The Donald Trump Score Card

Again, me

Again, MeAgain, I couldn't have said it better. It was all a TV reality show, because now they know Cohen went to Prague to meet with Russians. Maybe he paid the Moscow whores to keep silent?

 

Well, the Russians are saying the raid ruined any chance of UN inspectors investigation efforts. I think the raid is intended to distract from Mueller's discovery of Cohen going tp Prague...perhaps to pay off Russian hookers to keep silent. And maybe Flop Top had an affair with a 7 foot tall Russian named Boris Jacov?

 

I just saw on TV defense department and Trumpy representatives claiming that America's goal in Syria is to fight ISIS. To me it sounded like Hogwash, because ISIS is a Sunna Wahabist Salafist force...same as Saudi Arabia who Trumpy is very friendly with. In contrast, Shia Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon have been doing most of the work on fighting ISIS. The Shia fighters have for years been saying ISIS fighters have been equipped and supplied with American weapons and even brand news American pickup trucks. ISIS fighters were found to have American MREs for combat rations. It would not be too hard for investigators to track down the VIN numbers off these American pickup truck to figure out who sold them to ISIS...or gave them to ISIS? And ISIS has killed tens of thousands of civilians in contrast with 40 who the western powers claim died at the hand of Assad.

 

It's wag the dog time.

 

But will it work? It would only if it were protracted. I doubt that Trump is eager to escalate the encounter into a major conflict with Russia and Iran. I suspect the move was largely symbolic--to make a statement with minimum damage, but more than he inflicted last year, because it was a second offense. The truth is that Assad and his allies have effectively won in Syria. That town he wiped out with the chemicals was the last major pocket of resistance near Damascus. There are still some ISIS remnants, and the U.S. is backing a small resistance force in the west, but for the most part--game over! The Sunni majority will remain under the thumb of the Alawite minority. Trump will score some points with the public, as Reagan used to with his forays, but the dog will barely move. Stormy and Mueller will remain undeterred.

 

Exactly! It's Kabuki theater--all show, little substance.

 

Operation Desert Stormy.

 

Dropping bombs has been the only thing regarding Trump that the NYT has been called "restrained" and "proportional"

President Trump Talked Tough. But His Strike on Syria Was Restrained.

You know it's bad news when the NYT actually praises Trump

More instability in the middle east and more endless wars. I'm gonna take this weekend off from anything politics.

 

Some credit goes to Trump compared to his previous bombing. His public statement this time managed to not digress to the food at Mar-a-Lago and he didn't mistakenly say he bombed Iraq.

 

The NYT story seems like an accurate assessment. Do you think it isn't? Lots of symbolism and posturing while leaving Assad's planes and helicopters untouched, and no Russian or Iranian casualties. I wouldn't call it praising Trump so much as expressing relief that he didn't get further carried away. His initial bellicose tweets suggested something more drastic. An interesting thing to watch, though, is the reaction of his base, which, like yourself, tends to be isolationist. Wasn't it just last month that he said we're leaving Syria "very soon"? A person could get nose bleed trying to keep up with the changes in the party line.

 

First. I feel Trump is being very Obamaish by warning of an upcoming strike. Then allowing the enemy to move assets. Eff that. That is precisely how Obama kept us making little to no progress in the war. You don't play nice if you intend to win at war.

It doesn't help his appearance with how he feels about Russia. The bombing made him look like a pussy.

Second. Nothing he just did keeps us from leaving next week if he says so. We aren't entrenched in Syria. It's a civil war. Let them figure it out.

 

And it shows Trump has no stomach to tackle with North Korea...a country which could put up a serious defense.

 

A serious defense? That's laughable. Take a look at N. Korea map at night. But if we continue the dumbass approach of the last decade towards them, they will provide us more of a threat than they have managed to.

Take them apart now. Not 4 years from now.

 

I basically agree, but it's not exactly just a civil war. Russia and Iran are involved, and they have agendas which could cause trouble down the road. I think our objective remains eradication of the last remnants of ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria--not quite there yet.

 

You want to do that now or when Comey writes another book?

 

Let KSA take care of the region. It has always been them and Iran as the 2 major powers. Sell KSA all they need, let Russia do the same for Iran.

 

Okie, The Iraqis, The Kurds, The Syrians, and The Russians have done most of the work on ISIS. ISIS mysteriously has got all its weapons, all its pickup trucks, and all its MREs from the USA. It wouldn't take more than three weeks to track down the VIN numbers from Ford & Dodge to find out who sold the trucks and who shipped the trucks and who supports ISIS in a covert way. It just might be the same people who lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

 

KSA--& Israel? Might work. I wonder if we could avoid getting dragged into it, especially if our proxies mess up. On further reflection, I think this is risky business. As Stormountainman mentioned, our relationship with Saudi Arabia is, to say the least, complex. It is the major exporter of Wahabi/Salafi Islam to the world, which is the major source of radical Sunni fundamentalism. As for Israel, it is the target of both Sunni and Shiite animosity. We already supply both countries with arms and aid. Intuitively, I think relying on either of them to protect our interests is unpromising. As long as the region has oil and the west needs it, we have a stake in the Middle East.

 

Here's a possible explanation. How ISIS got weapons from U.S. and used them to take Iraq and Syria

 

Good article, Okie. It does not explain how American made surface to air and anti tank (TOW) rockets got to ISIS. My close friend from Ft Lewis told me all about the tank obliterating weapon i.e. TOW. and in that first photo the weapons in the rear are soviet but the ones in the foreground are FAL rifles like the Brits, Aussies, and Canadians use. I didn't see any Iraqi made Qadiseh rifles. Lots of them looked used...maybe captured from Iraqis or Libyans. That's how they shift stuff around to destabilize weak countries which have some desirable natural resources.