Pete Hegseth-Sec Def Nominee

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Actually, the problem is that the DoD is NOT run like a business. There is little oversight and almost no accountability.  And nobody gets fired for debacles like the Afghanistan withdrawl. 

 

Never passed an audit, LOL. Seems those responsible for that debacle are at last going to meet justice.

[BigStar]

12 hours ago, pattayasan said:

 

He was and remains quite capable fo fulfilling his duties. He was definitely declining but not to the extent that you imagine. Otherwise he would have resigned. The dems merely figured that the MAGA hit jobs were landing to needed to take that out of the equation. Had he resigned earlier and given Harris free reign things may have been different.

 

You wish, but he was just reading from teleprompters what his handlers told him to read, and even that had obviously become difficult. Had he resigned earlier, Harris would have faced a primary, as Pelosi herself implied recently. Then she wouldn't have been the Dem candidate. That would have been different, but then the Dems still didn't have anyone that compelling and wouldn't have been willing to change any of their failed policies--and therefore have lost to Trump anyway.

 

[pattayasan]

2 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Since you are clearly not up to speed on matters of intelligence or intelligence itself, I'll explain what an experienced SecDef might do if a CCP spy balloon took a leisurely flight over the entire US....

 

Such a SecDef would know that there is nothing such a balloon could gather that they couldn't get from a Google search. No harm done. The SecDef would also know that capturing such a balloon would reveal the capabilities of Chinese spy tech. Oh, and by monitoring the balloon during its path, the telemetry or how it might send any data to receiving stations, plus where those stations might be, would also be gained.

 

It appears the balloon was a rogue operation by an idiot general in the PLA, and his stupidity was the US' gain.

 

Now about the Afghanistan withdrawal.....Biden had to deal with a 20 year war with $hundreds of billions of equipment delivered over those two decades, and do it AFTER his predecessor had not only set the timetable for withdrawal, but had also released 5000 Taliban prisoners being held by the US and Afghanistan govt. Many of those prisoners now run the country, while others were battle-hardened jihadis. The withdrawal had to happen with those 5000 not only free, but angry and out for retribution, such as engaging in suicide bomb attacks.

 

Had Biden/Austin done what critics bark about---such as withdrawing 20 years of equipment, how many more soldiers would you have been willing to sacrifice for that? Do you think the Taliban would have just sat back and not taking pot shots at soldiers and contractors gathering and shipping gear back to the US?

 

The withdrawal involved not only US troops and contractors, but also Afghanis who had assisted the US throughout the 20 year war. I guess you would have abandoned them and let the Taliban slaughter all of them and their families.

 

If you had ever served in a war zone or in Afghanistan, you would know that it is impossible to defend against every type of attack. Troops are exposed simply because the mission requires it.

 

Remember the soldiers killed in Mali while 47 was 45? Whose fault was that?  Also, do you considerate it appropriate for a President, when speaking with the spouse of one of the dead, telling her to "get over it; he knew the risks"? How about the soldiers injured when Iran sent missiles to a base near Irbil in Iraq during 45's term, especially when he claimed 'no harm done', when in fact many were seriously injured? That attack was a response to 45's order to take out Gen Suleimani.

 

 

 

The problem here is that the wingnuts at Fox News think they know better than the experts in the defense forces. Unfortunately, they are not the target audience and Fox knows it..

[sqwakvfr]

3 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Yeah put the fox in charge of the henhouse.

 

Hows that Lloyd Austin guy working out? Military in Great shape. BTW, you arent an American, are you.

Yes I am and a combat veteran.  I care about the men and women under the command of Sec Def Hegseth.  

[pattayasan]

Just now, sqwakvfr said:

Yes I am and a combat veteran.  I care about the men and women under the command of Sec Def Hegseth.  

 

My money is on Hegseth being in court for giving illegal orders within a year.

[sqwakvfr]

3 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Actually, the problem is that the DoD is NOT run like a business. There is little oversight and almost no accountability.  And nobody gets fired for debacles like the Afghanistan withdrawl. 

In some aspects the DOD is run like a business: 

1) RFI-Request for Information on future contracts

2) RFP_Frequest for Proposals on future contracts

3) Competitive Bidding Process then occurrs

4) DCAA-Defense Contract Audit Ageny.  The title explains it and these guys and girls were snoopiing around in many parts of Kuwait, A-stan and Iraq.  

Utlimately final decisions are made by Sec Def after consulting with POTUS.

 

 

[sqwakvfr]

3 minutes ago, pattayasan said:

 

My money is on Hegseth being in court for giving illegal orders within a year.

I hope that does not happen.  Dem Senators have to decide who they want out of the running?  My money is on Gaetz. 

[pattayasan]

1 minute ago, sqwakvfr said:

In some aspects the DOD is run like a business: 

1) RFI-Request for Information on future contracts

2) RFP_Frequest for Proposals on future contracts

3) Competitive Bidding Process then occurrs

4) DCAA-Defense Contract Audit Ageny.  The title explains it and these guys and girls were snoopiing around in many parts of Kuwait, A-stan and Iraq.  

Utlimately final decisions are made by Sec Def after consulting with POTUS.

 

 

 

hmm. Musk. Competitive bidding process. .

[sqwakvfr]

10 minutes ago, pattayasan said:

 

hmm. Musk. Competitive bidding process. .

It has been like that for decades.  What Dwight Eisenhower warned the world about has come true: The Military Industrial Complex thrives globally.  Musk and/or Hegseth cannot touch it.  If certains banks are too big to fail then the Defense Industry is the beast that cannot be killed.  Experiened military officers knows this and work within the belly of the beast. 

Musk's Space X has been dealing with NASA but I do not know what their contracting process is.  I am very versed in the DOD process and it is a beast. No one can kill it and I doubt Musk or Fox and Friends host Pete can impact it. 

Edited 12 minutes ago by sqwakvfr

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

It has been like that for decades.  What Dwight Eisenhower warned the world about has come true: The Military Industrial Complex thrives globally.  Musk and/or Hegseth cannot touch it.  If certains banks are too big to fail then the Defense Industry is the beast that cannot be killed.  Experiened military officers knows this and work within the belly of the beast. 

Musk's Space X has been dealing with NASA but I do not know what their contracting process is.  I am very versed in the DOD process and it is a beast. No one can kill it and I doubt Musk or Fox and Friends host Pete can impact it. 

And nobody questions Trump and Musk unauthorized talks with Putin with no records? 

 

 

[sqwakvfr]

1 minute ago, Hummin said:

And nobody questions Trump and Musk unauthorized talks with Putin with no records? 

 

 

Trump has not been sworn in yet and Musk is a private citzen and he can talk to anyone and anywhere.  

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

Trump has not been sworn in yet and Musk is a private citzen and he can talk to anyone and anywhere.  

He had talks with Putin while he was president off record, and Musk do have interests of national security through space x and starlink

Edited 1 minute ago by Hummin