Top Military Officers Unload on Trump

[Leather_Lesbian]

You should check Obama's popularity, he's nowhere near as Trump is when it comes to trust and popularity.

Much Of The World Doesn't Trust President Trump

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that the percentage of those surveyed who expressed "no confidence" in Trump (64%) was a mirror image of the 64% who expressed confidence in President Barack Obama in a survey published in June 2017.


https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/7944...doesnt-trust-president-trump-pew-survey-finds

 

[allison22]

Trump brags about selling American troops to Saudi Arabia for cash

During President Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Friday, the president spoke about his positive relationship with Saudi Arabia, including how the country is paying to use American troops. Conservative Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who until recently was a Republican, responded to Trump’s remarks in a tweet, saying, “He sells troops.”

“Saudi Arabia is paying us for [our troops]. We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Trump said. “I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank.”

Trump continued, talking about U.S. troops as, essentially, mercenaries. “We are going to help them, but these rich countries have to pay for it. South Korea gave us $500 million… I said, ‘You gotta help us along. We have 32,000 soldiers in South Korea protecting you from North Korea. You’ve gotta pay.'”

Amash has been a vocal critic of the president and voted in favor of impeachment. He has made this criticism of Trump before. On Meet the Press in October, Amash said Trump’s use of the troops has broken his campaign promise to bring them home. “There are people who support the president, who believe things he says, but it’s pretty clear he’s not bringing home the troops. He’s just moving them to other parts of the Middle East,” Amash said.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...rican-troops-to-saudi-arabia-for-cash-936623/

 

[Schlank]

Much Of The World Doesn't Trust President Trump

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that the percentage of those surveyed who expressed "no confidence" in Trump (64%) was a mirror image of the 64% who expressed confidence in President Barack Obama in a survey published in June 2017.


https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/7944...doesnt-trust-president-trump-pew-survey-finds

Of course people don't trust Trump! Trump admitted to scamming students out of millions of dollars with his university scam! He admitted to defrauding charities! He's been sued over 3,000 times for refusing to honor his contracts and pay his bills! He's been caught lying more than 10,000 times since inauguration day! And he abandoned our Kurdish allies in the Middle East and left them to be slaughtered en masse!

Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy! Why would anybody trust him?

 

[jp55665566]

Of course people don't trust Trump! Trump admitted to scamming students out of millions of dollars with his university scam! He admitted to defrauding charities! He's been sued over 3,000 times for refusing to honor his contracts and pay his bills! He's been caught lying more than 10,000 times since inauguration day! And he abandoned our Kurdish allies in the Middle East and left them to be slaughtered en masse!

Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy! Why would anybody trust him?

Don't forget the children he delights in torturing!

 

[Leather_Lesbian]

Trump brags about selling American troops to Saudi Arabia for cash

During President Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Friday, the president spoke about his positive relationship with Saudi Arabia, including how the country is paying to use American troops. Conservative Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who until recently was a Republican, responded to Trump’s remarks in a tweet, saying, “He sells troops.”

“Saudi Arabia is paying us for [our troops]. We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Trump said. “I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank.”

Trump continued, talking about U.S. troops as, essentially, mercenaries. “We are going to help them, but these rich countries have to pay for it. South Korea gave us $500 million… I said, ‘You gotta help us along. We have 32,000 soldiers in South Korea protecting you from North Korea. You’ve gotta pay.'”

Amash has been a vocal critic of the president and voted in favor of impeachment. He has made this criticism of Trump before. On Meet the Press in October, Amash said Trump’s use of the troops has broken his campaign promise to bring them home. “There are people who support the president, who believe things he says, but it’s pretty clear he’s not bringing home the troops. He’s just moving them to other parts of the Middle East,” Amash said.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...rican-troops-to-saudi-arabia-for-cash-936623/

Trump sees American soldiers as products that he can sell to foreign customers.

 

[Dumpington]

YDB95 writes: "Perhaps YOU should check Obama's popularity before you make claims like that."

