Trump's Afghanistan announcement

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Saturday, August 26, 2017 20:10
VIEWED: 4907
PAGE 1 of 1

SIGNYM

Thursday, August 24, 2017 3:51 AM

I think it's time we moved on from our very own self-created tempest-in-a-teapot arguments to something a little more substantial.

Quote:
Thank you very much. Thank you. Please be seated. Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Tillerson, members of the cabinet, General Dunford, Deputy Secretary Shanahan and Colonel Duggan. Most especially, thank you to the men and women of Fort Myer and every member of the United States military at home and abroad. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who were injured and lost after a tragic collision at sea as well as to those conducting the search and recovery efforts.

I am here tonight to lay out our path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia. But before I provide the details of our new strategy, I want to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts, and to all Americans listening at home. Since the founding of our republic, our country has produced a special class of heroes whose selflessness, courage, and resolve is unmatched in human history.

American patriots from every generation have given their last breath on the battlefield - for our nation and for our freedom. Through their lives, and though their lives were cut short, in their deeds they achieved total immortality. By following the heroic example of those who fought to preserve our republic, we can find the inspiration our country needs to unify, to heal and to remain one nation under God. The men and women of our military operate as one team, with one shared mission and one shared sense of purpose.

They transcend every line of race, ethnicity, creed and color to serve together and sacrifice together in absolutely perfect cohesion. That is because all service members are brothers and sisters. They are all part of the same family. It’s called the American family. They take the same oath, fight for the same flag and live according to the same law.

They are bound together by common purpose, mutual trust and selfless devotion to our nation and to each other. The soldier understands what we as a nation too often forget, that a wound inflicted upon on a single member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt.

And when one citizen suffers an injustice, we all suffer together. Loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. Love for America requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry and no tolerance for hate. The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home. We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other.

As we send our bravest to defeat our enemies overseas, and we will always win, let us find the courage to heal our divisions within. Let us make a simple promise to the men and women we ask to fight in our name, that when they return home from battle, they will find a country that has renewed the sacred bonds of love and loyalty that unite us together as one.

Thanks to the vigilance and skill of the American military, and of our many allies throughout the world, horrors on the scale of September 11, and nobody can ever forget that, have not been repeated on our shores. But we must acknowledge the reality I am here to talk about tonight, that nearly 16 years after September 11 attacks, after the extraordinary sacrifice of blood and treasure, the American people are weary of war without victory.

Nowhere is this more evident than with the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history - 17 years. I share the American people's frustration. I also share their frustration over a foreign policy that has spent too much time, energy, money, and most importantly, lives trying to rebuild countries in our own image instead of pursuing our security interests above all other considerations. That is why shortly after my inauguration, I directed Secretary of

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JEWELSTAITEFAN

Thursday, August 24, 2017 4:14 AM

Filtered thru NPR?

That is why you fail.

SIGNYM

Thursday, August 24, 2017 6:53 AM

It's a transcript, dude. If it will make you feel better, I'll see if I can find an official WH transcript.

The alt right is in a tizzy about this. Most see this "strategy" ... which really isn't ... as a betrayal of one of Trump's core promises, and an indication that he has conceded control of foreign policy to the military.

If this is Trump's real intention and not some sort of head-fake, then he's been outplayed by the MIC.

-----------
By the way, GSTRING, I predicted your response PERFECTLY
* ... and then you'll say I'm "too wordy". And then you will - as always- refuse to address the pertinent points, and respond with even more lies and even more bullshit personal attacks.*

And voila! Here it is http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=61835&mid=1
035581#1035581

SECOND

Thursday, August 24, 2017 7:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

If this is Trump's real intention and not some sort of head-fake, then he's been outplayed by the MIC.

MIC = Military Industrial Complex
MOAB = Mother of All Bombs.

Trump dropped the MOAB on Afghanistan in April. This speech was more of the same. Trump wasn't outplayed by the MIC. This is what he always wanted. He simply lied about what he would do while he campaigned. Trump faked sincerity.

www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-drops-the-mother-of-all-bombs-o
n-afghanistan

www.nationalreview.com/article/446823/moab-donald-trump-success

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

SIGNYM

Thursday, August 24, 2017 7:23 AM

Quote:
This is what he always wanted. - SECOND

And you know this .... how?

But, I see what you mean. Trump promised the military a budget increase. He also said (earlier) that he would stop "micromanaging" the military - the decision to drop MOAB was made in the field, not in the WH. And then, there were the missile strikes on Syria, and the military threats against N Korea.

