanwhile, Breitbart News will replace National Public Radio (NPR), and The New York Post will be moving into the spot currently occupied by The New York
The #Pentagon announced a major shake-up in its press corps Friday night, replacing several mainstream media giants with smaller, pro-Trump outlets as part of a new “annual media rotation program.”
Under this plan, One America News Network (OANN) is set to take over NBC News’ long-held space in the #Pentagon press room. Meanwhile, Breitbart News will replace National Public Radio (NPR), and The New York Post will be moving into the spot currently occupied by The New York
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