Mattis has âtight lipsâ and Trump could not be more pleased.
Mercs? Trumpâs buddies were lobbying heavily in this direction.
If there is a decision to ramp up the forces, thatâs not usually a secret, as I recall. Iâm probably reading too much into the silence. Maybe he just doesnât want Trump to formulate a new policy on Twitter the moment the official announcement goes out.
Enjoy your career of selling gold and reverse mortgages at 2 AM on FoxNews after your stint with President Spirochete comes to an end, Tight Lips.
The Trump strategy on Afghanistan is âGet on thy knees and pray there is another violent Nazi march somewhere that the media can talk about because we donât have a strategyâ.
Trumpâs Afghanistan strategy is probably to let Eric Prince and his mercenaries fight. Theyâd be subcontractors to Trumpâs newly formed company Trump Warfare Corp., N.A. Trump would get 10% off the top.
#MAGA
Thatâs the best that Mattis deserves. The strategy meeting was held without the current top commander on the ground in Afghanistan being present - and Mattis went along with this. Thatâs not a stance of honor in my opinion.
Donât be stupid. Mattis is the Secretary of Defense, and a life-long believer in the chain of command, not an autocrat. Heâs not going to tell the press anything if heâs expecting the official statement to come from POTUS. More, if this meeting was about setting direction and long-term strategic planning, anything revealed to the press at this stage might endanger US lives.
Itâs one thing to talk about a specific goal everyone knows you have, like retaking an occupied city, and set a rough time-frame when your goal includes flushing the enemy out into the open. The city canât be made into a seriously hardened target, especially against air power. If you can get them to try to flee before the noose tightens, they run right out into the net. Thatâs sensible.
Taking that same approach toward the Taliban, who are at least partially comprised of life-long residents of the areas of Afghanistan they control, wouldnât flush them out. It would only give them a window to stockpile more into already-hardened, relatively secure cavern networks where air support is more or less useless.
Except the current theater commander said his viewpoints were represented by Mattis, who has been a boots-on-the-ground battlefield commander. If the in-theater brass had a problem with this, they wouldnât make that (or ANY) statement on this meeting. Mattis was doubtless briefed and brought up to speed, and probably has daily briefings on the Afghan situation.
The manâs got a sharp military mind with decades of battlefield and in-theater command experience. He doesnât need to pull the theater commanders out where they canât do their jobs in order to do his. Stop knee-jerking just because he reports to an imbecile.
The one time it would have made sense to look toward Russia for advice on something and he chooses ignore historyâŚ
Mattis did not mention that Gen. Joseph Votel, who as Central Command chief is responsible for directing the war in Afghanistan, was not invited to the Camp David talks. The top U.S. commander on the ground in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, also was not invited to attend.
But Gorka was there, right?
Mercenary Army Grifts Afghanis
I donât consider my skepticism about military strategy in this administration to be knee-jerk nor do I consider dommylucâs comments to be stupid. Youâre making assumptions about âdoubtlessâ and âdaily briefingsâ and are ready to credit both the substance and integrity of what is happening regarding Afghanistan. I hope youâre right but it is not unreasonable to question - especially when the administration has admitted that Erik Princeâs proposal to privatize that entire theatre for personal gain is being considered.
Thereâs questioning, and then thereâs straight-up attacking. Which one do âenjoy your career of selling gold and reverse mortgages at 2 AM on FoxNewsâ and âthatâs the best that Mattis deservesâ sound like to you?
Iâll trust the Marines I know who served under Jim Mattis in Iraq to have a decent measure of the manâs character until he demonstrates theyâre wrong. Mercenaries donât seem to square with what Mattis would approve of. With that in mind, thereâs basically two likely options that I see: either he put his foot down, and now heâs letting Trump take credit for listening to him (which is a smart move, because you let the blowhard take the credit and act like it was his idea to keep him listening), or Trumpâs ignored his advice. If thatâs the case, then undermining the command structure isnât going to do anyone any good, and would likely endanger lives on the ground.
Am I making assumptions? Maybe. Maybe Iâm just being optimistic, and taking the advice of people whose opinions I trust. And maybe if someone like Jim Mattis has gone completely around the bend, weâre all pretty much walking dead already, so adopting the pessimistic viewâwhich is just as based on assumptions of malfeasance and weakness from a man whoâs never displayed eitherâseems to me to be both premature and, frankly, defeatist.
Wow.
Afghanistan will still be around in the next election, because a real estate developer got it in his mind that heâs really a brilliant military strategist, who knows more than Central Command.
And the rural folk who send their daughters and sons into the Middle East Incorporated meat grinder will keep voting to leave their children in danger.
Our religious institutions are severely corrupted.
Trump will do what will make his base happy - thatâs a big big problem.
He is going to get people killed because he doesnât have the mental capacity to do the right thing and make âwiseâ decisions.
Trumpâs decisions are all about Trump⌠SAD
ERIC PRINCE, for about 10 billion a year, has offered to ârunâ the war for TRUMPfâŚwhat an insult to AMERICAâS MILITARY⌠after 15 years of the military personell., fighting and dyingâŚthey are told by a draft -dodger. âyour services are no longer needed, we will send in the hired hands to do the jobââŚAMERICAâS shaming is completed.
and, AFGHANISTANâS vast mineral resources will go to the âspoils of warâ groupâŚthat is what this is about,TRUMPf and PUTIN will âshareâ AFGHANISTANâs mineral/oil wealth.
Actually mercenaries are actually a good idea, because Erik Prince can give Trump or his sons 15% or 20% kickback, which is something that they will not get from the DoD.
What you are talking about? Heroin is the real wealth in Afghanistan, Erik Prince get to profit both ways. The only drawback from Trumps point of view is that the price of heroin might come down and there will be more over-doses, seriously eroding Trumpâs voter base.