Posted on 04/09/2017 7:38:52 PM PDT by LS
By way of disclaimer, I have known Steve Bannon for years and we regularly communicate in rather short bursts. So my info on the "inside Team Trump" is pretty one-sided. I don't know Jared Kushner, know OF McMaster and recommended him to Team Trump (as did Victor Davis Hanson). So I know what I know, but it's a pretty limited range of insight.
1. The Syria strikes. I knew going in this would be a firestorm for Trump among his voters, especially the Ron Paul/non-interventionist backers (many of whom you see on Twitter).
I agree with many of you that the evidence was not clear that it was Assad---indeed, it could well have been ISIS. I also agree this does not help in our fight against ISIS. I further agree that regime change is dangerous on a number of levels.
That said, the strike was a multifaceted message, and unfortunately one that absolutely had to be sent, somewhere, somehow.
Recall as many of you have posted, in the past two years, the Russkies have been getting extremely provocative, doing flybys of American ships, sailing into our waters, and so on. Forget who is "responsible" for Ukraine, the fact is Ukraine unloaded its nukes cuz we promised them we would protect them via NATO. Now that promise is vanishing. Our word certainly is not good from the Ukrainian perspective.
I start Syria with Russia because at some point, somewhere, Putin had to get a message that while we want peace and want to work with him, he cannot possibly be allowed to threaten (as he already has) American ships at sea and sail in our waters. This is flat out aggression.
It can be stopped, and nipped in the bud, but how? Consider Syria a "brush back pitch" to the Russian batter. (In baseball, when the hitter takes advantage of the plate and gets too far into the pitcher's zone, the pitcher throws one high and tight to brush him back and say, "No, you have to play by the rules.")
I do believe Putin not only got this message, but was expecting it. He wanted to see if Trump was Obama The bad news is that it had to go on this long, but like any aggressor, the longer you wait, the bloodier it becomes to stop him. I think Putin got the message. Yes, he's making a lot of threats. But he now knows Trump will act when provoked and act DECISIVELY. Whether you agree with the strike or not, you can't accuse Trump of "indecision."
Further, I think the brush-back pitch worked on Iran and the NORKs. Coming as it did when Xi was at dinner (indeed, I hear he was the first one to receive the news of the attack!), it was the equivalent of Trump pulling out a Colt .45 and laying it on the table and saying, "ok, Xi, let's chat." The fact that Xi apparently gave his blessing to American responses to the NORKs--in their own back yard---suggests the meeting was a 100% success. The brush back pitch was felt in China, too.
Many here do not agree with Trump's action. Many think he was being "played." I have heard (haven't verified it) that the "vote" to fire the missiles was unanimous among the NatSec team, including Bannon. He of course would never confirm or deny, nor would I ask. But what we have from "fake" news is one story that it was Kush v Bannon, another that it was Kush/Bannon v Mattis, and a third that it was everyone agreeing.
For the reasons I've outlined above NOT particularly relating to Syria, I believe the latter. Further, this was an opportunity to throw the brush-back pitch without civilian casualties and without a bunch of dead bodies being hauled out of a mosque. In other words, if Team Trump was looking for the "perfect" place to send a message, gas or no gas, this was it.
2. "Chaos/Turmoil inside Team Trump" Lately the Twitter people have been going nuts against Kushner thinking he is engaging in a war on Bannon. First, if you look at the picture of the "bunker" with everyone during the strike, the two people closest to Trump are Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, right behind him. Kush is one person removed. Small things. Second, Bannon himself told me three nights ago, "I ain't goin' anywhere." I'm pretty sure that means DT said so, too. We keep missing this and missing this, but REGULARLY Team Trump throws out a piece of media "cheese" into the maze and the media rats chase it while Team Trump governs. I don't know if the Kush/Bannon "clash" is real or just cheese, but it would not surprise me if the two guys don't go get a beer every night and laugh.
Trump's management style is much like Lincoln's: get a bunch of top, smart people who have different ideas, let them fight, come to a decision that may favor one, the other, or even neither. Don't forget businessmen do not hesitate to drop non-producers. Trump fired Lewandowski, Manafort, and his OWN BROTHER (as did Thomas Watson, Jr. at IBM!) If anyone thinks he won't dump Kush for good reason, think again. Ditto Bannon.
