From the NYT front page.

 

Not sure how Trump (or Obama) are to blame for this. At some point some general had to tell either or both of them, "this is the plan, it's going to work."

 

I won't pretend to know exactly how these sorts of raids get planned, vetted and approved, but this is from the Reuters article posted earlier:

 

U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.

 

As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.

 

Drumpf is taking white terrorism out of DHS counterterrorism programs:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trum...v-idUSKBN15G5VO

 

So much for "law and order". We all knew what that really meant.

Trump is taking white terrorism out of DHS counterterrorism programs:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trum...v-idUSKBN15G5VO

 

 

I wonder if that would effect investigations like this one.

 

3 Men Charged With Plotting Attack On Somali Immigrants In Kansas

I won't pretend to know exactly how these sorts of raids get planned, vetted and approved, but this is from the Reuters article posted earlier:

While this isn't one thing we can say with certainty...stop and ponder how people honestly think the Administration would have reacted had it gone well.

While its hard not to laugh about the absurdity of the American president dressing down the Australian PM, one of our best allies, in basically an introductory call, it is really scary and reenforces that we will have to be incredibly lucky to avoid unneccessary military action due to Trumps temper/ego. Remember when we heard he offered Kasich the VP and that he would have great power to run the country? I was hoping like hell that would be the case, that he would just be some weird chearleader and he let competent people run things. But if he gave up reigns it's going to Gen. Flynn.

From the NYT front page.

 

Not sure how Trump (or Obama) are to blame for this. At some point some general had to tell either or both of them, "this is the plan, it's going to work."

 

Jenks,

 

Without being there it is really hard to ascertain what if anything could have been done differently. That being said, I think this type of "leak" is a by-product of Trump's previous attacks on the intelligence community. When you say how smart you are, how much better you are, how dumb they are, it breeds this type of finger pointing.

 

Its possible someone in the military community wanted to get out ahead of the potential Trump tweet about how the "military failed him."

 

But again, impossible to know. For all we no the military told him "dont attack yet, they are waiting" or it could have been Trump saying "I dont think its a good time, do you really think we should?"

 

Unfortunately Trump's own actions have caused my immediate belief to be that it is the former (he insisted against their opinion) as opposed to the latter.

 

Thats the price you pay for what Trump is doing. And it is why most successful leaders dont act like him.

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/...-lands-backlash

 

Some good news today on Public Lands. This is definitely one of those rare areas where voters on the right and left of aisle can see eye to eye.

I won't pretend to know exactly how these sorts of raids get planned, vetted and approved, but this is from the Reuters article posted earlier:

 

Right, but again, to me that just screams that the DoD screwed up. That's their area of expertise. You can't fault a President for relying on his generals. If it came out that the generals kept advising Trump the plan wasn't going to work and they needed better intel, fine, but we don't really have that yet.

 

I mean yes, to SB's point, at the end of the day the guy that gives the order is responsible. But it's not some negligence on his part that the operation didn't go off without a hitch, which seems to be the implication in the article.

Jenks,

 

Without being there it is really hard to ascertain what if anything could have been done differently. That being said, I think this type of "leak" is a by-product of Trump's previous attacks on the intelligence community. When you say how smart you are, how much better you are, how dumb they are, it breeds this type of finger pointing.

 

Its possible someone in the military community wanted to get out ahead of the potential Trump tweet about how the "military failed him."

 

But again, impossible to know. For all we no the military told him "dont attack yet, they are waiting" or it could have been Trump saying "I dont think its a good time, do you really think we should?"

 

Unfortunately Trump's own actions have caused my immediate belief to be that it is the former (he insisted against their opinion) as opposed to the latter.

 

Thats the price you pay for what Trump is doing. And it is why most successful leaders dont act like him.

 

Totally agree. My first thought was he claimed to know more than the generals, so he opened himself up to this.

russia is great y'all.

Right, but again, to me that just screams that the DoD screwed up. That's their area of expertise. You can't fault a President for relying on his generals. If it came out that the generals kept advising Trump the plan wasn't going to work and they needed better intel, fine, but we don't really have that yet.

 

I mean yes, to SB's point, at the end of the day the guy that gives the order is responsible. But it's not some negligence on his part that the operation didn't go off without a hitch, which seems to be the implication in the article.

Why would Trump rely on his Generals? He has already said he knows far more about ISIS than they do.

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/...-lands-backlash

 

Some good news today on Public Lands. This is definitely one of those rare areas where voters on the right and left of aisle can see eye to eye.

:usa :usa :usa :usa

Right, but again, to me that just screams that the DoD screwed up. That's their area of expertise. You can't fault a President for relying on his generals. If it came out that the generals kept advising Trump the plan wasn't going to work and they needed better intel, fine, but we don't really have that yet.

