Category: Defense and Security

A Shooting War Could Begin in Any of These 3 Places -Soon

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Trump’s Decisions, Processes, and Personality Make Armed Conflict More Likely

But first an update:

Not too many days ago, I took Trump to task for failing to visit US troops in combat zones. Most presidents would have made several such trips at this point in their presidency.  But, finally, it is done. Trump last week visited troops in Afghanistan, helped serve a meal, talked with small groups of soldiers, and made no blatantly political or inappropriate speeches. I still think he should be impeached immediately, but let’s give credit where it’s deu. By all accounts,

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Think Trump Respects the Military? Think Again

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No President in History Has Done So Much to Harm the Military. And Trump is Just Beginning.

 

Our Military

The American military is an amazing institution. It’s ability to adapt, persevere, and win is nothing short of awesome. The people who are the armed forces and their families are among the best our nation has ever been privileged to have protecting us. If you watched the impeachment hearings last week, you got a taste of the ethos. The military and civil servants who testified made us all proud to be Americans.

But a military is always a force at risk.

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Reflections on Veterans Day – For Vets and Non-Vets Alike

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Occasions Like Veterans Day Offer a Much Needed Opportunity to Reflect

I had the good fortune to participate yesterday in a Veterans Day commemoration in our community.  I don’t often attend or provide part of the program at such gatherings. Yesterday reminded me why that is an error on my part. These are important reaffirmations of community on a very fundamental level.

I’d like to share with you a few observations that came out of the day for me that reflect the value of such gatherings. I hope they will encourage you to seek out such opportunities,

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The Death of al-Baghdadi is FULL of Lessons

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Will We Learn Any of Them?

 

The Delta Force mission that ended the life of terrorist leader al-Baghdadi is good news. Credit is due all around for making it happen. Such missions are never easy and always full of risks in every way imaginable. This is one of those moments made for presidential afterglow. Everyone from the president on down can look good, usually justifiably so. Yet, Donald Trump, in his inevitable manner, managed to screw it up. The press conference he held after the mission was cringe-worthy.

His announcement displayed everything wrong with how Donald Trump sees the world.

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

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In the Middle of All the Political News This week, I hear a Christmas Carol in My Head

 

The last few days have been dizzying in the speed and complexity of revelations about the Trump administration. To say anything less would be the Mother of All Understatements. It is coming fast and furious now, from all directions. More – much more – to follow, and at an increasing pace, I would wager.

I was trying to sort through the latest batch of all this a couple of days ago. Suddenly, in the back of my head (kind of an echo chamber effect – apparently,

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This is What Betrayal Looks Like on a Grand Scale

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The Kurds Suffered Over 11,000 deaths in Our Shared Fight against ISIS.                    Trump Thrashed That Sacrifice as an Afterthought

 

Let’s be clear about two things up front. First, the Kurds fought hard – are still fighting – for their own, valid reasons. They were not just helping us. Second, there are ties between the Syrian Kurds and the PKK, a shadowy group of Turkish Kurds fairly described often as Marxist terrorist. All of that is true. None of it justifies what Trump has done.

Trump’s precipitous decision (Whim? Reaction?

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Impeachment: Familiar Ground, New Territory, and the Pull of History

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Many Crossroads are Ahead. Oh, Yeah- and Elections are Next Year

 

Well, quite the week last week, wasn’t it? Impeachment went from a remote possibility with vague parameters to a fast-moving train. Looking around us now, we see interesting landmarks on our journey.

Two of these are strangely familiar.

One, it seemed that the move to impeach was stuck well short of enough votes to move forward. What happened? Seven House freshmen, all with military and national security service backgrounds, stood up and called for impeachment. Five of them are from tough,

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With Friends Like Us, Who Needs Enemies?

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Let’s review a few of the specifics.

EUROPE

  • President Trump has trash talked NATO from the beginning. The only time NATO activated its “attack on one is an attack on all” clause was when we are attacked on 9/11. Our allies responded, including with many deployments to Afghanistan at our request. Now our allies wonder if we would answer when called. Border states in Eastern Europe certainly wonder. So too the Russians. We are now the weak link in NATO. That was unthinkable for over 50 years.
  • Trump more than once tried to insert himself into the British elections.

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The Iran Almost-Strike – Good News, Bad News, Non-News

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This Story is a Many-Layered Cautionary Tale

This past week was, to put it mildly, quite the week for the Trump administration and foreign affairs. It is, in all candor, difficult to sort out. Let’s take a look at what we are hearing and see what we can make of it all.

First, it appears that a military strike was decided upon, then cancelled at the last minute. The Administration says it was cancelled because the president learned at the last moment that the strike would result in about 150 casualties. That seemed to him to be excessive as a retaliation for shooting down a drone.

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Are We Actually THAT Shortsighted and Selfish?

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Our choices for transportation don’t say much for us

American automotive firms are pretty much getting out of the car business. They are going almost exclusively to trucks and SUVs. They are leaving the automobile market to foreign companies.

One cannot blame them for this – they are going where the market tells them. You and I pretty much determine what General Motors, et al manufacture.

People have gone in this direction on a large scale because gasoline is a bit cheaper these days. Gas is not costly; so, gas mileage is not much of a factor for many of us anymore.

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