Everybody that President Obama endorsed GOT BEAT - beginning in the 2010 midterms when his Democratic Party lost an amazing 63-House & 6-Senate seats! In 2012, Obama's name on the ballot did NOTHING to help his party win back the House, while in 2014 the Democrats LOST their control of the U.S. Senate (which the Republicans have controlled ever since!) And then, of course, there was 2016, with Barack & Michelle campaigning for Hillary Clinton in those all-important swing states, ALL of which she lost! And let's not leave out the Florida & Georgia's 2018 governor's races, when Barack's "popularity" contributed to two MORE Democratic Party losses!

allison22 writes: "Trump brags about selling American troops to Saudi Arabia for cash"

Schlank writes: "Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy! Why would anybody trust him?"

jp55665566 writes: "Don't forget the children he delights in torturing!"

Leather Lesbian writes: "Trump sees American soldiers as products that he can sell to foreign customers."

If Trump is re-elected in 2020, I've heard that he plans on making slavery LEGAL again (just like it still is in certain Islamic countries!) And Trump will persecute gay people and even execute them in public (just like they're executed today in countries like Iran!) And Trump will REVERSE advances made in women's rights (just as women's rights are non-existent today in so many Muslim nations!)

We really need to vote in more Islamic legislators such as the Democratic Party is doing in states like Michigan & Minnesota! And we should ALL be outraged over the death of General Qassem Soleimani, who did so much for LGBT/transgendered rights in Iran (which I'm guessing is probably why Rose McGowan, Michael Moore, & Nancy Pelosi were all so upset to see him killed!)

 

[allison22]

The wonder is that Trump has not made catastrophic mistakes yet. They are coming. Luck is a disloyal mistress. Trump will not be able to handle a serious crises. His incompetence, impulsiveness, and ignorance will be exposed for all to see.

People who work closely with him see it all the time. News of his incompetence, impulsiveness and ignorance make their way into the public sphere quite often.


Trump's ignorance concerned members of Trump's inner circle that early on, they staged an intervention inside a secure vault in the Pentagon to try to preserve the world order.

By that point, six months into his administration, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had grown alarmed by gaping holes in Trump’s knowledge of history, especially the key alliances forged following World War II. Trump had dismissed allies as worthless, cozied up to authoritarian regimes in Russia and elsewhere, and advocated withdrawing troops from strategic outposts and active theaters alike.


Trump organized his unorthodox worldview under the simplistic banner of “America First,” but Mattis, Tillerson, and Cohn feared his proposals were rash, barely considered, and a danger to America’s superpower standing. They also felt that many of Trump’s impulsive ideas stemmed from his lack of familiarity with U.S. history and, even, where countries were located. To have a useful discussion with him, the trio agreed, they had to create a basic knowledge, a shared language.

So on July 20, 2017, Mattis invited Trump to the Tank for what he, Tillerson, and Cohn had carefully organized as a tailored tutorial. What happened inside the Tank that day crystallized the commander in chief’s berating, derisive and dismissive manner, foreshadowing decisions such as the one earlier this month that brought the United States to the brink of war with Iran. The Tank meeting was a turning point in Trump’s presidency. Rather than getting him to appreciate America’s traditional role and alliances, Trump began to tune out and eventually push away the experts who believed their duty was to protect the country by restraining his more dangerous impulses.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...dbb8a6-387e-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html

 

[magicalmoments]

There must be some really interesting memoirs coming out in the next few years. Tell alls about working with trump. Can't wait.

 

[KeithD]

There must be some really interesting memoirs coming out in the next few years. Tell alls about working with trump. Can't wait.

There have been a steady stream of them for a couple of years. His supporters don't read, though. Or comprehend what little they read.

 

[Articulate_and_Analytical]

Here's something else I guarantee is pissing off America's military officers.

Trump cancelled military operations in the Black Sea, because he was afraid that such operations would offend Vladimir Putin and make it awkward for Russian ships that try to attack Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea.

The US Navy canceled a routine Black Sea patrol after Trump complained that it was hostile to Russia

President Donald Trump called his then-national security adviser John Bolton to complain about a routine US Navy transit in the Black Sea after seeing a CNN report that framed the operation as a counter to Russia.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-canceled-patrol-trump-said-it-was-hostile-russia-2019-11

Trump is all about getting America to roll over and surrender to the Russians and help them dominate on the global stage.

And recently the Pentagon published a 150-page assessment. The paper describes the ways in which the United States is enabling Russia’s far-reaching “grand strategy” to establish itself as a dominant global superpower.


