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Steve Bannon, Mark Levin Cite Freedom Center Reporting on Pentagon China Appeaser
Frontpage mag ^ | January 28, 2025 | Daniel Greenfield

Posted on 01/29/2025 4:31:53 AM PST by george76

President Trump's foreign policy is once again being hijacked out from under him..

Staffing a new administration is a big job. That’s why having trusted people doing the staffing is important.

Unfortunately, as I document in today’s article, “The Koch Appeasers Taking Over Trump’s Defense Department”, a network of Koch-funded people whose foreign policy is at odds with America First are filling up the Pentagon.

John A. Byers argued that “peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial prosperity” with China must be the watchwords for a second Trump administration. “The vastness and persistent growth of China’s trade” suggests a “future of mutually assured production rather than mutually assured destruction.”

Byers came out of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at the Bush School of Government which was funded by the Charles Koch Foundation. He has now been appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast Asia even though his Koch policy proposals run counter to Trump’s.

“A second Trump administration must also avoid a heightened trade war with China,” Byers had argued, “that will harm American prosperity”.

Byers explained that “vowing to avenge the ‘century of humiliation’ the CCP will not tolerate Western bullying about its internal affairs” and that if we don’t threaten China then “a more secure China is less likely to engage in excessive military buildups that heighten self-fulfilling spirals of fear and hostility.”

“American hegemony is over,” the future Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast Asia concluded.

...

Staffing a new administration is a big job. That’s why having trusted people doing the staffing is important.

Unfortunately, as I document in today’s article, “The Koch Appeasers Taking Over Trump’s Defense Department”, a network of Koch-funded people whose foreign policy is at odds with America First are filling up the Pentagon.

John A. Byers argued that “peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial prosperity” with China must be the watchwords for a second Trump administration. “The vastness and persistent growth of China’s trade” suggests a “future of mutually assured production rather than mutually assured destruction.”

Byers came out of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at the Bush School of Government which was funded by the Charles Koch Foundation. He has now been appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast Asia even though his Koch policy proposals run counter to Trump’s.

“A second Trump administration must also avoid a heightened trade war with China,” Byers had argued, “that will harm American prosperity”.

Byers explained that “vowing to avenge the ‘century of humiliation’ the CCP will not tolerate Western bullying about its internal affairs” and that if we don’t threaten China then “a more secure China is less likely to engage in excessive military buildups that heighten self-fulfilling spirals of fear and hostility.”

“American hegemony is over,” the future Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast Asia concluded.


TOPICS: China; Foreign Affairs; Government; Iran; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War
KEYWORDS: appeasers; defense; defensedepartment; dod; johnabyers; koch; kochappeasers

1 posted on 01/29/2025 4:31:53 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

bkmk


2 posted on 01/29/2025 4:49:04 AM PST by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
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To: george76

This doesn’t really make any sense. The non-profit Pete Hegseth led was funded primarily by the Koch Brothers. So how can you keep Koch people out if the Secretary is a Koch person. “Although one of the newer veterans’ organizations, CVA quickly became a noted conservative voice on veterans’ issues and policy, in part because of the group’s financial ties to the billionaire Koch brothers. In 2014, Hegseth was recorded telling a Koch convention that exploiting VA failures in caring for veterans “created a new line of defense against the march toward socialized medicine, educating veterans and Americans in the process.” https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/26/ceo-vets-group-backed-by-koch-brothers-resigns-campaign-heats-up.html


3 posted on 01/29/2025 5:05:43 AM PST by PK1991 ( )
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To: PK1991

It depends on what the Koch-funded non-profit group is doing. Helping veterans is not controversial. Caving to Red China is.


4 posted on 01/29/2025 6:08:36 AM PST by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper)
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To: george76

Who is in the Defense Department has nothing to do with what US policy towards China and Iran is going to be. That is up to President Trump

Looks like the GOP-E cactus for perpetual war is upset that their strum and drang approach to foreign policy is being challenged

Tell you what clown show. Put on a uniform and pick up a gun if you want war with China and Iran so badly


5 posted on 01/29/2025 6:49:52 AM PST by MNJohnnie
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To: MNJohnnie

Resistance to communist world domination is because people just like war?


6 posted on 01/29/2025 8:18:44 AM PST by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: ansel12

Since Panama in 1989 we been perpetually at war with someone.

Why is that?

Who going to get gobs tons of money appropriated to them via Defense contracts?

“Oh my God, China, Russia and Iran are ganging up and we not ready to face them”

“The US current posture is ready to face any potential commendations of foes. China has internal structural issues that make aggression by them unlikely, Russia has proven to be something of a hollow threat by what we are seeing in Ukraine and the Iran’s are a proxy war threat unable to directly confront the US in open battle. While emergence technologies require the DOD to constantly revise capabilities, we need to be wise in how we focus that attention to plausible threats not politically manufactured angst and hype.”


7 posted on 01/29/2025 8:43:06 AM PST by MNJohnnie
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To: MNJohnnie

If everyone is misreading Communist China’s aggression and unexplainable military buildup into the world’s strongest military force, then you have nothing to worry about, it won’t be us or anyone else attacking them.


8 posted on 01/29/2025 8:58:08 AM PST by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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