One of the most interesting 3 month periods of my 'lifetime education' was the 'strategy & policy' trimester at the Naval War College in the 1970s. Reviewing 'recurring themes' from the Peloponnesian Wars through current events--including Q&A sessions with National political & media leaders--left me a little reluctant to hip-shoot conclusions or judgments about the news reports du jour. That said, recent comments by Mike Pompeo seem on target,... pun intended. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rps9NVoMr78
Joe Biden is a coward. If I thought he was running things, instead of the Obama cadre, I'd be more assured he would be defeated in November. However, by these actions, I'm even further convinced Biden will not be the demo presidential candidate in November. Michelle will be drafted so Barack can have a 4th term as POTUS. Heaven help the USA.
I can think of something limp that Biden's carrying around that rhymes with 'stick."
We need to destroy - not just 'degrade' - Iran's ability to attack/harm our troops, our facilities and our strategic interests, along with those of our allies.
Like Toby Keith sang, "We'll shove a boot in your" (rectal orafice) "it's the American way."
@Obama won the Nobel prize and gave plane loads of cash to the mullah released terrorist back to there countries and sucked up to Putin his Secretary of State travelled the world on our dime and accomplished nothing Trump did more to calm the world and promote peace than Obama and Biden plus he looked out for American interests so what the hell is so bad about that
We might be in a little better shape if we hadn't fomented catastrophes in Libya and particularly Syria (thanks Barry and Hillary), not to mention earlier escapades in Iraq and Afghanistan (other than the fact they most of the country is still in the Stone Age, I supported bombing the Taliban out of existence, then getting out. See: History). Now we're essentially bogged down in Ukraine. But out of them all, only the hated Trump took any action at all against the prime mover of mayhem, the Mullahs of Iran. Biden is all you say he is, an incredible train-wreck. But we have so over-extended ourselves in endless wars there is little appetite for more.
A neighbor tries to kill you or your family 160 times over the last few months and succeeds on the 161st attempt. Does anyone believe that our military does have plan on plan to respond to these attacks? What does our President do? He tells a press conference. "We had a tough day."
Really? A tough day?
How about telling that to the families of the three kids that were murdered?
There's a time to talk and a time to act. You harm Americans or attack this country and we flatten you.
You don't tell the families whose children who were killed, "Don't you worry, we're getting ready to respond...proportionately that is."
You just act to end the threat, decisively, definitively, and without question. You don't wait to see if it's politically expedient Mr. Biden.
I don't want my President to be thought of as a coward and I surely don't want this country to be thought of as cowardly.
Maybe the next time you can tell Iran to be really, really, really careful.
Professor Mia Bloom... Wow, thanks Scott Slade for putting a progressive terrorist apologists on air to tell us assassins doesn't work (it worked just fine, Soleimani is dead), we shouldn't directly retaliate against Iran, and our policies supporting Israel are exacerbateing the violence, nevermind Hamas, backed by Iran, attacked Israel. The only way her position can be rationalized is the very presents of Israel is the root cause. Antisemite?
I'm going to play devil's advocate for a minute...
If we were not supporting wars with American tax dollars and military aid, both in Ukraine and in Israel, do you think the Houthis would be blocking ships and Iran-backed terrorists would be attacking our bases in the Middle East? We have spent so much money and sent so much of our own military equipment to fight proxy wars that we've weakened our own military and put our country at risk. Sure, Biden is a train wreck, but even Mitch McConnell cares more about Ukraine than our own border.
In times like this, I wish we would look back at 9/11. Osama bin Laden made it very clear why al Qaeda attacked our country, a statement we've even recently seen self-censored by the media. Bin Laden was trained by the CIA to lure the Soviet Union into a war with Afghanistan, and what did he do with those skills? He lured America into a 20-year war with Afghanistan that we eventually fled in disgrace. What are the terrorist groups doing to us now? It wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that we're being lured into another "endless" war we will eventually lose.
I have immediate family serving in active duty military and a son who draft-eligible. It pains me to see a foreign policy so mishandled by the Biden administration, but I recognize that there are Republicans just as culpable. My desire would be for us to stop spending money on proxy wars against countries and peoples who have not attacked us, while we use tax dollars to replenish and strengthen our military so we're not sitting here weak when the eventual attack against America comes.
(As a point of reference, I'm a former "give war a chance" neo-con, who supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It wasn't until my brother, a Major in the Army said to me in May 2022, "We shouldn't be supporting Ukraine. They're as bad as Russia," that I started to do a deep-dive into not only Ukraine but the US's involvement in foreign wars.)
Putin's justification for invading Ukraine is demonstrably BS.
While it is all but certain that Zelenskyy will have to capitulate and give up real estate to Russia to end the war, the objective is not to "defeat" Russia, it is to make Putin"s victory a Pyrrhic so he stops. Otherwise Putin will keep going.
Have spent more in the Middle East than we should while ignoring Central and South America, yes. The Monroe Doctrine is on a milk carton somewhere.