So one possibility is that, in the State/CIA v. military internecine war, Trump decided on the military. In contrast to Hillary, who would have continued with State/CIA.

*****

One of the alt right that I heard (I forget who, it wasn't anybody well-known) said that they voted for Trump, even with his pro-military stance - because THEY thought the military would be more practical about warfare. But this person went on to say (in essence) that Generals like Mattis don't know dick about warfare, that it takes six seconds to start a war but they STILL haven't figured out how to get out of Afghanistan, and that a whole bunch of Generals should be fired for dereliction of duty. In his view, Trump's stint in a military academy makes military authorities like surrogate fathers, and that Trump places far too much trust in them. In this man's view, Tillerson is much more competent.

-----------
By the way, GSTRING, I predicted your response PERFECTLY
* ... and then you'll say I'm "too wordy". And then you will - as always- refuse to address the pertinent points, and respond with even more lies and even more bullshit personal attacks.*

And voila! Here it is http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=61835&mid=1
035581#1035581

SECOND

Thursday, August 24, 2017 8:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
This is what he always wanted. - SECOND
And you know this .... how?

Trump lies constantly. It is his defining characteristic:

www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/lists/people/comparing-hillary-clinto
n-donald-trump-truth-o-met/

www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/08/donald-trump-lied-and-lied-and-
lied-in-arizona/

Trump faked his way through his campaign. He never conducted himself as if political leadership carried with it an obligation to clarify issues instead of merely getting elected.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

6STRINGJOKER

Thursday, August 24, 2017 8:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
He simply lied about what he would do while he campaigned. Trump faked sincerity.

You might be right about that.

What's rather infuriating is that you say this every day in here but you believe after 8 years of Obama that he was somehow any different in that regard.

SECOND

Thursday, August 24, 2017 9:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:

What's rather infuriating is that you say this every day in here but you believe after 8 years of Obama that he was somehow any different in that regard.

Believe me (I stole Trump's phrase) I will never say it again after this final time:

Compare Trump to Obama. I’ll wait, but don’t come back with a know-nothing answer. Don’t be one of those people who refuse to discern who is mostly a liar and who sometimes lies and which of their statements are actually lies.

www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/

Trump in Arizona last night just told lie after lie after lie with barely a pause for breath. And everyone in the audience, most of whom probably don’t follow this stuff in gruesome detail, believed him. His 15-minute rant about Charlottesville—which he had prepared notes for—was just a flat-out lie about what he said, when he said it, and what he was criticized for. After that he lied about CNN turning off their cameras. He lied about the size of the protest outside. He lied about job creation. He lied about his tweeting. He lied (yet again) about the New York Times apologizing for its campaign coverage of him. He lied about the media ignoring big stories. He lied about auto companies bringing jobs back to America. He lied about how much illegal immigration has declined. He lied about extreme vetting. He lied about Obamacare. He lied about how close he was to repealing it. He lied about defense spending. He lied about clean coal. He lied about economic growth. He lied about corporate tax rates.

It was a 77-minute spittle-flecked presentation of alternate reality. And above all, it was a continuation of his war on the media. His goal is to convince all of his followers, not just the true believers, that everything in the mainstream press is a deliberate fiction and they shouldn’t believe any of it.

Republicans are very close to believing that literally nothing they hear is true unless they hear it from Trump. This is the road to catastrophe if it keeps up.

www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/08/donald-trump-lied-and-lied-and-
lied-in-arizona/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Thursday, August 24, 2017 9:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:

What's rather infuriating is that you say this every day in here but you believe after 8 years of Obama that he was somehow any different in that regard.
Believe me (I stole Trump's phrase) I will never say it again after this final time:

Compare Trump to Obama. I’ll wait, but don’t come back with a know-nothing answer. Don’t be one of those people who refuse to discern who is mostly a liar and who sometimes lies and which of their statements are actually lies.

www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/

Trump in Arizona last night just told lie after lie after lie with barely a pause for breath. And everyone in the audience, most of whom probably don’t follow this stuff in gruesome detail, believed him. His 15-minute rant about Charlottesville—which he had prepared notes for—was just a flat-out lie about what he said, when he said it, and what he was criticized for. After that he lied about CNN turning off their cameras. He lied about the size of the protest outside. He lied about job creation. He lied about his tweeting. He lied (yet again) about the New York Times apologizing for its campaign coverage of him. He lied about the media ignoring big stories. He lied about auto companies bringing jobs back to America. He lied about how much illegal immigration has declined. He lied about extreme vetting. He lied about Obamacare. He lied about how close he was to repealing it. He lied about defense spending. He lied about clean coal. He lied about economic growth. He lied about corporate tax rates.

