President Trump’s acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller sent a memo to his Pentagon staff that signals he could have been appointed to carry out troop withdrawals in places like Afghanistan or Iraq.
In the memo, dated November 13th, Miller addresses his staff for the first time and makes a strong statement against “perpetual war.”
“We are not a people of perpetual war — it is the antithesis of everything for which we stand and for which our ancestors fought. All wars must end,” the memo reads. “Ending wars requires compromise and partnership. We met the challenge; we gave it our all. Now, it’s time to come home.”
While Miller did not call for an end to a specific war, President Trump recently expressed his desire to bring all US troops home from Afghanistan by Christmas. Douglas Macgregor was appointed as Miller’s advisor this week, a retired US Army colonel who has been outspoken in his belief that the US should immediately withdraw from Afghanistan.
President’s Pentagon shake-up that started with the firing of Mark Esper is rumored to have been done because of disagreements concerning troop withdrawals. Trump administration officials have told multiple media outlets that the president is still determined to bring home troops before leaving office.
Given Trumps flip flopping on this I will believe it when it happens
Everyone seems to be extremely wary to see if this pans out! Justifiably so!
The zionist/neo con warmongers are sure to run to congress (read AIPAC controlled), to the MIC, to the so-called think tanks , to the press, to try to kill any effort to pull the troops out. This is of course obscene pandering to israel and to their bank books. War is extremely profitable for the right people.
I applaud the news IF it pans out! I will wait to see. (I have noted a comment in another article that all of this with the new crew in the pentagon is a day late, a dollar short-prob the understatement of the day.)
I agree. But The War Party never wanted him and spent 3 yrs trying to regime-change him. They consider it strategic to maintain bases on the east of Iran as well as the west in Iraq and the south with the Gulf kingdoms and Saudis.
If Trump succeeds it will be somewhat redemptive, indicating that his 2016 pledge to end the Israeli war policy and NATO, and establish good relations with Russia was only frustrated by The Blob.
Guaranteed, a vote for Biden was a vote for forever war.
And a vote for Trump was also a vote for forever war(ring) whether it be with bombs or destroying countries economically. Yes leaving Afghanistan is a good thing but it’s not because Trump is an anti war president, it just means that this war wasn’t profitable. Trumps reasons for not warring were never about him being pro peace but more about “winning” them and them being economically feasible. And that wasn’t going to change in a second term. Saturating the world with weapons is exactly what “the Blob” wants. Same with NATO. If everyone ponies up, Trump is good. He also wanted an “Arab NATO” early on and recently his administration had talked up a NATO type alliance to fend off China’s aggression. I don’t doubt Biden will continue what Trump is doing but it will be more of the same and not a reversal of anything “good” Trump has done.
I grant, it’s a question of lesser evil. But the analysis which seems to me most congruent with the last 4 years sees Trump as an obstruction to the War Party, the global hegemonists. He said correctly in 2016 that the wars in the middle east were the biggest foreign policy mistake in American history, essentially enunciating a Kissingerian realist balance of power multipolar geopolitics, as opposed to Zbig Brzezinski’s winner take all “great game.”
Secondly, arming the NATO members, Israel, and the fake sheiks makes sense for a policy of disengagement.
It’s preparing them to fight their own wars, …and for sure goosing the profits of the domestic merchants of death. It’s diabolical; but, after all, much cheaper in blood and treasure, …and likely to end the same as Nixon’s “VietNamization”.
“He said correctly in 2016 that the wars in the middle east were the biggest foreign policy mistake in American history, but escalated all of them instead of ending them once elected.”
Fixed, no charge.
He did an assist for the fake sheiks in Yemen and Bahrain, and Yemen to preserve these critical strategic grounds. The only shooting war I can think of that he escalated was Somalia.
In a number of cases he issued the orders for drawdowns (at least 3 or 4 times that we know of for Syria) but was either bullied out of them or simply ignored.
He was under constant threat of prosecution, impeachment, criminal, and civil; and, knew for a certainty the former was a pure Deep State frame-up. To survive he needed to make powerful “friends”. Hence, the big tax cut, big increases in Pentagon budget, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, greenlighting pet CIA projects like the murders of Al Baghdadi & Suleimani, and economic war on Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Cuba, Palestine, and anyone doing business with them.
Additionally, he was too lazy or stupid to use the time-honored politician skills -bullying/greasing- to create a parliamentary constituency to enforce his policy orders and fire recalcitrant military and civil officers.
“The only shooting war I can think of that he escalated was Somalia”
There were more bombs dropped on Afghanistan in 2018 than in any of Obama’s years. 2019 also, I believe. Plus he lifted the rules of engagement(everywhere)to make killing easier. He had 4 years to cut off the Saudis in Yemen or he could have refrained from vetoing bills that would have limited that warring. Plus the artillery barrage on Syria not to mention two missile attacks based on bogus lies.
And Nixon/Kissinger increased the bombing as a defensive tactic while disengaging.
You’re refusing to acknowledge the power of The Blob to prevent his going whole-hog on his policy promises. The punitive missile attacks for Assad’s “use of chemical bombs” perfectly illustrate the point. Trump bombed a fake target in response.
“When you kill innocent children, innocent babies – babies, little babies – with a chemical gas that is so lethal … that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line . … That attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. Big impact … It’s very, very possible … that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.”
“It was a totally Trump show from beginning to end,” the senior adviser said. “A few of the president’s senior national security advisers viewed the mission as a minimized bad presidential decision, and one that they had an obligation to carry out.”
