Pentagon chief Mattis quits, citing policy differences with Trump

[fullcave]

The neocons are pushing back. 

[morrobay]

8 hours ago, bristolboy said:

The question is could Russia have actually delivered on that offer. They tried the same thing in 2016 and Assad firmly nixed it.

Who cares, let the Russians have that mess. And let the Russians and Iran fight Sunni  ISIS. Don't forget that Iran is shia

[morrobay]

12 minutes ago, fullcave said:

The neocons are pushing back. 

And also the democrats. So many factions for never ending war. Get out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. 

[JAG]

20 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

I generally tend to agree with most, but not all, of Trumps decisions and actions, but not this one.  Mathis is a rare breed, even for a Marine Corps General.  As a 20 year Marine myself, I know what I speak of.  And losing him, his insight and input, will be major.  This man knows the enemy.  He knows how to deal with enemy.  And he knows how to kick their butts.  It will be hard to replace him with anyone even close to his qualifications. 

 

Perhaps he has got tired of trying to keep up with all the new enemies that Mr Trump is making?

[Psimbo]

Mattis' resignation letter was pretty scathing when one reads it. I'm surprised he bit his tongue for so long.

 

As one pundit put it 'the last grownup has left the White House'. With the Donald currently having a temper tantrum over the shutdown and wall funding I hope the 'Football' is being kept well away from him.

[Psimbo]

4 hours ago, morrobay said:

And also the democrats. So many factions for never ending war. Get out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. 

So, normal US policy as we have seen over the past few years then- screw up a country and then just abandon it. What a great policy.

 

I was working in Iraq in 2011 and people openly stated that they wished Saddam was still there, at least under him they had basic sanitation, electricity and healthcare. He was contained and no threat to the West. The country is still stuffed up. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan and it could have been won if assets hadn't been moved to Cheney and Rumsfeld generated actions in Iraq. The Taliban were on the ropes in 2002.

 

Abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban is an insult to the memory of every service person and civilian who has died there over the past 17 years. ISIS in the Middle East is a direct result of American meddling.

 

Your foreign policy is a disgrace. At least Mattis had the cojones to resign over massive errors of 'judgement' by Trump.

 

This not an anti-American rant, merely the truth as seen without blinkers. 

[balo]

What an idiot ! How could Americans willingly been voting for this man? 

I think the whole election must have been rigged. 

 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, balo said:

What an idiot ! How could Americans willingly been voting for this man? 

I think the whole election must have been rigged. 

 

I wouldn't use the word rigged but the results were not legitimate due to Russian interference which we know for certain was widespread and massive and all about electing the compromised one -- Individual-1. So now we have a real crisis that is headed to even more dangerous uncharted territority. A compromised by hostile powers illegitimate president who has gone deeply ROGUE. It's not funny anymore if it ever was. This situation makes Nixon/Watergate look like a garden party.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Jingthing

[morrobay]

46 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

So, normal US policy as we have seen over the past few years then- screw up a country and then just abandon it. What a great policy.

 

I was working in Iraq in 2011 and people openly stated that they wished Saddam was still there, at least under him they had basic sanitation, electricity and healthcare. He was contained and no threat to the West. The country is still stuffed up. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan and it could have been won if assets hadn't been moved to Cheney and Rumsfeld generated actions in Iraq. The Taliban were on the ropes in 2002.

 

Abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban is an insult to the memory of every service person and civilian who has died there over the past 17 years. ISIS in the Middle East is a direct result of American meddling.

 

Your foreign policy is a disgrace. At least Mattis had the cojones to resign over massive errors of 'judgement' by Trump.

 

This not an anti-American rant, merely the truth as seen without blinkers. 

Sure sometimes a strongman is required to keep the lid on : Saddam and Ghadaffi . The U.S. destablized Iraq by dismantling the Iraq army.They destablized Libya and we get Benghazi . You supported the invasion of Afghanistan ??. The original and only reason the U.S. went into Afghanistan was going after bin laden who escaped there after 9/11. But instead of sending in Army Rangers to do the job right , the U,.S. contracted it out to the locals. That did not work out too well. So after blowing that the U.S. spends 17 years there - for what?  Nation building, schools and bridges that are promptly blown up by the taliban green on blue attacks .The Taliban have been there for ever. The Russians lost to them. Let them have it !! . Again : let the russians and iran have the fight with isis. Get out of syria ,iraq, afghanistan and libya now.  If you want to blame anyone , then get to the cause: bush , cheny and rumsfield . By the way the iraq war was very lucrative for chenys' business. https://corpwatch.org/article/halliburton-makes-killing-iraq-war

Edited December 22, 2018 by morrobay

[bristolboy]

12 minutes ago, morrobay said:

Sure sometimes a strongman is required to keep the lid on : Saddam and Ghadaffi . The U.S. destablized Iraq by dismantling the Iraq army.They destablized Libya and we get Benghazi . You supported the invasion of Afghanistan ??. The original and only reason the U.S. went into Afghanistan was going after bin laden who escaped there after 9/11. But instead of sending in Army Rangers to do the job right , the U,.S. contracted it out to the locals. That did not work out too well. So after blowing that the U.S. spends 17 years there - for what?  Nation building, schools and bridges that are promptly blown up by the taliban green on blue attacks .The Taliban have been there for ever. The Russians lost to them. Let them have it !! . Again : let the russians and iran have the fight with isis. Get out of syria ,iraq, afghanistan and libya now.  If you want to blame anyone , then get to the cause: bush , cheny and rumsfield . By the way the iraq war was very lucrative for chenys' business.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton

Mostly, I agree with the decision to get out of Syria. If it weren't for the Kurds, I would support entirely. But the problem is with the way Trump does things. Just a few days ago his envoy, Jeffrey was saying one thing and Trump abruptly undercuts him. He undercut the Saudis when he promised not to renege on the sanctions against Iran's oil. Some people foolishly applauded this move because it undercut the Saudis. Ha ha Trump wins again!. The trouble is that who is now going to Trust Trump on any promises he makes. It's easy to win at negotiating if you're going to go back on your word. But by now I'd say most nations will have caught on to the fact the Trump's promises mean nothing. Who's going to want to negotiate with the US with Trump in charge?

[mikebike]

54 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

So, normal US policy as we have seen over the past few years then

Normal since the Korean war.

[JAG]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I wouldn't use the word rigged but the results were not legitimate due to Russian interference which we know for certain was widespread and massive and all about electing the compromised one -- Individual-1. So now we have a real crisis that is headed to even more dangerous uncharted territority. A compromised by hostile powers illegitimate president who has gone deeply ROGUE. It's not funny anymore if it ever was. This situation makes Nixon/Watergate look like a garden party.

I would suggest that what taints the legitimacy of Mr Trump's presidency is not the Russian meddling in the election campaigns, whilst there is no doubt it happened, and Mr Trump and senior members of his team must have been aware of it, if not (perhaps they were) actively involved in it. The effect of such meddling is hard to establish. What, to my mind, very clearly colours his legitimacy is that the electoral college which put him in office ignored the simple fact that more (quite a lot more) people voted for the other candidate than voted for him. How can he be the legimate choice of the American people?

 

All these members of his executive staff, whose resignations we are now witnessing, must have been aware of that particular heffalump in the corner of The Oval Office watching when they were sworn in!

Edited December 22, 2018 by JAG

[sirineou]

"Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, submitted his resignation Friday because of President Donald Trump's decision to pull US forces out of Syria"

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/22/politics/brett-mcgurk-resignation/index.html