It was a 77-minute spittle-flecked presentation of alternate reality. And above all, it was a continuation of his war on the media. His goal is to convince all of his followers, not just the true believers, that everything in the mainstream press is a deliberate fiction and they shouldn’t believe any of it.

Republicans are very close to believing that literally nothing they hear is true unless they hear it from Trump. This is the road to catastrophe if it keeps up.

www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/08/donald-trump-lied-and-lied-and-
lied-in-arizona/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

using a Libtard filter like politifact or motherjones as your reference standard?
Really?
Not even making any pretense of an attempt at balance or non-bias?
Great foundation to build upon. Not.

6STRINGJOKER

Thursday, August 24, 2017 10:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Believe me (I stole Trump's phrase) I will never say it again after this final time:

I am so tempted to put that in my signature, even though I just admonished everyone else for their signatures yesterday.

WISHIMAY

Thursday, August 24, 2017 11:10 AM

DEFLECT DEFLECT DEFLECT

WHAT DOES OBAMA OR HILLARY HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING RIGHT NOW???

Not a goddamn thing.

Can you really do another three years of deflecting all the stupid crap Trump does by bringing up ancient history, EVERY TIME??

If you can, you are even dumber than I thought. In fact every time one of you idiots tries to deflect

HERE'S YER SIGN.

1KIKI

Thursday, August 24, 2017 11:45 AM

cliff notes

Thank you very much
path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia
for our nation and for our freedom
enemies overseas
American people are weary of war without victory
not trying to rebuild countries in our own image
instead of pursuing our security interests
instinct was to pull out
But
three fundamental conclusions about America's core interests in Afghanistan
1 honorable and enduring outcome ... victory ... win
2 a rapid exit would create a vacuum ... As a result ... ISIS
3 security threats in Afghanistan and the broader region are 20 U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations
committed to stripping terrorists of their territory, cutting off their funding and exposing the false allure of their evil ideology
break their will, dry up their recruitment, keep them from crossing our borders
America's interests are ... stop the resurgence of safe havens ... prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists
American strategy shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions
integration of all instruments of American power: diplomatic, economic, and military
no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens
develop its strategic partnership with India
lifted restrictions on fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy
expand authority for American armed forces to target networks
victory — attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaida, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge
NATO allies and global partners to support
we will make common cause with any nation that chooses to stand and fight alongside us against this global threat

Trump is not the problem. He set himself against the Deep State's agenda. And the Deep State's been heading for WWIII for years.
As for you, you're just a Deep State useful idiot, furthering its agenda. So I hope you enjoy cesium in your coffee. You've earned it.

1KIKI

Thursday, August 24, 2017 12:13 PM

It's a great job of melding Trump's campaign promises to go after ISIS with the fiction the US is really, truly against terrorists. Really. We are.

Trump is not the problem. He set himself against the Deep State's agenda. And the Deep State's been heading for WWIII for years.
As for you, you're just a Deep State useful idiot, furthering its agenda. So I hope you enjoy cesium in your coffee. You've earned it.

6STRINGJOKER

Thursday, August 24, 2017 12:23 PM

Hey kiki,

Why don't you look at Wishy's past and see how many times she blamed GWB for Obama's failings?

That would be interesting.

SHINYGOODGUY

Thursday, August 24, 2017 1:21 PM

Say that reminds me............

Notice how his mouth never moves, well...almost

Very craftily worded conundrum.

SGG

SECOND

Thursday, August 24, 2017 4:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

using a Libtard filter like politifact or motherjones as your reference standard?
Really?
Not even making any pretense of an attempt at balance or non-bias?
Great foundation to build upon. Not.

To get at their style of fact-checking, I have to quote a little of it, but you could look at the whole thing, you know:
www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/aug/22/fact-checking-pre
sident-donald-trumps-campaign-ral/

Trump said in Phoenix, "Economic growth has surged to 2.6 percent … Remember I said we’re going to try and hit 3 percent, we’re already at 2.6 percent, maybe I’ll have to increase my offer."

Trump actually promised 4 percent GDP growth during the campaign. At the presidential debate in Las Vegas, he said: "And I actually think we can go higher than 4 percent. I think you can go to 5 percent or 6 percent."

