43 Comments
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Fadi Lama's avatar

WOW fantastic!

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ML's avatar

More on Trump 2.0. Please, a little perspective here, and it’s a doozy!

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-cabinet-nominees-were-completely-unqualified-compared-trumps

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Very good. Rachel Bladdow is about to be the most expensive MSM host ($30M/yr) to be let go. Anderson Cooper ($20M) right with her.

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ML's avatar

Wowww! Heads are rolling (and exploding!). It took 4 years of coordinated smearing, lying, stealing, and cheating (‘20) followed by senescent puppet Zhou and his minions in the law courts, and even 2 attempted assassinations for these MSM creeps to realize their product is defective and their ROI is…nul. It all beggars belief.

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ML's avatar

At least in the US this happens; in France it’s merrily we roll along…

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Waves in the EU will occur over time. Wait till Musk invests in a media platform in the UK/EU similar to X or EU regional. That'll shake things up.

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Francisco d’Anconia's avatar

If Iran did indeed deter Israel’s Air Force from entering Iranian airspace, it doesn’t matter how hawkish the Trump team is. Any non-proxy confrontation, and Israel itself can’t count as a proxy given that they have the same weapons and capabilities as the US ourselves, will reveal to the world the incredible lack of military advantage that $1T actually buys in the 21st century. So far the Houthi capabilities and dramatic successes have been hidden from the American public. In the middle of the ocean there’s no one to document a drone or a missile strike on a warship. When one ends up at the bottom of the ocean and doesn’t come back to port, the level of cope will be historic.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Can you envision the US fighting a proxy war in Yemen? I can. If Trump can't get the Houthi's to stop attacking cargo ships or others I think it will escalate.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

I have great difficulty seeing that. We already tried doing that for about 15 years--supporting AQAP and others, and we lost.

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It's Just Me's avatar

Remember that a lot of that $1T you cite is squandered on conferences, DEI, campaign contributions and so on.

Meanwhile, the Houthis and other competitors stick to the main thing. The main thing being lethal and effective.

Your point about a warship being sunk is true. I fear it happening.

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Manul's avatar

The US has invested heavily in wunderwaffe - expensive and complicated. Iran, and the Houthis, have invested in cheap drones and missiles, each of which costs thousands vs the several million it takes the US to shoot one down. That kind of asymmetry can't last long before the US runs out of missiles.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

This is pretty cool, if true:

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

 BREAKING: Trump team puts together a list of military officers to court martial involved in the botched Afghanistan withdrawal - NBC

Charges of "TREASON" are being considered for some officers...

They are also getting together a potential commission to investigate the withdrawal that resulted in American deaths.

WOAH.

The list includes both current and former U.S. military officials - and will be used to examine if they can be "court-martialed for their involvement."

“They’re taking it very seriously."

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Would be interesting to hear their "defense".

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Manul's avatar

My hope is that with all of Trump's potential "bluster" on this matter, a bunch of high ranking military brass will self-eliminate and retire now, and Trump won't have to clean them out. All of the generals are eligible for retirement, and leaving early won't effect the payout that much.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Their retirement and the perks they enjoy should be re-examined and if they played any part in what has been a corrupt go along, get along culture that has misspent our taxes then retirement should be less lucrative. Reduced payouts and restrictions on lobbying and roles in any military capacity onboards of subcontractors. These are not warriors and their criminal actions should result in public disgrace rendering them to roles as Walmart greeters.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Dishonorable discharges should take care of most of your list.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Yes!

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Manul's avatar

Sure - I'd like accountability. But the first thing is to get them out of the way so they can do no more damage. Then, like the DOJ has been scouring under every rock for perceived "J6 insurrection", for the next 4 years they can be subject to an ongoing investigation of their potentially unlawful activities.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

I agree they need to be side lined and investigated, and then publicly shamed.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

That may well be the case.

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Brother Ass's avatar

If it’s true and as indicated, retirement won’t shield them from what’s coming. This isn’t just about trimming the fat. It’s about accountability.

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Steel's avatar

I wonder how that might end up affecting Boeing. Boeing is private of course but incompetent contractors might find they have even bigger troubles ahead.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

However, some may decide they don't want to take any chances on working within an organization that enforces accountability.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Retirement should not be a safe escape from accoutability.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Public sector? Private sector? Both?

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Both. There should be role for them in government or military/geopolitical affairs and the private sector.

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Brother Ass's avatar

For sure. And, in that case, this initiative would be a boon for our side. I just wanted to point out that “the list” also includes people already retired.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

Yep. Milley.

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It's Just Me's avatar

Yes, Milley.

Didn't he straight up admit to disobeying Trump and talking to the Chinese?

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

But what about his Presidential Medal of Freedom?

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

His perks need to be examined and eliminated.

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Nov 17
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dissonant1's avatar

I generally agree with your assertions. My concern is that Netanyahu will not stop trying to involve the U.S. in a war and will feel emboldened in all of his desired actions (both before and after January) because he feels Trump will support whatever he does. Trump doesn't want war but Netanyahu does. The MIC and the Israel lobby do also. Trump is going to have to do a lot of fine-line walking to avoid greater military involvement in the ME. Iran is another player over which Trump does not have control.

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Nov 17
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dissonant1's avatar

Yep, I did see that about Musk. Very encouraging! It is also heartening to know Trump is well aware of what he faces and does not wish war. The purse strings will be an important tool in restraining Israel. How will that work with an AIPAC-bought Congress? I don't know.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

I'll try to throw you supporting evidence or rather a future possibly real "scenario". Let's say the Intel community and defense dept (Tulsi/Pete) come to Trump and say we have a situation where we can take out a high profile asset of another country (Soleimani for example). What would Tulsi recommend? Pete? Waltz? I'm guessing the scenario will play out where Trump repeats what he's done prior. Thoughts?

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Mark Wauck's avatar

I quoted Crooke recently saying that Trump is very angry about having been talked into the Soleimani assassination. It's still on him, but he's angry and likely gunshy now about such crazy capers.

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Nov 17
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Mark Wauck's avatar

While it's true that she has executed some flip flops in the past, I believe she's fundamentally a serious minded person who would do just that--provide Trump with the full story.

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Nov 17
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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Don't doubt your concerns and mine are similar. However scenarios like this will come up. How Trump and the administration react will be telling.

Regarding the PS; I don't think there is any reverb from being considered "accused of war crimes". I'm sure their conscience allowed them to sleep just fine as they were "acting in the best interests of the US" or so they say.

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It's Just Me's avatar

How would our countrymen react if other countries did to us what we have done to other countries? For example, if another country assassinated our Vice President, Speaker of the House or Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff because we killed Soleimani.

We have operated with impunity for a long time. Other nations are tired of this.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

I believe the US would consider this a "state of war" scenario.

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It's Just Me's avatar

Exactly.

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It's Just Me's avatar

Good thoughts.

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