Trump might not be the sociopath that he is made out to be, because his resistance to America's wars seem to be genuine, at least according to this article.
He was always hawkish on Iran, but if this article is true, it seems it was more than likely he would have brokered a deal with Iran, like he did with North Korea, rather than start a war.
It's sad to read how he really wanted to end America's wars, but the deep state overwhelmed him. But he must be a pretty strong guy to stand up to them as much as he did, as he was almost all alone doing so, especially with the MSM against him too.
Some excerpts -
In a meeting with his national security team in the summer of 2017, in which Secretary of Defense James Mattis recommended new military measures against Islamic State affiliates in North Africa, Trump expressed his frustration with the unending wars. “You guys want me to send troops everywhere,” Trump said, according to a Washington Post report. “What’s the justification?”
Trump had even given ambassadors the power to call a temporary halt to drone strikes, according to the Post story, causing further consternation at the Pentagon.
Trump had been calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan for years before his election, and he felt passionate about getting out. And Woodward reveals that the NSC’s chief of staff, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, supported the idea of U.S. withdrawal. When the National Security Council met in July 2017 to discuss Afghanistan, Trump interrupted McMaster’s initial presentation to explained why the war was “a disaster”: Nonexistent “ghost soldiers” in the Afghan army were being used to rip off the United States, as corrupt Afghan leaders milked the war and U.S. assistance to make money. When Tillerson tried to place Afghanistan in a “regional context,” Trump responded, “But how many more deaths? How many more lost limbs? How much longer are we going to be there?”
Mattis and Tillerson tried to persuade Trump of the merits of the wars, but -
Trump said nothing, according to Woodward’s account, but simply shook his head in disagreement. He eventually steered the discussion to an issue that was particularly irritating to him: U.S. military and economic relations with South Korea. “We spend $3.5 billion a year to have troops in South Korea,” Trump complained. “I don’t know why they’re there. … Let’s bring them all home!”
On Afghanistan -
Trump retorted angrily that the generals were “the architects of this mess” and that they have were “making it worse,” by asking him to add more troops to “something I don’t believe in.” Then Trump folded his arms and declared, “I want to get out. And you’re telling me the answer is to get deeper in.”
The American Herald Tribune
Gareth Porter - Could Trump Take Down the American Empire?
4 comments:
Trump could end the wars if he wanted to. I see no evidence that he wants to. The US President is commander in chief of the US military.
And what was the purpose of his unilaterally reneging on the Iran deal? Why did Trump spit in the eye of the Muslim world by declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel?
Moreover Trump remains a neoliberal. Yesterday the greedy insurance giants had him write an op-ed in USA Today saying that Universal Medicare would destroy the USA, erase U.S. borders, bring in millions more Muslims, and leave America open to terrorists.. Universal Medicare would reduce the USA to Venezuela. Universal Medicare would cause taxes to skyrocket. And on and on. All the usual lies.
The guy’s an a__hole.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/10/donald-trump-democrats-open-borders-medicare-all-single-payer-column/1560533002/
"The guy’s an a__hole." You left out lying.
The last guy who bucked the military complex was JFK. Just sayin’
BO was the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to bomb another Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The fact is simple, the asshole in the Oval is a puppet, willingly or not.
@ GLH:
Trump probably didn't write that op-ed, but he allowed his name to be used, so he owns it.
Happily, it made liberals pause their chatter about identity politics and the Russia-gate hoax long enough to ask, "How can an expansion of Medicare mean the elimination of Medicare? This is illogical."
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