” The president was also initially opposed to the idea of giving the Russians advance warning before the strike, but reluctantly accepted it.”
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html
You made my point: “..senior NSA viewed the mission as a minimized bad presidential decision….” He threw a pacifier to the dogs of war. But the clincher is when Iran retaliated for the murder of Soleimani, BB, Bolton & co. considered they finally had the war of their dreams only to have DJT recall the bombers 10 min.s from target.
Call Trump a fool, clown, moron, degenerate, lazy, racist, egoist, narcissist, …whatever. I can easily agree with all that. The paramount issue for me is to destroy the Empire, the delusion of Manifest Destiny, that has plagued us since 1755 and return to the “little america” of Winthrop’s City on a Hill.
Objectively speaking Trump has materially contributed to that destruction begun in a major way by the Cheney/Bush neocons and their noble lie.
“He threw a pacifier to the dogs of war”
They weren’t asking for one in that situation. Read the article. Trump wanted something done and that was that.
I’m all for destroying the empire but in my opinion Trump has set that back. That’s why a feeble senile old man got almost 80 million votes.
Again you make my point: he’s “why a feeble old man got 80 million votes.” That’s to say, he significantly advanced the disrepute of the electoral institution. The Deep State was so afraid of Bernie getting those 8o million (cf., Lloyd Blankfein’s comment that if Bernie was nominated, he’d support Trump) it flagrantly cheated. This in addition to exposing the true nature of the FBI, CIA and Media of Record, treated us to a tableau vivant of police state shenanigans. Ironically, he’s right up there with Manning, Snowden, and Assange in exposing state criminality. Which all constitutes serious erosion of the power of Empire, internally as well as with the UN and allies. China and Russia are doubtless confident that the US is now utterly bereft of any support even from its own people to mount an action against them. Michele Flournoy can wave the bloody rag for Taiwan or Hong Kong or Belorus, or Ukraine all she wants, and Judith Miller print all the atrocity stories, but nobody will come.
Trump has done his part to immunize us.
“The only shooting war I can think of that he escalated was Somalia.”
He quadrupled US troops in Syria and had US artillery fire more rounds into “enemy” villages than were fired in the entire 2003 US invasion of Iraq before drawing down to “only” twice as many troops as were there when he took office. In what universe is that not escalation?
It’s hard to deal with military reporting coz they lie comprehensively. All we can do is judge by the large view’; by which metric he has the lowest body count since Carter. And that’s not to mention how many he saved from the tender mercies of Hillary and her LadyHawks.
“Secondly, arming the NATO members, Israel, and the fake sheiks makes sense for a policy of disengagement.”
I would think cutting them off would make much more sense. Especially since what you’re saying is exactly what we have been doing for decades and it hasn’t worked out the way you suggest it might thus far. Quite the opposite actually.
Heretofore the motive was commercial and tactical, the neocon war party policy of not-so-creeping aggression towards Russia until they should submit to vassalage, as in the golden age of Yeltsin. Trump (along with most of us, I’m assuming) wanted rapprochement.
Trump on JCPOA tells me all I need to know about this bone-head.
ps: someone convince me Trump is not a moron.
Housecleaning of Pentagon brass should have happened far sooner for the pullouts…
If Trump had pressed this a few months sooner he would have got lots more votes. He should have demanded they be home by Nov 1st and made a big deal out of it. Pakistan has the manpower to take over if they want peace.
Maybe this is what it takes, someone to do it as everyone else goes out the revolving door to take their next jobs milking us from the defense industry.
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/09/navy-pushes-more-ships-experts-warn-repair-yards-are-crumbling/168905/
For a moment, I thought this might be a disinformation or propaganda article. The more I ponder the USS Ford and the F-35 programs, I’m inclined to think the Navy’s ship repair problem is beyond. . . repair.
Sounds like more money. Discovery of yet another money pit.
To “compete” with Russia and China?
They need more brains for that — something called REAL diplomacy. The kind of dialogue that does not reek of supremacy in its less competent form — bullying and threatening.
And in a zeal to control the world — we have become every country’s troublesome neighbor.
Take some lessons from China in finessing their Southeast relationships, or from Russia in how to manage militancy and secessionism in Syria. How to finesse Libyan conflict through partnering with Egypt and Turkey. And the latest masterpiece in Caucasus. And before that, Ukraine and Georgia. It is about stability with justice — a formula for a more sustainable peace. But we would rather smash something and then watch waves of anguish spread around for decades. We made a MESS in Balkans, created tensions and decay of any sensibility or justice on the ground. This awaits somebody wiser and more subtle to make all parties want to cooperate.
We are leaving a mess in Afghanistan, and withdrawing is an act of mercy, to let the space breathe and forge their own consensus.
No amount of hard power will compensate for the sheer greed and stupidity that passes for foreign policy today.
Should be running the humor section.
Michelle Flournoy will fix everything. LOL!!!
ps: she and rest of the Zio-gang.
Trump should listen. This will be his ace up his sleeve if he really wants to come back to power in 2024 . His base want no war . He could have won the election easily handily had he taken the troops out before the election of Afghanistan .
Troop withdrawals, with troops remaining.
trump prevaricated for 4 years changing 1 swamp rat for another
Well,, just announced that the impotent Prez is going to leave a few thousand troops in Afg. and Iraq,,,what a weak coward he has turned out to be. LOL!! Trump is too stupid and cowardly to realize he IS the POTUS. Big tough guy he is not,,beaten by a senile perv.