The report’s executive summary identifies three goals of Russia’s “gray zone” campaign to use subtle, non-military efforts subvert democracies and exercise influence: 1) to [r]eclaim and secure Russia’s influence over former Soviet nations; 2) to “[r]egain worldwide recognition as a ‘great power'”; and 3) to portray itself as a “reliable actor” in order to “gain economic, military, and political influence over nations worldwide and to refine the rules and norms that currently govern the world order.” The nation’s interference in America’s election is only one element of this campaign. Russia is also coordinating efforts to sow disinformation in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe; engage in espionage; and execute other multi-faceted acts of “hybrid warfare.”


According to the report, Russia feels that the downfall of the U.S. is integral to Russia’s ability to accomplish its objectives. “The Russian leadership’s worldview is zero-sum; it believes that in order for Russia to win, the US must lose.”

The report, which was authored by over 20 national security experts inside and outside of the Pentagon, explains that America’s “greatest weakness” in thwarting Russia’s efforts is a lack of coordination among government agencies. “The US democratic, federal system of government hinders the ability to effectively plan, coordinate, and execute a comprehensive strategy across all federal government agencies with equities in succeeding the gray zone,” the report reads. “To accomplish this type of planning and strategy development would require decisions to be made, and funding to be coordinated, across all branches of the federal government.”

A “comprehensive strategy,” must be developed, including large-scale organization within the State Department, as well as taking active steps to discourage the burgeoning alliance between Russia and China, who “share an affinity for authoritarian stability” and are working to “expand their influence at the expense of US and allied powers seen to be in decline.”

In other words, democracy's place in the global order is in grave danger unless the United States gets its shit together.

The report contrasts starkly with Trump’s assessment of the situation, which falls somewhere between bemused ambivalence and abject ignorance. Just prior to the G-20 summit in Japan, Putin described the democracy as becoming “obsolete.” When Trump was asked by the New York Times what he made of Putin’s comments on Western-style democracy, he made clear that he has no understanding of the idea of the tenets on which America was founded, responding by attacking San Francisco and Los Angeles, cities “run by liberal people” in the western United States. “Sad to look at,” the president said.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...-enabling-putin-plan-global-dominance-854009/

 

[Dumpington]

Articulate and Analytical writes: "Trump is all about getting America to roll over and surrender to the Russians and help them dominate on the global stage."

Yes, the Russians WANT an economically & politically powerful America to squeeze the balls of Russia's ally Iran, forcing that Islamic theocracy to contend with riots in its own streets against the mullahs running that nation! Makes perfect sense!

"Russia feels that the downfall of the U.S. is integral to Russia’s ability to accomplish its objectives."

If the Russians wanted a stagnant U.S. economy and an American military in disrepair, why didn't they simply prefer to leave Barack Obama in charge? President Obama even shipped billion of dollars to Russia's Iranian ally, and made empty-threats against Russia's other ally, Syria!

"In other words, democracy's place in the global order is in grave danger unless the United States gets its shit together."

The United States DID succeed in getting its "shit together" back on January of 2017, when we inaugurated a new president! And let's be serious here - if the ONLY people voting in American elections were members of the U.S. military (and our nation's veterans), the Democratic Party might have two dozen members in the U.S. House with perhaps three or four U.S. Senators! The American military is NOT a hotbed of Democratic Party support! Just the OPPOSITE, in fact!

 

[Secretive_Victoria]

Only Republicans could attack a decorated military veteran on behalf of a draft-dodger, while still claiming to support our troops and veterans.

 

[allison22]

Over 1,000 military veterans have signed a letter criticizing President Trump for his "actions and insults" toward Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, which they say show he's "prioritized a personal vendetta over our national security."


https://www.axios.com/veterans-trum...qrfI21pdhWVSLm2WIfWsIOD1VtX2WNQN6YvUEJy_dWVqA

 

[YDB95]

Why do all those veterans hate America so much?!?!?!

 

[KeithD]

Why do all those veterans hate America so much?!?!?!

I was wondering why only 1,000 have signed it.

 

[jomar]

There have been a steady stream of them for a couple of years. His supporters don't read, though. Or comprehend what little they read.