The way to reduce our investment in the Middle East is to support Israel and our other Muslim allies that now understand that a strong Israel is their best defense against crazy Muslims.
I wasn’t a fan of the politics of Gen Powell but his views on war were correct.
Go to war when you have to.
Set your goals and have an exit strategy (no forever wars).
Throw in the kitchen sink and make it quick.
Everyone knows that the problem is Iran. The Twelvers believe that setting the world on fire with war will herald the return of the twelfth Iman and world Islam.
I agree with you, Linda. We just seem to be really bad at the "get out" part of that strategy.
I'm too young to remember this happening, but I heard recently that when our base in Lebanon was attacked in the early 80s, Reagan withdrew our troops from Lebanon. No one I know would say Reagan was a weak leader, and it seems he understood that keeping a base in Lebanon during a war that was not ours did not further American interests in the world.
As much as I'm not a Trump fan, you're exactly right. Trump believed in a strong military and staying out of foreign wars. He had the appearance of being just unpredictable enough that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine under Trump's watch. I also don't think Trump would be allowing Netanyahu carte blanche with American's tax dollars to operate in Gaza "no questions asked." Friday night, Glenn Greenwald played a video from Gaza of the IDF shooting an unarmed civilian man in a small group holding a large white flag. It was worth watching.
I am not a Trump fan either, but I will definitely vote for him. Also, I will encourage others to ignore the exaggerations (he is a blowhard New Yorker) and vote for him as well.
As for Gaza, I will not read, listen, or watch anything produced in that crap hole of a territory. Information is propaganda from the leadership chosen by and supported by the people that live there in abject poverty. May God reach and bless their souls.
It needs to be America directly attacking Iran and the infrastructure that enabled these attacks. If some "stray bombs" hit the nuclear facilities too, well, some collateral damage is bound to happen, right?
The new version of "Hail To The Chief"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocm3WtxJ5LU
Brave Sir Joseph ran away.
Bravely ran away away.
When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Joseph turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
Swiftly taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
Bravest of the brave, Sir Joseph!
One of the most interesting 3 month periods of my 'lifetime education' was the 'strategy & policy' trimester at the Naval War College in the 1970s. Reviewing 'recurring themes' from the Peloponnesian Wars through current events--including Q&A sessions with National political & media leaders--left me a little reluctant to hip-shoot conclusions or judgments about the news reports du jour. That said, recent comments by Mike Pompeo seem on target,... pun intended. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rps9NVoMr78
Joe Biden is a coward. If I thought he was running things, instead of the Obama cadre, I'd be more assured he would be defeated in November. However, by these actions, I'm even further convinced Biden will not be the demo presidential candidate in November. Michelle will be drafted so Barack can have a 4th term as POTUS. Heaven help the USA.
I can think of something limp that Biden's carrying around that rhymes with 'stick."
We need to destroy - not just 'degrade' - Iran's ability to attack/harm our troops, our facilities and our strategic interests, along with those of our allies.
Like Toby Keith sang, "We'll shove a boot in your" (rectal orafice) "it's the American way."
@Obama won the Nobel prize and gave plane loads of cash to the mullah released terrorist back to there countries and sucked up to Putin his Secretary of State travelled the world on our dime and accomplished nothing Trump did more to calm the world and promote peace than Obama and Biden plus he looked out for American interests so what the hell is so bad about that
I sure hope whoever creates political ads for the Republican candidate for president uses these exact examples of Biden's track record...🎤
We might be in a little better shape if we hadn't fomented catastrophes in Libya and particularly Syria (thanks Barry and Hillary), not to mention earlier escapades in Iraq and Afghanistan (other than the fact they most of the country is still in the Stone Age, I supported bombing the Taliban out of existence, then getting out. See: History). Now we're essentially bogged down in Ukraine. But out of them all, only the hated Trump took any action at all against the prime mover of mayhem, the Mullahs of Iran. Biden is all you say he is, an incredible train-wreck. But we have so over-extended ourselves in endless wars there is little appetite for more.
I thought everyone would Love each other if Trump lost in 2020.??
Biden really should be tried for treason for actively working against every thing good for America and helping the enemies of America.
A neighbor tries to kill you or your family 160 times over the last few months and succeeds on the 161st attempt. Does anyone believe that our military does have plan on plan to respond to these attacks? What does our President do? He tells a press conference. "We had a tough day."
Really? A tough day?
How about telling that to the families of the three kids that were murdered?
There's a time to talk and a time to act. You harm Americans or attack this country and we flatten you.
You don't tell the families whose children who were killed, "Don't you worry, we're getting ready to respond...proportionately that is."
You just act to end the threat, decisively, definitively, and without question. You don't wait to see if it's politically expedient Mr. Biden.
I don't want my President to be thought of as a coward and I surely don't want this country to be thought of as cowardly.
Maybe the next time you can tell Iran to be really, really, really careful.
