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.
The beauty of it is we are the ones that discovered it.
Of course the MILITARY has. What about SF? LA?
One of my former students, for ex., was a top lawyer at Salt River Project, which handles ALL the water for Phoenix and its 4 million people. He ended up focusing on EMP hardening-—which he said is nonexistent. He couldn’t even get SRP to purchase ONE backup transformer, let alone the two needed to run all water & power for the Valley. He said flat out an EMP would take out all of Phoenix’s water supply.
I’d bet good money that it’s much, much worse in lib states like WA, OR, and CA.
Just read your posts from the last thirty days...You need to go back to DU, dem troll....
Groom Lake and Strawberry Ice Cream is the answer to everything.
Please add me to your pings.
I was pretty upset when this started but by morning I had it figured out. In addition to the provocations the wider message is what was important. None of this was accidental. People need to remember 2 things when they say this is not what they voted for:
1. He said he would wipe ISIS off the planet. No one can expect that to happen while sitting at home. You have to go there.
2. He said he wanted peace in the Middle East
He is keeping all his other promises we need to understand he will keep those 2 promises as well.
That is one confused post. Could you give me the example of the cop who arrived on the scene and shot someone because he had to shoot someone?
Also that has nothing to do with the definition of sociopath whatsoever...perhaps a bit of google time.
Third no one was shot, after warning the Russians who warned the Syrians some equipment that was used by someone to launch chemical attacks was made nonoperational. The message was that America will not tolerate chemical weapons being used on civilians. This precise targeting allowed other messages to be communicated to the International community & the Chinese & the NK... Capisce?
EMP meaning nuclear explosion generated EMP. The specific characteristics of any nuclear EMP weapon would vary according to many factors, the most important of which would be the altitude of a detonation. If by “do not have an ability for EMP” you mean they cannot control a specific effective altitude for detonation— you have a point. But, if they can only hit within a poor percentage range of target— the explosion, if not incomplete, could wreak a fair amount of damage on, say— silicon valley.
They have the launch capability and results from recent tests indicate they have a functional weapon, so I agree, they could do it.
No, I don't think that is the definition of a sociopath.
I see that...thank you...
Thanks, LS.
Sorry, Jet. You asked before and I thought I did.
No worries.
Thanks.
Fact is many of us here, including myself worry too much about what
Trump is going to do instead of appreciating what he has already done.
Every EO he has signed have been conservative ones.
Almost a million new jobs have been created since he took office.
And a conservative was confirmed to the SC.
Pretty good start.
Well with all the howling from the Russians it appears they have been caught off balance.
The NORKs? I wonder,
that the Chinese are willing to get rid of a burr in their britches and let someone else rid them of this troublesome little bastard in NK? They really must be sick and tired of that little hole of a country.
Trump had to do what he did. When Obama drew the pink line and the Syrians promptly crossed it, they laughed in our faces. Somebody crossed it with Trump and it did not go to well for them.
You all remember that Russia had very little to do in Syria until Obastard ran the show.
Just like the Carter administration and what had to happen after when Reagan took over. Of course, there arent a lot on here that remember the Carter years. You may think this country is effed up now, you youngsters should have tried to live during that assholes administration.
I have an SRP coffee cup. :)
Anyway, a true EMP will destroy the information infrastructure. The Military will be intact.
Only the Russians have this capability. It would require bears dropping high altitude bombs that explode at high level.
I just do not see that happening.
You said: “The NORK nut could wipe out the entire west coast with a single EMP bomb over the north Pacific.”
Is this true? I am not that familiar with EMP. I thought an nuclear airburst would have to be over the USA to affect the USA....
Finally, there is NO doubt that President Trump is not Putin's sock puppet. I just wish there was a way to plug lord McCain's pie hole. I consider lord McCain to be the ‘new’ leader of that swampy place some call ‘deep state’. I am all for ‘unmasking’ lord McCain and his apprentice Linda Graham.
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