They brush them off as disgruntled and biased despite the 100% inter-rater reliability. They simply dismiss Pulitzer Prize winning journalists like Bob Woodward.

 

[Leather_Lesbian]

As the Trump administration has downplayed climate change as a national priority, it has increasingly fallen to members of the military and intelligence establishment to argue to keep focus and resources on climate change. On the whole, they treat global warming not as an environmental phenomenon or a moral imperative, but, rather as a force capable of altering the nation’s security outlook.

The calculus is, as it happens, more like simple math. “They see climate change as an impediment on their ability to fight future wars,” explains Michael Klare, author of the new book “All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change.” Klare says that bases in the North and South Pacific prone to flooding, and missile interceptors in Alaska are in danger from melting permafrost, and the U.S. could be hampered in potential conflict with Russia and China. “Their capacity to wage war is being degraded by climate change.”

That much is clear in a series of dire scenarios outlined in a new report by the Center for Climate and Security, a nonpartisan Washington think tank that considers global warming from a national security perspective. It depicts a volatile world where water-hoarding warlords and border-closing nationalists upend long-established security arrangements, plunging the world into chaos. In other words, the stuff of a Hollywood “cli-fi” thriller, only playing out in real time, in real life.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/climate-...l-catastrophe-new-report-warns-143247714.html

 

[Schlank]

Navy Leaders Left Out of Talks to Cut Shipbuilding, Move Funds to Pay for Border Wall
https://www.military.com/daily-news...-shipbuilding-move-funds-pay-border-wall.html

 

[Articulate_and_Analytical]

‘Revolting sycophancy’: Retired general rains hell on Mike Pence for ‘devotion’ to Trump as pandemic spreads

Vice President Mike Pence got a severe scolding from retired four-star General Barry McCaffrey on Saturday morning for his fawning praise of Donald Trump during a Rose Garden press conference to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, the former cabinet official who served under President Bill Clinton lashed out the whole Trump administration for undermining U.S. national security with the handling of the health crisis while targetting Pence by name.



https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/re...ndemic-spreads/?utm_source=push_notifications

 

[LLCox]

I don't care WHO does it.

Get the fuck out of the Mid East/ Asia/ Europe

 

[Jesus_Ateo]

I’m A Combat Veteran. Trump’s Inability To Tell The Truth Is Costing American Lives.


I am a veteran war fighter and part of a Gold Star family who has served honorably in some of our country’s finest military units. I have watched how President Donald Trump has handled the COVID-19 pandemic so far and I believe if he is to successfully lead this country to victory over it, he must heed hard-earned lessons from the military on being a leader as we continue to battle the virus.

War fighting is serious business. Military leaders deploy daily risk assessments on real-world scenarios that impact lives. Furthermore, attention to detail and trust in process is necessary if the mission is to succeed. Our current global health crisis is showing that our commander-in-chief is not making decisions based on facts or paying attention to the important details, and this could prove deadly for countless Americans.

To be frank, I believe Trump’s inability to tell the truth is already costing American lives. I know from personal experience that military leaders are trained ― from their first to their last day of service ― to understand that without proper planning based on facts and trust in experts, mission execution will end in failure. For America, at this moment, mission failure is not an option because mission failure will cost lives.

We know that the mission at hand is not about the individual, but the greater good of our country. Our self-proclaimed “wartime” president displays a daily misunderstanding of the mission, facts and the way in which his administration should execute this mission to save as many American lives as possible during this unprecedented war on the pandemic.

Principles of military leadership that I followed every day while in the military demanded that I:

BE: Technically and tactically proficient. Possess character traits: courage, commitment, candor, competence and integrity.

KNOW: yourself and seek self-improvement. Continually develop.

DO: Seek responsibility and take responsibility. Set the example. Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished.

The presidency is the most solemn office that can be held in our nation and we must be able to trust the president’s word, policies and process. When President Trump goes on television in front of every American citizen and contradicts his own team of scientists and doctors, he is neither following the principles I laid out above, nor is he displaying “courage, candor, integrity or competence” during this battle to save lives.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/combat-veteran-trump-coronavirus_n_5e7d41fcc5b6256a7a27a4ff

 

[Perfectly_shaped_buttocks]

Capt. Brett Crozier, fired this week from command of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, joins a growing list of Navy officers who attempted to raise concerns about the safety of their ships and crew, only to pay with their jobs.