I have no doubt Biden has tucked for decades.
Is Jill a shriveled up prune or is the dogs nick name Skippy.
Professor Mia Bloom... Wow, thanks Scott Slade for putting a progressive terrorist apologists on air to tell us assassins doesn't work (it worked just fine, Soleimani is dead), we shouldn't directly retaliate against Iran, and our policies supporting Israel are exacerbateing the violence, nevermind Hamas, backed by Iran, attacked Israel. The only way her position can be rationalized is the very presents of Israel is the root cause. Antisemite?
I'm going to play devil's advocate for a minute...
If we were not supporting wars with American tax dollars and military aid, both in Ukraine and in Israel, do you think the Houthis would be blocking ships and Iran-backed terrorists would be attacking our bases in the Middle East? We have spent so much money and sent so much of our own military equipment to fight proxy wars that we've weakened our own military and put our country at risk. Sure, Biden is a train wreck, but even Mitch McConnell cares more about Ukraine than our own border.
In times like this, I wish we would look back at 9/11. Osama bin Laden made it very clear why al Qaeda attacked our country, a statement we've even recently seen self-censored by the media. Bin Laden was trained by the CIA to lure the Soviet Union into a war with Afghanistan, and what did he do with those skills? He lured America into a 20-year war with Afghanistan that we eventually fled in disgrace. What are the terrorist groups doing to us now? It wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that we're being lured into another "endless" war we will eventually lose.
I have immediate family serving in active duty military and a son who draft-eligible. It pains me to see a foreign policy so mishandled by the Biden administration, but I recognize that there are Republicans just as culpable. My desire would be for us to stop spending money on proxy wars against countries and peoples who have not attacked us, while we use tax dollars to replenish and strengthen our military so we're not sitting here weak when the eventual attack against America comes.
(As a point of reference, I'm a former "give war a chance" neo-con, who supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It wasn't until my brother, a Major in the Army said to me in May 2022, "We shouldn't be supporting Ukraine. They're as bad as Russia," that I started to do a deep-dive into not only Ukraine but the US's involvement in foreign wars.)
https://open.substack.com/pub/ewerickson/p/the-three-paths-forward?r=4uy3m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Putin's justification for invading Ukraine is demonstrably BS.
While it is all but certain that Zelenskyy will have to capitulate and give up real estate to Russia to end the war, the objective is not to "defeat" Russia, it is to make Putin"s victory a Pyrrhic so he stops. Otherwise Putin will keep going.
Have spent more in the Middle East than we should while ignoring Central and South America, yes. The Monroe Doctrine is on a milk carton somewhere.
The way to reduce our investment in the Middle East is to support Israel and our other Muslim allies that now understand that a strong Israel is their best defense against crazy Muslims.
That is the “devil’s advocacy” to be honest.
I wasn’t a fan of the politics of Gen Powell but his views on war were correct.
Go to war when you have to.
Set your goals and have an exit strategy (no forever wars).
Throw in the kitchen sink and make it quick.
Everyone knows that the problem is Iran. The Twelvers believe that setting the world on fire with war will herald the return of the twelfth Iman and world Islam.
I remember being angry with Secretary Powell in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Now I can safely say, I was wrong, and he was right.
I believe the get in and get out strategy. Knock the crap out of them and then leave. Do it again and we will be back and it will be worse.
The other shoe, a majority domestic terrorists attack with the goal of body count and disruption, is inevitable and likely to be directed by Iran.
If we kick the s#!t out of them now maybe they think twice.
I agree with you, Linda. We just seem to be really bad at the "get out" part of that strategy.
I'm too young to remember this happening, but I heard recently that when our base in Lebanon was attacked in the early 80s, Reagan withdrew our troops from Lebanon. No one I know would say Reagan was a weak leader, and it seems he understood that keeping a base in Lebanon during a war that was not ours did not further American interests in the world.
Sitting here trying to count all of the wars that Trump got us into. Wait, what?
As much as I'm not a Trump fan, you're exactly right. Trump believed in a strong military and staying out of foreign wars. He had the appearance of being just unpredictable enough that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine under Trump's watch. I also don't think Trump would be allowing Netanyahu carte blanche with American's tax dollars to operate in Gaza "no questions asked." Friday night, Glenn Greenwald played a video from Gaza of the IDF shooting an unarmed civilian man in a small group holding a large white flag. It was worth watching.
I am not a Trump fan either, but I will definitely vote for him. Also, I will encourage others to ignore the exaggerations (he is a blowhard New Yorker) and vote for him as well.
As for Gaza, I will not read, listen, or watch anything produced in that crap hole of a territory. Information is propaganda from the leadership chosen by and supported by the people that live there in abject poverty. May God reach and bless their souls.
The video wasn't produced by Gazans.
It needs to be America directly attacking Iran and the infrastructure that enabled these attacks. If some "stray bombs" hit the nuclear facilities too, well, some collateral damage is bound to happen, right?