3. McMaster. I vouched for McMaster as did Victor Davis Hanson. McMaster is one of the few people in the Pentagon with actual hands-on success at forming alliances with Muslims against other Muslims. He was a rebel throughout the Iraq war, which kept him from being promoted. He's exactly the type of outside-the-box thinker you want. I'm NOT concerned about his early comments on "radicals" being a minority. Folks, you will not find any commanders in the field, anywhere, saying all Muslims are terrorists. Won't happen, cuz they need locals as interpreters and most of the time as allies. Maybe personally they have different thoughts, but they cannot express those in a combat zone. I think McM's comments were typical of that battlefield thinking.
Bannon's removal from the NSC planning group was predicted in Trump's own plans early on. Bannon was there to de-politicize it, and he has, and he still has top clearance, as you've all seen. I could be wrong, but of all the things to worry about, McM ain't one of them.
Finally, we are in a VERY dangerous position due to Obama. If anyone thinks we could just retreat to our borders, it's way too late for that. The NORK nut could wipe out the entire west coast with a single EMP bomb over the north Pacific. Many here would say "yay," but of course that's crazy. The entire US would be set back massively, Japan would be wiped out and we'd have to retaliate big time. (I do think it's time we reconsider assassination as a policy). Zero let the Russkies run wild. We can nudge them back into their stall, but to act like they aren't out would be a mistake. And we still have to deal with Iran.
None of this is easy, and no one will agree with any one policy. Trump was handed an absolute bag of excrement in foreign policy. I think he is trying to avoid not just one, but three wars, and we all better hope the "brush back pitch" was heeded.
I don't think it's silly to cast aspersions on those who are casting unsubstantiated aspersions. The truth matters and a person's reputation shouldn't be besmirched by third party reports and speculative innuendo. That's better left to the Mean Girls Club in junior high, not among adults trying to discuss serious issues. That's all I'm saying.
Familiar with this. Thanks for the refresher on the discussion. Gingrich is still on the topic. To the extent that the military is shielded, great. But the post EMP alternative is a military junta who alone has control— which might very well be the desire of some mil oligarchic or even a freaking fat boy 30 something moron n korean psychopath who likes basketball.
Laughing..., people need to hear truth from more than one person.
I’m counting on you.
“:^)
Again, you’ve got a bizarre idea that being concerned about Trump surrounding himself for counsel with liberal Democrats is being part of a “Mean Girls Club”. Ya put yourself into the mix of the adult running of the country, ya can’t hide behind junior high social complaints.
Because the attack was the first to occur under the Trump administration they were absolutely correct in destroying the base of origin. This action returned the world to its past equilibrium according to Nash.
Obama’s “flexible” agenda had caused the mudslide we are in today.
I'm not thrilled by the Syria strike but I can live with it but I definitely do not want to see any escalation, unless we're provoked and it becomes unavoidable.
Oh yes— also, totally get that the US of obamaumao, hitlery, valjar, petraeus/panetta/brennan and.... mccain created ISIS out of the the created myth of “moderate” rebels who in fact were yet another out branch of al-qaeda— an octopus tentacle in the greater ever shifting “the base” (al-qaeda). After Benghazi exposed the gun running of Libyan MANPADS with the help of Erdogan (the Caliph in his own mind to be) into Syria— we built and armed these same people— and obamaumao insisted on calling the ISIL L for Levant— Turkey- as a nod to Erdogan. Globalist mcain, and the uniparty Establishment people have NO problem with the continuation of the war (orwellian in fact).
To the point that it may very well be that someone in this leftover obamaumao-ite shadow people in country may have instigated the use of chem weapons by ISIS (false flag on Assad)— guess we will never know, but Tillerson was quite insistent it was always Assad— of course based on intel. Just some thoughts of my own.
Why would you be concerned? It’s as though you think the job of managing ‘people’ is too large for Trump, or that of appointing good men as he sees it....if he’s wrong he’ll change it....this is how Trump works.
You really need to lighten your foot off the pedal your peddling so hard at it.
It looks like you’re unable or unwilling to grasp the main point I’m trying to make about the unsubstantiated charge that Ivanka directly influenced the President to order the missile strike on Syria. Sorry, I tried. Have a great rest of your day.
“Egyptian guy MUCH better than Mubarak.”