Crozier wrote a letter dated March 30 warning that an outbreak of the coronavirus on his ship was a threat to his crew of some 4,000 sailors unless they disembarked and quarantined.



“We are not at war, and therefore cannot allow a single sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily,” Crozier wrote. “Decisive action is required now.”


We do not know all the facts that prompted the letter. But we know that once it was published in the San Francisco Chronicle, the acting secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly, relieved Crozier of command. Crozier, 50, had been a rising star in the officer corps. He will remain in the Navy at his current rank, though his career future is uncertain. In viral videos, Crozier’s sailors can be seen cheering him loudly as he disembarks the Roosevelt, alone, before driving away.

Navy experts believe that the cumulative effects of the service’s decisions over the past several years to punish those who speak out will result in silencing sailors with legitimate concerns about their health and safety.

“This may have the effect of chilling the responses of other commanding officers because it will be perceived, fairly or not, as a shoot the messenger scenario,” said James Stavridis, a retired admiral and former head of the United States Naval Institute, who called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the dismissal.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/na...sailors-report/?utm_source=push_notifications

 

[Schlank]

Military vets say Trump’s acting Navy secretary ‘spit on their service’ with attack on fired captain

Some of the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt weren’t the only people with military ties to be upset by acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly’s speech denouncing Capt. Brett Crozier.

Modly, who ordered Crozier’s dismissal last week after he wrote a memo detailing the dire COVID-19-related situation aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt that subsequently leaked to the meda, drew jeers from the ship’s crew after he called Crozier “stupid” and accused him of committing “betrayal.”


In addition to the sailors, several veterans took to Twitter to denounce Modly’s attacks on a man who received fervent cheers from his crew members as he departed the ship after being fired.


Retired Marine David Lapan said that Modly “failed as a leader and should resign,” while Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a veteran of the United States Air Force, said Modly should either reinstate Crozier or step down.

Retired General Barry McCaffrey, meanwhile, called on Modly to resign and called his speech “the worst judgment by a defense official possible.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/mi...n-their-service-with-attack-on-fired-captain/

 

[JackLuis]

IDEA: Maybe Trump Should Fire His A-Hole (Acting) Navy Secretary

Y'all remember those videos of the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt cheering and chanting the name of their captain, Brett Crozier, as he departed the aircraft carrier after being relieved of command, because he sent a letter pleading for the Trump administration not to kill his 4,000 sailors with their brutal incompetence and neglect?

The last confirmed Navy Secretary was fired for refusing to obey an illegal order from Donald Trump, because Trump fires people who get in the way of his crimes. He also fires them for being good at their jobs and following the law, in general.

That's why Thomas Modly is the (acting) Navy secretary. Here's what he told the sailors aboard the Roosevelt Monday morning about why he fired their beloved captain. Is Crozier "too naive or too stupid" to command an aircraft carrier? Modly says maybe!

Read the whole thing if you'd like, but here are the important parts that will piss you off:

On Sunday night, he sent that email. And that email went out to a broad audience of people. [...] If he didn't think, in my opinion, that this information wasn't going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose.

He was betrayal [sic] -- of trust, with me, with his chain of command [...]

It was betrayal. And I can tell you one other thing, because he did that, he put it in the public's forum and it's now become a big contoversy in Washington DC and across the country. About a martyr CO, who wasn't getting the help he needed and therefore had to go through the Chain of Command, a chain of command which includes the media.

Telling the truth is the new stupidity, according to Moldy.

 

[JackLuis]

Trump admits he hasn’t read Capt. Brett Crozier’s letter — but is angry about it anyway

At President Donald Trump’s Monday press briefing for the coronavirus task force, he claimed that he was angry about Navy Capt. Brett Crozier’s leaked letter warning of COVID-19 spreading throughout the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt — but admitted he hadn’t even read what was in it.

“I think it was five pages long, single-spaced,” Trump said. “That’s a lot of words!” He also said that it was bad how many copies of the letter he had made — “I think 28.”

"Arggg, Grrr!" said the PeeResident. "He coded it in so many words!"