 

I mean yes, to SB's point, at the end of the day the guy that gives the order is responsible. But it's not some negligence on his part that the operation didn't go off without a hitch, which seems to be the implication in the article.

 

I would imagine that there are all sorts of plans on the table/in the works all the time, and that ultimately it's the President's decision on if and when to execute them. For example, I know with the Bin Laden raid, there were some who thought the planned operation was too high of a risk at that time, and others who thought that the risk levels were acceptable.

 

Maybe we're just seeing the disgruntled side who said "this plan isn't ready yet" or "this plan is a dumb idea" and were proven right, but it's also possible that the operation wasn't fully ready yet but could have been improved via more intelligence. edit: I think what's unstated but clearly visible in the way it was phrased was that Trump didn't actually spend any time thinking about or evaluating this, either. Which, honestly, would anyone be surprised to learn he glanced it it once and then approved it before going off to watch cable news for hours?

Edited February 2, 20179 yr by StrangeSox

We are the United States of Russia. This is shocking on so many levels.

I would imagine that there are all sorts of plans on the table/in the works all the time, and that ultimately it's the President's decision on if and when to execute them. For example, I know with the Bin Laden raid, there were some who thought the planned operation was too high of a risk at that time, and others who thought that the risk levels were acceptable.

 

Maybe we're just seeing the disgruntled side who said "this plan isn't ready yet" or "this plan is a dumb idea" and were proven right, but it's also possible that the operation wasn't fully ready yet but could have been improved via more intelligence. edit: I think what's unstated but clearly visible in the way it was phrased was that Trump didn't actually spend any time thinking about or evaluating this, either. Which, honestly, would anyone be surprised to learn he glanced it it once and then approved it before going off to watch cable news for hours?

The real trick is - part of the reason why US Special Forces have, over the past 20 years, built up the reputation they have is - the command at the top has been reliable. The command at the top was professional enough to be able to contribute to risk evaluations on their own. The soldiers get all the deserved credit for their life being on the line, but if the top line command puts them in untenable situations because they fail in their job of assessing risk, people die.

 

Edit: Oh, and you know what might be a reasonable response to this type of report, even if driven by leaks to the press? This is the kind of thing the Congressional Armed Services Committees should look into. They have access to classified intel and it's their job to double check the executive branch on things exactly like this. Somehow I do not have a lot of confidence in that happening.

We are the United States of Russia. This is shocking on so many levels.

 

Look at the bright side. Combined as one, I think we can finally take down Canada for ice hockey gold next year.

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/...-lands-backlash

 

Some good news today on Public Lands. This is definitely one of those rare areas where voters on the right and left of aisle can see eye to eye.

 

I love how Chaffetz threw that bill onto Clintons lap in withdrawl

I love how Chaffetz threw that bill onto Clintons lap in withdrawl

 

Its a shame that they couldnt have put a moderate in his position. Because Ethics should be bi-partisan.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/02/opinions/yem...rgen/index.html

 

Why are Bannon and Kushner giving advice on SEAL raids?

 

This would be like Axelrod and Michelle Obama's brother calling the shots.

While its hard not to laugh about the absurdity of the American president dressing down the Australian PM, one of our best allies, in basically an introductory call, it is really scary and reenforces that we will have to be incredibly lucky to avoid unneccessary military action due to Trumps temper/ego. Remember when we heard he offered Kasich the VP and that he would have great power to run the country? I was hoping like hell that would be the case, that he would just be some weird chearleader and he let competent people run things. But if he gave up reigns it's going to Gen. Flynn.

Also kind of disconcerting that he can't see relieving 1200 or so of the most absolutely destitute people on the planet of having to live in an internment camp as some sort of waste of time because there is "nothing in it for us" and it's "such a dumb deal"... zero empathy. And he's making these comments on a day he was supposed to be going to a prayer breakfast. Wew, lad. As the kids on 4chan would say.

Also kind of disconcerting that he can't see relieving 1200 or so of the most absolutely destitute people on the planet of having to live in an internment camp as some sort of waste of time because there is "nothing in it for us" and it's "such a dumb deal"... zero empathy. And he's making these comments on a day he was supposed to be going to a prayer breakfast. Wew, lad. As the kids on 4chan would say.

He truly is a despicable mongrel.

Thoughts and prayers to all the victims of the Bowling Green massacre.

Thoughts and prayers to all the victims of the Bowling Green massacre.

 

Too soon.

Cant wait for the next recession. Once the regulations are stripped by the Chase-run cabinet we are going to have a few years of incredible gains and then the crash again. Hang on middle class.

Thoughts and prayers to all the victims of the Bowling Green massacre.

 

So far, the two major things they've used to justify their Muslim Ban are

 

1) A Canadian Trump supporter murdering 5 Muslims at a mosque in Quebec City

2) A thing that didn't actually happen