Egypt has been a semi-functional, semi-democracy for well over half a century and has had a powerful, coherent military government for perhaps even longer. In other words, Egypt has long-standing, functional institutions of government and has had relative stability of governance, so there have been recognizable, semi-legitimate alternative leaders in the wings for a long time.
Syria has had a couple of dynastic stong-man leaders, and other than that does not appear to have any other institutional power centers that have had any kind of longevity or recognizable authority.
So,who would this “better guy” than Assad in Syria be, anyway? Someone with authority instantly recognized and accepted by the Syrian Military and the majority of the many Syrian factions? Someone who could keep Syria from flying apart the moment the Assad lid was lifted?
In other words, Assad’s Syria is in the same boat as Iraq was with Hussein and Libya was with Gadaffi, and any belief to the contrary is akin to believing in the tooth fairy: EXACTLY the same nation-building, regime-changing, tooth-fairy “thinking” engaged in by the Bush/Obama “leadership”.
Trump was supposed to be different. Trump SAID he was different. And yet just weeks after being elected, Tillerson and Haley are spouting the same obviously failed nonsense of the Bush/Obama administrations that led to the ascension of ISIS.
Steve Bannon better get his shit together and stop the Bush/Obama Sirens from wooing Trump down those same paths of shipwreck, or Trump’s going to quickly end up with ISIS being bigger and stronger and healthier than ever.
Wasn’t aware movie was done— it was to be Tom Hanks/spielberg— never see that happening under the mack daddy gayboy tahitian treat obamaumao and hollyweird. Nothing so down to earth. Sort of like changing Clancy’s superbowl bomb importation to being done by white supremacists, not islamofascists (who would be the ones, frankly— although not outside the realm of possibility of using aryan-white subgroup whack jobs as “cut-outs” as many have believed happened in Oklahoma City, including the defense atty for the accused, and re-dacted buried testimony/evidence from the still living Nichols).
I don’t know who the better guy is. But Assad will die at some point anyway, so we do have to deal with this at some point.
Not at all concerned. A bigger concern is that NORK will force us to do something through a very clear, obvious (to all but the Ron Paul isolationist types) act of war that we will have to respond to.
For ex., I fully expect him to try to launch an EMP at the west coast. This would NOT “hit” the West Coast-—so is it an act of war? All the isolationists will doubt that the missile has EMP capability no matter what. Are you really willing to take the risk that Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California all be sent back to the 1200s?
You seem to have the bizarre idea that President Trump isn't his own man, and is easily manipulated. There's approximately zero evidence of that.
I seem to remember you as being anti-Trump during much of the election cycle. If so, it would confirm my suspicion that this Syria incident simply presents another opportunity for such elements to indulge their anti-Trump impulses...
AND YOU KNOW IVANKA, PERSONALLY, THAT YOU CAN STATE THAT??
just wondering...
I believe most FR posters are fed up with y’all ...I know I sure am...
Amen. And there are specially blessed people who have a great way of making us LOL. That pioneer humor is one part of what made America Great! It’s a reaction to knowing that God is indeed in control.
I appreciate receiving these insights. Thanks!
as we continue to dance with the House of Saud, today with a SecState who is a former mandarin of the top oil consortium that has long ties to Saud-— recall Arab American Oil Co. ARAMCO.
Someone hopefully is keeping tabs on the financing of the terrorist madrassahs that the Saudis are known to have done— as a “payoff” to protect the Royal house (living mostly in Geneva, notably) from destruction from within... within the Sunni sect fanaticals of the official religious police-the wahhabists. Would win any size bet that the madrassahs are continuing, paid for by Saud— just as mecca’s protector continues— to protect a freaking medieval marketplace, mecca, and a freaking meteorite stone (the kaaba) which these 8th century pagans worship— because it “might” have had moham-head standing on it one time ago. What a ridiculous basis for a religion— for simpletons (hence the appeal to the rapidly degrading mentality of an inbred population of child rapists and queers). Apologies for the rant, but:
Agree with your point.
Are you really willing to take the risk that Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California all be sent back to the 1200s?
Ivanka did meet with the biggest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood
not that long ago.
I support President Trump and was an early supporter here.
However, not a big supporter of Ivanka and Jared liberal ideas.
influencing President Trump.
Numerous responses! Bump to finish reading later.
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