Posted on 12/22/2018 8:59:09 AM PST by SleeperCatcher
Neocons, some defense officials, and even Democrats normally opposed to overseas military entanglements all heavily criticized POTUS Donald Trump’s decision to pull all American troops out of Syria, characterizing it alternately as rash, unhinged, or irresponsible.
But as is usually the case involving this president, the first impression we were given by the “mainstream” media regarding his decision was incomplete and not based on a complete understanding of the action.
As it turns out, one could even say that POTUS acted on the indirect advice of his national security adviser, John Bolton, simply because he was unable to answer one question regarding continued U.S. military presence in the war-torn shell of a country: ‘Why.’
(Excerpt) Read more at thenationalsentinel.com ...
Patriot is definitely a word I would use for a married man who was shacked up with a WSJ reporter and feeding her scoops during the (failed) SOFA negotiations and is on video getting a blow job on the roof of the Baghdad embassy from an Embassy staffer.
streiff Twitter:
https://twitter.com/streiffredstate/status/1076520281353699330
You know the funny thing is, most of the democrats that are hating him on this were probably same people protesting the Iraq war as a unjust war and morally wrong and wanted us to leave, I swear the damned 180’ism in the US government is pissing me off.
I never would guessed also the Neocons and Leftists democrats being on the same side.
“JFK asked the same question about Nam.”
One of the great Kennedy myths. When Kennedy took office there were 750 American military in South Vietnam. He had raised that to 16,000 by the time of his death and was building up the Special Forces to fight a counter-insurgency war there.
Kennedy’s personal view of South Vietnam isn’t hard to discover, he gave it in a speech to The American Friends of Vietnam in 1956 when he was still a Senator.
” First, Vietnam represents the cornerstone of the Free World in Southeast Asia, the keystone to the arch, the finger in the dike. Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam. In the past, our policy-makers have sometimes issued contradictory statements on this point - but the long history of Chinese invasions of Southeast Asia being stopped by Vietnamese warriors should have removed all doubt on this subject.
“Moreover, the independence of a Free Vietnam is crucial to the free world in fields other than the military. Her economy is essential to the economy of Southeast Asia; and her political liberty is an inspiration to those seeking to obtain or maintain their liberty in all parts of Asia - and indeed the world. The fundamental tenets of this nation’s foreign policy, in short, depend in considerable measure upon a strong and free Vietnamese nation.
“(2) Secondly, Vietnam represents a proving ground of democracy in Asia. However we may choose to ignore it or deprecate it, the rising prestige and influence of Communist China in Asia are unchallengable facts. Vietnam represents the alternative to Communist dictatorship. If this democratic experiment fails, if some one million refugees have fled the totalitarianism of the North only to find neither freedom nor security in the South, then weakness, not strength, will characterize the meaning of democracy in the minds of still more Asians. The United States is directly responsible for this experiment - it is playing an important role in the laboratory where it is being conducted. We cannot afford to permit that experiment to fail.
“(3) Third and in somewhat similar fashion, Vietnam represents a test of American responsibility and determination in Asia. If we are not the parents of little Vietnam, then surely we are the godparents. We presided at its birth, we gave assistance to its life, we have helped to shape its future. As French influence in the political, economic and military spheres has declined in Vietnam, American influence has steadily grown. This is our offspring - we cannot abandon it, we cannot ignore its needs. And if it falls victim to any of the perils that threaten its existence - Communism, political anarchy, poverty and the rest - then the United States, with some justification, will be held responsible; and our prestige in Asia will sink to a new low.
“(4) Fourth and finally, America’s stake in Vietnam, in her strength and in her security, is a very selfish one - for it can be measured, in the last analysis, in terms of American lives and American dollars. It is now well known that we were at one time on the brink of war in Indo-china - a war which could well have been more costly, more exhausting and less conclusive than any war we have ever known. The threat to such war is not now altogether removed form the horizon. Military weakness, political instability or economic failure in the new state of Vietnam could change almost overnight the apparent security which has increasingly characterized that area under the leadership of Premier Diem. And the key position of Vietnam in Southeast Asia, as already discussed, makes inevitable the involvement of this nation’s security in any new outbreak of trouble.
Stephen Miller is the man, whether immigration or foreign affairs. What makes him so effective is his considered beliefs and the fire in his belly to sell his position. What a refreshing respite from the RINO Swamp creatures.
Why not make Syria the new liberal state and ship all the libs there to show us how to do it right?
“I would like to know we aren’t abandoning the Kurds there”
That is a huge concern of mine as well. The Kurds can and will fight to maintain their security, if they have weapons up to the task. If the Saudis can provide anti-tank, counter artillery and air defense capabilities to them, Turkey could be deterred from invading.
Manbij might be the test case.
My other big concern is reining in Iran. Hopefully there is a decisive strategy there for regime change, rather than a decades-long, draining, half-stepping approach.
Amen
Your post needs a “like” button.
Decimate means to reduce by one tenth, I think the Latin word you want to use is PULVIS, meaning to reduce to dust.
President Trump is delivering on another campaign promise.
I wish every politician would deliver on their campaign promises.
Plus, imho, it’s good foreign policy.
5.56mm
They want us to lots of money for them and protection.
For what you ask?
The answer is that, “live fire exercises give all the Brass Hats and politicians a huge woody”.
Where else can you get real combat testing of equipment and tactics?
“If a few of our young men and women have to die in the process, so be it, it’s not gonna be my kid”.
Typical REMF attitude.
Exactly. We send our own troops to prison if they get a little rough with the enemy.
We would have been better off dropping bundles of cash, drugs and guns. Liberals without parachutes would have been nice also. If a liberal survives then they would have declared war on us.
First, Erdogan has to be lulled into a sense of certainty in regards to his arrogance. He will do fanciful things to assure he is on the way to restoration of the Great World Caliphate based in Ankara, then something called hubris, or karma, or similar, will extend its leveling blade, reaping the whirlwind.
But Erdogan has to succeed in putting himself into an untenable place, paint himself into a corner, and he will, from where it shall be much easier to neutralize and remove him from the equation.
Much like Morsi of Egypt. It wax the young Turks, the colonels and the rallied masses, that eventually overthrew the Ottoman Empire.
ROEs are garbage.
If we send warriors to war, the ROE should be: kill everything that breathes and moves, and if a building is over 6” tall, blow it up to less than 3”.
“Why are we in Germany and Japan?
The sergeants took a vote. Weekend liberty is better in Japan and Germany than in Zimbabwe or Syria.
:)
“Why not make Syria the new liberal state and ship all the libs there to show us how to do it right?”
You are now in the running for Secretary of State.
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