Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The opinion of the Nationalist faction

What good is Gorsuch if trumpco starts wars in Syria and N. Korea and drives the world economy into meltdown. The last time it took less than 7 years to do it and the US was running $10 trillion in fed debt. We're at $20 trillion and counting today.

It aint a war it's a message.

Putins boy Assad got slapped with Trumps USA tattooed dick and the fat little Nork might be next, with China's blessing.

Not tired of winning yet.

With all due respect, IMO, you are a bit ahead of yourself

And even the plausibility of what you are posting is well, in the realm of fantasy. And I did quote my post above and said NOTHING about FB, but since (sic) you claim to be lazy, here is my take on it AGAIN: "I supported this action because it served as a mechanism to put our prestige as the world's only superpower that we act when and how we please in support of OUR national interest and our national interest had NOTHING to do with the dead kids, it was all about sending a message. I'll say it again: NO NATION BUILDING. Now it begs the next question, is going "in" to eradicate ISIS in the national interest? That's a fair question."

ISIS is done despite Zero and Hillary.

Thank you. I guess I need to be more literal and quit using metaphors, but that's beside the point.

So, now that we're on friendly terms again, what do you think of the article opinion below? I don't agree with every point and think some it was premature, but I can see Trump doing this for his own ends while still satisfying the Israel/neo-con folks - to which you and I will just have to politely (I hope) continue to disagree on Israel's role in our government.

And getting back to the subject of this post, I have not lost faith in Mr. Trump, but I am wondering if he is still playing 3d chess in our world of chutes and ladders or whether he really is succumbing to something else.



The Syrian Air Base Attack

As I blogged yesterday, the claim that Assad ordered a chemical attack on his own people in the past week doesn’t pass my sniff test. For Assad to order a gas attack now – while his side is finally winning – he would have to be willing to risk his life and his regime for no real military advantage. I’m not buying that.

But let’s say the world believes Assad or a rogue general under his command gassed his own people. What’s an American President to do? If Trump does nothing, he appears weak, and it invites mischief from other countries. But if he launches 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base base within a few days, which he did, the U.S. gets several benefits at low cost:

1. President Trump just solved for the allegation that he is Putin’s puppet. He doesn’t look like Putin’s puppet today. And that was Trump’s biggest problem, which made it America’s problem too. No one wants a president who is under a cloud of suspicion about Russian influence.

2. President Trump solved (partly) for the allegation that he is incompetent. You can hate this military action, but even Trump’s critics will call it measured and rational. Like it or not, President Trump’s credibility is likely to rise because of this, if not his popularity. Successful military action does that for presidents.

3. President Trump just set the table for his conversations with China about North Korea. Does China doubt Trump will take care of the problem in China’s own backyard if they don’t take care of it themselves? That negotiation just got easier.

4. Iran might be feeling a bit more flexible when it’s time to talk about their nuclear program.

5. Trump’s plan of a Syrian Safe Zone requires dominating the Syrian Air Force for security. That just got easier.

6. After ISIS is sufficiently beaten-back, the Syrian government will need to negotiate with the remaining entities in Syria to form a lasting peace of some sort that keeps would-be refugees in place. Syria’s government just got more flexible. It probably wants to keep the rest of its military.

7. Israel is safer whenever an adversary’s air power is degraded.

On the risk side of the equation, we have the possibility of getting into war with Russia. I’d put those odds at roughly zero in this case because obviously the U.S. warned Russia about the attack. That means we knew their reaction before we attacked. And it was a measured response of the type Putin probably respects. I expect Russia to complain a lot but continue to partner with the U.S. against ISIS.

If it turns out that the sarin gas attack that sparked this military action didn’t come from Assad, it doesn’t much matter. President Trump will bank all of the benefits above even if the attack turns out to be a hoax. We know Assad had some chemical weapons at one point, and probably used them. No one will be crying for Assad if the attack was unnecessary. And realistically, the public will never be 100% sure who was behind the attack.

I doubt this is the first step in a larger plan for war to depose Assad. But if Assad thinks it might be, we have a stronger position over there.

I’m not pro-war, so this military action alarms me the same way it alarms most people. But objectively speaking, the risk-reward ratio for this attack on Syria’s air field was exceptionally good. You rarely see so many benefits arise from one limited military action.

I thought President Trump would hold off on military action in the service of regime change. That still seems to be the case. But once our intelligence services traced the plane that allegedly dropped the gas back to a specific air base, it opened the option that Trump took. I didn’t realize that our military knows what every aircraft in Syria is doing at all times. That’s impressive, bordering on hard-to-believe.

+1

The first job of every tyrant or bureaucrat is to remain in power. If they think too small too bad for them.

Aces??

I will hold to my posit, it was a message to not only the Syrians, but the NORKs specifically. The Russians are the only ones that could have done this besides the Syrians and even they are not that stupid. Even if the attack was "staged" which I do not for a moment believe as Serin Gas use was confirmed by the Turks, and if it served as the vehicle to send a message, I'm all for it. Why? because the whole world will now wonder how Trump will react if you piss him off. It still begs the question though, what do we do about ISIS, let them continue to take over Europe, exacerbate the refugee crisis, etc? I don't have an answer, but to me military option, complete annihilation of an enemy down to salting the earth is what I propose. The arabs were not hard to control, the Brits and French did it without too much trouble. Divide them along tribal lines, keep them in-fighting thus removing most semblances of a nation state and exploit their resources.

As far as the airplane ID goes, pretty simple really. Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is your friend, I can almost guarantee that between our overhead assets and what the Israelis can gather up, not only do we know what kind of jet is flying, but call signs, squadrons and even individuals from their radio traffic. That strike was a thing of beauty, we successfully destroyed 20% of their crappy Russian inventory. I will be shocked if Trump takes any kind of action to unseat Assad with men on the ground. Now as far as ISIS, I would support it 100%. With an exit strategy of course.

Apparently, America is going to assist radical Islam by continuing to create failed states in the Middle East until a Caliphate is established that covers the entire region.

*Then* America will get to have a war against the whole bunch,....by itself,....while it's 30 trillion dollars in debt and after its manufacturing capability has been gutted.

Cui bono?

A complete dodge of the question. As far as the strike went, WE cue bono.

Pissing off anti-Semites = WINNING

Bullshit. There's not one single, solitary benefit to be had by America from continuing to participate in the Middle East wars.

America's participation there has only served to make an even bigger mess of the place and cost this country trillions of dollars,.....as Trump pointed out many, many times during his campaign.

I realize that old school conservatives are notorious warmongers. It's their calling card.

But to have Trump run on the platform that he did and then to start blowing hell out of Syria barely 3 months into his Presidency is a betrayal of epic proportions,.... Regardless of how the warmonger old school conservatives try to rationalize it.

Trump isn't what he ran as,...at *all*.

Only time will tell how big of a disaster he turns out to be.

Israeli Intel Chief: We Don’t Want ISIS Defeated in Syria

Either someone has hacked your account or you have lost your good sense.