While the dramatic US withdrawal from Syria is making headlines, little is being said about proposed withdrawal from Afghanistan or Iraq. The United States has invested trillions of US dollars in all three wars, with great loss of life, and little to show in positive results. But is there a bigger picture in Washington? Recent events outline an emerging pattern that may point the way to a new potential strategy for the execution of US foreign policy.
As pointed out by author and intellectual Tom Luongo, the departure of Joseph "Operation Iraqi Oil" Dunford as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 30th was a significant geopolitical event. Recall that Dunford was the highest-ranking military officer and regular military advisor to the president.
Dunford on Syria:
"Our primary partners on the ground, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have been successful in recovering a large swath of ground in northeast Syria.. The SDF’s recent operations in the town of Shaddadah effectively severed the last major artery that connected Raqqa and Mosul. Over time, the size of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and specifically the Arab component inside the Syrian Democratic Forces, has grown. And our focus right now is on continuing to – continuing that trend to grow the capabilities of the Syrian Democratic Forces.."Dunford On Afghanistan:
"Last summer highlighted, though, that the Afghan forces continue to need our support to build their capacity, specifically in areas like logistics, special operations, aviation capability, what I’d call broadly ministerial capacity."And as Dunford stated in 2016, "First, the Russian military presents the greatest array of threats to U.S. interests. Despite declining population, shrinking economy, Russia has made a significant investment in military capabilities," addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Admiral William McRaven, famous for being the guy who told the guy who told the other guy who told the other guy who told that guy to go kill bin Laden, has essentially called for a military coup against the President of the United States in a New York Times Op-Ed.
He begins with something to get the blood up, a call to the good military stuff, invoking generals who are “highly decorated, impeccably dressed, cleareyed and strong of character, [yet] were humbled by the moment” at a change of command ceremony. Then a little history, invoking the WWII Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to today’s CIA and Special Operations community, who had “faith that these values were worth sacrificing everything for.” In case it wasn’t clear, they “personified all that is good and decent and honorable about the American military,” his Op-Ed’s intended audience.
Then, invoking that oath that requires the military to protect America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, McRaven explains to them why they are being now called to battle: “The America that they believed in was under attack, not from without, but from within.” This is not subtle.
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Syria Situation: What's Next - With Jim Jatras and RPI's Daniel McAdams What's next in Syria, as Turkish forces and their militia proxies make their way further into northern Syria? In this week's "The Big Picture," RPI's Daniel McAdams gives his best case and worst case scenario and he responds to Sen. Mitt Romney's Floor statement decrying President Trump's withdrawal of US troops from the Syrian kill zone because it "emboldens Iran"...
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Donald Trump, ‘Isolationist’
On Tuesday, I wrote about Bill Weld, who is running for president in the Republican primary, criticizing President Donald Trump for causing the United States to “retreat into isolationism,” with “isolationism” being used as a substitute for a foreign policy of nonintervention. Weld is not the only politician recently making this bizarre accusation about Trump. It appears from reporting by Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin that this week former United States President George W. Bush did so as well.
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Bill Weld, Champion of Foreign Intervention
Ron Paul, who had been the 1988 presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party, spent much time in his 2008 and 2012 Republican primary presidential runs criticizing US intervention overseas and promoting following a noninterventionist foreign policy. Some people might expect Bill Weld would do the same thing in his current Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump. Weld was, after all, the 2016 Libertarian nominee for vice president. However, as Weld made crystal-clear in his October 8 editorial at Foreign Affairs, Weld aspires to oversee as president a foreign policy that is solidly interventionist.
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CIA 'Whistleblower' Assisted By James Clapper Associate
A CIA officer who worked with former Vice President Joe Biden, flipped out when he found out Trump wanted Biden investigated, and submitted an embellished whistleblower complaint with the help of Democratic operative attorneys was assisted by former Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, Charles McCullough - who worked for President Obama's Director of National Intelligence and current CNN talking head, James Clapper.
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Libertarians for the Drug War?
Kyle Jaeger, in a Marijuana Moment article last week discussing answers to a drug war question from a March Cato Institute poll, suggests that a substantial percentage of libertarians, even higher than among liberals, support continuing the drug war. Yet, when you look at the poll question at issue, a much different alternative interpretation becomes evident.
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