The GDP indeed grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent between April and June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, more than double the rate at which it grew in the first quarter (1.2 percent).

Trump said in Phoenix, "This was the scene of my first rally speech. Right? The crowds were so big, almost as big as tonight."

Trump is known to exaggerate his crowds, and he exaggerated the size of that crowd that first came to see him back in July 2015 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Then-candidate Trump described an audience of 10,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 people coming to see him for his July 11, 2015, speech.

But the city fire department said capacity for the ballroom where Trump spoke in 2015 was 4,200 people. The doors were closed at 4,169 attendees, said Phoenix Fire Department spokeswoman Shelly Jamison.

For the record, the 2015 Phoenix rally was his second campaign event. Trump held a campaign rally June 17, 2015, in New Hampshire.

Just to make a final point: Afghanistan's Taliban are not forgiving of Presidential exaggeration, unlike say, a crowd of Arizona Republicans.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

6STRINGJOKER

Thursday, August 24, 2017 6:57 PM

I haven't paid attention to any crowd sizes after the election, but his crowds were huge before the election. He wasn't making that up.

BTW, Wishy...

You lefties keep the behavior of the last six months up, it's going to be 7 more years of Trump that we can blame stuff on Obama and Hillary for, not only 3.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Thursday, August 24, 2017 11:25 PM

Undercounting crowds and audiences of non-liberal interests has been a Libtard sport for decades, not merely years.

WISHIMAY

Friday, August 25, 2017 10:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:
Hey kiki,

Why don't you look at Wishy's past and see how many times she blamed GWB for Obama's failings?

I wasn't in RWED much pre-2009 and didn't get involved in many political issues, because as ineffectual as Obama was in many things, he wasn't ignorant and offensive as Trump is. GWB was not the brightest Pres, but he was more of a joke than despicable. I didn't have much of an opinion on him because I was busy trying to survive raising a small child. Do your own dirty work, lazy troll.

6STRINGJOKER

Friday, August 25, 2017 10:17 AM

Nope... nothing important Wishy adds to the conversation here either.

Just more diarrhea of the fingers.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Friday, August 25, 2017 10:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:
Hey kiki,

Why don't you look at Wishy's past and see how many times she blamed GWB for Obama's failings?
I wasn't in RWED much pre-2009 and didn't get involved in many political issues, because as ineffectual as Obama was in many things, he wasn't ignorant and offensive as Trump is. GWB was not the brightest Pres, but he was more of a joke than despicable. I didn't have much of an opinion on him because I was busy trying to survive raising a small child. Do your own dirty work, lazy troll.

Is her comprehension failing? Or is her reply merely incomplete?

Although Obama wreaked havoc pre-2009, it wasn't as POTUS. Obama began Occupy Oval Office in 2009. That would be when Bobo and other Libtards started blaming his failures on GWB.

SIGNYM

Saturday, August 26, 2017 5:51 PM

Quote:
Thank you
Afghanistan and South Asia (India and Pakistan. Poor Bangladesh is just too poor to mention!).

The wonderfulness of people of entered the military
Togetherness
Winning!

But ... war without victory.

Three conclusion about America's core interests in Afghanistan.

First, good money and good lives after bad, like Vietnam

Second, the dominos will fall to al Qaeda and ISIS, like Vietnam
Because, 9-11! Terrorists!

Third because terrorist! Horrible terrorists! Over there! Nuclear!

And, winning!

America's interests are clear. We must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten America from waaaaay over there! Nuclear! Afghanistan! Yellowcake! (Oh, wait, that was from before ... nevermind)

Integration of all instruments of American power: diplomatic, economic, and military. Because, we weren't doing that before? State/ CIA were squabbling with Prntagon?

Killing terrorists. Over there.

Pakistan. Terrorists. Who threaten us from over there.

India big (like China) More Afghanistan aid. Defeat one-belt-one-road.

Military freedom and military money.

Winning!
Fighting there so we don't have to fight here!
More winning!

*******

As people much smarter than me said ...I'll know Trump is serious when the (CIA) poppy fields start burning.

-----------
By the way, GSTRING, I predicted your response PERFECTLY
* ... and then you'll say I'm "too wordy". And then you will - as always- refuse to address the pertinent points, and respond with even more lies and even more bullshit personal attacks.*

And voila! Here it is http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=61835&mid=1
035581#1035581

6STRINGJOKER

Saturday, August 26, 2017 8:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
Is her comprehension failing? Or is her reply merely incomplete?

Pick one.